As Alaric made his decision, he saw the knight draw the demonic sword, and the overwhelming presence of the Red Dragon filled the air.
This was an utterly novel experience for Alaric.
In the past, it was always him unleashing the Dragon's Presence, exerting pressure on his enemies. Even though most foes he encountered rarely retreated in the face of the Red Dragon's aura, its sheer intensity was often enough to dominate the battlefield.
"Looks like there's a gap between you and Lahmu, but it's not too wide."
Gazing at the knight atop the head of the Red Dragon, Alaric's expression remained cold. Confronted with this aberration standing in his way, his feelings were limited to curiosity—nothing more.
Tiamat had used his blood, along with divine clay, to create this Red Dragon, a symbol of Alaric's doom.
"What exactly are you thinking, Tiamat?"
Though he spoke of Tiamat, Alaric's gaze did not waver from the knight on the Red Dragon before him.
As the Red Dragon roared, streaks of lightning dragons rampaged through the skies above the sea. Each crimson bolt carried a power equal to Alaric's divine judgment!
Faced with this terrifying assault, Alaric held nothing back. He immediately summoned a golden holy sword, his eyes gleaming like gemstones, as he prepared to strike down both the Red Dragon and the Knight!
If he couldn't kill Tiamat, could he not at least kill this dragon?
Even if it had been nurtured by the Mother of Origins herself, the Red Dragon could not escape the inevitable end of death!
"Let me grant you your fated demise!"
[Projection: Begin]
Dark magical energy coalesced in the void, forming countless golden holy swords. Though they appeared magnificent, their fragile forms were barely sturdy enough to hold together. Yet, even in the face of the thunderstorm unleashed by the Red Dragon, they seemed far too vulnerable.
It was likely they would be completely obliterated after just a single clash with that storm.
But for Alaric—
They were more than sufficient!
The power of Mystic Eyes lies in their ability to affect through sight alone. As long as he could observe with his gaze, he could unleash their full potential.
Take the example of the petrifying Mystic Eyes wielded by Gorgon/Medusa: merely meeting her gaze could turn an enemy to stone. Similarly, Alaric's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception functioned the same way.
The effect was already triggered the moment he saw the lines of death. His act of cutting them was merely secondary. For the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, the act of cutting was ultimately unnecessary.
As long as he could see—
He didn't even need to cut the lines himself!
The golden holy swords roared into the storm, sacrificing themselves in their attack. They flew straight into the vividly clear lines of death, annihilating the sea of crimson lightning in an instant!
Thanks to countless executions of divine judgment in the past, Alaric's precision, though not his full potential, had reached its peak. With sheer self-guided aim and calibration, he could strike the tiniest of enemy units hundreds or even thousands of meters away, even hitting the elusive lines of death.
Of course, this depended on the enemy remaining stationary. If the Red Dragon and the Knight moved, Alaric's attacks would not have yielded such remarkable results.
As the sea of crimson lightning dissipated, the Red Dragon let out another roar. A thunderstorm far more massive than before covered a thousand meters of the sea within seconds, and it continued to expand!
Fueled by a seemingly infinite supply of magical energy comparable to the Holy Grail, the power unleashed by the Red Dragon and the Knight far surpassed Alaric's, even threatening to overwhelm him entirely.
Even with the support of the leylines, Alaric could not draw out magical energy on a scale comparable to the Red Dragon without risking the collapse of the keystone!
The apocalyptic scene engulfed the Sea of Life. If the ocean belonged to Tiamat's Sea of Life, then the sky was now wholly claimed by the Red Dragon's lightning storms. The skies themselves had been seized!
BOOM!
Thunder roared endlessly, shaking the very atmosphere. The rapidly rising concentration of magical energy and temperature could instantly vaporize any human from the Age of Gods!
Within mere seconds, the area spanning thousands of meters turned into a death zone, a place where only monsters could survive!
"Hahaha, you're quite amusing!"
Amidst the crimson sea, a dark aurora suddenly blossomed.
The Chains of Heaven danced like serpents, weaving through the crimson lightning with ease, piercing through the lines of death as if it were second nature!
Alaric himself descended forcefully onto the head of the Red Dragon, finally engaging the Knight in close combat!
As the battle began, time seemed to lose all meaning.
This was a battle of little consequence—
Yet the apocalyptic scene was finally witnessed by Fujimaru Ritsuka and their companions.
Separated from Alaric for several hours, They had successfully returned to Uruk, where they fought to repel the invading Lahmu swarms and rescued the citizens of other cities.
However, after one particular Lahmu stole the magical energy core [Holy Grail] sustaining Kingu in Uruk and attempted to deliver it to Tiamat on the distant sea, their mission was forced to change.
With the combined efforts of Ishtar and Quetzalcoatl, the group pursued the Lahmu and arrived at the Persian Gulf.
There, they saw the apocalyptic thunderstorm enveloping the sea.
The overwhelming presence of the dragon's might was all too familiar to them. Only someone they regarded as a friend could release such a Red Dragon's aura—
"Sir Alaric…?"
Unable to discern the situation within the storm, Fujimaru and Mash muttered in disbelief. The magical energy radiating from within could only belong to Alaric.
But...
Far away in Chaldea, Roman provided an answer: ["Based on the magical readings, it's Sir Alaric. However—
Why are there two of him?"]
Staring at the screen displaying the magical signatures, a massive question mark appeared above Roman's head.
What surprised Roman even more was the magical energy contained within that thunderstorm:
"Fujimaru, Mash, you two need to be careful. The power within that storm rivals divine-level magical energy fluctuations!"
"Two of them?"
Before Fujimaru could grasp the meaning of "two," Ishtar's urgent voice rang out:
"There's no time! The Lahmus are heading toward Mother!"
Before encountering Tiamat, Fujimaru and the others had already been chasing the Lahmus who had seized the Holy Grail, eventually arriving at the Persian Gulf.
Without sparing a thought for Tiamat's current state, Mash was just about to intercept the Lahmus alongside Ishtar and the others when—
"Watch out!"
The warning cries of Ishtar and Quetzalcoatl rang out simultaneously.
A crimson bolt of lightning tore across the vast sea, striking suddenly!
The terrifying crimson lightning, dozens of meters in diameter, roared as it crossed several kilometers, evaporating the atmosphere and the ocean, aiming to annihilate Fujimaru, Mash, and the others in one fell swoop!
"You won't get away with this!"
With Mash's resolute shout, the Round Table shield instantly unfolded in front of her, constructing a pure white wall that transformed into an unbreachable barrier, standing between Fujimaru and the attack.
A wall forged from a pure heart—an ultimate defense surpassing all else!
Boom!
The overwhelming lightning ravaged the surroundings, causing the earth to collapse, melt, and turn into molten lava.
And yet, behind Mash, there was nothing but a pristine, untouched sanctuary—completely unscathed.
"What is that guy doing?"
Soaring into the sky to evade the crimson lightning, Ishtar frowned, visibly displeased. She had recognized the source of this lightning—it was identical to the power that Alaric had once used.
"That boy—"
Quetzalcoatl, who had also evaded the lightning's range, furrowed her brow slightly as she gazed at the apocalyptic crimson storm. The magical energy surging within it was as clear as day to her.
This was why even Quetzalcoatl's expression turned a bit grave.
"Lady Ishtar, Lady Quetzalcoatl! The Lahmus!!"
Meanwhile, Fujimaru, now regaining clarity, didn't dwell on the origins of the crimson lightning. Instead, she shouted to Ishtar and Quetzalcoatl:
"The Lahmus are already flying over the sea!"
"We can't let them deliver the Holy Grail to Tiamat!"
In the face of this crisis, Fujimaru's resourcefulness shone through—analyzing the situation rationally and making a swift decision.
Though she felt perplexed by the lightning that seemed intent on killing her, she understood that there was something far more urgent to address.
The Holy Grail was the priority!
"Understood!"
Responding decisively, Ishtar steered her heavenly vessel, Maanna, in pursuit of the Lahmus, diving headlong into the sea of chaos, where waves surged and the red storm veiled the sky.
Quetzalcoatl summoned two flying dragons, placing Fujimaru and Mash on one, while she rode the other herself. Together with Ishtar, they plunged into the deathly sea one after another!
The dragons spread their wings, soaring over the chaotic waves. The dense magical energy and eerie aura startled Fujimaru and Mash.
Below them, the sea of life teemed with countless Lahmus—a sight that Fujimaru and her companions took in with grim expressions.
"Millions... perhaps even billions of them—"
Fujimaru's face grew grave as she quickly shifted her gaze from the sea below to the Lahmus ahead—and beyond them:
RUMBLE!!!
The crimson sea of lightning above roared incessantly, radiating the scent of death. No living being seemed capable of surviving within it.
Absolute destruction. A harrowing malice that seemed to burn the world lingered within this crimson sea.
Even though they maintained some distance from the Red Sea, Fujimaru and Mash couldn't help but feel their hearts race with unease.
It wasn't just them—Ishtar, a divine spirit herself, wore a look of shock upon truly entering the domain of the crimson lightning.
Something was within the storm.
["Be careful! There's something in there with you!"]
Roman's voice rang out in alarm as he finally noticed the anomaly hidden within the storm.
And with Roman's warning—
BOOOOOM!!!
A deafening roar that seemed to rupture eardrums echoed. Fujimaru raised her eyes and saw—
A massive shadow soared through the storm.
Wings spread wide enough to shroud the sky.
A body hundreds of meters long, dwarfing any dragon Fujimaru had seen before.
Its crystalline scales, like bright red gems, reflected the world around it, sharp and radiant.
Emerging from the crimson storm, the Red Dragon revealed its form, appearing before them for the first time.