Without the slightest warning...
The joyous celebration descended into a massacre...
Corpses littered the streets, blood stained the earth, and towering flames devoured everything in their path...
Who could have imagined...
that slaying one dragon would summon two more???
The remaining warriors who were still capable of fighting rushed to the scene. The moment they took their battle stances, one of the dragons—Agnyr—released a deafening roar in an unfamiliar tongue...
In the very next instant...
Something changed...
The warriors' expressions twisted with uncontrollable rage...
Without hesitation, they turned their weapons on one another...
Chaos consumed the city...
Screams echoed from every direction...
Steel clashed against steel...
Fire spread without restraint.
Even the guards could no longer distinguish friend from foe.
Yet...
None of it seemed to matter to the two dragons...
Aculeus slowly scanned the battlefield, letting out a weary sigh before speaking in an unusually calm tone...
"Hey, Agnyr...
Don't you think we've gone a little too far???"
Agnyr froze...
Very slowly...
He turned his head until his left eye met Aculeus' gaze...
For several long seconds...
He simply stared.
Without uttering a single word...
He looked away...
And continued his assault as though nothing had happened...
Amid the sea of destruction...
Valerius finally arrived...
He stopped for a brief moment.
His eyes swept across the battlefield...
The corpses...
The flames...
The suffocating scent of death...
It stretched farther than his eyes could see...
His hand tightened around his own arm.
The expression on his face changed instantly.
Raising his burning fist toward the dragon, he smirked.
"Well...
Looks like another soul is about to cling to this arm."
The moment those words left his lips...
Both dragons understood.
This human...
Was the one primarily responsible for Gyre's death...
Agnyr roared violently.
His enormous wings spread wide as blazing flames erupted across his entire body...
He was about to charge—
"Idiot!!!"
Aculeus' voice interrupted him...
"Be careful!!!
That human...
He's nothing like the others...
There's something different about his presence..."
A mocking grin spread across Valerius' face...
"Heh...
Looks like the one behind you is smarter than you are...
At least...
He already knows his limits."
Those words shattered what little patience Agnyr had left...
True to his title...
The Dragon of Wrath knew only one answer...
He charged.
Valerius lowered his stance...
He waited...
Watching carefully for the perfect opening...
But this dragon...
Was nothing like Gyre...
Without warning...
Agnyr's speed exploded beyond every expectation..
Valerius' calculations collapsed...
Before he could fully react—
Claws.
He barely managed to raise his arms in time, reducing part of the impact...
Even so...
The tremendous force hurled him backward across the battlefield.
He dug his feet into the ground with everything he had just to remain standing...
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth...
"...He's different."
That was all he managed to whisper.
Because before the words had fully escaped him...
Agnyr had already vanished.
No...
He had moved behind him.
A single swipe of his claws.
BOOM!!!
Valerius was launched through the air as though he weighed nothing...
Meanwhile...
Another presence entered the battlefield...
Governor Griem...
Accompanied by Captain of the Guard, Scythe...
Shock was evident on both of their faces.
Yet neither hesitated.
Griem stepped forward...
He firmly planted his feet into the earth.
Then his aged yet powerful voice thundered across the battlefield...
"It has been far too long...
Since the war came to an end...
Even this old body has withered with age...
But...
I shall continue fighting...
Until my very last breath!!!"
The earth trembled violently...
Towering pillars of stone erupted from beneath the ground, surrounding both dragons within an enormous prison.
Agnyr burst into laughter...
"You foolish human...
Have you forgotten???
Dragons...
Can fly."
But Griem didn't even bother looking at him...
Instead, he called out with unwavering confidence...
"Hey, Valerius...
I hope you've had enough time to catch your breath.
I've prepared the stage for you."
Bruised.
Bleeding...
Barely standing.
Even so...
Valerius smiled...
"You really are one troublesome old man..."
He slowly lowered his body into his stance...
The flames surrounding him began to intensify.
Then...
He spoke.
"Nine Arts of Flame..."
The air itself grew hotter.
"Fifth Art..."
A blazing sphere of compressed fire formed above his fist...
"Miniature Sun!!!"
The eyes of both dragons met for a fleeting moment...
For the first time...
They looked genuinely threatened...
The instant they attempted to take flight—
An overwhelming force of gravity crashed down upon them, pinning their colossal bodies to the ground...
Valerius advanced with slow, unwavering steps...
Confidence radiated from every movement...
Agnyr glared at him, his eyes burning with fury...
"You have long since crossed the limits of humanity...
And yet...
You dare challenge a dragon...
With fire???"
A grin spread across Valerius' face...
"Heh...
Your friend said the exact same thing...
Right before he burned..."
Suddenly—
Aculeus let out a deafening cry...
In the blink of an eye, countless razor-sharp spikes burst from every direction...
The earth...
The walls...
Even the air itself seemed to grow thorns...
One of them pierced Valerius' shoulder...
His balance collapsed.
The moment his concentration faltered...
The gravity restraining the dragons vanished...
Without wasting a heartbeat—
Agnyr spun his massive body and lashed out with his tail...
BOOOOM!!!
The impact launched Valerius dozens of meters away, shattering rocks in his path...
At the same time, Agnyr opened his jaws wide...
An ocean of blazing flames surged toward Griem and Scythe...
Just as he prepared to continue his assault—
He heard a voice from above.
"Idiot!!!
Fall back!!!"
It was Aculeus, already soaring high into the sky...
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Agnyr spread his wings and rose after him.
But then...
Something impossible happened.
From within the raging inferno...
Scythe walked out.
Calmly...
As though the flames themselves dared not touch him.
He slowly drew his long spear, its curved blade resembling the scythe of death itself...
Orange lightning danced around the weapon until every inch of it crackled with overwhelming energy...
He narrowed his eyes.
Focused...
Completely.
Then—
He threw it...
The spear tore through the heavens like a bolt of divine judgment...
Before Agnyr could react—
It pierced straight through one of his wings...
Blood erupted into the air...
His balance crumbled...
His enormous body crashed violently into the ground.
Without hesitation, Aculeus rushed toward him.
Meanwhile...
Griem and Scythe hurried toward Valerius...
He slowly forced himself back onto his feet...
His body was covered in bruises...
Blood streamed from his shoulder.
Scythe frowned.
"You fool...
Never place your own life beneath everyone else's..."
He stepped closer.
"The life of Crag's strongest warrior...
Is worth more than Crag itself..."
Valerius' expression immediately darkened.
"...What did you just say???"
His voice carried unmistakable anger...
"Are you telling me...
That the life of one man...
Outweighs the lives of hundreds???"
He turned toward Griem.
The old governor remained silent...
Yet the look in his eyes...
Agreed completely with Scythe...
Valerius clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.
"Fine...
We'll finish this discussion later...
If I become ruler...
Then every law in Crag will change..."
Scythe sighed...
But chose not to argue.
Instead, he urgently shouted,
"Hurry!!!
The dragon didn't fall far from here...
I'll gather the remaining warriors...
And catch up with you..."
Together...
Griem and Valerius rushed toward the crash site...
As they ran, Griem spoke quietly...
"...Valerius..."
"I still remember you...
As a little boy whose only dream was to avenge his father."
A faint smile appeared on his aged face.
"Who would've imagined...
That child would one day become the greatest warrior Crag has ever known???"
Silence followed...
Then he continued...
"My decision to name you my successor...
Was never a mistake."
He looked directly at him...
"I see something within you...
Something I've never seen in anyone else."
After a brief pause...
He sighed...
"And yet...
I can also tell...
You were never meant to rule..."
A small smile crossed his face...
"Truth be told...
I originally intended to choose Scythe as my successor—"
His words stopped abruptly...
They had arrived...
Agnyr lay motionless on the ground...
One wing had been completely destroyed.
Beside him stood Aculeus, staring helplessly at his companion.
Without taking his eyes off them, Griem spoke...
"Leave the needle-faced one to me...
The wingless dragon...
Is yours."
Aculeus slowly looked around...
Then let out a bitter laugh...
"...Damn.
I don't think this situation can get any worse."
"Heh...
I wouldn't be so sure."
A familiar voice echoed from behind.
Everyone turned.
Scythe had returned...
This time...
Leading dozens of warriors.
For the first time...
Aculeus instinctively stepped backward...
His voice had lost all confidence.
"...Fine.
We admit defeat.
We'll never attack humans again."
A cold smile appeared on Valerius' face...
"Good.
Then it's time...
To pay the price."
He raised his burning fist.
The surrounding flames converged upon it.
Gravity twisted violently around his arm.
"Nine Arts of Flame..."
"Third Art..."
"Ignited Body!!!"
In an instant—
He vanished...
BOOOOOOM!!!
His fist struck Agnyr's chest directly...
Silence.
Then—
CRACK...
A strange sound echoed across the battlefield.
Not bone.
Not armor.
Something...
Far more important.
Every face froze...
Agnyr's body went completely limp...
His pupils trembled.
His breathing ceased.
"No...
NO!!!"
Aculeus screamed with everything he had.
"Impossible!!
He...
He destroyed his Core!!!"
Silence swallowed the battlefield...
Even the wind...
Stopped...
Then...
Black smoke slowly seeped from the shattered earth...
The instant Aculeus saw it—
Every trace of resistance vanished from his face.
Only despair remained...
Even Agnyr, whose Core had been destroyed...
Forced one eye open.
Aculeus lowered his guard completely...
A bitter smile appeared on his face...
"So...
This was your plan all along..."
His voice trembled.
"You filthy bastard...
You always wait...
Until the very worst moment..."
The humans exchanged confused glances...
None of them understood...
But one truth became painfully clear...
Even the dragons...
Were afraid.
The earth began to shake.
Mountains trembled.
The sky itself cracked apart...
As though reality could no longer contain what was about to emerge...
A colossal gate opened above the heavens...
No light poured from within...
Instead...
It devoured every ray around it...
Silence...
Absolute silence...
Even breathing became difficult...
Then...
Something descended...
Slowly...
Majestically...
A being...
That should never have existed...
Its body was pitch black, as though forged from the absence of light itself...
Two colossal wings spread behind it, cloaked in an endless veil of darkness that seemed to consume the heavens...
Its crimson eyes glowed like fresh blood...
At the center of its forehead...
A gigantic third eye stared silently upon the world...
Its claws resembled blades...
Its fangs looked capable of tearing apart reality itself...
Yet none of those things...
Were the most horrifying...
Embedded within the center of its chest...
Was a massive vertical maw...
An endless abyss lined with countless rows of jagged teeth...
Not a mouth...
But the gateway to another world...
Every warrior froze...
No one moved...
No one breathed...
Even Aculeus...
Lowered his head.
His voice barely escaped his lips.
As though speaking the name of an ancient curse...
"...Daim."
Silence answered him...
Then—
A pressure unlike anything before descended upon the world...
It felt...
As though existence itself had bowed before him...
The Dread Dragon... Daim...