Ashen Dragon

After eating and drinking to his heart's content, fully recovered, Cassius once again came to the heavy stone door.

He didn't push the door open but instead performed actions:

[Bear's Resilience]

[Cat's Grace]

[Owl's Wisdom]

Bear's Resilience made his constitution more durable, Cat's Grace made his actions more agile, and Owl's Wisdom heightened his perception, providing the Red Dragon with an overall boost.

After casting what he jokingly called the "zoo series" of spells on himself, Cassius still felt uneasy, as this was the legacy of a Legendary Druid, and who knew what kind of traps might be waiting.

[Gilded Carapace]

The accumulated Gold Element within his body converged on the surface of the Red Dragon, turning its scales into a metallic golden hue. If one didn't look closely, it could easily be mistaken for a Gold Dragon.

[Protection from Lightning Damage]

With a soft whistle from Cassius, an invisible field gradually formed around his body, protecting him from lightning attacks.

"After all, it's a Magic System profession."

"How could it be done without some trickery?"

After this entire display of magical radiance, Cassius felt much more at ease, finally having some confidence.

The Red Dragon gazed at the stone door in front of him, took a deep breath, and then stepped forward resolutely.

[Knocking Technique]

His claws, glowing with Magical Aura, touched the stone door.

"Boom..."

With a loud knocking sound, the heavy stone door made a dull roar and then slowly lifted.

The scene before him widened.

And the sight left the Red Dragon stunned.

It was a vast, open space, almost large enough to accommodate a mountain peak.

But ahead was only a narrow suspended stone bridge, while the rest of the ground had sunken dozens of meters.

The cliff walls were smooth and straight, as if cut by sharp blades from top to bottom.

Looking down from the stone bridge, illuminated by ever-burning azure flames, he could see the ground below piled with various debris, including broken colossal statues, ruins of grand buildings, blurred inscriptions, old fragmented weapons, and massive giant skeletons…

Looking up, the high domed ceiling was covered in murals that were not exquisite but were filled with a sense of primal strength.

He could see ancient wars between Giants and Dragons, the past splendor of the Giant Empire's territories, the majestic figures of the Giant gods, and the tragic scenes of the empire's fall…

These weren't just murals; they were a history book.

"So this is the legacy of the Giant Empire he collected."

As Cassius marveled, he walked cautiously on the stone bridge.

His wings were slightly spread, steps light, and he constantly monitored his surroundings, ready to deal with any potential danger.

The Red Dragon looked towards the end of the stone bridge.

There sat a throne.

It was also made of stone, towering over twenty meters high.

There were no excessive decorations, only ancient and mysterious patterns carved into it.

And there, seated on it, was the long-dead body of a Storm Giant. Its purple-gray skin was covered in thick dust, seeming to have rested there for thousands of years, silently watching the approaching visitors.

Yet somehow, it had not decayed into bones.

"The last Storm Giant Prophet..."

"Is this Randta?"

The Red Dragon was quite curious about this Storm Giant.

He wondered how this being managed to create such a magnificent tomb all by himself, though the spectacle alone was enough to demonstrate the tremendous power he wielded in life.

Cassius continued walking along the stone bridge, approaching the giant corpse within dozens of meters.

Yet in an instant, an unexpected change occurred.

The Giant's single eye suddenly opened!

That eye contained an endless storm, seemingly glaring at the unscrupulous visitor!

Unknown crystals around flashed continuously, filled with violent and abundant elemental energy.

And those turbulent elemental energies swiftly converged.

"This is bad!"

Cassius felt a terrifying magical wave suddenly spread out.

"This power..."

The Red Dragon raised its head slightly.

A mass of churning black clouds, centered on the Giant's corpse, spread nearly madly, proliferating like a monstrous beast about to devour everything in the cavern.

It was filled with flashing lightning, thunder, and howling wind.

"Storm of Vengeance!"

Thunder roared!

It was a primal cry from ancient times.

"Boom!"

The mere aftermath of the thunder caused the rocky ceiling to crack and break, with stones falling in succession.

"Buzz ——"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And this thunderous roar made Cassius' ears ring incessantly, as if struck by a giant hammer, rendering him temporarily deaf.

The black cloud spread rapidly, about to engulf him.

Seeing the dire situation, the Red Dragon, despite the headache and ringing ears, summoned the strength to cast a spell.

"Instant Blink Spell!"

As Cassius invoked the spell with his will, he prayed in his heart for its success. The "Destruction" brought by this Druid far exceeded his imagination.

After all, the Blink Spell only had a fifty percent chance of breaching the barrier of the Prime Material World to enter the Ethereal Plane; if not, he would have to endure the raging storm directly.

"It worked!"

The Red Dragon was overjoyed, suddenly feeling his body break through the boundary between reality and the void.

[You cast [Blink Spell]]

[Gained special status "Entering the Ether"]

The Ethereal Plane is the conduit connecting the Prime Material Plane and the Inner Planes, with the void of the Ethereal Plane touching every part of the Prime Material Plane like two parallel, contiguous surfaces where people can see the landscape of the adjacent plane.

He was now at the edge of the plane.

In an instant, everything before Cassius turned black and white, with chaotic lines appearing in his vision.

His body was in a disabled state, unable to move easily, only quietly floating in this void.

In the next moment, he saw the location where he had been, engulfed by the turbulent black clouds.

The clouds first brought a torrential acid rain, corroding the stone bridge with countless holes.

Then, hail poured down from the clouds, with the hailstones striking the stone surface with crisp sounds.

Powerful lightning bolts descended from the sky, blasting meter-deep holes into the stone surface, creating terrifying lightning storms that instantly swept through where the Red Dragon had stood.

For a moment, lightning filled the air, with thunder and lightning swirling all around.

Intersecting thunderbolts formed a fearsome lightning prison, incinerating everything caught within it to ashes.

"Boom!"

"Boom! Boom!"

Several bolts of lightning descended, directly shattering the stone bridge, causing massive stones to collapse down. If such lightning had struck the Red Dragon, it would have been difficult for him to survive.

Endless winds and ice rains assaulted the area beneath the clouds, turning it into a complete ruin.

And in Cassius' eyes, the formerly grand tomb had turned into a black and white graveyard of all beings.

After avoiding this terrifying storm by using the Blink Spell to enter the Ethereal Plane, Cassius felt lingering fear.

If the Red Dragon had remained in place just now, even with Protection from Energy Damage, it wouldn't have been able to withstand the violent lightning and endless ice rain.

"This is..."

Cassius felt a strong gravitational force trying to pull him back to the Prime Material Plane, to mend the breach in the plane's barrier.

Despite his desperate resistance, it was to no avail; Cassius was simply too weak to contend with the plane's rules, and he had no choice but to submit.

[Lost special status "Entering the Ether"]

The Red Dragon reappeared in the original place, instantly stunned.

"Are you kidding me——"

Immediately, the elements became restless once again.

Endless winds and ice rain lashed at his body, and the flashing electric arcs on the ground quickly gathered, reaching towards his limbs.

In the rolling black clouds above, terrifying thunder was once again accumulating, the sound like a deep, long-suppressed roar.

The most terrifying wave of spells had passed, and these were just its lingering aftermath.