I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 456: The Ninth Seat, Great Demon

The sky was filled with meteors blotting out the sun, falling with thick black smoke trailing behind them.And the Green Dragon Aetherass, caught in the meteor's trajectory, had fallen into a terrifying crisis of life and death.

Although the distance was vast, she still felt a sense of dread.

"I'm going to die!"

Aetherass's time seemed to freeze as her mind frantically raced through possible countermeasures.

Her dragon scales and magical defenses clearly couldn't withstand this attack descending from the sky.

And she couldn't use anything like space magic to escape from here either—that sword-wielding woman had already used a spatial slash to completely disrupt the surrounding area for hundreds of meters, creating a temporary space magic exclusion zone.

The 9th-circle spell she knew, Storm of Vengeance, was an offensive spell that could only be used for attack, not defense.

She could use the 8th-circle Antimagic Field though.

In theory, this spell could generate a spherical antimagic energy around her body, and within the field's area, spells would fail, summoned creatures and magic item effects would disappear.

But just like how most magic is closely tied to the caster, this spell was no exception—the antimagic field would likely struggle to resist Meteor Swarm.

The enemy she faced this time was the famously powerful Kingdom Grand Mage Elijah Karos, with a professional level as high as 19.

Reaching such a level, even as a True Dragon, she had to admit she was outmatched.

Moreover, this spell cast by the King's Hand wasn't just an ordinary 9th-circle spell—before casting it, he had been given a special wish by another level 18 High Priest, and another level 17 sword-wielder was assisting from the side.

There was every reason to believe this well-coordinated attack wouldn't be inferior to a peak level 20 Epic Mage personally casting it.

Every level 20 professional, when no Legendary exists, could be called a super powerhouse, practically a mortal miracle.

After using the time of a lightning strike to determine that all her current strength couldn't stop this world-destroying Meteor Swarm, she began searching through her bloodline inheritance for a life-saving technique.

Bloodline curse?

She didn't know if it would work, and even if it did, her corpse would probably be cold by then.

Burning most of her essence blood to launch an unprecedented super spell and forcefully resist this Meteor Swarm might have some feasibility, but even if she succeeded by a tiny probability, it would only delay things for a moment.

After it ended, her strength would rapidly decline, and she didn't believe these human experts before her would show her mercy.

Descent technique? No, they'd likely detect it too. Human mages would sense the abnormality at the soul level.

One plan after another sprang from her mind, only to be erased by herself in an instant.

Facing absolute power, many seemingly clever methods lost their meaning.

Even if she could escape from here, these human experts were knowledgeable and would naturally recognize the fact that she hadn't truly died.

They would pursue her at extreme speed and kill her weakened state.

What she wanted to find was a path of survival, not just delaying death for a moment, and certainly not in a miserably pathetic state.

If it really came down to it, she could only...

Her thoughts couldn't help but drift toward...

The Mother of Chromatic Dragons, Tiamat.

Although she couldn't directly and forcibly intervene in the battle here, as a deity who appeared as an intermediate divine power but was actually extremely powerful, as long as she was willing to pay enough of a price, she could probably save her.

But what price would she need to pay?

If she became a puppet for her descent, how was that different from dying?

Even if it didn't reach that point, she would likely lose control over a significant portion of her body, though that was barely acceptable.

Regardless, it was better than dying here.

Her heart fell into incomparable struggle.

Some knowledge within her bloodline inheritance told her that becoming Tiamat's descent puppet was a path more terrifying than death.

While she was searching for a path of survival, the blazing meteor in the sky was rapidly approaching.

That black meteor, carrying a destructive force, wherever it passed, the surrounding space was instantly frozen and on the verge of shattering.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The Green Dragon Queen Aetherass could hear her own heartbeat accelerating in an embarrassing way.

In the depths of her pupils, the meteor's volume was rapidly expanding.

Just as she was in despair and preparing to use her mental energy to contact Tiamat, another thought suddenly burst into her mind.

"Dira! Aren't you going to make a move yet?!"

"What good does me dying here do for you?!"

Her spiritual thoughts roared, spreading in all directions.

On the distant battlefield, the first wave of monsters approaching the city walls had already engaged in close combat with humans.

Both monsters and humans heard the voice from the Green Dragon Queen Aetherass, and since it was direct spiritual thoughts, all creatures could directly understand the meaning contained within the voice.

"Dira? Who is that?"

What first appeared in their minds was confusion.

They didn't know where the voice came from, nor did they understand what creature the voice was accusing.

Only Matthias Monroe, the Guild Master, who was in the sky battling the Rotwing Drake, felt a brief flash of confusion in his heart—the name was vaguely familiar.

The four human Epic-level experts in the sky also naturally heard this voice at the same time.

Different expressions appeared on their faces.

A grim expression flickered across Erich Xavier the Spellweaver's face.

As for the other three experts from the royal capital who had teleported in, their expressions were relatively calm. Elijah Karos, in particular, had an indescribable calmness, as if everything was under control.

Milo Dalton the High Priest began softly chanting something, a compassionate expression appearing on his face.

The red-haired sword-wielding woman, Mabel Burns, after executing her spatial slash, had already returned to Elijah's side. Her expression remained stern, but a hint of eagerness flickered in her shining eyes.

Being in one's sixties in the ordinary world was already the age for retirement, surrounded by children and grandchildren, but for an Epic-level expert, it was still prime time.

Moreover, Mabel was a classic sword maniac—she had devoted most of her life's energy to honing her swordsmanship and training, so her mind was still quite young.

The meteor in the sky continued advancing rapidly, unaffected by the Green Dragon Queen Aetherass's will.

Although Aetherass had thought back and forth in her mind, from the meteor's appearance, falling from above the atmosphere, to now appearing tens of kilometers above the Green Dragon Queen's head, only about twenty seconds had passed.

Seeing that her roar had received no response, an uncontrollable anger arose in Aetherass's heart.

She had just sensed the trace of Dira's will flickering, indicating that her guess and intelligence were correct—this Great Demon had already quietly descended upon the borderlands.

However, it seemed she had no intention of intervening.

Seeing the meteor above her head getting closer and closer, and soon it would be right on top of her, she couldn't care about much anymore.

"Dira, I'm willing to join the Demon Race!"

Her spiritual thoughts spread out again.

If she didn't get a response this time, she would have to find a way to contact the Dragon Mother Tiamat.

Fortunately, perhaps this Great Demon named Dira was precisely waiting for Aetherass to completely hand over her bargaining chip.

Her spiritual thoughts had just spread out when a response came from the sky.

"The Demon King, Sir, has approved Lady Green Dragon Aetherass's application to join."

"Welcome to becoming a member of the Demon Race."

After receiving the reply, Aetherass felt a sense of relief, but at the same time couldn't help feeling stifled.

She knew this Great Demon had probably been watching everything here all along, preparing to use her life as leverage to force her to join the Demon Race.

But she couldn't gamble.

Whether dying here or becoming the Dragon Mother's descent puppet, the cost far exceeded becoming a member of the Demon Race.

Of course, becoming a Demon Race member also required paying some price.

In fact, in the material world, the direct threat from the Demon King was even greater than Tiamat in her divine kingdom.

Once she agreed, she couldn't back out, or the Demon King would make her pay a painful price.

No, actually, the Demon King wouldn't even need to act personally—this Great Demon named Dira could easily take her life.

But regardless, she should be able to survive after all.

"Hurry up and act! I'm about to die!"

The meteor in the sky was truly too scorching, and even someone as strong as Aetherass couldn't care about face anymore.

On the ground battlefield, a goblin lying prone among numerous monster corpses began convulsing violently all over.

If Gauss, who had already fallen into deep slumber, were still here, he would be surprised to discover that the owner of this trembling body was the elderly goblin he had briefly encountered not long ago.

It seemed to realize it was about to die.

A bitter smile appeared on its face.

At the end of its life, it understood why it had existed, and why, despite being at such a low level of strength, its intelligence far exceeded that of its kin.

Life had never had any miracles. The exceptional intelligence level it was proud of was only because it was a pawn of another terrifying existence. A trace of power flowing from that being had given it the intelligence traits that other goblins lacked.

And its luck in escaping death and its inability to level up all stemmed from this.

"I really am... pathetic."

"Boom!"

An incredibly powerful force and will awakened deep within its body.

In an instant, its still relatively solid will was mercilessly crushed.

The great will named "Dira" successfully completed its descent ritual using this seemingly frail body.

Around the elderly goblin, countless corpses and living tissues began to melt, then along with abundant natural mana, rapidly surged into its body.

Within a radius of over ten kilometers, all spellcasters found that at this moment, their magic had failed.

Ongoing spells were suddenly interrupted, and spells ready to be released couldn't be activated.

"Demon Race Supreme Council, the 9th Seat, Great Demon Dira."

Elijah Karos in the sky murmured.

He looked at the flesh monster gathering below, showing no intention of interfering.

Dira in the midst of her ritual couldn't be stopped.

Although the scene at her descent location was terrifying, in other environments invisible to the naked eye, the ferocity far exceeded ordinary creatures' understanding.

The area around her had become a magic-devoid zone—any wandering mana was instantly drained by her.

Even if Elijah Karos were to intervene now, it would only accelerate Dira's descent process.

Or rather, exhausting effort to interrupt it wouldn't yield as much benefit as imagined.

Who knew how many descent materials these Great Demons still had, allowing them to quickly reach the battlefield.

Elijah Karos's thoughts couldn't help but return to the previous night.

Before they had finalized this plan, they had already received news from special channels.

A Great Demon with an official seat had extended its tentacles into the borderlands.

Each Great Demon at this level possessed power equal to that of a human Legendary.

However, it was unlikely that the being itself would personally descend to the frontlines.

Sure enough, today Dira appeared before them in the form of a descent body.

Descent magic was a special advanced magic created by the Demon Race, based on the principle of deities descending to the mortal world, and only a few Great Demons could perform it.

Its greatest advantage was flexibility, and although the descent body's strength was far inferior to the original body, it could still reach the level of a top-tier Epic.

Even if it died, the risks and costs to pay were relatively limited, at least insignificant compared to the danger of the original body personally descending and potentially being ambushed.

In an instant, the Great Demon Dira's descent body completed its arrival.

A pale hand covered in mucus extended from the abdomen of the host body, then a humanoid monster 1.9 meters tall slowly stood up from within.

It floated silently above the ground.

Just from its appearance, it even looked quite ordinary.

Humanoid form, with an unhealthy pale skin.

But the eerie scene that had just occurred made the other humans and monsters on the surrounding battlefield instinctively stiffen.

This was clearly a powerful creature that could easily kill them.

However, the descent body named "Dira" clearly didn't have much interest in these lower life forms, not even in humans.

It just looked up at the meteor rapidly descending in the sky.

Then it reached up and made a grasping motion.

The next moment.

Around the blazing meteor, a black energy cube suddenly appeared, like a personal cage enveloping the meteor within it.

Countless pitch-black chains extended from the cube's surface, piercing into the meteor.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The rapidly falling meteor visibly slowed down.

Finally, it completely stopped at a height of three thousand meters above the Green Dragon's head.

This distance sent a cold sweat down Aetherass's back.

Three thousand meters was truly but a blink of an eye for a meteor falling at full speed.

She knew this distance was most likely the result of Dira the Great Demon's meticulous control, intentionally using it to intimidate her.

Even as a descent body, its strength far exceeded Aetherass's.

After completely immobilizing the meteor and completing its work, Dira flickered and appeared beside the Green Dragon, her gaze fixed on the direction of the human Epic-level experts.

However, her gaze wasn't focused on the strongest Grand Mage Elijah Karos, but passed over him to look at Mabel Burns, the lowest level among the teleportation trio.

"I heard you received teachings from the Sword Saint Roland, sir, during his later years?"

"So you're also a sword wielder? Will you become the next Brave Hero?"

"You look so scary."

There was a hint of curiosity and teasing flickering in her tone.

Clearly, Dira's descent wasn't simply to save Aetherass—she also had other purposes, such as coming to test Mabel Burns, who had supposedly received some of the Sword Saint Roland's teachings.

The Brave Hero Roland, as a powerful human who could contend with the Demon King, made all Great Demons consider anything related to him as a top priority.

No one knew when the next Brave Hero would appear.

Unfortunately, there was an invisible supreme world rule blocking the Great Demons from finding the Brave Hero's successor.