Lidien tightened his grip on the blood whip, his gaze locked eye-to-eye with the Dragon's vertically slitted pupils.

The Dragon's face snarled into a smile, impressed by Lidien's bravery even as he noticed the slight tremor in his hands, no matter how fiercely he clutched the weapon.

"As expected of the Blessed of Death. You do not fear Death itself… you welcome it."

The Dragon's arms shook with fervor, conjuring a flame so fierce it parched the very air around them.

Lidien and Alva clenched their jaws, sweat pouring relentlessly down their bodies.

'Do not fight. They are here.'

The Monarch of Blood's voice resonated inside Lidien's mind. Uncertain who "they" were, he narrowed his eyes.

He saw the Dragon lift his arms and turn his attention to them both.

The Dragon grinned widely, his delight reaching its peak as he studied the boy who'd dared promise to spare his life.

The raging flame around the Dragon's arms stilled, then detached, hovering above his palm—spiraling into a vortex of fire.

"Don't die before I kill you myself."

With a flick of his finger, he launched the fire vortex at Lidien, scorching his very being without touching Alva.

His hold on the blood whip vanished, replaced by a pain he had never known.

It felt as though his very life force was being drawn into the vortex of fire on his chest, creeping slowly toward his lower abdomen. The rest of his body turned numb and icy, a corpse-like chill that was torment in its own right.

Alva caught Lidien's frail form, her free hand clawing into the cliff wall, gouging the stone to halt their fall.

The Dragon's laughter, which had shaken the whole Savage Expanse, cut off.

He cast one final look at Lidien's twisting body, then swept his tail through the air, splitting reality open, and slipped into the void.

Alva let out a shaky breath—until another phenomenon once again trembled through the Savage Expanse.

Thousands of fissures split the sky. One by one, Angels with varying numbers of paired wings drifted into view. Most had wings like shards of starry void, ready to swallow all, while others had wings that warped the space around them, as though time had frozen.

Then one—with four pairs of black, star-strewn wings, pointed ears, and a face of such grace it outshone even Lady Rose—drifted before Alva.

The woman smiled softly, but Alva did not let down her guard.

With a wave of her hand, the world blurred. The cliff face disappeared, and they stood on solid ground. In less than a blink, the woman now stood directly before them.

Alva, despite the abrupt shift, dropped into a crouch, her single wing spread wide and claws poised to strike at the slightest threat—shielding Lidien even if it meant her life.

"Monarch… the Beast has fled back to the Spirit World," reported an Angel with three pairs of wings, kneeling before the Monarch.

The Monarch gave a faint smile and waved her hand once more. A blue vortex of space and lightning flickered to life, pulling at reality itself.

"We return. Maintain the balance."

With a single step, she vanished—and the thousands of Angels with her.

Alva blinked and slapped her own face, still half-convinced it had all been a dream. But the sting on her cheek, and Lidien's agonized cries, dragged her back.

She smiled helplessly in the face of Death.

"Lidien…"

Kneeling before him, she pressed the emerald feather to his skin, channeling her Vital Essence to heal him—yet it did nothing to soothe the searing agony within.

Lidien clawed at his lower abdomen, blood pooling beneath him. But the Vortex of Flame the Dragon had sent wasn't burning his flesh—it was inside his soul… slowly shredding his Coreflux, disintegrating it until only a black vortex remained, one that sucked in Elemental Essence.

This Elemental Essence grew purer, finer than what the Coreflux had held… yet it could not be contained. It spilled out, leaking from his body.

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'

The Coreflux Lidien had labored to build was ruined, replaced by something wild, uncontrollable.

"OLD MAN! THINK!"

Alva didn't question who the old man might be, assuming Lidien was cursing himself.

But Lidien was pleading with the Monarch—his own mind too clouded by pain, too frantic with the need to expel the flood of Elemental Essence raging through him, raw and unfiltered.

'Try using the runes of the Elements. Do something!'

Even the Monarch's voice in his head was uncertain, hesitant.

The Dragon was far stronger than the Monarch of Blood had been in life, and that Lidien had survived their encounter was luck enough.

Lidien called upon his Incite of Blood, but instead of granting him rapid thought, it multiplied the agony, making his suffering infinitely worse.

"Damn that Dragon! I swear I will find you and kill you!"

The Monarch of Blood chuckled inwardly. Lidien's cursing was a sure sign he was still himself; he could handle this. Now he just needed a way to manage the pain.

Lidien began hammering his head against the damp earth, a desperate substitute for his usual habit of tapping it.

His forehead swelled and split, bleeding from the repeated impacts, but the self-inflicted punishment helped clear his mind enough to think.

Then, remembering his experience inside the Dragon's unknown Rift, he tried to shape the purified Elemental Verve swirling from the Black Vortex. He forced it into a rune—a Rune dedicated to the Fire Element.

The pain didn't stop.

But it was enough to make Lidien laugh—a raw, ragged sound that made Alva's eyes well up as she poured her Vital Essence into him. She feared he was breaking, succumbing to madness as death drew near.

The Fire Rune settled beside the Black Vortex, greedily pulling in the Fire Elemental Verve. It brightened like a miniature sun, glowing white with ferocious heat.

Lidien's body felt cold, but his lower abdomen seemed to be melting.

So he formed another rune, this one for the Water Element.

Just like before, the Water Elemental Verve was drawn into the rune, shifting from blue to solid ice.

As cold and heat found balance, the white fire mellowed to yellow, and the ice softened to water—a fragile equilibrium formed between the opposing elements.

But it wasn't over.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.