Chapter 672: Dense Body, Incarnate Celestial Body
The sky was burning, and the earth was burning.
One after another, enormous fissures were embedded in the canopy of the sky. Looking up, the entire sky was permeated with an ominous purple glow, from which an endless tide of demons poured forth.
Flames, steel, death...
The entire continent of Atlan was shrouded in the dark clouds of war, with countless demons and soldiers locked in slaughter.
Time flowed beneath a torrential downpour.
The Halden Sky Cities were dispersed across the aerial domain. Now, with the collapse of the Sky Cities, the resulting demon tides were not entirely concentrated in a single area.
East, South, West, North, Center...
Demon armies emerged in all directions.
Sacred Aola was well-prepared. Based on geographical location and the density of the Sky Cities, they had divided the region into four war zones. Each zone was garrisoned with corresponding legions and legendary powerhouses, ensuring they would not lose their composure when the demons launched a full-scale assault.
For now, however,
Aola held the advantage across all fronts.
At the legendary level, Sacred Aola had been established for centuries.
The first batch of hatchlings from the old days had now at least reached their prime. Moreover, thanks to abundant resources and the diligent training of the Aolan dragons themselves, many outstanding individuals had achieved the legendary rank.
The Blue Dragon Heriam, the Red Dragon Kahir, the Green Dragon Ludwig, the Black Dragon Seraphina...
These dragons, who had pledged allegiance back when Aola was still the Clan of Molten Iron, were now each capable of standing on their own. The Emperor's sons, inheriting their father's powerful talents, had become unstoppable after reaching the legendary tier.
Legendary demon generals could gain the upper hand against legendary humans, dwarves, or orcs.
However, they were facing dragons.
In the Southern War Zone.
Blood rain soaked the shattered earth, and charred banners crackled in the scorching gale.
A pure golden dragon figure plunged vertically through a rift in the clouds, smashing into the densest formation of the demon army.
Gabriel Ignas.
Although he had grown up in the dragon domains, he was always clear about the bloodline flowing within him.
Now, Gabriel had come from the dragon domains to aid the Empire.
And it wasn't just him.
Legendary dragons from the Raging Tides Dragon Domain and the Vophal Dragon Domain appeared in Atlan one after another.
Among all the Metal Dragons, Gabriel's scales were the most radiant.
Upon his golden scales shimmered intricate Holy Vow Runes, too fine for the naked eye to discern, flickering unsteadily amidst the gale and blood rain.
"You evil scum who dare to covet the Material Plane!"
"Face the judgment of justice!"
Gabriel spread his wings, and a resplendent holy radiance cascaded from the wing membranes. Where it touched, high-ranking demons screamed and disintegrated like snow under the sun.
The Saint-Dragon had a special advantage against demons.
Gabriel lowered his head, crowned with thorny frills, resembling a Red Dragon's. His golden, vertical pupils swept across the layers of the demon army ahead. Then, he simply folded his wings and charged forward.
Like a golden meteor hurled by a god.
The Gold Dragon's body, carrying an impact force sufficient to shatter steel, plunged headlong into the densest part of the demon formation.
Horned demons had no time to react, their bodies shattered into bone fragments flying through the air. Vulture demons tore at his thick neck with their claws, but their teeth shattered piece by piece upon contacting the Watchful Sacred Oath covering his scales.
"The Conquest Oath and the Oath of Watch?"
"This dragon..."
Aboard a demon warship, a Soul-Judging Demon Sorcerer noticed the golden Saint-Dragon. Its pitch-black eye sockets, devoid of pupils, stared fixedly at the rampaging figure.
The air around it grew viscous from the spell it was concentrating.
Whispers seeped from the air.
Its withered hand slowly rose, fingers like claws, and made a faint grasping motion towards Gabriel.
Grand Soul Rending Technique!
Silently.
A completely invisible thread of curse traversed all the clamor and chaos of the battlefield, shooting towards the Gold Dragon's heart.
It was formless and intangible, a curse woven from pure will and malice, designed to pierce the Oath of Watch and directly attack the soul's origin, causing the Gold Dragon to suffer heart palpitations and stiffness, losing its ability to act.
And on this chaotic battlefield, countless enemies were watching covetously.
Even a few seconds of being controlled were extremely dangerous.
Across the way, Gabriel had just torn a bipedal wyvern-like demon in two at the waist.
As if sensing something, he suddenly turned his head, a brilliant light flashing in his pupils.
Malice Insight!
The curse, which should have been invisible, revealed traces to his eyes.
Just as the curse was about to land, the Gold Dragon raised his right claw. The Spell-Extinguishing Claws closed precisely in the air, stopping at a hair's breadth, as if grasping a tangible entity.
No, not 'as if'.
Under the grip of the Spell-Extinguishing Claws, the intangible curse was forcibly solidified, turning into a writhing, screaming tentacle-like object, struggling desperately in the Gold Dragon's grasp.
The claws closed.
The curse was instantly crushed.
The Gold Dragon grinned, revealing sharp teeth.
Specializing in the Conquest Oath and Oath of Watch, and mastering the Spell-Extinguishing Claws, he was unmatched in both offense and defense. A mere curse had no chance of touching him.
The Demon Sorcerer's body jolted violently, a trickle of black blood seeping from the corner of its mouth.
"Crushed the curse? How is that possible!"
The spell backlash made the demon dizzy.
At the same time, a gust of wind pressed down upon the Gold Dragon.
A four-armed demon general attacked from the flank, four massive blades simultaneously aimed at Gabriel's neck and body, perfectly timed and ruthlessly precise.
But the Saint-Dragon could perfectly detect evil ranks.
Gabriel glanced at this demon general, then his right golden wing suddenly lifted. The holy radiance coalesced into a solid wall of light in an instant, slamming fiercely against it.
The massive blades striking it sent sparks flying everywhere.
Then, the wing surface, wrapped in the radiance of the Oath of Watch, swept across like a city gate, smashing into the Great Demon general.
Crack!
Bones shattered.
The Great Demon flew backward faster than it had come, crashing into a demon commando unit behind, plowing a clear path through it.
His right claw clenched faintly.
Countless Holy Vow Runes surged forth, coalescing in a fraction of a second into a throwing spear longer than his own body.
He hurled the Spear of Conquest.
The golden spear tore through the air, leaving a trail of holy flames that lingered for a long time behind it. Demons in its path, too slow to dodge, were incinerated into ash by the golden flames emanating from the spear's body.
The moment the Soul-Judging Demon Sorcerer looked up, the spear's tip was already in front of its face.
Whoosh!
The Demon Sorcerer vanished instantly.
This was one of its life-saving skills, Phase Shift.
The Spear of Conquest pierced through the afterimage it left, deeply embedding itself into the demon warship. Then, the giant war-beast vermin let out a pained howl as it exploded from within. Golden flames gushed from every crack, turning it into a blazing torch.
The next breath.
The Soul-Judging Demon Sorcerer materialized on another side, separated from the Gold Dragon by a dense army of demons. It panted, still shaken, staring at the demon warship destroyed in a single blow.
Then, space was torn apart.
It wasn't a portal, a phase passage, or any other delicate spatial magic.
The Spell-Extinguishing Claws, in the most brutal and unreasonable manner, ripped space open from the middle. On the other side of the rift was Gabriel's face.
He grinned at the Demon Sorcerer, rows of sharp teeth glinting.
Close at hand.
The next instant, the Gold Dragon's pair of claws crossed the demon army, crossed all distance, defense lines, and obstacles, appearing before the Demon Sorcerer.
The Demon Sorcerer tried to flee again.
But, caught between the two Spell-Extinguishing Claws on either side, space was frozen. Its other types of props and items also failed to work, as if hit by a silence spell.
Claws clapped together.
Boom!
The Demon Sorcerer didn't even have time to scream. Its body, along with the air and dust within the surrounding area, was cleanly crushed to bits by the Gold Dragon's giant claws.
Gabriel withdrew his claws.
He scanned the battlefield, let out a low roar, and his form once again turned into a golden meteor, charging towards the densest concentration of demons.
...
In each war zone, similar scenes were happening simultaneously.
The dragons still rampaged through the demon armies, unstoppable.
In any world, on any plane, legendary dragons were top-tier units. As long as the power level gap wasn't too large, they could completely suppress demon generals.
The dragons of Sacred Aola were the dragons among dragons.
Even the White Dragons possessed an extremely powerful physique, further armored with steel plating and loaded with various magical items, armed to the teeth.
Fighting above their weight class was as easy as eating or drinking; outnumbered, they still held their ground.
And besides the legendary dragons,
some legendary units had also emerged among the various magical beast lords of Aola.
Griffons, snake-leopards, giant eagles, lion-beasts... these magical creatures generally possessed high intelligence, and upon reaching legendary status, became incredibly fierce, rampaging through the sky and land under the leadership of their respective lords.
Legendary humans, dwarves, goblins, etc., were well aware of their own weaknesses.
They did not fight solo. Instead, they closely followed the legendary dragons, operating in units of three, coordinating with their draconic allies in battle.
At the legion level, below legendary, the Atlan side also held the advantage.
Led by the Aola legions and supported by the legions of vassal states, the demon tide was firmly controlled within a certain area, not given the chance to erode and spread.
In the dragon court.
The red iron dragon raised its head. The Eye of Truth pierced through obstacles, swept across the war zone where Gabriel was fighting, and took in his performance entirely.
"Not bad. His use of the Spell-Extinguishing Claws is very proficient."
The red iron dragon nodded in satisfaction.
Garcro and Laria were not on Atlan. Among the Emperor's sons currently participating in the battle, Gabriel's performance was the most outstanding.
After observing for a moment, the red iron dragon shifted his gaze, sweeping his sight across each war zone one by one.
Then, a doubt arose in his mind.
"Where is Asalia planning to break through? Judging by the current situation, the performance of these claws and fangs under his command is quite worrying."
Garoth pondered.
Just then, with the death of a massive number of demons and the rising concentration of Abyssal aura, the fissures embedded in the sky canopy suddenly began to tremble violently.
First was the Eastern War Zone.
The main fissure left after the Sky City explosion seemed to be forcefully pried open from within by an invisible giant hand. Its edges curled and tore, and dark purple energy surged out like a tide.
An enormous demon emerged from within.
Its body flowed with dazzling patterns of magma. When the wings on its back spread, they stirred up a scorching storm, instantly vaporizing the surrounding rain. Every step it took left burning footprints in the void.
A Barlo Flame Demon.
A high-ranking demon of the same race as the Lord of the Flame Prison.
Moreover, this was a Great Demon.
The appearance of the Flame Demon seemed like a signal. The main fissures in the other war zones also began to expand one after another.
In the Southern War Zone, arms as thick as city walls surged out of the fissure.
A six-armed snake demon squeezed out, each of its different arms wielding a different shaped weapon.
From the Western Fissure, only a single, extremely thin shadow slid out, merging into the ubiquitous shadows on the battlefield.
This was an Assassination Demon.
Only the most perceptive creatures could occasionally detect its presence through the anomalous twisting of the air.
Then came the North and Center.
A gaunt Fissure Demon, surrounded by spatial rifts one after another, like countless opening and closing sharp mouths, biting and devouring anything that came close.
A majestic Blood-Lion Demon, its mane like burning blood-red flames, its roar instantly sending surrounding demons into a berserk state.
Barlo Flame Demon, Six-Armed Snake Demon, Assassination Demon, Fissure Demon, Blood-Lion Demon.
Five legendary Great Demons had arrived in the Material Plane nearly simultaneously.
The main fissure in the Eastern War Zone did not calm down even after the Barlo Flame Demon emerged.
Following a blinding dark purple lightning bolt, an Iron-Mounted Demon, encased in Abyssal iron armor, appeared. Its body structure was similar to a centaur, but its entire body was covered in spikes and black stripes. Its face was ferocious, full of fangs.
A total of six legendary Great Demons.
They descended upon the five war zones respectively. The Abyssal offensive suddenly escalated. The demon tide, which had been suppressed by the Aola legions, began to surge anew under the leadership of these legendary Great Demons.
"Where did so many Great Demons come from?"
Seeing the appearance of numerous legendary Great Demons, the red iron dragon furrowed the scales on his brow.
During the previous invasion of the Material Plane, a few Great Demons under the Lord of the Flame Prison had died. Moreover, the number of Great Demons was originally not high.
Additionally, Garoth remembered clearly.
During the battle in the Sulfur Lands, he had only seen four Great Demons, one of which was killed by Halden's Mandate-level powerhouse.
Yet now, six had appeared directly...
"Most likely newly promoted Great Demons. Halden's defeat became their nourishment, fostering their growth."
"Is the Lord of the Flame Prison waiting for these Great Demons to grow?"
Garoth's gaze swept over the Great Demons, his mind pondering.
The appearance of so many Great Demons was somewhat unexpected.
But still, nothing to be overly concerned about.
Roar!
A violent dragon roar sounded. The figure of a dark silver dragon appeared in the central sky. The Chrome Dragon Claudia had set her sights on the largest, most muscular Blood-Lion Great Demon.
"Succulent flesh, brittle bones, smooth organs..."
"Ah, my fangs are already aching with hunger! Let me take just one bite, just one!"
Saliva dripping from her mouth, the Chrome Dragon charged towards the Blood-Lion Great Demon, her eyes filled with naked greed. The fangs between her upper and lower jaws glinted coldly, as if treating a Great Demon as a dish on a plate, ready to feast.
At the same time.
A radiant pillar of light pierced the dark clouds, descending upon the Southern War Zone.
The massive Aola Dragon Spirit spread its wings, its shadow instantly engulfing the Six-Armed Snake Demon.
This Dragon Spirit, which had long resided in the Sanctuary, grew stronger alongside Aola. It was now a Mandate-level unit, and extremely powerful even among Mandate-level beings, likely stronger than a normal Mandate great dragon.
"Thalamond, you may go as well."
The red iron dragon turned his head, looking towards the elven Grand Knight, who already had one hand on his sword hilt.
About two years ago, this Mandate Knight had arrived from the Arotala Continent.
He came to Atlan in the name of Nausil to aid Sacred Aola, contributing his strength to resist the demons.
As for why no immortals had come...
Thalamond's answer was that their immortals had encountered some trouble and were temporarily unable to extricate themselves.
"Punishing evil, guarding justice and order, that is precisely the duty of a knight."
"I can hardly wait."
The elf stepped forward, soaring straight into the clouds, his sights set on the Assassination Demon.
The Assassination Demon was an assassin among demons, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. Before it struck, it was hard for legendary beings of the same tier to detect its trace.
However, Thalamond adhered to the knight's code. Using his faith as his eyes, he possessed an incredibly sharp perception of evil.
The Assassination Demon could not escape his perception.
But there were still three Great Demons.
Reinhardt had entered secluded cultivation, attempting a breakthrough to Immortal, with no movement yet. The Green Dragon Cerora had entered slumber and could not come to assist. Sacred Aola's foundations were still not deep enough; there were no more Mandate-level fighters left to deal with them.
"Should I personally go and eliminate these Great Demons?"
Garoth thought.
It wouldn't waste too much of his time or energy.
But in this intense struggle between their respective forces, if the Emperor himself was forced to act first, it would mean being outmaneuvered by the Lord of the Flame Prison, allowing the opponent to gain more initiative.
Suddenly, a chuckling, casual whisper entered Garoth's ears.
"Oh, you're all fighting quite fiercely."
"Garoth, since I happen to still be on Atlan, these ugly things are disturbing my peace. I want to kill a few for fun. You don't mind, do you?"
It was the voice of Hitherfell, the White Scourge.
Garoth replied simply and directly, "Mm, I don't mind."
The White Scourge's voice sounded again, "Good. I haven't shown my true skills in a long time. Watch my performance."
As the White Scourge's voice still echoed in the red iron dragon's ears, the temperature near the main fissures of the Northeast and two war zones had already begun to drop.
The first to react was the Flame Demon.
This massive demon, whose entire body flowed with magma, took a step. The burning footprint it left underfoot suddenly solidified.
It looked down and found that the sky it was stepping on had, at some point, formed a thin layer of ice crystals, which were now climbing up along its thick ankles.
The Flame Demon paid it no mind.
Huff!
Flames erupted from its body, attempting to melt these uninvited guests.
But what made its pupils contract was that the moment the flames touched the ice crystals, instead of melting, they seemed to be devoured.
The spread of the ice layer accelerated suddenly, climbing up its legs, waist, and belly, all the way to its chest.
"What kind of ice is this?"
It growled low, forcibly shattering the ice crystals on its body. The surface of its skin was also torn in the process, blood flowing out.
At the same time, a light laugh came from the high heavens.
The Flame Demon suddenly looked up.
It saw countless ice-blue arcs of light interweaving and taking shape in the high sky, constructing a macro-level, unimaginably vast magical formation outline between the clouds and fissures.
An elegant figure emerged from the center of the formation.
Among the dragons, her physique was not the most powerful, nor as muscular as the Chrome Dragon. But when she spread her wings and her entire body's dragon scales began to shimmer, all onlookers felt a sense of dizziness.
Because every inch of her scales was densely covered in inscribed runes.
Countless magical runes swirled ceaselessly across the surface of her scales, covering her entire body from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail. If a knowledgeable spellcaster were to observe closely, they would be stunned to find that these runes encompassed spells of virtually all schools and all elements.
The runes lit up.
Various colors flickered on the scales. This Wanfa Dragon no longer bore any resemblance to a White Dragon at all.
The Barlo Flame Demon reacted first.
It roared, spreading its wings. The magma surging on its massive flame sword emitted a blinding red light as it charged straight towards the White Dragon.
The Flame Demon was incredibly fast. Its burning body left a charred trail in the air. Before the sword's edge even arrived, the scorching wave of heat had already vaporized all the ice crystals in its path.
The White Dragon did not look sideways, did not shift her gaze.
Hum!
Three different colored lights shone from her neck.
They wound and twisted through her scales, stringing together rune after rune, forming different colored runic pathways on her scales.
No incantation was needed.
The rune array on her scales resonated with the super-massive magic formation suspended in the sky.
In an instant, thousands of ice spurs grew from the void, simultaneously stabbing towards the Flame Demon's limbs, wings, horns, and sword hilt.
The Flame Demon roared, swinging its sword to break a large number of ice spurs, but more immediately filled the gaps.
Cluster after cluster overlapped, freezing the Barlo Flame Demon within an iceberg.
The Iron-Mounted Great Demon charged from the flank.
Its four hooves shattered the void. The spear in the Great Demon's hand was wrapped in corrosive dark purple energy, thrusting towards the White Dragon.
But the White Dragon's magic formation was still spinning.
Of the three rune arrays she had constructed earlier, one was used to deal with the Flame Demon. The other two were activated almost simultaneously.
Without warning.
An extremely regular circle appeared beneath the Iron-Mounted Great Demon.
Its charge speed suddenly decelerated to one-thousandth of its original pace.
Its four hooves lifted and fell in the air at an agonizingly slow speed. The spear tip advanced inch by inch. The ferocious expression on the knight's face was stretched into a comical slow-motion picture.
At the same time, the Fissure Great Demon appeared behind the White Dragon, launching a sneak attack.
The spatial rifts surrounding its body, like countless mouths, bit down towards the White Dragon's back.
But Hitherfell had already predicted its sneak attack.
A composite Banishment Array materialized, perfectly encapsulating the Fissure Great Demon. Moreover, this spell wasn't targeting the Great Demon itself. The Banishment Array violently reacted upon contact with the spatial rifts, causing them to collapse one after another.
The Fissure Great Demon hastily retreated, not daring to approach rashly.
"Easy, easy. One at a time."
The White Dragon's gaze swept over the Great Demons, speaking casually.
Then, the Flame Demon evaporated the iceberg, the Iron-Mounted Demon charged out of the secret art zone, and the rifts around the Fissure Demon re-materialized. But before they could reorganize their attack, one formation after another nested around each other, overwhelming them once more.
There were gaps between Mandate-level beings as well.
Facing three alone, the Wanfa Dragon still handled it with ease.
And this was clearly not her limit.
"A magic-obsessed dragon capable of growing to the limit of the Mandate realm is indeed formidable. I probably couldn't have beaten her when I was at the crown level."
Garoth watched this scene, thinking to himself.
Hitherfell was clearly not using her full power.
After a magic-obsessed dragon expends its spells, it must undergo the painful process of re-inscribing runes. She wasn't a part of Sacred Aola, so it was already more than enough that she was willing to help out now.
The battle continued.
At both the legendary and sub-legendary levels, Sacred Aola had the upper hand.
However, the demon legions seemed endless, continuously surging out from the numerous Abyssal Rifts suspended in the sky. Moreover, with the death of demons, the concentration of Abyssal aura kept rising.
Although Sacred Aola had the upper hand, they had not yet reached the point of being able to expel all the demons.
What could be foreseen was:
As time passed and the stalemate persisted, the Abyssal Rifts would grow larger, the demons would become stronger, and the scales of victory would gradually tilt.
And so it went.
Time passed, reaching an hour later.
Garoth had been waiting very patiently.
He realized that the Lord of the Flame Prison was probably waiting for him to make a move in order to achieve some goal. But he also couldn't just keep waiting indefinitely.
"As the attacker, the Lord of the Flame Prison naturally holds the initiative."
"Since that's the case..."
"I'll grant his wish."
The red iron dragon looked up at a massive fissure, spreading his wings to their full extent.
The next instant, his colossal body shot straight into the clouds, arriving between the layers of clouds. The purple Abyssal aura clustered around him, making him appear as if he were the ruler emerging from the Abyss itself.
Then, the great dragon raised his pair of massive arms.
Buzzzzz!
A low, continuous hum resonated from between the red iron dragon's claws.
Dragon Qi, thick as liquid magma, flowed along Garoth's thick arms, converged, and finally intertwined, coiled, compressed above his head, condensing into a pure, massive dragonqi bomb.
He locked onto a main Abyssal Rift.
Above the Central War Zone, the most unstable rift.
At the same time, continue west from the west coast of Atlan.
The Raging Sea, the Raging Tides Dragon Domain.
Beneath the pitch-black, dark water, a massive canyon was collapsing.
Huge boulders tumbled from both sides. The seabed sediment was churned into a turbid undercurrent. Cracks on the crustal fault zone spread outwards at a visible speed.
Meanwhile, a super-massive Abyssal Rift was forming inch by inch at the deepest part of the canyon.
It almost tore the entire submarine canyon in two. From deep within the rift came a low, deep roar, as if something was crawling up from an extremely distant, deep place.
Shkrrr!
A sword.
A giant sword burning with magma.
The sword tip pierced the surface of the rift, carrying hot Abyssal matter and boiling seawater as it surged out. The sword's body was covered in twisted Abyssal inscriptions.
Then another hand.
An arm covered in magma and flames reached out from the rift. Its sharp claws deeply hooked onto the rocks at the rift's edge, forcibly tearing the opening wider.
The dragons stationed nearby had long sensed something was wrong.
The temperature of the seawater rose sharply. The originally cold ocean currents became scalding hot. A dark purple light continuously permeated from the canyon's direction.
The first to sense the crisis was a legendary Gold Dragon.
Instantly, he wanted to lead the dragons to block the demons.
But when he saw the giant sword thrusting out of the rift, and the scale of the rift itself, he immediately realized that going there would only mean certain death.
"Retreat!"
"All retreat! Immediately send a message to Atlan!"
"A demon lord, a Demon King is coming!"
The dragons stationed here all spread their wings, twisting their massive bodies, and rapidly ascending towards the sea surface.
During this time, several dragons turned their heads to glance back, witnessing the giant sword thrusting from the rift, and the seabed crust at the rift's edge that was constantly expanding and fracturing.
Meanwhile, on Atlan.
In just a few breaths, the dragonqi bomb between Garoth's arms had become as magnificent as the blazing sun.
The dragonqi bomb left his claws.
What followed was a silent moment. Time seemed to stretch. All the clamor, roars, and clashing of blades on the surrounding battlefield lost their meaning in that instant.
The massive sphere plunged into the rift.
Then, the world was engulfed in a blinding light.
There was no sound. The sound was incinerated.
The space above the war zone, including that main rift, along with the countless smaller cracks around it, the demons surging out from within, and the surging tide of Abyssal aura, were all evaporated completely.
A massive void appeared in the sky.
This was the remnant left after space itself was pierced. Its edges were jagged, as if a large chunk had been bitten off by a beast. The dark, deep color of the void was exposed from the gap. Invisible matter was slowly mending and filling this wound.
The rift had vanished, along with everything around it.
However, the red iron dragon paid no attention to his own achievement.
As if sensing something, his vertical pupils narrowed, and he suddenly turned his head.
The Eye of Truth pierced through layers of space, crossing distance, matter, and the intervening seawater, staring straight into the distance.
The deep-water canyon.
In that short span of time, the rift expanded at an inconceivable speed.
A foot stepped onto the shattered seabed, the water roaring. Sand and stone melted into a glassy substance upon contact with the intense heat. Then came the other foot.
The Lord of the Flame Prison, clad in iron armor, had completely stepped out of the Abyssal Rift.
The Lord of the Flame Prison, Asalia.
He had descended unhindered on this side, completely unscathed.
And in the sky above Atlan.
The red iron dragon, who had just launched the dragonqi bomb, maintained his turning posture.
His gaze pierced through the thick water layer and rolling undercurrents, capturing the silhouette rising from the seabed rift.
The Lord of the Flame Prison looked up at the same time.
He raised the Greatsword of Execution in his hand, the sword tip pointing diagonally at the dragon in the Atlan sky. The burning flames within his eye sockets locked eyes with the dragon's pupils from across the distance.
"Scarlet Emperor Cangxing."
"Your kingdom will become the ashes beneath my blade."
The Lord of the Flame Prison murmured, unconcerned whether the dragon in the distant sky could hear him. Then, with a flap of his wings, he shot straight towards the sea surface.
Behind him, the demon legion gushed out from the rift.
In the sky above Atlan.
The red iron dragon narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the Lord of the Flame Prison.
"I leave this place to you all."
He said.
Without waiting for the Aolan legends to respond, the red iron dragon extended his sharp claws, tore through space, and entered the rift, vanishing from the spot instantly.
The Raging Sea.
Above the sea surface, the storm raged fiercely.
The clouds pressed low against the sea. Rain poured down in torrents. Waves, stacked by the gale into moving mountains of water, collided and shattered against each other, splashing up sheets of white foam.
There was no clear boundary between the sky and the sea.
Giant waves surged one after another. The crests were high enough to swallow city walls. The troughs were deep enough to expose the seabed rocks. The entire Raging Sea was roaring, like an enraged primordial beast.
Just then, a rift was torn open in the midst of the storm.
A rift appeared out of thin air above the sea surface, its edges burning with unstable sparks. A dragon's claw, covered in smooth scales, emerged from the rift, tearing it open wide enough for a dragon to pass through.
The red iron dragon came through.
He hovered in mid-air, looking down.
Beneath the sea surface, a dark purple light was surging upward, growing brighter and closer.
Boom!
A giant water pillar over a hundred meters in diameter shot up into the sky. Inside the pillar were scalding steam and dark purple Abyssal energy, shooting straight towards the cloud-covered sky, blasting a massive hole in the clouds.
Scorching steam rolled within the hole, forming an expanding mushroom-shaped cloud.
At the same time, a colossal figure, its body covered in flowing magma patterns, appeared with it.
When the wings on its back spread, they carried a massive amount of seawater. The water droplets, before even falling, were vaporized by the high temperature, forming a thick white steam curtain around him.
The Lord of the Flame Prison had fully ascended above the sea surface.
Behind him, a giant whirlpool slowly turned on the sea surface. At the whirlpool's center was the super-massive rift buried deep in the seabed canyon.
Countless demons were surging out from the whirlpool.
Some broke through the water to fly into the sky, while others moved along the ocean currents towards the coastline.
At the same time, the Raging Tides Dragon Domain activated the Raging Tide Magic Formation. One after another, undying water dragon avatars materialized and clashed with the demon legions.
But the battle between the water dragons and demons was not noteworthy.
They seemed like a backdrop.
A dragon and a demon faced each other across the rolling waves and flying rain curtains amidst the storm.
One side was a burning dark red, the other a deep crimson. The storm howled between them, lightning danced in the sky.
The entire Raging Sea domain seemed to have become a massive arena.
All things in heaven and earth were their audience.
"All this trouble, this feint to the east while attacking the west, using six Great Demons and countless rifts to hold back my legions, all just so you could crawl out of this gutter here."
The red iron dragon looked down upon the Lord of the Flame Prison, speaking unhurriedly.
"This fits my impression of demons perfectly."
"Filthy as maggots, despicable as vermin."
Upon hearing this, the Lord of the Flame Prison's expression did not change.
He even looked up and smiled, revealing sharp teeth.
"Are you trying to anger me?"
"But insults from an enemy are like praise. I'll take your words as a compliment."
He stepped forward. The seawater beneath him rolled even more violently. The Greatsword of Execution slowly rose at his side, its tip pointing at the red iron dragon's head.
"Garoth Ignas."
"Master of Sacred Aola, Undying Dragon, Scarlet Emperor Cangxing... Ha, you might think demons are foolish and witless, but if you underestimate my intellect again, you will pay a heavy price."
"The fall of your human empire was a lesson."
He spoke, word by word, with a certain sense of superiority.
There was two seconds of silence.
Suddenly, the red iron dragon let out a low laugh, still clearly audible in the storm.
"Intellect?"
"To manifest yourself completely on the Material Plane, you racked your brains, went to great lengths, using six Great Demons as cover, sacrificing an Abyssal Rift..."
He lowered his head slightly, gazing at the Flame Demon.
The distance between them seemed to have shortened abruptly at that moment.
"What you don't know is that I have been looking forward to a hearty, satisfying battle from beginning to end."
"I don't resist your arrival. I don't fear your complete form."
The corner of his mouth slowly curled back, revealing a mouthful of ferocious fangs.
"Quite the opposite."
"I welcome it very much."
He raised his right claw, pointing at himself, then at the Lord of the Flame Prison opposite him. "In my eyes, everything you've done before seems like... fighting a shadow with your wits, a joke on yourself."
The Lord of the Flame Prison fell silent.
His expression was obscured by his heavy iron armor and burning flames, difficult to discern. But the flames around him suddenly surged more violently for a moment.
That was enough to speak volumes.
Suddenly, his tone shifted slightly, cold and hard as iron as he spoke: "In our Abyss, there is a saying that has long been passed down—a true demon will use the strength to tear a dragon apart to crush an ant."
He tightened his grip on the sword hilt, the flames in his eye sockets solidifying somewhat.
"I know you, Garoth."
"I know you always grow stronger through battle, evolving in the blood of your enemies, thereby defeating many powerful foes. Many beings stronger than you ultimately became the steps beneath your claws for you to grow stronger."
"But..."
The Lord of the Flame Prison took a step forward.
"Since I know this, I won't give you the chance to grow stronger."
He raised his giant sword and stroked the blade with his left hand.
The Abyssal inscriptions on the sword lit up one by one. The dark purple light intertwined with the dark red of the magma, casting a grotesque, shifting glow on the surrounding sea surface.
"I will end you here."
"Without giving you any respite, any space to grow."
The storm on the sea grew fiercer. Rain slanted down. Thunder boomed. Waves surged and piled between the two beings, yet never dared to cross the invisible boundary.
Garoth watched the Lord of the Flame Prison.
Then, his voice fell from on high, calm and firm.
"Then, come and try."
"Use your full strength, use all your intellect and power, use all the means you have accumulated over thousands of years, to stop me from growing stronger, to stop me from surpassing you in battle, to stop me from turning you into yet another stepping stone on my path of evolution."
"For that, I will be watching with great anticipation."
With a sudden powerful beat of his wings, his massive body shot straight into the sky, blasting a huge hole through the thick cloud layer. As his body rose, the dragon's form began to change.
Starlight State!
Centered on the red iron dragon, lightning and Dragon Qi interwove into a perfect sphere.
At the same time, the dragon's body shape began to transform.
His spine extended, his waist narrowed slightly. All the gaps between his dragon scales quickly disappeared. The scale armor seemed to transform into a completely integrated, special armor. The muscle groups within his body also rapidly multiplied and grew.
Overlord Form!
The red iron dragon had directly activated his Overlord Form.
However, throughout this entire process, his body size did not swell; instead, it began to shrink inch by inch. Every scale on his body also became denser and smoother.
[Dense Body.]
[You have endured extreme supergravity training on a white dwarf day and night. Your body is undergoing transformation. The effect of increasing your size will be reversed. Your body density and various attributes will increase significantly as a result.]
This was a brand new trait that Garoth had forged through his unrelenting training, day after day.
Its appearance was somewhat unconventional.
Traits are usually forged during key leaps in life level, or they condense and sublimate. The records of inheritance have never documented anyone being able to forge new traits like he could.
However, this situation was fairly normal for Garoth.
Furthermore, the emergence of Dense Body created one problem.
His Mutant Form was affected.
After densification, he couldn't easily switch to his mutant form. Therefore, he used his strongest Super Flash Overlord State right from the start.
The crimson dragon changed direction, looking down from on high. Like a falling star plunging to the earth, he dove towards the Lord of the Flame Prison.
The storm was torn apart in an instant.
The sound of dragon wings cutting through the air was like the entire sky was collapsing.
The Lord of the Flame Prison looked up at the crimson figure falling from above, feeling the overwhelming sense of pressure. The sea beneath him was also caving in and sinking from it.
But his expression remained unchanged.
"I told you, I won't give you the chance to grow stronger."
Asalia murmured inwardly, decisively activating his own Potency.
Immortal beings were not truly completely immortal. Each use of Potency consumed them to some extent, so it was usually reserved for the most critical moments.
But Asalia knew very well that dealing with this dragon required a swift victory.
So, he prepared to directly use his trump card.
"[Where my flames reach is my domain; within my domain, I am the king!]"
Scorched Domain!
In an instant, heaven and earth turned upside down.
Centered on the Lord of the Flame Prison, endless flames surged forth, burning out of thin air. The seawater turned dark red at an inconceivable speed, then directly turned into bubbling magma.
The next second, Asalia vanished from his spot without any warning.
Boom!
The red iron dragon smashed through the air, plunging headfirst into the area that had turned into magma.
Soon, the dragon's body came to a stop within the lava.
The dark red liquid wrapped around his limbs and wings. The scorching magma seemed to possess its own will, constantly climbing upwards, trying to drag him deeper.
The red iron dragon flapped his wings, clearing a brief pocket of space in the surrounding magma. The wave of heat rushed towards him.
In that instant.
On his right side.
The Lord of the Flame Prison's figure appeared there without any warning, as if he had been in that spot from the very beginning.
The Greatsword of Execution swept horizontally. The magma on both sides of the sword's edge was split into two surging walls of liquid.
Garoth's vertical pupils contracted sharply.
He didn't have time to turn around, but his right claw was already moving. In a ten-thousandth of a breath, it swung back towards the spot where the Lord of the Flame Prison had appeared.
The moment the claw tips intersected with the sword's edge.
The Lord of the Flame Prison's body suddenly flickered.
It was an extremely brief and strange offset, as if his body had been temporarily removed from this layer of space, escaping the grasp of the Spell-Extinguishing Claws.
Then, his body flashed, and he closed in.
This time was faster than before.
The Greatsword of Execution was raised high above his head. The magma surging on the blade was compressed into an extremely thin, blazing white line of fire as it swung down.
The horizontal slash turned into a downward chop, heavy and powerful. The blade split towards the red iron dragon's head.
The momentum seemed intent on cleaving the red iron dragon in two right down the middle.
Too fast.
The red iron dragon could only twist his body, barely managing to dodge.
Crack!
The sword edge grazed across the breastplate.
Scales shattered.
Deep cracks spread outward from the point of impact of the sword edge. Then came the sound of skin and flesh tearing, muffled yet clear.
The scorching sword edge shattered the breastplate, cut through the flesh, and continued downward, carving a huge wound across Garoth's chest. At the edges of the wound, Abyssal energy continuously corroded inward, grinding against the dragon's bloodflame, emitting a fine sizzling sound.
"Unnaturally fast, and without any spatial reaction."
Garoth murmured inwardly.
Pain and injury did not panic him. His mind raced at high speed, maintaining calm and rationality.
The dragon retreated rapidly, spreading his wings to try and create distance. But the Lord of the Flame Prison gave him no chance. His body flickered again, appearing to Garoth's left rear. The giant sword swept horizontally, aiming for his waist.
Garoth twisted his body, his left claw swinging out.
This time, his claw tips perceived a hint of solid contact, but then that contact vanished. The moment his claws touched it, the Lord of the Flame Prison phase-shifted again, appearing directly above him.
The giant sword descended.
Garoth strained to turn his head. The sword edge grazed the spiky frills on the side of his neck, shearing off two spikes and bringing with it a patch of shattered scales. The molten energy attached to the sword blade left a charred burn mark on his neck.
Then came a series of fierce attacks.
The Lord of the Flame Prison's movement method within the lava completely defied common sense.
His every disappearance and reappearance had no warning, revealing no openings.
The giant sword either slashed horizontally, chopped downward, stabbed, or cut. The magma and Abyssal energy churned up by the sword body interwove into arcs of light, leaving more and more wounds on the red iron dragon.
Huff!
The red iron dragon beat both wings, charging out from the lava ocean.
However, this did not change anything.
In the sky filled with ash and spontaneously burning flames, the Lord of the Flame Prison maintained his previous state.
Shkrrr!
A sword cut open the dragon's scales, leaving a huge wound.
But the red iron dragon, through analyzing the previous attacks, predicted and turned. His tail, wrapped in the power to shatter everything, slammed towards him.
The speed of this counterattack was incredibly fast, surpassing previous efforts.
Yet still, it did not exceed the Lord of the Flame Prison's reaction. His body flickered, completely avoiding the tail whip.
On the sea surface, the storm grew fiercer.
But the giant waves were completely swallowed by the magma. Centered on the Lord of the Flame Prison, the surrounding sea area had completely turned into a surging pool of lava. The dark red currents constantly churned, bubbles rising and bursting, releasing a scorching sulfurous aura.
The falling rain was completely vaporized before even reaching above the lava pool, forming a dense layer of steam clouds.
The red iron dragon steadied himself.
The exchange had only lasted a short time, but the wounds on his body were already too numerous to count.
He glanced down at the sea surface.
The sea had become an ocean of lava, and the Raging Tides Dragon Domain seemed like an isolated island, precarious.
Garoth did not hesitate. He sped away from the direction of the Raging Tides Dragon Domain. On one hand, it was to prevent this dragon domain from being destroyed. On the other, it was to try and break free from the domain created by the Lord of the Flame Prison.
"Trying to flee? There is no place for you to hide."
The Lord of the Flame Prison materialized, his body crossing the entire boundary with each flicker. The Scorched Domain also shifted with him, always encompassing the red iron dragon.
"Within my domain, I am the butcher, and you are merely the lamb waiting to be slaughtered."
Asalia said.
In the burning sky, he was everywhere, and everything was his eyes, ears, skin... No movement within the Scorched Domain could escape his perception.
However, Asalia was still amazed by the red iron dragon's body.
The Flame Demon was a demon whose racial stats were not inferior to dragons.
Each of Asalia's blows could severely wound or even directly kill an Immortal human. Yet, after landing so many hits on the red iron dragon, they only left behind many shocking, but not particularly heavy, wounds.
"His body is too hard."
"Unless I hit a vital point, it seems my attacks can't even seriously injure him."
He thought.
And most crucially, although the increase wasn't large, he could clearly feel that under his attacks, this dragon's body was becoming slightly stronger.
How much time had passed?
The Lord of the Flame Prison thought he had already overestimated the dragon before him, but this speed of growth was still somewhat beyond his expectations.
He must be killed in a short time!
At this thought, a fierce, murderous look flashed in Asalia's eyes, a ruthless expression appearing on his face.
Huff!
The flames on his body surged and flickered violently, turning pitch black inch by inch.
At the same time, he extended his hand, aiming it at the red iron dragon from across the distance.
His hand suddenly clenched.
Black flames burned out of thin air, enveloping the red iron dragon's entire body. They insinuated themselves everywhere, burning his body relentlessly. Even with the red iron dragon's resistance, he felt an intense burning pain. His scales began to carbonize at a visible speed.
Scorched Domain: Unquenchable Flames!
Sacrificing his own life force, he summoned the never-extinguishing Black Flames. They cannot be extinguished, cannot be dodged, cannot be weakened. They will only dissipate when the life of either the summoner or the one being burned ends. There is no other possibility.
Asalia rarely used the Unquenchable Flames.
But once he used it, it meant that either he or his enemy must die. It was a fight to the death, with no other option.
"Scarlet Emperor Cangxing."
"Taste the feeling of being gradually turned to ash."
Asalia's body was covered in Black Flames, but he was not burned as severely as the red iron dragon.
His body flickered, vanishing from the spot instantly.
Over there, Garoth paused, the scales on his brow slightly furrowed. He could feel the potency of these Black Flames. He tried to suppress them with Dragon Qi, but could not shake or reduce them in the slightest.
Moreover, although his scales could withstand them for a short time,
these Black Flames were insidious, following the wounds on his body to rapidly invade his interior, trying to destroy and burn his body from both inside and out.
"At this rate, I'll be burned to death first."
Garoth made an immediate decision and directly activated his Shining Form.
Hum!
A brilliant golden light surged from within the red iron dragon, like a layer of flowing molten gold covering his entire body.
Wherever the light passed, the carbonized layer on the scale surface peeled off inch by inch, revealing the smooth, mirror-like new scale surface beneath.
Under the combined pressure of the Black Flames' burning and the golden light film, the dense wounds quickly contracted, closed, and healed. Muscles reconnected, cracks in bones were filled, leaving only faint golden lines flowing across the scale surface.
The Black Flames still burned on him, but the rate of scale carbonization slowed down noticeably.
At the same time, his size shrank.
His spine retracted segment by segment. The wing membranes folded and narrowed. Shoulder width decreased. Waist and abdomen tightened. His originally massive body, over tens of meters long, compressed at a visible speed within the golden light's embrace, finally stabilizing at around twenty meters.
It was more than half its previous size.
Moreover, every reduction in volume was accompanied by a surge in density.
There were no longer any gaps between the scales. The surface was so smooth it was nearly mirror-like, reflecting the surging lava and burning sky canopy, reflecting the image of the Lord of the Flame Prison close at hand.
"Die!"
Asalia growled low. The sword edge, wreathed in Black Flames, fell, chopping towards the red iron dragon's body. The strike was precise in its landing point and cunning in its angle, enough to sever the dragon's body.
However, the sword edge deflected before touching the scales.
An invisible force field on the surface of the red iron dragon's scales twisted everything around it. The sword edge slid away along the tangent of the force field, barely scraping across the scale surface, leaving only a shallow mark.
The Lord of the Flame Prison's pupils contracted sharply.
He withdrew his sword and retreated, his body flickering, preparing to readjust his position.
But this time, the trajectory of his flicker deviated.
He was supposed to reappear thirty meters behind the red iron dragon for another attack, but was pulled by an invisible force mid-way. His actual landing point was offset by about five meters.
Five meters.
For a twenty-meter-long dragon, it was within arm's reach.
Garoth did not waste this opportunity.
The moment the Lord of the Flame Prison's form solidified, he twisted his waist and abdomen. His tail, carrying all the kinetic energy of his dense body, swept across.
Smack!
The tail solidly hit the Lord of the Flame Prison's side waist.
In an instant, the body covered in Abyssal armor dented, cracks spreading outward from the point of impact.
The Lord of the Flame Prison's body was sent flying diagonally, leaving a dark red trail of lava in its flight path, tumbling incessantly in mid-air.
The red iron dragon pressed the attack.
But the next instant, the Lord of the Flame Prison's body flickered, creating distance while correcting his unbalanced posture.
He steadied himself. Magma-like blood flowed from his collapsed and twisted body.
Clearly, this blow had dealt him significant damage.
However, the Lord of the Flame Prison's Potency was not weak. It could activate special mechanistic effects. His body was also quite resilient. Having been directly struck by the Dense Body in Shining Form, yet not having his body smashed outright, was testament to that.
He was indeed a high-ranking demon.
If not for the trait [Giant Slayer], Garoth suspected that the damage from this blow would have been even lower.
The lava surged.
The Lord of the Flame Prison temporarily sutured the wound, coldly watching the red iron dragon.
He didn't say much.
The flames surged, and the Flame Demon's figure vanished again.
This time, it was even faster. The interval between flickers was compressed to imperceptibility. He appeared directly above Garoth. The Greatsword of Execution, carrying rolling Black Flames, chopped straight down.
Garoth's sharp claws reached out.
The moment the sword edge touched the scales, it deflected again.
But the deviation was much smaller this time.
The Lord of the Flame Prison had already adjusted the angle of his wrist and the direction of his force upon contact, calculating the offset. The sword edge scraped along the edge of the scales and cut in, opening a shallow bloody gash.
The Black Flames seeped inward along the wound.
The red iron dragon stepped back.
The Lord of the Flame Prison flickered again, appearing behind him, and this time the position barely shifted.
Garoth swung his claw back.
His claw tips met empty air. The Lord of the Flame Prison had already appeared on the other side.
The battle resumed in the sky.
The Lord of the Flame Prison wasn't fighting relying solely on power.
He could also think.
The first few sword strikes were still largely deflected, leaving only shallow injuries. But after a dozen or so strikes, he had become familiar with the pattern and magnitude of the twist deflection.
The slashes were no longer deflected.
The Black Flame edge, though unable to severely wound the dragon in a single blow, could still tear through scales and create deep wounds.
The wounds themselves were secondary.
The black, unquenchable flames continuously surged in through the wounds, rapidly destroying the red iron dragon's body.
Garoth's flesh and scales constantly carbonized, his injuries worsening, but his movements did not slow down.
His wings spread, claws swung, tail swept.
The two figures intersected, collided, separated, and clashed again beneath the dark red sky.
After the Lord of the Flame Prison figured out the special deflection effect produced by the Dense Body, he still held the upper hand.
However, although the red iron dragon's wounds were increasing, and parts of his body were constantly carbonizing, his various attributes were still improving. His body's toughness grew stronger, and the rate of carbonization slowed down.
Traits like Battle Dragon and Born from Death were all working frantically.
"Asalia, it seems you lack the power to kill me quickly."
After one exchange of attacks, the red iron dragon said in a low voice.
He had not yet entered his optimal state.
But he was approaching it.
Although the Lord of the Flame Prison wanted a swift victory, reality dictated that he could not slay the red iron dragon outright. And as time passed, the red iron dragon was constantly growing stronger, the gap between them rapidly closing.
The Lord of the Flame Prison sensed this.
"Since you seek your own death, I will graciously grant your wish."
He said, while creating distance.
Asalia had long been determined to go all out.
However, using Potency often required certain preconditions; it wasn't a matter of doing whatever one wished. It required a 'warm-up' to maximize its effect.
Now, the warm-up was complete.
The Lord of the Flame Prison held his giant sword horizontally before him. The black flames on his body suddenly surged and burned furiously, melting all the armor the Flame Demon wore, revealing his demonic body, covered in cracks like scorched earth.
Then, the black flames turned inward, compressed, and attached themselves to the sword blade.
On the edge of the Greatsword of Execution, the Black Flames condensed into a near-solid coating, dark and lusterless.
Danger!
Garoth was instantly on alert.
His honed danger sense warned him that he could not afford the slightest slack in the coming moments.
So, the red iron dragon let out a low roar.
The light surged.
He did not hesitate, activating Double Radiant.
Hum!
The bloodflame and golden light film merged on the red iron dragon's body, transforming into a deep, subdued rose-gold radiance that seeped out from between the scales, enveloping his entire dragon form.
His horned crown began to grow.
The spiky frills on his head extended forward, curved, and branched. Intricate patterns emerged on the metallic horn branches, cascading backward along the forehead bone like a solidified waterfall, falling upon the sides of his neck.
At the same time, his body further contracted.
The original twenty-meter length compressed again. The spine retracted segment by segment. Ribs pressed inward. Shoulder blades sank. The wing membranes folded to the extreme. The scales on his body layered and fit together during the compression, forming a seamless armor.
Finally, his length settled at around fifteen to sixteen meters.
Garoth had had this kind of size when he wasn't even a young dragon.
It felt as if he had returned to his youth.
At the same time, the quality of the red iron dragon's entire set of scales had completely changed.
Each dragon scale was as smooth as a mirror. The rose-gold surface reflected everything around it: the lava, the Black Flames, the dark clouds, the storm... all images twisted and folded on the scale surface.
The wounds.
Those dense wounds were squeezed, narrowed, and closed during the contraction process. Skin and muscle re-adhered under the pressure of densification.
The Black Flames still burned on his body, but it was no longer a serious concern.
Garoth looked down at himself, feeling his current state, and was immensely surprised.
Double Radiant was a life-risking skill. Moreover, the Dense Body trait had only appeared recently. This was also the first time he had manifested this state.
But he felt wonderful.
As if he, too, had turned into an incredibly dense, special celestial body, with every inch of muscle so heavy and tight it was unimaginable.
At the same time, Asalia held his sword with both hands, the Greatsword of Execution horizontal before him. The Black Flame coating condensed on the blade had thickened to near-pure black. It didn't reflect light, looking like a crack that devoured light rays.
Sensing the change in the red iron dragon, his muscles tightened considerably.
But his expression didn't change much.
Scorched Domain: Scorching Tide!
He swung his sword across the distance.
This blow did not touch Garoth's body, but it activated all the Black Flames that had previously seeped into the dragon's body.
In an instant, dozens of Black Flame spikes burst out simultaneously from within Garoth.
They were originally just flames that had dispersed and penetrated into the flesh, but were now commanded, concentrated, and shaped by a single will into a torrent of spikes thrusting from the inside out, piercing the body.
Garoth's body came to a halt.
Thousands of protrusions bulged simultaneously on the surface of the rose-gold scales, as if black blades were piercing outward from within. The scales were pushed into fine cracks at the protrusions. Rose-gold light seeped from the cracks, struggling against the darkness of the Black Flames.
The red iron dragon's body trembled continuously, as if struck by lightning.
But in the end, his body gradually steadied.
Those protrusions also stopped.
They could not pierce through.
Before the Black Flame spikes could erupt from within and shred him, they were stopped by a layer of matter countless times denser than adamantite.
That was his muscles, bones, and stratum corneum compressed to their absolute limits... The Black Flame spikes had torn his muscles and scorched his bones, but could not completely tear his body apart.
Besides the Dense Body, the Battle Dragon trait had also played a significant role.
Garoth could feel that something had formed inside his body, something that could reduce the damage from these Black Flames.
Asalia knew he could grow stronger through battle, but he probably hadn't realized that this kind of continuous attack was the best way to stimulate his body to adapt quickly.
The Black Flames still burned.
But their lethality had been reduced to the limit.
Garoth's vertical pupils flickered beneath his faceplate. The corner of his mouth moved, forming a very faint arc.
"Asalia, have you ever been hit by a planet?"
He looked across at the Lord of the Flame Prison, speaking.
Before the sound could even propagate, the next instant, the dragon's body had vanished from its spot.
His speed was a whole tier faster than before.
The Lord of the Flame Prison could only catch a blurry rose-gold shadow traversing his field of vision, and then he instinctively flickered.
But this time, the trajectory of his flicker was completely uncontrolled.
The range of the invisible force field had expanded several times over, and its distortion intensity had risen exponentially. The Lord of the Flame Prison was caught by the field during the offset, pulled, dragged.
He appeared before Garoth.
Precisely, face to face.
The distance between them was less than one body length.
Garoth's right claw was already raised to its highest point. The muscles from his shoulder blades to his tailbone were tensed into a curved bowstring. An overwhelming amount of power settled on the tips of his rose-gold claws.
Then, the claw fell.
Boom!
The claw tips pierced into the Lord of the Flame Prison's chest cavity.
The scorched-earth-like skin shattered instantly upon contact. Blood gushed forth. The sharp claws continued deeper, severing ribs, tearing organs, and emerging from his back.
Flames spewed from within the Lord of the Flame Prison.
Garoth didn't stop.
His left claw followed, hooking onto the Lord of the Flame Prison's shoulder blade, all claw tips embedding deep into the opponent's body.
Then, he exerted force outwards.
His arms suddenly opened wide. The claw tips carved huge tearing trajectories within the Lord of the Flame Prison's body, ripping his chest cavity open from the middle.
Rrrrip!
Magma-like blood rained down.
Asalia turned into burning pieces of lava. Dozens of large and small lava chunks splattered in all directions, trailing thick smoke as they fell into the lava ocean below, splashing up patches of dark red waves.
The Greatsword of Execution fell from his grasp.
The sword spun a few times in mid-air before falling into the lava, stuck diagonally into a solidified ridge of rock. The Black Flame coating on the blade gradually dimmed.
The red iron dragon hovered in mid-air.
Both claws remained in an open position, a few shreds of flame remnants still hanging from the claw tips, sizzling as they burned, before being inch by inch devoured by the rose-gold light.
He looked down.
The shattered pieces were sinking, swallowed, carried away, and scattered by the dark red currents.
The battle was over.
"No! It's not over yet."
The red iron dragon's gaze suddenly sharpened, staring at the lava ocean.
The lava ocean did not return to its original state.
On the contrary, it began to boil.
The dark red currents surged and churned, emitting a low rumble from the depths. Streams of lava converged from all directions towards the center, intertwining, piling up, shaping.
First, a hand.
An arm emerged from the currents, covered in new skin, with hot liquid magma still flowing on its surface. Then the other hand. Then the head, torso, wings.
The Lord of the Flame Prison's body re-materialized inch by inch.
He stood up completely, his wings spread, his feet planted on the lava ocean. He bent down and retrieved the Greatsword of Execution stuck diagonally in the rock ridge.
"You think it's over?"
He looked up at the red iron dragon. "This lava, these flames, are all extensions of my will. Within my domain, I am undying and indestructible."
"How long can your state last?"
The red iron dragon did not answer.
He looked down at the reborn Lord of the Flame Prison, then beat his wings.
His form once again turned into a golden blur, crossing the distance between them. His sharp claws thrust out, straight for the Lord of the Flame Prison.
The Lord of the Flame Prison flickered, but was once again pulled before the dragon.
He raised his sword to block, but the moment the sword body was hit by the claws, it began to crack. Countless lightning-like fine lines extended. The enormous impact force smashed him, sword and all, into the lava pool, splashing liquid everywhere.
But the next instant, he erupted from the lava behind Garoth, his giant sword slashing horizontally.
Garoth twisted, his claws striking the Lord of the Flame Prison squarely.
The demon's body shattered again.
But immediately, the lava coalesced, and the Lord of the Flame Prison rose to fight again. He got up once more, charging at the red iron dragon.
Time and again.
Garoth tore, pierced, severed, and smashed the Lord of the Flame Prison.
But none of it could kill him completely.
And as time passed, the Dense Body state brought by Double Radiant persisted, but its limit was approaching.
The Lord of the Flame Prison sensed it.
He looked at Garoth, a grim smile spreading across his cracked face.
"Your state is about to give out."
"As for me, I am endless."
He spread his arms wide. The lava pool behind him churned
Garoth hovered, chest heaving.
He did not look at Asalia. Instead he looked at his claws.
Scale sheen on their surfaces mirrored his eyes; he felt the air around him and clearly sensed the invisible standing field covering him.
It was an ancillary effect of Dense Body.
And the root of Dense Body...was the years of training he endured on the white dwarf.
Garoth closed his eyes, then opened them.
Then he did something he had never tried before.
He raised both claws, talons spread, palms facing each other.
He inhaled deeply and tried to use the Spell-Extinguishing Claw to manipulate the field around him—constricting, concentrating, and guiding it between his claws.
Slow at first.
The field resisted like an untamed beast.
But Garoth did not release.
He tightened muscles, lowered his breath, and sank his awareness into his claws to perceive the delicate, twisted, invisible lines of force.
Then he pulled.
In an instant, centered on Garoth’s talons, a staggering attractive force burst outward.
The field’s strength amplified by hundreds of times; its coverage expanded from tens of meters around him to hundreds, thousands...spreading across the entire Scorched Domain.
Everything began to converge between his talons.
Dark-red lava leapt skyward into thick columns, drawn by invisible gravity toward his claws; blazing flame strands from sky and sea were sucked up and concentrated into countless blinding threads toward his center.
Gusts and torrential rain were snared.
The storm tore apart; roaring airflows were captured and compressed into a shrill howl between his talons. Rain lines were forcibly straightened; millions of threads of rain fell from the sky, not touching the sea but shot toward the core between his talons.
Everything twisted.
“I have seen the vastness of the cosmos; I walked white dwarfs for decades. Your domain weighs less than a star.”
Garoth said, eyes locked on Asalia.
His voice was distorted, enormous, echoing across the heavens.
The sea heaved again; dark-red lava continued to surge, drawn and refilled while being plucked away. Burning canopy drooped; clouds were shredded into filaments; even light bent between the dragon’s talons.
“What is this force?”
Asalia’s face changed drastically.
He tried to resist.
But his body began to warp.
Limbs elongated and thinned; his trunk stretched and mixed into the pulled lava streams, heading toward the twin talons.
He struggled, but to no avail.
One who commanded the Scorched Domain could turn flame and lava into living extensions of his will, but inversely the constructs he created now affected him.
“No! How could I lose to a legendary?!”
The flame demon roared.
Garoth paid no heed.
Between his talons a sphere was forming.
It condensed from lava, flame, air compressed to the limit, and rainwater.
The Lord of the Flame Prison strained to resist.
But his domain had been sucked in; since his power was tied to it, he could not escape.
Asalia’s arms were drawn into threads; wings were torn to shreds; his torso peeled, drawn into the swelling globe.
Finally, his head could not hold.
Charred face stretched and ripped, swallowed by the sphere’s surface.
Everything fell silent.
The storm vanished, rain stopped, lava and flame dissipated; the Lord of the Flame Prison was completely compressed within the dragon’s claws.