Rage swept in like a sudden storm, but it lasted only an instant before Gurranq quickly regained his calm. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly into a cold smile.
"At first, I didn't understand why the Fire-Bearer Army was hunting the Death Hunters. But the moment I saw that man, I understood. This is far more than stealing a glance at Death..."
Gurranq's voice was cold and low, like the murmur of death itself, carrying the confidence of someone who had seen through everything.
"You say Marika acknowledges him? I believe you. That man and Marika are cut from the same cloth. He is practically Death itself."
"I never thought my sister had left behind such a move. Unfortunately, today is the day Death is devoured." Gurranq let out a thunderous roar.
Messmer had not originally intended to fight Gurranq to the death. After all, the other party was his mother's sworn brother.
He had hoped to persuade Gurranq to withdraw with words and avoid a bloody fight.
But when Gurranq spoke that threat, Messmer's anger was fully ignited.
Without hesitation, he tightened his grip on the long spear in his hand and charged straight toward Gurranq like an enraged lion.
Messmer knew very well that if he were facing an opponent as powerful as Maliketh, he would have almost no chance of winning.
Maliketh was the Shadow-bound Beast of his mother, the Golden Goddess Marika, a terrifying Warrior who sealed within himself the power of Death in the Lands Between.
But after their brief exchange just now, Messmer had already understood.
This priest named Gurranq was worlds apart from the true Maliketh. At most, he was probably only a separate incarnation.
Messmer had just taken a few steps forward when a massive Flying Dragon suddenly appeared above his head, circling overhead.
With a roar, the Flying Dragon opened its bloody maw and spat out a ball of scorching flame. Like an erupting volcano, it exploded above Messmer's head in an instant.
The crimson flames seemed ready to devour the entire sky. The raging blaze covered a vast area, and endless heat surged out like furious waves.
Just as the huge Fireball was about to crash down onto Messmer's head, another equally massive Flying Dragon suddenly charged in from the side, but what it spat from its mouth was freezing dragon breath.
That extreme cold swept in like a blizzard in the depths of winter, slamming into the roaring flames and instantly forming a barrier of colliding ice and fire, forcefully blocking the terrifying blaze outside.
"Borealis?" The fire-breathing Flying Dragon was shocked and furious at once. Its eyes widened as it stared in disbelief at the Flying Dragon that had suddenly appeared before it.
"Ekzykes, you useless waste!" Borealis mocked without mercy. "Since when did the Dragon Feast Avenger become a little foot soldier following behind Radahn?"
Ekzykes was enraged by Borealis's taunt. It snapped back to its senses and answered viciously, "I'm no one's foot soldier. The Flying Dragons and the Redmane are only allies!"
"You, on the other hand, Borealis, are the disgraceful waste. Bowing your head to humans obsessed with the Dragon Feast? You've thrown away all the pride of us Flying Dragons!"
"Idiot. Open your eyes and look properly. That isn't some human. That is a dragon! A true dragon!"
Borealis pointed furiously at Nolan, who was tightly wrapped in stone, and roared at Ekzykes.
Ekzykes thought Borealis had simply gone mad, his mind completely broken.
Of course it had noticed that strange Lord long ago. Though the scent on him was odd, both human and dragon-like, his appearance was without question human.
Everyone knew Flying Dragons could not take human form. Even Ancient Dragons, whether half-transformed or fully transformed into human shape, would still retain some draconic traits.
But Radahn's opponent, no matter how one looked at him, was completely human.
And that thick scent of blood made him seem less like a dragon and more like a killer of dragons.
Did Borealis take it for a fool?
"I have no desire to argue with you over nonsense!" Ekzykes looked at Borealis with arrogant eyes and growled. "Return now, and Her Majesty the Dragon Queen may still overlook what you have done."
"We have reached an agreement with the Starscourge General. As long as we help him ascend to the throne, the Flying Dragons will gain a territory, a place where we can survive."
"How could one place to survive ever be enough? My Lord says we can live openly in this world." Borealis's voice was full of disdain and mockery, as if laughing at his kin's shortsightedness and narrow view.
Ekzykes was stunned by that bold promise. Its pupils widened as it stared at Borealis in disbelief.
What did that mean? Flying Dragons were sinners in the eyes of the Ancient Dragons. Was this a declaration of war against the entire Ancient Dragon race?
"But the Lord you follow has already lost." Ekzykes shook its head, pulling itself free from that beautiful fantasy. "How can a dead man's promise be fulfilled?"
A Tarnished Lord who could not even defeat a Demigod. How could he challenge the entire Ancient Dragon race? How could he challenge the Ancient Dragon King who had once ruled over all the Lands Between?
Placidusax. That Lord was the pinnacle of all dragons, the strongest acknowledged by every dragon, the strongest whom even the Dread Dragon Bayle could not compare to.
"Accept your fate. This war is ours." Ekzykes sighed, its voice carrying deep helplessness and resignation.
How could it not wish for Borealis's promise to come true? But the weak had no right to ask for too much.
"We've won?" On Stormhill, Radahn looked at the stone sphere that kept compressing and growing larger, and a trace of doubt rose in his heart.
He stared at the now silent sphere for a while, hesitated, then decisively pulled away, using Gravity Sorcery to fly off at extreme speed.
The instant he left, a dazzling bolt of golden lightning shot out from the center of the stone sphere, striking the exact place where he had just stood.
With a thunderous boom, the ground was blasted into a deep crater. Earth and stone flew everywhere, and smoke and dust filled the air.
Immediately after, more lightning surged out from the stone sphere, twisting like wild golden serpents and weaving into a dense net of electricity.
The bolts twined around one another, constantly releasing enormous power and lighting up the surrounding space.
Under the force of that power, the massive star-like boulder began to crack apart.
Countless fissures appeared across its surface, and then it collapsed with a crash, breaking into countless tiny grains of stone.
Those grains did not scatter across the ground. Instead, as if pulled by some force, they quickly gathered and reshaped themselves. In the blink of an eye, they became weapons such as greatswords, battle axes, and long spears.
Manipulating Gravity? Who can't do that!
Nolan stood in midair, golden lightning still flashing over his body. Under the glow of the lightning, the figure of the Lord looked especially majestic.
He thrust the Promised Claymore in his hand forward, and the weapons formed from stone and earth seemed to come alive, howling as they slashed toward Radahn.