Swoosh!
The blade's shriek ripped through the air as if a ghost were torn from its tomb.
It wasn't the clash of steel on steel — it was alive.
Wrathful........ hungry.......
Cursed runes on the edge of the blade throbbed with dark lightning as Raiketsu, the man once dreaded throughout the empire, steeled himself for the killing blow. Blood flowed freely down his arm.
His lungs seared.
The earth below him shook, not strong enough to support the weight of the power building in the air.
Before him, the Shadow Monarch Dragon lifted its head — tattered wings, molten eyes burning with hatred and fatigue. Wounded as it was, it was still a frightful creature — born of chaos.
The chamber — the core of the Abyss Vault — lay in shambles. Pillars broken, runes dissipating, and magic seeped from the walls like sundered veins.
"Alive still, you wretched thing?" The dragon's voice thundered like far-off storms, its fangs shining in the darkness.
"How determined for a mortal."
Raiketsu did not answer.
His body was destroyed. His armour broken. His eyes blurred, losing focus with each beat of his heart.
But even still, he would not fall.
Planting his sword in the ground, he grinned faintly.
"Hah. You think I'd lose to a simple overgrown lizard? Don't make me laugh."
The dragon snarled, its wings quivering. A bright purple haze throbbed from its bare core a churning vortex of fire and nothingness, ready for the last hit.
Raiketsu clamped down harder on his sword. His breathing eased.
This was it -his last stand.
The runes along his blade flared to life, feeding on the last of his mana. The weapon grew heavy. alive. as if it shared his resolve.
"This is it!" he roared.
"I'M GONNA END YOU, YOU DAMNED LIZARD!"
He unleashed every last drop of mana. His body shone like he had become pure energy — his aura so fierce that even the ancient dragon trembled.
The dragon bellowed, spewing forth a whirlwind of void fire.
Raiketsu charged forward, all muscle ripping, sword slicing the air like a tempest.
When powers met, the world itself howled in agony.
The earth shattered. The dungeon fell apart. The heavens shook.
Then........—
Silence............
Warrior and dragon remained motionless… dead… their dying blows sapping what life remained.
But then—
The orb that was lodged in Raiketsu's sword started to ascend, radiating divine light. It engulfed the dragon's core and Raiketsu's withering soul, shooting up into the heavens.
A voice resonated across the emptiness—
"Human. you were courageous and fought energetically for your world. So, I will give you a new life. A new start. with no recollection of your past. but with the abilities you once possessed — and the strength of the Black Shadow Monarch Dragon itself. These abilities will be kept in secret. until the proper time arrives."