Purgatory Calamity (II)

Robert felt a deep sense of powerlessness, followed by an uncontrollable rage.

How dare this Red Dragon look down on me like that!

He suddenly released his grip, and the crossbow arm, several meters long, shot the arrow out with tremendous force.

"Whoosh—"

A piercing shriek filled the air.

Robert gazed at the arrow hurtling towards the sky, involuntarily holding his breath and praying to his god for its accuracy.

Just as the giant arrow was about to strike his chest and pierce his fiery, pulsating Dragon Heart, Keosius's massive dragon body transformed into a raging inferno, merging into the Fire Dragon Tornado that distorted the heavens and earth.

[Go Through Fire and Water]

At this moment, the Red Dragon is truly the Incarnation of Flame!

The Dragon Slaying Arrow that had killed "Glacier Wing" passed through the flames without hindrance, ultimately becoming powerless and stuck to the ground.

"Impossible, this is impossible!"

Robert collapsed to the ground again, as if in a frenzy, shaking his head and muttering incessantly.

He looked up at the empty sky, which was filled only with endless flames, and his eyes, filled with utter despair, reflected the magnificent firelight.

"No..."

As the Fire Dragon Tornado approached, raging flames swept towards us.

Those terrifying flames spun, condensed, and took shape at an extremely fast speed, eventually transforming into an enormous dragon body—that was Keosius.

"Who gave you the courage—"

"Use these pathetic toys to Contend Against me!"

Keosius crushed the giant crossbows with his claws, and the flames surrounding him engulfed Robert was lying on the ground.

The youngest Earl Lakman Duchy, commander of a 30,000-strong allied army, was reduced to ashes in the raging flames before he could even utter a final farewell.

"The final judgment is imminent!"

"You pathetic mortals are about to take your final bow!"

Amidst billowing smoke and raging flames, Keosius charged into the massive army of thousands as if they were nothing.

The ferocious Red Dragon's body appeared and disappeared in the firelight, crushing the fleeing soldiers. Its sharp claws and teeth were like the most powerful weapons in the world, destroying everything in its path.

Even if someone tries to retaliate, those weak and feeble arrows cannot pierce its hard, golden-red scales; instead, they will only attract blazing white Flying Flame.

"Help!"

"Don't come any closer!"

Faced with this monster, which was comparable to a natural disaster, the allied soldiers completely lost the courage to resist.

However, the soldiers who were destroyed by Keosius himself were actually the luckiest group, at least they died gloriously in the Contend Against the dragon.

And what remains are simply the victims.

Fire Dragon Tornado nearly 100 meters high followed closely behind the Red Dragon. Recently, soldiers were caught in it, blown high into the air, and then ignited by the heat wave, turning into burning fireballs.

Just as the soldiers on the perimeter reached upwind, a barrage of fireballs rained down.

Many more soldiers, unable to escape, were engulfed by the raging inferno. Their bodies ablaze, they screamed and fled in all directions. Some desperately dug holes in the ground, only to be burned beyond recognition and die a gruesome death. Others, clad in heavy iron armor, were melted by the flames, their ashes Become One with the molten iron.

The flames blazed brightly, and smoke and dust filled the surrounding fields.

The soldiers were like headless flies, jumping up and down in the smoke and fire. Some were desperate, some were running for their lives, some were barely surviving, and some were burned to a crisp.

The soldiers who were furthest away were lucky enough to avoid the flames and tried to climb over the stone wall, but they were immediately engulfed by the thick smoke that filled the air and choked to death.

Enveloped in thick smoke, the gray-robed mage used magic to hastily flee to a corner of the battlefield, raising his staff with trembling hands.

"I have to leave."

"I'm sorry, Earl Excellency."

[Lesser Teleportation]

A ripple of space appeared in front of him, and Schroeder's figure gradually became illusory.

Keosius keenly sensed the fluctuations in the Weave and turned his head, but when he saw that it was the gray-robed mage "Gray Eagle" who was escaping, he deliberately let him get away.

The Red Dragon hovered high in the sky, slowly flapping its wings, looking down at the raging fire that had turned the land into Hell.

This place, which once housed tens of thousands of troops, is now a place where it is difficult to find any living creatures.

All that could be seen was firelight and charred blackness.

Countless embers danced in the air, accompanied by a fierce wind.

This place has become a playground for flames, a forbidden zone for the living.

Keosius meticulously fulfilled his pre-battle promise. He landed heavily on the ground, and ashes filled the sky, he raised his head and let out a long howl amidst the countless embers.

"Roar--"

Viscount Luton, perched on the hill, trembled as he gazed at the apocalyptic scene. His mind was filled with the classic works of court poets and countless ornate embellishments, yet at this moment, those words were insufficient to describe even a fraction of the spectacle.

His lips trembled slightly before he finally uttered a few words: "Purgatory Calamity."

Luton thought of a line from a religious text, "Sinners are cast into purgatory, where the flames will consume them."

"Fire... the embodiment of flames, he is the embodiment of flames!"

"By the gods above."

The captured nobles watched blankly as tens of thousands of elite troops turned to ashes, their bodies trembling. Many were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, and some even lost control of their bladders on the spot.

Meanwhile, the minions of the Ember Nest, whether they were Hobgoblin, Ogre, or Wyvern, all stared intently at the enormous dragon shadow surrounded by embers in the center of the sea of fire.

A mixture of emotions—reverence, fear, and longing—appeared on their ferocious faces. "This is the power of our master, this is the wrath of the Great Red Dragon."

"This is the embodiment of the purest power."

"He will conquer the world, or he will destroy it."

Lang Pu stared at the horrific, hellish scene and muttered to himself.

The Red Dragon flapped its massive wings, broke free from the vast sea of fire, and descended upon the Ember Nest halfway up the mountain.

As he slowly approached, both the kin of the Ember Nest and the captured nobles trembled under his powerful dragon might, bowing their heads.

"What a wonderful fireworks display."

"Right?"

Keosius looked down at them, his golden pupils still seeming to burn with the flames he had just witnessed.

"The coalition never actually had a chance of winning; it was all like a grand stage play that it orchestrated for itself."

"On that day, flames swept across the sky and the earth, and the Trill Valley was filled with ashes. It wielded a catastrophic power, declaring its existence to the Anzeta Great Wasteland in the most forceful way—war, or more precisely, a massacre of 30,000 allied troops, which we usually call the Trill Massacre."

"From then on, the seemingly indestructible Northern United Kingdom, which had lasted for hundreds of years, began to crumble, foreshadowing the coming of the era of dragon rule."

—The Duke Luton * The Anzeta Chronicle: The Trill Massacre *

This part of the story is now over, so those of you who are waiting for this book to finish reading can enjoy it without worry.