Ashen Dragon-Chapter 1284 - 398: The Final Heart_2
On the towering, cracked city walls, the Empire’s officers and soldiers looked fervent, raising their weapons in the air, shouting with all their might.
"Praise His Imperial Majesty!"
"Victory! Victory!"
"Long Live the Empire! Long Live His Majesty Cassius!"
The cheers and shouts within the city converged into a torrent, dispersing the clouds that hovered in the sky, and the entire city was enveloped in jubilation.
Whether in the City of Isdalia in the distant Anzeta Great Wilderness, Black Stone Fortress, Northwind Castle, Barto City, or the Boundary City and Grassland Fortress in the northern wilderness, all were caught in the frenzy.
People gazed at the Magic Image in the sky, embracing each other tightly and singing hymns of praise for the Emperor aloud.
Whether they were the proud Dragonblood Nobility or the humble non-citizens, whether high-ranking officials in administrative offices or workers in factories, all held the same feelings and shared the same faith, forming a closely-knit, interconnected community.
All oppression and injustice seemed to dissipate completely at this moment, vanishing like smoke under the Emperor’s divine might.
This is the power of faith.
At this moment, Cassius, who had defeated Tiamat, was indelibly engraved in the hearts of many Imperial people, now a symbol of the Empire’s collective will, embodying the shared will of tens of millions of people.
Cassius narrowed his eyes slightly, looking down upon the battle-scarred, weathered earth, feeling the mortals who placed their bodies and souls in trust on him.
These mortals’ faith was like anchors, dragging Cassius, forcibly anchoring him to the Empire, rendering the repelling forces of the Material Plane temporarily unable to expel him.
He could feel that after this event, his connection with the "Imperial Region" was becoming increasingly close.
If it continues this way, the entire Empire will merge with him, achieving a state of mutual integration.
With the combination of these many conditions, Cassius is very likely to become the first existence in tens of thousands of years to seal godhood on the Material Plane without being expelled.
The day of becoming a god is not far away.
Meanwhile, on a hill in the Seven Layered Heaven, a tall golden figure gazed at the scene of the Material Plane. Although its face was indistinct, its grave expression could still be perceived.
"The order of the mortal world is on the verge of collapse; it seems a great upheaval unseen in millennia is coming."
Likewise in the Seven Layered Heaven, in a palace made of various precious metals, the enormous Platinum Dragon, coiled like a mountain range, suddenly opened its eyes. Those sky-blue eyes were particularly deep, emanating a glow of wisdom, with a hint of helplessness in the pupils.
"Everything Tiamat left behind has fallen into his hands; it seems the time of disaster is ahead of schedule."
Bahamut sighed and continued to focus on the attack on the Divine Realm.
In the deep palace on the Ninth Layer of Barto Hell, a devil resembling a middle-aged man leaned casually on the Bone Throne, stroking the head of a hellhound, a slight arc curling his lips.
"To achieve such a feat, truly beyond my expectations..."
He raised a skull-crafted goblet, filled with blood-red wine, seemingly toasting in the distance: "To the Holy Calamity——"
Meanwhile, in the Eternal Radiance Castle of the Mechanical Realm, countless angels emitting golden light chanted softly, and among the angels, a figure enveloped in flame trembled slightly, as if waking from something...
...
Meanwhile, in the Ashen Empire, Thrace Governorate, Central Plain.
Cassius already drew his gaze back from afar, casting it upon the dead three-headed giant dragon.
"The Kaleidoscope Dragon, the strongest creature of the Material Plane..."
Cassius looked at the broken dragon body. It hung mid-air, over a thousand meters long, like a floating mountain, magnificently imposing.
This was the life form about to break through the constraints of the Material Plane, standing at the pinnacle.
How powerful and deadly it was, that even Cassius within the "Imperial Region," needed external aid to contend with it, otherwise victory would have been impossible.
Tiamat fled hastily in the end not because she couldn’t defeat him, but due to the gods’ joint attack.
If not for the interference of the gods, perhaps the entire northern Fianso would have been destroyed by the other party, and even Cassius, with the "Imperial Region," could only scarcely escape.
Before leaving, Tiamat unleashed all the Divine Power within this body, thoroughly destroying the flesh, sinew, and bones, leaving them as pollutants of the Material Plane.
But fortunately, Divinity is undying and imperishable.
Cassius reached out with a Dragon Claw, tearing apart the filthy, highly polluted flesh, and extracted a blood-soaked object from the chest of the three-headed dragon corpse — it was a dark red, continuously pulsating heart, emitting billows of black smoke.
The supreme relic of the Dragon Worship Church, the last piece of Divinity left in the world by the Five-Colored Dragon Queen, was now in His hands.
"The last piece of Tiamat’s Divinity puzzle... It’s unknown to what level this thing will elevate the God-sealing Dragon."
First, Cassius added more than a dozen layers of Forbidden around it, then with a flick of his Dragon Claw, stored this heart into his [Egg of Sanctuary], placing it alongside other extremely valuable relics.
At that moment, a hazy figure appeared near the dragon corpse.
With the figure’s appearance, powerful positive energy vortexes emerged around, accompanied by a slightly bitter voice: "To arrive too late for Tiamat’s heart, but this was expected..."
Turning his head, he looked towards the nearby Red Dragon and nodded, "Greetings, His Majesty Cassius."
The visitor was Shasun Rage.
Cassius gazed at the golden giant dragon, narrowing his eyes slightly, and coldly said, "Son of Bahamut, for your aid, leave here immediately."
Shasun Rage showed a helpless expression, shook his head, then slightly nodded towards Cassius before disappearing into the air, leaving only golden ripples behind.
Subsequently, Cassius cast his gaze back onto the dragon corpse, which seemed to have lost its value.
This was what Kazuul had longed to become for thousands of years, now hanging cruelly like pork on hooks, suspended in mid-air.
No one knew how his convenient ally would feel seeing the current sight, whether sadness, excitement, or despair?
However, Cassius understood that if left to fall and rot, the land within a hundred miles would be contaminated by the divine-power material unsupported by Divinity, turning into a barren wasteland.
He would find a suitable place for this dragon corpse.
Cassius swung the Dragon Claws, the dragon corpse falling from the sky, collapsing onto the ground like a small mountain, with blood flowing in streams and converging into rivers.
[Imperial Region: Seal]
In the next moment, the surrounding space compressed, blood flow ceased, and the dragon corpse no longer emitted black smoke that eroded all things, like a piece of solidified amber, sealing the dragon corpse within.
"Ramp."
Cassius softly called on his Retainer.
"Master, you, you actually defeated a True God! By the Emperor above! Defeating a True God, and the Emperor did it..."
Ramp’s voice revealed uncontrollable excitement and exhilaration, though standing there spouting "By the Emperor" in his presence amused Cassius.
"Enough, there’s no need for more flattery."
"As you will."
Cassius’s voice was calm as he instructed, "In accordance with your Will."
Cassius calmly ordered, "Find a suitable place for this dragon corpse. The dissection and analysis of this Divine body is to be a specialized duty of the Empire’s Divine Research Association."
"Yes, Master! I will promptly contact the Empire’s Divine Investigative Society, dedicated to dissecting and analyzing this divine corpse."
Ramp’s voice grew more excited because he was himself one of those "mad researchers."
To dissect and study a being so high and mighty, who could call upon the Dragon with such power, it needed the aid of external forces to contend against it.
