Chapter 764: Light of the Silver Moon

Deep Dragons were cunning and selfish by nature. Seeing their companions die, they almost immediately turned to flee, spitting clouds of poisonous mist behind them to block vision and hinder pursuit.

But the half-elf paladin would give them no such chance.

"Swish—"

A sword light dozens of meters long slashed through, cutting the poisonous mist apart and creating a huge gap.

Immediately after, Rhea, transformed into an Avenging Angel, shot forward at high speed, closing in on one of the Deep Dragons until she was less than twenty meters behind it.

The Deep Dragon, in panic, flapped its wings desperately and swung its poison-spiked tail backward, trying to swat Rhea from the air.

But Rhea remained calm, lightly flapping her wings to become a blur, dodging the tail swipe, then slashing diagonally in midair as her blade shone with twilight light.

"Slash—"

With the sound of tearing flesh, foul blood splattered as one of the Deep Dragon’s wings was severed. Losing balance, it plummeted from the sky, its wail echoing above.

Rhea folded her wings, gripped her silver sword with both hands, and pointed the tip at the ground, diving at full speed.

"Boom!"

The Deep Dragon slammed into the ground, creating a pit more than ten meters wide, sending dust and rubble flying.

Covered in blood, its bones shattered from the impact, it could only writhe on the ground and scream in agony.

The next moment, the screams stopped abruptly.

Rhea descended, driving her sharp silver sword through the Deep Dragon’s head, ending its filthy life and pinning it to the ground.

She withdrew the blade and gave a flick of her wrist, releasing a cleansing light that purified the foul blood, returning the sword to its pristine, smooth state.

"Two left."

She raised her head, gazing toward the two fleeing Deep Dragons in the distance.

These so-called "Dragons of the Deep" were not brainless beasts but true dragons, their intellect and strength on par with the weakest of the chromatic dragons—the White Dragon.

Seeing their companion’s death, they clearly understood the power gap and no longer flaunted themselves, instead splitting up and fleeing toward distant Abyss Gates.

But soon, a massive golden figure appeared in the sky, wreathed in flames, moving so fast that in an instant it caught up to one of the Deep Dragons—"Wing of Dawn" Titus.

"Boom!"

Titus spewed a fireball from his maw, instantly scorching half of the Deep Dragon’s body. It wailed in pain, wavering in midair, barely keeping aloft.

Titus pressed the attack, swiping a massive claw that smacked the Deep Dragon away.

Dizzy and disoriented, the Deep Dragon crashed straight into the ancient gold dragon’s thick chest.

Titus opened his jaws, unleashing blazing flames that engulfed the dragon’s face, shriveling its hideous head into a charred husk, reeking of roasted meat.

Its massive body plummeted to the ground, crushing over a dozen spider monsters.

"Roar—"

Seeing its kin fall one by one, the last Deep Dragon gave a panicked cry and, ignoring the Drider Elves’ shouts, bolted toward an Abyss Gate.

But a familiar figure appeared before it—clad in silver armor, black wings spread—it was Rhea, the Vengeance Paladin.

The Deep Dragon’s face twisted in despair as it pleaded, "Half-elf, spare me! We have no quarrel. I will serve you as your vassal."

"No quarrel?"

Rhea’s expression was icy, a hundred phantom figures of Silvermoon Elves appearing behind her.

They were soldiers who had died to the Deep Dragons’ poisonous mist, their dying will condensed into blazing vengeance—the Spirits of Retribution.

"A joke! Filthy beast, you will pay with your life!"

With a furious shout, Rhea swung her silver sword, the Spirits of Retribution roaring as they charged, overwhelming the Deep Dragon’s will and slowing its movements.

"Swish—"

Blood sprayed, the head flew high, and the headless body crashed down, crushing hundreds of monsters and blocking the Abyss Gate like a small mountain.

But thousands of monsters were already closing in, surging like a mottled flood to overwhelm the half-elf paladin with sheer numbers.

Rhea showed no fear. Her gaze was resolute as she raised her silver sword high.

Holy Light Wheel!

Twilight radiance burst from her blade, rapidly expanding from its center to cover a hundred meters, forming a massive ring of light.

Every monster entering the ring ignited, black smoke rising from their bodies as they shrieked in agony, withering into charred remains within moments.

Then a roar came from the sky as the ancient gold dragon spread his wings, casting a vast shadow over countless abyssal monsters.

He dove rapidly, skimming the ground as a cone of fire erupted from his maw, turning the surroundings into a sea of flames that incinerated countless foes.

"Quick! Close that Abyss Gate! Use the power of the Silvermoon Goddess!" Titus called.

A dozen abyssal draconic beasts had surrounded him. Titus spewed fire to keep them at bay, but attacks from multiple directions harried him, locking the battle in stalemate.

Of course, if Titus—or rather, Cassius—wished, he could instantly unleash his ancestral dragon’s might to subdue the beasts.

But there was no need, and he didn’t want to reveal too much of his true power.

For now, Cassius merely controlled his strength, maintaining his role as a "dutiful champion of justice" to win Queen Catherine’s trust and become a hero of Serenia’s civil war.

Hearing the ancient gold dragon’s call, Rhea cut down the monsters blocking her path and charged toward the Abyss Gate.

"Stop her!"

A distant Drider Elf elder roared, raising his staff as countless sticky webs appeared in Rhea’s path, along with thousands of venomous spiders crawling toward her.

But Rhea gripped her sword with both hands, divine energy radiating from her body, twisting and scattering the surrounding magic. The venomous spiders couldn’t get close.

[Power Ring]

She applied sword oil, the friction between blade and air igniting it. The flaming silver sword sliced through the air, spraying sparks, cutting through the webs with ease.

Flames spread along the webs, burning them away in moments until her path was clear.

Beating her wings, Rhea flew to the Abyss Gate blocked by the Deep Dragon’s corpse.

Her eyes shone brightly as she unleashed all the divine power of a god’s chosen, channeling it into her weapon until the blade gleamed with the light of the silver moon.

"Get—back!"

Her sword fell, cleaving the Deep Dragon’s corpse apart as silver light descended from above, striking the Abyss Gate.

Supreme Holy Slash!

Under the sacred power, the Abyss Gate spewed black mist and shrank. Monsters peeking through were instantly slain in the holy glow.

The gate shrank into a black speck before vanishing from the material plane. The nearby Holy Tree branches returned to purity under the cleansing light.

"Well done!"

Rhea turned to see the sky swarming with abyssal draconic beasts, Deep Dragons, and Shadow Dragons like a dense black cloud.

The ancient gold dragon was like the sun behind those clouds, roaring and spewing torrents of flame as he fought to cast light upon the battlefield.

In the distance, warriors from the Celestial Host sounded their horns, clad in golden armor as they charged the evil dragons to relieve the gold dragon.

"Lord Titus."

Rhea flapped her wings and soared into the fray, clashing with hundreds of evil dragons.

By Queen Catherine’s side, a mage from the Arcane Hermitage studied the blood moon and barrier with True Sight, deep in thought.

"Weakened."

"Yes, the projection of the evil god is weaker! These Abyss Gates and vile monsters are the ’Eight-Armed Mother Goddess’s’ anchors."

The mage’s heart raced. "If we destroy these anchors completely, she will lose her ability to directly influence the material plane."

"And judging by their placement, the largest and first anchor is inside the Holy Tree!"

"Good." Catherine’s silver eyes gleamed with holy light as she hovered in midair, radiating divine majesty.

In that moment, the elven queen seemed no longer mortal, but the incarnation of sacred will.

"My people—by my authority as Queen of Serenia, I command you to close the Abyss Gates and attack the Holy Tree itself!"

"The merciful Silvermoon Goddess watches over us!"

She pointed her staff toward the Holy Tree’s massive trunk, her voice ringing across the battlefield.

At once, every Silvermoon Elf felt lighter, as if an unseen force filled them with boundless courage. Even their blades and armor began to glow faintly.

It was the blessing of Shahanni, the Moon Goddess, Mother of Serenia.

Under divine protection, the allied army’s morale soared, their assault growing fiercer as victory’s scales tipped their way.

In the sky, abyssal draconic beasts burned and fell under the gold dragon’s fury, while the half-elf paladin’s silver sword carved countless light blades, spilling blood and limbs upon the earth.

Celestial angels raised their radiant weapons, battling the evil dragons and tearing open the darkened sky.

Harpers’ alliance rangers and rogues darted across the battlefield, stabbing with daggers or loosing arrows to clear nearby monsters.

Melisandra drew her bow, nocking an arrow imbued with hurricane magic.

"Swish—"

With a sharp whistle, the arrow unleashed a howling gale, shredding everything in its path and slaughtering over a hundred spider monsters, scattering limbs and shattered shells.

—Such was the might of a legendary ranger’s shot.

Melisandra waved her hand. "Harpers, advance!"

Cloaked rangers sped forward, carrying silver moon disks from their elven allies to the Abyss Gates.

"Damn humans! Tear them apart!"

A Drider Elf elder slammed his staff on the ground, screaming as several Demon-Hunting Spiders obeyed.

But the next moment, his shout ended abruptly.

A small bloody hole appeared in his brow, piercing his skull. His face froze in disbelief before he collapsed.

Behind him, an arrow was embedded deep in the Holy Tree’s trunk, smeared with brain matter and blood.

Melisandra loosed arrow after arrow, each gale-wreathed shot piercing the Demon-Hunting Spiders’ heads.

The monsters died without even firing a ray.

"Back to the Abyss!"

A ranger leapt up, ignoring the monsters around him, and pressed the silver moon disk onto the Abyss Gate.

Blinding light poured forth, silver radiance flooding the land.

Spider monsters screamed as they burned, thrashing in vain before collapsing into charred corpses.

The Abyss Gate quickly shrank into a speck and vanished.

Another Abyss Gate was closed.

Elsewhere, Zane led hundreds of dwarf cavalry in a charge, their Rock Hammers glowing as stone pillars erupted, slaughtering the monsters around an Abyss Gate.

With Queen Catherine’s support and the Moon Goddess’s blessing, more gates closed and parts of the Holy Tree were cleansed.

Catherine raised her staff, her clear voice carrying across the field: "For the merciful and great Silvermoon Goddess—reclaim the Holy Tree!"

"For justice!"

"Let them see our faith and strength! Justice eternal!"

The gold dragon circled above, blowing a deep, resonant horn made from a dragon beast’s leg bone.

"For Shahanni! For Serenia!"

"For justice!"

Tens of thousands of allied soldiers surged forward like a great tidal wave, certain of victory.

"No, no—you’re all traitors, enemies of Serenia!"

Theron stood atop the Holy Tree, shaking his head as he muttered.

Could the Elder Council’s thousand-year rule truly end here?

No, he could not allow it!

Only he was fit to rule Serenia—only Theron could lead the Silvermoon Elves to eternal glory!

His face twisted into something bestial and cruel.