## Chapter 1288: Inflicted Weakness
The Red Dragon finally managed to escape the Sea Monster’s grasp.
Since the Candlemaster recreated this World, all the “wars” it has experienced can be considered part of Calamity Red’s power.
He can manifest and re-enact any fragment of any war at any given moment.
For instance, the thousand great cannons that blared in an instant during the war between the Elves and the Dwarves; or the Sky-Devouring Beasts that could devour mountains and rivers in the war between the Winged Ones and the Sky-Devourer, or even the Wing Heavenly Envoy who could defeat such formidable opponents. He could even manifest the battle in the Dream Realm where the Silver Crown Dragon fought Supreme Heaven at the beginning of its birth.
This is the supreme authority of a Pillar God.
However, the Silver Crown Dragon of the past did not rely on its Pillar God authority to fight him. Arthur, therefore, did not wish to use this power against Vothigern, who had already been forcefully deposed from his Pillar God position. If he lost this battle of minds, even if the opponent’s divine soul were annihilated, their consciousness would gradually regenerate within his own.
After all, they were originally one person. Just as a part of Supreme Heaven has now returned to the Great Philosopher.
However, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy was not deterred by this attack.
Or rather, he didn’t know the meaning of retreat—
The ferocious Sea Monster completely ignored—or rather, forgot about—the three powerful beings that had lured it there. Instead, it began to operate with focused intensity.
—Because these tentacles were, in reality, not the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s body at all.
The Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s true form was the headless corpse left behind by the forbidden Pillar God Ai Shiping. Those tentacles had originally emerged from his neck, composed of overflowing forbidden power.
This was why the Abyss Heavenly Envoy seemed to lack a brain.
Because he truly had no brain.
Although Phantom Demons do not need a brain to think, the absence of a brain means the absence of the concept of “thinking.” It is like a person in the Dream Realm having no wings, and therefore no concept of flight. While they could fly through spells or other means, they lack this innate instinct.
The head of the giant whale, on the other hand, was the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s true “body,” where his heart resided. Eivass’s consciousness, as well as the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s true form, were stored there.
These tentacles were actually appendages that emerged from the vacant head, controlled by the Abyss Heavenly Envoy like blood vessels—or perhaps hair.
Therefore, any damage to them did not affect the Abyss Heavenly Envoy in the slightest. On the contrary, the ice storm spat out by the Silver Crown Dragon previously had struck the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s true form.
It froze and shattered the waves and tentacles, but injuries of this magnitude were meaningless to the Abyss Heavenly Envoy. However, it hit the “giant whale’s head” flying ahead.
—In fact, this blow was not supposed to cause significant damage.
What truly enraged the Abyss Heavenly Envoy was the equipment Eivass had placed on him.
“Chain of Friendship”!
As a token jointly created by the King of Winged Ones and the King of Those with Scales in the past, it was a true Divine Artifact. Much like the spear of the Candlemaster’s Disciple, it possessed the highest level of priority.
This meant it could take effect even against Heavenly Envoys and even Pillar Gods.
In the original World, many Heavenly Envoys that were difficult to oppose—including Eivass’s elder brother, Edward, who had defeated Eivass in the original World and obtained the Heart of the Demon Dragon—were able to dismantle their special mechanisms only by relying on various Divine Artifacts gifted or lent by these Pillar Gods and Heavenly Envoys.
Moreover, as equipment Eivass had bestowed upon the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, its immense power provided a boost to the Abyss Heavenly Envoy as well.
As stated in the information provided by the “Brave” Isma’i to Eivass…
The ability known as “Heart of Heresy” was precisely the power of the forbidden Pillar God of the past!
It was just that those benefactors, holding such paramount treasures, were unaware of the source of their power.
One of the reasons the Abyss Heavenly Envoy had become so agitated was that he had recovered a portion of the ancient power that originally belonged to “himself.” Thus, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy could not resist this equipment that provided him with a boost.
But similarly… its other active state, Lucifer’s “Faith Bastion,” had consequently taken effect.
Faith Bastion.
This power utilized the user’s mental strength to gain physical power. As long as the mind remained steadfast and pure, undisturbed, a light barrier would spontaneously form, capable of repelling all physical attacks.
This was, naturally, an incredibly powerful ability.
It meant that even a mortal—if their faith, determination, and willpower were infinitely steadfast—could remain unharmed even under the onslaught of a descended Heavenly Envoy.
But conversely…
Just as the benefactors of Holy Spring City had their souls disintegrated because they could not withstand the damage to their minds.
The Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s consciousness, compared to his powerful, near-immortal body, was equally fragile!
Not to mention he had just been beaten by Xi Tian Si.
Thus, when he became enraged, he crystallized his giant whale-like head. This state was akin to “Star Ice”—or rather, it was the true, most primal Star Ice!
It was precisely because he felt pain that he wished to protect his weakness.
In this regard, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy was no different from a beast.
All of this was as the prophecy foretold—
“From where the sun disc fell into the sea, a thousand tongues of fire licked the bitter black salt bed.
“Heavenly fire bit the beast’s hem, letting the seawater shriek in the stone pot.
“The beast’s shepherd came from a place of motionless sails and silent bells—
“He poured the last handful of saltwater into a clay pot, only to wait for it to grow fangs like a serpent.”
Motionless sails and silent bells.
This signified absolute stillness, the Twilight of the End Times. The shepherd from here was Eivass himself.
“The beast” and “the saltwater poured into the clay pot” both referred to the Abyss Heavenly Envoy. Its growing serpent’s fangs meant it had been possessed by Eivass using the Shepherd’s Method and had turned into a true “serpent.”
And now, this serpent coiled in the clay pot had indeed bared its fangs!
When the Abyss Heavenly Envoy donned the Chain of Friendship, he gained a fatal weakness!
On the other side, Calamity Red’s betrayal and abandonment of the Red suddenly was also part of his plan.
Eivass had been transformed into the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, the two separated entities now merging, but as “free and newly born,” sacrificed to the “ancient and sealed” entity. This foreshadowed his relationship with the Silver Crown Dragon. Seeing the Abyss Heavenly Envoy slaughtering his benefactors, Calamity Red even intended to kill the Knights of the Round Table who followed “Arthur.” Given this, how could he possibly attack the Abyss Heavenly Envoy?
Wouldn’t that be equivalent to attacking himself!
Furthermore, he originally hoped for the Red to rebel against the benefactors because he was also in a “disadvantaged” position of resistance at the time. He wanted to use the Red to incite war, rebel against the benefactors, and achieve the feat of the final Water War, borrowing its power to overcome the Silver Crown Dragon.
But the Silver Crown Dragon was defeated by him with little resistance, and now he held a high position. Thus, how could he continue to support the Red in rebelling?
Calamity Red’s stance had changed.
However, there was a flaw here.
That is, he did not know that Morgan had hidden fragments of the White Dragon.
“—Morgan will surely kill Arthur, and the Red Dragon will triumph over the White Dragon.”
Eivass recited in his heart.
Prophecies can be interpreted in many ways.
At first glance, this prophecy seems to suggest that Morgan’s betrayal killed the Silver Crown Dragon, allowing the Red Dragon to triumph over the White Dragon.
But this is not the case.
Because the Silver Crown Dragon was not “Arthur,” but Vothigern.
Yet Calamity Red was not entirely Arthur. Only when the two of them merged would they become the true “Arthur.”
This prophecy, which appears to describe two sequential events, is in reality a single event.
Morgan’s method of killing “Arthur” was not the arrow shot—but rather preserving the White Dragon’s soul, thus allowing the Red Dragon to triumph over the White Dragon.
This meant the White Dragon had relinquished its Pillar God authority, no longer able to suppress the Red Dragon, and had to settle the matter with it. The moment the White Dragon’s soul was preserved, the outcome of “Arthur’s death” was sealed.
This was not Morgan’s betrayal from the outset, but the Silver Crown Dragon’s own choice.
—He was purging the “Void” within himself through this method.
In other words, the moment the Red Dragon first overpowered the White Dragon, the fate of Arthur’s death was already sealed—
Abyss Heavenly Envoy.
Calamity Red.
These two originally flawless and perfect beings, at the intersection of their destinies, revealed a fatal flaw.
It was like two trains colliding—
—Using their irrefutable great power, they would tear each other asunder!
