Primordial Awakening: Rise of the Legendary Dragon God

The Dire Sovereign lunged first—a streak of golden muscle tearing through the rubble like a living comet.

Kael blurred to the side, wind curling around his form in spirals, his boots barely touching the ground before he reappeared atop a broken tree.

He flicked a finger.

WHOOSH—

A slicing gale exploded outward, wind blades sharp enough to sever boulders.

They hit the beast's hide—

CRACK—!!!

A translucent, fiery membrane burst to life around the Dire Sovereign's body—the same thing it had used to destroy Kael's barrier.

Its surface shimmered like molten metal wrapped around a sun, and the moment Kael's wind attack made contact with that membrane, it shattered.

Kael's brows rose. "Oh? That's new."

The Dire Sovereign snarled and leapt again, claws tearing up the stone. Kael snapped his hand upward—roots erupted from the cracked earth, twisting into thick wooden serpents.

He was using dendrokinesis.

The roots wrapped around the beast's limbs—

SHHHHHHP—!!!

The fire barrier ignited again, not burning but disintegrating the wood instantly. Ash scattered like dark snowfall.

"Interesting," Kael murmured, stepping back, golden eyes narrowing with analytic amusement.

He rotated his wrist, forming a sphere of compressed wind. "Let's test something else."

He hurled it—

BOOOOOOM—!!

The shockwave ripped a crater into the earth, but again… that shimmering fire membrane appeared, breaking the spell.

Kael clicked his tongue. "Tch. So that's the trick, huh? A fire barrier you don't even activate consciously. But… It's not a normal fire."

He tilted his head, studying the faint golden embers drifting around the beast.

'It eats mana, both the host's and the attack's,' he realized. 'A strong power in short, burst fights.'

Maybe that was why the Dire Sovereign was rushing at him with such frenzy.

It must've realized that the barrier was the only thing that could let him fight against Kael.

After all, Kael was far stronger than the beast when it came to stats.

It was only because of the barrier that the beast could hold his own against Kael.

Well, even that was because Kael was only using magic, as he wanted to test how far he could push the beast.

But before he could continue, the Dire Sovereign, who was growing impatient, roared.

"ENOUGH!" Its voice thundered through the ruined cavern. "Stop darting around like a rat! Face me head-on, human! Fight like a man!"

Kael blinked, looking around, wondering who the beast was talking to, even though it was clear.

Then, he raised an eyebrow.

"Human?" He echoed softly.

He shrugged, rolling his shoulders, lightly stretching his arms as if warming up before a light jog.

"Fight like a man, eh?" He cracked his knuckles. "Well, alright. It was getting boring since I've already tested everything I wanted to anyway."

As soon as he said that, the wind around them calmed.

The debris stilled.

The mana around him shifted—slow, heavy, and strong.

Selene, Evethra, and Lyratheia stiffened as the air thickened, vibrating with a primordial resonance.

Kael sighed lightly.

"Alright then," he said. "You wanted a proper fight—"

His skin darkened like ink spreading across parchment.

Scales erupted.

Bones expanded.

Golden light flashed through the splitting shadows.

The ground quaked as the transformation completed, and the one standing before them now was a huge dragon.

A massive, obsidian dragon stood where Kael had been, fifty meters tall, wings folded like mountains of midnight.

His horns gleamed gold, curving back like blades forged by divine hands. His eyes burned brighter than stars.

And as it happened, the Dire Sovereign froze.

Utter silence.

Shock tore through its expression, its pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

A dragon.

A real dragon, which was supposed to be extinct for thousands of years.

And this one looked more menacing than the ancient legends had described.

"You…" the beast whispered, its voice shaking. "Impossible…"

Kael lowered his massive head, golden eyes glowing with amused menace.

"Still want me to fight like a man?" He rumbled, voice deep enough to shake the earth.

The Dire Sovereign stepped back—instinct overriding pride for the first time.

Meanwhile—

Outside the collapsed cavern, in the forest clearing, the Food Bringer who had guided the girl away glanced up at the treeline… and froze.

A colossal silhouette rose above the forest canopy—black and gold and divine.

Kael's wings unfolded, blotting out the sun.

And the moment he saw the dragon, the Food Bringer's knees gave out.

He collapsed to the ground, trembling, nails digging into the dirt. Tears welled in his eyes.

"T-Th… That form…" he choked, his voice cracking. "That's… exactly as I imagined… when I prayed… to my god…"

He bowed his head so low it scraped the earth.

"L-Lord of the Night Sun… you have descended…"

Unlike him, however, the other humans felt terrified, wondering who that dragon was and if it was also here to eat them.

Back inside the ravaged clearing, Kael's dragon form took one single step toward the Dire Sovereign—

THOOOM—!

The shockwave alone uprooted trees behind the beast.

Kael's golden eyes narrowed with predatory excitement… as he grinned. "Why do you look scared?"

The Dire Sovereign couldn't reply.

If the pressure Kael exuded before was pure mana pressure, now, he had that dragonic presence that could make any beast bend their knees.

Some distance away from there, Evethra took a deep breath.

Her crimson eyes went wide, sparkling as if she'd just seen her favorite painting come alive.

"So beautiful…" she whispered, voice trembling with a frightening kind of adoration. "Master Kael… in his perfect form… again…"

Her fingers twitched as she pressed a hand against her chest, a lovesick smile marring her face.

Selene, calm as always, touched her silver hair with a soft sigh of wonder.

She had seen this form before.

And yet—

"It never gets any less overwhelming…" she murmured. "He truly is… a dragon."

Lyratheia, however, stood frozen.

Her usually soft emerald eyes widened until they almost glowed, and her breath caught halfway through her throat.

The oppressive divine presence, the monstrous scale, and the aura that pushed down like a celestial tide—

"S-So that dumb bear… wasn't lying…" She swallowed. "Kael is… really… a dragon."

It was one thing to hear it.

Another to see the last supposed dragon in existence towering fifty meters tall, radiating enough presence to make the Dire Sovereign break out in a cold sweat.

"If people learn of this…" she whispered, her voice shaking. "If the world knew he was a real dragon… the last one… that would be—"

But her thought was cut in half.

Because the Dire Sovereign, driven mad by fear, pride, and desperation, roared—a shrill, scraping cry that shook the cavern.

Its golden mane flared, the fiery membrane sparking back to life as it lunged.

It no longer looked regal.

It looked wild.

Cornered.

Breaking.

Kael, however, didn't even flinch.

He merely turned his massive head with slow, deliberate amusement—as if watching a child rush at him with a stick.

Then—

FWOOOM—!!!

The beast slammed forward in a frenzy of claws and flame—

Only for Kael's enormous claw to shoot out like a flash of black lightning.

CRACK—!!!

The sound echoed like the sky splitting open.

Kael's talons closed around the Dire Sovereign's neck, lifting the gargantuan beast clean off the ground.

Its limbs dangled helplessly, flailing, scraping at Kael's scales.

The Sovereign roared, legs kicking at empty air as the dragon held it effortlessly.

Evethra let out a quiet, breathy "Haaah," while Selene looked on, serene but stunned.

Lyratheia's jaw dropped as she realized what she was witnessing wasn't a fight anymore.

It was a game now.

The Dire Sovereign tried to gather breath—

Tried to summon strength—

Tried to resist—

But Kael shook it lightly, like a cat carrying a noisy animal.

"Relax," Kael rumbled, voice deep enough to vibrate the cracks in the earth. "You said you wanted me to fight like a man. I'm doing you a favor by still using my hands."

The Dire Sovereign's eyes widened in humiliation and primal fear.

Then—

FWOOSH—!!

Golden flames surged around its body as the barrier flared to life again, erupting violently.

The beast roared triumphantly—

Only for Kael to smirk.

"That won't help you anymore."

His other claw curled into a fist.

And then—

BOOOOOOM—!!!

Kael's punch crashed into the Dire Sovereign's stomach with the force of a meteor.

The fiery barrier—

The invincible membrane—

The divine shield of the Sovereign—

SHATTERED.

Glass-like fragments of golden flame cracked apart, bursting into glittering embers.

The Dire Sovereign's eyes bulged.

Its jaw hung open.

It stared directly at Kael, mind blank with disbelief.

"Wh… wh… HOW—?!"

Kael tilted his huge head, almost pitying.

"If I stayed in that little human form…" He shrugged—well, as much as a fifty-meter dragon could. "Then maybe your fire would've burned me. Maybe."

He leaned closer, golden eyes glowing like primordial suns.

"But unfortunately for you—"

The dragon's scales gleamed like obsidian armor infused with starfire.

"I'm not human."

The Dire Sovereign's breathing turned ragged, panicked.

Its limbs scrabbled weakly against Kael's unyielding grip.

Cornered.

Overwhelmed.

Breaking.

Then—

Its pupils tightened into slits as it thought of the final gambit—its true trump card.

The beast pulled in breath—

Its chest expanding—

Its throat igniting with molten light—

Lyratheia gasped.

"NO—!! Its breath attack—!"

Selene's eyes narrowed in alarm.

Evethra, however, didn't even blink.

Because right then, her eyes had met Kael's, and he was smiling.

He was enjoying this.

So, she was sure that he would be fine.

Or at least that's what she hoped because, intentionally or not, she had clenched her fists in worry.

In that instant, before Lyratheia could even complete her words, the Dire Sovereign's jaws opened wide—

"DIEEEEE—!!!"

A beam of annihilating golden breath surged point-blank toward Kael's head.