Chapter 334: Breath of Bahamut
Just as Cassius prepared to engage in another melee with his opponent, the silver dragon's body began to shimmer with faint magical light. His massive draconic form gradually turned ethereal and reappeared several miles away atop the cloud layers.
Cassius gazed up at him from afar and taunted, "Old man, are you afraid?"
"Using teleportation magic at such a distance violates the sacred dueling traditions of dragonkind. Are you conceding defeat?"
"To deal with a vile dragon like you, why should I follow conventions?"
A high-pitched roar escaped from Ostzedro as the metal disc on his chest slowly rotated, and the intricate pointer aimed at a sapphire gem.
"Oh gods..."
"What is that? Is it a palace in the heavens?"
"How could such a grand structure appear out of thin air?"
People raised their eyes to the sky, exclaiming in astonishment.
An even more astonishing sight unfolded—the frigid northern winds howled, gathering around the silver dragon. Fine frost and snow coalesced and formed a towering fortress hundreds of meters high. This fortress shimmered with a silvery light and completely enveloped him.
All aspects of space, energy, and matter were sealed within this fortress of absolute order.
[Platinum Fortress of Bahamut]
This red dragon's speed exceeded all expectations, and its breath weapon was powerful enough to penetrate his defenses. Faced with such an adversary, even a small misstep could spell disaster. Close combat was not the path for a mage like him.
Thus, he had to adopt the safest and most conservative strategy.
Ostzedro's plan was to gradually exhaust his opponent's energy within this impenetrable fortress and ultimately secure victory through his spells.
At that moment, he could seal the opponent and guide this red dragon with ancestral potential onto the righteous path, thereby ending the ceaseless war and suffering on this land.
"Damned turtle shell," Cassius growled through clenched teeth, flames escaping from the corners of his mouth as he gazed at the space-sealed silver fortress.
A legendary-level mage indeed, this thousand-year-old ancient spell-loving silver dragon's spellcasting abilities were far beyond his own, and the metal disc on his chest likely possessed quasi-divine attributes.
Allowing him to continuously cast spells within layers of protection would place Cassius at an overwhelming disadvantage, potentially even pushing him to his limits.
"Perhaps I need to provoke this old man, force him to make the first move."
"Even... make him fight me with all his might."
With that thought, Cassius's lips curled into a sinister smile. His voice took on a mocking tone as he said:
"Ostzedro, do you want to know where your beloved granddaughter is?"
"Foul dragon! What have you done?"
"Roar—"
The ancient silver dragon roared in fury, summoning thousands of sharp icicles that rained down from above onto the red dragon below. The icicles fell as densely as a storm.
The red dragon on the ground made no attempt to dodge. He spread his wings and used the flames encircling him to form a barrier, melting all the incoming icicles.
"Old man, have you ever heard of the"Ballad of the Ember"?"
Cassius asked meaningfully.
"What?"
Ostzedro's heart sank as a dreadful thought crossed his mind.
As a mage, the silver dragon had naturally researched his opponent beforehand. However, he dismissed the so-called"Ballad of the Ember" as the delusions of ignorant mortals. After all, red dragons merely devoured humans and weren't depraved enough to engage in such acts.
Cassius licked his lips dramatically, grinning menacingly. "That young silver dragon was quite a treat, in every sense of the word."
To the silver dragon, that smile was utterly nightmarish.
"No, impossible!"
Ostzedro froze, his face a mask of despair.
The red dragon's charm was so overwhelming that it could distort reality. Even with spells, Ostzedro found it difficult to discern the truth of his words.
Although red and silver dragons considered each other mortal enemies, they were both the offspring of Io and noble true dragons. Acts of cannibalism among dragons were as abhorrent as "cannibalism" within human society.
Even the most chaotic and evil red dragons rarely engaged in such behavior. Cases of dragons consuming their own kind were so infamous that even Tiamat herself wouldn't acknowledge those dragons.
"Roar—"
The ancient silver dragon threw his head back and let out a deafening roar of rage. A fierce blizzard swept across the plains.
The platinum fortress dissolved into the wind.
Ostzedro spread his wide silver wings and slowly ascended. His massive silver form shimmered in the sunlight, blinding those who dared to look.
The ancient silver dragon's eyes burned with unquenchable fury, their mercury-like depths aflame with anger.
"Cassius, I've made a grave mistake."
"For an irredeemable, heinous dragon like you, I shouldn't have harbored any hope. Nor should I have entertained the thought of redeeming you!"
"Any leniency I show toward you as a fellow dragon is an insult to all the righteous and just who perished by your hand. It is a blasphemy against the order of this world!"
"You are unworthy of being called a true dragon. You are a shameful, pitiful abomination—a mistake that must be erased!"
Ostzedro cast a cold gaze over the land. The metal disc on his chest began to rotate, its intricate magical patterns lighting up as faint glimmers of light leaked from its seams.
Finally, the pointer stopped at a silver-white gemstone.
This was a sacred relic bestowed by Bahamut himself—a divine artifact received when Ostzedro left Mount Celestia. At that time, he had vowed only to use this silver-white "Breath of Bahamut" against the most evil, irredeemable enemies.
"Cassius, the beings of this land have suffered enough."
"Thus, I will put an end to it all."
The silver dragon's mouth opened slightly, and a milky white radiance began to form deep in his throat.
[Breath of Bahamut]
In an instant, a divine light burst forth. The north wind swept down as heavenly hymns echoed among the clouds. The immense pressure compelled everyone present to fall to their knees in reverence.
"Is that... Bahamut's Breath?"
"No! Grandfather is going all out! Cassius won't survive this!"
Watching anxiously from a distance, Olivia's face turned pale with alarm. She let out a sharp cry, transforming into her silver dragon form and flying skyward in an attempt to stop the duel.
"No—stop it! Grandfather!"
Olivia's voice was filled with urgency and desperation, even tinged with sobs.
Meanwhile, Christina the blue dragon roared in anger and flapped her wings to pursue. "Damned metallic dragon, you won't interfere with His Highness's fight!"
However, their influence was negligible in the heat of this intense battle. These two young dragons, barely over ten meters long, were dwarfed by the colossal combatants.
Now, the eyes of the two great dragons were locked solely on each other. Any distraction could result in irreparable consequences.
"This is Bahamut's power! Old man, come on!"
"This truly lives up to the name of the 'Silver Wing'!"
Cassius looked up at the sky, his face filled with exhilaration as he laughed wildly, and he too opened his massive jaws.
The blood vessels across the red dragon's body surged with firelight, even extending beyond his body, creating a root-like pattern on his surface.
The inexhaustible energy was channeled into the dragon crystal, while dazzling, high-temperature white flames spewed from the vents on his neck and tail.
Accompanied by an incredibly intense fluctuation, the dragon crystal underwent a violent magical fission reaction. Light points and arc lines chaotically appeared within it, and erupting sparks collided wildly in his chest, turning the dragon crystal blindingly brilliant, making him resemble a miniature sun on the ground.
Intense hot winds spread outward from the red dragon's center, incinerating everything within a hundred-meter radius into ash, whether it was humans, rocks, or trees.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion echoed.
[Primordial Breath]
In the next moment, blue-white flames erupted from the red dragon's mouth, the extreme heat instantly vaporizing the surrounding air.
Simultaneously, a pure white torrent imbued with divine radiance poured from the ancient silver dragon's maw, emanating an icy chill so intense it seemed to freeze space itself.