Chapter 650: Verdict, Death, Always the Same
"At the very least, please go see for yourself."
Gold Dragon Fenoris's words ended there.
Silence descended once more.
The Bronze Dragon King hovered in the wind and rain, his cyan scales washed bright by the downpour.
His dragon claws slowly tightened, and when he spoke again, all the warmth had drained from his voice, leaving it cold and hard as iron.
"Fenoris, Archer."
"If you have not been deceived, if these words, these thoughts, this choice and stance, truly come from your own will..."
"Then you are not deceived."
He lifted his eyes, his gaze sharp.
"You have betrayed."
Before an immortal dragon who commanded Potency, the very world around him would shift according to his will. The moment his words fell, the rain evaporated inches from his scales, and the sea breeze along his dragon wings grew sharp as blades.
"You have betrayed me."
He said, "You have betrayed the Raging Tides Dragon Domain, betrayed everything we once swore to protect together."
"You think you are doing the right thing, but in reality, you have only surrendered—surrendered to evil, surrendered to the scum that should be eradicated, surrendered to the Red Calamity wearing the skin of order."
"I will not go see, and I have no need to."
"Evil is evil. No matter what color of scales it wears, no matter what words it uses to dress itself up, it cannot change its nature."
His dragon wings slowly unfurled, blotting out the entire sky.
The air around him began to warp, and on the sea surface, ring after ring of massive waves rose up.
"Now, withdraw, both of you. Withdraw."
"Once I have finished killing these evil dragons, I will deal with your matters."
The Gold Dragon did not withdraw.
Silver Dragon Archer remained as well, stopping beside the Gold Dragon, her wings slightly tucked.
"Dragon King."
"If you insist on killing, then kill us first."
"We still respect you to this day, so we will offer no resistance."
"But we now stand alongside 'evil' as well," Gold Dragon Fenoris said. "If they must be eradicated in your eyes, then we have no right to live."
"Because we stand with them. We and them... are the same."
Hearing this, the Bronze Dragon King's eyes blazed with anger.
"Do you think... I will be soft-hearted?!"
He roared, "Do you think that blocking my way here will make me lower my claws?!"
"Do you think your betrayal, your stupidity, your weakness, can change my resolve?!"
His wings burst open in that instant, and even the torrential rain was blasted backward by the shockwave, forming a brief, massive vacuum zone around Sheffield.
"I, Sheffield, never compromise with evil!"
"No matter who! Standing in my way! No matter who you once were to me! As long as you stand on the side of evil, death is your only end!"
He raised his claws.
But... he could not bring them down.
Faced with followers who had once been willing to give everything for him, his most trusted existences, even Sheffield, with his unshakable will, could not help but falter for a moment.
Just then, the water curtain on the sea surface rippled.
One after another, dragon silhouettes rose up.
They were Legendary-tier Metal Dragons, passing through the water curtain and wind and rain, flying behind the Gold Dragon and Silver Dragon.
"Dragon King, give Sacred Aola a chance, and give yourself one too."
"Stop now. Only together can we create a more glorious future."
"..."
The dragons whispered.
And as they pleaded, they lined up behind the Gold Dragon and Silver Dragon, one after another, row after row, like a wall of flesh and scales, standing between Sheffield and the evil he had sworn to eradicate.
If the Bronze Dragon Lord had returned when Sacred Aola first took over the Raging Tides Dragon Domain.
Then most dragons would have returned to his wing.
At that time, although their hearts wavered, they did not truly recognize Sacred Aola. They were more compelled by circumstance, perhaps even bearing some thoughts of humiliation and endurance, of playing along.
But now, it was different.
The radiance of Sacred Aola shone upon them, and they had grown accustomed to the existence of this glory.
Now, they had become warriors willing to fight for the entire dragon race, ready to eliminate any powerful enemy standing in the way of that goal, swinging from one extreme to another.
Sheffield fell silent.
The claws he had raised trembled violently. They wanted to fall, but could not.
In the end, that claw never came down.
The Bronze Dragon King suddenly withdrew his claws, his eyes turning resolute once more.
"You have not betrayed."
"This is not your fault, my warriors, my subjects. You have only been deceived by the Red Calamity."
His gaze swept over the Legendary dragons, stern and cold.
"I will make you see clearly."
"Once I take the Red Calamity's head and trample his Evil Dragon Empire into ruins, the deception you have suffered will naturally disperse. Then, you will return to my wing."
His dragon wings swung sharply.
The wind pressure exploded outward, plowing massive trenches into the sea surface. White spray surged to both sides, as if split by an invisible giant blade.
The surrounding dragon group was pushed back by the shockwave.
By the time they steadied themselves, Sheffield was no longer where he had been.
A trail carved through the stormy sky.
It rose from the sea surface, pierced through the low-hanging dark clouds, moving so fast that not even the rain could cling to his scales. Like a cyan lightning bolt, it shot straight toward Atlan.
"Alvia, quickly inform the Emperor of what has happened here."
The Gold Dragon snapped back to reality, turning to speak to the Blue Dragon below.
The Blue Dragon shook her head.
She gazed into the distant sky and said, "No need. The Emperor has already arrived."
High in the sky.
The cyan lightning halted abruptly. The Bronze Dragon King stopped, his expression dark as he stared ahead.
A tear was ripped through the wind and rain.
Space rolled to both sides like parchment slashed by a red-hot blade, the edges of the tear glowing with scorching, dark red light, illuminating the entire sky above the Boiling Sea.
From deep within the tear, a figure slowly stepped out.
His crimson scales gleamed with a metallic sheen under the lightning. His pace was unhurried, as if pushing open a door and walking into his own courtyard.
The Master of Sacred Aola, Scarlet Emperor Cangxing.
He had arrived.
In terms of size, he was in no way inferior to the immortal dragon, facing him across the void.
The sky seemed split in two: on one side, the cold, resolute cyan; on the other, the deep, silent iron-red. Lightning flickered and danced between them.
Garoth's gaze fell upon the Bronze Dragon King.
"Sheffield, long time no see."
"Last time we met, you were still at Mandate of Heaven. Now, you have achieved an immortal body."
Sheffield did not return his greeting.
His tone was cold and hard as he asked, "Garoth Ignas, Emperor of the Evil Dragon Empire... what have you done to my subjects of the Raging Tides Dragon Domain? What despicable means did you use to deceive my followers and twist their will?"
The Red Iron Dragon's mouth curled upward slightly, revealing sharp fangs, and he said, "I showed them a broader future. What you call deception is nothing but the truth they have seen with their own eyes."
"It took them some time to adapt, but in the end, they made their own choices."
As he spoke, the Red Iron Dragon's posture shifted subtly, becoming more formal.
"Sheffield, I know you have always regarded me as an evil dragon."
"But where does this idea actually come from? I have wanted to ask you this question for a long time."
"I united the scattered dragons of Bernardo into a true empire. The order I established allows the Five-Colored Dragons and the Metal Dragons to fight side by side under the same banner."
"I have restrained dragons from wantonly slaughtering the innocent. When Vophal Dragon Domain lost its Dragon King, I stepped up to make Aola a shield for the Dragon Domain. I have been strengthening the dragons, the entire dragon race."
"I have never massacred any city, never harmed any life for pleasure."
"I have done none of the evil atrocities you imagine. Everything I have done is simply to make the dragons stronger, more united, and closer to that lost glorious era."
He leaned forward slightly, the cold, hard face of the Bronze Dragon King reflected in his gaze.
"Tell me, Sheffield."
"Why do you stubbornly believe that I am evil?"
Sheffield listened to his words, from the first to the last.
His expression never changed, but he did not interrupt either.
He let this Red Calamity finish everything he had to say, because in his eyes, even the most evil existence had the right to speak their last words before being eradicated.
Then, the Bronze Dragon King gave his answer.
"Your scale color. Your bloodline."
"They flow with Tiamat's curse, the innate evil nature of evil dragons."
"Do you think establishing order can wash that away? Can it mask your nature? An evil dragon is an evil dragon. Evil is evil. Everything you do is to satisfy your ambition."
"What you call order is merely a disguise."
"And the truth is exactly that. You are luring the Metal Dragons into corruption, annexing the entire Dragon Domain, dragging the dragon race step by step into your seemingly glorious abyss."
"And when you become strong enough to think you no longer need to pretend, you will have no scruples."
"Heh. Other dragons may be blinded by you, but I am different. I saw through you from the very beginning."
Garoth also quietly finished every word the Bronze Dragon King said.
Every single word the other spoke was something he genuinely believed.
Sheffield was not driven by any external motive. He truly, completely, and unreservedly believed that an evil bloodline was original sin.
Garoth's charm traits could not shake him even in the slightest.
But this outcome did not disappoint him.
It was within his expectations.
"Sheffield."
"Do you know what your words just now sound like to me?"
The Red Iron Dragon saw through it all, gazing at the Bronze Dragon King before him, and said, "Like a young beast that has been burned once, and from then on decides that all flames in the world are malicious."
The Bronze Dragon King's body tensed, his cyan scales tightening into denser layers.
"What are you talking about?"
He growled.
Garoth stopped in a position facing Sheffield. Between the two massive creatures, there was only the distance of a few lightning bolts.
"I am talking about you."
"I am saying that you are nothing but a pitiful being, trapped your entire life by past betrayals and pain, unable to cross the final line of defense. A cowardly, timid, childish creature, inferior even to the Young Dragons under my command."
Cowardly?
Timid?
Childish?
No one had ever used such words to describe the Bronze Dragon King before. He had never cared about the insults of evil.
But now, he felt an inexplicable surge of anger.
Whoosh!
Sheffield took a deep breath, suppressing his surging emotions, his face expressionless.
He did not answer.
In his view, these questions were not even worth a response.
He had heard the sophistry of evil far too many times. Every time, they tried to confuse right and wrong with specious reasoning.
He would not waste time on these matters.
"Enough talk."
"When I twist off your neck, I hope you can still maintain your current posture. Do not beg me for mercy, because I will surely refuse you, and then mercilessly eradicate you, using your blood to warn all evil life!"
His dragon wings slowly folded, every muscle bulging beneath his scales.
"Red Calamity, die!"
The moment the words fell, Sheffield vanished from his spot.
His cyan figure tore through the curtain of the storm, carving a straight trajectory. His dragon claws were extended forward, fingers spread, aiming for the Red Iron Dragon's neck.
The Bronze Dragon King's speed was too fast.
So fast that time seemed to stand still. His figure crossed several thousand meters in an instant, even the lightning paling beside him as he passed.
This claw had no tricks.
Sheffield's fighting style, like his understanding of justice, was straightforward and pure.
Garoth's arms had just crossed to raise when the Bronze Dragon's claw was already there.
It was not an ordinary strike.
As Sheffield's claws closed, the surrounding air was compressed, layer upon layer, and then this barrier came crashing down along with the claw strike.
Boom!
Claw met arm.
The deafening sound of metal clashing exploded outward, drowning even the roar of the storm.
At the point of impact, the rain was blasted into a white ring of water expanding outward. Towering waves rose on the sea surface, surging in all directions.
The Red Iron Dragon felt as if he had been hit head-on by a planet.
The scales at the point of defense cracked inch by inch, fine fissures spreading wildly outward from the strike point. The immense impact pierced through the scales, transmitting throughout his entire body, sending him plummeting straight down.
The sea surface was pierced through the next second.
White steam shot into the sky, quickly condensing in the downpour.
The dragon's figure continued downward, passing through the warm upper waters, the cold middle currents, and finally slamming heavily into the seabed rock bed.
The seabed rock layer shattered, mud and sand churning, forming a brief submarine dust storm.
"So this is an immortal-level dragon? The strength is immense, even surpassing mine."
Garoth stood up from the deep-sea crater.
He felt the pain in his arms, his eyes blazing.
At this moment, a large patch of scales on the Red Iron Dragon's arm had shattered, and the flesh beneath was slightly sunken.
But this was still the lighter side.
Garoth had no doubt that if he had not undergone the white dwarf's tempering, this blow might have directly broken his bones.
The Undying Life trait was already operating at full capacity.
His flesh and scales were visibly regenerating, and after regeneration, the color of the scales deepened, seemingly becoming harder.
When his stats were not enough.
Garoth still had his mechanics.
At the same time, the Bronze Dragon King folded his wings, plunging vertically into the sea like a cyan javelin.
On his scales, the light of holy vow runes was flowing. Ancient characters shone even brighter in the deep sea. His eyes ignored the darkness, the water, the mud, locking directly onto the Red Iron Dragon.
Garoth looked up, his eyes fixed on the Bronze Dragon King.
Starlight State!
The Red Iron Dragon growled.
His body began to expand.
Every inch of muscle, every bone, every scale grew simultaneously. His already massive dragon form rose rapidly in the deep sea, and the aura he emitted became more solemn and formidable, pressing straight toward the immortal level.
But this was not enough.
On the foundation of the Starlight State, Garoth activated his mutated body.
His body structure changed rapidly. His originally thick and solid form elongated. Muscle bundles shifted from blocky to more streamlined. Scales tightened and clung more closely. The edges of each scale became thinner and sharper than before, like polished blades.
The shape of his dragon wings also changed, becoming closer to a falcon's than a great dragon's.
Rift Form.
All these changes happened in a very short time.
The Red Iron Dragon in the deep sea had vanished.
In its place was a streak of crimson lightning.
His speed instantly broke the limit of water resistance, leaving behind a trail of vacuum. Where he passed, the seawater was torn in two, only to crash back together behind him, forming a series of muffled sonic booms.
"Sheffield, come on. Whoever wins is justice!"
The Red Iron Dragon growled, charging directly toward the Bronze Dragon King.
In response, a cold smile appeared on the Bronze Dragon King's face.
He loathed evil, but he loathed insidious and treacherous evil even more. This Red Calamity's fondness for straightforward combat actually suited his taste.
The Bronze Dragon King's claws spread open again.
The passage of time seemed to slow.
Under Rift Form, the Red Iron Dragon twisted his body in the water with incredible lightness.
He sidestepped, passing through the gap between Sheffield's two claws. His right claw flipped up in a backhand strike, grazing the Bronze Dragon King's flank.
Rip!
Sparks flew, only to be extinguished instantly by the seawater.
On the scales struck by the Red Iron Dragon's claw, countless holy vow runes in circulation were torn apart. Then the claw continued its arc, leaving a few scratch marks on the Bronze Dragon King's scales.
They were not deep, only a small amount of blood flowing.
Both sides were surprised by this.
"Although the damage is not high, to break through my defense at the Mandate of Heaven level? This evil dragon must be eradicated today!"
The Bronze Dragon King's heart grew solemn.
He excelled in close combat, with extremely high stats across the board. But among his high attributes, his defense had always been second to none, supported by a corresponding trait.
Armor of Conviction.
Your defense is positively correlated with your current conviction. The stronger your conviction, the harder your defense.
"Only this much damage? Such tough defense."
The Red Iron Dragon's heart also turned solemn.
After reaching Mandate of Heaven, he had acquired a trait called Giant Slayer, dealing more damage to beings of a higher life level and breaking through their defenses more easily.
Yet it had only left very shallow wounds.
On a dragon, that didn't even count as a scratch—it was insignificant.
"Can't rush. To defeat him, I need the boost from my mutated body and the evolution of Battle Dragon."
Thoughts like lightning, the Red Iron Dragon quickly formulated a battle strategy.
After landing a hit, he did not linger, preparing to descend.
Suddenly, his body lurched.
Sheffield's tail whipped around, actually keeping pace with the Rift Form's speed, striking heavily into the Red Iron Dragon's flank.
Boom!
The dragon's tail contained even more brute force than the claws. This blow shattered scales and broke bones.
The Red Iron Dragon's body tilted, plunging diagonally downward again.
But this time, he adjusted his posture during the fall.
The agility granted by Rift Form allowed him to turn at an impossible angle. His wings flapped once, shifting from a fall to a horizontal glide. He skimmed across the seabed rock layer for several hundred meters, then suddenly shot upward, charging straight for the surface.
In the water, the Bronze Dragon seemed to be able to exert more strength.
It was not advisable to fight him in the water.
The Bronze Dragon Lord followed closely behind.
Two figures, one after the other, sprinted upward from the deep sea.
As they passed through the sea, the waters were churned into violent whirlpools. Schools of fish were shredded, and coral reefs were uprooted.
Boom!
The sea surface was torn apart.
Garoth broke through the water first. His figure traced a crimson arc above the surface, then shot upward sharply, charging toward the clouds.
The torrential rain pelted his scales, producing a dense, crackling sound like countless bullets firing simultaneously.
His speed grew faster and faster. Sonic boom clouds exploded behind him continuously, like flowers blooming and withering in an instant.
But the Bronze Dragon King was also extremely fast.
His wings spread wide, flapping fiercely, and he caught up to the Red Iron Dragon at great speed. The distance between them shrank rapidly.
The clouds were completely torn apart.
The two dragons reached the height of the atmosphere. The Bronze Dragon King's claws opened, reaching for Garoth's tail.
Garoth sidestepped.
In Rift Form, his body made a near-right-angle turn at an extreme angle. Sheffield's claw tips grazed past his scales, leaving a trail of blood droplets.
In that instant, the Red Iron Dragon's body twisted in the air.
With the nimbleness of an acrobatic roll, his massive form instantly circled around to behind the Bronze Dragon King.
Both claws clamped down simultaneously, fingers like hooks, gripping for Sheffield's back.
Rip!
The moment claw tips met scales, sparks flew everywhere.
But the holy vow runes lit up again.
Countless vows Sheffield had made flowed across his back in textual form, forming an invisible barrier.
The moment Garoth's claw tips touched this barrier, it felt like grabbing onto a wall forged of pure conviction, even thicker than their brief contact before.
His strength was dispersed, dissolved, and repelled.
In the end, less than one-tenth of it actually reached Sheffield's scales, and that force could not even leave a white mark on the cyan scales.
"Your attacks are as weak as your empire!"
Sheffield's voice came through.
His body flipped at the same time, like an agile fish. His wings folded, and he dove downward, his claws reaching down to clamp onto Garoth's head.
The Red Iron Dragon evaded again with his agility.
In terms of speed, the Bronze Dragon King was not inferior to him in Rift Form, even faster in certain moments.
But this was mainly in linear speed.
The body structure of an immortal dragon had not changed much. In terms of bodily agility and flexibility, the Red Iron Dragon at this moment still surpassed the Bronze Dragon King.
"You occupy my domain, trample my subjects."
"And now you only know how to dodge?"
The Bronze Dragon King roared, his attacks like a storm, leaving no gaps.
His claws, tail, wings, even his head, all became deadly weapons, pouring in from all angles toward the Red Iron Dragon.
Garoth did not speak.
At this moment, his mind was completely focused, utterly and entirely, on the battle before him.
The two dragons fought fiercely in the atmosphere.
Garoth was suppressed at a disadvantage.
There were gaps even among immortals. Among immortal beings, although the Bronze Dragon King had just broken through, he was undoubtedly a stronger existence.
It was said that in his youth, this Dragon King often fought above his level, killing his enemies.
But he still could not quickly kill Garoth.
Although the Red Iron Dragon was covered in wounds, each collision leaving visible damage, he was wrapped in a layer of bloodflame, all injuries visibly regenerating. His eyes still blazed brightly.
The dragons below looked up, barely able to make out two streaks of lightning entangled in the sky.
One crimson, one cyan.
Colliding at a dizzying speed.
Another collision.
Garoth's right claw met Sheffield's left claw head-on.
The immense force spread outward from the point of contact, blasting a massive hole in the atmosphere and clouds, revealing the brilliant starry sky above.
And after this.
The Red Iron Dragon did not charge back at the Bronze Dragon King.
He waved his wings once, using the recoil to shoot straight toward the stars.
Soon, his figure pierced through the last barrier of the atmosphere. The surrounding air went from thin to nearly vacuum. The roar of the storm had long faded, replaced by an overwhelming silence.
Below was the churning white clouds and the deep blue Boiling Sea.
Above was the endless void.
The stars coldly watched all this from the black curtain.
Garoth stopped at the outer edge of the planet's atmosphere.
Behind him was the deep void. Starlight, with no atmospheric attenuation, struck his scales directly, bleaching the iron-red color.
Suddenly.
In the center of his chest, the crystal hidden beneath his scales glowed faintly, flickering.
This meant his mutated body had accumulated enough to change forms.
Garoth took a deep breath.
A scorching heat ignited from within, spreading through his entire body in an instant.
His chest reacted first. His ribs seemed pushed open from the inside by invisible giant hands, bending outward one by one. His chest cavity's volume multiplied several times in a few breaths.
His originally dark, metallic scales now seemed like semi-molten glass heated by high temperatures.
His wings grew even broader, the wing membranes covered with burning light patterns. With each flap, tiny sparks detached from the wingtips, drawing brief arcs in the vacuum before extinguishing.
Ember-Annihilating Form!
But different from before.
This time, the Ember-Annihilating Form's wings were extremely broad, and the dragon scales still retained the willow-leaf structure from Rift Form.
His mutated body began to show its power.
Part of his speed and agility had been preserved, stacked onto the Ember-Annihilating Form.
"Our battle... has only just begun."
The Red Iron Dragon felt his own state, whispering in his heart.
As long as he wasn't killed in a short time, the scales of victory would gradually tip in his favor.
At the same time, vast amounts of Dragon Qi surged and coalesced at his neck.
Additional heads burst forth from his shoulder blades.
Three dragon heads rose simultaneously.
At the same time, Sheffield burst out of the atmosphere. His cyan scales still bore a few wisps of cloud vapor carried up, quickly condensing into fine ice crystals in the vacuum, then evaporating from his body heat.
"Where do you think you can run?!"
The Bronze Dragon roared, his voice transmitted directly to the Red Iron Dragon's mind through spiritual will.
His answer was Dragon Breath.
Garoth's pupils contracted into thin slits, reflecting the Bronze Dragon Lord's figure. His three heads all leaned back simultaneously, light glowing deep in their throats.
The next instant.
The three streams of breath intertwined as they sprayed out, twisting into a spiral torrent of energy, piercing straight toward the Bronze Dragon King.
The Bronze Dragon King did not dodge.
He only wanted to close the distance to the Red Iron Dragon as quickly as possible and beat him to death. Dodging meant wasting time.
Besides, he had no need to dodge.
Buzzzz!
All the holy vow runes on his body began to flow, like rivers converging toward the Bronze Dragon King's arms.
Facing the oncoming Dragon Breath, he raised his claws high.
An invisible barrier appeared before him, indestructible even by Garoth's Ember-Annihilating Breath. Instead, like waves meeting a reef, it split to both sides.
Holy Dragon skill, Mortal Barrier.
Transforming consumed holy vows into an impenetrable wall.
At the same time, the Red Iron Dragon's wings fully spread.
Like lit fuses, the burning light patterns on the wing membranes lit up one by one.
Countless dragonqi bombs condensed beneath his wings, hundreds upon thousands, like miniature stars.
They did not fire immediately. They floated around Garoth for an instant, then burst forth together.
Sheffield's pupils contracted slightly.
His body veered sharply to the left, his wing membranes folding, trying to pass through the gaps in the barrage.
But the dragonqi bombs were too dense. The gaps between them were small, their trajectories interlaced, sealing off all possible angles, and they exploded directly upon approaching.
The Bronze Dragon King's wings snapped shut, folding like shields to protect the sides of his body.
On his cyan scales, holy vow runes emerged one by one from the gaps. The ancient oaths left the scale surface, floating, spinning, and intertwining in the vacuum, forming an ellipsoidal barrier that wrapped around him entirely.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The breath hit again, then split. The dragonqi bombs did the same.
Sheffield advanced under the attack.
The holy vow barrier guarded his sides, deflecting all the incoming dragonqi bombs. The deflected bombs exploded around him, their flashes and flames outlining his form like a war god.
But this came at a cost.
The holy vow runes on the Bronze Dragon King were visibly fading.
Garoth retreated while maintaining his attack frequency.
He had stacked the speed of Rift Form, so even in Ember-Annihilating Form, speed was no longer a weakness.
But Sheffield was still closing in.
After all, the pure Rift Form was not much faster than him.
The distance shrank.
The Bronze Dragon King withstood the bombardment, forcing his way closer.
Garoth also stopped retreating.
He raised his claws, and at some point, had already transformed into a terrifying three-headed, six-armed posture.
His fingers spread, Dragon Qi surged, but this time it did not fire outward. Instead, it collapsed inward.
A dragonqi bomb condensed in the center of his palm, then was forcibly compressed and spun. Its surface went from red to blazing white, rotating at high speed. Each bomb contained more energy than the long-range ones.
The Bronze Dragon King's claws reached forward, grabbing for Garoth's throat.
What greeted him was the Red Iron Dragon's claws, clutching dragonqi bombs.
"Haha, taste this magnificent destruction!"
Whether sound could travel or not, the Ember-Annihilating Red Iron Dragon raised his head and roared.
Six dragon arms closed in from different directions. Each hand gripped a high-speed rotating dragonqi bomb, then they converged on Sheffield's body.
Explosion, but no sound.
In the vacuum, the explosion became a rapidly expanding blazing white orb, like a sun, swallowing both figures.
Under the close-range explosion, both were blasted away.
For the first time, visible wounds appeared on the Bronze Dragon King.
The power of the spiral dragonqi bomb was far greater than a single claw strike.
His Armor of Conviction could not fully withstand it. A large area of scales on his body was blasted off, revealing the charred flesh beneath. Blood gushed from the wounds, instantly freezing into red ice crystals in the vacuum, like a string of scattered gems floating behind him.
But his eyes remained cold and hard, locked on the Red Iron Dragon across from him.
In contrast, the Red Iron Dragon had the advantage in this exchange.
The dragonqi bomb explosion had clearly engulfed him too, but it seemed to cause him no harm.
Not giving the Bronze Dragon King a chance to catch his breath.
The moment the distance opened, the Red Iron Dragon raised his head and breathed again, sending another dense barrage of dragonqi bombs.
The Bronze Dragon King closed in under the attack, swinging a claw.
Garoth sidestepped, but not fast enough.
The Bronze Dragon King's claw tips grazed past his chest, leaving several deep wounds. The momentum carried through, grazing the jaw of his left head.
That head tilted back, the scales on its neck flying off.
But Garoth's claws had already condensed another dragonqi bomb, smashing it into Sheffield.
Blazing white light flared.
Both were blasted away again.
In Ember-Annihilating Form, Garoth could absorb energy damage. The close-range explosion of the dragonqi bomb was harmless to him, allowing him to stabilize faster than the Bronze Dragon King.
Sheffield spread his wings, steadying himself.
"Trying to exhaust me this way?"
The Bronze Dragon Lord sneered.
The next instant, his wings spread wide in the vacuum.
The holy vow runes ignited. Cyan light flame seeped from the gaps in his scales, quickly linking into a single mass.
He vanished.
His speed this time was faster than any before. Even the stars behind him blurred into lines. Along his flight path, a few remaining embers of dragonqi bombs were blown out by the airwave.
Almost at the same instant, he appeared before Garoth.
The Red Iron Dragon's pupils caught the cyan light, but his body could not react in time.
Sheffield's claw had become a fist, concentrating all his power into this single blow, driving it straight toward the Red Iron Dragon's chest.
The fist hit.
The knuckles smashed through scales, muscle, and bone. The shockwave exploded from within outward, blasting even the scales on Garoth's back away, scattering them with flesh and blood in a fan-shaped crimson trail across the starry void.
His body bent at an unnatural angle, all three heads tilting back.
The entire dragon shot straight backward.
On his chest, a clear indentation remained. The surrounding scales were shattered radially. Flesh was torn, and bones were broken and snapped.
He was nearly pierced through by this blow.
Sheffield stopped in place, the bloodflame and scale fragments of the Red Iron Dragon on his fist. The cyan light flame on his body still burned fiercely.
The explosive attack just now came from one of his traits.
Never Give Up.
Sheffield's conviction would accumulate with the severity of his injuries and the length of the battle. At each critical threshold, it could instantly strengthen his body greatly, unleashing a single super-powerful attack.
But he did not feel joy because of this.
"His body's durability... is it really only Mandate of Heaven? This blow couldn't fully pierce his body. This evil dragon absolutely, absolutely cannot be allowed to live!"
The Bronze Dragon Lord thought to himself, his gaze growing resolute.
He noticed that the Red Iron Dragon's body durability was continuously increasing.
Combined with previously collected intelligence, he could basically conclude that this thing could indeed grow stronger through battle, even undergo special changes. He had to be killed as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, he might be the one to lose in the end.
And the probing was just about enough. He could not let the other side continue to grow stronger.
He had to press forward in one go and finish this quickly!
At the other end, bloodflame surged on the Red Iron Dragon's body. The terrifying wound on his chest was visibly healing, and the regenerated flesh and scales had increased in durability.
Although it looked like he was at a disadvantage.
In reality, as long as the battle could not be ended quickly, it was actually the Bronze Dragon King who should be anxious.
But Garoth was not happy either.
The Bronze Dragon King was quite powerful, and most importantly, he had not yet used his Potency.
"An immortal's Potency is a higher-level thing than traits."
"What would the Bronze Dragon King's Potency be? What kind of effect could it achieve? He just broke through to immortality, so his development of Potency is not deep. He might not be able to use it easily either. But Potency is Potency. It might directly reverse the outcome."
Garoth remained vigilant about this.
At the same time, he looked around and found that he and the Bronze Dragon King had unknowingly fought their way into an asteroid belt, surrounded by countless large and small meteorites.
Just then, the Bronze Dragon King's voice sounded low, reaching Garoth's heart.
"I acknowledge your strength. No wonder some dragons see you as the hope of the dragon race's rise."
His eyes shot lightning toward the Red Iron Dragon. "But if I allow you to continue living, you will only become a calamity that sweeps everything. For that, your life must end under my claws."
As he spoke, the Bronze Dragon King's eyes also blazed with cyan light flame.
But unlike his holy vow light flame, this seemed to be something more essential burning.
It was as if someone had stuffed two suns into his eye sockets, condensing years of accumulated conviction and determination into a tangible flame.
The light flame overflowed from his pupils, trailing thin tails at the corners of his eyes.
The Bronze Dragon King's voice gradually became grand, just, and majestic.
Even the vacuum could not isolate the spread of this sound, directly imprinting itself on the listener's consciousness.
"Garoth Ignas."
"In the name of the Lord of the Raging Tides, in the name of justice and order, I hereby read your sins."
Sheffield's voice became extremely slow, each word as if cast from bronze, heavy and unshakable, carrying a ritualistic certainty that brooked no doubt.
At the same time, with each word he spoke, the light flame in his eyes burned one part brighter.
Garoth felt a deep sense of danger.
Moreover, his mutated body had accumulated enough.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dragon Qi surged and burned within his body.
Garoth's scales began to proliferate.
The original slit structure was closed one by one. The surface took on a forge-red luster after repeated quenching, as if he were wearing a suit of seamless armor, inscribed with fine scale-like textures that looked like both scales and plate armor.
His muscle groups proliferated rapidly, each muscle fiber being compressed immediately after formation.
Super Flash Overlord State!
At the same time, the Bronze Dragon King's voice continued, ignoring the barrier of the vacuum, directly vibrating in the depths of Garoth's soul.
"Your first sin."
"The blood of red and iron flows in your veins. You are born inheriting all the evil of your predecessors. Tiamat's curse surges in your blood vessels. Every breath you take is a blasphemy against order. Every heartbeat of yours is a mockery of life."
As he spoke, his voice suddenly deepened.
"I hereby judge!"
"You are not fit to exist in this world. You must bear heavy chains."
The moment the words fell, Garoth's body suddenly felt heavy.
Even in the vacuum, changes occurred. Illusory chains emerged from nowhere, woven from cyan light, coiling around his limbs, neck, and wings.
In that instant, Garoth felt the flow of his blood become sluggish, as if mixed with lead. All his attributes plummeted drastically.
But he did not panic.
The more such a time, the more he needed calm and reason.
His three heads, under the Super Flash Overlord State, had re-merged into one. But his dragon horns proliferated on his forehead, becoming thicker and sharper.
Golden light flame surged from the gaps in his scales.
They condensed highly on the surface of his body, plating the forge-red scales with a shining golden film.
Shining Form!
"Whether I am guilty or not is not for you to judge!"
The Red Iron Dragon growled.
The next instant.
The Super Flash Overlord State's body shot forward like a compressed spring released all at once.
Garoth's figure traced a golden straight line through the vacuum, charging toward Sheffield under the heavy pressure of the sin chains. His right claw shot up, swinging straightforwardly at the other's head.
The Bronze Dragon King's claws met him.
The claws collided in the vacuum. There was no sound, but the shockwave spread in a ring, shattering the nearest meteorite, several hundred meters in diameter, into fragments.
The rubble splashed silently in the vacuum, only to be ground into finer dust by the aftershocks of their battle.
Garoth's left claw followed immediately, sweeping up from below to strike Sheffield's jaw.
The Bronze Dragon King tilted his head to dodge, but Garoth's knee came up from below, hitting him square in the chest and abdomen. The holy vow runes flickered violently under this blow, and the cyan light dimmed for an instant.
Rip!
The right claw came down again.
Sheffield could not evade.
Under the accumulated consumption and this burst of power, his holy vow defense was finally broken. Deep tearing wounds were left on his side ribs.
He was starting to get hurt.
Under Shining Form, the Red Iron Dragon's attack power had broken through his defense threshold.
But Sheffield did not retreat.
His claws left a deep gash on Garoth's shoulder in response, and he continued to read in that slow, solemn voice.
"Garoth Ignas."
"Your second sin."
"On your path to rise, countless lives have died directly or indirectly because of you. Your claws are stained with the blood of the innocent."
His claws raised again, the cyan light flame burning even brighter on his body.
Garoth's gaze was sharp as he charged at the Bronze Dragon King, while the Bronze Dragon King fought as he declared.
One meteorite after another shattered in their battle. The rubble formed a ring of dust circling the two of them in the vacuum.
The Red Iron Dragon's figure darted through the dust, each appearance accompanied by a heavy blow.
His attacks slammed into the Bronze Dragon King's defenses again and again, constantly breaking through, leaving more and more wounds on the Bronze Dragon King.
But Sheffield did not care.
He began to focus on defense, his voice slow, but each word falling one after another, eventually forming a complete sentence.
"I hereby judge!"
"Your sins are grievous. You must have the foundation of your power and the source of your strength sealed."
As he spoke, he extended his claws, making a grasping motion at Garoth.
This time, there was no violent explosion or other obvious reaction.
But Garoth's expression changed.
He found that his two main traits had failed.
Battle Dragon and Undying Life.
...These two traits had been sealed at the same time. The dragon crystal inside his body, which anchored his body structure and represented the progress of evolution and mutation, was also severely affected, completely losing its luster.
Fortunately, the Dragon Pearl was still shining.
And Sheffield's declaration was not over yet.
But his voice had become even slower, each word seemingly requiring a heavy price.
"So this is Potency? Sheffield's Potency is... judgment?"
Garoth's heart rang with alarm.
The Bronze Dragon King's Potency was more powerful than he had expected. It not only suppressed him directly, preventing his Shining Form from fully manifesting, but also directly sealed his two main traits.
Moreover, this Potency seemed completely idealistic.
The Bronze Dragon Lord believed he was guilty, and regardless of whether it was true or not, he could directly judge him based on that, maximizing the use of his immortal Potency.
Without a doubt, this was an extremely powerful Potency.
However, perhaps because the Bronze Dragon King was not skilled enough, or perhaps because Garoth himself was strong enough.
He could clearly feel that this seal was not permanent.
Especially the Battle Dragon trait. The essence of evolution within it was operating wildly, trying to break free from the suppression of the immortal Potency.
And the Bronze Dragon King was still declaring!
From the increasingly powerful judgment effect and his heavier voice, this third judgment would likely be more fatal and harder to bear than the first two.
"I have to defeat Sheffield in a short time!"
Garoth immediately realized this.
He no longer hesitated, activating the Double Radiant State at all costs.
In an instant, his dragon horns proliferated wildly again.
They bent backward from the top of his skull, winding down like a war crown draped over his shoulders.
The shining light on his body, merging with the bloodflame, turned a rose-gold hue.
Buzzzz!
Centered on Garoth, the illusory chains wrapped around him began to crack continuously, showing signs of breaking. But although the cracks extended constantly, the chains formed by the judgment Potency did not collapse. They still clung tightly to him.
Even in the Double Radiant State, he was still suppressed.
He could not achieve full effect.
But overall, he had still become stronger than before.
"Garoth Ignas."
"Your third sin."
The Bronze Dragon King's majestic voice echoed continuously in the starry void.
Garoth stared at him, waving his wings once.
The turbid meteor dust was stirred up.
Garoth's figure tore through the dust screen, the shining light trailing a rose-gold wake in the vacuum. Where he passed, meteorite fragments were sent flying, silently colliding with more distant rocks, triggering a chain of silent fractures.
His right claw tightened, pouring all his power into it.
Then, he punched out.
No tricks. Direct. Pure.
Just like Sheffield's understanding of justice.
The next instant, the fist struck the Bronze Dragon King's holy vow barrier.
Countless runes spun wildly, trying to block the power of this blow. But under Garoth's Double Radiant State, even with the suppression of the judgment chains, his strength had reached an extremely high level.
The holy vow runes began to crack.
The ancient characters, inscribed with countless vows, peeled off the barrier like shattered glass, dissolving into cyan points of light in the vacuum.
The fist pierced through the barrier, continuing forward.
Sheffield raised his claws to block.
Fist met claw.
In the silence, a massive hole was torn in the dust ring.
Sheffield's figure retreated backward violently. A large number of scales on his arms shattered, and even his hard bones cracked. Intense pain surged like a tidal wave.
But he did not stop reading.
His voice was slow and solemn.
Garoth's eyes were sharp as he pursued.
His wings flapped sharply in the vacuum, and his figure vanished. The next second, he appeared above Sheffield's flank. His tail, like a whip, wrapped in rose-gold light, descended from above.
Sheffield sidestepped, crossing his arms to block.
The tail slammed into his crossed arms.
The holy vow runes lit up again, but this time, they shattered upon contact. The force of the tail penetrated the defense, striking the Bronze Dragon King's arm guards.
Scales shattered. Flesh was mangled.
His dragon arm, struck again, bent at an unnatural angle. Bones were broken.
Sheffield's body was also knocked sideways and downward by this blow, smashing a massive meteorite completely apart.
But his voice still did not stop.
"You, in the name of the emperor, in the name of the empire—"
Garoth pursued.
His figure followed like a shadow, appearing below Sheffield. His right claw swung up, aiming for the Bronze Dragon King's chest and abdomen.
Sheffield's wings flapped urgently, his body leaning back.
But not fast enough.
The claw tips grazed past his chest and abdomen, tearing several parallel slits in his scales. Blood gushed from the wounds, instantly freezing into red ice crystals in the vacuum, hanging on the edges of his scales.
Garoth's left claw followed immediately.
As the right claw retracted, this blow came sweeping in from the side, smashing toward Sheffield's head.
Sheffield ducked.
The claw tips grazed past his horns, snapping off one tip.
But he kept reading.
"—have carried out the reality of tyranny!"
The sense of danger grew heavier.
Garoth's attacks did not stop. His body flipped in the vacuum, his wings folding, and with the blade of his elbow as the tip, he struck down from above toward Sheffield's back.
The Bronze Dragon King's mind was on the reading.
His other reactions slowed, focusing on defense.
This elbow strike hit inevitably.
All the holy vow runes on Sheffield's back lit up, trying to block the blow. But Garoth's elbow was like a red-hot iron rod driving into ice. The holy vow runes shattered layer by layer, scales cracked layer by layer.
The Bronze Dragon King's body was sent plummeting downward.
He tumbled several times in the vacuum, smashing through several more meteorites. Countless fragments sprayed out around him, forming an expanding debris field.
Garoth pressed the attack.
His Shining Form could not last long.
But under his current state, the passage of time seemed to slow. Every second of the enemy was extremely painful, each minute feeling like a year.
In the silent deep void, the Red Iron Dragon's onslaught was blazing, landing continuously on the Bronze Dragon King.
Even the Bronze Dragon King's powerful defense could not ignore the damage.
Soon, he was covered in wounds. Blood flowed from every injury, freezing into countless ice crystals, like a tattered ruby armor draped over him.
But the holy vow runes on him were burning.
He was burning all the vows he had ever made, burning the conviction he had accumulated over countless years, burning the holy vow barrier itself, which was the foundation of his defense.
All to complete the judgment of the evil dragon.
Throughout the process, Sheffield was oblivious to the damage he was taking, completely turtling in defense, letting each word fall one by one.
"Your sins are this heavy."
"They are unforgivable."
"Upon judgment—"
Garoth closed in again.
His right claw pierced through the Bronze Dragon King's defense, the tips sinking into the gaps in the scales on his left shoulder. He pulled downward. The scales were torn off in one piece. Flesh opened up, revealing the bone beneath.
Sheffield grunted, but did not retreat.
His tail swept in from the side, striking Garoth's flank, forcing the Red Iron Dragon back for a moment.
Then he continued reading.
"—it must be by me—in the name of justice and order—personally ended!"
Finally, the last word fell.
Sheffield's voice did not grow louder, nor did it become impassioned.
It simply became utterly certain.
Like stating a fact that had already occurred. Like reading out a verdict that had already taken effect. Like announcing an outcome that was already sealed.
Then, time seemed to freeze.
In that instant, seemingly infinite light flame blazed up from the Bronze Dragon King's body, then coalesced toward the left claw he raised high.
First, the hilt.
Then, the crossguard.
Then, the blade.
A massive, solid-looking one-handed sword took shape in his claw.
It was composed entirely of cyan light. The blade was inscribed with countless ancient characters. Each character was burning, representing the judgment of a single sin.
And this was the final form of the Bronze Dragon King's judgment Potency.
Sword of Judgment.
Forged at the cost of burning all holy vows, fueled by the conviction accumulated over countless years, condensed by the immortal Potency into a sword of judgment.
Sheffield's left claw gripped the hilt.
Then, his aura changed.
The Bronze Dragon King, who had been suppressed, wounded, and breached by Garoth, vanished.
In his place stood an executioner wielding the Sword of Judgment.
His aura surged instantly, leaping to a level far beyond before.
Countless light flames erupted from his entire body, wrapping him completely. The previous wounds healed rapidly in the light flame. The shattered scales were filled by the light flame. Even the horn tip that had been snapped off regrew in the light flame.
"Die!"
The Bronze Dragon King gripped the Sword of Judgment, swinging it at the Red Iron Dragon.
And the moment the Sword of Judgment took shape, Garoth's pupils contracted sharply.
Danger.
Deadly danger.
That sword.
The Sword of Judgment, formed from cyan light flame, was a hundred meters long. Countless burning characters flowed on the blade. The moment he saw it, Garoth even felt the urge to charge into it and commit suicide.
It was built specifically to target him.
Absolutely could not take it head-on!
The thought flashed through Garoth's mind as his body reacted.
His wings flapped sharply. His figure traced a nearly right-angle turn in the meteor dust, retreating violently diagonally backward.
He dodged.
But the next instant, Garoth's gaze froze.
The Sword of Judgment was still there, and it was already close at hand.
As if the moment his figure landed, the sword's edge was already there.
The Bronze Dragon King wielding the Sword of Judgment had also appeared before him like a teleport, following Garoth's movement like a shadow.
The next instant, the Sword of Judgment fell.
Garoth instinctively raised his right arm to block.
The Dragon Pearl poured out vast amounts of energy, operating wildly within his body, pushing the defense of Shining Form to its limit.
Then the sword edge met his arm.
There was no impact, nothing at all.
The Sword of Judgment seemed to pass through a non-existent phantom, passing through his scales, through his flesh, through his bones, emerging from the other side.
Garoth's right arm fell away.
The severed surface was as smooth as a mirror. Not even blood flowed out.
The judgment light flame burned at the severed surface, preventing even regeneration.
The excruciating pain swept over him after a delayed instant.
But Garoth did not scream.
"This Sword of Judgment is forged with Potency, as if completely tailored for me."
"It ignores dodging, ignores defense."
"Before this Sword of Judgment, my body seems not to exist. This sword does not cut anything that can be blocked by defense. It cuts the sin that Sheffield has attributed to me."
He gritted his teeth, his thoughts racing to their limits.
"My Undying trait was sealed by his second judgment. This means skills like Rage Without Fear of Death and Death Incarnation are likely ineffective."
"The key is to break through his judgment seal!"
Garoth could clearly feel his body gradually adapting to the judgment seal.
Adaptive Evolution.
It was actually two parts.
Adaptation, evolution.
The Bronze Dragon King's Potency effect was not infinite either. He had only sealed evolution, preventing Garoth from continuing to grow stronger, but he had not sealed adaptation.
"Soon. Stall for time!"
Garoth's thoughts were like lightning. He made a decision instantly.
"Your sin cannot be escaped, cannot be forgiven."
The Bronze Dragon King's voice came. He raised the Sword of Judgment in one claw, taking a step forward.
Just one step.
The entire dragon appeared before Garoth.
The Sword of Judgment was raised again.
The second blow fell.
This time, Garoth did not try to flee.
He precisely controlled his body, sidestepping, letting the sword edge land on a non-vital area, the least harmful, shallowest spot.
The sword edge swept diagonally across his left shoulder.
Scales, flesh—before the Sword of Judgment, it was as if nothing existed. But the angle was not enough to sever his left arm. It only left a wound across his shoulder.
"Your resistance is meaningless."
Sheffield's face was solemn, his voice like a great bell.
Another blow fell. Even though the Red Iron Dragon twisted and turned with all his might, a massive wound was still opened by the sword edge, and this was with him effectively altering the angle a bit.
Every second was unbearably long.
The Sword of Judgment fell again and again, and Garoth could only dodge.
He also tried to counterattack, but his attacks could not harm the Bronze Dragon Lord at all. Each time they hit, the Sword of Judgment would tremble slightly, as if bearing all the damage.
Soon, the Red Iron Dragon was covered in shocking wounds.
"Accept your judgment, and head toward your final death!"
The Bronze Dragon King roared.
Buzz!
Cyan light flame also ignited on him. The holy vows accumulated to a critical value, unleashing a super-powerful blow. Combined with the Sword of Judgment, this blow was inescapable. In an instant, it pierced through the Red Iron Dragon's heart.
But on the Red Iron Dragon's face, there was no panic or despair.
"Do you think you can kill me?!"
Under the Super Flash Overlord State, his eyes were domineering, staring directly at the Bronze Dragon King. He even opened his dragon maw and laughed silently, heartily.
The Bronze Dragon King's heart tightened with unease.
But his movements did not slow at all.
Horizontal slash.
The sword edge swept horizontally across Garoth's waist, cutting his body into upper and lower halves. The upper and lower halves slowly separated in the vacuum.
Vertical cleave.
The sword edge cleaved down from the center of his head, splitting the upper half in two from the middle. The left and right halves drifted apart.
Four pieces.
The Red Iron Dragon's body was divided into four large chunks.
But the Bronze Dragon King was not satisfied.
He raised the sword again.
Not enough.
Still not enough.
Cut him into ten thousand pieces, let him die completely, utterly!
The Sword of Judgment came crashing down.
But this time, it missed.
Bloodflame ignited, dyeing the surrounding starry sky with a dark red light.
The four pieces of remains all ignited simultaneously, turning into bloodflame.
The Sword of Judgment fell, passing straight through them, but dealing no damage.
Then, the four bloodflames scattered like lightning, moving away from the Bronze Dragon King, then suddenly converged toward the same spot.
They collided.
A dark red light exploded at the point of collision, like a star being born. The bloodflame surged, expanded, and intertwined silently in the vacuum, reflecting the surrounding meteorite fragments like blood-red amber.
At the center of the bloodflame, something was rapidly taking shape.
First, the bones.
A spine grew out from the bloodflame. Each vertebra was tempered by the bloodflame the moment it formed, the surface taking on the luster of a branding iron.
Then, the ribs, extending from both sides of the spine one after another, bending, closing, forming the outline of the chest cavity.
Then, the heart.
A brand-new heart condensed in the empty chest cavity. Initially, it was just a beating mass of bloodflame, then the bloodflame contracted inward, condensing into muscle.
It began to beat, faster and faster, like war drums pounding.
The bloodflame surged along the blood vessels, pulling out the bones of the limbs one by one.
At the severed ends of the arm bones, new bones extended outward. Joints took shape. Tendons wrapped around. Muscle bundles layered on layer by layer, then scales.
Scales sprouted from the gaps in the skin.
...
Everything seemed slow but was fast.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon, clad in forge-red dragon scales, was reborn from the bloodflame.
"Sheffield, I am the surging wave that engulfs the world. Even the countless stars must pale before me. Do you think you can judge my life and death?"
The Overlord Garoth stepped out from the bloodflame.
His forge-red scales covered his entire body. The edges of the scales glowed with a faint dark red light, as if flames were burning in the gaps between each scale.
His form was more compact than before. The lines of his muscles were like carved and chiseled edges. Every inch contained explosive power.
The seal had been adapted.
All effects of Undying Life were pushed to their extreme.
Not only that.
Born from Death, Rage Without Fear of Death, Death Incarnation, Extreme Fury Ascension.
All traits and skills were operating at their limits in this moment.
Not only that.
The dragon crystal flashed madly, flashing as never before.
After breaking free from the judgment seal, the Battle Dragon trait also operated at its peak, releasing all the accumulated adaptive evolution from the previous battle at once.
And so, a new color spread across Garoth's body.
Cyan.
Deep and cold cyan, exactly the same shade as the Bronze Dragon King's scales.
"What... what are you, exactly?"
Sheffield's voice was low, carrying a gravity never before seen.
Garoth did not answer.
His Shining Form had not yet ended.
Years of training, though not yet enough to use Shining Form indefinitely, had long left behind the initial predicament of only three short minutes.
The cyan figure flashed through the vacuum.
The next instant, Garoth appeared before Sheffield, his claws crashing down fiercely.
The Bronze Dragon King's gaze was stern as he swung the Sword of Judgment.
Claw met sword, knocking it off its trajectory.
Sheffield's gaze froze.
His Sword of Judgment, forged with immortal Potency, fueled by all his holy vows, rooted in years of accumulated conviction—as long as he judged his target guilty, the Sword of Judgment was unstoppable.
But what had just happened?
The slash's trajectory had been knocked askew by a claw?
At the same time, the left claw swept in from the side, aiming directly for Sheffield's head. It was incredibly fast, leaving him no chance to dodge.
Bam!
The Bronze Dragon's head snapped to the side.
At the same time, the damage was transferred to the Sword of Judgment. A massive crack burst forth, extending from the middle of the blade to the tip.
Sheffield counterattacked.
His wings spread in the vacuum. The Sword of Judgment came down from above, the blade wrapped in burning characters, chopping toward Garoth's head.
Garoth raised his right arm.
Then, the sword edge struck his forearm.
Crackle!
His cyan scales lit up. The Sword of Judgment tore through the Shining film in an instant. But when it touched this layer of dragon scales, it suddenly changed from a concept into a concrete thing. It could tear dragon scales and flesh, but could no longer ignore them as before.
The sword edge embedded itself in the scales of Garoth's forearm, unable to advance another inch.
Sheffield's pupils contracted sharply.
Before, the Sword of Judgment could ignore all of Garoth's defenses, passing through his body like passing through air.
But now, it could not.
Garoth's left claw swept up from below, smashing into the blade of the Sword of Judgment.
Cracks erupted.
From the crossguard to the tip, dense cracks spread like a spiderweb.
The Bronze Dragon King's expression changed drastically. He pulled the Sword of Judgment back, then swung it at the Red Iron Dragon again.
Garoth met him.
Cyan against cyan.
Two nearly identical figures clashed continuously in the vacuum.
Sheffield's attacks were like a violent storm. The Sword of Judgment poured in from every angle toward Garoth.
Slash, chop, sweep, thrust, horizontal sweep, diagonal cut... each strike carried the power of the judgment Potency, the unstoppable will behind it.
But each strike was received by Garoth.
Either dodged, or blocked and endured.
Before him, the Sword of Judgment seemed to have become an ordinary, slightly sharper weapon. Nothing more. Its former mystique was gone.
And the Red Iron Dragon was no punching bag.
His counterattacks landed on the Bronze Dragon King again and again.
Each time, they left new cracks on the Sword of Judgment.
One crack after another spread from the blade to the crossguard, from the crossguard to the hilt, from the hilt to Sheffield's claws.
Sheffield could feel it.
His Sword of Judgment was shattering.
"No!"
Sheffield roared.
He could not accept this outcome.
In that moment.
Garoth poured all his power into his right claw.
Shining Form, Born from Death, Extreme Fury Ascension... layer after layer of power stacked together, all condensed into this single claw strike.
Then, he swung that claw.
No tricks.
Direct. Pure.
Just like Sheffield's understanding of justice.
The next instant, the claw struck the very center of the Sword of Judgment.
Time seemed to freeze.
Cracks began from the point of contact between fist and blade, spreading in all directions simultaneously.
Hundreds of them, like lightning branching through the night sky, like a spiderweb spreading across glass. In an instant, they covered every inch of the sword.
Crack.
There was no sound, but Sheffield heard it in his mind.
The Sword of Judgment shattered.
The massive blade broke into countless cyan fragments in the vacuum. Then, the fragments broke into smaller pieces. The light flame on them went out, piece by piece, dissipating into the endless starry void.
Sheffield's body shook violently.
As if struck by an invisible thunderbolt.
His right claw still held the grip of a sword, but the sword in his hand no longer existed.
But he did not fall.
"Justice! Will triumph over evil!"
The Bronze Dragon King let out a soundless roar.
His left claw grabbed at the void.
The scattered fragments of the Sword of Judgment, the not-yet-extinguished cyan points of light, were drawn together under his pull, forming larger blade fragments.
But they did not re-form into a complete sword.
They stuck together in a more primitive, rougher way.
Piece by piece, they lodged between his claws, embedded themselves in his scales, and gradually twisted into tiny blade edges, densely covering his entire body.
This came at a cost.
Besides these judgment blades, the Bronze Dragon King's scales had lost all their luster. His flesh shrank, his bones contracted. The once majestic Bronze Dragon King now resembled a dried-out corpse, with bones protruding.
"How persistent."
"Not even attempting to flee? Well, this is exactly what I want."
Garoth stared at the Bronze Dragon King, locking his eyes on him.
From the moment the Sword of Judgment pierced his heart and killed him once, this battle was destined to end in mutual death. He had not truly revived now; he was simply resisting death, existing in a state between life and death.
At this moment, he was at his most powerful.
Only by ending the battle and winning this war completely could he truly return from death.
Clearly, the Bronze Dragon King was unaware of this.
He might have thought Garoth was also grievously wounded and at his limit, that this was the last chance to kill him completely. In reality, stalling for time was the best option.
"Red Iron Dragon, flowing with the blood of evil!"
"With my body and life as the judgment blade, even if I burn everything, I will bury you in this starry void."
The Bronze Dragon King roared silently, charging at the Red Iron Dragon.
But at the same time.
Time seemed to freeze.
A sweet whisper reached the Bronze Dragon King's ears.
"My poor child, look at yourself. Never before have you been in such a pathetic state."
The voice was infinitely gentle.
Like a mother's lullaby by the cradle, like a spring breeze whispering by the ear.
"My poor child, your justice will fade with your death. Your order will crumble with your fall. Everything you have guarded will turn to nothing."
The voice paused, growing even gentler.
"Although you have defied me many times, I still cannot bear to see this happen."
"As long as you want, as long as you call me 'Mother,' I will grant you new power. You will win this battle and uphold your justice."
Sheffield's answer came without a moment's hesitation.
"Tiamat, you are the source of all evil. You are unworthy of being called my mother, and unworthy of being the mother of the dragon race."
"I will not accept any of your power. Get out!"
His will turned into a blade, slashing at the source of the voice in his spiritual world.
But this time, it did not, as it had countless times before, get expelled by him.
Instead, it laughed.
The laughter was still sweet, but laced with mockery, pity, and condescension.
"That is not your choice, my child."
"Evil has always grown in your heart and you did not know. Do you think your quick immortal breakthrough was all your doing?"
"Shut up!"
Sheffield's will bellowed one final roar.
"Shut up? No, my child. You are the one who should shut up."
The voice shifted from sweetness to authority.
And in the starfield,
under Garoth's gaze, Sheffield's charging body froze.
A sense of ill omen spread.
Garoth's alert spiked.
At once Sheffield's body began to twist; his head drooped.
One by one, heads sprouted from his back.
Red, blue, green, black, white.
Five in total.
That accursed presence again! The evil god once more.
Garoth's pupils rose to slits as he watched both his own state and the five heads growing from Sheffield's back.
"My child, we meet again."
Tiamat's voice rang leisurely. "Last time you won temporarily, but this time I will win two games at once; you will both belong to me."
As she spoke she shook her head and squinted a little.
"Heh heh, I almost forgot when I last felt such delight."
"But it's not enough."
"I will have more fun from you yet."
At those words Garoth's whole body tensed like confronting a mortal enemy.
But when he prepared to fight to the death, the unexpected happened.
The cyan heads on Sheffield's back suddenly lifted and opened their eyes inch by inch.
"I! Would rather die — than let evil — defile my body!"
Sheffield's left claw turned inch by inch toward himself.
"Fool!"
Tiamat was angry. "I'm giving you a chance! How long do you think you can hold on? Your justice? Your order? They will vanish with your death!"
"Then let them vanish!"
Sheffield roared and trembled violently.
Even now his will remained extraordinarily firm; even Tiamat could not fully control his body. Two wills battled within the same frame.
Seeing this, Garoth no longer hesitated.
His time was limited.
Red Iron Dragon flashed through the void and launched his fiercest assault.
Sheffield instinctively wanted to strike back but forced himself to hold, concentrating all mental will to suppress Tiamat's control.
"Fool, fool!"
Five dragon heads roared into chaotic and futile fury, each destroyed one by one.
Soon Tiamat's voice entered Garoth's mind and shifted from furious snarl to sweet whisper.
"Garoth, my dear child, our game continues."
"I can lose once, ten times, a hundred times."
"But you can only lose once."
"Remember that."
Her voice faded; the five heads that had sprouted from Sheffield were shattered.
Garoth did not stop.
His assault continued while Sheffield, having regained control of his body, launched an all-or-nothing counterattack.
Two great dragons fought soundlessly in the starfield.
The result was already decided.
Sheffield's body quickly collapsed. The fierce aura that once seemed implacable cratered and rapidly dwindled; the life light in his eyes began to extinguish.
"Sheffield, it's over."
"Victory ultimately belongs to me."
Garoth's chest heaved; his body neared its limit.
"No. Justice will triumph over evil."
"You may have defeated me now, but sooner or later someone will end your evil."
Sheffield still stubbornly spoke.
Garoth frowned, his brow scales creasing. "You are dying; I have no reason to deceive you. I never intended to annex the Five Great Dragon Domains. I truly hope to see dragonkind rise."
"Sheffield, tell me."
"Now, do you still think I am evil?"
Sheffield looked at him with a breath like a dying candle, flickering out.
"Still... so."
Four words, unchanged, without hesitation.