POV ???:
The crowd moved down the streets like a flood.
A temple with massive burning pyres decorating its premises stood in the center of the square on a high platform. Its tall black volcanic stone walls cast shadows over the short staircase leading into it.
The priests and the temple guards stood there like a red wall in robes and armor, their burning hands and weapons raised to welcome the upcoming mob.
"Leave this city!"
"You are not welcome here!"
The angry shouts resounded, but the priest didn't relent.
'Heretics, how dare they speak against the holy fire!' With a mad grin, the priest stepped out of the ranks of his armored guards.
"In the name of the god, kill those heretics!" At the priest's command, bright flames exploded from the outstretched palms of the acolytes. The fiery wave rolled down the staircase, and the next moment, pained cries and the smell of burned meat filled the temple square.
The dozens of burning people rolled on the staircase, their skin and clothes burning away.
The crowd stopped, the terror visible in their eyes. They could only slowly retreat with the fear of the godly powers they couldn't have made them tremble and lose all their courage.
'Now they fear the god! Now is it how it is correct!'
"Murderers... we just want to live."
Suddenly a masked man in black robes with his silver mask reflecting the light of the burning corpses slowly walked forward. Everyone parted in his way as they recognized the decorated mask and robes.
"The priest of the dragon god." The priest of the holy fire looked with zeal at his counterpart.
'Why would anyone worship some monster god? What a stupid fanatic. Only the fire is right.'
Behind him, a formation of tall monstrous soldiers marched, the bangs of their armored steps resounding through the square as the crowd fell silent, except for the pained sobbing of burned people.
'Phh, I can feel the fire element in them. Such a shame they choose the wrong path.'
He raised his palm, making the black-robed priest and his retinue of monsters stop in their track.
"In the name of the dragon god and the emperor, you are guilty of murder, fraud, and treason. Surrender or face our anger."
The soldiers in their black armor and long crimson capes fanned around, forming a ring of metal, scales, and glowing blades.
The fire priest could no longer hold back his blazing anger, 'How dare they insult me under the eyes of the god!'
"Just wait. You will see the wrath of the fire! Your god, your emperor, you will all burn!" The fire priest waved his hand, and a skull of flames shot straight against the priest in black.
'To die in the service of the god is the true glory, the true joy.'
POV Booba and his company:
The two players watched from the top of the walls, fires spreading throughout the city below them.
"Hahaha, do you remember when our faction was forced to hide in the shadows?" Pride swelled within him as he helped build the new empire that now ruled the entire continent.
He couldn't help but nostalgically reminisce about the old times with pleasant memories of the simpler times when the game was just a game.
His fat and short friend stood by his side, his eyes absently looking into nothingness.
"Aren't you worried that you will grow smaller also on the earth?"
"Shut up and look at the forum, there is even more chaos than on the streets."
Booba immediately opened the forum, almost erupting into laughter as he saw the chaos that was going on.
[BUBOSUN: Time to build my bunker!]
[PantyPooper1987: Hahahaha, you laughed at me when I spent my loot on my super secret base. Now, enjoy your bases obliterated by some godly punishment!]
[IamNotAKid2009: Shut up, you idiots! The good times have come. With the upcoming apocalypse, we can do whatever we want. The NPCs will not have any time to care. Imagine the amounts of XP we will earn.]
[JunkoFet: Eat my junk.]
Suddenly the angry feminine voice returned him to reality, "Stop wasting time. Look down; the streets are in chaos."
He looked at his friend as they both grabbed their weapons.
"Yes, madam!"
"Yes, Mum!"
"Truly adult of you..."
A massive bolt of lightning split the sky, followed by hundreds more.
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon's black shadow passed over the fields and forests, the city behind quickly turning into a small glowing point. He could feel the presence constantly on his back. Even though he couldn't see anyone, he was sure he was being watched by something.
The sensation of threat refused to leave while energy gathered somewhere high in the sky.
'I don't like this.'
The lightning struck high in the sky, its light illuminating everything. The dread became even worse as he felt divine energy within it.
'Ohh no, maybe I shouldn't insult the gods as much as I did.'
The lightning struck again, even brighter than before, with the divine energy sending shivers down the dragon's scales.
Finally, he decided it was time to retreat.
The world around him came to crawl as his mind entered its full speed.
"Is this all you can do?" Already feeling something bad would happen, he redirected all his mana into his casting sub-brains.
The lightning crackled and sparked above his head while the stones were torn from the ground, the air was sucked, and the chaotic storm gathered into a massive dome enveloping everything around him.
'No, this is not enough.' More and more spells arrays spun around him, reinforcing his barrier. The golden crown of divine energy manifested on his head, its golden rays of light slipping through the barrier, storm, and ash clouds.
'Should I run? No! I am a dragon, not a coward.' This was the day he would finally show the world he was one of the top powers. After making fun of the gods, he couldn't just run away as he himself would become the target of ridicule.
The arcs of electricity branched everywhere he could see, forming a vast web and turning the sky into a sea of electricity.
The space warped around him, forming a dome of portals, ready to deflect the incoming attack while more and more divine energy flowed out, infusing his armor, scales, barrier, and protective dome with a bright golden halo.
"Show me what you can do!" He was confident as he doubted the gods could cast some continent-destroying attack.
He wasn't going to retreat into his divine kingdom, he was going to show a giant middle finger to the gods, here where everyone could see that.
Ding!
// New impossible quest:
Objective: Survive the anger of the thunder god
Reward: ???
//
Finally, thunder cracked the ground, and a bright flash of light blinded the dragon.
The next moment divine lightning exploded all over the sky, and a giant pillar of divine, heavenly lightning fell.
'Am I now in some cultivation novel?'
The lightning was getting closer and closer, its tendrils lashing out and reaching toward him like the roots of a tree toward the soil.
His domain moved, cutting and dissolving the lightning with his own lightning affinity.
'Faster! I need to go faster!'
The massive shockwave swept through the land as the barrier and lightning collided. He couldn't see anything but felt the residual energy piercing through his barrier constantly wash all over his armor.
The surging current of blessed electricity shattered it like a stone, a pane of glass, the mana shards raining down.
'This power and speed.'
All his mana and divine energy flowed in rivers to his armor and scales, forming his aura barriers and fueling the shields within his scales.
'I can do this. This will be my tribulation.'
The current drilled through his armor, the conductivity of lightning brought beyond limits by its divine energy, melting away everything it encountered and inflicting sharp, agonizing pain.
"Graaah!" Vesuvius grunted his teeth and stilled his mind as he resisted the pain with all his will.
The runes etched into the dragon's armor glowed amidst the golden light as the lightning surged and crackled around it.
His scales warped under the onslaught, but his divine energy fought back, attempting to repel the divine lightning's assault. Yet, the lightning continued its relentless barrage, tearing through the dragon's defenses and relentlessly scorching his scales.
Finally, the energy subsided, leaving the tattered dragon standing in the wastelands of burned and melted stone and soil. His armor was shattered, his scales torn, and his flesh burned, but he survived.
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