613 Judgmen (1/2)
Millions of beams of light shone across the horizon. The Emperor drew his sword and slashed ahead. The pitch-black giant dragon opened its mouth and breathed a destructive trail of flame that destroyed every physical object in its way, even tearing apart the glorious golden beam of light. However, the golden beam of light pounced again. The army gathered once again before charging ahead, without any concern for their own lives. They attacked again and again, like tidal waves.
The dragon of catastrophe remained unmoved. It merely flapped its wings casually to whip up chilly hurricanes, leaving behind a trail of destruction in its path. The Emperor raised his long sword once again and pointed at his enemy.
”It's you? Ah, it's you again…” Arthur looked at him and could not contain his laughter, ”Hahahaha, look at you, look at you! Don't tell me you have gotten used to being a dog?” The black Firebird sweep crushed all the incoming ants into dust. Arthur laughed maniacally, ”You have really picked up all the unwanted trash that I had dumped! What is this? Are you finally feeling guilty, and now you are trying to seek comfort from your band of brothers?”
The Emperor stayed silent. He looked around his own army that was surrounding him. He looked at his old vassals, and the knights that only knew to continue the onslaught against the dragon of catastrophe. The Banner of the Red Dragon has been unfurled and the Knights of the Round Table rose to attack once again!
”If only that was the case?” He gripped tightly onto the illusory long sword that he had lost long ago and spoke quietly, ”If I can get them back just by being a dog, I wouldn't mind being a dog forever. But what is lost can never be found again, and the dead can never be revived.”
He closed his eyes and could not bear to look. ”They are all not real. They are only illusions created from my own memory. They are all dead and they had hated me to the core. They have only returned to help because I made them. You might as well say that I am truly shameless for doing what I did.”
”But I have no other choice…” When he opened his eyes once again, there was a steady gaze of determination. ”This was my mistake, so they need to be here to see it come to an end!”
The sound of metal clanging against each other rose along with what he said. Amidst the sea of light, countless figures appeared. They were screaming with rage and hatred. After taking over the power of Leviathan from the path of godly ascension, the Firebird that had transformed from the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth was not filled with the same aura of destruction as the dragon of catastrophe. Conversely, its ability to deal damage was drastically reduced in exchange for incredible agility. Every single person seemed to have gained total control over themselves and their own lives. The hatred and rage were clear in their eyes. This was the result of deserting the Path of Catastrophe.
Musicians who chose to destroy their own consciousness to adopt bestiality would find that in the end, they would merge with bestiality and elevate themselves into imaginary creatures that only existed in myths. Creatures such as giant dragons and giant snakes would eventually turn into real catastrophes. But the thing that would go against this path was that the bestiality would be cleansed and purified in order to extract the real humanity. Turning 'beasts' into 'humans' would mean giving up control over them, so that their lives and their wills were their own. What he had done was to summon an army of the dead, infused their souls with hatred and rage, and given them their bodies with Firebird.
Now…
”The time for revenge has come.” The Emperor declared quietly, ”This is all that I can do for you.” In that split second, there was only frenzied screams and howls from the formation.
”Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!” The iron giant screamed as he walked out from the army. His entire body was clad in that heavy and humongous armor, as if he was trapped in a cage. Every single linkage has been hammered with a heavy rivet and every gap has been filled with burning liquid metal. The armor was like a coffin that would send him to his grave. He would die from torture and he would find no peace even after his death.
The First Generation of the Round Table – Dagonet.
Soon after was the screeching of warhorses. No one was howling in rage but everyone was filled with fury. On the pitch-black warhorse rode a headless knight who was wielding a great sword and was charging at the dragon of catastrophe. The great sword was full of cracks and the head cradled at his chest opened its bloodshot eyes.
The First Generation of the Round Table – Percival.
Invisible air current gathered from all directions. There was the rising sound of cries of a child and in the next moment, a blurry figure rose from the Firebird. There were two rows of tears streaming down the delicate and effeminate face. He bowed to the Emperor before drawing his long sword and walking towards the battlefield.
The First Generation of the Round Table – Gawain.
Behind him was a melancholic middle-aged man. He was the most complete person amongst the Knights of the Round Table. But due to the effect of the musician, countless bestialities have transformed into devious thorns that grew out from his body and even into his blood vessels. The knight lowered his head and after a moment of silence, he heaved a gentle sigh before putting on his iron mask and held on to his long sword tightly. He took a step forward and activated a bolt of electricity.
The First Generation of the Round Table – Lancelot.
Following closely behind was the silent Galahad, who set off a giant wave of metal and wind… There was a rising crescendo of the tightening of metal chords and beams of metal light rose high into the sky before crashing down heavily on the giant dragon. After the knights at the rear had finished launching three rounds of arrows, they threw down their giant bows and drew their heavy halberds and axes before charging into the battle. The clash of metal light and catastrophe produced an earth- shattering roar and blood spilled everywhere.
The dragon of catastrophe howled in fury. Dark golden light began to shine from within the broken metal light. After travelling such a long distance, the warhorses were breathing hot steaming air from their nostrils. The Emperor screamed as he slashed with the sword in his hands.
The giant dragon's right eye was slashed and burnt into charcoal by the flame of the light but in the next moment, flesh was already growing and the wound was healing. Arthur did not even have time to laugh before hissing in anger. Light exploded from within the healing wound once again, creating another fresh wound. This was the power of bestialities from the same origin fighting against each other. As long as the Emperor was still alive, the remnants of Firebird in the wound would keep tearing at the wound so that it would never heal.
”Trash! A bunch of trash!” The dragon of catastrophe was in great pain. It howled with rage and was breathing at the army with dragon fire. ”Bunch of traitors! I made all of you into who you are today! Don't you all know what is 'gratitude'?”
The Emperor laughed coldly, ”Haven't we come to repay our debts today?”
Sharp claws tore at the air before smashing the swords into pieces. The dragon of catastrophe flapped its wings and howled, ”If I can kill all of you once, I can do it a second time!”
In the blink of an eye, he flew into the sky and turned into a dark sun. Countless horrifying beams of light shone on the world, as if the entire Avalon would be burnt into ashes. But all of a sudden, the sun collapsed and the countless beams of light vanished. The black dragon reverted to its original form. It was struggling to fly and was falling straight from the sky.
Boom!
The ground shook and Arthur screamed in fury. He only saw the idle young man at the rear of the army. White hair was flowing in the wind like silver. He was holding on to a staff. His eyes were lowered but there was a smile on his face, as if he had sunk into the greatest depths of dreams.