The battlefield in the distance is still burning.
It's not a metaphor, it's really burning. The golden-red flames intertwined with the purple light, reflecting the mountainous area like daylight.
Several deep ravines were plowed into the ground, and the edges of the ravines melted into a glass-like substance at high temperatures, reflecting a strange luster in the firelight.
The tops of several mountains have been flattened, and rubble is scattered over several kilometers, some of which are still smoking.
Valerirus swooped down from the sky, and golden-red light beams spurted out from his throat and hit Aiyileiyas's chest.
Aiyileiyas's body slid backwards on the ground for hundreds of meters, plowing out a deep, smoking ravine and crashing into the middle of a small hill.
The hill collapsed, and rubble rolled down the hillside, burying it under a pile of gray-white, still smoking rocks. Valerirus did not give it a chance to breathe. Its wings flapped violently, and its body swerved straight down from the air. A golden-red light lit up on his scales. His body was like a burning meteorite, and he crashed into the pile of rubble.
Boom - The gravel exploded, and Valerirus's claws left four deep scratches on the scales on Aiyileiyas's chest.
Dark purple blood gushes from the wound, emitting a pungent smell in the air, like a mixture of sulfur and rotten sweetness.
Next to it, the Victoria airship was flying around the battlefield at the maximum speed it could achieve.
The tear on the left side of the hull has not yet been repaired, and black smoke is still pouring out from several places on the hull at the same time, but its engine is turning, the propeller is turning, and the hull is shaking, but it is flying.
"Full left rudder! Full left rudder!" Hermann stood on the command platform of the bridge, holding the handrail on the edge of the porthole with one hand, and gesturing the direction in the air with the other hand.
The wound on his forehead stopped bleeding, but the blood was still there, dripping down his eyebrows, covering half of his eyes, and he didn't bother to wipe it.
"Don't let it lock us in!"
"Sir, you are already trying your best!"
The helmsman's voice came from the front, with a hint of grievance. This airship was originally a civilian transport ship. The process of converting it into a military boat was hasty, and many parts still used civilian specifications.
Now it is indeed a bit difficult to let it perform tactical maneuvers in a battle of this level.
The airship was on full fire. The 40mm anti-aircraft cannon and the two 155mm magic bullet cannons were firing continuously, and the muzzle flashes flickered like stars in the night sky.
But their power was not even as powerful as scratching an itch for that monster. Those shells exploded on its scales, leaving a small scorched black mark, and then disappeared. Those machine gun bullets bounced off its skin, splashing small sparks, and then fell.
Only the two 155mm magic bullet cannon shells could make its body pause slightly when it hit it. Just a pause, and then it would turn its head and take a look at the little thing circling above its head.
That's it, but in a fight of this level, a little distraction is enough.
Aiyileiyas stood up again from the rubble.
Its body was covered with wounds left by Valerirus's breath and sharp claws. Dark purple blood seeped out from the gaps in the wounds, flowing down along the lines of its scales and forming a small dark purple puddle at its feet.
It was panting, its chest heaving violently, and every breath squeezed out a low whimper from its throat, like a broken bellows.
Its four wings hang down on both sides of its body, and there are several torn holes in the wing membrane. Through those holes, the night sky behind can be seen.
But it was still standing. Its eyes changed from purple to dark purple, and the flame in the pupils was still burning.
The airship in the distance was still buzzing in circles. Cannonballs were still shooting out of its barrel, leaving a small patch of charred black on its scales.
It finally regarded the airship as an opponent. It was either a threatening opponent or a fly that kept buzzing in its ears. But the fly buzzed for a long time and it became annoyed.
Aiyileiyas's head suddenly turned towards the direction of the airship.
The purple light deep in the throat began to condense, faster than before, and the light was brighter than before.
"Quick, quick, quick! Turn!!!" Hermann's pupils shrank suddenly, and his body instinctively leaned back.
The helmsman pushed the control column all the way. The airship's hull tilted sharply, and the left wing tip scraped against the treetops on the ground, flattening the crowns of several pine trees.
The propeller's rotational speed reached its limit at that moment, making a sharp whistling sound that sounded like crying.
A purple beam of light erupted from Aiyileiyas's throat and passed by the right side of the airship.
The edge of the light beam brushed against the starboard side of the hull, instantly vaporizing that piece of skin, revealing the sparkling magic lines underneath.
The hull shook violently, and Hermann was thrown to the ground.
"Huh--" He was half-kneeling in the command cabin, panting heavily, and his heartbeat was so fast that it felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. After returning this time, he would definitely ask the Grand Duke to promote him.
If he is not promoted, he will go to his mother to complain. His mother can speak well in front of the Grand Duchess, and the Grand Duke will at least listen to half of what the Grand Duchess says.
After people are extremely frightened, what they think in their minds is often not "I survived", but "I must go back this time".
The red dragon suddenly hit the monster, knocking Aiyileiyas away. Its body rolled several times in the air and fell heavily to the ground, crushing a large piece of rock.
Valerirus flew over it, turned sharply in the air, and dived down again. His claws dug into Aiyileiyas's shoulder blades, lifted it up from the ground, and then threw it violently.
Aiyileiyas's body drew an arc in the air and slammed into a hill in the distance. The hill collapsed, gravel rolled down the hillside, and a huge cloud of gray-black smoke and dust was raised.
Valerirus was suspended in the air, breathing heavily. His scales were covered with dark purple blood, which was not his blood.
There were still a few scales torn off from Aiyileiyas's body hanging on his claws, and dark purple liquid was still dripping from the edges of the scales.
Phew - he looked at the smoke in the distance. He looked at the pile of still smoking rubble, and at the slowly moving purple light in the pile of rubble.
He discovered a problem - the opponent's magic power was weakening, no, it was failing. Just like the oil in an oil lamp was about to burn out, the fire would be brighter than before in the last period of time, and then suddenly go out.
Valerirus squinted his eyes, it was so strange. Aiyileiyas climbed out of the rubble.
Its movements were much slower than before, shaking with every step it took. Its four wings hung down on both sides of its body, and the torn holes in the wing membranes were larger. Through those holes, the stars in the night sky could be seen.
Its eyes changed from dark purple to gray-purple, like extinguishing coals, and there was still a little red light, but it was no longer hot. It raised its head with difficulty, and the purple light deep in its throat lit up again.
It was much darker than before, like looking at a lamp that was about to run out of power through a layer of frosted glass. The light flashed a few times, then flashed a few more times, and then went out.
Aiyileiyas's body froze. Its mouth was still open, and the crack deep in its throat was still open, but no light came out. It stood there like a purple, cracked statue forgotten in the wilderness.
Then it fell.
Like a building with its load-bearing wall removed, it was broken in the middle. Its upper body hit the ground first, then its lower body, and then its wings. Its body made a shallow pit on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Valerirus was suspended in the air, looking at the huge body that fell to the ground.
Dead, but not killed by him. His brows furrowed, and an indescribable uneasiness surged in his heart.
This monster recovered so quickly when it was attacked and survived for so long under his Corona Light, but now it went out on its own like a lamp that had been drained of oil.
It's not that he has never killed enemies before, but this time it was different. This thing was not killed by him, but was back-bitten by something in its own body.
Black substance seeped out of Aiyileiyas's body.
Not from the wound, but from every pore, every gap in its scales, and every fold of its skin.
The black, tide-like and flame-like material surged silently outward from under its body, covering its body, the ground around it, and the gravel and soil affected by the battle.
The covered parts changed from purple to gray, from gray to black, and then shattered.
Aiyileiyas's body collapsed under the black covering, like an animal skin with its skeleton removed.
Valerirus's pupils suddenly contracted.
He subconsciously stepped back a distance, flapped his wings back, and moved his body back. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was not something he could touch.
That black substance had an aura that he instinctively wanted to stay away from - it was not evil, not rancid, had no attributes, it was "empty".
It's like there is nothing, worse than nothing. That is not death, it is "never existed".
His scales tightened slightly under the aura, and the golden-red light deep in his throat lit up again.
The black substance did not attack him, it just covered Aiyileiyas's body, and then began to expand. It seemed like something was growing under that black shell.
The expansion speed was very fast, from the size of the corpse to double, triple, or five times its original size.
The black shell is getting thinner and thinner, and through that thin layer of black, you can see something crawling inside.
It's not claws or wings, it's countless tiny black threads that are like tentacles and roots, stretching in all directions.
Valerirus stabilized his body in the air. He felt that things were getting bad.
Karelia Empire, Imperial Capital Starry Vault City, Imperial Palace.
Hadrian stood in the corridor outside the emperor's study, with his hands behind his back, frowning and looking at the closed oak door. There has been a big problem in the empire recently.
The disasters caused by the storm have not been completely resolved. The collapse of the mines in the east, the failure of the southern granary, and the barbarian turmoil on the northern border-everything is a trouble.
What's even more troublesome is that the documents that should have been approved by the emperor have recently been represented by His Highness Kodaor. He needs to discuss something with that Highness.
"Huh?" Hadrian's peripheral vision caught a small shadow in the corner. It was not an ordinary shadow.
The magic wall lamp in the corridor is very bright. The light shines from both sides of the wall at the same time, so there will not be such a thick shadow with such clear edges.
His eyes fell on that corner, and then he saw a "burning" black flame, beating silently there.
United Kingdom of Victoria, West Sea Iron Anchor Port, Archon Mech repair shop.
Reinhardt stood on the high platform of the maintenance shop, folding his arms and looking at the Archon Mech below that was being dismantled by the engineers.
Its armor is covered with traces left by storm scratches and gravel impacts. The joints of its right arm have been completely destroyed and need to be replaced as a whole. The magic core on the chest is exposed, and the cracks in the core are clearly visible under the light.
"How long will it take for these mechas to be repaired?" Reinhardt asked.
The engineer next to him wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Don't say anything... it will take a month." Reinhardt frowned.
"So long? Shipping now--"
His words suddenly paused. His eyes fell on the chest of the mecha - a small piece of black, burning flame, attached to the shell of the magic core.
The engineers around were still busy, and no one noticed the unusual shadow.
From Victoria to Karelia, from Saint Junxi to Vostok, from the snowfields in the north to the coast in the south, from bustling cities to remote villages - in every country and every corner on the continent, black, silently beating "flames" began to appear.
They are in the corners of walls, in cracks between rocks, under tree roots, on river banks, and in the shadows where no one is paying attention. They start from scratch and slowly expand from small to large, like a picture being soaked in ink.
No one knows where they come from, and no one knows where they are going.
Forbidden Land. This area that has been blocked by Red Dragon Emperor for more than a thousand years now has no guards.
The black substance spread outward from the core of Forbidden Land, covering the entire land under a thick layer of slowly creeping black.
The stone tablets that were once sealed, the runes that were once engraved, and the power that was once used to suppress Evil God have now been swallowed up, corroded, and assimilated by the black material.
In the depths of Forbidden Land, in a space unknown to the world, those black substances are silently squirming, twisting, and crawling. They gather from all directions and flow to the center of the space.
There is a black bead suspended there. It is not big, only the size of a fist, and its surface is as smooth as a mirror.
It rotates slowly in the darkness. Every time it rotates, it absorbs a small, dark purple energy from the surrounding black matter and inhales it into the body.
A pair of hands of the same color as the black substance stretched out and caught the bead.
The hand had no knuckles, no nails, and no human or biological skin lines. It was just a black entity condensed from black matter, with the shape of a hand.
The bead stopped in the palm of my hand.
"The power... is back." The voice came from the black material, without direction or emotion, like the echo heard when speaking to the stone wall in the empty valley, but more hollow.
"A... power that is the same as my own flesh and blood."
The hands raised the beads in front of their eyes, and the surface of the beads reflected the distorted scenery of Forbidden Land that was covered in black matter and no longer showed any signs of life.
"Now, clean them up."
King Ghidorah is flying. His speed has dropped from the cruising speed. He is not tired, but he is observing. The surrounding environment is getting worse and worse.
The concentration of magic in the air changed. It didn't become thicker or lighter, but became very messy and messy, as if someone poured a bucket of muddy paint into the air.
The magic powers of various attributes were mixed together, and there was me in you, and you in me, and it was hard to tell which was which. He had never seen this kind of energy field before.
What happened? Did he miss something?
King Ghidorah released his perception, and the six vertical pupils of the three heads lit up at the same time. His field of vision expanded from the visible light band to the magic band, thermal energy band, and Titan's exclusive bioelectric induction band.
The scene below formed a complex, multi-layered three-dimensional image in his consciousness - terrain, vegetation, water flow, and magic distribution. All the information was spread out in his mind.
Then he saw something that shouldn't be there.
A circular hole in the ground.
It is not a bowl-shaped crater with a deep middle and shallow edges, but a perfect circular pit like a crater drawn with a compass, with neat edges, a flat bottom, and a consistent depth.
The pothole was so big that it covered several surrounding mountains. The foothills of those mountains were cut off neatly, and the cross-sections were as smooth as mirrors.
Then, a huge mouth protruded from the pit.
Instead of stretching out slowly, it suddenly popped open like a spring that had been compressed for too long.
Its speed was so fast that King Ghidorah only had time to say "huh?" before its mouth closed.
The world is dark.
The huge mouth, several hundred meters wide and filled with inwardly curved, barb-like teeth, swallowed King Ghidorah whole while it was flying over the pothole.
The giant mouth retracted into the hole.
The edge of the pothole began to shrink, like a healing wound. It shrank from a few hundred meters wide to tens of meters wide, from tens of meters wide to a few meters wide, and from a few meters wide until it disappeared.
The ground has returned to its original state, and the mountains are still the same, except that the top of the mountain is missing, but who cares?