After I had completely undressed, I stood still for a moment, staring at my trembling reflection on the surface of the water. I was stunned by the development of my body and appearance, as if I were looking at someone else—someone who was never meant to be ordinary. I thought to myself: With this face, I could rival the gods of beauty… no, even they cannot compare to what I am now. The purest and finest existence in this vast world. A faint smile of arrogance formed on my lips, the smile of someone who knew his own worth, before I stepped into the lake.
The icy water lashed against my skin instantly, as if thousands of needles pierced me at once, but I ignored it. This body no longer bowed to such trivial things. I began washing away the dirt and sweat, the water flowing over tightened muscles that bore witness to a transformation not yet complete—yet already far beyond human limits. I raised the cup to my lips and took a sip of the delicious strawberry juice. Its sweetness clashed with the freezing cold of the lake, yet it brought me a strange sense of comfort, as if everything in the world was moving according to a calm, natural rhythm.
But that calm was a lie—one that would not last.
Elsewhere, not far from the lake, a massive, colossal dragon stood in silence. Its body was covered in silver scales streaked with black, reflecting light with a cold, metallic sheen. Its blue eyes were devoid of emotion, chilling in their emptiness. There was nothing about it that suggested life—only pure, overwhelming power. It stared in a certain direction, unmoving like a mountain, until suddenly, without any warning, it turned.
Its crushing aura erupted as it launched itself forward with unmistakable killing intent. Its gigantic wings spread wide, and with a single beat, it crossed the distance at a speed rivaling sound—no, light itself. The sky tore behind it, the air ruptured, and in the blink of an eye it reached the lake where I stood. It opened its jaws, a massive sphere of fire forming within, before unleashing it directly toward me—a pure explosion, an execution that allowed no appeal.
Suddenly, I turned.
My face was frozen, devoid of any visible emotion. Only two cold, golden eyes remained—lifeless, inhuman, as though they did not belong to this world. They were fixed on a single thing before me: the fulfillment of a goal known only to me. In that instant, the world bent around me. I released everything I had—my aura and mana at once, every drop of power, every particle of aether contained within my evolved body.
The world bowed as if a great emperor had descended upon his subjects. The air itself fled from my domain. Even oxygen retreated, unwilling to remain. I spoke a word that no one of my level had any right to utter—a word that, if spoken by a being as mighty as the dragon before me, would spell disaster on a continental scale. Had it been even slightly serious, I would have been erased within seconds. The only reason I remained unaffected… was a single thing.
Just moments earlier, I had been enjoying myself, calmly planning for the future and my academic examinations while sipping my drink. Then, all of a sudden, I sensed an overwhelming source of mana—powerful… far too powerful—approaching with merciless killing intent. The colossal dragon appeared before me, firing a blast directly at my position, leaving me no time to think—
[Danger. Danger. Danger.][Host under lethal threat.][Imperial Lamella forcibly activated.][Objective: Avoid certain death by any means necessary.][Extracting host's strongest current state.][Maximum control over host's skills and power granted.]
The aura around me changed, and my gaze became something inhuman. The air itself fled from my surroundings. Mana was nothing before me—it submitted without resistance, acknowledging its superior. I turned my eyes directly toward the dragon's glowing pupils, brimming with blatant killing intent, and words dripping with disdain escaped my mouth, aimed straight at a threat capable of destroying continents:
"A mere silver lizard dares to stand before a being of my rank… nothing more than a lower creature, an insignificant insect."
In a fraction of a fraction of a second, I released every particle of mana and aether within me. A deep, pitch-black aura erupted outward, intertwined with dark blue frost energy. A lethal cold spread, freezing the air itself—freezing even mana. Around me, a kingdom of ice was born, its cold merciless. Every particle of mana within that domain bowed to my will, to my authority. A magnificent throne of ice formed, radiating an aura that compelled absolute submission.
In that moment, I was pouring out everything I had—my strength, my will, every fragment of my being. I knew one undeniable truth: in all fairness, I could not defeat it right now… but I had a plan.
I gathered all the mana under my control and condensed it into a single, devastating spell—one no one of my age or level should ever have been able to cast. But I was not just anyone. Above my cold, expressionless form and my frozen kingdom, arrows materialized—not ordinary arrows, but massive constructs forged from frost mana and the mana of darkness and death. The strongest attack I possessed took shape, a strike capable of making the world tremble.
Damn it… even if I didn't survive, I would carve a lifelong scar into that lizard.
At the exact instant its attack collided with my resolve, I released all my arrows at once.
Then—
Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared. A well-built silhouette radiating overwhelming power stood between the two attacks. The form of a woman, motionless, intercepting annihilation itself.
When I saw her, I smiled—a faint smile, one that never reached my face, but existed deep within me.
And in the next moment, I lost consciousness, overwhelmed by the excessive use of mana.