Chapter 539: The Body of Karrikex (Part 3)
In the ravines of the mountain range, melted snowwater flowed freely, and hot mist spread across the Anstica Mountains, making the snowy range seem like a celestial paradise—until the dragons' roars shattered it all.
"Roar!"
Amidst the churning mist, two colossal beings clashed, their mountain-like shadows flickering through the smoke, shaking the very earth.
The abyssal dragon beat its wings, stirring howling winds, then swung its massive claws at the crimson figure.
But it struck only air. The red dragon beat its wings sharply midair, dodging the powerful blow and diving into the clouds.
"Boom!"
The mountains wailed, rocks exploded—the abyssal dragon's claw smashed into the mountain's waist.
With such force, boulders toppled from the summit, avalanches cascaded down, leaving a claw mark dozens of meters wide in its wake.
Murky light burst from Jezal Slak's deep, black eyes, disturbing the mist—this was the Abyssal Gaze, allowing him to see the essence of all things.
"I see you."
The abyssal dragon muttered, locking onto the red dragon's form hidden in the swirling fog.
"Shhh—"
Two crimson rays laced with chaos burst from his eyes, firing toward the red dragon hundreds of meters away.
Cassius tightened his form, whipped his wings, raised his tail, and darted like a crimson arrow, leaving blazing gales in his wake.
Jezal Slak twisted his head—the crimson rays followed, but couldn't catch even Cassius's tail, blasting the mountains instead.
The crimson beams triggered a chain of devastating explosions, instantly disintegrating stone and cliff.
"Boom——"
Mountains wailed, stones rained down, several peaks were cleaved in half and collapsed, raising clouds of dust.
At this moment, the Anstica Mountains—once mighty titans standing between heaven and earth—were being slaughtered by the abyssal dragon.
Lava welled where the beams passed. The black-red magma flowed slowly through the ruins like the bleeding wounds of giants.
Only the distant Thierry Peak still stood proud, holding its title as the "King of Snowy Mountains."
"Tsk tsk... such power."
Even Cassius turned his head in surprise, awed by the beams' might.
Even with his current body, a hit from those beams would gravely wound him.
But thanks to his mobility—and the precognition of his Cataclysmic Dragon Eye—this abyssal dragon lord still found it hard to land a blow.
"Terrifying!"
As the beams nearly struck his tail, Cassius suddenly flared his wings.
His muscular form surged, the massive dragon body went nearly vertical. With a sonic boom, he shot upward by hundreds of meters.
Cassius flew high, carving an elegant arc in the sky.
Then he flipped, head down, jaws slowly opening, and the dragon crystal in his chest lit up.
"Crack!"
With a deafening burst, a blazing white pillar of fire spewed from his mouth like divine judgment, striking Jezal Slak's head.
"Roar——"
The abyssal dragon howled, twisting away and summoning thick chaotic mist upward, forming a mottled shield against the falling fire.
But the breath, laced with divine order, pierced through layers of fog and struck the abyss dragon's neck.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion blew off hundreds of scales, revealing putrid violet-black flesh. Pus gushed from the wound as black smoke rose.
He was injured!
"Huff, huff."
Jezal Slak panted heavily, smoke seeping from his deep eyes and noxious mist oozing from his jaws.
Clearly, releasing those beams drained him too.
Now the Anstica Mountains were in shambles—collapsed peaks, flowing magma, boiling water, and abyssal poison mist everywhere.
Countless winged demons were born from shadows and chaos, flying wildly like clouds of grotesque bats.
The nearly 200-meter-long abyssal dragon raised his head again, opening his gaping jaws to roar furiously.
The sonic blast spread kilometers, raising choking dust.
"Come, children of the Abyss—I command you: devour the wretched red dragon!
Return him to the Abyss! Let him become demon fodder! Let all return to the chaos of the end!"
At once, the hundreds of thousands of winged demons Jezal Slak summoned surged with frenzy.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
"The Abyss watches us!"
"Slay the lizard and gain Abyssal favor—become a Balrog Flame Demon!"
"Before Lord Jezal Slak, before the Abyss—we'll shred this red dragon! Peel his scales! Eat his flesh!"
Their bat wings flapped wildly as they screamed, pouring their hatred onto the world.
The demons formed a black cloud that blotted the sky, converging from all directions toward the red dragon.
Cassius hovered midair, wings spread wide, pale golden eyes filled with fury.
"You rabble dare challenge me?"
Thunderous echoes rolled through the sky, even drowning the noise of the demon horde.
Amid Cassius's roars and demons' wails, dazzling spells lit the sky, oceans of fire spread, and charred demons fell like rain.
The red dragon rampaged through the demonic tide like a storm of thunder and flame, slaughtering at will.
Each of his breaths, swipes, and tail whips felled hundreds, sending demons plummeting from the sky.
The demons slain by Cassius had their souls devoured, leaving no chance of rebirth in the Abyssal blood pool.
Yet under Jezal Slak's command and the Abyss's will, the demons still surged forward, blind to the rain of corpses.
"Roar——"
Another blazing pillar of fire cut through the horde, evaporating air and turning thousands of demons to ash.
But there were just too many demons—they were everywhere, and even in death, their corpses released chaotic essence.
In the distant ruins, the abyssal dragon, nearly 200 meters long, coiled like a mountain, the ground heaving with his breath.
Jezal Slak watched the red dragon battle the horde, a twisted grin in his cloudy eyes.
"On the scale of millennia, none truly resists the Abyss. Cassius, with all your killing...
Doesn't your supreme blood boil, craving more blood?"
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Anstica Mountains, Pabliceko also observed the battle above.
"Bahamut above... Is this the power of the Ember Emperor?"
Watching the red dragon fight alone against tens of thousands of demons, his expression grew grim.
Whether the Ember Emperor or the abyssal dragon, both threatened the continent's order. Worse—Cassius had injured his revered brother.
Pabliceko hesitated, unsure whether to intervene—the red dragon in the sky seemed terribly isolated.
Suddenly, a husky female voice spoke behind the elder.
"Brother Oszedro has seen this. He believes this abyss dragon threatens the entire Material Plane."
"Whatever cruelty the Ember Emperor holds, at this moment, as one of the Material Plane—we must aid him."
Pabliceko turned. Behind him stood a woman in her forties with pointed elven ears. She leaned on a staff, her tone firm.
"Don't let hatred blind you, Pabliceko. Don't forget our people's mission."
She was another Melward elder, the female ancient silver dragon—Imelda Gald Melward.
She and the two remaining male silver dragons were the "Three Pillars" of the Melward clan, guardians of justice for centuries.
Behind Imelda, dozens of silver dragons beat their wings, their armor-like scales gleaming under firelight, piercing the darkness.
"Understood."
Pabliceko met Imelda's eyes, nodded, and together they soared upward, turning into thirty-meter-long silver giants, whipping up hurricanes.
But that wasn't all. The ancient silver dragon raised her shimmering staff and opened several extraplanar portals.
Golden dragons, brass dragons, astral envoys, balisse angels, antlered archons, exalted guardians—beings of heavenly good poured out to charge the abyssal tide.
Still more portals opened as dimensional ripples shimmered—this time from the Material Plane itself.
"For Emperor Cassius!"
"Long live the Ember Empire!"
"Quick! Aid His Majesty!"
From the largest portal emerged Grand Ogre Mage Langpu, Hobgoblin Marshal Dolo, Oathbreaker Medrolash, Crimson Scaled Conqueror Alger, Dragonfire Maiden Misha, and Wyvern Chief Smaug—
All familiar names in the Empire, their eyes fixed on the battlefield where dragon and demon clashed.
Langpu gripped his staff tightly, muttering as he gazed at the mountain-sized dark red dragon.
"A 200-meter dragon..."
As a mage, he understood what it meant. Under the gods' old order, such dragons were extinct in the Material Plane—only found in the Astral Void.
A dragon this size meant it was at least quasi-divine, perhaps even a legendary—Dragon God.
But Langpu felt no fear. His heart pounded, and a heroic melody played in his mind.
"Master will win, as always. And when this epic ends, He'll become the true supreme being."
The Grand Ogre Mage silently vowed.
Then, tens of thousands of players poured from the portals.
Most were level 8, some over 10—true transcendents, pillars of the Ember Empire.
"Roar——"
Mantou flew in on a wyvern, stunned by the battlefield's scale.
"Holy shit...
So this is the real final boss fight? That Balrog was nothing!"
The other players were just as awestruck, voices erupting.
"This is epic! I'm fired up!"
"Erezaghe rocks!"
"Emperor Cassius is invincible!"
Hundreds of thousands of winged demons filled the sky, like a black sea, like the night itself.
But the red dragon—the mighty Ember Emperor—roared and turned the skies into flame, blackened corpses raining down.
The land was in ruins—lava flowed, rocks shattered, mountains crumbled. The 200-meter abyssal dragon loomed.
High above, Imelda spread her silver wings, raised her silver staff, and roared.
"Everyone—for the glory and order of Feanso! For peace and stability—drive the demons from the Material Plane!"
Instantly, golden celestials, metal dragons, and winged angels charged Anstica, attacking the demon tide.
On the Empire's side, Langpu shouted, "For His Majesty Cassius! For the Ember Empire's great vision—wipe out the last of the demons!"
"Roar——"
"Charge!"
"Twenty-year monster hunter veteran reporting for duty!"
"I'm going for the big boss, boys—it's foot-slaying time!"
Dragon Pact Sorcerer, Dragon-Oath Paladins, Crimson Scaled Conquerors, the Ember Wyvern Legion—all the Empire's elite charged the demon tide.
Light, arrows, dragonflame, and spells crisscrossed the sky. A gap opened in the demon horde's left flank.
"Roar——"
Before the demons could reach the red dragon, beams of holy light blasted them from the sky.
Empire loyalists, celestials, and metallic dragons launched a full assault. Players even blasted their battle soundtracks.