Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Thunder and lightning raged as the heavy rain continued to fall.

The dark clouds did not immediately disperse with the Storm Dragon's death.

Thick cloud layers pressed down overhead, rain poured in torrents, and everything within sight was a grayish curtain of water.

At the same time, the Red Iron Dragon stood upright on the sea surface.

His wings were spread, his spine straight, his arms crossed over his chest as he calmly gazed at the thunderclouds filling the sky.

This posture alone made him look terrifyingly powerful.

And on his body, the brilliant, dazzling rose-gold radiance had not yet faded, the light reflecting off the rain curtain, refracting into scattered, fragmented halos.

The power that the Chromatic Queen had hidden within the Storm Dragon's body was not particularly strong.

With Garoth prepared and capable of entering the Double Radiant State, he had spent little time or effort to crush that incarnation.

He had merely vented a little, and then erased it from the Material Plane.

His Double Radiant State could still be maintained for a while longer.

Then, the Red Iron Dragon did not linger where he was.

Whoosh!

With a single flap of his wings, he vanished from his spot in an instant, leaving behind only a circle of depressed water surface blasted open by the airwave. The sea churned and took a long time to close back up.

On the other side.

At the nearest temple, Shire was locked in battle with an Ancient-level Dragonblight.

Relying on his powerful spatial skills, he fought with ease, shattering the Dragonblight's body time and again. But due to the massive size difference, he found it difficult to completely crush and kill the creature.

The Dragonblight's body was colossal, covered in twisted, five-colored scales.

Its life force was unreasonably tenacious.

Whoosh!

Shire appeared atop the Dragonblight's head and struck down with his sword, leaving a deep, bone-deep gash on its skull. The Dragonblight jerked its head violently, slamming toward Shire.

This Heroic Spirit had once died under the fierce impact of a dragon's head.

He was well-prepared for this and instantly space-jumped to a safe distance.

Black threads, like living things, rapidly sewed the wound on the Dragonblight's skull closed. The injury of having its head split open seemed nonexistent to the Dragonblight.

Its movements showed no slowdown as it silently pursued Shire.

Shire space-jumped again, evading the Dragonblight's pursuit while simultaneously appearing at the side of its neck. His blade slid into the gap between scales, cutting through large swaths of muscle tissue.

At the same time, the Dragonblight's movements were not greatly affected.

It opened its massive maw, revealing layered rows of sharp teeth, and bit down fiercely at Shire.

Shire was about to jump away to dodge, but then he suddenly stopped.

Because the Dragonblight exploded right before his eyes.

From the inside out—muscles, scales, bones, the ubiquitous black threads—were all crushed into powder in an instant by an incomprehensible force. The mist of blood still held the outline of a dragon's form in place before a belated gale swept it away.

Shire was stunned, hovering in midair, staring at the spot where the Dragonblight had vanished.

And it wasn't just before him.

The same scene was happening simultaneously everywhere.

A Dragonblight that had been locked in combat with the Fang of Aola exploded into pieces. The Fang of Aola couldn't even retract his attack in time, passing straight through the blood mist. Another Ancient Dragon that had just crawled out of the ruins turned into a mist of blood, along with the boulders around it.

A third, a fourth, a fifth...

They were scattered in different locations, not close to each other, but the order in which death arrived was so swift it seemed simultaneous.

Clusters of blood mist bloomed in the rainstorm like flowers opening all at once, dyeing the entire battlefield a dark red. On the ground, on the ruins, in the air—the blood-colored haze was everywhere.

Dragonblights.

Monsters that were nearly unkillable in the Material Plane had all died in the same instant.

And throughout this entire process, there was no magical or energy reaction whatsoever.

Raw power needed no explanation.

Many of Aola's legendary warriors didn't even realize what had happened until after all the Dragonblights were dead.

They only felt a flash of light before their eyes.

A rose-gold, blindingly dazzling light flashed past, followed by a gust of wind that swept across the battlefield, carrying away all the blood mist.

Then, they instinctively turned their heads to look in the direction where the shining light had passed.

In the distant sky, a rose-gold figure was flying at an inconceivable speed, drawing an arc that crossed the horizon.

Starting from the sea surface, extending to the west-central area, then quickly veering to the other side.

Weaving and darting across various locations, swift as lightning.

And wherever it passed, Dragonblights exploded one after another.

Before the blood mist could be scattered by the heavy rain, it was swept up by the gale generated by its passing, trailing behind it. The speed was so great that the blood mist had no time to spread, instead being carried by the airflow to form a long tail.

One, two, ten...

More and more blood mist was swept into the air, converging into a dark red stream, closely following the rose-gold trajectory. It stretched and twisted through the sky like a blood-colored cape lifted by the wind, fluttering under the oppressive dark clouds.

The figure showed no pause; its speed was even increasing.

Its blazing light trailed a tail miles long behind it. Sonic booms blasted ring-shaped cloud rings in its wake, which were then left far behind.

In a very short time.

Those troublesome Dragonblights were almost completely cleared out.

The figure, its whole body radiant, finally stopped, hovering high in the sky.

His arms were still crossed over his chest, his posture identical to when he had set out, with only his wings slightly tucked in.

The blood-colored cape, raised by the residual wake of his flight, swept up from behind.

It swirled briefly around him, then was washed clean drop by drop by the torrential rain, slowly dispersing into a fine red drizzle that fell onto the sea, onto the ruins, and onto the faces of all the dragons and humans who looked up.

At this moment.

Whether they were Aola's legends or Helmod's great dragons and their followers.

They all instinctively raised their heads to gaze at the figure in the sky.

The raging flames of battle, which had been burning fiercely moments before, were now extinguished directly.

Garoth lowered his gaze, sweeping his eyes over the surviving Helmod great dragons, pausing for a moment on the two blood kin of the Lord of Thunder.

Then he raised his head slightly, arms folded, his posture one of contemptuous dominance.

"Do not pray to any god ever again. Not Tiamat, not any other being that claims to be a god."

"From this moment on, you may only revere one name, you may only fear one emperor."

"Fear me!"

His low voice fell from the heights, piercing through the rain curtain and the thunder, seeming to echo directly inside the skull of every dragon.

The rain poured in torrents, thunder rolling among the dark clouds.

But beneath the thunder, the battlefield fell into silence.

The surviving Helmod great dragons exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Some dragons' eyes flickered, some shrank their necks, some turned to look at the reactions of their companions around them.

They had once followed the Lord of Thunder, believing themselves to be on an unshakeable side. But now, the Storm Dragon had been defeated, the Chromatic Queen had not appeared to grant them protection, and only the Red Emperor was looking down upon them.

Then, a blue figure rose into the air.

Alvia, Lamorein's direct blood kin.

She beat her wings, slowly ascending into the sky. Rain slid along her scales, gathering into trickles in the folds of her wing membranes.

She lifted her head to look at the radiant figure suspended high above. Illuminated by his glorious, dazzling light, even the heart of an Ancient Dragon couldn't help but feel a momentary daze.

Lamorein, her elder brother.

Had just died under the claws of the Red Iron Dragon.

Under normal circumstances, Alvia would never be able to bow her head to such a blood feud. She would be angry, she would grieve, she would do everything in her power to avenge her brother.

Most intelligent beings probably couldn't understand this.

They always felt that evil dragons had no emotions, that their blood ties were indifferent, that they didn't care whether other dragons lived or died.

This kind of thinking wasn't necessarily wrong; there were indeed many evil dragons that were nearly this bad.

But in reality, not all evil dragons were the same.

Take the Helmod brothers, for example.

Compared to other evil dragons, blue dragons were already the type that valued social relationships more.

Moreover, in this dangerous world, they had relied on supporting each other and trusting one another to gradually gain a foothold. After a thousand years of coexistence, the emotions between them could no longer be described by simple blood ties.

As for now...

Alvia had no thoughts of revenge.

Submitting to the Red Emperor would allow the Helmod Dragonflight to survive, to prevent the Lord of Thunder's life's work from being completely destroyed. She believed that if her brother were still alive, with free and clear will, he would make the same decision.

Alvia suddenly recalled a conversation she'd had with Lamorein.

She had asked Lamorein if he truly had the idea of submitting to Aola back then, and Lamorein had asked her back, why not?

If Lamorein had not chosen to believe in the Chromatic Queen.

The result now might have been completely different.

But how had things gradually come to this?

After much thought, Alvia concluded that it was that damned evil god who had beguiled her brother, enslaved his soul, and turned him into a soulless shell.

That was no longer her brother.

The Lord of Thunder, from the day he accepted the Chromatic Queen's power, was no longer the Lamorein she knew.

The one who killed the Lord of Thunder was not the Red Emperor.

It was the evil god entrenched in hell.

Revenge!

Submitting to this Aola Emperor who defied divine might was the only chance the Helmod dragons had to take revenge on the evil god.

Even if it was slim, it was still better than having no hope at all.

The rain lashed against Alvia, sliding down her blue scales. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then lowered her head.

Her head drooped, her dragon horns pointing downward, her wings tucked tightly against her body, her tail hanging down to touch the ground.

This was the oldest and most complete posture of submission among dragons.

It represented giving up all dignity, acknowledging the other's power over life and death.

"Alvia... in the name of Helmod, I pledge my loyalty to you. Great Red Emperor, please accept our fealty," she said.

Among the dragonflight, Alvia's prestige was second only to the Lord of Thunder, followed by Tiragon. This blue dragon looked at his blood kin, was silent for a few seconds, then flew a few steps forward.

He also lowered his head, tucked his wings, and let his tail touch the ground.

"Tiragon, in the name of Helmod, I pledge my loyalty to you."

Their submission seemed to flip some kind of switch.

One dragon after another lowered its head.

Those that had once followed the Lord of Thunder as their claws and fangs, the dragons who had been fighting Aola's legends just minutes ago, lowered their bodies one by one, burying their heads deeply.

Garoth turned his head, his gaze falling on his own side.

"Stop."

The Aola legends had been preparing to destroy the temple.

Upon hearing this, they all stopped their actions at the same time.

Reinhardt's Domain retracted, Karu's roar fell silent, and the Heroic Spirits of the Sanctuary hovered in midair, awaiting the next order.

Garoth withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Helmod great dragons.

"Since you have chosen to offer your loyalty, prove it with your actions. Those temples you yourselves built—tear them down with your own hands."

Alvia was the first to turn around, spread her wings, and fly toward the nearest temple.

Her movements were swift and decisive, without a shred of hesitation.

Since she had made her choice, she would see it through to the end.

The other dragons followed closely behind.

A few dragons still hesitated.

Destroying the temples of the Chromatic Queen—this was a great disrespect.

Though most of the Five-Colored Dragons did not believe in the Dragon Goddess, they could not help but feel a sense of reverence.

But seeing that their companions had already flown out, they could only grit their teeth and follow. For a time, the sky was filled with the figures of great dragons in flight, the rain splashing everywhere as their wing membranes beat against it.

Garoth no longer paid them any attention, turning to look at his blood kin.

"Keep an eye on things here. Leave the cleanup to you."

Sorog and Gordon nodded lightly.

"Rest assured."

"We'll watch over it."

The red dragon, however, was somewhat dissatisfied. He ground his teeth and muttered, "At least leave me one Dragonblight. You killed them all. I didn't get to have any fun. I finally got to enjoy a war, and I couldn't even enjoy it to the fullest."

Garoth turned a deaf ear, acting as if he hadn't heard.

The radiance on his body began to dim slightly.

The feeling of power surging through his body was receding, and the confidence that he could tear the heavens and earth apart was also weakening as his power faded.

He could feel that the duration of his Double Radiant State was almost gone.

Then, the dragon's claws tore through space, and a pitch-black rift opened before him.

Garoth didn't hesitate. He leaned forward, and his magnificent, radiant form vanished into the rift. The rift closed behind him.

In terms of emotions.

After mutating into this form, Garoth had developed a strong, almost sole-overheaven-and-earth mentality.

If it were any other dragon, they would probably be getting carried away by now.

They might have started planning how to conquer the world, how to enslave the gods, or how to make all living things kneel at their feet.

But no matter how Garoth's emotions changed, the fundamental tone of his mind remained the same.

For example, when he wanted to be even more arrogant, to charge straight into hell and rub the evil dragon god's face in it, he instinctively felt a deep sense of unease.

It was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, instantly cooling his fevered mind.

The overly arrogant thoughts vanished like smoke in an instant.

And then there was now.

The belief of standing above all else made him want to put up a strong front even in weakness, unwilling to back down.

But his mind would not allow it.

So, without hesitation, Garoth returned to his own 'safe zone' just as the Radiant State was about to end.