The air hung thick with tension as Alex scanned the ruined city below.
His [Cursed Eyes of Truth] pierced through the smoke and debris.
Nothing.
Not a single living soul remained in Dragon City.
The dragons had fled – every last one of them.
His wings beat steadily as he hovered above the destruction, the weight of his predicament pressing down on him like a physical force.
Leaving to chase after them wasn’t an option.
The moment he abandoned this battlefield, he’d lose track of the Hatred Demon’s emergence point.
And with the ritual circle growing stronger by the second, that could mean dooming the entire world.
His fingers twitched at his sides as desperation clawed at his throat.
There had to be a way.
There had to be something he could-
The system panel flickered before him, displaying his skills in stark white letters against the crimson-lit sky:
[Skills: All Elements Fox Summons (Max-Tier), Bleeding Dragon Claws (Max-Tier), Hatred’s Fury (???), Celestial Judgment (Max-Tier), Flames of Oblivion (Max-Tier), Universal Orbs (Max-Tier)]
His eyes locked onto the third entry – [Hatred’s Fury] – and his blood boiled.
“That thing still won’t activate?!”
The words tore from his throat, raw with frustration.
The skill description appeared, taunting him:
[Hatred’s Fury (Forbidden Skill): When the situation becomes almost impossible, and the user’s will doesn’t falter, there is a chance this skill will activate, unleashing your hatred on them.]
[Upon activation, this skill will slowly corrupt the user’s soul in exchange for immense power, cannot be activated by will, needs to meet the requirements, will be specified when you do.]
Alex’s hands clenched into fists so tight his nails drew blood.
“You’re telling me this situation isn’t already impossible as is?”
He roared at the uncaring sky.
“What the fuck do you want an ‘impossible’ situation to be?”
The ground beneath him answered with a thunderous BOOM.
The ritual circle pulsed violently, its crimson glow now bathing the entire city in an eerie, blood-like light.
The pressure radiating from it was palpable even from the air – a suffocating weight that would have crushed lesser beings to their knees.
For the first time since this battle began, genuine fear slithered down Alex’s spine.
The thought of retreat – of running away – flickered through his mind before he could stop it.
He’d always sworn he wouldn’t back down.
But was this bravery or stupidity?
If he stayed, he’d die.
If he left, maybe he could find a way to grow stronger, to-
No.
The realization hit him like a physical blow.
There was nowhere left to grow.
The [Door of Destiny] remained locked without its missing tokens.
His skills had reached their maximum tiers.
This was his peak.
Without Destiny Points or the activation of [Hatred’s Fury], this was truly the end.
Another explosion rocked the city.
The ritual circle expanded further, cracks spiderwebbing through the earth as the very ground prepared to birth something unspeakable.
“The entirety of Dragon City will be destroyed,” Alex muttered.
Watching as entire districts crumbled into the growing abyss.
“Then after that… every city, then the gods, then the worlds…”
A bitter laugh escaped him.
No one would remember what he’d done here today.
No statues would be erected.
No songs sung.
Alice, Aurelia, Alera, Lilith – they might never even know the full story.
Not unless he survived to tell them.
[Tell me, human]
The Crown’s voice slithered through his mind, oily and persuasive.
[Is it really worth it?]
[With your current powers, we can live our lives as kings, create a new empire, and live freely.]
[The Hatred Demon probably will go after us, but having time to prepare now is better, sacrifices are needed after all.]
Alex’s expression darkened.
He knew this tune.
The same poisonous whispers that had tried to sway him in the Abyss.
The Crown wanted survival at any cost – even the cost of the world.
“No,” he growled.
Shaking his head violently.
“I don’t care about that. I know it’s the [Crown of the Abyss God] trying to pull me in again. It’s almost the same thing it said in the abyss, after all.”
[Caught!]
The Crown’s amusement was palpable.
But Alex wasn’t laughing.
“But as I said, it doesn’t matter to me… right now… I just want to live long enough to get rid of all those fuckers. I don’t only live for myself anymore.”
The third explosion nearly knocked him from the sky.
The ritual circle now spanned the entire city, its crimson patterns spinning faster, glowing brighter with each passing second.
Time was up.
Alex drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with smoke-tinged air.
Then he roared with every ounce of strength left in him:
“PRIMORDIAL DRAGONS, COME TO ME IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR CITY AND PEOPLE TO BE ERADICATED! WE CAN WIN! I JUST NEED YOU TO HELP ME!”
His voice echoed across the ruined cityscape.
Carrying over the groaning earth and crackling energy.
It was his last, desperate gamble.
The Primordials had fled like the rest, but they were the only beings left who might stand a chance against what was coming.
For several heartbeats, nothing.
Then-
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Nine brilliant flashes of light erupted around him in the sky.
From each emerged one of the legendary Primordial Dragons.
Their massive forms blotting out the crimson glow beneath them.
They hovered in a loose circle around Alex, all pretense of superiority abandoned in the face of their mutual doom.
Xyrran, the Primordial Space and Time Dragon, floated closest.
“Human,” it rumbled.
Its normally impassive features betraying the slightest tremor in its slitted pupils.
“It’s over us all.”
Valeos, the Fate Dragon, added in a voice like grinding stone.
“There’s nothing we can do anymore. It will sense and kill us.”
Zyphir, the Storm Dragon, finished.
“If you have any ideas on how to get rid of it, tell us. We’ll be grateful.”
Alex studied each ancient face in turn.
He hadn’t forgotten their betrayal.
Their attempt to sacrifice him in the Abyss.
But Morgathis, the true architect of that scheme, was dead.
And right now, they were all that stood between the world and annihilation.
“I don’t need anything but to hit you guys around 75 times,” Alex said.
Allowing a grim smile to touch his lips.
He wouldn’t explain about the Destiny Points.
Not when they might be enemies again tomorrow.
But for now, this fragile alliance would have to suffice.
The dragons exchanged glances.
A silent conversation passed between them in the twitch of wings, the flare of nostrils.
Then Xyrran moved forward, presenting its massive scaled side.
“Very well,” the Supreme Primordial Dragon intoned.
“Hit me, human. And exterminate that thing for good.”
Alex saw it then.
The faintest spark of hope in their ancient eyes.
Not trust. Not quite.
But the desperate belief that maybe, just maybe, this reckless human could do the impossible one more time.
BOOM!
The ritual circle beneath them pulsed violently.
Its rotation accelerating to blinding speeds.
The light grew so intense it burned Alex’s eyes even through his enhanced vision.
[The next explosion will be the final one before the Hatred Demon reveals itself,] the Crown warned.
Alex raised his fist, drawing back for the first of seventy-five strikes.
The countdown to Armageddon had begun.