Kaelen and Allaric stood side by side, swords drawn, the ground trembling beneath the massive purple-scaled dragon.
Kaelen narrowed his eyes, his mind racing.
(Purple scales…? A corrupted dragon? But how could a dragon be corrupted…?)
The beast let out a guttural roar, its throat glowing with twisted energy. At that time it released a fire attack from its mouth.
"Move!" Kaelen barked.
The brothers split, the corrupted fire stream scorching between them. Unlike normal draconic flame of gold and orange, this was sickly violet—tainted, poisonous, reeking of corruption.
Kaelen's aura burst forth, forcing the dragon's gaze on him. He leapt high above the treetops, summoning ten Cardinal Ice-Lightning Chains that shot forward in a blur, binding the dragon's limbs, tail, torso, and finally coiling tight around its head and neck.
"Stay down!" Kaelen roared, diving with his blade blazing in holy light. His sword struck the dragon's neck with immense force—
CRACK!
The steel shattered on contact, splintering uselessly against the hardened scales.
"Kaelen!" shouted Allaric.
The dragon snapped its head free, jaws opening wide to devour him mid-air. But in a flash, Allaric appeared, scooping Kaelen aside. His sword carved into the beast's left eye as they landed, its shriek shaking the forest.
Blood sprayed. The dragon writhed in fury.
Allaric's teeth flashed in a grim grin. "Well, brilliant plan. What now? Your blade's dust, and its scales nullifies our attacks."
Kaelen exhaled, forming two blades of pure light in each hand, one infused with Cardinal Ice, the other with Cardinal Flame. "Weapons I can create. But killing it… that's another problem. It's getting stronger the longer we fight. The corruption isn't finished devouring it."
"Wait—corruption!? A dragon corrupted? By what!?" Allaric shouted.
"I don't know," Kaelen snapped. "But we don't have a choice. We end it here."
The dragon's chest swelled—then fired a massive corrupted fireball straight at them.
Kaelen's eyes gleamed. "—[All-Seeing Eye: Chrono-Dissector]!"
Time itself slowed as he carved through the attack, absorbing the corruption into himself with [Primordial Ingestion]. The sphere of flame dissolved into motes of energy, after being cut though.
"Brother!" Kaelen barked. "Give me your strongest vertical slash—NOW!"
Allaric planted his feet, channeling every drop of mana into his blade until it blazed white-hot. Kaelen, meanwhile, unleashed more than twenty-five ice-lightning chains, straining his reserves to pin the dragon once again.
"NOW, ALLARIC!"
Allaric roared, bringing his sword down in a devastating vertical strike. At the same time, Kaelen crossed both his conjured blades in a glowing X, unleashing one slash of Cardinal Ice and another of Cardinal Fire, combining into a spinning star-shaped formation.
But he wasn't finished. Pressing the two swords together, he fused them into a single radiant sphere—then transformed it into a spiraling beam of Light, Ice, and Fire, hurling it into the spinning * shaped attack.
The attack accelerated into a deadly drill of pure elemental force.
The dragon thrashed, breaking free of the chains at the last second—but in doing so, it lifted its neck, exposing the vulnerable underside.
The strike landed true.
The ground shook as the combined attack carved into its neck. Blood geysered, steaming with corruption. The light magic burned away its regeneration, forcing the beast to stumble.
Kaelen's eyes sharpened. (Now!)
He crafted a small glowing orb with Founder's Conceptual Creation, rapidly infusing it with compressed wind mana until it whirled violently. Tossing it to Allaric, he braced himself.
"Allaric! Bottom of the neck—throw it there after I counter this incoming breath"
"[Inferno Wave]!" Kaelen bellowed, unleashing a swirling vortex of flame that clashed with the dragon's corrupted breath, holding it at bay.
Allaric hurled the orb. It detonated into a violent vortex, pulling the dragon's body into unstable imbalance.
At the same time, kaelen's final spell began to burn his veins.
"[Arcane Arrow Bolt—MAXIMUM OUTPUT]!!"
The glowing arrow shot like a comet, piercing the exposed wound created by the vortex. The explosion rocked the forest.
Kaelen fell to his knees, sweat pouring, his mana reserves nearly spent. His voice trembled but was firm:
"Allaric… finish it."
The elder brother grinned , his sword glowing like a second sun. With a battle cry, he dashed below the dragon's neck , driving his blade upward through the weakened flesh of the dragon's neck.
The beast's death roar tore across the land.
Kaelen's Founder skill activated instinctively—[Primordial Ingestion], drawing the dragon's corrupted essence into his body. His vision darkened, strength fading.
"Damn it… too much mana drained…" he muttered, collapsing forward into unconsciousness.
The last thing he saw was Allaric standing victorious over the fallen dragon.