The Chimera saw Lo Quen charging and its three heads spewed deadly flame at once.
Lo Quen's jaws snapped open in fury, a concentrated blast of golden Dragonfire roaring out toward the ram head, the fastest to strike.
Boom!
The two streams collided in midair with explosive force, bursting into blinding light and a thunderous shockwave.
The blast made the Chimera flinch, its heads blinking against the glare.
High above, the Sphinx—already locked onto Lo Quen and ready to unleash its annihilating breath—was momentarily blinded as well. The eruption forced it to adjust its aim slightly, angling its molten-gold torrent to bypass the blast and track that elusive golden shadow below.
But this was the opening Lo Quen had been waiting for.
Using the explosion's shockwave to propel himself, he twisted his massive body in a near-vertical dive, abandoning his attack on the Chimera and plunging recklessly for the fog beneath the Sphinx's belly.
He wagered the Sphinx's attention would be caught by the explosion, leaving it blind to his dive.
"ROAR—!!!"
The Sphinx bellowed in rage as it realized it had been tricked. By the time its focus snapped back, Lo Quen was already beneath its enormous frame—an angle its annihilating breath could not reach.
But its killing intent did not waver.
It ignored the three Chimeras still staggering from the blast below. The lion's jaws yawned wide, and a torrent of molten golden-red fire poured downward in a storm of indiscriminate destruction, flooding both Lo Quen's dive path and the space occupied by its allies.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The inferno swallowed the trailing arc of Lo Quen's descent and the Chimeras beneath, who barely had time to scream.
"Aaaargh—!"
Their cries were cut short as their bodies, along with the fire they spewed, dissolved into blackened cinders.
The Sphinx's attack had slaughtered its own.
And Lo Quen did not escape unscathed.
Though his speed and steep angle carried most of his body clear of the blast's core, the flames' edge and the blistering shockwave licked across his back and wingtips like molten brands.
His Fire Affinity's golden aura was overwhelmed. Agony seared through him as scales and flesh along his spine carbonized and peeled away, black smoke billowing to reveal raw bone beneath.
The sheer force of the flames hurled him into a faster plunge.
And in the moment his reflexes slowed under pain, the Sphinx tore through the edge of its own inferno, heedless of the fire. With one final, frenzied strike, its massive claws raked down on Lo Quen's tail.
Crack!
Bone and scales ripped free in a jagged chunk.
Golden dragon blood sprayed like a fountain.
Whoosh!
His descent accelerated. The blinding pain nearly drove him into unconsciousness, but he clung to the last shred of clarity—the Smoking Sea's blue boundary lay just below.
With what strength and magic remained, he forced his broken body to angle downward, dragging smoke and flame behind him like the wreckage of a burning rocket as he plunged across that invisible line toward life.
Splash—!!!!
The sea exploded upward in a towering spray.
The golden dragon's vast body crashed into the cooler waters beyond the Smoking Sea.
Icy brine swallowed him whole, chilling him to the marrow and dousing the flames.
The salt burned his charred wounds like knives, golden blood searing into the water, raising coils of steam.
Above, the monsters circled furiously at the sea's edge, their roars echoing over the waves.
At their center loomed the Sphinx, colossal as a king, its gaze cold and merciless, fixed upon the waters as though it could pierce through the depths to find him.
...
The fleet lingered anxiously just beyond the Smoking Sea.
When they saw the apocalyptic pillar of golden-red flame in the distance, saw that dragon's silhouette—wreathed in fire, spine blackened—struggling at the edge of the blaze before plunging into the waves, the sisters Jaelena and Janice felt their hearts turn to ice.
"Quick! Lower the boats! All Dragon Soul Guards, into the water! Find the Lord at any cost!"
Jaelena's voice shook with desperation.
The small boats dropped like arrows loosed from a bow, while the Dragon Soul Guards leapt without hesitation, cutting into the sea like cold, silent sharks as they dove toward the spreading stain of blood.
Time dragged in suffocating silence, every second stretching into eternity.
Jaelena gripped the railing so hard her nails gouged the wood, her eyes fixed on the spot where Lo Quen had fallen.
Janice pressed both hands over her mouth, tears rolling silently as her body trembled uncontrollably.
They had seen it all—the hopeless battle, Lo Quen giving everything, darting through the heavy fog of the Smoking Sea in a desperate fight. Yet the ruthless Sphinx had defied all expectation, striking even at the cost of slaughtering its own kind.
At last—
The waves split as several Dragon Soul Guards surfaced, bearing a charred, broken body covered in wounds.
Blood poured steadily from his back and legs.
Lo Quen.
He had forced himself back into human form in the final instant before hitting the sea and losing consciousness.
They lifted him carefully onto the deck of the flagship.
Janice fell to her knees at his side. Her hands shook violently as she stared at the ghastly wound across his back, the deep, bone-baring gash in his leg, the burns and claw marks that covered him. She dared not touch him, terrified of worsening his agony.
With trembling fingers, she tore a strip from the cleanest part of her underskirt, dipped it in their precious fresh water, and avoided the worst wounds as she gently wiped his face, searching for any trace of life.
Her fingertips caught the faintest flicker of a pulse.
"He's alive! Quick, bring fresh water! Cloths, bandages, hemostatics—everything we have, hurry!" Her voice cracked with tears and frantic urgency.
The sisters worked feverishly, cooling his burns with damp cloths, pressing powder and bandages against the gaping wounds to stanch the bleeding.
But ordinary remedies were hopeless against such devastation. All they could do was pray he endured until they found a true healer.
The fleet did not dare pause. Every sail was raised, and they sped from the Smoking Sea as fast as the wind would take them.
On the deck, Lo Quen lay motionless like a shattered doll, each faint, fragile breath pulling at every heart around him.
His charred, split skin, exposed bone, and bleeding wounds told wordless testimony to the horror of the battle.
Behind them, the cursed sea of endless fire, choking fog, and monstrous beasts shrank slowly from view, until at last it slipped beneath the horizon.