---
The battlefield groaned beneath the weight of two auras. For five full minutes, Yaman roared, his crimson-and-black magic colliding against Zeldaris' abyss. Sparks of fire and lightning lit the corpses strewn across the arena, turning the place into a burning graveyard.
But then—
⚡ CRACK ⚡
The lightning around Yaman flickered. His knees buckled. His breath came ragged and shallow. The furious red aura began to fade like a dying flame.
"D-Damn it!" Yaman spat, one hand pressed to his chest. His vision blurred. "These are the effects… of this power…"
He dropped to one knee, body trembling violently. Blood trickled from his nose. His veins pulsed unnaturally, glowing faint red before going dark. His body was too weak, too human, to bear the torrent he had unleashed.
Fernando, crucified, cried out desperately:
"YAMAN! STOP! You'll burn yourself alive!"
Zeldaris only laughed. A low, guttural sound that grew into a monstrous roar. He dragged the back of his hand across his bloody lips and smiled savagely.
"So… you can't control it. You awaken power unconsciously, like a child waving a sword too heavy for him."
His eyes gleamed with madness.
"You're not bad, brat… not bad at all. But now—"
🔥 His aura erupted like a volcano. Red flames wrapped around his club, fused with jagged red lightning, until the weapon glowed like a piece of hell itself. The air bent around it, the ground cracked at his feet.
"Now you will see the power of the monsters of this world." His grin widened, exposing bloodied teeth. "We will see if the gods spare you… or let the monsters devour you."
He vanished.
Yaman's eyes went wide. He's so fast!
Zeldaris was already above him, club raised high, wrapped in fire and thunder. His voice boomed like a death sentence:
⚔️ "—ENMA!" ⚔️
The strike came down.
The arena split in half.
A thunderclap shook the island as the blow smashed into Yaman's skull, flames devouring everything in their path. Stone shattered, corpses vaporized, and the shockwave ripped the execution platform in two.
When the dust settled, Yaman lay sprawled, his eyes rolled white, his face pale, his body broken. His chest heaved faintly—alive, but barely.
Fernando screamed, his voice breaking. "YAMAN!!!"
Zeldaris stood over the boy, club resting on his shoulder, blood dripping from its edges. His grin was monstrous, his laughter echoing like bells of the damned.
"Hah… hahahaha! Incredible. That strike should kill an S-rank wizard outright. But this brat…" He looked down at the unconscious Yaman, whose heart still pulsed with a strange glow. "…something keeps him alive. His body refuses death."
He narrowed his eyes, amused. "Enma… ruler of Jigoku. So you're protecting him, are you? How delicious."
Zeldaris bent low, blood still smeared across his face, and hooked his arm under Yaman's limp body. He lifted him as if he were nothing more than a broken doll.
Then he turned his gaze to Fernando.
"My god, Dark King… your son is strong. Stronger than you ever told yourself. Even in ruins, he bleeds power. Hah! But now he's mine."
He laughed again, carrying Yaman's body, his teeth gleaming red in the firelight.
---
Fernando, chained and bloodied, pulled violently against the crucifixion spell. His veins bulged, his magic core throbbed painfully, but the seals tightened with every struggle. His missing arm bled through the bandages of raw magic Kur had forced upon him.
His one good eye widened as he saw Zeldaris lift Yaman's limp body like a trophy.
"You… MONSTER!" Fernando's voice was hoarse, but it shook with unfiltered fury. His aura flared weakly, sparks of shadow magic crawling up the chains.
Zeldaris only tilted his head, amused.
"Monster? No, Dark King. I am truth. And truth is cruel. Truth is hunger. Truth is power."
Fernando roared, his magic surging like a collapsing star, but the crucifixion circle burned brighter and forced him down. His scream turned into a guttural cry of helplessness
Zeldaris carried Yaman over his shoulder, the boy's blood dripping across his body. He grinned wide, his crimson eyes shining with both triumph and insanity.
He leaned close to Yaman's ear, whispering in a cruel, sing-song tone:
"Your father wanted you to run… but you ran back into my arms. Hah! Just like a moth drawn to the flame. And now, little brat, you burn."
He straightened, throwing his head back with laughter that rattled the ruined arena. His aura spiked again, shaking the earth, as if mocking the gods themselves.
"Dark King Fernando! Watch closely as your son—your legacy—becomes the spark that lights my empire! You will live… but you will live to suffer!"
Kur stepped forward, obedient and silent. Zeldaris snapped his fingers, his monstrous grin never fading.
"Bind the Dark King tighter. Crucify him deeper. Let him watch every moment."
And with that, the night burned crimson under the Dark King's torment and the Dark God's laughter.
---
Zeldaris stood over Fernando, Yaman's limp body still dangling in his grasp like a broken doll. His monstrous grin widened as he crouched before the crucified Dark King.
"Well, Fernando…" he whispered, his voice low, sharp, and venomous, "what do you think I should do with him?"
He leaned in close, his breath hot and rancid.
"Should I tear him apart slowly, bone by bone? … Or perhaps gouge out his eyes so the last thing he sees is my smile? Or maybe…" he chuckled, licking his lips, "…drop him alive into the molten rivers of your precious island so his screams echo for eternity?"
Fernando shook violently against the magical spikes holding him down, his teeth clenched, blood running from his mouth. "Zeldaris… DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
But Zeldaris only laughed louder, his voice echoing across the corpses of fallen mages.
"Ahhh, this fear in your eye… this despair in your voice. I savor it. This is sweeter than your blood, Dark King. A father who can only watch."
Then, a thunderous roar filled the sky.
BOOOOOM!
The Dragon Volcano, the oldest and mightiest of Vulcanus, erupted. Flames and molten rock burst into the heavens. The crater blazed with fury, as if the mountain itself had awakened.
Zeldaris turned his head slowly, his grin curling into something even darker. The reflection of the flames danced in his crimson eyes.
"Oooh… magnificent. It seems the Dragon has chosen to sing for us tonight."
He looked back at Fernando, savoring his terror, before pressing Yaman's body tighter against his side. "What a stage this is! Your boy's fate, carved upon the mouth of the Dragon itself!"
Fernando's good eye widened in horror. His voice cracked, raw and broken:
"NOOO! Don't you dare, Zeldaris! DON'T YOU DARE!"
But Zeldaris only chuckled, slow and sharp, before turning toward the volcano.
Step by step, he began to climb toward the blazing crater, his cape fluttering in the infernal winds, Yaman's unconscious body swaying in his grip.
Fernando screamed again, thrashing helplessly in his bindings. His heart pounded with dread as he watched the monster he once called comrade drag his son toward the burning mouth of the Dragon Volcano.
Zeldaris didn't look back.
He just smiled wickedly.
And climbed higher.
---
Zeldaris ascended the jagged slope of the Dragon Volcano, Yaman's limp body dragging behind him, blood dripping and staining the black rocks like a trail of sacrifice. Every step echoed with the sound of molten stone rumbling deep within.
Behind him, Fernando roared, his voice breaking under agony and despair.
"ZELDARIS! YOU MONSTER! IF YOU TOUCH HIM, I SWEAR I'LL TEAR YOUR SOUL APART!"
But the Dark King's voice was powerless against the chains of crucifixion.
Zeldaris turned his head slightly, flashing a grin over his shoulder.
"Oh, Fernando… your fury is beautiful. But your threats are nothing but dying embers. You can't even move—yet you still bark like a dying hound."
He reached the crater's edge. The air shimmered with blistering heat, lava bubbling like the heartbeat of a god. The ground shook as if the volcano itself were alive, breathing, waiting.
Zeldaris dangled Yaman's body over the abyss, his hand gripping the boy's collar. Blood dripped from Yaman's unconscious form into the fire below, sizzling like oil on flame.
"Look, Fernando," Zeldaris whispered, his voice low, cruel, and dripping with mockery. "The volcano itself thirsts for him. Can you hear it? The Dragon wants your son's blood."
Fernando thrashed against the spikes, screaming hoarsely:
"NOOOO! TAKE ME INSTEAD! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
But Zeldaris only leaned closer to the lava, his savage smile stretching wider.
"Shhh… listen. The magma calls. It's the perfect grave for a little brat who dared to touch the monsters of this world. His blood will awaken the Dragon fully… and this island will know despair."
The volcano rumbled louder, flames bursting into the sky as if answering Zeldaris's words. Shadows of writhing shapes flickered in the inferno, and deep within the burning crater, something stirred—an ancient presence.
Zeldaris laughed, his voice wild, echoing like a hymn of madness.
"Do you see, Fernando? Your son isn't just my trophy… he's the key. The Dragon itself rises for his blood. Tell me… how does it feel, watching helplessly as your legacy becomes a sacrifice?"
Fernando's remaining eye burned with tears and fury, his voice shattering as he screamed into the fire-lit sky:
"YAMAAAAN!!"
And the Dragon Volcano roared back, shaking the heavens as if answering his cry.
---