NOVEL NEXT Chapter 87: Back at Nexa!
But now, they had returned.
Evolved. Divine. Unforgiving.
Aetherion Drakonveil—the Dragon Emperor—roared.
But the sound was swallowed by the fire.
There was no salvation. No glory. No final strike.
Only ash. His soul at that moment, ceased to exist
[Your subordinate has killed the Dragon Emperor and claimed the title]
[Title acquired: Dragon Emperor]
[He has inherited the memories, skills, and divine methods of all previous Dragon Emperors]
Ethan stared in stunned silence, his breath caught in his throat.
It was done.
Kaeryx—no, his Kaeryx—had slain the impossible. The tyrant of dragons, the one even the heavens bowed to, was dead. And with that death came a shift so profound it rippled through the very fabric of the world.
But Heavens did not take defeat quietly.
Ethan watched, helpless and awestruck, as the skies above that realm twisted. The gods stirred.
Heaven's will, humiliated and furious, sent down more. Armies of divine beings, radiant and terrifying, descended like falling stars. Their intent was singular—erase Kaeryx.
Erase the one who should never have existed.
And Heaven didn't stop there. The different races that existed eventually got news that their different representatives they sent to help the dragon Emperor had all been killed. They blamed Kaeryx for the deaths of their kind—the ones who had supported the former Dragon Emperor. With that, Kaeryx became an enemy of the entire universe. The world turned against him. Alliances were forged in hatred, and banners of vengeance were raised high.
Kaeryx took the blame in silence.
He did not defend himself. He did not argue. He only shielded his parents, standing as a wall between them and a world that now hated him.
Because it hadn't been him who slaughtered the others—it was Draeven and Aephyra, defending their son when he had been too weak to do it himself. But none of that mattered.
He bore the weight alone.
And as the world turned hostile, Kaeryx did not falter. He only grew. Stronger, faster, colder. Each challenge tempered his soul like steel through flame. He walked the long, lonely path toward godhood, chasing the shadow of the future self he had once become. Chasing perfection.
And the gods came.
Ethan saw them—gods of time, destruction, elements, and chaos. Some fell. Some drove Kaeryx to the edge. But time and time again, Kaeryx survived. Fought. Escaped. Rose again. Heaven's strongest pawns were shattered in his wake, until even the gods themselves began to hesitate.
In the end, Heaven relented.
It couldn't stop him. And it knew it.
Ethan, trapped within that timeless vision, had seen it all. Every triumph, every loss, every impossible victory Kaeryx carved into the world with fang, flame, and fury. And somewhere deep within, something changed in Ethan. He had witnessed divinity. Not as a passive onlooker—but as its origin. As the soul that had given birth to a god.
He had seen just how small he truly was… and just how far he still had to climb.
Then—blackness. He didn't know when it happened. Didn't know how. But everything went dark.
And in that darkness… warmth. A pulse.
His eyes shot open. He was back. Back in the cocoon. Back in Nexa.
His heart thundered in his chest, not with fear—but with something far more exhilarating.
Connection. He could feel it.
A living, breathing thread tethered to his soul—Kaeryx. Not a dream. Not a vision. Not a future.
A summon. Ethan clenched his fist tightly inside the cocoon, his lips trembling into a grin.
He could summon Kaeryx. Anytime. Anywhere.
The power of the Flame Sovereign, the Dragon Emperor, the god-slaying monster that terrified Heaven itself… now answered to him.
A quiet fire ignited in his chest. Joy. Relief. And a fierce, righteous purpose.
He whispered under his breath, voice tight with emotion, "Mia… there's no need to protect me anymore."
A slow breath escaped him, trembling with anticipation.
"I can deal with the Drakes."
And from within the cocoon, the flame began to stir once more.
Then Ethan's heart calmed down.
Like the eye of a storm settling in the center of chaos.
And in that quiet, he felt it.
Power.
It wasn't a sudden jolt or overwhelming surge—it was there, steady and immense, like a vast ocean beneath his skin. A tide of strength that rolled through him in waves, controlled yet primal. For the first time, he could truly feel it. The weight of his own power. The terrifying, intoxicating strength that had taken root deep inside.
He clenched his fist from within the cocoon, and even the subtle movement sent invisible ripples through the sealed shell. The muscles beneath his skin coiled like drawn bows, every fiber of his body humming with potential.
He felt… lighter than ever.
Not just physically, but in spirit—as if every chain that had ever weighed on him had shattered. As if the very laws of nature bent slightly in acknowledgment of his presence. Had he not experienced it firsthand, he would've thought it impossible.
His senses were sharper. The pulse of his heart echoed with clarity in his ears, resonating with something deeper inside him—something ancient. His body was no longer just flesh and bone. It was a vessel. A vessel of fire, of will, of evolution.
Then his focus shifted inward.
His blood.
He felt it.
Every drop. Every movement.
It was like watching the rivers of his soul from within, a complex web of flowing life force threading through every inch of his being. The Blood Node behind his heart pulsed in tandem with his heartbeat—a soft glow radiating from it, a beacon of hidden potential.
It wasn't just blood flowing through him—it was raw power. And through it all, something else danced alongside.
Mana.
He could feel the circuits embedded within him, pathways he had once only vaguely sensed now burned with definition. And it wasn't blue anymore.
It was light orange.
Condensed. Refined. Brimming with life and fury.
Mana and blood, flowing as one. A perfect system. A perfect rhythm. A perfect storm waiting to be unleashed.