Lightning and Fire

"Insolence—!" Gorazdla let out a furious roar, chaotic thunderstorms churning within her eyes. Dark clouds roiled as earth-shattering booms echoed through the air, sending bolt after bolt of lightning—each capable of obliterating a mortal to dust—surging toward the Red Dragon Emperor. "Damned traitor, you seek death!" The great wyrm blue dragon's voice boomed like ten thousand rolling thunders, striking terror into the soul. Cassius did not evade. Hovering in place, he slowly beat his wings as a torrential swell of dragonflame erupted from behind him, colliding head-on with the descending lightning. In an instant, lightning danced and fire roared. Streams of flame and arcs of electricity clashed and intertwined high in the sky, unleashing waves of immense energy that rippled outward. The hills below were flattened, leaving only charred craters in their wake, yet neither dragon bore so much as a scratch. It was merely an initial probe between the two mighty beasts, yet it carried the terrifying momentum of an apocalypse. Seizing this brief opportunity, Cassius closely observed this great wyrm blue dragon, whom countless souls feared and called the Thunder Tyrant. Thunder Tyrant — Gorazdla Challenge Rating: 38 The great wyrm blue dragon measured over sixty meters in length, her build lithe and powerful. Though noticeably smaller than an anomaly like Cassius, she still far exceeded the limits of ordinary dragons, a clear testament to her noble progenitor dragon bloodline. Most formidable of all was her mastery over elemental forces. Gorazdla could command storm clouds spanning over a hundred kilometers in diameter, manipulate electromagnetic fields at will, and unleash terrifying lightning that obliterated everything in its path. In this regard, even Cassius—who possessed two dragon spellcasting classes, True Dragon Sorcerer and Elemental Master—found himself outmatched. Moreover, Gorazdla possessed an immortal divine body bestowed by Tiamat. Violent lightning crackled across her exaggeratedly massive horns, flickering with a blinding glow akin to a supernova and brimming with immeasurable divine power that granted the great wyrm blue dragon an endless supply of energy. On paper, Gorazdla was far stronger than Erebus. It was no wonder the Green Dragon Cult had remained confined to the northwestern lands of Seleucia, unable to expand any further. Yet Cassius also keenly detected Gorazdla's weakness. Perhaps due to repeated brainwashing by Tiamat and enduring constant, suffocating mental domination, this great wyrm blue dragon was mentally unstable and appeared somewhat manic. At the thought, Cassius bared his teeth in a sinister grin and mocked mercilessly, "Who do you think I am? A human, a dwarf, or an elf? Trying to kill me with such a pathetic attack is nothing short of delusion." Gorazdla glared fixedly at the Red Dragon Emperor, her gaze filled with murderous intent mixed with solemn wariness. The title of "Dragon Prince" attributed to Cassius had circulated throughout the multiverse for a long time. She had always scoffed at it, dismissing it as mere mortal exaggeration. After all, dragon variants were countless among dragonkind, but those capable of transcending the Material Plane to touch the divine realm were exceedingly rare. Only upon seeing this red dragon in person did Gorazdla realize his power far exceeded her expectations. Over eighty meters in length, with a colossal, mighty build, he exuded a perfection that seemed to transcend the Material Plane, radiating faint traces of divinity and immortality. Her ancient experience and instincts told her that this was no ordinary red dragon, but a monster combining progenitor dragon blood, draconic divinity, and a complex weave of diverse divine powers. No wonder this red dragon could defeat that useless Erebus. Even as powerful and arrogant as Gorazdla was, she had no choice but to take this formidable rival seriously. The great wyrm blue dragon opened her maw, crackling with lightning, her voice booming like muffled thunder, deep and powerful. "Cassius, your fate was sealed the moment you chose to betray Her Majesty Tiamat and turn your back on the chromatic dragons—you will become a sacrifice to the Dragon Queen..." Cassius shook his massive head and feigned a sigh. "My fate has always been in my own hands; no one decides it for me. You, on the other hand—from the moment you surrendered your individuality and submitted to Tiamat, your destiny became immutable: to be that old hag's puppet, reduced to a vessel for her descent into the mortal world." "Nonsense!" Gorazdla's expression shifted drastically into uncontrollable fury. The lightning wrapping her body crackled fiercely, surging with violent intensity. For some reason, the great wyrm blue dragon, on the verge of ascending to divinity, felt a chord vibrating incessantly in her mind—as if something had intentionally severed her thoughts, leaving her capable of feeling nothing but rage and irritation. Cassius sneered. "So you mean to tell me that Tiamat—notorious throughout the multiverse for her extreme stinginess—would willingly bestow her immortal divine body upon a follower and even burn her own divinity to help another become a true god? It seems our Dragon Queen is truly a generous deity. Ha, Gorazdla, don't you think that sounds like a laughable fairy tale?" "Shut... shut up!" Veins bulged along the great wyrm's brow, and electric arcs spilled from her eyes. She had flown into a complete frenzy, storm clouds billowing and pouring out from her colossal frame. From the void came a raspy, venomous female voice: "Kill him! Destroy this vile blasphemer! He will be the greatest obstacle on your path to godhood!" Hearing that voice, the great wyrm blue dragon gradually settled, her gaze turning resolute and ruthless once more. "Yes, Your Majesty... I will become a true god. I must kill this traitor to the chromatic dragons." Dazzling lightning flared in Gorazdla's slit pupils. She roared with all her might, riding the booming thunder and cloaked in torrential lightning as she dove toward the Red Dragon Emperor thousands of meters away. The sky seemed cleft in two. The lightning stretched for miles like a spectacular torrential river, or a waterfall woven of sheer electricity. Watching the charging great wyrm blue dragon, Cassius showed not the slightest trace of fear. Instead, surging battle intent radiated from him as he muttered to himself, "Now this is a real fight..." "Roar—!" "Come! Let me see the power Tiamat granted her loyal dog!" With an awe-inspiring roar, Cassius beat his wings, muscles coiling tight. Raging flames enveloped his massive form, transforming him into a scarlet star blazing with boundless fire as he slammed straight toward the great wyrm blue dragon. Behind the Red Dragon Emperor trailed a sky-blotting sea of crimson dragonflame, suspended like a burning ocean as churning fire clouds covered half the heavens. At that moment, the entire world seemed brutally torn in two—one half a raging inferno of purgatory, the other a thunderous abyss of crackling lightning. Either was enough to plunge mortals into eternal despair. Boom! The blue dragon and the red dragon crashed together. Lightning and fire collided, two diametrically opposed powers slamming into one another, instantly unleashing a horrifying shockwave. Across the earth, scorching gales kicked up rolling dust and smoke. Dazzling electric arcs jumped through the air, sparks crackling from soldiers' swords and bayonets. Thousands upon thousands of mortals across the battlefield were engulfed by the terrible aftermath, perishing in the blast. When the smoke cleared, rolling hills had been flattened, the earth scored with blackened chasms and littered everywhere with flowing lava and sand vitrified into crystal. High in the sky, two titanic beings imbued with divinity clashed and wrestled together. The sheer power of these two dragons was so staggering that every collision, every movement practically ruptured space with thunderous detonations. "Die—!" Seizing an opening, Gorazdla flapped her wings and surged upward above Cassius, whipping her thick, lightning-wreathed tail around. To the howl of wind and deafening hum of lightning, the thick tail plated in dark blue scales tore through the storm, snapping viciously toward the Red Dragon Emperor's skull, its tip carrying the distinct resonance of destructive divine power. Flapping his wings, Cassius retreated dozens of meters, grazing past the tip to dodge the tail strike. Immediately, he swung his massive dragon claw, swiping toward the side of the great wyrm's neck. Bang! A dull thud sounded as shattered scales and dragon blood sprayed through the air. Gorazdla wailed in pain, her neck pulverized into a bloody mess of fractured bone. Yet amidst surging electrical currents, the damage receded at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than a breath, she had fully recovered, and the spattered blood and broken scales flowed back into her body as though time were running in reverse. Such was a quasi-deity—an undying, indestructible existence. Purely physical damage was meaningless to them, incapable of touching their immortal essence. Gorazdla hissed, "Cassius, are you scratching an itch for me? It seems the so-called dragon variants are nothing special after all!" In the next moment, the great wyrm blue dragon dissolved into an afterimage within the lightning storm, lunging toward the Red Dragon Emperor's back. Yet Cassius was not a fraction slower. Sweeping his wings, he twisted his body around in an almost impossible contortion, spewing a breath imbued with solar divine power from his throat, instantly engulfing Gorazdla. Boom—! Yet amidst the solar flames, Gorazdla clad herself in armor woven from thunder and pushed against the breath weapon with all her might, lunging toward the Red Dragon Emperor once more. However, in terms of sheer physical brawn, Gorazdla fell far short of Cassius. More accurately, in the entire Material Plane, few beings could match him. With a colossal crash, Cassius rammed head-on into the great wyrm blue dragon and sent her flying, sneering coldly, "Fool, throwing away your life for Tiamat, helping her count the gold after she sold you out..." "Damned traitor! Ignorant reptile! How dare you speak Her Majesty Tiamat's name in vain!" Gorazdla lost all reason once more. Screaming in blinding rage, she spat brilliant orbs of ball lightning from her gullet, sending them streaking one after another toward the Red Dragon Emperor. Cassius weaved effortlessly between the spheres of lightning, dodging them with ease, then looked at the great wyrm blue dragon and continued: "Stop lying to yourself, Gorazdla. As a great wyrm, you should know full well what Her Majesty is truly like." "Shut up!" Gorazdla vaulted back into the sky and dove downward, only to be swatted away by the Red Dragon Emperor's claw, crashing violently into distant rock and causing hills to crumble while the earth shuddered violently. Cassius looked down upon the great wyrm blue dragon, activating Silver Tongue as he continued to provoke her: "Think about it, pathetic blue dragon. Even greater deities cannot pierce the planar barrier, so how could Tiamat accomplish it? Face reality! This so-called descent into the mortal realm, this dragon empire—it's nothing more than an enormous scam! Tiamat's true aim is to groom you all into vessels, fusing three quasi-deity great wyrms into a chromatic dragon avatar rivaling a true god to harbor her will, allowing her to descend upon the earth under a new guise!" "Impossible!" Gorazdla let out a screech drowned in thunder. Her eyes bulged and veins stood out across her brow. She looked in agony, like a beast choked by the throat on the verge of suffocation. Her gaze flickered between doubt, dread, and panic, before ultimately hardening into boundless hatred and fury. She practically squeezed the words out from her throat: "It's you! You arrogant, shameless traitor—you're lying to me, trying to lure me into betraying the Dragon Queen!" Glares wide and bloody maw agape, the great wyrm blue dragon swung her electrified claws and lunged at the Red Dragon Emperor like a rabid beast. Cassius beat his wings sideways, slipping past her pounce in a flash. He shook his head again, sighing, "Tsk, pathetic creature. Thinking you can become a god when your very will is under another's control." "Her Majesty Tiamat promised me—so long as I kill you, I will be the next dragon god!" Gorazdla's expression grew ever more manic, any lingering doubt vanished from her eyes. She spread her wings as countless bolts of lightning converged, forming a pair of silver-white wings hundreds of meters long. With a mere casual flap, over a dozen sand tornadoes whipped up from the earth below, while thousands of lightning bolts struck toward the Red Dragon Emperor with astonishing fury. "Heh, that old hag still loves writing rubber checks as much as ever..." Facing the oncoming storm and lightning, Cassius remained calm and unruffled. The corner of his mouth even curled upward into a vicious smirk. "However..." In the next instant, dazzling fiery light flared from the red dragon's dragon crystal. Fine ripples surged between the seams of his scales as an utterly terrifying inferno erupted skyward, blazing fiercely. Everything within a kilometer of Cassius—lightning, sandstorms, and hills alike—was incinerated, leaving only scorched ruin. "A piece of trash like you, less than a dog—you think you can kill me?" From that earth-scorching, sky-melting sea of flames came an earth-shattering roar, resonant and majestic, compelling an involuntary urge to submit. Immediately after, an immensely colossal silhouette rose into the air from the flaming sea, blazing light bursting from his pale gold slit pupils like a sun hanging high in the heavens. Beneath that blazing light, even the brilliance of ten thousand thunderbolts was smothered, eclipsed into dull insignificance.