Against the Gods

Chi Wuyao’s lips parted. “Jie Xin, Jie Ling, move back.”

The two Witches obeyed, leaving behind only the Devil Queen and the Crimson Destruction Dragon God at the center.

“Foolish woman!”

Crimson Destruction snorted loudly and released his draconic aura. The cold, desolate space instantly boiled up like hot water, and all visible objects within five hundred kilometers of the Dragon God were crushed to bits.

“Ah, such familiar words.”

Chi Wuyao’s voice remained sweet and velvety despite the destructive typhoon that was blowing against her black shroud and hair. “Tens of thousands of years ago, Qianye Fantian said the exact same thing in the exact same fashion when I dueled him and Zhou Xuzi alone.”

She shook her head in disappointment before continuing, “Unfortunately, he looked like a stray dog with its tail cut off when he escaped, and he was called the strongest god emperor below the Dragon Monarch.”

“You may be his better, but you can’t possibly exceed him by too much, can you?”

“Hah!” Crimson Destruction Dragon God sneered disdainfully. “You can’t possibly think that—”

—Qianye Fantian was on the same level as me, was what he was going to say until he realized that he had no reason to correct the Devil Queen’s misunderstanding at all. In fact, the more she underestimated him, the better.

So he said in an arrogant tone, “You overestimate your abilities, Devil Queen. From what I heard, Qianye Fantian and Zhou Xuzi defeated you back then. The only reason you were able to turn the tables and wound their souls was because you lured them to an area with strong devilish energy and caught them by surprise.”

He suddenly glanced in the direction of the Northern Divine Region with a deepened sneer. “I see now. Are you planning to pull off the same trick again, Devil Queen? I suppose that we are close to the Northern Divine Region.”

“You think I would use the same trick twice? Hahahaha!” Chi Wuyao let out a mad laugh before opening her palm. This time, there was a black vortex around every one of her fingers. “Not to mention that I hardly need an external source of power to destroy your draconic soul!”

Crimson Destruction Dragon God and Pure Dragon God’s eyes turned steely at the same time.

The dragon race’s bodies and souls were considered to be the strongest among all living beings in the Primal Chaos, but the dragon god race was even greater than they were. As the ruling class of the dragon race, their bodies and souls were considered to be the absolute best in the entire Primal Chaos. It was common sense to the masses, and a source of pride the dragon god race wouldn’t allow anyone to slander or challenge.

Therefore, it didn’t matter if Chi Wuyao was speaking from the heart or just one-upping him to keep up her morale. From the moment she insulted their souls, she had offended that which could never be offended.

“All souls are like ants before the Dragon God’s soul, and you dare insult it, Devil Queen? The arrogance!”

Whatever smile the Crimson Destruction Dragon God had a moment ago vanished completely. “This sin alone is punishable by a fate worse than death! Don’t think you’ll escape unharmed, Devil Queen!”

“All souls are like ants before the Dragon God’s soul? Heh…” Chi Wuyao chuckled disdainfully and curled her lips. “You would say that before me, you lowly dragons?”

Chi Wuyao’s black hair and clothes started floating of their own accord, and a black soul domain suddenly appeared around her. It looked like a demonic black lotus in one’s consciousness.

“Show me the strength of your so-called soul of the Dragon God then. Let’s see if it deserves to talk down to me!”

“...” the Crimson Destruction Dragon God’s eyes suddenly turned still.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared?” Chi Wuyao’s voice grew even more disdainful.

“She’s trying to provoke you, big brother,” the Pure Dragon God said.

“I know,” replied the Crimson Destruction with a hmph. “Devil Queen, you know that your profound strength is no match for mine. That is why you’re provoking me into challenging you in the art of the soul, aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” Chi Wuyao admitted honestly.

The taunt was so crude that anyone with a functioning brain would notice it.

However, Chi Wuyao was sure that he would take the bait anyway.

It was because he was the strongest Dragon God of the Dragon God Realm!

“You spend all this effort just to bait me into engaging you in a soul battle? You must be very confident in your soul strength.” Crimson Destruction Dragon God smiled. “Good. Very good.”

“ROAR———” A long, seeming distant roar suddenly entered everyone’s ears. It sounded as if it came from a thousand kilometers away or even a million kilometers away. When the Crimson Destruction Dragon God expanded his soul domain, a pair of piercing red eyes appeared in everyone’s souls.

“Allow me to crush your filthy soul and your pitiful ignorance together.”

If a soul battle was what Chi Wuyao wanted, then the Crimson Destruction Dragon God was only happy to oblige. His companion, the Pure Dragon God didn’t object to it either. Her normally cool eyes were colored with some disdain.

It was rumored that the Devil Queen possessed a powerful devil’s soul, and that she scared the wits out of Qianye Fantian and Zhou Xuzi using the Northern Divine Region’s natural devilish energy tens of thousands of years ago.

Therefore, it made sense from her point of view to bait the Crimson Destruction Dragon God into engaging her at her best domain. It was an excellent strategy, even.

Unfortunately, the woman had never encountered a Dragon God’s soul before. Her soul strength might be unparalleled in the Northern Divine Region, but the Dragon God Realm?

No matter how strong her soul energy was, she was not a dragon, and therein lies a world of difference. A human’s soul could never compare to a Dragon God’s soul!

The Devil Queen’s ignorance fit the saying “to view the sky from the bottom of a well” perfectly.

ROAR!!!!!

The crimson eyes opened abruptly, and the light that burst out from within immediately transformed his soul sea into an infinite expanse of molten lava.

Rising above the molten hell was the true form of the Dragon God: a crimson dragon that stretched for at least five thousand kilometers.

The black lotus that represented Chi Wuyao could only quake violently beneath it.

Jie Xin and Jie Ling shuddered and blanked out for about half a breath. Then, without any change in expression whatsoever, they closed their eyes, concentrated their minds, and returned to watching the soul battle between the Devil Queen and the strongest Dragon God with their souls.

On the other hand, the physical world was eerily silent.

Everyone in this space—Chi Wuyao, the Crimson Destruction Dragon God, Jie Xin and Jie Ling, and the Pure Dragon God—had their eyes closed. No one was talking or moving a muscle.

In reality however, a legendary battle of the souls was taking place.

A battle between a dragon and a devilish lotus.

The dragon let out a soul-rending roar and swooped down on the black lotus with its sea of molten lava, engulfing it.

He met no resistance whatsoever. The dragon and the lava instantly overwhelmed Chi Wuyao’s soul domain and dyed everyone’s soul sea crimson red.

However, instead of melting away into nothing like the dragon gods expected it to, the black lotus bloomed and spread out some sort of unknown domain of darkness amidst the infinite lava. Every one of its petals was glowing like black crystals.

ROAR—

The dragon roared again, and the molten lava exploded with the strength of a million live volcanos. The next moment, a gigantic claw swooped down mercilessly on the black lotus, clearly intending to crush it in one strike. The pressure of its aura sat on everyone’s soul sea like a mountain.

Suddenly, the black lotus bloomed a second time and expanded toward the horizon with insane speed. Before they knew it, the black lotus had become several hundred kilometers bigger than before.

The falling claw suddenly slowed.

Even the Pure Dragon God was unconsciously drawn toward the devilish lotus. Its core and the countless layers of dark, mysterious light especially felt like countless devilish arms that were pulling her consciousness into the depths of a boundless abyss...

The Pure Dragon God abruptly shook herself awake and broke away from the influence of the devilish lotus. However, a dizziness that refused to go away still sat in her consciousness.

Is this the legendary soul-stealing power of the Devil Queen?

She wasn’t even the one fighting its devilish influence directly, and her mind was still affected by it. The Devil Queen’s soul truly was an extraordinary thing.

Unfortunately for her, her opponent today was Crimson Destruction!

As expected, the crimson dragon only paused for an instant or two before it regathered itself. A sea of aura pressed down on the black lotus once more as the Crimson Destruction Dragon God roared proudly, “You really think that the likes of a devil’s soul can defeat me?”

As if angered by the brief loss of concentration, the dragon’s aura grew even greater before it swooped its claw at the black lotus once more. Right now, the shockwaves of his soul domain alone would wipe out the souls of anyone below Divine Sovereign Realm. They wouldn’t even have the chance to struggle.

The black lotus shuddered beneath the dragon’s might. Even its pitch black domain was shaking unsteadily.

RUMBLE—

This time, the crimson claw struck the black lotus at full force, infinite lava warping and shrinking much of the black domain. However, the black lotus survived the attack.

Pitch-black and crimson pushed back against one another. The battle had stalled for a moment.

The Crimson Destruction Dragon God hadn’t conserved too much soul strength due to all the provocations he had received today. However, Chi Wuyao still managed to defend against his attack head on. It was surprising.

“Big brother,” the Pure Dragon God’s voice rang in Crimson Destruction Dragon God’s mind at this moment, “The Devil Queen is a cunning and tricky woman. End this quickly in case she has something up her sleeve.”

Almost all Dragon Gods were prideful, lonely creatures with one exception, and that was the Pure Dragon God. She was mild-mannered, but she also had the coolest head of her kind. It was why the Crimson Destruction Dragon God had decided to bring her with him.

On the outside, the Crimson Destruction Dragon God wholeheartedly looked down on the devil race. But on the inside, he wasn’t so foolish as to underestimate a race that had defeated the Eastern Divine Region and the Southern Divine Region.

So when the Pure Dragon God told him to end this quickly, his soul domain suddenly underwent a drastic change.

ROAR———

If the nine heavens were a physical thing, it would’ve fallen from the sheer power behind the roar.

His crimson eyes started shining brighter than even the sun itself.

The dragon’s claw was already gigantic, but it grew even bigger and filled out every inch of space forcefully.

The soul domain created by the black lotus shrank more and more until suddenly, cracks appeared in between them. Worse, the red light was spreading at an incredible speed.

“Be destroyed, you lowly, filthy devil soul!”

The roar sundered the darkness, and the claw hit the devil lotus and tore it into pieces.

The black lotus scattered, Chi Wuyao’s soul sea quaked violently beneath the imperious draconic aura.

Suddenly, the draconic aura grew weaker, and black spots appeared in the world of crimson light.

Crimson Destruction had crushed the black lotus with ease, but black lotus petals suddenly appeared all over the soul world. They grew from a thousand… to ten thousand… to a million...

They engulfed the entire world like soaring black butterflies or falling black snow. It heralded the coming of a demonic, dangerous dream.

The boiling lava quieted without warning, and the dragon blotting the sky slowly descended amidst the sea of devilish flower petals. Even his draconic aura had disappeared before they knew it.

“Light is but a temporary illusion. Only darkness is true and eternal.”

Chi Wuyao’s devilish voice slithered into everyone’s ears; pleading, imploring.

“Even a lifetime of desires is destined to settle in ashes. Only darkness is truly without an end. This dark flower of mine is the home of countless souls, and the symbol of eternal radiance and beauty.”

“Dance with them, and forever slumber in eternal darkness.”

The devilish voice constricted around the soul and refused to let go.

The Pure Dragon God’s taut nerves relaxed before she knew it. Her strength seeped out of her body like water, and a growing weight pressed down on her eyelids until she saw no reason to live any longer.

She had lived for a hundred thousand years, and yet she found her life to be full of blanks and meaninglessness. She might be a Dragon God and the greatest existence of all things, but that also meant that there existed no greater heights for her or her kind to climb. And this wasn’t going to change until she reached the end of her life.

Life was meaningless. Death was meaningless. It didn’t matter if the devil race threatened the world, it didn’t matter if Crimson Destruction lost here, and it didn’t matter if she died here...

She had had enough of this pale, meaningless life. Maybe darkness could offer her something she had never experienced before? All she needed to do was fall asleep, and...

The Pure Dragon God felt a prick in her pupils and abruptly regained her consciousness.

The delusion had only lasted for several breaths, but it was still enough to cause her to break out in a cold sweat.

During those several breaths, she had lost her desires, denied her whole life, mourned her remaining life, and wanted to fall asleep in darkness, never to awaken.

She tensed up and constructed a soul defense that was several times stronger than the one before.

Now that she had experienced it herself, she could see why the god emperor in the rumors, the Clear Sky God Emperor fell prey to the spell and fell into an eternal “sleep”. It truly was a terrifying spell.

However, there was no way it was enough to put Crimson Destruction under!