Chapter 535: The Dragon Descends
A pillar of blazing white fire shot straight into the Balor's chest, detonating in midair with a tremendous explosion.
Scorching shockwaves seared both sky and earth, with high-temperature aftershocks rapidly expanding across the barren plains.
Misha spread her dragon wings, crimson scales surfacing on her forehead and cheeks. Flames and smoke coiled around her body, and the firelight in her golden pupils burned even brighter.
—The "Daughter of Dragonfire" was drawing upon the power of the Ember Emperor!
"Boom!"
The venomous, high-temperature flames distorted the surrounding air, creating rolling fire clouds, yet still failed to kill the Balor.
Black-red flames surged across the demon's body, as countless tormented souls shrieked and circled around him, forming an Abyssal Barrier of annihilation.
"Roar—!"
The Balor howled skyward, spreading his wings wide, unleashing an earth-shaking roar that sent a chill through every being present.
It was the Blasphemous Tongue!
"Damn it—"
"Blasphemy! This is blasphemy!"
The Empire's mages maintaining the binding formation clutched their heads in agony, unable to concentrate on sustaining the spell.
Gripping his staff tightly, Langpu bellowed, "Careful! I can't hold him much longer!"
"Boom!"
Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, forcing back the circling blue and silver dragons, while columns of black-red fire surged into the heavens.
"With just you lowly mortals—
You dare dream of killing me?!"
"Crash!"
Abyssal fire erupted from the Balor's eyes. He spread his limbs, flapped his wings, and with an earth-shattering force, broke free of the heavy chains.
Misha, however, remained unshaken. Flames spewed from her golden pupils.
Her dragonization had grown even more pronounced—her slender fingers had transformed into razor-sharp claws, dragon fangs lined her mouth, and golden-red scales covered her cheeks and neck.
Through the connection to Cassius's power, her very blood had been replaced with scalding dragon's blood.
At this moment, she was no longer human, but a red dragon clad in human skin.
Misha's eyes burned with hatred. She spread her arms wide, releasing even more terrifying dragonfire, while shrieking, "Leo Bosk!"
"Boom!"
Blazing dragonfire collided with chaotic black flames. The two mighty forces clashed, detonating in midair with massive explosions, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky.
Leo—no, the Balor—swung his Storm Greatsword downward, his grotesque face momentarily flashing with astonishment.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
Yet no matter how hard he searched his memories, he could not recall ever provoking such a powerful Warlock when he was mortal.
"Five years… For five years, I've dreamed of killing you, executioner of the innocent, so-called—Duke Leo!"
Misha's fury twisted into a cold smile. With a flap of her wings, she deftly dodged his lightning-infused strike, her crimson hair whipping wildly behind her.
Dozens of spectral chains rose from the earth, entangling the Balor's massive frame.
At the same time, Misha gathered all her flames, forming dozens of ultra-dense fireballs a hundred meters above her.
Then, with a flick of her wrist, she directed them at the Balor. Like meteors, the fireballs plummeted from the sky.
It was Meteor Swarm!
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Balor furiously struggled against the chains, beating his leathery wings in frantic evasive maneuvers.
Yet the meteors carved blazing trails across the sky, striking down in devastating explosions, leaving him with nowhere to run.
But the Balor activated an innate spell-like ability, enshrouding himself in a chaotic Abyssal mist that nullified the magic directed at him.
Greater Dispel Magic!
The Balor narrowed his eyes at the dragon-woman before him, his lips curling into a mocking, contemptuous grin.
"Ah… A descendant of those pathetic peasants from five years ago. No wonder I don't remember you."
He cracked his flaming whip, throwing his head back in deranged laughter, his thunderous voice shaking the air.
"My only regret as a mortal was failing to wipe out every single one of you ungrateful, wretched worms!"
"Snap!"
The fire whip, wreathed in chaotic Abyssal flames, twisted through the air, creating a warped rift as it lunged at Misha like a demonic serpent.
"You're courting death!"
Misha roared, conjuring a burning spatial rift around her.
As the whip came crashing down, she used her flame-leaping ability to teleport nearly a hundred meters away.
From afar, Langpu raised his staff, casting a series of support spells—Haste, Stoneskin, and Protection from Energy—all empowering Misha.
Once more, she brought her hands together and aimed at the Balor, releasing a searing white pillar of fire that engulfed the demon's body.
"Ah—!"
The sky was consumed by dragonfire, thick, billowing smoke blotting out the sun, leaving only the shadowy outline of a writhing demon.
It was Solar Flare!
Simultaneously, silver dragons, blue dragons, ogres, and Imperial mages unleashed their magic—lightning, frost, and fire all surging toward the demon's position.
But suddenly, the battlefield shifted. A vast wave of Abyssal power erupted from the Balor, coalescing into a pitch-black vortex that devoured nearly all incoming magic.
The Balor still stood amidst the smoke, his wings unfurled, his deep laughter echoing across the wasteland.
"Mortals—
You cannot fathom the majesty of the Abyss, nor comprehend my exalted rank as the Exarch of Jezal Slak, Leo Bosk!
Hahaha! I am His beacon in the Material Plane! So long as He wills it, I am eternal! None shall destroy me!"
Spreading his arms wide, abyssal mists swirled around him. Behind him, a towering demonic shadow, hundreds of meters tall, loomed.
Gaunt and skeletal, yet its murky, glowing eyes sent a wave of terror through every soul who beheld it. Its lips curled into a sinister smile.
—It was the Abyssal Lord, the mastermind behind this invasion, the Vengeance Demon, Jezal Slak!
With the howling wind, all energy in the surroundings surged toward the Balor—or rather, into the looming shadow, which absorbed it and converted it into pure, chaotic Abyssal power.
Space itself began to fracture, forming hideous rifts, black smoke leaking through, corroding the fabric between the planes.
The demon was trying to drag this land into the Abyss!
"Destruction! Tremble!"
"Fall into the Abyss!"
Millions of demons roared in ecstasy, their howls celebrating this catastrophic spectacle.
Langpu shouted anxiously, "Quick, stop him! That demon is trying to bring forth the Vengeance Demon, severing Anzeta from the Material Plane!"
"Yes!"
Misha clenched her teeth, closed her eyes tightly, and chanted an ancient and profound Draconic incantation, searching for the deep connection between her and the Red Dragon Emperor.
Instantly, a massive dragon shadow emerged behind her, the surrounding space torn apart by frenzied flames, forming a colossal rift of fire.
That was Interplanar Breath!
"Roar——"
A long dragon's roar resounded, scalding heat waves rapidly expanding, and Cassius' overwhelming dragon aura spread across the vast wasteland for hundreds of kilometers.
Whether human, tiefling, earthborn, or even frenzied demons, all felt a soul-deep tremor, a primal fear of a higher existence.
Even the once-arrogant Balor trembled in fear, his expression turning frantic.
"He... he's coming."
"Yes, this presence—it's Cassius!"
Leo stared at the growing fire rift in the sky, emotions of fear, tension, exhilaration, and hatred intertwining chaotically in his heart, making his expression utterly unreadable.
Though he had repeatedly declared his vengeance, now that the nightmare of his past had truly descended, this demon, once a mortal, was still overcome with dread.
The fiery rift in the sky continued expanding.
First, a massive and majestic dragon head slowly emerged, followed by a strong and elongated neck, and then vast wings stretching wide like the land itself.
The shadow it cast upon the ground engulfed a vast swath of the wasteland, and all beings present gazed up at the forty-meter-long colossus of a red dragon, reverence surging from the depths of their hearts.
At this moment, millions of eyes focused on one figure—the true ruler of this land, the one and only Emperor of the Anzeta Wasteland, the legendary Ember Dragon—Cassius!
"By Cassius—"
"It's His Majesty!"
"It... it really is His Majesty Cassius!"
"The Dragon Lord has descended! He will obliterate all enemies of the Empire!"
The Empire's followers were ablaze with zeal, their eyes locked on the being above as if witnessing their deity in the flesh.
A decade of unwavering belief had taught them one thing—whenever this titanic dragon appeared on the battlefield, the brutal war was near its end, and the Empire was on the verge of dawn's victory.
This time would be no different.
The players, equally ecstatic, shouted their own blasphemous praises, their cheers rising in waves.
"Hail Emperor Cassius!"
"The dragon descends—this is insane!"
"We're set! Cassius is here—this means an epic cutscene is about to drop! The barbecue's going to be massive this time!"
"I wanna touch Cassius' tail, dammit!"
Meanwhile, the Abyssal demons bore twisted expressions of malice and fear.
Except for those lost in utter madness, even the dullest imps and the most reckless bull demons could sense the sheer terror and power emanating from this dragon.
"Abyss, save us..."
"Could this truly be our enemy...?"
In the Abyss, power was everything—there was nothing else.
And from this monstrous red dragon, they felt a pressure that even the Abyssal Lords could not match—a presence of an even greater being.
"Another Balor? This will be the second one I've slain."
Cassius spoke nonchalantly, as though discussing the slaughter of livestock rather than a formidable demon.
Though terrified, the Balor forced himself to maintain composure and bellowed toward the dragon:
"Cassius, don't celebrate too soon! My vengeance is not yet over!"
"L-Lord Jezal Slakx stands behind me! He will protect me! I will return to you everything you did to me!"
"I will destroy your Empire, I will kill—"
His words were abruptly cut off by the red dragon.
"So it is you, Leo Bosk, former Duke of the North, my old friend."
"It has truly been—"
"A long time."
Cassius grinned, his golden eyes filled with scorn as he gazed at the Balor and the shadow lurking behind him.
In the sky, the red dragon flapped his wings, sending scorching gales billowing across the battlefield. Then, he slowly parted his massive maw, a radiance brighter than the sun gathering in his throat, dyeing the heavens crimson.
This was the "welcome gift" Cassius had prepared for his old friend.
Then, a blinding pillar of white flame erupted forth, engulfing the Balor in an instant—this was an Empowered Fire Breath!
"Come! Witness the depth of power, behold the flames of my vengeance!"
The Balor roared with rage, his body bursting with vengeful fury, forming a swirling black Abyssal smog.
"Boom!"
The Abyssal energy clashed against dragonfire, magic colliding in violent reactions, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion.
But this time, it was dragon breath—breathed forth by Cassius himself!
Its might far exceeded what the Balor had imagined; the flames carried the essence of fire itself, infused with the power of destruction.
The fiery column pierced through the Abyssal smog, the extreme heat distorting space, dispersing the black mist entirely, and shooting straight toward the Balor.
"Boom——"
The Balor was once again consumed by the flames, yet this time, his burning form could no longer withstand the breath's power.
"No—Lord Jezal Slakx will—"
Leo let out a wretched scream.
But before he could finish, his horned head, his broad chest, and thick arms—his entire upper body was reduced to ash.
Balors were immune to fire, but Cassius' breath was of a higher plane—fire giants, lords of the Elemental Plane of Fire, would be powerless against it.
Was this the end?
The question arose in everyone's hearts.
Indeed, before such an overwhelming, unstoppable breath, even a Balor's fate should have been sealed. Could there truly be another outcome?
But the shadow of the Vengeance Demon in the sky had not disappeared. Those deep, eerie eyes still locked onto Cassius, flashing with a sinister grin.
Cassius did not hesitate to meet that gaze. His golden slit pupils gleamed with a mocking smirk of their own.
"Jezal Slakx, is this the extent of your courage? Turning a foolish mortal noble into a demon, stuffing him with vengeance and soul fragments to serve as your pawn? Calling yourself the Vengeance Demon? Trickster Demon suits you better."
Cassius flapped his wings forcefully, his massive body rising a hundred meters higher into the sky.
"But, a deceitful being like you must have another trick prepared."
As expected, the Abyssal mist surged, flowing toward the Balor's remains, reconstructing his severed form piece by piece—his head, neck, arms, and torso.
Step by step, the Balor's monstrous body reformed.
The Balor had returned, completely unscathed!
All were utterly stunned—even Cassius narrowed his eyes. "So, this is your plan? Let's see what else you have in store."