The air in the cavern ignited under the intense heat.

The gold coins on the floor beneath Damien's feet rapidly sublimated, turning instantly into a glittering, metallic vapor that swirled around him like a storm.

"You got one," Damien growled.

His voice was a distorted harmony of two distinct sounds: the human voice of a boy and the guttural, tectonic rumble of an ancient beast.

He took a step forward.

CRUNCH.

The stone floor pulverized beneath him, shattering not from simple weight, but from an unnatural, crushing density. The sheer mass of the energy compressed inside his body made him heavy as a tank.

Valerius, the Commander of the Red Templars, took an instinctive step back. His T-visor helmet flashed with warning runes.

[Threat Level: Re-calculating...]

[Target Status: Unknown.]

[Mana Signature: ...Sun?]

"A trick," Valerius hissed, trying to regain his composure. "It is just a polymorph spell! Illusion magic!"

He raised his red crystal sword. The Void energy coating the blade pulsed with a hungry, devouring darkness.

"Decay!"

Valerius swung. A wave of black-red mist, capable of rotting steel and flesh in seconds, washed over Damien.

Disdaining defense, Damien walked straight into the mist without breaking stride.

HISSSSSS.

The Void Decay hit Damien's new skin. It tried to eat him, but the moment the black mist touched the golden scales covering Damien's chest and arms, it fizzled out.

It was like throwing a cup of water into a volcano.

The Dragon Blood radiated a heat so intense that it incinerated the Void instantly.

Damien walked out of the mist, untouched. His scales gleamed, pulsating with a rhythmic, molten light.

"Is that it?" Damien asked, tilting his head. His vertical slit pupils locked onto Valerius.

"Your Void eats magic. But I'm not using magic, Commander."

Damien flexed his hand. The claws were real. The muscles were real.

"I am using Dragon Blood!"

BOOM!

Damien launched himself.

No spells. No chanting. Just pure, explosive kinetic energy.

He closed the distance in a blur of gold.

Valerius's eyes widened. He barely had time to raise his sword in a guard stance.

"Void Shield!"

A hexagonal barrier of red energy appeared in front of him.

Damien punched it.

CRACK-SHATTER!

The shield, which had withstood Lyra's arrows and Isabelle's gravity, shattered like cheap glass.

Damien's fist drove through the fragments and slammed into Valerius's chest plate.

WHAM!

The impact sounded like a cannon shot.

Valerius was launched backward. He smashed through a stone pillar, then another, finally embedding himself deep into the cavern wall.

"Ack!" Valerius coughed, blood spraying the inside of his helmet. His chest plate was caved in. "Impossible... physical strength... equal to a 6th Order beast..."

"Ooh," a booming voice echoed from the side.

Ignis, still wrapped loosely in the red chains, leaned his head forward, watching with wide, delighted eyes. He crunched on a handful of popcorn-gold coins he had scooped up.

"Nice hit, kid!" Ignis cheered. "You broke his ribs. Now rip his arm off! That's the classic move!"

Damien ignored the dragon. He walked toward the hole in the wall where Valerius was stuck. Steam poured from Damien's mouth with every breath.

The power of the Heart Blood was intoxicating. It whispered to him. Burn him. Crush him. Take everything.

"Get... away from me!" Valerius roared, pulling himself out of the wall.

The Commander was terrified. For the first time in his life, his faith in the Void was shaking. The Void was supposed to be absolute. It was the end of all things.

But standing in front of him was something that refused to end. A creature that burned so bright it hurt to look at.

"Red Templar Art: Void Execution!"

Valerius poured every ounce of his remaining mana into his sword. The red crystal blade extended, growing ten feet long, humming with a frequency that cut space itself.

He lunged, aiming to bisect Damien.

"Die, monster!"

Damien watched the blade come down. Time seemed to slow.

He raised his left hand.

CLANG.

He caught the blade.

Ignoring the hilt, he seized the razor-sharp energy blade directly with his bare, scaled palm.

Sparks flew. The Void energy screeched, trying to cut his skin, but the Golden Dragon Aura hardened the scales to diamond density.

"A sword made of rocks," Damien sneered, his face inches from the glowing red blade. "How primitive."

He squeezed.

CRACK.

The red crystal sword, an artifact forged in the depths of the Void, shattered.

Valerius stared at the broken hilt in his hand. He looked up at Damien.

"My... sword..." Valerius whispered. "You broke... the Sacrament."

"I'm going to break more than that," Damien said.

He grabbed Valerius by the throat.

He lifted the heavy, armored Commander off the ground as if he weighed nothing. The heat radiating from Damien's hand began to melt the neck guard of Valerius's armor.

"You called my friends ants," Damien growled, tightening his grip. "You said we were weak."

Damien drew back his right fist, infusing the strike with power far beyond mere physical strength. He concentrated the Golden Dragon Aura into a single point.

A miniature sun formed around his knuckles. The light was so blinding that even Ignis had to look at him twice.

"Look at the sun, Valerius," Damien commanded. "And tell me... do ants burn?"

"NO! WAIT—"

Damien punched.

"Golden Dragon Art: Sun Smash."

KABOOOOM!

He drove his fist into Valerius's stomach.

The explosion blew the entire back of the cavern wall out. A beam of golden light shot through Valerius, exiting his back and boring a tunnel through the mountain behind him.

Valerius didn't fly away this time; Damien held him in place by the throat while the energy ravaged his body.

The Commander's armor disintegrated. His Void Core flickered and cracked.

Damien finally let go.

Valerius dropped to the floor, a smoking, broken heap.

He wasn't dead, 5th Order vitality was stubborn, but he was ruined. His limbs were twisted, his armor was slag, and his spirit was shattered.

Damien stood over him, the golden scales on his body slowly fading as the burst of power began to ebb.

He panted heavily, the dragon-slit eyes reverting to blue-gold heterochromia.

"Boring," Damien spat, echoing Valerius's own words from earlier.

He turned his back on the fallen Commander.

"Ignis," Damien called out to the dragon, his voice raspy. "Did I do alright?"

Ignis grinned, showing all his teeth.

"You crushed him," Ignis rumbled.

"That was... satisfactory."

But then, a wet, gurgling sound came from behind Damien.

"Not... yet..."

Damien stopped.

Valerius was dragging himself across the floor. His helmet was gone, revealing a face burned and scarred, eyes glowing with suicidal madness.

He was crawling toward his severed hand, which still clutched the detonator for his Void Core.

"The Void..." Valerius wheezed, blood bubbling from his lips. "Does not... accept defeat."

"If I cannot have the Dragon..."

Valerius grabbed the detonator. His chest began to glow with a blinding, unstable purple light.

"NO ONE CAN!"

"He's overloading his core!" Damien realized, spinning around. "He's going to blow the mountain!"

Damien tried to move, but his legs buckled. The backlash of the Dragon Blood hit him. His muscles seized.

He couldn't reach him in time.

Valerius laughed, his thumb hovering over the button.

"Purificatio—"

SNAP.

A sound like a thunderclap cut him off.

Across the room, the red Null-Chains binding Ignis snapped.

Ignis simply stood up, shattering the chains with the casual indifference of a waking beast.

The Dragon moved.

He exploded forward, a terrifying blur of red scales tearing across the room.

Before Valerius could press the button, a massive shadow fell over him.

Ignis looked down at the broken human. He looked bored.

"You're too loud," Ignis grumbled.

STOMP.

The Dragon's massive foot came down.

There was no scream. Just a wet crunch.

Ignis ground his heel into the floor, snuffing out the life beneath him like a spent cigarette.

The purple light of the overloading core flickered and died, smothered by the sheer density of the Dragon's scales.

Ignis lifted his foot. There was nothing left of Commander Valerius but a stain on the gold coins.

The Dragon looked at Damien.

"And you," Ignis huffed, blowing smoke rings. "You broke my roof."

Damien stared at the Dragon, then at the stain. He let out a breathless laugh.

"Sorry," Damien whispered.

Then, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed into the gold.

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