Chapter 291: Victory and Despair

  The ceiling of the cavern was still radiating heat from the magic of High Priest Tima. Due to the massive rockfall, the top had taken on a strange, pitted shape, and even now, rocks were still falling sporadically. In one of the huge pits, there was a small opening, through which an air elemental carried the two of them up.

  Below was an Asura-like hell of a sea of fire and mountains of corpses, but after coming up through this opening, it was a completely different world. A dim, cold light emanated from the mossy plants all around, and a river flowed past not far away, its rushing water audible. At the opening, a young female mage was looking down. She only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the air elemental ascend safely.

  "Knight Talise, is this young lady your friend?" Harlan could naturally tell that the previous blizzard magic had been controlled by someone, as Talise did not know water magic.

  Seeing Harlan, Aimee couldn't help but shrink back. Although the white magic light on the Radiant Battleplate appeared peaceful and sacred, she now had a subconscious fear and aversion to the people of Celeste.

  Harlan paid it no mind, still immersed in the recent ups and downs. He sighed with emotion, "I truly have you two to thank, otherwise I would have failed this mission. My own death is of no consequence, but to let His Majesty the Pope's plan go up in smoke would be unforgivable. Now I can only hope that Lord Lancelot and Mage Diana can proceed smoothly..."

  "Teacher is also in Nighon?" Talise froze. "Where is he now?"

  "From that scream just now, they have probably killed Moriel by now."

  Talise and Aimee couldn't help but look in the direction from which the scream had come, which was also the direction Ethan had gone.

  Incomparably hard dragon scales flew apart as blood burst forth. An earth-shattering scream that pierced through Nighon erupted from Moriel's dragon maw. The Holy Light Cross Sword had slashed in diagonally from her right shoulder, severing her shoulder blade and a rib, nearly cleaving into her lung. The great beast's blood gushed out like a fountain. This injury was not just a simple cut; the Battle Qi and magic of the Holy Light Cross Sword had completely permeated the dragon's body, making the actual damage at least twice what it appeared to be.

  Lancelot, who was mid-air, did not feel the slightest bit of relief; on the contrary, his heart tightened.

  Such a strike could have been considered fatal, but it was only almost fatal, not truly so. At the critical moment, Moriel had managed to shift her massive body, causing this Holy Light Cross Sword, which could have decapitated her, to strike only her shoulder.

  No matter how grievous the wound, as long as it is not truly fatal, it is merely an injury. And this was the strongest creature on the continent. No matter how severe the injury, as long as she was not dead, it was others who might die.

  The scream still echoed, not yet faded. In Moriel's pair of dragon eyes, beyond the pain and unwillingness, was an even more frenzied rage. Her huge maw remained wide open, but what came out was no longer a scream, but a dragon's breath.

  Red-yellow flames, enough to engulf the sky and cover the earth, rolled out from the dragon's maw, with Lancelot being the first to bear the brunt. The previous Holy Light Cross Sword had already exhausted all of his Battle Qi and strength. Moreover, being in mid-air, there was no way to dodge. In the blink of an eye, his figure was submerged in the surging sea of fire.

  Amidst the rumbling, the fire, like a flood accumulated for ten thousand years, rolled on relentlessly and uncontrollably. After submerging Lancelot, it did not stop or hesitate in the slightest, instantly filling the entire cavern and sweeping up all the remaining Minotaur and Temple Knights.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The heart-rending screams of the Minotaur did not last long. This dragon's breath, with its lava-like high temperature, could turn even bones to ash. The remaining Minotaur and priests only screamed once before falling silent, submerged by the sea of fire.

  Several seconds later, the flames from Moriel's maw finally dissipated. She let out an extremely weak groan, her massive body slumping to the ground. This furious dragon's breath had exceeded her true limits; it was something that could only be used when she was at full strength. In her current severely wounded state, she had virtually spat out her own dragon's heart and lungs.

  The red-yellow flames gradually dissipated. The Minotaur had all vanished without a trace, and even the corpses covering the ground had been turned to ash in the sea of fire. This dragon's breath was not only high-temperature but also extremely corrosive.

  Five figures, either standing or kneeling, appeared in the gradually extinguishing sea of fire. A blue orb shield manifested around the five Temple Knights. Including Lancelot, at the critical moment, they had activated the Divine Aegis shield on their Radiant Battleplate, barely withstanding this dragon's breath, which could melt gold and erode bone.

  Moriel's massive dragon body lay sprawled on the ground. The wound on her shoulder faintly revealed bone, and blood was still flowing incessantly. The previous dragon's breath had turned all the Minotaur's limbs and corpses into gas. Now, the entire cavern was filled with the stench of dragon's blood, and a faint breath still emanated from her maw. But anyone could see that this great beast was on the verge of death.

  The former god of Nighon, the strongest and most mysterious creature on the continent, was now no better off than a chicken. In fact, they didn't even need to bother with her; with her injuries, she wouldn't last much longer on her own.

  Lancelot let out a long sigh. His Radiant Battleplate had some scorch marks. If he had been even a fraction of a second later in activating the Divine Aegis shield, or if the magical defense of the Radiant Battleplate had been slightly weaker, he, being at the very forefront of the dragon's breath, wouldn't have even left a corpse behind. Even for someone with his steadfast will, the victory before him now felt somewhat unreal and dreamlike.

  But in the end, they had won. With Moriel's death, the Church's greatest concern regarding Nighon was gone. And if Harlan and the others proceeded smoothly, Nighon could be said to be crippled from this point on, and Erathia and the other nations would have no more worries to their rear. Furthermore, the hide and bones of Moriel would, through the hands of skilled craftsmen, become equipment for the warriors of Celeste.

  Most importantly, as a powerful creature surviving since the ancient elven era, and coupled with the legend that dragons love to collect treasures, there was no reason this dragon's lair wouldn't hold a few precious magical items. From a certain perspective, this was one of the biggest reasons why the Pope was so interested in slaughtering the Black Dragon.

  Now, this great victory was right before him, waiting to be reaped. However, Lancelot felt a faint sense that something was wrong. As his concentration, which had slackened somewhat due to the arrival of victory, refocused, he suddenly realized what was amiss. He abruptly turned his head to look towards the opening.

  The other four Temple Knights also abruptly turned their heads to look towards the opening. After this dragon's breath had swept through every space in the cavern, there was actually the sound of a Minotaur's breathing mixed in with their own, right behind them.

  Outside the opening, the figure of a Minotaur priest was surrounded by two fire elementals. It was these two flame-immune elemental giants who had helped him resist the overwhelming dragon's breath.

  The priest's robe on this Minotaur was somewhat different from the others', indicating he was likely their leader. It was just that he hadn't spoken a word on the entire journey, and since the battle began, he had been casting spells from the back along with the other Minotaur priests, appearing no different from them. However, he had always stood at the very rear, farthest from Moriel, even leaving the cavern to stand in the passage outside the opening. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for that overwhelming dragon's breath to be blocked by just two fire elementals.

  A mage who could summon two elemental giants was indeed bound to be somewhat different from the other priests. But the greatest difference was that he had only now, at this very moment, chosen to reveal his uniqueness.

  Just as the Temple Knights and Lancelot were about to react, this distinctive Minotaur priest already had two scrolls in his hands, which he unfurled towards the cavern.

  A surge of powerful magic flashed, and the scrolls turned to ash in the Minotaur priest's hands. It seemed as if nothing had been emitted from the scrolls, at least that's what it looked like. But the moment the scrolls were unfurled, the bodies of the four Temple Knights and Lancelot, who had already started leaping and running towards him, all froze mid-motion. Two of the Temple Knights could barely steady themselves and nearly fell to the ground.

  Moriel, who had been able to barely support her own body, then completely collapsed like a pile of mud. Her massive frame caused the rock beneath her to begin to crumble. Moreover, the entire cavern began to tremble slightly.

  "Gravity Field?" Lancelot looked at the Minotaur priest, struggling to utter the word in disbelief. He felt as if he was no longer breathing air, but inhaling and exhaling lumps of rock.

  This was the ultimate single-school magic of the earth element. Although not as powerful as the air element's Falling Stars, it was a tier above Blazing Might Shot. Within the range of this spell, gravity would be ten times its normal strength. If an ordinary person with a weak physique were within the range of this ultimate earth incantation, their body would be torn to shreds by their own weight.

  The Temple Knights were no ordinary people, but it was impossible for them to face this ultimate earth spell with ease. And before they could even react to this suddenly cast magic, the Minotaur priest had already drawn out another scroll and unfurled it.

  This scroll only burst forth with a flash of blue light before dissipating, seemingly having no effect. But Lancelot recognized that blue light; it was the unique radiance of spatial magic. His expression was even more shocked and uglier than when he had discovered the Gravity Field: "Spatial Lock?"