Chapter 718: Zariel’s Bedchamber

"Boom!"

Two massive titans clashed in the lava pool, stirring magma into towering waves over a hundred meters high. The shockwaves devoured everything nearby—no bones left behind.

"Ssskrrch—"

Zariel’s greatsword lunged forward, driving straight for Cassius’s chest.

Cassius twisted violently. Sparks erupted. Harsh screeches rang out as his scales scraped. Shattered scales and scalding dragon blood splattered through the air.

The sword pierced his left chest, narrowly missing his fiercely beating dragon heart—it missed the fatal blow.

"Roar—"

Cassius’s pain-filled roar triggered a molten tsunami that smashed the sky’s clouds and unleashed a scorching inferno.

Struggle. Twist. Impact.

His thick, wide wings swung through the magma—every move sluggish.

"Zariel, I’ll kill you! You’ll pay for this!" His roar echoed with helpless fury.

Hell’s song rang louder overhead, like doomsday cultists chanting before the end. The whole sky glowed bloody red.

Even Cassius’s [Holy Day] was smothered by filthy clouds. No light shone through. The world seemed hopeless—hell’s paradise.

Cracks split the ground; magma surged out. The earth fractured into sinking plates, descending endlessly.

The Black Sun.

Only it still hung high, devouring all brilliance, bleeding red light, steeping the world in hell’s will, making all things shudder.

Rifts tore the skies. Swarms of devils poured out, hissing with greed.

Their target: August. Once they fully controlled the city and activated the infernal arrays inside, Zariel’s conversion would accelerate.

"Amanata above, please bless us—save all Thracians from hell’s torment!"

"For August! For Thrace!"

"Hold the line!"

Thracians clutched swords, axes, raised their old rifles, fighting the devil army—for honor, for home, and their final hope.

"Struggle, scream, red dragon—your end is nigh!" Zariel cackled, grinding her sword into Cassius’s body. His blood fountained like a geyser.

"Cassius, your death will be August’s descent celebration!"

As the Black Sun blanketed the land, hell’s pressure surged. Zariel grew taller. Her blazing wings blanketed the sky.

But Cassius’s eyes flared. Veins bulged on his arm. His spiked claw suddenly locked around Zariel’s arm—razor tips laced with the Beheading Blade.

In that instant, he exploded with power. Muscles bulged. Fire burst from between his scales.

"Slash—"

His claw swung down with immense force, slicing clean through the arm gripping the sword.

But within seconds, Zariel’s arm regenerated with hellfire—stronger than before. Avernus’s power nourished the Archduchess.

Zariel sneered. "Useless, red dragon. August is lost—you’ll never defeat me!"

With a sweep, hell’s force surged like a tide, forming a more fearsome hellsword.

She swung. Feeling its dreadful magic, Cassius shot upward—but the hellfire shockwave still tore across the field.

"Boom—"

Those fighting devils vanished—not burned, but torn apart by the very concept of [Judgment].

In Avernus, Zariel’s will was supreme. Only beings like Cassius could resist.

"See? You’re helpless before hell. Cassius—give me your soul. You’re worthy to serve me forever—" her voice howled like winter wind.

Cassius panted. Muscles tight. Sulfurous smoke curled from between his scales.

His pale golden pupils gleamed with strange excitement—he hadn’t danced on death’s edge in a long time.

He looked skyward. The Black Sun blurred, breathing like a living thing. Upon it: a tightly shut eye.

Then Bael’s ecstatic voice rang in his ear. "Almost there—the moment to kill Zariel!"

Good.

If he could hold on just a bit longer, he and Bael could strike down this Archduchess and end the war.

If not—he’d burn all his strength to escape.

His breath quickened. His heart thumped like war drums.

"Roar—"

Cassius roared and dove at Zariel again.

But Zariel suddenly withdrew her sword, letting his fangs sink into her left shoulder.

"Crunch!"

As dragon teeth pierced armor, her hand pressed to his forehead. A reversed pentagram spread over his scales.

"You think I want your death? No... I want your obedience," she sneered.

Cassius thrashed violently. His soul and will resisted hell’s corruption. The dragon crystal on his chest blazed.

Zariel unleashed her will to dominate. Her deep eyes shimmered with madness.

She plunged her sword into the ground. Huge chains rose from the magma, binding his neck and wings.

Then pillars of stone surged up like claws, closing around him.

"You have one choice left—" her blade touched his heart, "Serve me—or feed my blade a dragon soul."

Drunk on Avernus’s power, she had grown impossibly arrogant—daring to enslave Cassius.

"Aaargh—"

Cassius bowed his head, shaking violently. Hellfire seeped from his scales—he was near breaking, becoming her chained beast.

But Zariel didn’t see—his eyes didn’t yield. They gleamed with eagerness.

He had stared down the Abyss’s will—Zariel’s tricks didn’t scare him.

He waited—for the perfect moment.

And then—the eye on the Black Sun opened!

The world fell silent. Then came a deafening hum.

"Bzzz—"

The material plane’s will roared like a beast losing its cub, striking back at Avernus with wild fury.

A colossal giant, chained, appeared in the sky—ten thousand meters tall, spectral, trying to pull August back.

Avernus’s will took beastly form, devouring August. Blood vessels filled the Black Sun’s eye.

Rips tore the sky. The ground trembled.

To suppress the material plane’s resistance, Avernus withdrew its power from Zariel.

The Archduchess shrank instantly—just a fallen angel again.

Cassius lifted his head, eyes predatory. He even licked his lips.

"Boom—"

Dozens of spells triggered. Twin beams burst from his eyes. Crimson dragonfire cloaked his body, seething and swirling.

His form swelled to 200 meters. Above his head appeared a radiant golden crown, radiating immense pressure.

Each wingbeat stirred storms—he was a walking cataclysm.

Zariel looked tiny. He loomed like a volcano.

Hell’s laws had suppressed him long enough—it was time to vent his rage.

Cassius grinned. "I said you’d pay."

Before the last word fell, a sonic boom cracked and he lunged.

"Boom!"

"Damn it, not now..." Zariel muttered, her face twisting.

She flared her blazing wings, took to the sky, and turned into hellfire smoke to evade.

But Cassius’s red shadow tore the sky. His claw came down—

"Boom!"

Zariel crashed into the cliffs. Rock shattered. Burning feathers fell, turning to ash.

She flared her wings, blasting a hellfire wave that melted the cliff behind her.

But a giant claw slammed her into the ground again, then lifted her, clenched tight.

In a flash—the tide turned.

"Hahaha..." Zariel spat dark blood, still cackling madly. "Foolish red dragon—you can’t kill me! I am Avernus’s ruler!

When Avernus wins—when August is devoured—you’ll suffer torment beyond death!

Kill me, then! Hahaha!" Even captured, she taunted without fear.

For beings like them, death in the material plane was not permanent.

"Oh really?" Cassius grinned savagely. "If you’re not afraid of death—Bael, now!"

"Kill her!"

Bael’s voice rang out, thrilled.

Zariel’s face twisted in shock. Her body shook. For the first time—fear.

She struggled. "No—NO! I am Avernus’s chosen Archduchess! You can’t kill me! You’d be defying all of hell!!"

Cassius squeezed tighter. "Don’t worry. You won’t be for long. My dear ally will reclaim the Iron Throne and take your place."

Avernus.

Bronze Citadel, inner ring.

Disguised as a devil servant, Mantou watched his panel intently.

Suddenly, he exclaimed, excited: "It’s up! That special quest—break into Zariel’s palace, summon the Archdevil Bael!"

"Let’s go!"

Born Battle Maniac laughed, downed a potion, roared, and transformed into a towering half-dragon giant—then charged the gate.

"Boom!" The four-man party smashed into the Citadel’s inner ring.

"Capture those mortals!"

"They’re enemies!"

Devils swarmed, shouting. But Avernus’s main forces were offplane—the Citadel was poorly guarded.

Elsewhere, hundreds of players had received the quest. Shedding disguises, they surged toward the inner ring.

"Boom—"

Born Battle Maniac, a human battering ram, smashed open the palace doors.

Mantou, Luck God, and others fired spells, repelling devils from every direction.

Dark Wolf placed eerie offerings—mermaid wax, soul coins, hellrock eggs, skulls—while Luck God painted a hexagram ritual.

"Sinners’ souls shall fall to hell—"

"He is Avernus’s true lord, mortals’ nightmare, flame of despair—"

As candles lit, all four chanted his true name.

Cries and wails of damned souls echoed like a grand opera. Ritual circles on their arms and chests flared.

"Hahaha! After centuries of humiliation—I’m back!"

Hellfire surged. Flames twisted into a towering figure.

A massive devil clad in crimson scales. Bat wings spread. Green venom dripped from his mouth, hissing on the floor.

A belt of twelve screaming angel heads. A burning greatsword in hand.

The mighty Deep Infernal Forgemaster, former Archduke of Avernus—Bael!

"Mortals!"

"This is...!"

Devil guards froze at the sight.

"Foolish traitors," Bael snapped his fingers. Weaker devils burned in hellfire, reduced to ash.

Bael grinned savagely. Sulfur smoke rose from his mouth. His molten eyes flared. "Zariel—I can’t wait to rip out your soul."

"Boom—"

And then—he tore through the seals and stormed his old palace—straight toward Zariel’s bedchamber.