đ Christmas Special! đ
To celebrate Christmas, enjoy 30% off monthly subscriptions from December 25th to 31st đâ¨
The adjusted price is available on the Patreon page.
Chapter 446: A Feast on the Battlefield
"Roarâ"
As the smoke cleared, a massive red dragon, nearly forty meters in length, appeared on the battlefield, releasing a thunderous roar.
The ground made of ash and rock had been smashed into a massive crater a hundred meters in diameter, deeply sunken.
Within the pit lay the crushed remains of hundreds of fire lizards and flame drakes.
Terrified, the fire lizards dropped their spears and scurried away, twisting their serpentine bodies.
The flame drakes also flapped their wings in a panic, flying haphazardly in the air.
"It's⌠it's a dragon!"
"By the Flame Sovereign, why is there a red dragon here?"
"Quick! Retreat! This⌠this is an Ancient Red Dragon!"
The leading fire genie exclaimed in horror. Leaping atop a flame drake, he continuously urged it onward.
Dragons were rare in the Fire Elemental Plane, despite its climate being highly suitable for red dragons.
Many red dragons had attempted to build fortresses here, but even they struggled to prevent their treasures from melting and were forced to leave for Hell or return to the Material Plane.
"Howlâ"
"So you're the ones who wanted to kill my vassals?"
Cassius raised his head and roared, spreading his massive wings and unleashing the overwhelming dragon's might of his progenitor lineage.
Immediately, several flame drakes fainted mid-flight, plummeting unsteadily to the ground.
These creatures, bearing only traces of draconic bloodline, stood no chance against a being of far superior lineage.
"No!"
"Retreat immediately!"
"We cannot win against this enemy. Full retreat!"
The fire genie trembled but managed to maintain flight, as he bore no draconic lineage.
The remaining fire genie officers and hundreds of fire lizard raiders began fleeing toward the "City of Wrought Iron."
But what happened next shattered their hope completely.
The colossal red dragon didn't give chase; instead, he slowly opened his enormous jaws.
What he unleashed was not the familiar fire breath but ice.
[Glacial Cascade]
An immensely cold frost poured down like a waterfall, engulfing most of the army.
This frost-based evocation spell was highly ineffective in the Fire Elemental Plane, but Cassius forcibly cast it using the power of the "Horn of Eternal Frost," spell amplification effects, and his extraordinary charisma.
To the fire elemental creatures, however, it was lethal.
Their searing life flames were instantly frozen and extinguished.
By the time the surrounding fire elements melted the frost, these fire elemental creatures had long since perished.
"How⌠how is this possible?"
"This is a red dragon!"
The fire genie officer stood frozen in place, his expression blank. He had never seen such a dragon.
"Quick, retreat! We must report this to Lord Emile!"
He turned and accelerated his flight, trailing smoke behind him.
Suddenly, space began to distort, and a portal appeared before him.
Fire genies were fierce warriors and high-ranking elemental beings, naturally gifted with powerful spells, including interplanar travel, combustion, and pyrotechnics.
But at this moment, it was too late to cast a spell.
Blazing flames appeared behind the fire genie and coalesced into the enormous form of a dragon.
The nearly formed portal shattered, dissolving into nothingness.
The fire genie's face filled with despair. He conjured flames with his hands, but they were useless against the red dragon, flowing directly into the crystal at its chest.
"No, you can't kill me!"
"I'm a fire genie!"
"SizzleâBoom!"
Dazzling lightning storms surrounded Cassius and suddenly expanded, engulfing the fire genie's entire army.
"Noâ"
"Help meâ"
Once-arrogant and domineering, the fire genie was reduced to a helpless victim, obliterated by the storm.
"Retreat!"
"Lord Izar is dead!"
"By the Flame Sovereign, retreat!"
Their cries in the fire tongue sounded to Cassius more like the hissing and crackling of flames.
The fire genie's troops continued to flee in a panicked frenzy, abandoning all semblance of order.
"Interesting."
Cassius hovered in mid-air, his massive wings beating as he pinched a ball of flame between his claws.
This was the essence of the fire genie.
Almost all elemental beings possessed a core, known as their life flame.
"It looks delicious."
The red dragon opened his enormous jaws and swallowed the life flame, feeling an invigorating surge of energy.
Cassius's eyes gleamed. To him, these elemental beings' flames seemed like a delectable feast.
"By the Flame Sovereign!"
"Lord Izar was eaten⌠eaten by him!"
"Lord Izar was devoured!"
The remaining fire genies and fire lizards screamed in terror.
While elemental creatures occasionally consumed each other, the act of a noble fire genie being "eaten" was exceedingly rare.
Cassius let out a satisfied roar, casting the ninth-circle spell [Dragon's Consumption].
A black-hole-like vortex formed in the red dragon's gaping maw, greedily absorbing all surrounding energy.
The life flames of the fire lizards and flame drakes previously killed by Cassius were drawn into his belly.
Witnessing this, the fire genies and fire lizards fled with even greater desperation, practically risking their lives.
"This⌠thisâŚ"
"By the Flame Sovereign, they were all devoured!"
"Help! I don't want to be eaten by this dragon!"
Even while feasting, Cassius didn't forget about them. From a distance, he swiped his claws.
[Rend Spell]
"Slashâ"
Ash scattered.
A gleaming claw-shaped force field appeared, slashing hundreds of fire lizards to pieces.
The ground was torn as if plowed, leaving dozens of meter-long claw marks filled with dismembered fire lizards.
"Retreat!"
"Let the fire lizards delay him for us!"
The surviving fire genies used their smoke-flight ability to escape further, heading toward the City of Wrought Iron.
But Cassius had no intention of letting this feast escape.
Tearing through space with a burst of flames, the red dragon reappeared behind the fleeing fire genies.
"Noâ"
"I don't want to be eaten!"
The fire genies screamed, but it was futile.
The magical vortex from the dragon's mouth pulled them in with irresistible force, rendering their struggles meaningless.
With a few final screams, the last remnants of this army vanished.
For them, this was a hopeless battle. The battlefield was a slaughterhouse, and the red dragon was the master butcher.
There was no sign of victory.
All attacks were futile, only serving to empower their enemy, while they were effortlessly destroyed.
For the red dragon, this was an effortless feast; his enemies were mere food.
"If I devour 500 fire genies⌠perhaps I'll have enough energy for my next evolution."
Cassius felt the burgeoning energy within him, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
Since his bloodline evolution, he hadn't felt this "full" in ages.
The battlefield before the Brass Bastion lay in ruins, the fire genie's army obliterated.
Only the colossal red dragon remained, standing amidst the ashes and Ember earth, spreading his massive wings.
"Your Majesty!"
"Long live Emperor Cassius!"
"Victory to the Ember Empire!"
From afar, the Empire's vanguard troops knelt on the searing ground, heedless of the burns blackening their knees.
They raised their rifles high, cheering wildly, their eyes filled with fanaticism and reverence.
This was their emperor, the symbol of victory, the embodiment of power.
The Dragon Emperor was as merciless and destructive as ever, annihilating their enemies as in every war before.
"Emperor CassiusâŚ"
Tears of joy streamed down Serkan's face, only to be evaporated by the heat.
He had never imagined that, after being dispatched to this remote and perilous battlefield, he would see the Ember Emperor in person, much less receive his direct aid.
Meanwhile, the fire dwarves, led by Green, stared blankly at the red dragon's form, their bronze hammers and spears clanging to the ground, too stunned to pick them up.
"He⌠he devoured those fire genies."
"So, do you think His Majesty is full now?"
Green stammered, his legs trembling violentlyâthe sight of the dragon gleefully devouring the army was seared into his brass-forged mind.
Those were fire genies!
The most powerful and arrogant beings in the Fire Elemental Plane, they controlled vast territories and enslaved countless fire dwarves and fire lizards.
Yet they had become mere snacks for the red dragon, without even a chance to resist.
The fire dwarf noble, who had just considered Emperor Cassius to be a benevolent and approachable ruler, now found his assumptions naĂŻve.
But now, in retrospect, he realized he may have underestimated the red dragon.