The storm above split in half as the Divine Dragon plummeted through its scaled body tearing the air like the fall of a mountain.
Blackened, shattered horns jutted from its skull, smoke billowing from the gaps where divine fire had once burned.
Klaus blurred into existence on its flank, violet lightning crawling over his bare, blood-slick skin. His blade bit deep into the dragon's ribs, the metal screeching against bone until the lightning detonated—blowing a crater the size of a warship into its flesh.
From the opposite side, Ryouma descended like a comet. His strike didn't come with a roar as it came with silence, the kind of killing intent that snuffed breath from the air.His blade met the dragon's claw, shearing it clean from the wrist in a spray of golden ichor that burned the ground below.
Sofie surged between them, her body wreathed in blinding fire. She didn't hesitate—her hands tore through the creature's wing membrane, and she ripped downward, splitting the leathery expanse into molten ribbons. The dragon's scream was like the sky collapsing.
The beast thrashed, but the three moved as one.
Klaus was already on its spine, lightning flaring brighter, carving into the ridges of bone until they glowed molten.
Ryouma's blade punched through the base of its skull, severing divine sinew with a grinding rip.
Sofie's flames poured into the wound, igniting it from within until the air itself shimmered from heat.
It was no longer a battle.
It was an execution.
The Divine Dragon staggered, half its body sloughing away in a rain of burning gore.
Every heartbeat thundered like war drums with every strike painting the battlefield in streaks of violet, gold, and hellfire.
Its wings collapsed. Its roar broke. Its colossal frame fell to one knee, scales peeling away under the relentless assault.
And then
Its eyes locked on them, hate burning through the ruin of its divine form.Something ancient and desperate coiled inside its chest, light swelling like a second sun—its death throes promising to take them all.
Klaus's voice was low, cold, and certain.
"End it."
Klaus's gaze cut to Sofie—sharp, deliberate. No words were needed.
A single nod.
The signal.
She understood instantly.
Klaus turned away. His body blurred upward, carried by a burst of wind and lightning until he was airborne.
From there, he spotted Ryouma, standing on the far ridge, calm as a predator waiting for the kill. Klaus angled his descent like a lightning bolt aimed at one man.
Below, Sofie drew in the last embers of her strength. Her hair whipped wildly in the heat, eyes blazing with sheer resolve.
The Divine Dragon staggered, its body nothing more than scorched ruin held together by fury. Sofie thrust both arms forward, a roaring cyclone of fire erupting from her palms, fusing into a burning spear of pure destruction.
The attack tore through the dragon's chest.
It convulsed—skin blistering, bones cracking—until the great beast finally collapsed with a tremor that shook the mountain itself. Dust, flame, and ash spiraled upward like the breath of a dying god.
Sofie dropped to her knees, gasping, then forced herself to stand. She sprinted to the dragon's head, eyes darting to its enormous, lifeless sockets. She searched frantically—no glimmer, no jewel, nothing. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Something was wrong.
Her head whipped around—toward Klaus.
A thunderous impact split the air. Klaus's boot drove into Ryouma's chest, the sheer force sending him skidding back across the broken ground, gouging a trench in the earth.
Ryouma coughed, spat a dark ribbon of blood… and then laughed.
Not the laugh of a man cornered.
The laugh of a man who'd been waiting for this.
"Well, well…" His voice dripped with amusement, with menace. "I see it's about time we face off, eh, Klaus?"
Klaus's expression didn't shift—lightning curled around his frame, dancing with the slicing force of wind, a storm made flesh. His eyes locked on Ryouma, unblinking, unyielding.
The air between them crackled.
Two predators, one battlefield.
The Divine Dragon was gone.
Now, the real fight would begin.
---
Sofie's hands were shaking, sweat and soot clinging to her skin as she searched the dragon's scorched remains. Its flesh was cracked and steaming, heat waves still rising from its corpse. She pushed past bone shards and charred sinew until—There.
Beneath the ruined socket of its left eye, buried under brittle membrane, a faint shimmer pulsed. She dug her dagger in, the steel screeching against hardened scale, then sliced deep.
The socket gave way.
A smooth, teardrop-shaped gem slid free, glowing faintly with a swirling pink and silver iridescence.It radiated a strange warmth—alive, almost breathing.
Her breath caught. The Dragon Tears.
Without wasting a second, she pulled a small reinforced glass bottle from her satchel, dropped the gem inside, and sealed it tight. The bottle's enchantments hummed faintly, locking the tear's power within.
She turned and froze.
Not far away, Klaus and Ryouma stood locked in a silent standoff, lightning and wind spiraling off Klaus's body, Ryouma's grin curling like a blade.
"I have the tears!" Sofie shouted, her voice cutting through the air.
Klaus didn't turn—eyes locked on Ryouma like they were chained there."Sofie!" he roared back. "Just like we planned—NOW GO!"
Her legs hesitated. Her instincts screamed to stay, to help him. But Klaus's tone left no room for argument. She turned and sprinted.
Ryouma's smile widened. He blurred—vanishing in a ripple of distorted air.
Klaus's gaze snapped to where he felt the disturbance. His Ryōki flared in a violent pulse, a storm spreading through the battlefield. He knew where Ryouma would appear—he was there in an instant, catching the incoming blade in his bare hand.
Steel bit into flesh. Blood streamed down Klaus's palm, sizzling as it dripped onto the molten ground.
Sofie stumbled back, eyes wide at the sight of him bleeding for her.
Through gritted teeth, Klaus barked, "RUN, SOFIE!"
Her body jolted into motion, but as she tried to dart past the rocks—he was there.
Ryouma.
Right in front of her.
Klaus's mind snapped to the realization.
"Then… who the hell have I been holding off just now?"
He turned his head. The "Ryouma" in his grasp shimmered, its form bending and warping before it shattered into nothing but fading motes of light.
An illusion.
The real Ryouma's blade was already rising.
Ryouma's hand shot out like a viper, fingers tangling in Sofie's hair and yanking her head back. She gasped, her knees nearly buckling under the sudden pain.
Klaus was already charging but froze the instant Ryouma's blade kissed the skin of her throat.
"Haha… no, no, Klaus," Ryouma chuckled darkly, eyes glinting. "You take one more step… and your girlfriend dies right here."
Sofie's eyes locked on Klaus.Klaus's gaze met hers—sharp, desperate, calculating.
"Damn it! Can't I do anything here?!" His mind was a storm of frustration. Every muscle in his body screamed to move, but he knew one wrong twitch would end her.
Ryouma's attention slid to the bottle strapped to Sofie's belt. The faint pink glow from the Dragon Tears reflected in his eyes. He reached for it, his grin widening.
But Sofie moved first.
Her head snapped back, skull cracking against his jaw with a sickening THUNK.
Ryouma grunted, staggering half a step, teeth bared in pain.
Klaus didn't waste the opening—he lunged, arm scooping Sofie into him. The rush of adrenaline drove him forward, each stride heavy with urgency.
But he was too slow.
A shadow blurred past.
When Klaus blinked, Ryouma was already there blocking his path, eyes cold, smile gone. The tip of his blade gleamed between them.
The wind around Klaus began to spiral, lightning crawling across his arms in jagged arcs. His Ryōki flared hot and sharp.
Ryouma's grin returned, slow and feral.
---
Klaus planted his feet, pulling Sofie close with one arm as the other raised to the air.
Wind howled. Lightning cracked.
Then BOOM!
A shimmering dome of swirling wind and violet Ryōki burst outward, arcs of electricity dancing across its surface. The air warped with power, the ground beneath him fracturing from the sheer force. Sofie felt the sudden shift—the suffocating weight of Klaus's will wrapping around them like a steel wall.
Ryouma's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Ohhh…" he breathed, licking the blood from the corner of his mouth. "…combining negation with Ryōki? Clever, klausy boy."
He stepped forward and SLAMMED his blade against the dome.
CRRRAAACK! The barrier rippled violently, the sound sharp and shrill, sparks spraying like shattered glass.
Klaus didn't flinch though his jaw was tight, eyes locked on Ryouma with murder in their depths.
BANG! Another hit—harder this time. The dome trembled.
Ryouma laughed. Low at first, then rising into a manic, menacing cackle that echoed off the mountainside."Make barriers all you want, klausy boy!"
SMASH!
The blade struck again, the sound deafening. "They won't make a damn difference!"
Sofie gritted her teeth inside the dome, glancing up at Klaus. His aura was suffocating now—pure killing intent rolling off him like an oncoming storm.
Outside, Ryouma pressed his forehead to the barrier, grinning like a predator. "When this breaks… I'm going to carve you apart, piece by piece, right in front of her."
Klaus's fingers twitched. Lightning coiled tighter. The dome pulsed once—then began to shrink, compressing the air inside into something sharper… deadlier.