The black dragon's molten black eyes locked with Raven's for a long, chilling heartbeat.
Then—with a slow, thunderous beat of its colossal wings—it began to rise.
The skies split open as it soared higher, past the drifting ashes and the fractured clouds.
Raven's gaze followed it, his expression calm but sharp. The winds hissed around him, scattering shards of ash like broken glass. Then, he turned to his group below.
"Remember," he said through Omni, the sword's voice carrying across the battlefield in its familiar, gangster drawl. "Boss says—don't enrage it. Just annoy it. You poke the bear, don't slap the bear."
Siris, still hanging upside down from a half-frozen dragon rib, giggled. "Poking noted~"
Jessy grinned, hefting her hammer onto her shoulder. "Annoying's my middle name."
Alex pumped his fists. "And I'm the goddamn king of it."
"Then," Clara said dryly, brushing frost from her sleeve, "perhaps we're overqualified for this job."
