Chapter 714: The Death of Wilhelm

"Boom!"

Two colossal beings plummeted from the sky, shaking the ground and sending rocks flying in every direction. The deafening explosion echoed across the entire battlefield.

The impact was so forceful it seemed like the earth itself would overturn. A sandstorm swept the land, and the shockwave hurled everything within a thousand-mile radius—rocks, trees, soldiers—into the air without mercy.

Even an unlucky steam tank was flipped over by the blast, crashing to the ground a few meters away. Its armor was riddled with cracks and holes.

A crater hundreds of meters wide formed on the ground. From its center—where the red dragon and the hellish creature had collided—web-like fissures spread rapidly across the wasteland.

Amid the rising smoke and dust, a massive shadow raised its head and let out a roar, so loud it shattered clouds and pierced the haze.

As the smoke was blown away, the true form of the enormous shadow appeared—metallic scales shimmering, four enormous horns, and pale golden slit pupils like molten lava—it was none other than the Red Dragon Emperor, Cassius.

And Wilhelm—or rather, the reviled hellish monster—was pinned beneath the red dragon’s massive claws.

He was buried more than ten feet into the ground, unable to move. His thin body heaved weakly with shallow breaths, and thick black blood poured out. There was no sign of his earlier arrogance.

But those elongated claws curled upward slightly. From the mangled body came a raspy voice, "Cassius... I haven’t lost yet... I... am still—"

"Boom!"

Before he could finish, Cassius stomped a claw down on Wilhelm’s chest. Sharp talons pierced his skin and sank into his body, tearing his flesh apart.

Wilhelm coughed up a mouthful of foul blood, but still struggled with all his might, howling madly and flapping his broken wings in a desperate attempt to escape the red dragon’s grasp.

Cassius pulled out his claw, spraying black blood everywhere, watching coldly.

The hellish monster staggered into the air, his tattered wings fluttering like torn cloth in the wind. He raised the broken Endbringer Spear in a frenzy.

"No! I haven’t lost! I still have... I still have other means! I’ll sacrifice those filthy peasants to hell!

Quick! Zariel! I need more power! I need the strength to kill that red dragon!"

"He’s lost his mind! His Majesty Wilhelm has gone completely mad!"

"What is he trying to do?!"

The people of Thrace cried out in disbelief. They could hardly believe their king was using the citizens as offerings to hell.

"Those glowing formations—"

"Help!"

"Mama, my head hurts..."

"My child, hold on! Amanata, I beg you, save her—"

Cries and wails erupted from within Auguste City.

Several soul-refining formations had activated, releasing sinister red light. These formations had been set up inside churches—where tens of thousands of homeless refugees had taken shelter!

Cramped together, the refugees pushed and shoved, many fainting. Once they lost consciousness, their souls were sucked into the formations, turned into fuel for hell, and became part of Wilhelm.

Countless souls wailed as they flew from Auguste City and were absorbed into Wilhelm’s massive, twisted body.

Wilhelm spread his arms and six wings, savoring the rush of power. "Such wonderful power! My loyal subjects—you were born to serve me. Offer your souls in tribute and repay Fadlan’s grace!"

"Still too late!" Deyev frowned deeply as he looked at the distant hellish creature. That once-glorious king had become the very thing he hated most.

Turning his head, Deyev saw a mother sobbing over her soulless child. The child clutched half a loaf of bread—the one Deyev had given him.

The refugees huddled together, desperately trying to flee the soul-forging hell. But "Holy Guards" wielding flaming longswords blocked the church exits.

"No."

Deyev muttered to himself, rage filling his eyes.

That child shouldn’t have died like this—not as a sacrifice to the king’s greed.

Hearing the refugees’ cries and remembering that innocent face, Deyev’s gaze hardened. He drew his sword, leaped into the air, and charged toward the Holy Guards.

"Filthy monster from hell—die!"

A thousand beams of silver light poured down, halting the soul-refining formations. The souls flying toward Wilhelm were purified, and the hellish creature in the sky burst into flames.

Deyev wiped black blood from his blade and looked toward the source of the light. The rescued refugees looked up together, eyes full of reverent awe.

High above floated the massive red dragon, sunlight in its jaws, like the embodiment of the Sun God, gazing down upon the mortals below.

"Praise the Sun."

"Praise the mighty red dragon—he is the avatar of the Sun!"

The refugees cheered fanatically, gratefully worshiping the being that had saved their lives.

Even Deyev stood frozen, thunderstruck, mumbling, "Amanata above... Could the emperor truly be the Sun’s incarnation?"

Under the gaze of millions, Cassius truly looked like a savior—the embodiment of the sun.

Seeing the solar faith power rising, Cassius smiled slightly. He would never waste such a divine opportunity to "show off before mortals."

"Why? Why do you have that power?! I am the Sun God’s child! I am the chosen divine heir!"

Cassius looked at him.

Wilhelm stared up at the red dragon, his entire body ablaze. He roared to the sky, his eyes burning with envy and hatred.

The red dragon looked down upon the hellspawn and mimicked Wilhelm’s former tone, proclaiming, "In the name of the Sun, you who conspired with hell and harmed mortals are beyond redemption. I grant you—death!"

Before the sentence finished, Cassius spread his wings and unleashed a terrifying Sun Breath—a meteor of flame that streaked across the sky toward the hellish creature.

Wilhelm looked up in despair and raised his shattered spear. His twisted body trembled uncontrollably from fear and rage.

Those were his words!

The light blazed, and flames surged.

Wilhelm’s body was pierced through instantly. A charred hole opened in his chest. Cassius gripped his neck with a claw and slammed him into the earth.

"Boom!"

Another deafening crash. Stones flew. Dust rose sky-high.

"I... I didn’t lose..."

"Zariel... tricked me... you didn’t truly beat me..." Wilhelm lay limp in the crater, his voice filled with venom.

The red dragon spread his wings and leaned in, staring coldly at the dying Wilhelm. His tone was filled with mockery: "Tsk tsk, look at you—once the Angel King, now so utterly pathetic.

How sad. You’re nothing now—a swamp snake, a sewer rat clawing to survive."

Cassius grabbed his deformed head and lifted it, glanced at it, then smashed it back down.

"Still, you’re lucky, Wilhelm. You’ll get a grand finale. You may have lived like a clown, but I’ll let you die like a king."

Before he finished speaking, Cassius flapped his wide wings and soared into the air. He opened his jaws, where a blazing fireball formed—signaling a [Sun Breath].

Feeling the familiar and immense power, Wilhelm was crushed with despair. The solar energy he once prided himself on was now the force that would kill him.

Had the Sun God really abandoned him—and chosen that damned red dragon?

For a hundred years he prayed devoutly, led holy Fadlan in countless wars, spread the faith—only to be slain by a dragon stealing his god’s power?

It wasn’t fair.

Zariel’s voice echoed in his mind: "Your Majesty Wilhelm—do you want revenge? Want to kill the red dragon? Offer Auguste City to hell and you shall have everything!"

A flaming contract of parchment appeared before him. One thought, and he could sign it, dooming Auguste to hell.

Wilhelm screamed inside: "You lied! The power you gave me wasn’t enough to defeat the red dragon!"

Zariel’s voice was cold: "The Nine Hells’ contracts are always fair. We strictly follow equivalent exchange.

Forgive my bluntness, Your Majesty—offering fifty thousand souls to kill a demigod red dragon is... pathetically insufficient."

Wilhelm gritted his teeth: "I won’t offer Auguste! It’s my land!"

"Think again, Wilhelm. If you die now, the red dragon will take your city, bask in your people’s admiration, and greedily seize everything you had—"

Hearing this, Wilhelm trembled, panicked, and protested: "I... I’ll offer something else! But Auguste is Thrace’s capital—"

Zariel dropped his false courtesy and sneered viciously: "Still deluded? You’re out of options. You’ve reached a dead end.

And since you’ve shown no sincerity, the previous deal is void. Now, if you want revenge—you’ll offer the entire Kingdom of Thrace."

Zariel’s words were a poisoned blade, piercing Wilhelm’s heart and shattering his last defenses.

Trembling, Wilhelm looked up at the red dragon in the sky, glowing like a god. He recalled his dream to revive Fadlan and surpass his father.

He had once been a divine Angel King—now, a twisted hellspawn. The contrast drove him into utter despair.

In that desperate moment, the pressure shattered him.

He trembled and rasped, "Cassius... I admit I lost... but you won’t be the final victor!"

Then, he raised his head and screamed at the red dragon above, his black eyes burning with hatred, "Cassius! Come to hell with me!

I offer the entire Kingdom of Thrace!"

The world changed color. Some ancient law was triggered. From beyond the material plane came mad laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"Excellent!"

"The fool agreed! I smell delicious souls!"

The sky bled. Crimson rifts tore across the heavens. A black sun rose. The earth wailed. Mountains collapsed. Black blood flowed from cracks in the ground.

Hundreds of hellish arrays inside the city activated. Amid screams and shrieks, the ground outside the city crumbled. The foundations of Auguste collapsed. The entire city began an irreversible fall into hell.

Across the Kingdom of Thrace, thousands more hellish arrays awakened—forming a massive formation to engulf the nation.

Blood-colored clouds spread rapidly, seeking to blanket all of Thrace.

Chaos erupted in Auguste. The grand churches collapsed. Broken domes crashed into the crowds.

Countless devils surged from the cracks, laughing maniacally, harvesting souls freely in their new "soul pasture."

"Amanata above! Save us!"

"God!"

"Did you hear? Wilhelm’s giving all of Thrace to hell!"

"He’s lost it—completely insane!"

The Thracians fled in terror, wailing and screaming. But it was futile.

The city was falling into hell. There was nowhere left to run.

Staring at his crumbling city, Wilhelm mumbled in a daze.

"Cassius... hahaha... you’re finished too. The duke from hell will kill you!

You’ll lose everything, just like me—"

"Boom—"

The air exploded. Scorching dragonfire consumed the hellish creature completely. Empowered by solar divinity, the flames incinerated him—leaving not even ashes.

Now that Zariel had been provoked, the puppet had outlived his usefulness. So Cassius, like squashing a bug, killed him without hesitation.

A prompt appeared on his panel: experience gained. Cassius sighed.

"How pitiful."

Staring at the apocalyptic scene, Cassius showed no fear. His eyes burned with battle lust.

"It’s finally time, Zariel."

By humiliating Wilhelm repeatedly, driving him to madness and desperation, Cassius had successfully lured out the true manipulator behind the scenes—Zariel, the Archduke of Hell and ruler of Avernus.