Ashen Dragon

Cassius, relying on his speed advantage, constantly shuttled back and forth, circling in the dense Chaos Fog without letting any of the Abyssal Power taint him.

Beside the Abyssal Giant Dragon over a hundred meters long, the Red Dragon also seemed somewhat agile.

"Do you see, Cassius—"

"Your proud Spells are of no use to me; your struggles before me are as pale as paper!

Red Dragon, do not persist in your delusion any longer. Before the great Abyss, you are like a mere mortal facing earthquakes, tsunamis, with no room for resistance!"

"Boom—"

With the ground thundering, Gelrazax moved through the mountains. This hundred-meter-long dark red Giant Dragon brought surging Chaos Fog, infecting everything around him.

"He is the Essence of the universe, the beginning and the end of all things, the destined fate, your burial ground..."

His whisper echoed between the mountains, making every living being within thousands of kilometers tremble and sink into despair.

The Snowmen in the snowy mountain caves ran madly towards the Chaos, while the Anstika Giant Eagles at the mountain tops plunged into it like moths to a flame, becoming nourishment for the Abyss...

As the Abyssal Power spread, endless streams of Chaos Fog surged toward Him, making the terrifying Abyssal Giant Dragon even more enormous, growing to nearly two hundred meters, like a dark red moving mountain.

He was actually plundering everything from the Material Plane! Gelrazax intended to plunge the entire Anzeta into the Abyss!

"This is the purpose of the great Abyss—whether mortals or Immortal beings, they will evolve into a brand new universe, one that is completely detached from Order and any intent!"

Eventually, with the piercing wails of all things' demise, the noisy screeching of demons, and the heavy lamentations from the ground, the dark red Giant Dragon raised its head and let out a roar that shook the wilderness at Cassius: "Red Dragon—

Submit to me!

Surrender to the great Abyss! Merge with my body; fulfill your destined mission!"

The Abyssal Giant Dragon opened its jaws wide, more than ten meters across, with a dull yellow glow flowing from the gaps between its scales. Endless Abyssal Fog swirled and surged around its mouth.

The chaotic, mottled glow suddenly burst forth, with the Chaos Flame gushing out of the rotten throat of the Abyssal Giant Dragon.

"Boom—"

A massive burst echoed as a black-red Pillar of Fire, several meters in diameter, jetted out from Gelrazax's mouth, nearly tearing the sky apart.

Chaos Breath, and this Breath of Chaos was even thicker and hotter than the one released by Cassius in his madness.

"Spawn of the Abyss, you are seeking death—"

The Red Dragon bellowed furiously, its entire blood vessels showing through the skin and scales in a root-like pattern of firelight. Scorching white smoke and brilliant flames burst from the air holes in its neck and tail.

All the energy within was transferred to the Dragon Crystal in its chest, causing violent Magic Fission reactions within, with particles and arcs intersecting and shooting out.

Yet, this was still not the end. The scarlet Flame of elemental Authority appeared in the Red Dragon's right claw, causing a blaze carrying the essence of elements to erupt behind it.

That was the control of the Fire Elemental.

Runes representing the strength of an Elemental Master appeared on its right claw, and its whole body resonated with the Flame, causing the surrounding light to intensify in heat, turning blinding white and even giving off a slight blue hue.

Elemental Resonance!

In an instant, his Dragon Crystal burst forth like a Sun in the night, illuminating the dark canopy shrouded in Chaos.

Violent winds radiated from the Red Dragon at the center, incinerating everything within a hundred meters, sublimating the snow, melting the rocks, and even dispersing the Chaos Fog.

Cassius too opened his gaping jaws, from which blinding light exploded.

"Boom—"

The sound of air bursting resounded to the heavens.

Primordial Breath!

The next moment, a blue-white Pillar of Fire burst from the Red Dragon's throat, vaporizing everything around it.

At the same time, the Chaos Flame, brimming with Abyssal Power, surged toward Cassius.

"Boom!"

The Primordial Breath of Cassius and the Chaos Spit of Gelrazax collided and intertwined, creating a catastrophic explosion hundreds of meters in diameter, leveling the mountain beneath to flat ground.

Yet in that dark scarlet flame surged chaotic forces, constantly eroding Cassius's Primordial Breath, disintegrating the flame.

For a moment, Cassius found himself at a disadvantage in this duel exclusive to giant dragons, with the Abyssal Breath inching ever closer.

If this continued, the Chaos Flame would ignite on the Red Dragon's body, awakening the chaotic forces within him, likely casting Cassius back into that frenzied state, to be assimilated by the Abyss.

Then it would be a duel between "Karyx" and Gelrazax. The Abyss would choose the true victor from among them like cultivating pests, to become the vessel for the Will of the Abyss.

However—Cassius did not favor such an outcome.

"Puppet of the Abyss! You think you can defeat me like this?!"

"Roar—"

With a roar, Cassius's visage turned fierce, and atop his head emerged the supreme aspect of the True Dragon, with silver-white gemstones embedded, glittering radiantly.

Instantly, the Divine Power of Order poured into that Pillar of Fire, the resonance of the Elemental Master was growing stronger, mingled with the Essence of Destruction from the Fire Elemental Plane.

The power level of Cassius's Breath had now reached that close to Pseudogod Power.

In an instant, countless blinding particles erupted from the Pillar of Fire, intensifying the Dragonflame, which held within it terrifying Laws Power, and it erased the Chaos Flame.

"Boom!"

Successive explosions capable of annihilating everything bloomed in the sky, leaving the surrounding mountains in ruins, pockmarked with craters formed by the explosions.

The two giant dragons twisted their necks simultaneously, turning their heads to strike directly at each other's bodies, yet each anticipated the next move of the other and could only remain in a deadlock.

The world was once again cleaved in two, the upper half ablaze with Cassius's Primordial Flame that consumed everything, and the lower half consumed by Gelrazax's Chaos Flame that drove all into madness.

"Swoosh—"

At the edge of the battlefield, on the far perimeter of the Ancytica Mountains, a Portal miraculously opened amidst the ripple of space.

An Elder with a white beard as profound as the night sky, clothed in a silver robe and wielding a Magic Wand, hurried out from it.

He immediately took in the scene in the sky, then stood frozen in place, wide-eyed, his wrinkled face tense and even his graying beard trembling.

"By Bahamut...

What in the world is this? Am I still in the Third Era? Or have I been caught in a temporal vortex created by the Chrono Dragon?"

The Elder even doubted whether he had traversed time and space, arriving at an era ruled by gods and giant dragons, the very first epoch.

In his memory, only in that ancient period, which predated even his birth—before the gods dominated—had such devastating battles erupted.

His name was Pablichko, an Ancient Silver Dragon from the Melwood Clan, an Elder, and brother to "Wings of Silver" Osedro.

Having heard about the situation from his clan, Osedro, despite taking it very seriously, could not personally attend due to his injuries. Thus, he sent Pablichko, also an Ancient Silver Dragon, in his place.

But now, the severity of the situation far exceeded anything the Melwood Clan had imagined.

"Lord of the Northwind...

A forty-meter-long Red Dragon, and... nearly a two-hundred-meter-long, colossal dragon. Could this be an Ancestral Dragon resurrected?"

Gazing at the two mountainous, towering figures and feeling the aftershocks capable of annihilating everything, Pablichko couldn't help but mutter to himself.

At this point, he was powerless too and could only pray to Bahamut, praying that the Red Dragon would emerge victorious.

At least—he was still a creature of the Material Plane.