Chapter 446: A Feast on the Battlefield
“Grrroooooaaar—”
As the smoke cleared, a colossal Red Dragon—nearly forty meters in length—emerged onto the battlefield, letting out a thunderous roar that shook the very air.
The ground, composed of ash and stone, was shattered beneath its massive form, leaving a crater a hundred meters wide and deeply sunken. Within the pit lay the crushed remains of hundreds of Fire Lizards and Flame Wyverns, their bodies flattened like discarded scraps.
Terrified, the Fire Lizards dropped their spears and javelins, writhing in panic as their serpentine bodies scattered in all directions. The Flame Wyverns flapped their wings wildly, spiraling through the air in chaotic, disoriented flight.
“It’s… a Dragon!”
“By the Fire God, how could a Red Dragon appear here?!”
“Run! Run now! This is an Ancient Red Dragon!”
The Fire Giant commander, leading the charge, let out a cry of terror. He leapt onto a Flame Wyvern and urged it forward, his voice trembling with dread.
Dragonkind were rare in the Elemental Plane of Fire—despite the scorching climate being ideal for Red Dragons. Many had attempted to build fortresses here, but even they struggled to prevent their treasures from melting into molten slag. As a result, most eventually fled—either to the depths of Hell or back to the Material Plane.
“Roar—!”
“You… you dared to kill my Follower?”
Kai Xiusu reared up, his voice echoing with ancestral power. He spread his vast wings wide, radiating the overwhelming aura of a true Ancestral Dragon.
Instantly, dozens of Flame Wyverns collapsed mid-flight, unconscious, tumbling from the sky like dead leaves.
These creatures, bearing only a faint trace of Dragon blood, stood no chance against an existence of such superior lineage. Their very souls were overwhelmed by the sheer dominance of the Dragon’s bloodline.
“No! Run! Now!”
“This isn’t a foe we can defeat—Retreat! All units, retreat!”
The Fire Giant commander trembled from head to toe. Though lacking Dragon blood, he still retained enough control to maintain flight. But even he could barely stand the weight of terror pressing down on him.
The remaining Fire Giant officers and hundreds of Fire Lizard raiders turned and fled toward the distant City of Iron, panic-stricken and desperate.
Yet what followed was far worse.
The enormous Red Dragon did not chase them. Instead, it slowly opened its Bloody Maw, and from within—no fire, no flame, no inferno—
But ice.
A torrent of Extreme Cold Icefall poured forth like a frozen waterfall, engulfing nearly half the army in a wave of unnatural frost.
This type of Frost Evocation Spell was nearly useless in the Elemental Plane of Fire—its effects were supposed to be nullified by the surrounding heat. But Kai Xiusu had defied the laws of nature, wielding the spell through the strength of his Everfrost Horn, enhanced by metamagic, and amplified by his extraordinary Charisma.
And for the Fire Elemental creatures—born in fire, made of flame—this was death.
Their blazing Soulfire was instantly frozen, extinguished.
When the intense heat of the plane finally melted the frost, the creatures were already lifeless—soulless husks, their essence gone.
“How… how is this possible?!”
“This is a Red Dragon!”
The Fire Giant officer froze in place, stunned, his mind reeling. He had never seen a Dragon like this—no fire, only ice.
“Run! Report this to Emir-sama at once!”
He turned, accelerating his flight, a trail of smoke trailing behind him.
Then—space warped.
A Portal ripped open before him.
Fire Giants were fierce warriors and high-tier Elemental Beings, naturally gifted with powerful spellcasting. They possessed innate talents—Interdimensional Teleportation, Ignition Spells, Pyrotechnic Magic—but now, no spell would work.
Bright, blazing flames erupted behind him—then coalesced into the massive, terrifying form of a Dragon.
The Portal shattered instantly, dissolving into nothing.
The Fire Giant’s face twisted in despair. He raised a hand, summoning flames—but they did nothing. They simply vanished, flowing into the crystal embedded in the Red Dragon’s chest.
“No! You can’t kill me!”
“I’m a Fire Giant!”
“Zzzzzt—BOOM!”
A blinding Thunderstorm erupted around Kai Xiusu, expanding violently, swallowing the entire battlefield in a maelstrom of furious lightning.
“No—!”
“Help me!”
The once-proud, arrogant Fire Giant—so recently a master of flame—was reduced to raw, uncontainable fire, torn apart by the storm.
“Run!”
“Izal-sama is dead!”
“By the Fire God, flee!”
Their cries were frantic, desperate—but all in the Fire tongue. To Kai Xiusu, they sounded only like crackling flames: zizzi… ppppssss…
The remnants of the army fled in terror, driven by instinct, abandoning all discipline. This was no battle—it was a massacre.
“Interesting.”
Kai Xiusu flared his wings, hovering in midair, his claw delicately pinching the writhing mass of flame before him.
This was the essence of a Fire Giant—the core of all Elemental Beings. The primal Essence Flame.
“Looks delicious,” he murmured.
With a wide Bloody Maw, the Red Dragon swallowed the flame whole.
A surge of pure, radiant energy flooded through him.
His eyes lit up.
So this was it—this raw, elemental fire… a perfect meal.
“By the Fire God!”
“Izal-sama… he was… eaten!”
“Izal was devoured!”
The remaining Fire Giants and Fire Lizards shrieked in terror.
Yes, in the Elemental Plane of Fire, Elemental Beings did devour one another—but to see a Fire Giant consumed like a snack? Unthinkable.
Kai Xiusu let out a satisfied, guttural chuckle, then unleashed the Nine-Ring Spell: Dragon Absorption.
A black, bottomless vortex erupted from his maw, greedily sucking in every ounce of energy within range.
The lingering essences of the Fire Lizards and Flame Wyverns he’d already slain—now mere ghosts of flame—were pulled in, consumed.
The sight sent the survivors into even greater panic. They fled with every ounce of strength, as if their lives depended on it.
“This… this can’t be real…”
“The Fire God! They’ve all been eaten!”
“Help! I don’t want to be eaten by this Red Dragon!”
But Kai Xiusu wasn’t done.
With a flick of his massive claw, he slashed the air.
Claw Rake.
A flash of light.
Ash erupted in a violent storm.
A glowing, claw-shaped Force Field snapped into existence—cutting through the battlefield like a scythe.
Hundreds of Fire Lizards were split in half, their bodies scattered like broken dolls.
The earth itself was torn open—deep, jagged gouges, tens of meters long and several feet deep—raking across the ash and scorched ground. Limbs and fragments lay scattered in every direction.
“Run!”
“Let the Fire Lizards buy us time!”
The few surviving Fire Giants, using their Smoke-Form Flight, managed to escape—fleeing toward the City of Iron, hearts pounding.
But Kai Xiusu? He wasn’t letting his feast go.
With a brutal tear of space, the Red Dragon tore open the air behind them, erupting in a violent Flame Storm.
“No—!”
“I don’t want to be eaten!”
Their screams were useless.
The Spiral Spell in the Dragon’s maw pulled them in with irresistible force. No matter how hard they struggled, they were dragged into the vortex—consumed, one by one.
With a final scream of agony, the last remnants of the army vanished.
For them, it was a battle of utter despair. The battlefield was a slaughterhouse. The Red Dragon—the butcher—had no mercy, no hesitation.
No hope remained.
Every attack was futile. Every effort only fed the Dragon’s power.
And yet, for Kai Xiusu, it was a feast.
His enemy was not a foe.
It was food.
“If I devour five hundred Fire Giants… I might gather enough energy for my next Ascension,” Kai Xiusu mused, feeling the warm, satisfying fullness in his gut.
Since his Bloodline Ascension, he hadn’t felt this… satiated.
The battlefield before the Bronze Fortress was a wasteland—burnt, shattered, lifeless. The Fire Giant army had been eradicated.
Only the towering Red Dragon remained—wings spread wide, standing atop the ash and scorched earth.
“Your Majesty!”
“Long Live Emperor Kai Xiusu!”
“Emperor of the Ashen Flame—Victory Forever!”
From afar, the Imperial Vanguard Force dropped to their knees, heedless of the searing ground beneath them. Their knees blackened, blistered—but they didn’t care.
They raised their rifles high, screaming in unison, their eyes blazing with fanatic devotion.
This was their Emperor—Victory incarnate, Strength made flesh.
The Dragon Emperor had, as always, obliterated his enemies without mercy—just as he had in every war before.
Selkan’s eyes welled with tears of ecstasy—only to be instantly vaporized by the heat.
He had never imagined… that after being sent to this remote, dangerous battlefield… he would witness the Emperor of the Ashen Flame in person. Even more—receive his direct aid.
And the Fire Dwarves—led by Green—stood frozen in horror.
Their Copper Hammers and Copper Spears clattered to the ground. No one dared pick them up.
“He… he ate them all.”
“Do you think the Emperor is full now?”
Green stammered, his legs trembling. The image of the Red Dragon devouring an entire army was burned into his copper-brained mind.
A Fire Giant—the most powerful, the most arrogant beings in the Elemental Plane of Fire. They ruled vast territories. They enslaved Fire Dwarves, Fire Lizards, all beneath their feet.
And now? They were just… snacks.
No rebellion. No resistance.
Just gone.
The Fire Dwarf noble had once thought Kai Xiusu was different—unique among Red Dragons. A kind, gentle leader.
But now? He realized he’d been naive.
(End of Chapter)
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