Chapter 396 The Heresy, Part 1/2



POV Vesuvius

The dragon lying on the mountain of gold in the middle of the ocean of molten stone opened his mouth wide, and purple light flickered in its depths.

'More lenses, I need to learn more lenses.' Of all the spells in his repertoire, his lens magic is by far the most useful and versatile. Yet, he neglected it for a long time.

'I have leveled so much but I still didn't take the time to learn the new lenses.'

An array of the first lenses he felt would be a nice and versatile addition to his repertoire floated in his mind.

eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ Runes arranged and flared within his mouth, forming a spiderweb-like pattern of lines within a circle.

The breath of purple fire burst from his throat, its temperature so blazing it made the magma below bubble violently as it evaporated. The flames passed through the web, and immediately the stream of fire burst and split into dozens of thinner streams.

The fire splashed everywhere like pellets from a shotgun, showering the nearby stone island, turning them into more magma.

'Such a great result'

After all the time, he would feel pathetic if he couldn't execute a premade spell by the system on the first try.

Another magic circuit lit up in his throat and transformed the breath into a thin ray. The moment the ray passed through the web circuit, it split and refracted into dozens of thinner rays dancing and flashing around, burning trails into everything.

'Splitter lens. I can see how you can be useful,' he thought. Each lens always added more and more options to shaping and controlling his breath. He could now do it with his domain, but the dedicated magic was still easier and more comfortable as it needed no additional focus or input.

(AN: If you have some lens suggestions, don't hesitate to write them in the comments.)

His trap for the angel slowly advanced, making him realize he needed to hurry up with his plan for metamorphosis.

Within the flaming world of the dragon's divine kingdom, a bright golden light flashed, and a disk that shone as a sun appeared out of nowhere.

It rested on the ground, its glow passing even through the thick clouds of smoke around the dragon. He planned to exchange it for an upgrade for his fire abilities or maybe even gain some additional affinity.

He didn't stop as he looked at the snow-white body of the winter dragon glittering with magma light reflecting in the billions of ice crystals protecting its body, being the most eye-catching.

'This should easily contain more than enough to improve my ice, fire, and frost powers by a large margin.'

Finally, he had his stash of elemental cores and the sacrificial vouchers that would pay for it all while potentially allowing him to gain some interesting powers.

Even with all of it, the dragon couldn't help but frown as his two hearts screamed for more. He wanted, no; he needed more power!

'With the boosts in my stats that I gained from becoming an adult and then an elder dragon, I should drown in points to spend during my next metamorphosis. However, I still need more high-grade materials to match it.'

Even with all that, he wanted more. He was a dragon lord, and he wouldn't settle for anything but the most power he could harness out of the rare opportunity.

What he desired most were materials with divine properties that he could use, but he had no feasible idea of how to get something like that.

'Maybe some divine artifacts or hunt down some divine beasts or maybe even some demigod mortals?' All of that would be dangerous, marking him as too big of a threat.

'Hehe, that reaper should owe me... maybe I can get something useful from them. Maybe I should even delay my metamorphosis and attack the angel first. I am sure I will get something good from them.'

The dragon's giant form raised from his island of gold. The next moment, he flapped his wings and raised into the air.

'It's time to pay them a visit and collect the debt.'

Somewhere in the wilderness:

POV Radaghul:

Radaghul opened his eyes, and the green canopy of the trees and the tall stone walls of the cliff towered above him. He moved, and to his surprise, there were no bindings or restraints.

"Welcome, you are our latest addition," a sharp, female voice brought him back to reality.

He immediately noticed more priests standing in the shades of the trees, their robes stained and disheveled. He could even recognize some of them, his eyes especially stopping at the young bald man with cracked glasses.

'I thought he was arrested, but these don't look like inquisitors.'

His eyes lingered at the ever-present sentries entirely in black, from their uniform masks to their long mantles covering them all the way to their heels.

"Cooperate, and you might even survive. Refuse or try to go against our orders, and you will wish to be caught by your friends from the inquisition," the woman spoke again. She sounded young, but something in her voice sent chills down his spine.

'Who are they?' There were no insignias, and everyone was masked.

Still, he nodded, feeling like the masked woman would murder him if he dared to hesitate.

"I see you understand. In that case, join your colleagues. From now on, you are no longer a bishop but an actor. You will speak about what we want, when we want it, and where we want it. Step out of line, and..."

He wanted to object, but he didn't dare to even try it. 'My life is more important than my pride.'

"Here, sign this with your magic signature... only yours is missing."

He almost died of a heart stroke as he peered at the letter's context. His face became so pale he would blend in with the snow. His hands holding it trembled and shook.

"This is madness! This is suicide!"

"Just sign it! Refuse, and your painful death will be imminent."