The white dragon leaped back into the air, as it hovered like a silver storm given form, its serpentine body weaving gracefully through the air as if swimming through invisible currents. Its pure white eyes burned with years of hatred.
It struck without warning.
Space folded around it. One moment it was high above — the next it was behind Indura's titanic frame, claws slashing in a spatial tear that bypassed his scales entirely and crushed deep into his internal organs. The impact made Indura's massive body lurch forward, a low growl escaping his throat as pain bloomed inside his chest.
The white dragon laughed, voice sharp and venomous. "Feel that? That's only the beginning, Dragon King. Now you can't even react to my claws?"
Indura responded instantly. He swung one massive claw in a wide, powerful arc. Crimson energy trailed the strike, releasing a slashing wave that tore the ground apart in a mile-long chasm. The white dragon twisted mid-air, barely evading the slash, but the edge of the wave still grazed its side, drawing a thin line of silver blood across its shimmering scales.
It hissed in irritation. "You dare?"
Frost breath exploded from its maw — a freezing torrent aimed straight at Indura's face, flash-freezing the air and trying to slow his massive form. Indura turned his head at the last second, the frost coating part of his jaw and shoulder in brittle ice. He shook it off with a powerful snort, annoyed.
Too slippery, he thought. This form is strong, but fighting something this fast feels like trying to swat a fly with a mountain.
The white dragon capitalized immediately. It materialized dozens of huge white sword constructs in the sky, each one humming with divinity.
They rained down like falling stars, forcing Indura to swing his claws repeatedly, each strike releasing crimson slashing waves that shattered several blades mid-air. But the white dragon was already moving again — folding space to appear above him and slamming down with a tail whip infused with spatial distortion. The blow landed on his back, crushing internally once more.
Indura roared in frustration, the sound shaking the forest. He retaliated with another heavy claw swipe, this one catching the white dragon across its flank as it tried to retreat. The impact sent the serpentine dragon tumbling through the air, scales cracking audibly.
"You're fast," Indura growled, voice rumbling like thunder. "But you talk too much for someone who's supposed to be killing me."
The white dragon righted itself, breathing harder now, a wild grin on its face. "And you're slower than the monster I remember. Where is the tyrant who once drowned our dominion in blood? This weak imitation disgusts me."
It unleashed another frost breath, this time mixing it with spatial folds to create freezing blades of distorted air that sliced toward Indura from multiple angles.
Indura tanked several of them head-on, the cold biting deep internally while his scales held firm. He responded by charging forward, each heavy step causing quakes, and swung both claws in a cross pattern that released intersecting crimson slashes. One of them clipped the white dragon's tail, forcing it to spiral downward to avoid being bisected.
The white dragon was breathing harder now, its elegant movements showing the first signs of fatigue, while Indura stood tall, scales unmarked on the outside, though he could feel the accumulating internal damage.
This is too easy...or am I stronger?! Indura thought. I've already recovered from it's attacks but...why does it look exhausted?!
Indura looked down at his titanic body with clear dissatisfaction.
"This form… it's too slow against fast enemies," he muttered, voice rumbling like distant thunder. "It slows me down so much it's starting to itch."
The white dragon hovered above him, silver-white body coiling through the air. Its pure eyes narrowed. Something's wrong, it thought. He should be falling by now. I know I'm not at full strength, but this… he's still standing.
Indura lifted his gaze to the serpent-like dragon and smiled, calm and relaxed.
"A few years back, I fought warriors who moved at light speed," he said. "They left slashes all over me like I was an open target. That was irritating."
Red energy suddenly erupted across his colossal frame.
He began to shrink.
In a surge of crimson light, Indura transformed into his armored humanoid form — sleek crimson scales covering a lean, powerful body, horns curving sharply from his head, golden eyes glowing with quiet intensity.
The white dragon shouted down at him, voice laced with disbelief.
"Are you giving up?! I haven't even unleashed my strongest attack yet!"
Indura looked up at the hovering dragon and sighed.
How boring, he thought. I was supposed to feel something seeing another dragon. Instead, all I feel is mild boredom. Compared to the sky warriors, this one feels… weak. Why was it even sealed? Is this truly the anchor that will set balance... No, I don't even care...
The white dragon opened its maw to speak again.
Indura raised a single finger, cutting the dragon off.
"Save your speech for later," he said quietly. "I'll end this now."
He stepped forward.
His claws heated up, steam rising from the glowing edges.
"You're weak," Indura said, voice steady. "I already recovered from your attacks. They were puny. If you ought to kill me, you must have ten times the power– No, more power than you can even think of."
The white dragon roared in pure fury. "Those will be your last words!"
It channeled another frost breath, freezing air condensing into lethal blades.
Indura scoffed. "I'll make it quick."
He vanished.
A spiderweb of cracks exploded where he had stood. He soared upward in a streak of red, appearing directly above the dragon in an instant.
The white dragon's eyes widened. Where—?
"Up here," Indura called.
The dragon twisted its head upward — too late.
Indura moved like crimson lightning.
Dozens of red streaks flashed across the white dragon's body in seconds. Each streak left a deep, clean slash. Blood sprayed into the air as the dragon cried out in shock and pain.
I can't see him… he's too fast!
Indura reappeared on the ground, looking up calmly.
He leaped back into the air, claws joined together like a blade, and thrust downward with massive force. The strike slammed into the white dragon's abdomen, driving it straight into the earth with a thunderous impact.
Indura didn't stop.
He came down in a blazing streak, landing thrust after thrust against the dragon's writhing body. Each blow landed with brutal precision, the white dragon screaming in agony as pain exploded through its frame.
It hurts… it actually hurts…
Indura finally landed on the ground, breathing steady, golden eyes cold.
The fight had flipped completely.
Indura stood tall, armored form radiating quiet dominance.
The white dragon struggled to rise, eyes filled with rage and disbelief.
This was no longer a duel. It was a beatdown.
Indura stood over the crater, armored form radiating quiet power. The white dragon lay beside him, silver scales cracked and stained with blood, chest heaving with exhaustion.
He looked at the serpentine dragon with clear disappointment.
"This fight is useless," he said, voice calm but carrying a sharp edge. "You're weak."
The white dragon snarled, forcing itself back into the air with trembling legs. "You dare—!"
Indura cut it off with a small shake of his head.
"I haven't even used my core yet, and you're already breathing this hard?" He pulled back his armored form slightly, the crimson scales shifting as he regarded the dragon with open pity. "Are all the other dragons in this world like this? So fragile?"
The white dragon's eyes flared with rage. How dare you call me weak...this is all your fault...how dare you. It lunged forward again, firing a desperate frost breath mixed with spatial folds, trying to tear into him from the inside.
Indura sidestepped with casual ease, the attack freezing a line of trees behind him into brittle glass.
"I feel pity for you," he continued, voice steady. "I really don't want to kill you. You're not even a challenge."
He turned his back on the dragon and began walking away, completely dismissing it.
The white dragon froze mid-air, trembling with fury.
"You… you insolent—!" it roared, voice cracking with humiliation. "You think you can just walk away from me?! After what you did to me?! You took away my life...my freedom."
No...come back, I won't let you go!
Indura didn't even glance back. He kept walking, crimson armor gleaming under the red sky.
"Shadow," he called out calmly, spotting the dark figure watching from a distant ridge. "We're leaving. There's nothing worth staying for here."
Shadow appeared instantly beside him, bowing his head slightly. "As you wish."
Indura continued speaking to Shadow as if the white dragon no longer existed. "Let's head back to Crimson Reach. I'm getting tired of this place. Maybe there's better food back at the guild."
Shadow nodded, a faint smirk hidden beneath his usual calm. "The radish vendor might still be there."
The white dragon hovered above them, its graceful body shaking with pure, blinding rage.
"You dare ignore me?!" it screamed, voice breaking. "After everything— you turn your back on me like I'm nothing?!"
It dove down in a frenzy, claws extended, frost breath charging in its maw for one final, desperate strike.
Indura didn't even look up. He simply raised one hand without turning around.
A casual flick of red mana erupted outward.
The blast caught the dragon mid-dive, slamming it back into the ground with enough force to carve a new crater. It crashed hard, coughing blood, tail twitching.
Indura finally glanced over his shoulder, golden eyes cold and unimpressed.
"I told you. I'm no longer interested."
He turned back to Shadow, completely ignoring the dragon once more.
"Come on. Let's go. I want to see if that vendor still has those good radishes."
Shadow fell in step beside him without another word.
Behind them, the white dragon lay in the crater, breathing ragged, eyes burning with humiliated fury as the two figures walked away like the entire fight had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
The forest around them was already half-destroyed, smoke rising into the red sky.
Indura's disrespect had cut deeper than any claw ever could.
The white dragon screamed in rage, but its voice only echoed uselessly across the ruined landscape.
The fight was over.
And it had never even begun for Indura.
Shadow turned without a word.
Dark energy rippled across his body as he shifted into the massive shadowy horse form — tall, muscular, eyes glowing grey, mane flickering like living smoke. Indura leaped onto his back with effortless grace.
"Back to Crimson Reach," Indura said quietly. "Where is that woman from earlier...!?"
The horse launched forward in a blur of darkness, leaving the devastated battlefield behind in seconds. The ruined forest and the white dragon faded into the distance as they sped away.
The white dragon remained in the crater, silver-white scales cracked and stained with blood. Slowly, painfully, its massive serpentine body began to shrink and reshape. Limbs formed, scales tucked away, until a woman knelt on the broken ground.
She wore the torn remnants of a white dress, still ragged and stained, fragments of silver-and-black armor still clinging to the fabric. Long white hair fell in tangled waves around her face. She coughed harshly, blood spilling from her lips. Each of Indura's thrusts had struck deep — internal damage that made every breath feel like fire.
Three thousand years… she thought, trembling as she clutched her abdomen. All that time sealed away drained me more than I realized. And he… he doesn't even remember me.
Tears welled in her white eyes.
A memory surged forward, unbidden.
She was younger then — smaller hands, battle armor cracked and broken, heavy chains binding her wrists and ankles. She knelt in a cold, dark chamber, looking up at the towering figure before her.
The voice was calm, almost gentle, yet heavy with finality.
"This is for your own good, Sabrel. I don't want to have to kill my own family. I have to go and remove the ones who dared to challenge me."
She had looked up at him with desperate eyes.
"They were not in the wrong," she pleaded, voice cracking. "They are being used. Please… forgive them."
The figure shook his head.
"It won't matter."
A hand, warm yet heavy, rested on her head.
"You will hate me from the moment I leave here. And that might be good enough. Let the hatred keep you alive."
She looked up.
Crimson scale armor. Flowing blood-red hair. Golden eyes filled with quiet authority and sorrow.
"Forgive me, Sabrel."
He turned and walked away into the darkness.
She screamed, chains dragging loudly across the stone as she tried to run after him.
"Brother! Don't leave me!"
The heavy door slammed shut with a final, echoing boom.
She reached the end of her chains, falling to her knees, tears streaming down her face as the darkness swallowed him completely.
"Brother… please…"
Back in the present, Sabrel crouched on the broken ground, tears rolling freely from her white eyes.
She clutched her chest, body shaking with quiet, broken sobs.
"Brother… don't leave me again…"
The wind carried her soft cries across the ruined battlefield.
The forest was gone — only smoke, craters, and silence remained.
And somewhere far away, the dragon who had once been her brother rode onward, unaware of the tears he had left behind.