Damian just stared at the widespread black fire burning every single monster completely. There were no ashes—even bones, rocks, or metals didn't survive the abyssal dark flames.
What in the hell was that thing?
Damian couldn't even recognize most sections of the multiple runic circles. There was something about soul-damaging attacks, a bit of chaos element—something like that target spell, but targeted differently. Though there were light element runes in it, they were selecting runic combinations, and there were even bits of space-bending runes.
Now that was terrifying, to say the least.
Still, not all monsters were gone. There were thousands more still flying toward Damian, and even the ones on the land had reached within a kilometer radius. Damian changed his stance. The spell wasn't something one could spam repeatedly—but it wasn't needed. In front of his massive sword, the monsters were like grunts. Not a single one of them was bigger than 300 meters, while his steel golem towered over 1,000 meters.
With just one heavy punch or kick, he killed dozens of Emperor-rank monsters—and with one slash of his sword, double that number. If he added any spells, he could kill even more, but straining the steel for no reason didn't seem like a good idea.
He was already racking up experience points in the millions by the minutes.
Suddenly, another roar of the Dragon King resounded, accompanied by another wave of powerful pressure, forcing all monsters to stop their attacks and fall flat on the ground. Damian had never removed the mana coating, so it was useless on him. The metal golem did seem to strain a little, but what did objects fear? Actually, it helped him instead, as he just swept the whole ground—cutting and smashing all the frozen monsters nearby in one fell swoop.
However, moments later, the dark land under the red sky seemed to get brighter. Damian used a waygate spell-inscribed podium to look outside from one of his golem's eyes, taking just his head out—and saw a massive sphere of molten, boiling fire hurtling through the air at lightning speed toward him. It was somewhat similar to the Mini Sun spell the Red Demon had used.. Except this sphere was just ten times bigger and hotter. The bright white radiance with a deep red core looked ominous times ten, to say the least.
This one should also have that target-locking effect.
Damian brought his left giant steel arm near the front window, using the mana threads running through it and his intent to conjure a runic circle for the waygate spell—stretching his arm upward and the runic circle with it. Damian pushed the completed runic circle with a singular mana thread and placed it between his golem and the massive sphere of molten lava and fire. The spell activated. It swallowed the whole sphere and spat it out beside the Red Demon—wherever the poor guy was.
Another roar of Sulthar broke the silence—this one much more enraged. Most likely, the guy had sensed his attack disappearing in a second without any trace.
However, it also came with some command that forced the many monsters to turn around and leave—lifting the oppressive presence. That was weird.. but whatever. The Dragon King could clearly see or sense what was happening and must have decided it was useless.
Damian was left alone with sword in hand, surrounded by lava-flowing volcanoes. Sulthar was still not moving—more concerned about protecting his precious Divine One than dealing with an uninvited guest.
Damian flew out of the steel golem. With free time at hand, he checked if there was any damage or something not working as it should. The steel body was coated with blood on its limbs, but other than that, it looked fine. Now was the time.
Damian got back inside the golem and created over five powerful runic circles, holding them with mana threads—ready to launch. Then he switched from the massive sword to his massive light cannon, a ranged weapon. There was a mechanism to lock it on his shoulders, though it could also be held in his hands for better aim. Damian kept it in his hands.
With one heavy, land-shaking step after another, Damian moved the golem in the direction of the Sun God and his most powerful protector—the Dragon King.
Crossing rivers of lava, hot boiling land made of magma ores, and myriads of monsters that made the mistake of coming into his path—only to be crushed beneath his weight or obliterated with his massive laser cannon—Damian finally reached atop a hill overlooking the enormous pitch-black obsidian shrine, at the gate of which the origin of the lava river was pouring out.
The enormous shrine, however, was just a structure. What truly caught Damian's attention was the creature seated atop the massive shrine—the two horrifying, glowing red eyes locked onto his towering steel giant.
There it was. Sulthar—the Dragon King.
It wasn't just long. It sprawled—approximately 900 meters of muscle and scale. A creature so wide, its shoulders looked like hills pressed together. Every inch of it radiated heat—like the skin of the world had split open and bled fire into this shape.
Its scales were the color of dried blood, scorched black along the edges, with cracks that glowed like molten metal underneath. When it moved, those plates shifted and groaned like grinding stone. Its wings were still folded, but even then, they loomed above the cliffs—thick, veined sheets of leather stretched between clawed wing joints, twitching like it was holding back the urge to level everything around it.
The head—fuck—the head was long, armored in layered horns and jagged bone, like someone had strapped blades to a furnace. Smoke curled constantly from its nostrils.
And the eyes.. they didn't look around. They focused. Massive, glowing things that locked onto him like he was already ashes.
It hadn't even roared yet. It didn't need to.
Just standing there, breathing—Sulthar made the world feel too small. Even for a towering 1000 meter tall steel titan.