Chapter 712: Duel and Judgment
Even the proud angel-blooded were shaken in their hearts as they gazed upon the red dragon lifting the sun and suppressing all beings.
Possessing the Sun God's power themselves, they could feel the grandeur of that sun more deeply, sensing the vast divine force within—one that shared the same origin as their own.
Emotions like awe and astonishment rippled in their golden eyes, which spun like solar discs.
"By Amanata above, how can this red dragon possess such pure solar power?"
"Could it be..."
Bound by status, many thoughts remained unspoken.
Could this red dragon truly be the real sun, the incarnation of the Eternal Light in the mortal world?
Could it be that His Majesty Wilhelm, who signed a pact with Hell, had truly been forsaken by the Sun God and become a pitiful apostle of the devils?
Unlike the conflicted, tormented Thracians, the moment Cassius appeared in the sky, the entire Empire erupted in ecstatic cheers. Every face was filled with zeal and devout reverence.
"Long live His Majesty Cassius!"
"Long live the Great Red Dragon!"
Some looked at the sun hanging high in the sky, carried by the red dragon, raising their arms to embrace the light and crying out from the depths of their hearts: "Lord of the Sun! His Majesty Cassius is the true Lord of the Sun!"
"Lord of the Sun!"
"Praise His Majesty Cassius, praise the sun!"
Wave after wave of cheers surged, nearly drowning the entire city of August.
Wilhelm stared hard at the sun in the sky. First, his golden eyes reflected surprise and rage, then growing agitation, and finally deep resentment and hatred.
He trembled with fury, even his wings shuddered slightly. White feathers scattered through the air as he raised the Spear of Final Judgment, its sharp tip pointing toward the distant red dragon.
"Cassius! Drop your charade, you blasphemous thief who stole divine power!"
Cassius could instantly tell—Wilhelm was panicking.
After signing his pact with Hell, Wilhelm himself began to doubt whether he had been abandoned by the Sun God and become a forsaken child of the divine.
Thus, he clung to every chance to prove himself, desperate to suppress the fear and emptiness gnawing at his soul.
Cassius smirked at this, the corner of his mouth curving in mockery.
"Wilhelm, do you really believe—someone like you, who walks with devils, still deserves to inherit Holy Fadlan, or to be called a vassal of the Sun God?
Stop deceiving the people, stop deceiving yourself. The moment you signed your pact with Zariel and abandoned your principles, the Sun God forsook you."
Cassius' voice struck Wilhelm like a heavy hammer, making his mind tremble uncontrollably.
"Insolent!"
Wilhelm roared in fury, divine flames erupting from his eyes. Even the halo behind him flared like a miniature sun.
All six wings behind him beat at once. His armored form soared to the sky's peak, facing the distant red dragon.
"Everyone in this world knows—only I, Wilhelm, Angel King, Lord of the Holy City, Son of Aragon, am the true heir of Holy Fadlan, the one chosen by the Sun God!
And only I can restore the Holy Fadlan Empire, spreading the light of the Sun God once more! Even if I must sacrifice everything, it is worth it!"
Wilhelm's voice remained as proud and arrogant as ever—but this time, it carried a tremor of unease.
A sacred hymn began to echo. The halo behind the "Angel King" spun ever brighter, releasing a flood of radiant light.
The solar divine power surged from Wilhelm's body, forming a hundred-meter-tall, six-winged golden angel in the sky, radiating divine pressure like a god incarnate.
"In the name of the Sun God—shameless evil dragon, prepare for judgment!"
The six-winged angel raised the Spear of Final Judgment. In an instant, a thousand spears formed of light appeared, dense and shining, hurling toward the distant red dragon.
The golden angel that Wilhelm had become roared: "I shall grant you death!"
Cassius sneered. "A mere puppet of Zariel, daring to deliver divine punishment—are you not afraid of true divine retribution?"
In his eyes, Wilhelm was already tainted by infernal power. What remained of his solar divinity was next to nothing.
And yet, this king still tried to appear holy, to defeat the red dragon with such feeble divine force. It wasn't arrogance—it was pure delusion.
Very well, Cassius would now use the divine power he had reaped from over a dozen angel-blooded—including the likes of Duke Walter—and battle the so-called Angel King!
Behind Cassius, the [Solar Sphere] blazed forth, releasing torrents of flame and radiant fire, dyeing the sky a deep orange.
"Fwoosh—"
The red dragon beat his wings fiercely, stirring hurricane winds. The flames shot upward, transforming into a raging sea of fire spanning thousands of meters, as though the heavens themselves were tearing apart.
The thousand spears of light were swallowed up by the firestorm like stones into the ocean—vanishing without a trace.
"Impossible!"
Wilhelm's face changed drastically. He clenched his jaw and muttered, "No, it's just luck. I am the Sun's chosen—how could a mere thieving beast, a five-colored dragon, ever..."
The six-winged angel spun the Spear of Final Judgment between both hands. Seven entangled chains of holy light clinked crisply, forming a magic circle engraved with the holy emblem of the Sun God.
A miniature sun hovered at the spear's tip, glowing ever brighter, distorting space and forming golden vortexes.
"Boom!"
A thick golden beam ripped through the sky and clouds, shooting from the miniature sun and flying straight at the red dragon.
"Roooaar!"
Cassius let out a sky-shaking roar.
He flapped his wings and raised his head. Deep within his chest, his dragon core erupted with nuclear fury, glowing blindingly. Golden energy flowed through his blood vessels, gathering at his throat.
Fire swirled around Cassius's body. His metallic red scales shimmered brilliantly. The surrounding air distorted from the unmatched heat.
In that moment, it was as if the red dragon held the true sun in his jaws, preparing to unleash a force that would incinerate everything.
[Solar Breath]
A cone-shaped torrent of divine power burst from the red dragon's mouth like a crimson-gold waterfall, illuminating half the sky.
"Boom!"
Solar Breath collided with the divine Judgment Light—two powers of the same origin clashing and merging, creating a massive explosion hundreds of meters wide.
"Shwoosh—"
The aftershock of their clash formed a terrifying energy storm, sweeping across the sky and spreading for kilometers.
Within 300 meters of the blast, all creatures—human, wyvern, or Hell puppet—were instantly scorched to cinders.
Within 1000 meters, beings were blown about by the hot winds, suffering scorched burns. They struggled to stay afloat, flapping wings or using magic.
Even soldiers on the ground or tens of kilometers away were temporarily blinded by the light, feeling only the scorching winds against their faces.
"Gods..."
"This is the power of a supreme being? Even the aftershocks can kill mortals with ease!"
"His Majesty Cassius is invincible! Tear that arrogant bird bastard apart!"
Shielding their eyes from the blinding light, peeking through their fingers, all the mortals present were stunned and in awe, marveling at such power.
Soon, the clash of energies reached a conclusion.
To everyone's surprise, it was Cassius—the Ember Emperor—who won this battle of divine sun power, not Wilhelm, the so-called Angel King.
Wilhelm's face twisted grotesquely. Sweat dripped from his brow, golden blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and cracks spread across his skin. He looked utterly wretched.
He screamed hoarsely, "Impossible! I am the divine child my father praised! You cannot possess greater solar power than me!"
But Cassius wasn't surprised.
His dragon core housed divine cores from over a dozen angel-blooded—including top-tier ones like Duke Walter—making it a multi-core engine of power.
Wilhelm, corrupted by infernal power, had long since been forsaken by the light. His usable divine power was nearly gone.
Cassius's Solar Breath surged even more fiercely. The explosion pushed toward Wilhelm, forcing him to close his six wings and defend in a panic.
"Boom!"
Feathers fluttered. Wilhelm's once-pure wings were charred black by Solar Breath, revealing scorched flesh beneath.
From above, Cassius coldly looked down at the angel-blooded king. "Wilhelm, face reality. You no longer have the right to wield the Sun God's power."
A mocking grin spread across his face. His tone turned derisive, even flicking his claws. "Come, show me the filthy power you gained from sacrificing your people's souls."
"You—!"
Wilhelm glared, pale and trembling. Rage overtook him, and one phrase repeated endlessly in his mind:
Kill him!
Kill him! Kill him!
If he could just kill that red dragon and steal his power, he would still be the Sun's favored son! Still the heir to Holy Fadlan!
If he killed that red dragon, no one would ever uncover the truth or see through his secrets!
A tempting female voice echoed deep in Wilhelm's mind:
"Your Majesty Wilhelm, you cannot defeat the red dragon like this. Come, use our contract. Sacrifice those pitiful mortals to Hell.
Come. With a mere trivial price, I shall grant you the power to slay that red dragon. Soon, you shall rule the Holy City, ascend the golden throne, and become the true emperor of Holy Fadlan, founding a legacy that lasts a thousand years..."
"No, no, it's not time yet. I can still fight him!" Wilhelm clutched his head in agony, shaking it violently.
He still retained a shred of reason, not yet completely consumed by rage.
He knew—if he revealed his infernal power in front of hundreds of thousands in August, his radiant image would shatter beyond repair.
Unfortunately, Cassius could see Wilhelm's struggle. He stared coldly at the devil-entwined angel-blooded and said flatly, "If you won't reveal it, don't blame me for helping."
He extended his claws, and a silver palace appeared in his palm, radiating starlight and an aura of holiness and justice.
—It was the essence of Lunia, the Silver Heaven, part of the Seven Heavens' origin, containing the purest goodness and justice from the dawn of the cosmos.
And Wilhelm, tainted by infernal power, was naturally repulsed by such purity.
Wilhelm looked up in fury, roaring: "Dragon! What are you doing?!"
Cassius sneered again: "Obviously, tearing away the mask—so the world can see the Angel King's true face."
Before the words even faded, the red dragon circled several times in the sky, then decisively drove the essence of Heaven into the [Solar Sphere].
Instantly, the [Solar Sphere]'s glow became purer, its hue shifting toward silver, radiating holy light that seemed capable of eradicating all evil.
Within that light, mortals saw countless glorious visions—holy mountains and palaces of Silver Heaven, angels and sacred beasts soaring across the night sky.
But to demons, they saw only blazing seraphs and judgmental thunder, making their very souls tremble.
Now empowered by the celestial essence, Cassius's [Solar Sphere] was sanctified into a divine spell that struck terror into all evil, revealing their true forms beneath its light.
—This was [Holy Sun]
Under its radiance, burn marks appeared on Wilhelm's body. He turned blackened, even his skin cracking apart.
He struggled in horror, shaking his head and roaring: "No, no, I am the Sun God's child! The Angel King! The future Emperor of Fadlan! I am the embodiment of goodness and justice!
You have no right to judge me! I am the rightful one!"
But his struggles were in vain. His once-majestic, holy form twisted—falling toward that of a devil from Hell.