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Chapter 23 - The Inferno’s Descent — Epic Fire Dragon Battle Finale

Dawn bled over the ruined city, painting flame and smoke in the colors of hope and heartbreak. Every bone in my body screamed. My spirit power was an ember, flickering at the edge of darkness, yet around me I felt the pulse of a thousand lives—the heartbeat of a city refusing to yield.

The Fire Dragon hovered above, its wings eclipsing the sun. Rivers of molten fire ran down its sides. Its roar shook the world.

"Ye Caiqian!" the dragon thundered, its voice split by pain and fury. "Your resistance is meaningless. This city will become my pyre! I will be remembered as your world's reckoning!"

Ash fell like snow. I stood amid the battered defenders, the last of my friends at my side—Tie Lao bloodied but unbowed, my brothers breathing hard but unbroken, Lian's hands joined with the wounded, every spirit in the city looking to me.

I clenched my fists, drew a ragged breath, and felt something change. Where once there was only exhaustion, now there was resolve—a resolve born from every soul in the City of Beginning, every dream I had ever dared to believe.

This is my last stand. If I fall, let it be as the spark for something greater.

The Fire Dragon reared back, inhaling. Its chest glowed with the light of a star, ready to unleash a breath that would erase everything I loved.

I drew upon every lesson, every insight from two lifetimes. In my core, spirit energy still spun: earth, air, water, fire—each battered, but none broken. As I focused, I felt the faint threads connecting me to everyone in the city—their hope, their faith, the fragments of their spirit energy flowing toward me.

With one final cry, I reached beyond myself.

Lend me your strength. One last time…

As if in answer, the city answered. Even those with barely a flicker of power sent it forth—mothers holding children, smiths clutching hammers, farmers, hunters, healers, scholars, all united. Elementalists and ordinary people alike. The city became a living web, pouring its hope and power into me.

A vortex formed—four elements spiraling in perfect balance, brighter and hotter than anything I had ever touched. My meridians burned, every cell in my body shuddering with pain and light.

The Fire Dragon's breath surged forth—a beam of annihilation, fire and molten stone and thunder all in one.

I launched upward, channeling every drop of spirit energy. My limbs blurred with light. The elements combined, not in opposition but in unity, weaving a sphere of impossible density and brilliance: earth's unyielding core, water's boundless flow, fire's burning will, air's freedom.

I screamed. The world shook. Time seemed to stop.

At the last instant, the Fire Dragon's eyes widened, seeing not a child, not an ant, but the will of a world.

"No—what are you—!?"

I met its breath with my own—my shield, my spear, my soul forged into a single, blinding attack.

GENESIS SPIRIT BURST!

The impact was beyond sound, beyond sight. The air split. The heavens burned. A pillar of light and elemental force erupted, swallowing dragon and city wall, day and night.

When the world returned, I was falling.

Pain beyond pain lanced through me, but I clung to consciousness. Below, the Fire Dragon's corpse sprawled across the ruin of the north quarter—scales cracked, flames guttering, eyes finally closed.

I hit the ground in a crater of fused stone. My spirit power guttered—almost gone. I tried to rise, collapsed, tried again. Hands—my brothers, Tie Lao, Lian—caught me, lifting me gently.

Around us, the city was battered and broken, the north wall a memory. But cheers rose, weak at first, then swelling into a roar of awe and gratitude.

"He did it! Ye Caiqian slew the dragon!""The city stands!""We're alive!"

Tears streaked my cheeks—pain, relief, disbelief. In that moment, every sacrifice was worth it.

I drifted in and out of consciousness. Warmth surrounded me—arms, voices, the spirit energy of those I loved. I saw my mother's face, pale with worry, eyes shining as she channeled healing energy. I saw the faces of the wounded, the orphans, the hopeful. In the chaos of aftermath, life persisted.

The City of Beginning stood.

And as the sun finally rose over the battered ramparts, I knew—no dragon, no calamity, could ever break the spirit of a united world.

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