Free Web NovelAs the two behemoths tore and tangled in the center of the battlefield, the earth no longer maintained a stable form.
The dark gold dragon blood August had spilled on the surface suddenly lit up, turning into red-hot chains that coiled upward, invading Mammon's interior along the path of his bite.
Mammon increased his magnetic field output, his crystal facets flashing wildly as he tried to crush the foreign objects invading his body.
The two forces collided head-on inside, causing a secondary collapse of the surface as rock layers were squeezed into irregular folds.
Amidst this chaos, five thousand dark red figures rushed out along the ground fissures and faults, their speed reaching its limit within a few breaths.
Scales sparked briefly against the ground, yet their steps were synchronized and their spacing precise; the entire legion was like a front line compressed to its limit.
The dragon blood August had spilled drew dark gold trails in the air like red-hot chains, guiding their path.
As they drew near, the Dragon Guards began to climb.
Hundreds and thousands of figures leapt simultaneously, landing on the surface of Mammon's several-thousand-meter-long diamond body.
To this pseudo-dragon, these beings were so tiny they were almost negligible, not even enough to attract attention.
Until the first Dragonbone Spear pierced a gap between the crystal facets.
That was no random attack.
Through their bloodline connection, the Dragon Guards shared the vision of the Old Emperor.
The spear tip wedged accurately into the slightest misalignment in the crystal structure, sliding in along the fissure.
Immediately after, dozens of Dragon Guards exerted force simultaneously; as their Battle Qi erupted, they slashed open their own scales without hesitation.
Dark red blood flowed down the spear shafts, resonating with the dark gold dragon blood and forcibly amplifying the power.
Ear-piercing sounds of cracking rang out one after another.
Those giant diamond plates, capable of withstanding Forbidden Spells, were pried up whole.
Mammon began to roll in agony.
The magnetic field vibrated wildly, trying to shake off these invaders.
The crystal facets rubbed together, creating blinding sparks as the earth crumbled.
Under the close-range energy backlash, some Dragon Guards' scales exploded, their bodies shaken out of control and thrown directly from the body, falling into the surging rift valley below.
But even more Dragon Guards remained firmly pinned in place.
Their limbs were embedded in the crystal facets, their spears piercing structural nodes; their bodies made dull bone-creaking sounds in the vibration, but not one let go.
August saw it all.
Mammon's massive maw still bit down hard on his flank; dark gold scales were torn, and dragon blood dripped continuously.
Yet he did not break free; instead, he proactively turned his head, allowing the fangs to pierce deeper.
He gave a low chuckle.
That laughter vibrated from his chest, not sharp, but carrying a condescending composure, as if mocking an object that had finally revealed a flaw.
He looked directly into those dull diamond eyes, his voice slow and clear:
"Can you feel it? The weight you take pride in, your traction, the power you devoured..."
Dark gold dragon blood slid down his scales, igniting small flames in the air.
"Now, it all becomes nourishment for this Emperor."
Under August's gaze, the Dragon Guards completed the final prying.
Mammon's chest cavity was forced open.
The 'physical immunity' defense the Federation was so proud of was scattered like a peeled ore shell.
The core inside, so blinding it was almost impossible to look at, was completely exposed to the air.
August spoke in a low voice: "You are strong... but before my will, you are not even a speck of dust."
The moment the words fell, all suppression vanished.
August suddenly tightened his tattered dragon wings, locking Mammon's neck firmly.
His right claw ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) lit up, piercing through the chest cavity.
"ROAR—!!!"
A bursting scream of agony spread out, as if the entire continent had been struck by a heavy hammer.
August slowly withdrew his arm.
Between his claws, he held a massive core.
Mammon began to collapse, his several-thousand-meter-long body rapidly losing its structural support.
The once-translucent diamonds lost their luster, turning into grayish-white waste ore.
The mountain-like body disintegrated within breaths, the rising dust obscuring half of the Imperial Capital.
Standing atop the remains, August swallowed the core directly.
Golden light erupted.
His broken dragon wings reconstructed in an instant, his wounds vanished, and his aura completed a leap.
The scattered diamond fragments were drawn into the air, instantly smelted in the high-temperature dragon breath and fused outside the dark gold scales, forming a new outer structure.
An evolved dark gold dragon body stood tall amidst the ruins.
August paid no mind to the Imperial Capital still collapsing beneath his feet.
In fact, those ruins didn't even linger in his sight for a moment.
His fury was surging.
These ants who dared to desecrate the authority of dragons—a fake god built with money and schemes—had actually wasted so much of his time.
He didn't even look back at the Dragonman Imperial Guard, a third of whom had died.
In his eyes, this war was already over; it was time to deal with those vermin behind the scenes.
August raised his dragon head, and a dragon roar carrying pure rage tore through the sky.
His dark gold wings flapped suddenly.
The dragon body broke the sound barrier directly, the air pushed aside violently.
Due to the extreme speed, the vacuum shockwaves formed along the way crushed downward, and the forests on the ground were instantly overturned and torn apart.
The dark gold figure turned into a bolt of lightning piercing the sky, not slowing down at all.
His anger found its next vessel.
Crossing the border, the city built on money, Crystal Rock City, had already entered his killing range... Inside the Council Chamber on the top floor of the Floating Island, the lights were still bright.
Under the crystal dome, the directors of the Seven Great Guilds sat around a round table.
Speaker Clement swirled his wine glass and glanced at everyone: "Don't get too excited. Although the Empire's resistance is like a mantis trying to stop a carriage, we should still show them some respect."
Everyone chuckled as if hearing a funny joke.
"I bet five million Magic Stones," Clement said casually. "Three minutes, at most. That so-called Imperial glory will probably only flicker for that long."
A director chimed in with a smile: "Three minutes is too conservative. Their walls are still made of old-style metal and broken stones; I'll give it two and a half minutes."
Another shook his head: "Two and a half minutes isn't realistic. Mammon needs to consume them completely, and processing the remains takes time. Otherwise, it'll affect the recovery purity."
Laughter spread around the table.
Someone jotted a note in a ledger, someone raised a glass in a toast, and others had already begun discussing how to divide the Imperial Capital's storage areas and population quotas after the war.
In their context, it wasn't the end of a nation, but a profit that had already entered the liquidation process.
The piano music suddenly stopped.
The musician responsible for the accompaniment froze for a moment, looking down at his fingers.
Blood was seeping from his fingertips; several alchemical piano strings had snapped silently, as if stretched to their limit by some invisible force.
Before he could speak, the red wine on the table stopped swirling.
The liquid detached itself from the glass walls, slowly floating upward and condensing into blood-colored droplets in the air.
A director frowned and instinctively looked up: "...Why has the sky turned dark?"
Outside the dome, the starry sky had vanished.
In its place was a layer of thick, cold, dark gold scales covering the entire sky.
A massive dragon eye slowly pressed down.
Golden flames swirled in the pupil, illuminating every face in the Council Chamber with a deathly pale light.
Those eyes once filled with gold coins and ledgers were now filled with nothing but fear.
Clement was the first to react.
He stood up abruptly, his fingers trembling as he activated the maximum defense array.
Complex runes lit up on the dome and walls simultaneously, and the Council Chamber was enveloped in layers of shields.
"Great Dragon!" His voice had lost its usual composure. "I am the Speaker of the Emerald Federation! We possess half the world's wealth! We can become your proxies, as long as you name a price..."
Before he could finish, a voice rang out deep within everyone's bones.
"Name a price?" The voice was low and calm, yet impossible to ignore. "The so-called wealth you speak of is but the scraps that leaked through my fingers while I slept."
A deathly silence fell over the Council Chamber.
"You dare use my scraps to try and buy your lives from me?"
Rage took shape at that moment.
It wasn't irritability, but a thorough disgust at being offended.
To August, the true crime of these merchants wasn't greed, but their attempt to sit at the same negotiating table as a god using money.
The dark gold claw descended, tearing through the theoretically unbreakable composite protective layers like a piece of waste paper.
The dome shattered, and the wind rushed in, sweeping ledgers, antiques, plates, and wine glasses into the sky, turning them into falling fragments amidst screams.
Isabella screamed as she activated a teleportation array.
Just as the light brightened, a wisp of dragon breath fell.
Her body suddenly stiffened in mid-air; her skin, clothes, and bones were instantly plated in a thick layer of pure gold.
The statue, having lost its balance, fell from the edge of the Floating Island.
A few breaths later, a dull impact came from the slums below.
Golden fragments flew in all directions, embedding themselves into the streets along with flesh and blood.
Before Clement could even step back, a dragon toe pressed against his chest.
"Since you love Magic Stones so much," August's voice was as cold as metal, "this Emperor shall satisfy you."
Clement opened his mouth but could not make a sound.
His blood began to crystallize.
Translucent, high-purity Magic Stone clusters pierced out from under his skin, growing, branching, and penetrating his bones. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
The intense pain lasted only a very short time before his consciousness was completely submerged.
A few breaths later, the original human form had vanished.
In its place was a jewel flower composed of blood-colored crystals, standing quietly in the center of the shattered Council Chamber.
August did not stop; the small-scale slaughter had not calmed his rage.
He raised his head and let out a roar that shook the entire continent.
Supported by the Core of Greed, his dragon body continued to expand, dark gold scales covering the field of vision.
August was in no hurry to end everything; he circled in the high sky, his dragon eyes coldly looking down upon the entire Crystal Rock City, as if inspecting a precious object waiting to be dismantled.
Over the next half-day, the Emerald Federation faced its true reckoning.
Towers fell, streets collapsed, and crowds of people fleeing for their lives scattered under the dark gold shadow, yet they could never find an exit to leave.
When the last light screen fell, the city finally lost its original form.
Streets, towers, workshops, and still-struggling lives were all merged into a dark gold molten flow.
Having finished this, August lost interest in staying further.
He slowly rose, his dark gold scales rubbing against the plateau with a low sound.
His dragon eyes turned toward the east, the direction where the Empire's old territories extended, the land he had personally left behind only to be trampled by mortals.
"It is time to take it back."
This sentence was not a declaration, but more like a confirmation of reality.
The next moment, his wings unfurled.
Wind pressure swept across the entire Dark Gold Plateau, as gravel and mineral dust were kicked up simultaneously.
August took flight, his dragon body tearing through the clouds, heading toward the east.
Everything temporarily managed by mortals would be reclaimed.
Under his will, a nation founded on the glory of the dragon race would take shape.
Not a return to the Old Empire, but a God's Kingdom personally shaped by him, erasing all the past.
Let this world finally realize... the one and only Emperor has returned.
