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Chapter 549: Facing the Three Gods
"Rumble!"
In the distant sky, a thunderous roar echoed across the heavens and earth.
At last, the thousands-of-meters-high Abyss Wall was obliterated by dazzling silver light. Divine power pierced the chaotic veil and planar barrier, descending upon the Anzeta Wasteland.
"He wields the silver hammer, reveals truth, punishes the guilty..."
"Praise Him! He is the brave Father, the stern Justice, the radiance of Truth and Fairness!"
Drums rolled and joyous hymns echoed between heaven and earth. A one-armed man appeared, a brilliant white glow blooming from his forehead.
In his lone hand, he held a steel-gray warhammer—the "Hammer of Justice," the symbol of absolute truth, able to expose all falsehoods.
The man raised the hammer high. Brilliant light cascaded from the skies, dispersing the abyssal force and bathing all in order, honor, and truth.
The God of Justice, Stern Jaw, the Wounded One, the Arbiter—Tyr had arrived!
Tyr was a powerful deity of Mount Celestia and the Garden of Yster. Many celestial legionnaires were His followers, and at the sight of His divine incarnation, they knelt and prayed fervently.
"Praise the God of Justice!"
"O Lord..."
"Praise the great Wounded One, the Arbiter, the Maimed God, the Blind Lord."
Meanwhile, Cassius also gazed at the distant avatar, feeling the divine pressure on a fundamental level. His light-golden vertical pupils shimmered.
"Tyr, the God of Justice."
Cassius muttered to himself.
In his past life, he'd known of this god—Tyr, a deity of great divine power, represented strict justice and opposed all deceit, defiance of rules, injustice, and crime.
Though he had once glimpsed the phantoms of Tiamat and Bahamut, this was his first time facing a real divine avatar.
Cassius knew—the true trial was just beginning.
Tyr's avatar seemed to sense Cassius's gaze. He turned, and with empty black sockets stared at the distant red dragon. The light on his forehead blazed even brighter.
—It was the light of absolute truth.
In a flash, Tyr saw through the cause and effect of the entire demonic invasion and let out a stern shout.
"Red dragon!
It was you who released Jezal Slak with your own hands, causing this catastrophe of slaughter!
Though the Vengeful Demon is dead, that body still does not belong to you. It is a threat to the world and must be surrendered to the gods!"
His voice rang like a thunderclap—calm yet forceful—instilling dread in mortals.
The steel-gray warhammer hovered in the air, divine pressure spreading. Visions of Mount Celestia loomed behind him, and even Cassius's wide wings trembled slightly.
This was the might of Tyr, deity of Justice, of the higher planes.
Even as a mere avatar formed from a sliver of divine will and power, he placed immense pressure on Cassius—even within the Imperial Domain.
Tyr's voice surged across the land like waves.
"Red dragon, surrender Karrikex's corpse to me, and we may forgive your crimes—for now, and spare your life."
"Heh."
Cassius glanced at Tyr's avatar in the sky and chuckled, offering no reply.
He remained coiled atop Dragonblood Mountain, facing the divine avatar across dozens of miles.
If they were in the higher planes, he would have fled without hesitation.
But this was the Third Era—gods were not allowed to descend in full.
Even a great deity like Tyr might not defeat Cassius within the Imperial Domain—despite the vast difference in divine rank.
That gave Cassius the confidence to face the gods.
Tension crackled at the Anstica Mountains' edge. Tempers flared, insults flew, and resentment simmered.
The Empire's followers glared fiercely at the Celestial legions, some even cursing the divine avatars.
"That old cripple dares insult His Majesty Cassius!"
"Knew it! Those Mount Celestia bastards were behind the attacks on the North!"
"For the Empire—drive those feathered freaks back to their heaven!"
The Celestial forces did not flinch. At the insults of the dragonblooded creatures, their silver swords shimmered and their gazes turned icy.
Tyr's followers were notoriously black-and-white, intolerant of evil. Their zeal made them seem like tyrants.
"Blasphemers will face the harshest judgment!"
"They dare insult the great God of Justice!"
"These filthy dragonblooded beasts dare to stand beside our glorious legion? They're only fit to die by our blades!"
The air bristled with hostility. Weapons were raised, skirmishes erupted. Faith-driven hatred flared—violence seemed inevitable.
Just then, a sorrowful cry echoed. A man, covered in open wounds, burns, and signs of torture, slowly appeared.
At the sight of the battered divine avatar, a strange wind swept through. A bright, white glow shimmered—and all pain vanished.
It was Ilmater, the Crying God, the Lord of Endurance, a deity of compassion and mercy—known for taking on mortals' suffering.
"Everyone, the abyssal calamity has just ended. The enemy has fallen.
This should be a time of prayer and mourning for the innocent dead. Why do you raise swords again?"
Ilmater's gentle, tear-laced voice floated like spring breeze and holy water, calming hearts.
The Celestial legionnaires lowered their weapons in unison, gazing respectfully at Ilmater's avatar and chanting praise.
"Praise the Crying God."
"Glory to you, Great Martyr. Your kindness and forgiveness shame us."
Ilmater slowly turned his battered head, raising a bruised, broken arm, his eyes aglow with soft light.
"Lord Tyr, must you be so aggressive?
This red dragon slew a demon lord. He deserves the gods' acknowledgment—and my praise."
Tyr's anger lessened. He lowered the Hammer of Justice, appearing contemplative.
Cassius gazed at Ilmater's limping, trembling avatar. A flicker of wariness appeared in his golden eyes.
This Crying God was far from gentle. Subtly manipulating all present—he was worth watching.
"Good cop, bad cop, is it? Seems their goal is clear: Karrikex's ancestral corpse under my feet."
"I suppose the Platinum Dragon will arrive next."
Coiled atop Dragonblood Mountain, Cassius listened to Ilmater's soft, weeping voice, thoughts stirring.
"Roar—"
As expected, a long roar heralded a frigid northern wind and shimmering light on the horizon.
A slender, coiling platinum dragon appeared, eyes shining with a summer-sky-blue glow.
"It's Lord Bahamut!"
"Ah, Lord of the Northwind!"
"Praise you! Great Platinum Father, Lord of Dragons!"
At Anstica's edge, gold, silver, and brass dragons raised their heads and roared joyously. Their wings shimmered like metal.
Under the dragon god's pressure, the blue dragons of the Faria family, ancestral white dragons, and mixed-blood drakes bowed their heads.
Yet in their eyes was not only reverence—but subtle hostility.
"That hypocrite again! Two-faced old wyrm!
If not for him, Lord Cassius would've returned to the Dragon Queen and mated with me to birth mighty heirs!"
Kristina gritted her teeth, cursing silently.
But she dared not speak it. Even chromatic dragons showed outward respect to the Dragon God.
Beings of all minds—dragon, angel, and mortal—looked up. The fifty-meter-long platinum dragon soared lightly, weaving through clouds, stopping just a few kilometers from Cassius.
Bahamut's eyes shimmered with cerulean light. He looked at the red dragon atop the mountain and spoke.
"Cassius, we meet again. I'm glad to see you retained your reason, avoided corruption, and even slew a demon lord.
Your presence is a surprise. It's been long since the Material Plane saw such a powerful, victorious dragon."
Cassius spread his wings slightly, then nodded politely: "Good day, Lord Bahamut. Compared to you, I've done nothing noteworthy."
He tilted his head, glancing at Tyr and Ilmater: "And greetings to you as well, Lord Ilmater... Lord Tyr. Thank you for descending in our moment of crisis. Your presence eased my battle against Jezal Slak greatly."
Ilmater's weeping face cracked into a gentle smile. Tyr remained stern, clutching the Hammer of Justice, letting out a cold snort.
Bahamut nodded slightly, eyes drifting to the towering mountain under the red dragon. A chill wind blew from his mouth.
"Cassius, you know why we're here. This isn't about gain. It's advice from an elder to the young: greed for power has a heavy price—reason, personality, memory, even soul. I trust you understand."
The platinum dragon spread his wings. In his upraised claw, a fierce red dragon's image appeared.
"Even among my siblings, Karrikex's power was the most uncontrollable. One misstep, and you'll be—"
Bahamut clenched his claw, extinguishing the image, leaving only lingering flames.
"—reduced to ash."
He turned again, staring deeply at the red dragon, claw open: "Admit it, Cassius. You can't safeguard Karrikex's remains.
For yourself, for mortals, for the world of Erezaghe—
Your best choice is to temper your greed and surrender the corpse to the gods. The gods of justice and order will stand behind you."
Righteous-sounding words—an elder's advice to a younger kin, as if out of care.
Cassius sneered inwardly. All he heard was Bahamut's longing for the corpse of his kin.
—To the dragon gods seeking restored glory, this was unsurprising.
After many disasters, the Third Era's dragon gods were far weaker than they were tens of thousands of years ago.
If Bahamut absorbed this corpse—hidden for ages in the Astral Plane—he would gain an immense edge over Tiamat.
But Cassius had no intention of letting the prize slip through his claws.
He replied calmly: "Thank you for the warning, Lord Bahamut, but I must disagree with the rest.
Jezal Slak's escape, Karrikex's corruption, the abyssal invasion—these only show the gods failed to manage the corpse. I can.
Cassius lifted his head and grinned: "Honored Lords, don't forget—I just killed a demon lord outside the Abyss. Even ancient gods could only seal him—I truly killed him—"
"Insolence!"
Tyr's furious shout cut Cassius off, his booming voice echoing across the peaks.
"I saw your nature from the start—filthy chromatic dragon! Arrogant, greedy, foolish!
Kind words are wasted on you. Only power can make you yield!"
The one-armed man raised his hammer. In the sky appeared scales of order and a phantom warhammer of justice. Blinding white light surged toward the red dragon.
—That was the authority of justice and order.
"Brute force and theft—is this your gods' idea of justice?
But even power won't make me yield. Especially not here—where my power might be greater than yours!"
Cassius sneered, rising on his hind legs. He stood atop Dragonblood Mountain, spreading his massive wings.
The emperor's scepter appeared in his claw. Imperial Domain laws surged around him, overwhelming pressure flooding outward.
"Swish—"
An invisible shield formed before him, blocking the white radiance.
Suddenly, a hundred-meter-long spectral warhammer appeared above, crashing down like a mountain with Tyr's swing.
"Clang—"
The metallic boom echoed. A shockwave burst out for hundreds of miles, kicking up circular dust storms.
In the sky, the phantom scepter and hammer clashed, then rebounded.
Cassius raised his left arm, gripping the scepter to block Tyr's attack, roaring: "God of Justice—is this your so-called overwhelming power?"
Even with the Imperial Domain, Cassius could barely block Tyr's assault.
Such was the dread of divine might. With only a basic avatar, Tyr could match Cassius's divine-tier power within his domain.
But this wasn't a battle to the death—it was a test. Cassius saw Tyr's aim: to intimidate him into submission.
And at Anstica's edge, their clash had driven the Empire's followers and Tyr's zealots to the brink of war.
Suddenly, Ilmater's mournful voice called: "Enough. This land has suffered enough. We need no more senseless war."
Tyr finally withdrew, lowering his hammer with a heavy sigh: "Red dragon, your greed will destroy you. When that time comes, you'll regret today—and pay the price."
The red dragon looked at the dazzling divine avatars and smiled: "I see... You've lingered too long on the Material Plane. It's rejecting you.
A reminder—if I die outside the Material Plane, all Imperial restrictions vanish.
At that point, who knows where Karrikex's corpse will end up? Perhaps... dragged into the Abyss by Jezal Slak's final trap."