https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-277-Embodiment-of-the-Ancient-Dragon/13676571/
Chapter 276: Massacre
With the wails of Undead Shades echoing through the air, the obsidian sky violently unraveled. The distant black peaks dissolved into nothingness, and every Shadow Creature in Dragonshadow City—Shadow Maws, Shadow Shifters, Shadow Spirits, even the Shadow Dragon itself—let out cries of fear and panic, as if sensing the death of their Master.
The “Whisper of the Night,” Mortifer, who had ruled the Underdark for seven centuries, was finally extinguished.
In the complete annihilation of the Chaos Flame, even the Night Goddess could not claim his Spiritual Soul. He was reduced to raw, formless Chaos—nothing more than scattered, chaotic matter.
"Roar—!"
A triumphant roar erupted once more.
Blood and fire poured from Kai Xiusu’s Bloody Maw, his face twisted into a monstrous snarl. His eyes were still bloodshot, veins of crimson still tracing the outline of his body like a living storm.
"Not enough... still not enough."
"Massacre. Purify. Annihilate."
The Red Dragon flared his vast wings, unleashing a hurricane that tore through the city. His colossal body surged upward into the heavens, hovering above Dragonshadow City, surveying the tens of thousands of lives beneath him. A cruel grin split his draconic face, and within his pupils, the flames of total destruction burned with endless hunger—never to fade.
"Look! The Shadow Domain is gone!"
"Mortifer is dead!"
Feriton stared at the retreating veil of darkness, his voice trembling with excitement, nearly incoherent. The Shadow Dragon had haunted his life for years—its oppressive darkness had shattered every dream, every hope. Even now, the memory of that suffocating darkness made his chest tighten.
And now, the enemy was dead. Not by his own hand, but still—freedom had come. Joy surged through him, so overwhelming it brought tears to his eyes. He clapped Dania尔 on the shoulder, trying to pull him into the moment, to share in this victory.
But the drow’s expression remained solemn, his brow beaded with cold sweat.
Feriton frowned. “What’s wrong, Dania尔? Mortifer’s dead! Isn’t this cause for celebration?”
“Don’t celebrate too soon, Feriton,” Dania尔 murmured, slowly lifting his gaze toward the sky, where the Black Mist was still fading. “I have a feeling… this isn’t over yet.”
The thought of the frenzied Red Dragon stirred unease in Feriton’s chest.
“Still… shouldn’t be a problem. Enemies of our enemy are friends. We just need to show him we’re part of the resistance. He won’t harm us.”
Suddenly, a violent hurricane slammed into them, nearly knocking them off their feet. Feriton instinctively raised his arm to shield his face.
“Feriton—look up!” Dania尔’s voice cracked, trembling. He pointed a quivering finger toward the sky.
Feriton slowly turned his head. His eyes widened.
"ROAR—!"
There, descending from the heavens, was the Red Dragon once more.
Its massive wings cast a shadow like a storm, blotting out the light. Its pale golden eyes burned with unrelenting hunger, and its jagged, monstrous face split into a grin of pure malice.
A crushing aura of draconic power descended, pressing down on every mortal being in the city—crushing their breath, their will, their hope.
At its chest, the Dragon Crystal pulsed like a living heart, its spines flaring with crimson light.
The Red Dragon slowly opened its colossal, blood-filled maw.
From within, a torrent of dark red fire poured forth—like a waterfall of annihilation—raining down upon the city.
Dragonshadow City burned.
Every substance—stone, steel, flesh, bone—any material touched by the Chaos Flame was instantly reduced to nothing. Not ash. Not dust. Not even memory. Utter, absolute dissolution.
This was Karex’s Purifying Flame—the purest symbol of destruction and power.
The fire spread at an impossible speed, engulfing half the city in mere moments.
"No—!"
"It’s starting!"
"It’s coming! I don’t want to die!"
Panic-filled screams and wails filled the air—but they were short-lived. One moment, a cry; the next, silence. Men, women, children, humans, drow, gray dwarves—any life touched by the Crimson Flame was instantly unmade, stripped down to the raw chaos of existence.
There was no escape. No resistance. Useless.
Kai Xiusu soared above the city, wings beating gently, riding the waves of fire like a herald of apocalypse, a living embodiment of the Purifying Flame.
Feriton, desperate, leapt onto a rooftop, waving his arms wildly toward the sky.
“We’re the resistance!”
“Red Dragon, stop! We’re enemies of that Shadow Dragon too!”
Sweat poured down his face as he screamed.
Dania尔 stood frozen, then slowly reached out and placed a hand on the human warrior’s shoulder. His voice was hollow.
“Stop, Feriton. It’s useless.”
The drow stared up at the dragon in the sky, whispering, his voice broken:
“I’ve heard a legend… from ancient elven history.”
“It’s a symbol of destruction.”
“He is the world’s purifier…”
But he never finished.
The flames reached them—raging, consuming.
The Crimson Flame swallowed both drow and human whole.
Kai Xiusu spread his wings, gliding over the ruins, his expression blank. He didn’t look down. Didn’t acknowledge the pleas of the dying. He didn’t care.
In his eyes, every living being—good or evil, friend or foe, from any faction—was merely a number. A statistic. A vessel for his endless desire to destroy.
And so, in the roar of fire, Dragonshadow City—millennia-old, once a beacon of trade under drow rule, a prison of shadow under the Shadow Dragon’s reign, a city where countless souls had risen in defiance—was reduced to ash.
Not even rubble remained.
"Crack… crack…"
On the scorched earth, faint embers still flickered. The thick ash might be the only proof that the city had ever existed. The prosperity of the drow era, the darkness of the Shadow Dragon’s reign, the courage of the people who fought back—all vanished in the fire.
Kai Xiusu finally emerged from the Crimson Scales Frenzy.
His monstrous face still glistened with the afterglow of slaughter. The golden irises in his eyes still burned with ecstatic fury.
His Character Sheet flashed with new notifications, each one a burst of light before his vision.
[You have slain "Whisper of the Night – Mortifer (Challenge Rating: 21)" — 33,000 experience points awarded.]
[You have slain "Shadow Dragon" — 10,000 experience points awarded.]
[You have slain "Undead Shades" — 800 experience points awarded.]
[You have slain "Shadow Spirits" — ]
…
[You have slain "Drow Elf" — 15 experience points awarded.]
[You have slain "Human Merchant" — 5 experience points awarded.]
Just this single massacre had brought him nearly to the threshold of his next advancement.
Staring at the glowing numbers—so tempting, so intoxicating—a strange thought bloomed in Kai Xiusu’s mind.
If I were to kill every living being in the Prime Material Plane…
How powerful would I become?
Would I rival a Divine Being?
Or… surpass even the gods themselves?
Once born, the thought surged like a flood—unstoppable, unstoppable, drowning every rational thought in its wake.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
