"To think that a single fragment of a divine body could advance me four levels all at once... The effect truly is... staggering."
Gazing at the continuously updating status panel, even Cassius could not conceal his astonishment.
That was four whole levels. In the past, achieving an increase of that magnitude would have taken him at least several months and the slaughter of countless formidable foes.
Yet this Horn of Tiamat had shattered the shackles of multiple levels in an instant, granting him a monumental leap forward—and into none other than Dragon of Apotheosis, a class of supreme might that reached for the power of the gods.
Cassius could feel the divinity released by the shattered Horn of Tiamat coursing through his fundus vessels, flowing to every corner of his body and remaking his draconic form.
Lowering his head, he inspected his body. Peerless, overwhelming energy radiated outward, forming a hazy halo over the surface of his scales. His colossal dragon form was draped in mottled radiance, exuding an aura of majestic dread.
Within him, an earth-shattering transformation was quietly underway. Flesh and blood wriggled; every cell, every muscle fiber seemed saturated with restless divine power, surging continuously and warping the surrounding environment.
Immediately afterward, however, a frenzy of malevolent thoughts surged into the Red Dragon Emperor's mind. The evil divine power inherited from Tiamat raged wildly, threatening to sweep his physical form beyond the bounds of the Material Plane and pull it back to the Outer Planes.
In an instant, the Red Dragon Emperor's scales flared open, and his flesh bulged outward. It was as if countless savage beasts inside him were tearing to break through his skin and rip his draconic body to shreds. The sound of tearing flesh rang across the sky. Scalding blood gushed from the crevices between his scales, filling the air with a crimson mist.
Cassius felt a splitting headache. He could not help but throw his head back, his expression contorting into a savage grimace as he unleashed an agonizing roar. Crimson light blazed in his eyes, and a powerful shockwave swept across the land, making the nearby peaks shudder violently.
*Boom!*
The Red Dragon Emperor slammed headfirst into the mountain before him. Plumes of dust and shattered stone shot into the sky as massive boulders fractured and tumbled down with thunderous crashes. The aftershocks rippled through the entire mountain range, and the mountainside began to crumble.
Yet even after such a violent collision, Cassius's eyes remained blood-red. His expression was pained and frenzied, like that of an enraged beast.
Any mortal treading the path toward godhood who failed to control the divinity within would instead be controlled by it—corrupted by wills descending from higher dimensions, cast into endless madness, and quite possibly reduced to an abomination, an elder evil, or something worse.
Soon, however, the Dragon of Apotheosis's Iron Will took effect, settling Cassius's mind. As if injected with a potent sedative, clarity returned to his eyes. Yet his headache remained excruciating, feeling as though countless fine silver needles were plunging into his brain, making his scalp tingle and his scales flare and shudder.
The madness welled up once more, rapidly infecting Cassius's draconic form.
The Red Dragon Emperor shook and shivered violently, roaring and thrashing out of control. His massive tail whipped out uncontrollably. With a deafening *boom*, a hill behind him collapsed on the spot, sending debris flying and dust billowing into the air.
*Roar—!*
Cassius roared with all his might, fighting to regain control over his body. But the divine power enveloped his soul, making him feel as though he were cast into a boundless, chaotic sea of stars, where countless celestial bodies emerged in endless space.
Seductive whispers drifted from the void. Every cell in his body seemed to gain a consciousness of its own, clamoring to break free from material shackles.
The flesh within the Red Dragon Emperor squirmed ceaselessly. Within moments, his form lost all semblance of a dragon. He looked like an immense, twisted mass of flesh, steadily crumbling and disintegrating, threatening to fracture into countless unnameable yet divinity-infused fragments.
The Heart of Garyx within Cassius's chest—holding the highest concentration of divinity—thudded with frantic intensity, making his chest heave violently. Like a living creature with its own will, it fought to burst free from his ribcage.
"The material is but an illusory bubble! The void is the ultimate destination!"
"Return—"
The desperate craving of the divinity within him manifested as roaring urges. If Cassius's soul succumbed to such desire, he would lose control, ascend to the Outer Planes, and be reduced to a twisted, mindless abomination wandering the Astral Plane.
This was the "divine catastrophe" chronicled by scholars of the divine. There had been no shortage of demigods swayed by divinity who fell into madness and brought devastating ruin upon the continent.
Tens of thousands of years ago, a demigod-level storm giant lost control and became an abomination. It roamed the land ceaselessly, laying waste to dozens of cities with catastrophic lightning until the gods finally intervened and obliterated it.
If a sub-progenitor true dragon like Cassius—formidable even among demigods—were to degenerate into an abomination, the resulting cataclysm would engulf not just Feanso, but the entire Material Plane.
Furthermore, the Cinder Empire held sizeable colonies across various planes. If the emperor went mad, the entire multiverse would suffer immense tremors.
Fortunately, Cassius had years of experience resisting the will of the Abyss and the remnant consciousness of Garyx. Bracing his entire body, he fought with everything he had to wrest back control of his physical form. His flesh and scales coalesced from disintegration, barely regaining their draconic shape.
Soon, however, the turbulent current of divinity surged once more. The Red Dragon Emperor's body disintegrated and reformed, over and over, like a monster trapped in an eternal loop, repeating the cycle without end.
Right at that moment, Cassius heard voices emerging from the unseen depths. They were not frantic ravings, but devout prayers, fanatical cheers, and urgent invocations. Layered and interwoven, they seemed to travel from vast distances, yet resonated with crystal clarity in Cassius's mind.
Accompanying those voices in Cassius's mind were flickering motes of light. As each mote broke apart, vivid scenes unfolded before him.
"Long live the Empire!"
"Long live His Majesty Cassius!"
Inside military barracks, imperial soldiers shouted at a victory banquet. Flushed and fervent, they raised their voices in celebration of triumph, cheering for the Red Dragon Emperor as they drank and made merry.
"O Supreme Emperor, God of War and Victory, I beseech you to protect my husband, that he may remain unharmed, achieve victory in battle, win honor, and return safe from the front."
In Silver City, a small town in northern Anzeta, a woman clad in robes knelt before a statue of the Red Dragon Emperor with her hands clasped in prayer. She prayed devoutly that her husband would return safely from the battlefield, hopefully bearing bountiful spoils of war so their family could enjoy a warm and pleasant winter.
"Venerable Protector of Trade, Emperor of Arms, Great Red Dragon who commands firearms and great cannons, we pray you grant us this contract and let us bring you even greater wealth!"
Inside the headquarters of the Claubau Military Industry Group, arms salesmen in crisp suits were likewise gathered in devout prayer.
However, in the statue they worshipped, the Red Dragon Emperor had his left talon resting upon a cannon, his right clutching a rifle, and his entire body coiled atop a hill of munitions crates—sporting quite the steampunk flair.
"How can such grace ever be repaid? All mortals unite to revere the great red dragon in the heavens!"
Along the streets of Isdalia's main district, choir members dressed in crimson robes chanted the Song of Cassius day and night without pause. That rousing melody had blended seamlessly with the bustling hum of the crowds, becoming an inseparable part of the thriving city.
"Cassius, man among men, male among males, dominator of men, ruler of men, Lord of Men and the Ultimate King of Men!"
Out in the wilderness of the Great Anzetta Waste, deep within a cave abandoned by an owlbear, players from the Dragon Enthusiasts Guild clad in red robes emblazoned with Cassius gathered like a pack of rabid cultists, circling a red dragon statue and shouting at the top of their lungs.
Well, the posture of their imperial statue was rather peculiar and out of the ordinary, having apparently captured the essence of certain fan creations.
If displayed within a city, they would likely have been rounded up by the tieflings of the Imperial Guard and charged with the felony of showing disrespect to the Emperor under the Imperial Sovereign Law—or even slapped with the maximum penalty for imperial blasphemy—while the statue itself would be immediately destroyed as "contraband."
Beyond these, Cassius caught glimpses of familiar figures: Misha, Duoluo, Anthony... Compared to the ordinary subjects of the empire, the emotions radiating from them were far more intense and pure.
In the Seleucian occupied territories, Duoluo swung the Bloodfire Battleaxe, splitting a captured evil dragon priest from crown to groin with a single savage blow, splattering red and white in all directions.
"Long live the Emperor! This is what happens to those who oppose His Majesty Cassius!"
Lifting his blood-soaked battleaxe high, paying no heed to the filth covering him, he bellowed into the air, drawing thunderous cheers from the crowd below.
In the Thracian Governorate, upon the square of the City of Akalia, an ogre stood atop a raised platform. His expression was enraged and his words heated, yet his eyes were chillingly detached.
"To think these nobles would remain so shameless and ungrateful as to rebel against the Empire! They are unworthy of the peaceful life the Empire brought them, unworthy of the grace bestowed by His Majesty Cassius!"
"For the Empire, and above all, for His Majesty Cassius—execute them!" He waved a massive hand.
On the square, tiefling executioners released the ropes without hesitation. Upon the guillotines, gleaming blades came whistling down, cleanly severing the heads of a line of Thracian nobles. Blood gushed forth, gradually pooling into a crimson lake upon the ground.
For the sake of their faith, these chosen vassals were willing to disregard or even destroy everything wholesome. They would employ the most brutal and despicable methods, carrying out the foulest deeds with an untroubled conscience.
They were no longer mere zealots willing to die for their god; they were consecrated followers, bound by bloodline and anchored by faith!
Amid these calls and visions, Cassius felt countless motes of miraculous power converging from all corners of the empire. Warm currents poured into his body one after another, stabilizing his form and life state.
Each mote forged an invisible bond, tying Cassius's fate inextricably to that of his believers.
If the Red Dragon Emperor swept away by divinity was like a ship tossed by tempestuous storms and churning waves, teetering on the verge of sinking into an ocean of endless void, then the faith rising from every corner of the empire was like a host of anchors. They held him securely within the harbor known as the Material Plane. No matter how the wind howled or the rain lashed, he held his ground, unbowed and untoppled by the titanic waves unleashed by the divinity.
"No wonder the demigods walking the earth all establish churches and labor tirelessly to spread their faith. So this is how they stabilize their forms..." Cassius thought with profound realization as he felt the myriad impressions pouring into his mind.
Yet as more and more power of faith poured in, Cassius realized that matters were becoming increasingly amiss. His entire mind seemed on the verge of being overwhelmed by this immense flood of information.
This power of faith... seemed a bit too much, far exceeding what he could bear.
Within the Cinder Empire, worshipping the Emperor had long become a societal norm, woven into every aspect of life.
Of the empire's tens of millions of citizens, more than half were Cassius's worshippers. Even those who harbored resentment against the Emperor had to put on an act of fanatical devotion at the muzzle of an Imperial Guard rifle, treating the Emperor like the sun itself. Over time, quite a few of them had unwittingly turned into casual believers as well.
Even without a special festival, well over a hundred thousand people were praying at this very moment, voicing their wishes to the Emperor. Those motes of faith rose across the empire and coalesced into a boundless river of radiant belief, surging forward in an unending, mighty torrent straight toward Cassius.
"Cassius above..."
"Great Red Dragon, grant that I may survive in this land."
"Your Majesty, Lord of Wealth who commands endless gold, bless me with great fortune!"
In an instant, an overwhelming deluge of disparate, fragmented information inundated his mind like a bursting flood, threatening to swallow Cassius's consciousness whole.
If his own will could not exert proper control, the Red Dragon Emperor would gradually lose his free will beneath the repeated washing of this tide of faith, slowly morphing into the flawless divine idol his worshippers imagined—reduced to a puppet of his own followers.
Such was faith: an anchor, yet also a catastrophic deluge capable of sweeping away everything. One had to master the delicate balance before true ascension to godhood was possible.
"I cannot be controlled by the power of faith; I must use it merely as a tether to the Material Plane to steady myself." Feeling the scour and erosion of faith, Cassius lowered his massive head and let out a low growl.
Snapping to awareness in time, he focused his thoughts, erecting an impregnable and majestic mental fortress within his mind. It barred the massive influx of information, admitting only the portion of faith required to sustain his existence. Inside his body, those remaining strands of faith were converted by his divine cells, releasing vast reservoirs of divine power.
Fire and lightning swirled around the Red Dragon Emperor, forming a terrifying elemental tempest that threatened to rip apart and obliterate everything around him without mercy.
Chapter 826