Ashen Dragon

"Screeech—"

The Blood Spear, imbued with the power of "Dragon Slayer," tore through the void, surging relentlessly toward the heart of the Red Dragon. It pursued its target unyieldingly, drawing ever closer, as if it would never cease until it pierced through.

"Crack."

A crisp sound echoed.

A golden pocket watch engraved with a complex pattern appeared in the sky, its hands abruptly stopping with the sound, frozen at a particular moment.

In an instant, accompanied by an unparalleled force of space-time, the area spanning dozens of miles seemed to be pressed into stillness. Flames, rubble, and dust all hung motionless in midair.

Below, on the battlefield of Black Stone Mountain, bullets and shells froze in the air, the flames emanating from the gun barrels of Imperial soldiers suspended, unchanging.

The orcs, with twisted faces, were roaring and charging into a hail of bullets, their axes mid-swing, saliva frozen mid-flight as it sprayed from their vicious mouths.

One orc had a bullet halted at the precise center of its forehead—if time resumed, in the next moment, the bullet would shatter its skull and bore through its head.

In a strange way, Cassius had temporarily spared the orc's life, though the thoughtless orc knew nothing of this.

Cassius had pushed the [Chrono Pocket Watch] to its limit!

The artifact would create a twelve-second Time Stop, but in exchange, its power would be drastically reduced, or even break completely after this use.

However, in the frozen world, Gush remained unaffected, moving freely within the stillness. He frowned slightly and muttered, "So it's Roald's aura... that damned Ancient Chrono Dragon..."

He lifted his gaze, looking toward the Red Dragon in the distance, and his lips curved in a mocking smile. "But do you think a mere Time Stop—could possibly hinder an entity of great divine power?"

"Swoosh—"

Even in the static space, the Blood Spear pierced through, continuing its path toward the heart of the Red Dragon. However, its speed was significantly reduced—not as swift as before, when a mere moment would have guaranteed a fatal strike.

Within this silent world, Cassius frantically beat his wings, racing across the low skies at unimaginable speed, desperately evading the pursuing Blood Spear.

"Stop struggling—"

"Foolish Red Dragon! Once the Time Stop ends, that will be the moment of your demise!"

The arrogant voice of the Beastman God resonated through the sky, causing even the frozen world to shudder faintly.

Gush warped through space repeatedly, trailing the Red Dragon from afar, savoring the prospect of personally witnessing his enemy's heart being skewered by the Blood Spear and his life extinguished.

"You're celebrating too early!"

Suddenly, Cassius turned around, his chest illuminated by the Dragon Crystal, which radiated like a celestial object, emitting boundless light and heat that drowned the entire world in its brilliance.

In the final seconds of the Time Stop, Chaos Flames, Order Fire, and Sun God Power interwove and poured out in torrents. From the Red Dragon's mouth erupted an unstoppable, raging energy storm!

"BOOM—"

The Blood Spear continued to surge toward the Red Dragon's heart, but amidst the downpour of energy, the spear slowed dramatically, becoming like a frail skiff trying to navigate against the current.

The "Dragon Slayer" power coating the spear was eroded and neutralized by the overwhelming storm, growing weaker and fainter until it dissipated into wisps of black mist.

Finally, the divine-power-forged Blood Spear disintegrated entirely within the flood, scattering into glimmers of light that were devoured by Cassius's Plunder Breath.

In the next instant, the Chrono Pocket Watch dimmed, cracks forming on its face, while the effects of [Time Stop] abruptly ended. Space and time resumed their flow—the dense smoke roiled, fierce winds swept the land, and debris danced upon the gusts.

Due to the spatial imbalance caused by [Time Stop], the edges of the affected range warped into chaotic space currents.

On the battlefield below, a bullet mercilessly pierced through the orc's skull, causing brain matter to explode and fragments of bone to scatter.

"Boom!"

"For the glory of the Father God!"

"For the Empire! Long live His Majesty Cassius!"

"Crush them!"

Gunpowder smoke filled the air, orcs charged with their weapons raised, only to fall one after another under the ferocious firepower of the Imperial soldiers. This brutal, blood-soaked world had finally sprung back to life!

For a moment, Gush's expression darkened. He gritted his teeth, his visage radiating fury as a deep, shimmering light erupted from his single eye once more.

The Blood Spear was a projection of his true Divine Artifact, a construct of condensed divine energy. With its destruction and absorption by the Red Dragon, Gush felt that even his true Divine Artifact had been depleted by a thousandth.

This was no small loss, a significant fraction of a treasure accumulated over countless millennia—what made it worse was that the damage was caused by a mere mortal!

Cassius had long noticed the ominous glow in the Unblinking Eye. He tried evasively, his broad wings generating scorching winds as he soared toward the skies of the North.

In his usual battles, he relied on the Dragon's Eye and prophecy spells to predict his opponent's moves and counterattack accordingly.

But Gush's status was too high—a being of great divine power immune to all prophecy spells: no mortal had the right to glimpse him, no magic could affect him, no illusion could deceive him. Such was the magical resistance of the Divine.

Conversely, Gush could use the omniscience of his divine perception to accurately predict the actions of mortals and lesser gods.

Alezeg's supreme laws constrained the power of the Divine, allowing them only to descend in avatar form—a fragment of their true strength, yet still enough to stand supreme in the Material Plane.

"Red Dragon! Do you truly believe you can escape?" The Beastman God's wrathful voice reverberated across the skies and the earth, sending tremors throughout the world.

He raised his right hand, crimson light swirling as powerful divine energy forged an ancient, cumbersome battle axe, its blade steeped in the blood of elves and dwarves, worn and mottled.

—It was said that this very battle axe had once beheaded an Elf God!

Gush grasped the axe with both hands, lifting it high as black smoke trailed. He leapt hundreds of meters into the air, aiming a lethal strike at the Red Dragon's head.

"To desecrate a True God is to face Judgment!" Gush roared angrily, his voice carrying an unstoppable force as he cleaved toward Cassius.

Divine energy surged in bloody radiance from all directions, and Cassius felt his body bound, as if heavy chains imprisoned him, suffocating under their weight.

"BOOM—"

But Cassius raised his head, unleashing an earth-shaking roar. The Ancestral Dragon's power burst forth, and the fiery blood within his veins surged.

The Red Dragon's visage twisted into something even more feral. He furiously beat his wings and flexed his powerful limbs, his mountains-sized bulk shattering the constraints of the divine force field.

With his colossal 60-meter body and unparalleled muscle strength, Cassius's casual strike already surpassed most spells. Now, relying solely on his physical might, he could easily obliterate a city and collapse the heavens and earth.

"Die!"

Gush swung his battle axe down toward the Red Dragon, but Cassius narrowly dodged. Yet the axe still struck Cassius's unwithdrawn right forelimb.

A metallic screech rang out, blood spraying as the divine-blood-infused axe sliced through scales, severing a massive chunk of skin and flesh from the dragon's right shoulder!

The wound was cleanly cut, its edges tainted with radiant divine energy that continued to corrode the flesh, worsening the injury.

Immediately afterward, the battle axe struck the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured the area. A deep, chasm-like fissure hundreds of meters long and ten meters deep opened in the earth, cutting a distant hill in half and even leaving a sky-reaching spatial fracture hanging in midair.

This was the power of divine might—destructive enough to create apocalyptic catastrophes, even in avatar form!

"ROAR—"

Feeling the excruciating pain of divine energy eroding his wound, Cassius let out an enraged howl, his pale gold pupils flaring with uncontrollable wrath.

Seizing the moment as the Beastman struggled to pull his axe from the ground, the Red Dragon swung with all his strength, his murderous claw tearing through the air from left to right.

Seeing the approach of the dragon's massive claw, Gush agilely dodged, anticipating it perfectly. He rolled deftly, letting the claw strike the cliff face instead, causing it to collapse and sending fragments of rock tumbling.

Gush quickly regained his footing, reversing his grip on the axe and slashing diagonally at the Red Dragon's left neck, aiming to decapitate him.