Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods-Chapter 109: Judgment of the Zodiac

Lloyd’s aura grew.

It shimmered gold at first, then white, and finally something like a blend of colors, a pure light crowned by gold.

The ground cracked beneath him. Above, the night clouds moved.

The demon narrowed his eyes.

"Light magic...? No. Not that simple. I feel... something else."

Lloyd’s voice echoed through the field.

"You reek of overconfidence. One-on-one, like a duel of honor? What do you think this is, a knight’s tale? You’re born in the wrong era, brat. You should’ve remembered your ancestors were buried by people like me, you’re not an exception, just another cocky idiot too green to know what kind of fire he’s poking."

The demon gritted his teeth. fгeewebnovёl.com

"You seem confident for someone who declared his own death."

Lloyd raised his hand.

"Confident? I’m just old, kid. I don’t have time for drama. Anyone who walks into battle expecting to walk out is either a liar or an idiot. You don’t go to war praying to survive. You go to make damn sure the other guy doesn’t."

He jumped.

The golden aura around him expanded into a dome, then into a blinding sphere of swirling light, swallowing the plains.

The demon vanished inside the light.

"Grand Arcanum: Celestial Vault"

The world shifted.

Above, space opened. A vault of constellations revealed itself like a ceiling of the space itself.

Stars hung in webs of starlight. Massive planets turned in slow orbit. Asteroids moved in glowing spirals.

The demon blinked, stunned by the scenery.

"This... What kind of magic is that?"

High above, in the center of a miniature sun, Lloyd floated.

He sat in meditation, his staff orbiting him slowly.

He looked down.

"He’s not moving... Not even flinching under all that light," Lloyd muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Any other demon would’ve been burnt by this much sacred light. So what is he?"

His eyes stayed locked on the demon who seemed frozen, watching the space around like a child entering a dream world.

"He’s more interested in the surroundings than their origin? Is he that cautious... or just too cocky?"

He paused, a vein bulging on his temple.

"Well, whether you’re confused or just full of yourself, makes no difference to me."

He raised his palm.

"You gift me the first move? Then I’ll make sure it’s your last."

The constellations responded instantly.

Every star began to glow brighter. Every planet aligned.

"Celestial Dance: Starfall - Judgement of the Zodiac"

A pulse surged through the vault.

Then they fell.

Beams of starlight, dozens at first, then hundreds, then thousands, a cascade of light crashing from the heavens.

The demon looked up. There was no gap, no shadow, no escape.

Only light.

The sky fell like judgment.

Light poured down like a waterfall of light, each beam slamming into the earth with incessantly.

The ground trembled, cracked, then fractured into massive chunks.

The beams kept coming, waves of burning light, building layer upon layer until the ground was no longer visible, only a rising dome of shining energy.

A bed of light replaced the battlefield, rising higher with each passing second, like a sacred tomb sealing everything inside.

Above the shining land, Lloyd hovered.

His eyes scanned the scorched battlefield below. The ground was glowing, cracked, and warped.

Everything beneath him had been turned into a lake of light.

He moved again.

His hands shifted into a new position, forming a shape with his fingers. Above him, the constellations began to shift.

The stars danced, but now, the planets moved too.

One by one, they rotated, turning in glowing spirals. The vault above began to swirl, stars and planets spinning together in a cosmic vortex.

A deep hum echoed from the skies.

"Celestial Dance: Planetary Collapse."

From the heart of the swirling sky, a massive beam formed. It was thick, shimmering with every color, and pulsing like an heartbeat.

Then it fell.

The beam crashed into the land like the fist of a god.

The earth shook.

Far away, others felt it.

Selith froze, standing up. She looked at the horizon. Lena, beside her, was unrolling a sleeping mat. Ilya poured water over the fire.

"... What is that?" Selith murmured.

Further away, inside a carriage, Airi opened an eye. She was resting near the leaders of New Horizons, who were all sleeping.

She sat up, looking toward the window.

In another carriage, Crest stirred.

"...Is something wrong?"

Elysia’s eyes were already wide. She stared out the window, lips slightly parted.

She didn’t answer. Just kept looking.

Back on the battlefield, Lloyd lowered his hand.

The swirling of stars and planets above slowed to a still.

The dust cloud below expanded and drifted, covering everything in a thick blanket of gray.

Steam rose. Debris floated. The entire area looked like the aftermath of a meteor strike.

Lloyd stayed silent for a few seconds.

He could go for more.

But he needed to observe. To see how effective this method was.

He crossed his arms.

"Still breathing? Come on out. I’m not cruel, I’ll slap you, then I’ll listen to you. And now, it’s listening time."

His voice echoed.

"Come on. You wanted a one-on-one, didn’t you? Come show me that demon pride. Or are you just another fancy haircut with a loud mouth and a weak core?"

The wind shifted.

A low hum. Then a pulse.

The dust swirled violently, caught by a strange breeze.

Then, on the ruined ground, a strange glow began to spread.

A purple symbol burned into the earth, forming in wide, twisting shapes. It looked like a purple maze made of sharp edges and jagged curves.

The center pulsed like a heart.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes.

"A pentagram... So you’re finally showing me something."

The ground trembled.

A pulse of purple light rose from the pentagram.

Sparks danced like fireflies, and the wind pulled away from the center of the battlefield.

A column of purple fire erupted upward. From the heart of it, something began to take shape.

A black, elastic body emerged like melted tar stretching into a form, coiling and recoiling like paste trying to remember how to be flesh.

It shook, warped, and twisted until it slumped forward on all fours.

Its form bulged and sagged.

A giant toad, misshapen and grotesque.

But as the body hunched, its back convulsed. A long, wet crack echoed through the area.

Then it screamed.

The creature let out a shriek that split the skies, a sound so sharp the horizon itself quivered.

From the toad’s back, something pushed out.

Its spine stretched, split, and was pierced from the inside. A thin arm, clean and refined, broke through.

The fire rose again, burning hotter.

The elastic mass collapsed inward like a cocoon, melting into itself, dragging the fire with it. The air calmed.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes.

"That..." A voice said, deep and composed, "was an excessive display."

A hand slid out of the fire, straightening a collar with slow precision.

"So much destruction, so quickly. That shine in your eye, old man. It’s the shine of someone trying to make a point."

A leather shoe clicked softly against the burning ground.

"And you made it. The light show, the righteous speech, the falling stars... very theatrical."

A figure emerged fully.

He stepped into view through the dimming fire, which faded around him like curtains drawn back from a stage.

A man, dressed in a black suit, crisp and elegant.

Polished leather shoes. Black gloves, a black tie.

His hair was short, black, perfectly parted. His face, youthful yet tired, with golden eyes that glowed just slightly in the dark.

"Thank you, truly," he said with a courteous nod, "for freeing me from that hideous form you carry."

He smiled politely.

"Allow me to introduce myself. In this world, you may refer to me as the Collector."

He adjusted his cuffs.

"The one who keeps the books, counts the promises, tallies the costs. I chase the interest others pretend doesn’t exist."

He brought a hand to his chest.

"But for you... I’ll be the grim reaper."

His eyes shone yellow.

"I am one of the eight Demon Lords, Midas, the Gilded Maw."

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