Ashen Dragon

His eyes were blood-red as he mustered all his courage and roared at the Red Dragon in the sky, "Cassius! Think this through carefully!

If you kill me, what you will face is the wrath of a true Abyssal Lord!"

"Snap!"

The whip ablaze with Chaos Flame swung through the air, striking directly at the Red Dragon's head.

Cassius cracked a cold smile, revealing a mouth full of sharp dragon teeth, and exhaled steaming white smoke.

"Even if the Vengeful Demon himself descended, I wouldn't have the slightest fear!

Leo Boske, you think you can play the brute using his name when you're nothing but a house pet kept by an Abyssal Lord?

Talk about not knowing your own strength!"

The Red Dragon let out a roar, flapping its wings to whip up a scorching gale, and easily caught the incoming Flame Whip with its giant claws, pulling the Barlow Flame Demon over from a distance with sheer strength.

In an instant, terrifying Dragonflame spread rapidly along the whip, about to engulf the Barlow Flame Demon's arm that was holding the whip.

"Damn it!"

The Barlow Flame Demon, looking at the roaring Red Dragon and the incoming Dragonflame, let go in terror and desperately flew away.

But Cassius was far more terrifyingly fast than he could have imagined.

"Whoosh—"

There was only the howling wind and the piercing sonic boom as the searing hot blast came from behind, engulfing the sky.

By the time the Barlow Flame Demon looked back, the enormous Red Dragon had already appeared in the air behind him.

The Barlow Flame Demon's pupils dilated, the scarlet figure in his eyes growing larger until it filled his entire field of view.

"What?"

The Red Dragon's stout arms bulged with muscles hard as iron balls, veins throbbing prominently.

Its claws, gleaming like swords, tore through space, bringing with them a scorching hurricane, and fiercely swiped down at him.

"Whoosh—"

"You dare—"

First was the screech of cutting through the air, followed by the sound of claws slicing flesh, and then the pitiful wail.

Purple-black flesh and shattered organs splattered high in the sky, raining down to the ground like a gruesome downpour.

Under the Red Dragon's crushing power, the hulking body of the Flame Demon was torn apart in the air, cleaved into two pieces, with a neat cross-section at the waist.

Cassius flapped his wings, hovering silently high in the sky, watching with interest as the Barlow Flame Demon's mangled body fell.

He said in a low voice, "Leo Boske, I'm curious to see how many times you can resurrect.

Or rather... to what extent must things go before that Vengeful Demon behind you would come forth to face my revenge."

Indeed, before Cassius finished speaking, dense mist like turbulence swiftly converged, eagerly pouring into the Barlow Flame Demon's upper torso, restoring it once again.

"I, I told you!

Cassius, you, you'll never truly kill me!"

The Barlow Flame Demon was resurrected once more and continued to defy the Red Dragon.

But after several deaths, its hand holding the Storm Giant Sword trembled violently, and its voice sounded unsure, even a bit terrified.

Even it didn't know whether the Abyssal Lord would forsake him, or whether he could awaken again after the next death.

However, before the Barlow Flame Demon could react, the Red Dragon descended with a thunderous roar from the sky, its massive claws piercing his chest, ripping his body apart.

Abyssal Turbulence surged, and the Barlow Flame Demon resurrected once again.

"You—"

He didn't get to speak a word before a blazing white Pillar of Fire shot down from the sky, turning his entire head to dust.

But soon, the stormy winds howled with Chaos, and the Barlow Flame Demon was reborn from a dark vortex.

"Indestructible, huh..."

Cassius watched the once again resurrected Barlow Flame Demon, the Heaven's Calamity Dragon Eye glittering in midair.

Wrapped in and disturbed by the Abyssal Power, the Red Dragon couldn't predict the Flame Demon's next move, he couldn't even perceive the creature's soul.

Normally, when demons die in the Material Plane, their souls leave their bodies and return to the Blood Pools called by The Abyss.

Within the Imperial Region of Cassius's domain, these filthy, evil souls would be intercepted by the domain's power, obliterated, and finally turned into pure Soul Energy.

But having killed Leo multiple times, Cassius had never sensed the Flame Demon's soul.

Something was not right.

Cassius whispered into the void, "Again with these tedious tricks... Heh, Gelrazax, you're less like a Demon Lord and more like a Duke of Hell."

As he spoke, he did not forget to flap his wings, speeding through the sky with raging winds, rapidly closing in on the Barlow Flame Demon again.

This time, Cassius wanted to crush the demon into mincemeat and see how the power from The Abyss could resurrect it from nothing.

"Come, Leo, my old friend, how many times have you died at my claws now?

I've lost count."

The Red Dragon's mocking voice echoed in the skies, sending shivers down the spines of the demons on the ground.

The highest-ranking demon from The Abyss, the commander of the Abyssal Legion, the immensely powerful Barlow Flame Demon, was being slaughtered mercilessly like a lamb to the slaughter.

"Emperor Kai is invincible!"

"This is just overkill..."

"I give up, what's the point of fighting anymore, just declare victory!"

"Cassius! Among the royals of the dragons, the male of males! The ruler amongst the giant dragons, the sovereign among sovereigns..."

The players were even more stunned, dumbfounded as they watched the "overly long cg" in the sky.

The players watched with relish as the Barlow Flame Demon, who had effortlessly slaughtered them, was being tortured over and over again by their faction's leader. They clapped and cheered, and some even started recording videos—one of them being Mantou.

He had even thought of a title for the video, "Emperor Kai's Battle Log - A Hundred Ways to Die, Abyss Boss Edition."

"Damn Red Dragon...

This can't go on any longer!"

Barlow Flame Demon gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with fear and resentment.

Faced with the Red Dragon's ferocious pounce, he dared not hesitate and chanted an ancient and chaotic Abyssal Incantation.

The body of Barlow Flame Demon flickered with tiny specks of black aurora, the surrounding space gradually warped, and his form became increasingly ethereal.

Cassius keenly perceived all this and whispered in a volume only he could hear:

"It's an Abyssal Teleportation Spell...

But the destination doesn't seem to be The Abyss, but—"

The Red Dragon paused, flapped his wings in the air, and his golden eyes narrowed slightly, sensing the magic at work.

"Ancytica Mountains, Terry Peak."

He spoke the name, a place that appeared countless times in the prophecy, the starting point of the demonic invasion, and the stage he had carefully prepared.

"Good, it seems Gelrazax awaits me there."

The Red Dragon quietly watched as the Flame Demon twisted the space and vanished from his sight, leaving behind a stream of spiteful curses.

"Cassius, enjoy these last moments! You and your Empire will ultimately meet destruction!

Hahaha, I will witness it all, savoring the sweet taste of revenge!"

Cassius could have easily disrupted the spell, preventing Leo's escape, but he chose not to, merely watching as Barlow Flame Demon teleported away.

"Long live His Majesty Cassius!"

"Victorious!"

"The great dragon, unbeatable in battle!"

"His Imperial Majesty has led us to yet another glorious victory, long live the Ashen Empire!"

The Imperial Soldiers on the ground were unaware of the true situation; they only knew that the Red Dragon had achieved a crushing victory against Barlow Flame Demon and thus they cheered ecstatically.

But only Ramp, Misha, and a few others, watching the disturbance in the sky from the Teleportation Spell, began to harbor doubts.

By conventional wisdom, His Majesty should never have let Barlow Flame Demon escape; the demon would have been utterly destroyed.

If Leo Boske were allowed to flee, it could mean only one thing—the war was far from over.

Indeed, it might just be the beginning of a more intense battle exclusively for His Imperial Majesty, much like his previous confrontation with the Ancient Silver Dragon, a conflict beyond the reach of mortals.

Cassius gazed quietly into The Abyss, his pale golden pupils shimmering with a resolute light.

"Hmm, another trap? But this time, who the hunter is and who the prey is, remains to be seen.

Everything started at Ancytica and will also end at Ancytica. From this moment on, the predetermined destiny has been utterly shattered.

Quite a... fitting end."

His voice, like the tearing of silk, thundered across the sky while the surrounding space violently shook, causing many Bipedal Wyverns to flap their wings in terror.

"What is this..."

"Divine Cassius above!"

"Is that His Imperial Majesty! Could he be pursuing that demon?"

Sensing this phenomenon, people looked up at the sky in unison, millions of eyes converging on the enormous dragon form of Cassius.

The Red Dragon, with his talons, brutally tore through space, creating a large, burning spatial rupture. He then drew in his wings and dove into it.