The savage fireball licked at the earth, reducing everything to ash.
The purple-feathered beast looked down at the figures vanishing in the flames with the contempt of a king. In its venomous eyes, a flicker of human-like satisfaction gleamed.
It could already imagine the terror and despair of the human who had struck at its tail—how he would scream and wail helplessly before being swallowed by the flames.
Hm? Why is there no sound?
At that moment—
"ROAR—!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A deafening, majestic dragon's roar erupted from the churning sea of fire!
Unlike the monstrous bird's savage screech, this sound was deep, commanding, filled with overwhelming authority.
The mocking glint in the beast's four fierce eyes vanished instantly, replaced by stunned disbelief.
At the very center of the raging inferno, a shape swelled and transformed. The fire did not consume it—instead, the flames gathered around it like loyal subjects.
The next instant, a creature wreathed in fire tore through the blazing curtain and emerged, standing proud.
A dragon!
Though only a little over three meters long, small by dragon standards, its bearing radiated elegance and raw power.
Its body was sheathed in flawless, perfectly aligned scales, each one gleaming as if forged from molten gold. Reflected in the firelight, they shone with a brilliance too dazzling to behold.
Its head was sleek and streamlined, its neck thick and powerful, its sturdy hind legs holding up its frame.
A pair of translucent wings, still youthful yet already strong, spread wide within the flames, stirring waves of scorching heat.
Most breathtaking were its eyes—like molten amber, blazing with vertical golden pupils.
Those golden eyes locked coldly on the purple-feathered beast, which was frozen in shock. Within them burned not only fire, but the calm disdain of a higher intelligence.
This golden young dragon was none other than Lo Quen, revealed in his dragon form.
...
Far off in the withered forest, Jaelena fled swiftly, dragging Janice along.
Suddenly, she snapped her head around. Her violet eyes fixed on the distant sea of fire, her pupils contracting sharply.
She could have sworn she'd just heard a roar that shook her very soul. That deep, resonant cry didn't belong to the monstrous bird—it was a dragon's roar. But dragons had vanished centuries ago...
An illusion?
Jaelena shook her head, forcing the thought away, and pressed on with Janice.
...
"This is... the body of a true dragon?!"
Lo Quen's consciousness boiled within his dragon form.
He could feel the explosive strength pulsing beneath every scale, the resonance of his wings slicing through the air, the fire surging in his throat—far stronger than in his human form—and above all, the bloodline's majesty that reigned over all mortal life.
But there was no time to revel in it. The enemy was right before him.
"Roar!"
The golden dragon bellowed, filled with battle fury. Its forelimbs, cloaked in fine golden scales and tipped with hooked claws, slammed into the ground, while its powerful hind legs drove against the charred earth, gouging two shallow pits.
Like a bolt of golden lightning, the dragon shot from the flames and hurled itself at the purple-feathered beast's exposed neck.
The creature was massive and terrifyingly strong, but its enormous bulk left it sluggish.
It was already grievously wounded—its head half-severed, its hindquarters torn—and the agony slowed its reflexes. Stunned by the sudden appearance of the golden dragon, it faltered for a fatal instant.
"Crack—!!!"
Lo Quen's jaws, lined with razor fangs, clamped down on the joint beneath the beast's central head. His teeth tore through violet feathers and thick hide, sinking deep into muscle and bone.
"SCREEEEECH!!!"
A shriek of agony burst from its beaks. The central head thrashed wildly, while the other head, burning with rage and pain, whipped around and spewed another torrent of fire at Lo Quen.
Boom! Boom!
Flames engulfed him, but the expected sight of melting scales and charred flesh never came.
Instead, the golden scales flared with a faint golden glow, a shield against the inferno.
The searing heat crashed against his body as though striking its nemesis, its power scattered and diminished.
It was the passive gift of his dragon bloodline—[Fire Affinity]—granting him innate resistance to flame.
Yet even that protection began to wane under the unrelenting blaze. Gradually, the fire pierced the golden shimmer and reached his scales.
Black scorch marks spread across his body, and the edges of some scales curled and reddened, stabbing him with waves of pain.
Lo Quen's heart sank. He had to end this quickly.
He sank his fangs deeper, dragon eyes gleaming with feral light as his jaws crushed down with terrifying force.
"Crunch! Crack!"
The sound of breaking bone rang clear. The central neck vertebrae, caught in Lo Quen's fangs and brute strength, snapped nearly in half.
"Splurt—!!!"
Like a burst dam, steaming blood gushed from the torn neck, drenching his head and chest.
"Sssss—!"
The scalding blood hissed as it struck his burning scales, instantly vaporizing into a foul red mist.
Driven mad by pain and loss, the beast's last head let out a desperate, hysterical wail and unleashed another breath of fire.
A golden gleam flashed in Lo Quen's eyes. He wrenched free of the ruined neck and beat his battered wings, dodging aside.
He circled high above, gliding and wheeling, forcing the monster to waste what strength it had left.
Its wings were nearly burned bare, its body soaked in blood, its throat flames dwindling. It could only glare up as Lo Quen mocked it from the skies.
Its movements slowed, its power fading.
"Roar!"
Lo Quen struck. His wings spread wide, his body plunged, and his chest swelled.
A torrent of dragonflame, hotter and denser than any he could muster in human form, erupted from his throat.
A pale-golden column of fire, half a meter thick, slammed into the beast's final head and poured on relentlessly.
"SCREEEECH!!!"
The monster writhed, but at such close range escape was impossible.
The dragonflame clung to its skull like a plague. Keratin cracked and carbonized, its eyes burst in the heat, and its flesh charred and peeled away.
Its thrashing grew feeble, its wails weakening to a low moan.
When Lo Quen finally ceased his breath, the last head hung blackened and smoking, lifeless.
The colossal body toppled with a thunderous crash, sending up clouds of dust. All life within it was gone.
...
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