Despair is the most despicable form of betrayal against life; it tramples destiny and crushes the soul without a trace.
The night sky was a portrait of despair, fires blazing everywhere. In an instant, a snowstorm crept along the path of warfare, as if spreading terror that crushed the remnants of hope.
"Evacuation has reached 98.7%, hold on just a little longer!" Lieutenant Johan said via the radio wave with a shaking voice.
"No, we can't wait any longer, I'm sorry, Lieutenant. The squadron will disregard protocol!" the sky-raptor squadron leader said with ragged breaths, right as the ancient dragon's giant claw slashed the left wing of his aircraft in a ring of fire burning the skies.
"Wait, Captain! Don't act rashly now!" Lieutenant Johan shouted over the radio, his voice rising amidst the roar of the aerial battle. "Prioritize the evacuation of citizens," he continued over the radio. His voice rose amidst the roar of the aerial battle.
"Report Lieutenant, permission requested, the Sky-Raptor squadron is ready to execute a final stand!"
"Permission denied! Sacrificing all equipment and personnel is not the solution!"
"But Lieutenant, Igniz is not a creature that can be defeated with half-hearted resolve, and two of us have already fallen."
The conversation hung in the air as the sky-raptor squadron leader experienced an attack. Everyone in the control room held their breath.
"or we will all die together here!" his voice continued to echo into the air, his breath panting behind the cockpit.
In the central control room, the atmosphere froze. The monitor screen displaying live drone footage from the air turned the faces there pale.
"What? Ignisvar, the Bringer of Calamity..." Johan was stunned, his voice trembling. "He is not just an ordinary monster. He is an Ancient Dragon recorded in history as capable of wiping out a city in a single night."
Commander Pantas instinctively stood up, staring at the screen with a blank gaze. "How is this possible?"
In the blazing sky, the battle split into two. On one side, the Sky-Raptor forces showered monsters on the ground with missiles, while on the other, they risked their lives to draw Ignisvar's attention.
Explosion after explosion shook the skies as Sky-Raptor fighter jets soared, cutting through black clouds. Amidst the snowstorm and rain of fire embers, Ignisvar—the Bringer of Calamity—flapped his massive wings wide, creating a thermal shockwave that instantly baked the surrounding air.
"Lead the formation! Avoid his fire breath!" the squadron leader shouted via radio communications, right as a jet-blue tongue of fire surged from the ancient dragon's jaws, melting the wing of one of the knight jets on his right in an instant.
Instead of retreating, the Sky-Raptor leader's jet executed a sharp barrel roll, dodging the giant claw that clawed through the empty cockpit of wind shadows. At full speed, they dove sharply, locking their target right in the dragon's left eye, and unleashed a barrage of armor-piercing missiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thick smoke billowed, covering half of Ignisvar's face. However, instead of falling, the primordial creature raged even more brutally. Its roar shook the ground and air simultaneously, triggering an even more maddening snowstorm. The battle between human-made technology and the primordial power of the god of destruction had now turned into a life-or-death gamble on the edge of a cliff.
Amidst the thick plumes of smoke, Ignisvar whipped his tail with near-invisible speed. The resulting wind impact was so massive it sent the Sky-Raptor leader's jet spinning violently, nearly crashing into the spine of an ice mountain below.
"Damn, control is almost lost!" the pilot shouted, fingers moving wildly over the control panel to stabilize the violently vibrating steering.
From the central control room, Lieutenant Johan clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, staring at the monitor screen with bated breath. "Major! Pull your aircraft back now! That's an order!"
"There's no time to retreat, Lieutenant!" the squadron leader replied, eyes glaring sharply at the giant dragon figure now opening its jaws wide, gathering a blinding hot plasma energy ball inside its mouth.
The death flame breath was ready to be unleashed. In those crucial seconds, the pilot pulled the control stick fully, sending his jet flying straight to defy death right toward the center of that light.
"Everyone, Sky-Raptor Squadron, prepare for a suicide mission! Ram that dragon's mouth!" Captain Rizman shouted over the radio frequency, his voice cold yet full of determination.
That instruction was like a death sentence echoing throughout the cockpit. No hesitation, no time left. One by one, the Sky-Raptor fighter jets began to veer, forming a deadly straight line right toward the expanding plasma light source in Ignisvar's mouth.
"This is for the future of this city!" shouted one of the pilots, voice trembling between fear and extraordinary courage.
"Attack!" ordered Captain Rizman, his voice cutting through the night silence split by fire.
Without hesitation, without a single word of refusal, five Sky-Raptor aircraft dove sharply in unison. They left a trail of white smoke burning the air, soaring like a comet of death heading straight into catastrophe: the giant mouth of Ignisvar gathering a blinding blue plasma energy ball.
In the central control room, alarms blared deafeningly.
"Stop that, Captain! You are violating protocol!" Commander Pantas said with fury, slamming his hand onto the control room desk, instantly causing all screens before him to vibrate. His breathing raced, eyes wide staring at the radar trajectory showing a direct collision path.
"Commander, they have locked coordinates! We can't stop them from here!" Lieutenant Johan shouted hysterically, fingers dancing wildly over the override button that no longer responded.
In the sky, Captain Rizman's radio voice cracked with full interference, yet remained clearly audible in the control room and the cockpits of the remaining soldiers.
"Dead or alive, our destiny is decided tonight. Don't let that monster see tomorrow's dawn... For Sky-Raptor!" Rizman shouted in his final seconds.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five consecutive explosions detonated inside the primordial dragon's mouth cavity. Blinding white light devoured everything, swallowing the dark night into bright daylight instantly. A massive shockwave swept away the surrounding snowstorm, creating an air pressure crater that caused the glass panes in the central control room to buzz loudly.
Inside the suddenly eerily silent room, Commander Pantas slowly lowered his hand from the desk. His breath caught. All staff stood frozen in stiffness, staring blankly at the main monitor screen now turning into a sea of static snow and thick black smoke.