Chapter 217: Celestial City

Celestial City was, by far, the most prosperous metropolis in the entire expanse of the Demi-human and Beast territories. Rising majestically above the turbulent sea just off the rocky shore of Divine Beast Mountain Island, its massive, reinforced structure stretched across hundreds of kilometers of coastline.

Architectural wonders carved from ancient sea-stone and reinforced with shimmering barrier runes spiraled into the clouds, towering over bustling harbors and floating trade platforms.

The city was home to countless powerful beasts, noble Demi-humans, and legendary lineages possessing ancient bloodlines.

Wealth, trade, and mystical resources flowed through its streets like rivers of gold, making its influence completely unmatched. It was the undisputed heart of commerce, culture, and power—the most important urban stronghold in the entire realm.

Rumor had it that the Dragon God himself, whose exalted surname was Long, had been born in this very harbor city centuries ago before embarking on his legendary ascension, eventually migrating back after becoming the absolute strongest being in the world.

That glorious history was precisely why the city had been named Celestial City.

It was sacred ground—the birthplace of the very first Celestial Dragon, the true progenitor of the Long family name, whose overwhelming strength had eventually placed the entire world beneath his feet.

And now, this breathtaking monument to ancient power was about to become another horrific battlefield.

"Hm."

Ethen materialized softly in the high skyline above the massive city. The wind roared against his ears, carrying the salty tang of the sea mixed with the heavy scent of raw mana. His sharp eyes immediately caught sight of several high-ranking Angels from the Bastion of Humanity hovering in formation, including Ulric.

Without a second thought, Ethen activated his spatial ability, vanishing in a ripple of distorted light and reappearing directly beside the First Warrior of the Dawn faction. Together, they looked down at the vast urban sprawl spread out beneath them.

Celestial City was mind-bogglingly enormous, stretching several hundred kilometers along the dark ocean water. Even from his high altitude, Ethen’s enhanced vision allowed him to see powerful beasts and high-tier Demi-humans emerging onto the balconies and fortresses below, appearing one after another like disturbed hornets.

Some were rapidly marching toward the city’s heavily armored outer defenses, while others were drawing upon their inner wells of energy, gathering their strength in desperate preparation for the incoming assault.

The city’s defenses were bound to be utterly astronomical.

After all, this was no ordinary border outpost or secondary settlement. It was the crown jewel of the Beast territories, and the formidable warlords and commanders responsible for protecting it would never allow it to fall without burning through every drop of blood they possessed.

"Are we seriously going to do this?"

Ethen turned slightly toward Ulric, a heavy, unshakeable hint of hesitation lacing his voice.

The city below held a living population of at least several dozen million Demi-humans and beasts. That staggering figure did not even account for the deep-sea leviathans and aquatic tribes dwelling in the aquatic depths beneath the floating districts.

If Ethen activated his catastrophic skill here, he was certain the entire ocean would violently churn and rise into a world-ending tsunami.

The resulting apocalyptic disaster would slaughter countless innocent beings, potentially wiping out every single living creature within the city walls and its surrounding territorial waters.

He had already witnessed the absolute ruin and horrifying loss of life caused by Jormungander in previous engagements. The horrific visions of scorched land, ringing cries, and shattered landscapes were consequences he could not easily wash from his conscience.

And Celestial City was on an entirely different, terrifying scale.

"Don’t underestimate the Demi-humans. Honestly, they have far more hidden means and ancient artifacts than us," Ulric said, shaking his head slowly as his golden armor gleamed under the sunlight.

Ethen was still remarkably young, at least by the ancient standards of the legendary entities participating in this world-shaping war. Although he had already been forced to slaughter millions on his journey, the horrific thought of completely wiping out an entire metropolis filled with non-combatant civilians was naturally not something he could embrace without deep moral revulsion.

Ulric understood that internal conflict all too well; he had felt the same phantom weight on his own shoulders centuries ago.

However, the veteran warrior also understood the brutal, unrelenting reality of their current situation.

This was an all-out war of absolute extinction between entire territories. The cold, calculating strategists in high command had already dictated that there would be no mercy, no hesitation, and no holding back.

"Besides, you should be happy. A slaughter of this magnitude fulfills your requirement," Ulric added, a dark, fleeting smirk playing at his lips before he kicked off the air and floated forward into attack position.

At that exact moment, a brilliant beam of light descended, and Bartholomew appeared silently beside them, his holy aura crackling like controlled lightning.

The three First Warriors advanced together in tight formation, their sharp, unblinking attention fixed entirely on the single towering figure standing directly opposite them in the upper atmosphere.

A solitary warrior from Divine Beast Mountain had flown up to meet the human champion trio.

"Long Ra."

The utterance of that single name was reason enough to explain why three of humanity’s greatest warriors had been forced to group together.

The First Warriors of the three human factions were incredibly powerful Angels, living legends whose names struck terror into distant lands. Each of them possessed raw combat strength that placed them among the most formidable beings humanity could field without directly calling upon the divine intervention of God Almightys.

Nevertheless, none of them possessed the suicidal arrogance to face this young draconic noble alone.

This was Long Ra, the firstborn son of the Dragon God himself.

He was also the only other living Celestial Dragon currently residing within the Beast territories.

His mere existence made him one of the most vital, irreplaceable figures in the Dragon God Clan. His purest divine bloodline, supreme status, and crushing strength meant that his death would send shockwaves throughout the cosmos, causing consequences far beyond the destruction of an ordinary Angel or general.

Long Ra folded his arms, his icy gaze sweeping over the three elite human figures approaching him.

"Let’s begin," he spoke, his voice vibrating with dragon-tongue resonance that made the very atmosphere tremble.

He showed no fear, no hesitation, and no doubt.

Nor did he seem particularly bothered by the millions of civilian lives below that would inevitably be erased as a byproduct of the high-tier battle taking place above the city.

To his ruthless mindset, this was simply war—the weak existed merely to be collateral under the boots of the strong.

Without another word exchanged, the four monstrously powerful combatants blasted forward simultaneously.

Their physical bodies blurred into pure motion, transforming into blinding streaks of yellow, white, and red light that violently collided across the skyline.

The immediate resulting shockwaves tore through the atmosphere, ripping clouds to shreds, and the sky directly above Celestial City rapidly transformed into an absolute dead zone.

Anyone foolish or unfortunate enough to drift into that spatial field risked being shredded into fine red mist instantly.

The four combatants were simply too terrifyingly powerful; even the incidental energy residue leaking from their traded blows was instantly fatal to lesser beings who had no business walking in the realm of gods.

And while the high-ranking Angels waged their cataclysmic duel high above, the city below was frantically activating its grand defenses.

"Keep moving..." Ethen muttered quietly to himself, stepping through a fold in reality as he activated World Traversing.

He vanished from his spot and reappeared on the distant eastern perimeter of the city, rapidly scanning the shimmering defensive shields for a spatial pocket or blind spot where he could summon Jor.

If he could just summon Jormungander into his true, land-swallowing form, he could unleash Catastrophe and instantly complete his primary objective.

However, the moment he stepped within range of the city’s defensive perimeter, deep mechanical grooves opened along the outer walls, and several enormous, dragon-headed anti-god cannons locked onto his coordinates.

BOOM! BOOM!

Massive projectiles wrapped in compressed elemental fire shot toward him with terrifying, speed-of-sound velocity.

Ethen’s expression flickered.

He instantly triggered another spatial jump, vanishing a millisecond before the explosive shells violently detonated in the air where he had just been floating.

The automated defenses kept tracking his divine signature, firing relentless volleys that forced him to constantly jump and alter his position, preventing him from focusing the channeling time required to complete his summon.

When Ethen emerged from his third consecutive teleportation, however, his spatial exit miscalculated by a fraction of a meter—and he materialized directly in front of a young warrior with silver-white hair and brilliant, scales-patterned armor.

Their physical bodies smashed into each other mid-air.

"Fuck off, human rat!" the white-haired youth cursed instantly, his eyes flashing with raw fury as he swung a dragon-empowered fist straight at Ethen’s throat.

Ethen reacted with instinctual combat brilliance, leaning back at an impossible angle to dodge the bone-crushing strike.

At that exact fraction of a second, a blade forged from dense, compressed light materialized at Ethen’s side and thrust forward like a striking viper.

SLASH!

The radiant blade struck the white-haired youth squarely across his chest plate, ripping through dragon-scale armor and slicing deep into flesh.

A deep, violent gash opened across his torso, and crimson blood spilled out into the open sky.

Ethen used the force of the rebound to vault backward, putting distance between them as he raised his guard.

"You...!"

The white-haired youth drifted back, his eyebrows pulled down into a deep, incredulous frown as he stared down at the bleeding wound on his chest.

The gash was already sizzling, his elite draconic physiology kicking in as his flesh knit itself back together at an astonishing rate, closing the tissue until the physical damage began to fade into faint pink scars.

But the young man’s expression had completely shifted from casual annoyance to dark, terrifying gravity.

He raised his head slowly, locking his gaze onto Ethen with an intense, suffocating lethality that had been entirely absent moments prior.

"You cannot be permitted to live another hour," he whispered, his voice dropping an octave.

His dark pupils shifted, bleeding into a terrifying light blue hue, and a suffocating aura of pure, unadulterated divine dragon might erupted from his body, cracking the air around them.

Ethen had just inadvertently made a monumental, life-threatening mistake.

In this universe, the mortal beings capable of breaking through the passive natural defenses of a true Celestial Dragon could be counted on the fingers of a single hand.

Every single individual who possessed such terrifying armor-piercing potential was an extraordinary, world-ending existence—and every one of them represented a supreme extinction-level threat to the Dragon God Clan.

Celestial Dragons were not mere high-tier members of the dragon species; their immaculate bloodline granted them divine authority and unmatched growth limits, making their survival a matter of absolute paramount importance to the future of their entire race.

Someone who possessed the innate ability to easily slice through their ultimate defense was not merely an extraordinarily strong enemy warrior.

They were a direct threat to the bloodline itself.

And now, this white-haired Celestial Dragon prince had just personally verified that another such anomaly walked the earth.

To the dragon noble, this horrifying discovery was infinitely more critical than the entire bloody war currently raging across their territories.

The youth’s light-blue eyes narrowed into fine slits as vast, ancient divine power surged wildly around his hands, forming shimmering dragon claws of cosmic energy.

He no longer cared about the city, the fleet, or the grand war strategy.

He had to eradicate Ethen right here and now, down to the very soul.