Chapter 544: Divine Punishment
"Jezal Slak—this is not only my terrestrial divine kingdom, but also your burial ground!"
Cassius raised his head high, letting out an ecstatic roar.
He had prepared for this moment of revenge for years.
The hundred-meter-long red dragon flapped his wings midair, stirring a blazing storm atop Thierry Peak, with sparks and flowing flames dancing wildly around his draconic body.
[Elemental Resonance]
[Energy Coordination]
[Imperial Domain: Eruption]
Cassius kept ascending, gathering energy, until the dragon crystal at his chest glowed like a star, the light it emitted so intense that spectators in the Anstica region couldn't open their eyes.
With every breath he took, the sphere of light inside his body would flow through the basal vessels into his heart, transmit to his lungs, and finally accumulate at his throat.
Within dozens of miles around the red dragon, temperatures rose sharply, and the eternal snow of Thierry Peak melted completely, vaporizing into roiling clouds and revealing the dark brown rock beneath.
Under that overwhelming might, the world trembled, and Thierry Peak seemed to bow in submission to the emperor.
"That is..."
Even Jezal Slak sensed the danger and was terrified.
Like divine punishment.
This wasn't just exaggerated rhetoric—Jezal Slak could feel it firsthand.
In His perception, the strike Cassius was preparing was on the same level as the punishments once delivered by gods tens of thousands of years ago.
If taken head-on, even this rare body of Karrikex would perish.
In that moment, Jezal Slak even considered fleeing Thierry Peak to escape the red dragon.
But the thousands-of-meters-high Abyss Wall trembled violently, stars and silver light bursting forth from it, while the heavy black mist grew thinner.
That planar barrier seemed on the verge of collapse.
Jezal Slak knew that if He didn't devour this blazing red dragon now, the Three Gods of Justice would break through the blockade and descend with avatars, and the situation He'd face would become even more dangerous.
Suddenly, the abyssal dragon began shaking His enormous head violently as if something had struck Him.
"No, no, it shouldn't be like this.
The Third Era—no, the Second Era ended with the disappearance of the original gods—no one has been able to create a terrestrial divine kingdom since then!
That damned red dragon is bluffing! He can't hold on much longer."
With that thought, the abyssal dragon roared toward the sky in fury, eyes burning with blazing flames of vengeance.
"Roar—
Cassius, no matter how you managed it, I will devour you! I will carve open your body and dig out your secrets with my own claws!"
Yet when He raised His head to gaze at the red dragon high above, He couldn't see the slightest hint of panic in those light-golden pupils.
All He could see... was divinity.
Flames flickered within Cassius's pale gold vertical pupils as He slowly opened His massive jaws.
Primal Breath.
With a thunderous crack that tore through the air, a blinding beam of light exploded from His mouth, and a terrifying torrent of energy engulfed everything.
The abyssal dragon threw His head back and extended His neck, spewing endless chaotic flames from His rotting maw. The black-red infernal fire surged like a tidal wave, blanketing the earth.
"Boom!"
The two breaths collided midair, causing terrifying explosions and forming smoke clouds hundreds of meters wide.
Black smoke surged, flames splashed, and the continual blasts shook the surrounding mountains.
The chaotic fire tried to disintegrate the opposing breath, reverting it to its most frenzied and primal state, but Cassius's breath carried the essence of order—the power of the Imperial Domain!
Soon, the white-hot pillar of fire pierced through the chaotic hellfire, the swirling black smoke gradually dissipated, replaced by flooding firelight.
"Boom—"
The white-hot pillar of fire tore through the dark tide, descending from the sky like divine punishment, striking the body of the abyssal dragon—more precisely, His head.
"No—"
Jezal Slak let out a shrill wail, turning His head abruptly and releasing the last of His abyssal power.
But His resistance was futile, unable to stop the oncoming breath.
Fortunately, the blinding beam of light only grazed His massive head, but even so, it easily melted the dark-red scales and pierced His left shoulder.
Purple-black dragon blood gushed out, and a charred hole over ten meters wide appeared on His left shoulder, spewing thick black smoke.
Yet the fire pillar suddenly swept sideways and severed His entire left arm. The tens-of-meters-long massive limb and huge claws fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The abyssal dragon had become a "crippled dragon."
Though beneath the churning black smoke, the mutilated part squirmed and regenerated visible new flesh and scales, the reborn body had already lost its original "divinity."
Jezal Slak raised His head and howled in agony, His voice filled with pain, hatred, and venom.
"Cassius—
You dare harm my perfect divine body! Once you've exhausted this power, I will make you taste the most painful torment in existence!
I will make you watch as your own body is bitten and chewed piece by piece..."
Raging black flames burst forth from behind Jezal Slak, sweeping across the sky like a sea tide, imbued with the abyss's power to destroy all.
"Come, Cassius, face me in this fated duel! And I shall personally craft your end!"
Ignoring the wound on His left shoulder, He flapped His broken wings furiously, summoning violent gales as He charged toward the sky to engage the red dragon in melee.
Cassius also spread his wings, tucked in his body, and dove from the sky with unstoppable momentum, shouting like thunder from a clear sky.
"Jezal Slak!
You are far too arrogant! Did you really think I was unprepared for your arrival?"
"Boom!"
Accompanied by a heavy, thunderous crash, the two mountain-sized dragons collided midair.
Instantly, a terrifying shockwave spread outward from their clash, sending wave-like ripples through the sky.
Jezal Slak's body was far larger than the red dragon's. Logically, He should've had an overwhelming advantage in close combat.
But Cassius leveraged the force of his dive, his body radiating with formless law power, and he forcibly knocked back the three-hundred-meter-long abyssal dragon.
Scales flew through the air as the abyssal dragon fell back violently, his colossal body knocked backward in flight.
"Aargh—"
Jezal Slak roared, spewing purple-black blood from his mouth.
Struggling in midair, the abyssal dragon flapped His wings with all His might, barely regaining balance, His murky, deep-set eyes filled with disbelief.
How could it be?
He, the vengeful demon who slumbered in the Astral Realm for millennia, a fusion of ancient dragon flesh and abyssal lord, had actually lost in a clash of strength?