As he muttered in a daze, the dying Chimera—reduced now to a single goat's head with one eye—suddenly flashed with a bloodthirsty gleam. It snapped its head around, its massive jaws gaping open with lightning speed, and in one gulp swallowed the emaciated Osarion whole.
"Gah—!"
Osarion managed only a short, incoherent scream.
The goat's teeth clamped shut like a colossal millstone, the sickening crunch of shattering bones and pulped flesh echoing clearly.
Thick, dark red blood mixed with fragments of entrails spilled from the corners of its mouth, running down its jaw and pooling on the ground into a crimson puddle.
After devouring the Bloodmage, the Chimera's single eye fixed unrelentingly on Lo Quen, its venomous glare carrying the weight of a curse.
But instead of striking, it suddenly spun around and, with its last reserves of strength, hurled itself into the ominous pit yawning at the center of the hall.
Lo Quen's cold, slit pupils narrowed.
This creature's behavior defied all reason.
Savage and cruel enough to consume even its own creator, yet at the same time it clearly possessed a terrifying intelligence.
Had he not seized the advantage, using the element of surprise during its transformation to tear off the lion's head, the outcome of this battle might have been very different.
He stepped to the pit's edge. Below lay only endless darkness, filled with the roar of rushing wind stirred by the Chimera's fall and its tortured wails echoing from the abyss.
Without hesitation, Lo Quen folded his wings and plunged his massive dragon body into the unknown depths.
The fall lasted far longer than expected.
When his heavy form finally struck the ground, the crash sent echoes rolling endlessly through the vast underground chamber.
Even a dragon's eyes could pierce absolute darkness, yet what Lo Quen beheld filled his mind with a cold dread.
The cavern stretched vast as the earth's hollow core, the stench of blood so thick it seemed to cling to every breath.
All around, grotesquely twisted masses of flesh hung suspended from thick iron hooks.
Exposed fascia, writhing veins, and pale bones were laid bare to the frigid air, while drops of blood fell steadily, crusting the ground in layers of dark red scabs that reeked with suffocating stench.
Lo Quen fought down the nausea rising in his chest as he moved through this forest of flesh.
Soon, he found his quarry.
The Chimera lay sprawled atop a massive black boulder deep within the cavern.
Its blood glowed with an eerie crimson light, like molten lava flowing across its body.
That blood seeped onto the stone's surface. Instead of spreading, it gathered as if alive, swiftly sketching a pattern that radiated pure malice.
An eye, drawn entirely in blood.
At the center of the giant eye, a dark awareness stirred, its cold gaze locking onto the intruder—Lo Quen.
What chilled him even more was that, as the blood-eye solidified, the Chimera's dreadful wounds writhed and began knitting closed before his eyes.
Charred skin split away, revealing new scales beneath—thick, jet black, and glinting with metallic coldness.
The most horrifying change came at its torn neck and shoulder blades.
The gashes where the lion's and serpent's heads had been ripped free suddenly burst into two dense clouds of blood mist. From within, bones cracked and grew as two fleshy wings, slick with mucus, forced themselves outward.
The lone goat head grew more hideous still, its fangs lengthening wildly, curving like daggers.
Its horns thickened and twisted, their tips glimmering with an ominous black light.
It was evolving.
Drawing strength from the black stone and the blood-red eye, it was transforming into something far more terrifying.
A cold dread seized Lo Quen's dragon heart.
He could not allow it to be completed!
"Roar—!" The deafening dragon's cry rang with unyielding resolve.
Lo Quen opened his massive jaws, unleashing a stream of golden Dragonfire, more focused and scorching than before. Like a torrent from the sun's core, it thundered toward the Chimera mid-transformation.
"Baaah—Wuu!!"
The Chimera wailed in agony.
Its newly formed jet-black scales glowed red under the Dragonfire's searing heat, like irons pulled from a forge. The stench of burning flesh and skin spread thick through the air.
Only when the pain pushed beyond its limits did the Chimera violently flap its newborn wings, rolling sideways through clouds of black smoke to escape, its movements clumsy at first.
But as Lo Quen watched, its motion quickly smoothed—faster, even, than before it was wounded. His heart sank.
That black stone not only healed it, but granted it new power. Too strange. Too dangerous.
Lo Quen hesitated no longer. His massive dragon body lunged forward.
At the same time, the power surging within him erupted like a volcano.
[Blazing Inferno]! The ultimate defense and domain of dragon form!
"Boom!"
In an instant, a five-meter radius around Lo Quen transformed into a raging inferno.
No mere armor of flame, but an absolute domain: countless golden fire-serpents whirled, shrieking as they tore and licked at everything within reach.
The Chimera leapt to counterattack, only to be swallowed by the storm. Its newborn scales blazed red once again, its scream of pain piercing the air as its movements slowed.
Lo Quen seized the moment. His massive claws, ripping through the air with a shrill screech, slashed toward the Chimera's head.
Madness flared in its single eye. The goat head snapped down, and from its mouth erupted not flame but a condensed torrent of dark crimson fire, molten and heavy like a pillar of magma.
The heat was so intense that Lo Quen's [Blazing Inferno] wavered under the impact.
"Ssshh—!" The torrent smashed against the pale golden aura cloaking his body, hissing like searing metal plunged into water.
The [Fire Affinity] talent strained at its absolute limit, holding back the terrifying onslaught.
Lo Quen could feel his Magic pouring out like floodwaters through a broken dam.
He silently thanked his foresight—replenishing his Magic with Ghost Grass before entering Tyria.
Each Dragonflame Breath consumed 5 Magic points per second, and sustaining [Blazing Inferno] drained 10. The chase and bombardment on the spiral stair alone had already cost him thousands.
But there was no time now for cold numbers.
He faced the Bloodmage's creation—bizarre, unyielding, and far more dangerous than he had imagined.
Lo Quen opened his jaws wide and, at close range, unleashed another torrent of Dragonfire at the Chimera's exposed neck as it spewed its own flames.
At the same time, his flame-clad hind legs hammered into the Chimera's relatively fragile flank, tearing deep, blackened wounds that scraped down to the bone.
The Chimera howled in agony, its mucus-slick wings beating wildly as it tried to pull back for a counterattack.
But Lo Quen would not allow it.
Blessed with the might of the [True Dragon Physique], his scales were harder than the Chimera's newborn black armor.
Every clash left deep wounds gouged into the Chimera, while its strikes at best etched shallow white marks into his scales—or else were burned away by the blazing domain.
More deadly still, the constant burning of [Blazing Inferno] clung to the beast like maggots on bone, sizzling as it ate away its scales and flesh, the air choked with the stench of charred meat.
"Baaah—!" The Chimera wailed, this time with pain and desperation.
It beat its newly grown wings with all its strength. Though clumsy, the lift was enough to wrench its scarred body free of the death-grip battle, sending it lurching upward toward the hole Dragonfire had blasted open above the pit.
Lo Quen bellowed a thunderous roar, his wide, powerful wings snapping open. He soared upward in pursuit.
The two colossal beasts burst from the tower in turn.
The wind howled under Lo Quen's wings, his speed far outstripping the Chimera's ungainly flight.
Realizing escape was impossible, the Chimera twisted sharply in midair. Its goat head turned once more toward the golden dragon at its back, and it spat one last jet of dark crimson flame.
Lo Quen's golden eyes held no fear. He charged straight through the searing torrent.
His flame-wreathed hind claws slashed forward like a reaper's scythe, ripping toward the Chimera's softer belly.
"Rip—!"
The sound of scales tearing rang out, followed by a spray of foul blood.
The Chimera let out a piercing, agonized wail, its body going rigid mid-air.
Its single remaining eye brimmed with terror at death's approach. With no thought for anything else, it summoned the last of its strength, flapping its mangled wings. Blood poured from its wounds as it lurched upward in a desperate bid for the Wizard's Tower's highest point.
Lo Quen followed close behind, his golden dragon form bursting through the rolling fog to land on the frigid summit.
Nothing awaited there but howling winds and an endless sea of clouds.
The Chimera stood with its back to the void, its lone eye locked on the descending golden dragon. A guttural growl rumbled from its throat, yet its body trembled from blood loss and agony.
Its evolution had been broken. Its power was fading. It was nearly spent.
Lo Quen gave it no chance to recover.
He unleashed [Blazing Inferno], and in an instant a golden storm of flame enveloped his colossal body.
With heavy, thunderous steps, radiating an aura of all-consuming destruction, he advanced.
The Chimera roared in despair, throwing itself forward in one last stand.
But in Lo Quen's eyes, its movements were slow, clumsy, riddled with openings.
His massive claws swatted aside its bite and clamped down on its fragile neck, slamming the monster onto the cold stone of the tower's summit.
Its remaining wings beat the ground in vain.
Lo Quen lowered his head, his icy dragon eyes meeting the goat head's single eye, filled with hatred and fear.
Deep in his throat, destructive golden light began to blaze once more.
"It's over." The words, like an echo from the ancient past, faded into the wind.
"BOOM!!!"
Dragonfire erupted point-blank, like the detonation of a sun at arm's reach.
A golden torrent of destruction engulfed the Chimera's head.
Within the flames, the goat head let out one last, shrill cry.
When the fire died down, only a charred, twisted husk remained, smoke curling from its blackened form.
The once-ferocious beast was reduced to a twitching carcass, stinking of burnt flesh.