Chapter 654: Wrath of the Dragon of Death

The First Elder moved first. He swung his claw, and massive serpent-like branches burst out of his body and surged towards Maximilian, their mouths opening wide to reveal rows of wooden fangs.

The Second Elder followed, releasing vines of giant purple flowers that spewed out a thick mist of poison as they twisted through the void.

The Third Elder swayed his arm, summoning numerous pillars of ice that streaked through the cosmos like comets, leaving trails of frost across the darkness.

"Release the Fourth Elder!" he shouted as the attacks closed in.

Just as the attacks of the three elders reached Maximilian, his hands shifted around the black hole again.

"Devouring Singularity: Consumption!"

A small black star emerged from the massive black hole, moving slowly towards the incoming attacks with a golden tail trailing behind it.

As the branches, vines and ice pillars drew closer to the small black star, their trajectories suddenly changed, all of them bending into it. Their forms crumbled. The branches snapped, the vines burst apart, and the pillars of ice shattered and dissolved into the star. The poisonous mist stretched into long purple threads before being sucked in. Within a few seconds, it had consumed all of the attacks and returned to the massive black hole.

The speed of the accretion disc increased even further the moment the small star merged back into the black hole. Its golden halo burned brighter, casting a pale glow over Maximilian’s dark scales.

The elders were left with their jaws hanging open. From the sight of the black hole alone, they could tell that their attacks had strengthened Maximilian’s Soul Domain even further.

"Wh-what kind of bizarre Soul Domain is this?" the First Elder muttered, his jaw tightening. "Not only can it defend against both long and short-range attacks, it also devours our attacks to reinforce itself."

"No matter how mysterious this strange domain is, it was still manifested by a dragon who reached the Celestial Realm only ten years ago," the Second Elder said, his voice shaking despite his attempt to sound calm. "His understanding of his concept must be shallow."

"If we unleash our own Soul Domains again, we will easily destroy his," he added, a hint of confidence appearing in his eyes.

The other elders nodded. All of them activated their Soul Domains at the same time.

Nothing happened.

Their eyes narrowed in confusion. They tried again and again, but not even a speck of their Soul Domains manifested. The void remained as silent and unchanged as before. Desperation and hopelessness became clear on their faces. There was only one reason this could happen, but the reason was too absurd for them to accept.

"Im-impossible..." the First Elder muttered. "His understanding of his concept is deeper than ours."

"I don’t believe it!" the Second Elder shouted, shaking his head. "We have been alive for more than a millennium. How can a brat still wet behind the ears have a better understanding of his concept than us!"

His jaw widened as concentrated purple energy began accumulating inside it. The other elders followed. Raw draconic breath was the only hope they had of tearing apart this domain.

Their throats began bulging, their mouths glowing brightly. They were about to release their dragon breaths when Maximilian’s hands shifted around the black hole again.

"Gravitational Collapse: Attract!"

The accretion disc moved so tremendously that it began warping the space around it. The three dragons were suddenly pulled towards the black hole, their bodies dragged through space against their will. The energy they had gathered in their throats leaked from their mouths, spiralling into the darkness in glowing streaks.

They flailed their limbs in a desperate attempt to grab onto something, but it was completely useless. There was nothing in the void to hold onto.

"Stop, Maximilian," the First Elder pleaded as he drew closer to the black hole. His voice cracked, the pride of centuries peeling away from it. "I accept my defeat. Please, don’t kill me. Your Highness, have mercy. I can tell you about the usurpers who killed the Almi—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was also trapped in the Event Horizon together with the other two elders, their bodies freezing like statues, just like the Fourth Elder.

"Have you observed it closely?" Maximilian asked, his voice still deep but calmer now.

"Yes, Master," Vyaghra and Ume answered, standing on Maximilian’s head in their baby beast forms. He had freed them from the lightning net since there was nothing that could harm them inside his Soul Domain.

They were completely mesmerised by Maximilian’s Soul Domain, not uttering a word or blinking an eye from the moment he had activated it.

Maximilian’s eyes shifted to the First Elder inside the black hole. His last words had been strangely ominous, and they had left Maximilian restless. Usurpers. Who had the elder meant? And what had he been about to say?

His size shrank as he transformed back into his demi-human form. Vyaghra stood on his shoulder while Maximilian held Ume like a newborn in his arm, her body lying along his forearm.

"Master..." she whimpered, covering her face with her fluffy tails, obviously embarrassed at being held like this.

He only gave her a warm smile before stepping into the black hole where the four elders were frozen. His footsteps made no sound as he walked across the starlit darkness, passing between the motionless bodies of the dragons.

He landed on the First Elder’s head and placed his hand on his forehead.

"Soul Search!"

Numerous threads came out of the elder’s draconic head and entered Maximilian’s hand, glowing faintly like strands of silver light. A series of memories appeared inside his mind.

They were the memories of that very day, beginning from the moment Ume had entered the hall together with Vyaghra, Riksharaja and Mriga.

The memories showed him how Felix had manipulated Ume into agreeing to marry him.

Maximilian’s jaw tightened. He looked further, to where Felix coaxed her to reveal her face. The laughter of the elders and the comments of Vincent followed, echoing through his mind like the cackling of crows.

"Oy, ugly bitch, take off your clothes."

Felix’s words made Maximilian’s blood boil, his fingers digging into the elder’s skin until blood seeped out.

As he saw the next memories, where the two elders cruelly beat the beasts and brought them back to the hall, dragging Vyaghra by the feet and Ume by the hair through the mud and rainwater, black lightning began crackling around Maximilian, his hand sinking further into the elder’s head.

"M-Master..." Ume called, obviously worried by the darkened expression on Maximilian’s face.

However, the last memory completely shattered whatever control Maximilian still had over his anger. The scene of Felix forcing Ume to strip, the cold rain running down her face as the cloth belt slipped from her waist.

The moment Ume untied her cloth belt, Maximilian’s whole hand sank into the elder’s head. A bolt of black lightning erupted from his palm and burst out of the elder’s chin, leaving a gaping hole.

"FELIX," Maximilian muttered, the Death Lightning spreading through the elder’s body.

"I WILL SHRED YOU TO PIECES!!!"

The lightning tore the purple Lóng apart into countless pieces, which drifted towards the centre of the black hole.