NOVEL NEXT Chapter 86: Absolute Dominance!
Kaeryx's heart cracked.
It slammed against his ribs, wild, panicked. A whimper escaped his throat as he tried to move forward, the instinct to fly to them overwhelming everything else.
But Ethan was ready. He placed mental pressure on Kaeryx's mind and spoke.
'Not yet. They're still alive… and there's still a chance to save them. But not if you act now. Trust me.'
Kaeryx trembled.
His tiny claws scraped against the ground, his wings fluttered with restrained instinct. The wails wanted to come. The fear burned hot.
But he obeyed.
Because somewhere deep within him, he recognized it—Ethan's presence, not as a voice, but as something larger. A will stronger than his fear.
Ethan's grip tightened.
'You'll save them. But only if you strike when it counts.'
So Kaeryx waited. Coiled not in fear, but in readiness. And in the shadows of despair, something ancient began to stir.
The flame… was learning to roar.
It didn't take long.
The Dragon Emperor descended in a blur of divine radiance, discovering the existence of the formation after searching Draeven's and Aephyra's memories.
Everything was calm he hoovered down towards it with a slight smile on his face, the formation activated with violent retaliation. His soul was attacked violently and he was forcefully pulled into an illusion all, which he was already expecting, was able to easily resist just like he did last time.
Complex sigils flared to life, pulsing with redirected power. The backlash didn't strike him—it bypassed him completely, transferring the damage directly to Draeven and Aephyra.
They were jolted awake instantly, coughing in pain, eyes wide with alarm as energy wracked their bodies. And right at that moment, Ethan gave the order.
"Kaeryx… now."
The atmosphere trembled. A wave of killing intent surged into existence—so vast and suffocating it drowned everything in silence. Time itself seemed to hesitate.
From the void, Kaeryx's future self awakened. The being that stirred was no longer the Kaeryx they knew.
This was Dragon God Kaeryx!
The Dragon Emperor—apex predator, slayer of kings—froze.
He could feel it. Instinct roared in him, screaming that he had stepped into something he could not comprehend. This wasn't merely power. It was domination — raw and absolute.
The pressure crushed down on him from every angle. Bloodline pressure forced his body still. But beyond that was the other pressure… the killing intent so concentrated, so brutal, it buried every thought of resistance. Every instinct he'd ever relied on—obliterated.
He couldn't move.
Right at that moment, Kaeryx's form began to take shape.
Black scales, sleek and laced with divine power, began to grow, stretching over a monstrous frame. He grew and grew, each second increasing in mass and pressure. The Labyrinth itself began to strain. Space twisted and cracked. Even Draeven and Aephyra, strong as they were, could only look on in stunned silence.
They had never seen a dragon of this size.
And even as Kaeryx's form reached a scale that dwarfed the entire realm, it still wasn't enough. He grew beyond the Labyrinth's limits, until the very fabric of the dimension began to buckle.
Then, he changed.
Not into a dragonoid.
But into something else.
Something… human.
The humanoid form of Kaeryx descended.
A red-haired figure landed gracefully in the air, lean but radiating a terrifying presence. Two small horns curled from his head, faint traces of scaled patterns laced his arms. His expression was unreadable—cold, confident. His eyes glowed with a molten gold light. And behind them, the weight of centuries.
He wore the shape that reminded him of his mother.
The one that brought warmth when he was lost.
The one that let him feel the gentleness of her embrace... Her breast to be precise, the form that felt closest to him, that let him suckle her two succulent breasts as much as he wants to...
It was in this form that he felt closest to comfort—and it was in this form that he would bring judgment. He landed silently in front of the Dragon Emperor.
His gaze never wavered.
The Dragon Emperor dropped to his knees. Not out of reverence, but because he couldn't stand. The killing intent pressed him into the ground like a divine hammer. The earth cracked, forming a massive crater beneath him.
Kaeryx hadn't even lifted a finger.
And yet, Draeven and Aephyra—mere feet away—stood unaffected. Kaeryx's control over his power was so precise that not even a wisp of killing intent touched them.
He stepped forward, calmly.
And then, he spoke.
"Aetherion Drakonveil…This is where you die."
Silence.
The name hit the Dragon Emperor like a blade to the soul.
No one… no one knew that name. Not his enemies. Not his allies. Not even the gods who once feared him dared speak it.
And yet Kaeryx had spoken it so casually—like a fact he'd always known.
The Dragon Emperor's pupils shrank. A new fear emerged in him—one that went deeper than power or death. This boy… this being… remembered. He didn't just possess strength. He held the memories of the future. The experience, the wisdom, the knowledge of his god-self.
This wasn't an opponent. This was his executioner.
Kaeryx reached out, slowly. His right hand landed gently on the Dragon Emperor's shoulder—like a friend, like a comrade. But to Aetherion, it was the touch of oblivion.
He knew—he knew—that if he let that hand linger, he would cease to exist. But he couldn't move.
Not a single finger.
The bloodline suppression was absolute. The killing intent was too heavy, too perfect. He couldn't even channel his energy. Even his secret techniques, his failsafes—they were sealed under the pressure of Kaeryx's godhood.
Then came the fire. A silent bloom of colorless flame spread from Kaeryx's palm.
It ignited the Dragon Emperor instantly. No sound. No warning. Just fire.
It burned not just flesh—but soul, pride, and everything in between. This flame… was the perfected fusion of the Eternal Pyre and the Soul Flame—the same flames that Aetherion had once scorned. The same flames he mocked when he struck down Kaeryx in another timeline, before Ethan shattered fate itself.