NOVEL NEXT Chapter 224: Slender
The ancient dragon tore across the sky, wings unfurling with a deafening snap, death-infused flames cascading from its body.
But something was wrong, Damien felt it immediately. The Soulbrand, which had bound the two souls together, began fraying quicker than he anticipated. The twisted combination of souls wasn't just unraveling, it was rebelling.
The dragon's roar reverberated across the battlefield, filled with anguish and fury. Then, abruptly, its burning eyes snapped downward, fixing squarely onto Damien. Recognition and hatred burned fiercely within its gaze.
"You." it growled, its voice thunderous and resonant with ancient malice. "You dare taint my soul with such a weakling? You will die!"
Before Damien could react, the dragon dove toward him, a meteor of necrotic fire and vengeance. Instantly, the battlefield was awash with dread as warriors scattered, sensing the violent change. Blackie tried to intercept, shifting instantly into her dragon form, scales glittering in desperate fury.
But the ancient dragon, fuelled by the potent soulbrand and ancient wrath, was far beyond her capabilities.
It opened its massive jaws, unleashing a torrent of black fire so dense and hot that it distorted the air itself. Blackie's roar of defiance became a scream of agony, abruptly cut short as her form was incinerated, reduced instantly to drifting ashes.
Damien's heart clenched. A sharp pang of guilt and regret surged through him. He had ignored her warning, blinded by revenge and power. Now she was gone.
Rage Monkey, roaring in despair, lunged upward.
His powerful fists glowed with desperate energy, crashing into the dragon's scales, attempting to draw its attention. But the ancient dragon's tail swung viciously, brutally catching him midair. Rage Monkey was sent crashing into the ground, bones cracking audibly, his breaths ragged and bloody.
Damien's fists trembled, fury and grief interwoven on his face.
But the dragon granted him no reprieve.
It closed in, a mass of unstoppable might. Damien's sword flashed, his invisible armor crackling with protective enchantments. His blades sparked harmlessly off ancient scales, spells shattering uselessly against its hide. Every attack Damien launched was deflected with contemptuous ease.
He roared in frustration and lunged again, slamming a full-force strike laced with death energy into the creature's neck, only for the blade to bounce off like it struck forged steel.
He switched tactics, unleashing a barrage of elemental punches, each one empowered with years of refined technique and vicious time energy, but they barely left a mark.
With a furious cry, he fired a concentrated blast of compressed death and timespace energy directly into its eye, his strongest attack into the dragon's most vulnerable point.
But the beast simply turned its head, letting the beam glance off with disdain.
Seconds blurred into desperate eternity as Damien dodged and wove through the onslaught. A flaming claw sliced through his armor, leaving a deep, burning gash across his chest. Although his body was immune to fire, the wounds still hurt him immensely.
His breath became labored, each movement agonizingly painful. Another brutal strike sent him sprawling, rolling painfully across shattered terrain.
"Pathetic," growled the ancient dragon, disdain evident as it stalked forward, looming over Damien's crumpled form. Its massive jaws opened wide, preparing to unleash a final, devastating blast.
With his last ounce of strength, Rage Monkey staggered upright, blood pouring from his wounds. With a primal roar, he threw himself in front of Damien, fists raised defiantly as the dragon's deadly flames enveloped him completely.
Damien watched, helpless, as Rage Monkey was obliterated, his form utterly pulverized by the blast.
Damien's mind screamed. Rage, guilt, and sorrow tore at him even as his body failed to respond. The ancient dragon's form was visibly deteriorating, pieces flaking away as the souls within violently separated, but its wrath persisted. It glared down, eyes dimming yet still piercingly hateful.
"You have awakened that which should not be awakened…" the dragon hissed, voice fading into ominous whispers. "The Undead Empi—"
Its words cut off abruptly, its massive frame shuddering before collapsing into dust and ruin. Damien lay still amidst the silence, heart pounding weakly, grief overwhelming him.
All was lost. He had gambled and the price had been steep.
A few minutes later, Damien sat up slowly amidst the haunting silence, pain erupting through every fiber of his battered body.
The battlefield had fallen still, an eerie quiet settling over the ruin-strewn landscape. Around him stood only the remnants of his revived beasts and dragons, their spectral forms shimmering faintly with lingering power. The enemy dragons had been decimated or driven away entirely, leaving behind only echoes of their once-mighty presence.
He coughed violently, crimson droplets splattering onto the scorched earth beneath him. Every movement was agony, every breath a piercing torment. Deep gashes ran across his chest and limbs, his ribs shattered, his flesh scorched and bleeding profusely.
His core was dangerously depleted, overdrawn beyond safety as he had unleashed everything he had and more at the Ancient Dragon.
The hum of its weakened energy vibrated faintly, barely holding his tattered form together. Damien was, by any rational standard, half-dead.
Yet, despite the agony that consumed him, Damien's gaze was calm, serene almost, as he took in the desolation he had wrought.
His mind drifted to Blackie, to Rage Monkey, revived beasts, yes, but also friends whose undeath had been extinguished because of his reckless ambition.
There was no trace of Grand Marshal Li Qingshan. He was either killed in the brutal fight or escaped to plot revenge.
Grief twisted within him sharply, yet he knew he had no time for mourning. Not yet.
A sudden rustle of fabric, soft yet impossibly clear, snapped Damien's focus back to the immediate surroundings.
Instinctively, his surviving beasts lunged forward, snarling aggressively toward the figure emerging from the shadows. Yet the newcomer glided effortlessly, evading every guardian with impossible grace, almost as though dancing on shadows themselves.
Within moments, she stood before him.
Damien's breath caught momentarily as his gaze swept over her figure. She was breathtakingly beautiful, an exotic vision from realms unknown. Her smooth, dark skin shimmered softly under the dim glow of residual magic, her lithe body barely concealed beneath minimal armor that emphasized rather than obscured her curvaceous form.
Her waist was impossibly slender, her hips flared enticingly, but Damien's eyes were inevitably drawn upwards. Her ample breasts pressed tantalizingly against her silken garments, the swell of her bosom drawing his gaze momentarily before her melodic voice captured his full attention.