Beneath the Red Dragon

Karon suddenly laughed, his fangs bared, and said to these two allies and to White Dragon Gomot, ”I have only one request: block their way, do not let them escape.”

Shalos and Elf Hero King Anudale were both briefly stunned, but the figure of Ancestral White Dragon Gomot actually flew decisively to the side, not uttering even a single question.

Thus the two Legendary Powerhouses spread out to either side of the sky, faintly encircling the few Giant Dragons in the heavens and the Titans on the ground within their grasp.

A deep, oppressive pressure descended at this moment; even the vast, hundred‑mile‑wide vortex of swirling storm clouds above the sky was forced to a halt by an immeasurable will, freezing for a brief instant upon the firmament.

The voice of the Dragon echoed again and again between heaven and earth, layering upon itself, proclaiming its master’s will.

”If one seeks peace through struggle, then peace endures; if one seeks peace through compromise, then peace perishes. Struggle is the means to peace, peace is the end of struggle.”

”Since the day I was born into this world, I have never slain even a single Giant Dragon, because I always felt they could become my race.”

Karon unfurled his wings like a canopy that brushed the heavens; countless patterns of Flame, steel, ash, and storming Thunderbolt intertwined and came to life upon his wings.

Brilliant crimson Scale Armor in the night was like an abyssal maw devouring all gazes; with each of Karon’s breaths light and darkness wove together, bearing witness to the terrifying power of this body.

”Heh... and what have you taken Giant Dragons for? For Beasts that can be slaughtered and discarded at will, for tools that can be dispensed with as you please.”

”I only wished to change a few things, to let those Giant Dragons become true Dragons, yet you refuse.” Karon’s twin wings spread wide as he glided across the high heavens, looking down upon these cold‑visaged Metal Dragons and Titans.

”It seems none of you wish to live!”

”Hahahaha, you truly think yourself an Emperor in the Mortal World, unmatched by any foe,” said Divine Golden Dragon Erikson, his massive wings scattering the drifting clouds, his heavy Dragon Power laced with the scent of Divine Power as he gazed down upon all mortal beings.

”He really does take himself to be the Dragon Emperor whom all Giant Dragons ought to revere,” a Golden Flash—Mogusa Rabil, the Golden Dragon in his prime—could not help but let out a mocking laugh as well.

”Utterly ridiculous.”

The adult female Silver Dragon spoke coldly, her gaze as chill as ice.

Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash was her child; since Oblash’s defeat and imprisonment, not a single day had passed that she did not yearn to defeat this King of Evil Dragons before her, and then repay this Ancestral Red Dragon with every humiliation Oblash had once suffered.

”If you voluntarily undo Dalia’s seal, we Titans are not entirely unwilling to consider letting you go,” said the Titan Tilocha upon the earth, his voice cold, the blood‑stained Battle Lance in his hand angled upward in a loose point toward the Ancestral Red Dragon high in the sky.

Titan Ausuye, expressionless, activated the Legendary Holy Artifact Staff in his grasp; a peerlessly powerful elemental shockwave churned the Magic Power around him, transforming the power of this Legendary Staff into layer upon layer of invisible nets that spread outward in all directions.

Rumor in the world held that the Dragon Emperor of the Golden Empire possessed a speed beyond the reach of the Mortal World; even the teleportation of ordinary Mages could not catch the supersonic flight of this Ancestral Red Dragon, but this time they had come fully prepared.

Karon allowed the Titans to act as they pleased, watching the movements of Divine Golden Dragon Erikson with his own eyes.

The power granted by the Divine Favored allowed this Divine Golden Dragon to effortlessly cast a Divine Art almost identical to Time Stop; within the space about this Divine Golden Dragon, the howling gales that filled the sky were frozen, and all motion of the surrounding things tended toward stillness.

Within the range of Divine Golden Dragon Erikson’s Divine Art, he could stretch a scant few seconds into several minutes; under the might of the Divine Favor and the power of an Ancestral Golden Dragon, time itself seemed at this moment to cease its flow.

He merely let out a cold sigh.

”Why do you not fear me, why do you not tremble before me? It is because I have been too merciful, too soft‑handed, letting you hypocritical, cowardly scum still stand before me and bark at me like stray dogs!”

”What is to be done to change people like you?”

”How to change you—only death! Today I will make every Dragon, every Titan, every civilization in the Icaria World fear me, dread me, quake before me!”

Ripples like binding edicts were born from the ancient Dragon Language, each word bursting forth from between the fangs of Ancestral Red Dragon Karon Gogomola.

An oppressive and inescapable majesty flooded every span of visible space.

Karon’s speed had long since surpassed the limits of mortal beings, yet this time, the colossal winged silhouette of this Ancestral Red Dragon appeared especially clear.

Domain, unfold.

Around Karon countless blazing Flames suddenly surged into being, their temperature running from low to high, their hues from pale to deep; yet no matter what kind of Flame it was, it scorched the night’s firmament until it crackled and snapped.

The world of Flame clearly covered only a few thousand meters in radius, yet in the eyes of these Giant Dragons and Titans, it was boundless and immeasurable, enclosing even themselves within.

Flame annihilates all things, reducing all things to dust.

The earth, heavy and thick, bears all things; metal, with its cold gleam, extinguishes vitality; Thunderbolt, crashing down, seems as though to destroy the world. That was no mere Domain—it was already close to a real world.

Layer upon layer of Domains—earth, metal, Thunderbolt, storm, and Flame—were like one true Elemental Plane after another, circling and revolving about the Ancestral Red Dragon.

Terrifying fissures opened one after another within these layered Domains, and from those Fire Elemental Planes flowed boiling, rolling currents of sulfurous breath and surging magma Flames.