---
The red Lacrima glowed brighter, thrumming like a heartbeat in Yaman's chest. Gehinom leaned close, molten breath scorching the boy's skin, his claws brushing the edge of the Lacrima's light.
"Feel it, boy," the dragon hissed. "This is the power you crave. Every ounce of it will tear you apart… and build you anew. Only the damned can survive this. Only the vessel will endure."
Yaman's body convulsed. He fell to the ground as the Lacrima sank into his flesh, searing through his veins like molten iron. Pain exploded in every nerve, and his bones screamed as if trying to resist reshaping. He gasped, blood bubbling at his lips, yet he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"Endure it… I must… for Father… for revenge," he whispered through gritted teeth, tears of agony streaming down his face.
The cavern trembled violently. Lava surged, and the walls cracked as if the mountain itself recoiled from the sacrilege. Yaman's skin split with fiery light, yet no flame burned him. Instead, his flesh was being rewritten, infused with the raw essence of a dragon's soul. His veins glowed like molten magma, his eyes flashing a fiery red-black swirl as the Dragon Slayer magic coursed through him.
Gehinom's laughter thundered, cruel and exultant.
"Do you feel it? The pain of a thousand dragons? The weight of centuries? Every scream, every broken wing, every life taken to forge your power—it is yours now!"
Yaman screamed, a primal sound of agony and determination, as his body twisted unnaturally, growing, reshaping. His arms lengthened slightly, muscles snapping, bones cracking and reforging in the glow of red lightning. Fire flared along his hair and shoulders, leaving scorched streaks across his skin.
The Lacrima imprinted its mark on him—a glowing, jagged sigil over his chest, pulsing like a heart of fire. Every breath burned his lungs, every heartbeat was a hammer of molten fury.
"You… will… live!" Yaman gasped, defying the hellish torment. "I… will… save… Father!"
The dragon's aura encircled him like a crushing cage. Flames, magma, and black lightning intertwined, pressing into his mind, testing his spirit, trying to break him. Yet Yaman's will held. He roared, and the magic inside him responded, flowing with a resonance that made the cavern quake: his body became both armor and weapon, a fusion of human resolve and draconic fury.
Gehinom's molten eyes narrowed in a mixture of admiration and arrogance.
"Good… very good. You survive where mortals would burn to ash. But remember, boy—this is only the beginning. Flesh may endure, but your soul…" He tilted his massive head, letting Yaman glimpse the abyss the magic would eventually cast him into. "…your soul will scream for centuries. You are mine now."
The Lacrima's glow intensified one last time, then pulsed outward in a final wave, searing Yaman's body. His hair floated like flame, his eyes molten red-black, his entire aura now a blazing storm of dragon-fire magic. Smoke and ash swirled around him, and the cavern's walls cracked, spewing molten rock as if the mountain itself recognized the birth of something unnatural.
Yaman fell to one knee, chest heaving, blood and molten sweat dripping down. His body felt like it had been broken and reforged a thousand times, yet his spirit blazed hotter than ever. He rose, trembling, and the glow of the Lacrima burned into his eyes like a promise: he would save his father, and he would destroy Zeldaris.
Gehinom's laugh reverberated through the volcano, cruel and proud.
"Rise, vessel of Gehinom. Rise, Dragon Slayer reborn in sin and flame. Let the world see the power of forbidden magic—and know the cost of desiring it."
Yaman's fists clenched, his body radiating an aura of fire and shadow, as he prepared to descend from the dragon's throne room. The weight of Resurrection Magic coursed through him, terrible and magnificent, but his eyes burned with unbroken determination. He was no longer just a boy—he was a weapon, a vessel, a Dragon Slayer born of forbidden power and undying will.
---
Yaman's eyelids fluttered open. For a moment, all he could hear was the low roar of the volcano — the bubbling, snarling hiss of lava flowing somewhere below. His body trembled, slick with blood and molten sweat, the pain of the Lacrima still burning through his veins like liquid fire.
He pushed himself upright slowly, every movement an agony. The cavern was eerily silent. The throne — once occupied by the colossal Magma Dragon — was empty. The red glow that had filled the chamber now flickered like dying embers.
"Where… where is he?" Yaman's voice cracked. His breath hitched as his father's magical aura — faint but once fierce — flickered in his senses, dimming rapidly like a candle being snuffed out. Panic surged in his chest.
"No… Father…" he whispered, dragging himself to his feet. His fingers dug into the rock as he stared at the empty throne. "Gehinom! Where are you?! The deal… the power…!"
Then, suddenly —
A voice. Deep, molten, and cruel, echoing not from the cavern but from within his skull.
"Stop whining, boy."
Yaman gasped, clutching his head, his knees nearly buckling under the pressure of the voice. It wasn't sound — it was an eruption in his mind.
"I'm here. Inside you. My Lacrima. My soul. My power. You asked for it, now endure it."
"Inside me…?" Yaman whispered, his eyes wide. Memories flashed — the dragon's molten claws, the searing pain, the Lacrima fusing into his body. The realization chilled him even through the heat.
Then Gehinom's voice rolled like thunder across his thoughts.
"Come on, boy. Enough staring at shadows. We have no time. Your father's magic fades like dying embers above this volcano. I'll teach you the basics of Magma Dragon Slayer Magic. With my power surging through you, you have fifteen minutes to master it."
Yaman's eyes snapped open, panic and disbelief swirling. "Fifteen minutes?! That's— that's impossible!"
The voice inside his head shifted from cold to volcanic fury.
"Then you don't deserve my power, insect." Gehinom's roar cracked through Yaman's skull, making him grit his teeth and clutch his temples. "I am not a compassionate dragon. I am no gentle teacher. Those fools who pampered their little slayers are dead or weak. You wanted my strength? Then you'll take it the way it was meant to be taken — in blood and agony."
Yaman's sweat rolled down his face, his body trembling as heat and pressure built inside him. He felt like he was standing at the edge of a volcano about to erupt — inside his own body.
The voice hissed like molten stone meeting water:
"Fifteen minutes. No more. You fail, and your father dies. You fail, and you're no vessel of mine. You fail, and you burn."
Yaman's jaw tightened. His fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. He lifted his head, eyes blazing with desperate fire. "Fine… I'll learn. I don't care what it takes. If it means saving my father…" He took a shuddering breath. "I'll survive you, dragon. I'll master your magic."
For a heartbeat, Gehinom's laughter rumbled inside his skull, dark and cruel — but also faintly approving.
"Good. Then stand, vessel. Brace yourself. Let me carve my magic into your bones. The basics will break you, but only the broken can be remade."
Yaman spread his feet on the scorched rock, steadying himself. His entire body trembled with pain and fear, but his eyes — his eyes burned like molten iron.
Above the volcano, thunder cracked and the mountain shuddered. Inside, in the hollow carved by dragons and forbidden magic, a boy prepared to be reforged by hell itself.
---
Gehinom's eyes gleamed, molten fire reflecting in their depths. His voice rumbled like an earthquake:
"Boy, within every living being flows a power older than the world itself. Ethernano. Life force, magical essence, the current of creation itself. Every mage, every Dragon Slayer, every fool and hero has it. But only those who awaken it can wield their true potential. You… must awaken it within yourself."
Yaman's chest heaved. "Ethernano…?" he whispered, trembling but resolute.
"Focus," Gehinom commanded. "Close your eyes. Feel the currents of your blood, your pulse, your heartbeat. It is there. Flowing. Waiting. Let it rise, let it burn, let it scream. Feel the Ethernano within you."
Yaman obeyed. He sank to his knees, his hands pressed against the molten rocks beneath him, his breathing sharp and uneven. For minutes that felt like lifetimes, he strained, feeling the heat of the volcano, the echoes of the dragon's power, the rhythmic pulse of life within him.
Then — it surged.
A violent red aura exploded from Yaman's body. It coiled around him, scorching the rocks, scattering ash like sparks of blood in the air. Lava rippled violently in the crater, responding to his awakening power. Gehinom's jaw dropped, molten fire swirling in his gaze.
"So… so quickly?!" the dragon hissed, half in disbelief, half in admiration. "Such power… such intensity… you… you are indeed the vessel I sought. The boy… the perfect vessel." He curled his lips into a dark, sarcastic smile.
Yaman gasped, the fire of Ethernano burning in his veins. His body felt like it would tear itself apart, yet every fiber of him thrummed with raw, untamed potential.
Gehinom's roar shook the cavern, echoing through the volcano:
"Listen, boy! Magic without battle is dead, powerless, worthless! You cannot master Dragon Slayer magic by staring at the walls of a cave. Battles are the crucible of strength! Battles are the forge that shapes the soul!"
Yaman's fists clenched, the red aura flaring higher, coiling like liquid fire around him.
"Now," Gehinom said, his wings stretching wide, molten light casting dancing shadows on the walls, "we will go deeper. We will emerge from the volcano itself. You will learn the Great Eruption technique. The magma of the Dragon Volcano will be your ally and your test. Focus your magic. Focus your Ethernano. Become the fire and the force of this mountain!"
Yaman looked at his hands, palms open, feeling the molten blood and power coiling through him. "I… I will do it!" he whispered, determination blazing in his eyes. "I will save my father!"
He concentrated. His red aura ignited violently, spiraling outward like a storm of burning magma. The cavern shook as the lava below began to churn, bubbling and surging as if aware of the magic.
Gehinom roared in unison with him, his voice a living volcano:
"GREAT ERUPTION!"
Yaman echoed, screaming with all his might:
"GREAT ERUPTION!"
The volcano trembled, shaking the very earth beneath the island. Lava shot upwards in molten pillars, forming a fiery, spiraling column that began to lift Yaman, red aura blazing like a comet. The heat was unbearable, the force violent, yet he gritted his teeth, feeling the dragon's Lacrima and his own Ethernano coiling in perfect harmony.
"Focus… focus… I will save you, Dad!" he shouted, sweat and blood mixing as his magic flared brighter than the eruption itself.
The magma and his aura intertwined, propelling him skyward, the mountain itself bending to the will of his burgeoning Dragon Slayer power.
For a moment, he was suspended between heaven and hell, fire and blood, hope and despair — a boy on the verge of transcending his humanity.
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