The room filled with the metallic scent of blood.
In the same breath, the fox's divine sense swept through the bodies with ruthless efficiency. Storage pouches detached. Rings were stripped away. Spiritual tools extracted. Talismans gathered. Everything of value lifted cleanly from flesh and returned to its own storage pouch.
Nothing wasted.
When it finished, only empty husks remained.
The fox pulled out a glowing core.
Wind and lightning intertwined inside it, spiraling around one another like twin storms trapped in crystal.
The duo-element wind-lightning core of the fifth-layer bird demon.
"You can have this."
It handed the core over lightly.
The lizard caught it between its claws without taking its eyes off the fox.
"There's one more thing."
The fox reached into its pouch again.
This time, what emerged was heavier.
A massive crystallized claw.
Jagged.
Translucent.
Lightning still crawled across its surface in erratic arcs—*crack*—*snap*—thin bolts striking the floor before being suppressed.
The fox's eyes narrowed.
Its divine sense pressed down, smothering the lightning until only faint static remained.
It held the claw up.
"You want it?"
A pause.
"It's not a full corpse. Just… a claw."
The air between them grew still.
Lightning answered lightning.
Faint arcs danced across the lizard's scales in response—subtle, but unmistakable.
Recognition.
This was not merely flesh.
It was concentrated elemental authority.
The fox tilted its head slightly.
"If you absorb that… it might not just improve your cultivation."
A faint smirk curved its muzzle.
"It might change something."
The room remained silent except for the soft hum of the barrier and the distant crackle of suppressed lightning.
The lizard did not move immediately.
It stared at the crystallized Stormlash claw for several long seconds, golden slit pupils reflecting the trapped lightning within it.
Then—
"No."
Its voice was calm.
Practical.
"What would I gain from eating a claw? It's not even a core."
The fox blinked once.
Then shrugged lightly. "Alright."
A faint smile curved its muzzle.
"I'll keep it for myself then. I already have something in mind."
The claw vanished back into the storage pouch.
The fox extended the wind-lightning core instead.
The lizard stepped forward and took it gently into its maw, crystal scraping softly against its teeth.
It walked toward the pile of corpses.
Then, unexpectedly—
It dropped the core aside.
The fox raised a brow.
The lizard's body shimmered.
Its compressed form loosened.
Bones extended with a low, resonant crack. Muscles expanded. Scales layered thicker, darker—faint arcs of static rippling between them.
The air in the room shifted as its presence grew heavier.
Wood creaked beneath its claws.
The fox froze.
"…I knew it."
Its eyes widened slowly as it stepped back to take in the full sight.
"I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me."
The lizard continued expanding until the transformation settled.
It now stood **twenty-seven inches tall**, body elongated and powerful—**forty-five inches from maw to tail tip**. Its wings unfurled once, stretching outward—
Over **fifty inches wide**.
The edges of its wings hummed faintly with residual lightning.
The fox stared up at it.
"You've grown much bigger than before!"
The lizard flexed its claws experimentally, talons sinking slightly into the wooden floor.
Its horns were longer now.
Sharper.
Its scales shone white, veins of faint electric-blue tracing between them like distant lightning beneath storm clouds.
The defensive formation flickered faintly as its aura adjusted to accommodate the larger presence.
The fox circled it once, tails swaying.
"…You were compressing yourself."
Its eyes narrowed.
"And here I thought I was imagining it."
The lizard glanced down at its own body, then toward the corpses.
The fox stood still, tails swaying faintly behind it as its sharp eyes traced every inch of the lizard's expanded form.
*Just like I thought…*
Back in the cave.
When it first emerged—
No.
Not hatched.
It had come out of that hardened, ash-like cocoon. Not a normal egg. Not a normal birth.
The fox's gaze sharpened thoughtfully.
*It didn't simply grow. It emerged from something like a sealed shell… some kind of rebirth state.*
Which meant—
It was still young.
Very young.
The fox's lips curled upward slowly.
"Still growing… and it's already this strong."
Its eyes gleamed with calculation.
"I can only imagine how strong you'll become."
A pause.
Then a soft, satisfied smile.
"So nice."
Not affection.
Investment.
The lizard paid it no attention.
It had already lowered its head and sunk its fangs into one of the corpses. Bone cracked under pressure. Blood seeped across the floorboards before being drawn inward, consumed rapidly.
The fox watched closely.
Even while eating, the lizard's presence felt steady. Controlled. Not wild. Not unstable.
That made it more dangerous.
The fox's thoughts deepened.
*Descendant of some ancient creature…*
That guess hadn't been random.
The horns.
The control over multiple elements.
The instinctive understanding of elemental conduction.
The ability to hide its presence completely.
And most importantly—
That calm.
It did not behave like any normal demonic beast.
It adapted.
It used the environment as a weapon.
The fox's eyes sharpened slightly.
*Storm lineage?*
*Ancient sky serpent?*
*Thunder wyrm?*
Or…
Something older.
Something that predated recorded bloodlines.
The lizard tore through another corpse, swallowing flesh and bone alike. Lightning flickered faintly between its scales as it absorbed energy, the wind-lightning core still resting nearby—untouched for now.
The fox tilted its head, gaze lingering.
Scaled body.
Curved horns.
Reptilian maw.
Wings folded neatly along its back.
If those wings weren't there…
"…It would look like a dragon."
The thought struck like a hammer.
The fox froze.
Its pupils thinned.
"A dragon…?"
The word echoed in its mind.
Again.
And again.
A slow breath left its muzzle.
That wasn't impossible.
Draconic bloodlines existed—scattered through countless beasts. Diluted. Fragmented. Rare, but not unheard of.
But this—
This was different.
The fox's eyes sharpened as it studied the lizard devouring flesh with quiet efficiency.
Its control over the elements.
The way it hid its presence so perfectly.
The way it emerged from a cocoon-like shell.
And that calm.
That overwhelming, ancient calm.
The fox's thoughts deepened.
*If it's merely dragon-blooded… then it's an extremely pure line.*
Not some low-grade flood dragon.
Not some mutated drake.
No.
This felt older.
The fox's heartbeat slowed.
"…An ancient true dragon?"
Even thinking it felt absurd.
True dragons were myths whispered in ruined temples and carved into broken stone tablets. Immortal creatures, some said, who commanded the elements as naturally as breathing.
Sovereigns of storm and sky