Zero vanished.

It was a burst of speed that would have decapitated any normal knight. In a fraction of a second, Damien was behind Valerius, the Pantheon Sword humming with lethal intent as he swung for the Commander's neck.

"Shadow Art: Eclipse Cut."

The blade sliced through the air, carrying the crushing weight of the Dual-Core.

CLINK.

No blood. No severed head.

Valerius caught the crystal blade over his shoulder with two fingers.

The Pantheon Sword, which had absorbed the breath of a Bone Dragon, buzzed angrily, trying to devour the Commander's energy.

But the red anti-magic field around Valerius's fingers was too dense, choking the blade into silence.

"Fast," Valerius said, his voice bored behind the T-visor helmet. "For filth."

The red crystal embedded in Valerius's gauntlet pulsed.

"Void Pulse."

BOOM!

A shockwave of dark red energy exploded from Valerius's body. A force of absolute negation blasted outward, rejecting reality itself.

Damien was hurled backward. He smashed into a pile of gold coins, his coat shredding against the sharp edges of the hoard.

"Young Master!" Leona roared.

Seeing her lord struck down, the Lioness snapped.

Her Berserk Aura flared to its maximum, turning her into a blur of red rage.

She charged Valerius, the vents on her Steam-Impact Gauntlets screaming as she pressurized them to the breaking point.

"DIE!"

Leona threw a punch that could shatter a castle gate. It was her strongest attack, fueled by every ounce of her beast strength.

Valerius didn't even flinch. He simply extended his left hand, palm open.

CRUNCH.

The momentum died instantly.

The ground beneath Valerius remained perfectly still. He held the charging Beast-kin in place with the casual ease of an adult catching a toddler.

Ignis, currently wrapped in the glowing red Null-Chains, watched this unfold.

He tested the chains slightly. Creak. They groaned under his scales.

'Weak,' Ignis thought, a smirk playing on his draconic lips. 'I could snap these toothpicks with a sneeze. But...'

He looked at Damien, who was struggling to stand up from the gold pile.

'This little human talked big about games and strategy. Let's see how he handles a true predator. Entertain me, Zero. Or die.'

Ignis relaxed his muscles, feigning captivity, and settled in to watch the show.

"Steam technology," Valerius noted, looking at Leona's hissing brass gauntlet with disdain. "Dwarven craftsmanship. Crude. Materialistic."

The red runes on his armor flared. A corrosive, black-red mist began to seep from his fingers, wrapping around Leona's gauntlet.

"In the face of the Void… matter is but a suggestion."

"Decay."

HISSSSSS.

Leona's eyes widened in horror.

The brass knuckles didn't melt; under his attack, they instantly disintegrated.

The reinforced steel, the steam pipes, the mana pistons, they turned grey instantly, crumbling into fine dust that blew away like ash.

The decay spread, eating the metal, then the leather lining, until it touched her skin.

"ARGHHH!" Leona screamed as the Void energy flayed the skin from her knuckles.

"Pathetic," Valerius scoffed.

He backhanded her.

WHAM.

Leona was launched across the cavern. She smashed into a stone pillar, coughing blood, her right hand a ruin of raw flesh and dust. She tried to stand, but her legs gave out.

"Leona!" Lyra screamed.

From the shadows, the Elf unleashed a volley of Phantom Arrows. Three invisible shafts of wind and darkness aimed at Valerius's visor.

Valerius ignored them. The arrows entered his personal space and simply dissolved, erased by his passive Void Intent.

"Isabelle!" Damien shouted, scrambling to his feet, blood leaking from his mask. "Don't let him breathe!"

Isabelle, eyes burning with tears and rage, clapped her hands.

"Gravity… IMPLODE!"

A purple sphere appeared around Valerius, trying to crush him into a singularity.

Valerius looked at the gravity field. He swung his crystal sword casually.

SLASH.

He cut the gravity, shattering the spell like glass.

"Magic," Valerius said, walking forward, his boots crunching on the gold coins. "Is a lie told by a dying world. The Void is the only truth."

He stood in the center of the room, surrounded by the battered team.

"A 5th Order Void Knight," Ignis rumbled, his voice echoing with amusement rather than fear. "Hey, kid! That bastard is a bit out of your league! Plus that annoying Void energy eats mana!"

"Need a hand?" Ignis asked, looking at Zero with predatory interest.

Damien wiped blood from his mask. His Will Armament was flickering, cracked under the pressure of Valerius's Intent.

'He's not just a 5th Order,' Damien realized, his heart hammering against his ribs. 'He's a Zealot. A weapon with no will of its own.'

Valerius raised his sword. The red crystal blade hummed, hungry for blood.

"Look at you," Valerius sneered, his voice amplified by the cavern acoustics. "A mongrel demon. A broken beast. A hiding elf. And a boy playing dress-up."

He pointed his blade at Damien.

"You call yourselves warriors? You are ants. You crawl over the earth, hoarding scraps of power you do not understand, thinking you can defy the heavens."

Valerius stepped closer. The pressure forced Lyra and Isabelle to their knees.

"I gave you a chance to die quickly," Valerius said. "Now, I will make an example of you. I will flay your souls before I feed them to the Gate."

Damien looked at his team.

Leona was unconscious, clutching her ruined hand. Isabelle was pinned by the pressure, her demon fire extinguished. Lyra was out of mana, her bow broken.

They had lost. The gap was too wide. Strategy, tricks, and gadgets meant nothing against absolute power.

'I'm going to die,' Damien thought. The cold reality washed over him. 'I'm going to die here, in a hole in the desert. Damn it!'

Just when he had begun to feel confident, just when he thought he had the world figured out, reality kicked his teeth in.

Why does it always have to be the hard way?

No.

His hand brushed against his pocket. He felt the warmth radiating through the fabric.

The crystal vial. The drop of Ignis's Heart Essence Blood he had won in the chess match.

Ignis's warning echoed in his mind: "Don't drink it all at once, or you'll explode."

Damien looked at the Dragon. Ignis was watching him intently, his chin resting on a pile of gold.

He wanted to see if the ant had teeth.

"Valerius!" Damien shouted.

He ripped the white mask off his face, throwing it to the ground. It shattered.

He revealed his face, silver hair matted with sweat, blue eyes burning with a desperate, manic light.

"You called us ants." Damien reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial. The red liquid inside glowed like a miniature sun.

"But do you know what happens when an ant eats a dragon?"

Valerius paused. He sensed the volatile energy in the vial. His eyes widened behind the visor.

"That energy… stop him!" Valerius roared, charging forward.

Too late.

Damien popped the cork with his thumb.

"Bottoms up."

He downed the blood.

GULP.

Silence.

For a single heartbeat, the cavern was dead silent.

Then, Damien screamed.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The sound tore from his throat, not of pain, but the shriek of a vessel shattering because it was too small to hold the ocean.

BOOM!

A pillar of golden fire erupted from Damien's chest. It blew the roof of the cavern open even wider.

The shockwave hit Valerius like a physical wall, knocking the 5th Order Knight backward.

"What?!" Valerius skidded to a halt, shielding his eyes. "What did he drink?!"

Damien was floating.

His skin cracked open, revealing molten gold light underneath.

His clothes incinerated instantly, replaced by scales, literal, physical golden scales erupting over his chest, arms, and neck.

The Golden Dragon Aura inside his Dual-Core didn't just level up; it evolved violently.

It devoured the Shadow. It devoured the Mana. It devoured the Void pressure in the room.

Damien opened his eyes. The blue was gone. The black was gone. His eyes were two vertical slits of burning, liquid gold.

[System Alert!]

[Foreign Catalyst Detected: Ancient Dragon Heart Blood.]

[Golden Dragon Aura: Forced Ascension.]

[Rank Up: 4th Order -> False 5th Order.]

[Trait Awakened: Draconic Form (Imperfect).]

Damien looked at his hands. They were claws.

He felt the infinite power within them. It was agonizing, but it was just what he needed.

Calming himself, he turned his attention to Valerius.

His voice came out as a growl, layered with the tectonic roar of a beast.

"You wanted a monster, Commander?"

Damien stomped the air. A shockwave of golden fire vaporized the gold coins beneath him.

"You're looking at one."

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