The Death Dragon, its attack failing, instead reined in its power, crawling on all fours, lowering its body, warily observing the perimeter.
A pair of vertical pupils fixated intently on Frieren.
Years of battle instinct made it realize that the opponent was no small matter, a true King-grade existence, comparable to Godwyn in his prime, or even a genuine Elden Lord. It had to be handled with caution.
Even more perplexing was the aura of a covenant with another Ancient Dragon.
Unfortunately, Fortissax, eroded by the aura of Those Who Live in Death, had lost its reason; it couldn't consider such intricate details beyond basic combat instincts.
Claw Strike!
The Death Dragon's simple pouncing attack, though, carried a fierce gust of wind, enough to overturn a fully armed knight regiment.
Frieren parried with her Dark Moon Greatsword without dodging, a crisp 'ping' perfectly deflecting the attack. Simultaneously, her right hand's Prince of Death's Staff finished charging, unleashing a Comet Azur in return.
This time, the azure torrent was exceptionally dazzling.
Striking the Ancient Dragon's scales head-on, it immediately produced a crunching sound, and the sustained attack shattered them in the next moment.
The strongest physical defense in the Lands Between, known to all, was thus directly breached!
Melina, watching the battle, was dumbfounded. It was too powerful, truly a historic moment. With the mastery of the strongest mage and the amplification of a max-level god-slaying weapon, even Ancient Dragon scales were destroyed.
The sudden fierce strike caused the Death Dragon to lose balance and stumble, retreating dozens of meters before finally steadying itself.
So painful!
Only now did it realize that a large chunk of scales on its chest had been ground off, leaving a bloody mess. This was not a relatively weak abdominal scale, but a truly solid defensive area.
Yet, the enemy still breached it!
That weapon was extraordinary, filled with the reactions of smithing stones, even blessed with the spacetime power of Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones. It couldn't be met head-on; even a race possessing the strongest physique would have to retreat a significant distance, triggering an instinctive reaction of caution.
The Death Dragon continued to retreat, continuously spitting fireballs.
It believed that continuous breath attacks would leave openings for Frieren to exploit, so it opted for high-frequency burst damage.
Rumbling explosions surrounded the silver-haired girl, but she intercepted them all with Thops's Barrier.
She even had enough energy to erect a mana barrier.
While deflecting the Ancient Dragon fireballs, she didn't forget to shield Melina behind her, still demonstrating terrifying skill despite the various distractions.
Rancor!
Seizing an opening, Frieren raised her staff and unleashed rancor spirits with both flame and ghostflame attributes. They instantly filled the air, a dark mass pressing towards the Ancient Dragon's position, even obscuring the lightning.
This level of magical damage was negligible and held little significance.
The Death Dragon, relying on its high magic resistance, was immediately taught a lesson; upon initial contact, it felt intense pain throughout its body.
Something was wrong; it was actually soul damage. It directly inflicted damage through its scales. If it weren't for its Eternal Life having a strong soul foundation, it might have been severely wounded. But the opponent was not satisfied.
"Not enough damage? Is its base magic resistance too high?"
Before she finished speaking, Frieren held up Ranni's Dark Moon in one hand and powerfully hurled it towards the Death Dragon.
Melt you.
The exasperated Fortissax opened its maw and shot out a burst of flames, which, as expected, instantly incinerated the target. No, it was the target actively scattering a pale blue icy mist.
The true killing blow was hidden behind it: Rellana's Twin Moon arrived.
The moon magic, accompanied by a shockwave, struck its body. A continuous triple impact caused even the formidable top-tier Ancient Dragon to falter. What was astonishing was that Frieren unleashed the Dark Moon again, finally striking its chest and injecting it with magic-breaking power.
Bullseye, covered in frost.
Immediately after, Frieren switched her left hand's Dark Moon Greatsword to the Blasphemous Blade. Flames danced wildly, erupting as she thrust directly into the frostbitten area.
The silver-haired girl overtly overwhelmed the giant dragon, causing it to crash down, its head heavily hitting the ground.
The lava power from the Blasphemous Blade not only maximized violent physical changes but also plundered a portion of its life force. Although fighting in a dream, the damage reactions were authentic.
After this one move, the Death Dragon showed signs of wilting.
It scrambled to its feet, lightning coiling from its horns to its spine, tail, and limbs, propelling its slender, reptilian body into a sudden displacement.
It barely dodged a Comet.
Frieren was not surprised by this and immediately generated a Carian Phalanx to guard herself.
No one in the Lands Between could underestimate the vitality of an Ancient Dragon. As eternal beings, they inherently possessed powerful physical, magical, and even spacetime abilities, making them formidable. Today was her first true life-or-death battle with an Ancient Dragon, so she had to be wary.
The next moment, breath attacks collided with glintstone. Both sides engaged in long-range bombardment while maintaining their distance, and the dream immediately transformed into a battlefield.
In Melina's eyes, there was almost nothing but clashes of solidified mana, an utterly extravagant use. Both sides were types with abundant energy supplies, pouring out firepower relentlessly, causing the earth to crack and the sky to tremble.
The dream was actually still expanding under Fia's control.
Unbeknownst, it had already exceeded its original scope, encompassing a series of Mausoleum Knights and Those Who Live in Death.
A dagger was drawn.
Melina stared at the dying Fia and said, "At this rate, you'll bring about your own destruction. Stop the dream's expansion, or I'll kill you now."
"Impossible. It's no longer entirely under my control. Lord Godwyn's death power will continue to spread."
"You want the Royal Capital to notice what's happening here."
In a flash, Melina guessed it. After all, both sides were digging tunnels.
The dream was essentially a delaying tactic, hoping that the Royal Capital's powerful military might force back the Soul Cinder King? Was that even possible? Or, a secondary consideration was at least to retrieve Godwyn's corpse, otherwise Frieren wouldn't let such a massive source of contamination go.
The Royal Capital was actively attacking!
Upon realizing this, Melina's thoughts broadened, because Leyndell already possessed Morgott's Great Rune. Although still missing one Great Rune, adding a repaired Rune might allow for some action.
There were always more solutions than problems. Now, they couldn't afford to worry about too much; even if it couldn't be fully repaired, possessing a repaired treasure was not a loss.
If given a choice, a considerable portion of the Royal Capital faction would prefer Godwyn's return first.
"Frieren, you must stop them, at least destroy the source of Those Who Live in Death."
"Understood."
After Melina's reminder, the silver-haired girl didn't bother to clarify the details; she just got to it. She reached out and conjured an Incantation: Frozen Lightning Spear.
Her target was Godwyn's corpse.
Regardless of what it produced, as long as the body was severely damaged, it was fine. Frieren, having made up her mind, held nothing back. White lightning and blue ice shards converged, so powerful that they even absorbed the Death Dragon's lightning strike attempting to interrupt.
As she hurled it, the Incantation: Frozen Lightning Spear pierced directly into the twisted, mermaid-like mass of flesh, exploding with a thunderous frost blast.
It was far stronger than the Dragonkin Soldier's original magic; even Melina, standing the furthest away, felt her body glow, and her eyebrows and hair were covered in white frost.
Boom!
As expected, the massive corpse was gouged open with a penetrating hole.
Frieren demonstrated with her actions that even the Death Dragon, giving its all, could not intercept her attack.
Golden Prince Godwyn's corpse was now riddled with a large hole, the gap covered in frost, and its entire body twitched under white lightning, becoming even more grotesque and hideous.
A truly unsightly death.
The enraged Death Dragon unleashed a breath attack, but Frieren merely floated aside, her attention still fixed on the corpse. She sensed that the condensation of the Rune of Death had been interrupted, or even completely destroyed, making it impossible to form a repaired Great Rune.
It might still function as a combat machine, but its aspect that interacted with the rules of the Lands Between was rendered useless, which was the most crucial point.
After confirming, the silver-haired girl withdrew her gaze and aimed it at the Death Dragon.
How powerful could an enraged Ancient Dragon be?
Carrying this curiosity, the Soul Cinder King unleashed an even larger round of magical bombardment. The enemy, not to be outdone, fought back with fierce determination, making it hard to tell who had the upper hand for a moment.
Now, Fortissax was consumed only by rage. Betting on its sworn brotherhood with Godwyn and for the Ancient Dragon Covenant, it had to claim the life of the blasphemous intruder today.
Compared to its madness, Fia at this moment was left with only heart-wrenching sorrow.
"Lord Godwyn..." Stroking the mass of flesh yielded no response, her hand even stained with white frost.
Crack!
Suddenly, a mission dagger pierced her heart from behind. Fia instinctively turned, but her vision went black, and she collapsed right beside Godwyn's corpse.
Melina only lowered her guard after confirming the death.
To be safe, she was there to completely interrupt the ritual. After all, the ritual's conductor might use the two holy marks to induce the initial deceased to produce a repaired Great Rune again, which was unacceptable to the Stars' Order faction, a grave taboo.
Since she had chosen to support Frieren and Ranni's God-King system, any other order was considered heresy.
After finishing here, Melina glanced at Those Who Live in Death and Godwyn's Knights.
"You all should not disturb His Majesty."
Holy-attribute faith magic was perfect for such rabble; there was no need to involve them in the King's battlefield. Dealing with them here was sufficient, especially since the outcome on the other side wouldn't take long.
Bang!
Pest Threads coiled around the Death Dragon's massive body, dealing multi-stage damage, leaving marks on its rocky scales, and even attempting to pierce into the gaps.
The annoyed Fortissax suddenly flapped its wings and ascended into the sky.
The sky was the Ancient Dragon's main battlefield. It had held back before, fearing to involve Godwyn, but now it didn't matter. Letting loose, it completely unleashed Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike. Thunderclaps roared in the sky, rolling dark clouds covering the tiny silver-haired girl on the ground.
The black-scaled Ancient Dragon roared to the sky, summoning lightning powerful enough to vaporize any target.
Who said she couldn't fly?
Aspects of the Crucible: Wings easily lifted Frieren's petite body, instantly soaring into the air and dodging the lightning. With a gravity dash, she swiftly reached high altitude. Now, her gaze was level with the Death Dragon.
The opponent's eyes widened slightly, not expecting the enemy to be so skilled at flight.
But it didn't matter; the tactic remained unchanged. With a wave of its hands, crimson lightning spears manifested, and the surrounding clouds were accompanied by corrosive golden lightning strikes.
So Frieren also employed Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike.
Her blade was that of the covenant Ancient Dragon Florisaxx, even wider and larger, like a greatsword, imposing and intimidating.
Bring it on.
Both thought simultaneously, their actions echoing their resolve.
Two types of lightning, similar in nature yet different in technique, danced wildly, rushing straight forward, overwhelmingly suppressing the enemy. The foremost lightning collided, then mixed into a ball of light, and the thunderbolts in the sky annihilated, fused, or exploded with each other.
After unleashing a single move, the Death Dragon temporarily ceased its assault. Such a massive consumption required a moment to catch its breath.
But Frieren's moves weren't over.
She transformed mid-air into the form of Bayle the Frenzied Dragon, her massive body surprisingly no smaller than the Death Dragon's. With the Dragon Communion incantation, her power was even greater.
The colossal creature slammed heavily into Fortissax with a clang. The frenzied dragon's flame lightning tore at its body, and its claw strikes and bites truly held the intimidating power of the Ancient Dragon rebels of old.
The startled Death Dragon was actually forcibly pushed down into a fall.
Two colossal beasts wrestled and bit each other in the air, landing heavy blows at point-blank range, furiously assaulting each other while plummeting at super-high speed, seemingly about to collide.
The Death Dragon's sharp claws firmly gripped its enemy, vowing to fall with it and suffer severe injuries.
Yet, the opponent wore an expression that seemed to say, "Are you an idiot?"
Transformation解除.
Frieren no longer maintained her Dragon Communion incantation projection of Bayle the Frenzied Dragon. She didn't forget to deliver a fierce kick while using Aspects of the Crucible: Wings. Given the immense weight difference between the two, it was negligible in terms of damage, but insulting enough.
Fortissax, with no time to struggle, slammed onto the ground with a thud, the solid recoil leaving it dizzy.
Even an Ancient Dragon's body couldn't withstand such abuse, especially with accumulated injuries. This single impact became crucial damage; it couldn't get up for a while, its weight actually hindering its recovery efficiency.
After all, in its long history of combat experience, when had it ever encountered a situation where it was beaten, its defenses broken, and knocked down?
The silver-haired girl had already prepared her Dark Moon Greatsword's charged Weapon Skill:
Moonlight Wave!
The frost slash slammed onto its remnant body with a 'bang,' staggering it while the greatsword delivered a finishing blow, blood spurting.
In her perception, the Death Dragon's aura rapidly plummeted. Its form, barely maintained, grew increasingly dim. It attempted a final struggle, but was pushed back by a Soul Stream, retreating without any resistance, its body's outline swiftly disappearing.
Until the very end, the dragon's vertical pupils burned with fire, but it could no longer move.
Only then did Frieren slowly put away her staff. Defeating an Ancient Dragon for the first time certainly had its twists and turns; its resilience exceeded expectations, and it felt consistently tough.
She looked towards Melina.
Melina had just finished off all the lesser enemies and returned her gaze, while the dream swiftly dissolved. The mist that had enveloped them earlier dissipated, and they returned to the original open tree root area.
The silver-haired girl quickly made her way to Godwyn's corpse, eventually retrieving a Repaired Rune.
[Prince of Death's Repaired Rune]
Although Fia and Godwyn were dead, she had indeed succeeded, at the cost of her life, in discovering a path to repair the loophole of Destined Death. If integrated into the Elden Ring, it would likely usher in an era accepting Those Who Live in Death.
Unfortunately, for Frieren, this vision was too narrow, and might even be detrimental to the fusion of multiple powers.
She herself also needed an order that was as inclusive as possible.
She herself brought different powers.
It was proven that the First Flame world, the Lands Between, Ashina, and even Yharnam had subtle intersections. Rashly choosing an exclusive Repaired Rune might even harm her, leading to more trouble than it was worth, purely bringing suffering upon herself.
The Stars' Order was better.
Frieren's nature of power dictated her choice, so she put away this Repaired Rune and looked towards the Remembrance of the Death Dragon.
Based on its performance just now, the rewards shouldn't be weak, granting another portion of Ancient Dragon power.
After returning to the Roundtable Hold, Frieren got what she wanted.
As a legendary Ancient Dragon, it indeed had considerable value. The number of Runes granted was substantial, and both exchangeable abilities were useful in their own right, not merely decorative, capable of standing alone.
There was no such thing as an unwieldy Ancient Dragon power in the Lands Between, especially since she was the only Ancient Dragon Knight with a covenant.
[Death Lightning]
[An incantation using the power of Fortissax the Ancient Dragon, after being corroded by death. It can cause severe bolts of death lightning to fall around the caster.]
[The lightning has the effect of inducing the status ailment 'Death'.]
[Charging extends the duration of the falling lightning.]
[It is said to be the golden lightning wielded by Godwyn, who befriended the Ancient Dragons.]
Accumulated status ailments were indeed a threat, which Frieren hadn't had time to pay much attention to earlier. Of course, this was also because the battle proceeded too quickly; neither side expected to be constantly aggressively attacking each other, leaving no chance for ailments to accumulate.
It was a step too late.
Otherwise, she would have had to specifically dispel the Death attribute. Of course, Frieren, with maximum resistance, wouldn't have been immediately affected anyway.
There were plenty of similar countermeasures.
It proved that Fortissax's strength had declined after the Death erosion. Troublesome it might be, but it wasn't entirely correlated with its power level; in its true Ancient Dragon era, it was certainly more majestic and formidable.
Its friendship in protecting Godwyn and even enduring Death erosion was indeed profound, but unfortunately, it ended here.
The other reward was an attack form familiar to Frieren:
[Fortissax's Lightning Spear]
[An incantation showcasing the power of Fortissax the Ancient Dragon. It can summon two red lightning spears that continuously pierce the ground from the sky.]
[After the lightning spears bounce, they release lightning outwards.]
[In the Ancient Dragon War, the twin red lightning spears symbolized the Ancient Dragon with the strongest rock name.]
Frieren immediately summoned an Ancient Dragon Lightning Spear. Unlike the horizontal sweep of the lightning blade, this one washed the earth with a radiating diffusion, covering a vast area, and grew stronger with more mana infused.
Among the many Ancient Dragon incantations she had encountered, this was considered excellent, truly befitting Fortissax's abilities and the title of a legendary top-tier Ancient Dragon.
What a pity.
It couldn't even unleash the full power of its lightning spear, thus merely so-so.
In the hands of a new caster, it could reach a higher realm. With Frieren's current power, she completely surpassed the Ancient Dragons.
The only one whose true depth was unknown was the Ancient Dragon King, the very first Elden Lord, Placidusax. What was his true strength? She would definitely have to search carefully when she reached Farum Azula later; he was a must-eat on her list, not to be missed.
After confirming the spoils of war, Frieren finally focused on her surroundings. The area was devastated, with only Godwyn's corpse still standing.
And the Death Dragon's main body, eroded into slumber.
With Fia's help, they had exerted some power in the dream, but in reality, they couldn't. They were mere empty husks, half-dead. However, their tenacious life force could still support combat, so they couldn't be underestimated.
Melina walked over and said, "Using Destined Death won't be very useful either, because according to the current rules of the Lands Between, they are already dead."
"This is a loophole in the Golden Order, leading to the rampant spread of Those Who Live in Death."
Her tone revealed regret.
It was regrettable that Destined Death was useless. The Lands Between was already chaotic enough, and the handling of Those Who Live in Death was not going smoothly.
If they were to hastily leave and consider it over, wouldn't the contamination still spread along the tree roots?
Frieren remained silent, then after a moment's thought, placed one hand on the ground. A spark of First Flame power lit up in her palm, an energy capable of purifying souls and cleansing all, spreading along the earth. The tree roots were the first to burn, very gently, but severing the contamination's transmission.
From now on, Godwyn's corpse could no longer continuously spread contamination.
But it wasn't enough.
Her goal, of course, was to solve it once and for all. Without thorough eradication, the contamination might return later, causing a mess again.....
"Frieren, there's movement above!"
Melina suddenly warned loudly, as a massive figure plummeted down from the hollow tree trunk above.
Giant King Yhorm descended, drawn by the aura of his old foe, his great cleaver already ready. However, he didn't immediately attack. Instead, he grabbed Godwyn on one side and Fortissax on the other, surprisingly attempting to drag away both corpses.
Simultaneously, a troop of Rold Knights surrounded them from above.
"He won't have any use for them, will he?" Melina wasn't afraid of fighting amidst an army; she had done it before, she was just puzzled.
"Useless, but not necessarily if they are in his hands, right? Ofnir."
Whoosh!
A wisp of clear wind revealed the form of Sir Gideon Ofnir, neither of the Roundtable Hold members were surprised; they had expected it. Everyone had a premonition of who would eventually walk an opposing path.
"Lady Frieren, you and I have fundamental disagreements. I will absolutely not allow a rebel like you to be crowned king."
"So you set a trap?"
Although she spoke, the silver-haired girl's gaze was on Melina. Fighting outnumbered was inconsequential to her; the key was protecting the witch.
It was difficult to account for everything amidst a chaotic army; if there was any risk in that regard, she would transition to a different phase.
She was ready to fight her way from Deeproot Depths all the way to the Royal Capital.
Frieren's actions silenced the entire area.
The originally tense Melina paused, wondering why everyone was looking at her. Her gaze met the silver-haired girl's, and she understood: if the Soul Cinder King aimed at any member of the encirclement, it wouldn't matter; the Royal Capital's elite forces were no pushovers, those present were all hand-picked, fearless in battle.
But this King was famously protective of her witch, and at this moment, she prioritized the witch, leading to a terrifying conclusion:
A decisive battle.
Since she worried about not being able to protect her partner, she would fight her way through in one go.
Therefore, silence fell. The Royal Capital faction certainly wouldn't allow this opportunity to slip away; no one could make such a decision to give up. Conversely, they had to decide
The fate of the Lands Between? It was too hasty.
Suddenly, Frieren shifted her gaze and looked up.
Everyone else also looked, but found nothing. However, they absolutely did not believe it was the Soul Cinder King's illusion.
From start to finish, their own perceptions were always more than a beat behind; they had to judge by her expression.
Boom!
A golden phantom plummeted down with a boom after a breath, seemingly leaping from an extremely high place. The shockwave from its feet even caused the tree roots to tremble slightly, and the earth roared as if in celebration.
The newcomer wore ceremonial armor, wielded a massive double-bladed battle-axe, and wore a crown. Its sharp gaze met the silver-haired girl's.
"Unfortunately, it's a clone of Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. What is your business?"
"Frieren, just the two of us. Let's try."
Hearing this, the Golden Dynasty entourage quickly retreated with the Death Dragon and the Prince of Death. There was no need to intervene; they would use this opportunity to quickly relocate and block the path below.
The two at the eye of the storm remained motionless, completely ignoring the surrounding commotion.
A fierce confrontation was imminent.
____
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