Dragons had pride, as everyone knew! It was the very essence of their existence, their honour, their soul!!
However, their pride was shattered—by a mere human!
The day they witnessed their pride’s head severed before all, cut down like it was nothing but butter… the pride in their hearts cracked, splintered, and finally shattered into irreparable pieces!
Once dragons lost their pride, rebuilding it was no simple feat.
It wasn’t just about time—it was about belief…. And belief, once broken, did not mend easily!!
Victor—if he had only wanted to kill Arkanis and be done with it—wouldn’t have needed to concern himself with this so-called pride.
However, the mistake he made was far greater…. He took over the Empire!
That was where his plan should have changed—where he should have reconsidered everything.
If he was going to rule over them, then he needed to understand them first!
But at that time, Victor had barely given the concept of Dragon Pride much thought.
He was human, after all!!
He thought that as long as people feared him, they would obey him without question. Just like how human rulers commanded their subjects.
He believed it would be the same…. That everything would fall into place!
And that… was his gravest mistake!
More than anything else, he was still human!
And that was all it took!
Never before in Pyra’s history had such a thing happened.
Never had a human crushed the pride of dragons. Yet when it happened… For the first time, a possibility had crept into their hearts.
If a mere human could shatter their pride, then… wasn’t it possible that even a human could be crushed by someone else, too?
That cycle… they felt it—feared it. And that very fear caused their pride to plummet even further!
Unless people believed in Victor—unless they truly accepted him and held him as their pride—their shattered pride would remain in ruins forever.
Victor had unknowingly caused this. And now, he was the only one who could repair it.
All of it… because of Nightfire.
Nightfire had made him realize what it meant to be born different, to live different—to exist beyond the confines of what was expected!
Everyone might speak like a human, smile like a human, talk like a human… but in reality, each and every one of them was unique.
That individuality—that essence of being—could never be grasped by an outsider, by someone who did not belong to their tribe.
That was why the dragons had never accepted Victor as their pride!
Because, in the end, he was still human!
He thought like a human…. He acted like a human!!
Anyway—
Now, as Victor floated in space, motionless, lifeless, as if he had already passed on… the people from Pyra lowered their heads in silence.
A deep, solemn silence.
Emberlyn snorted at the sight, her expression twisting in disgust, “Lowering your heads now? Hah. Suit yourselves! He never should have deserved you all in the first place… You’re no different from the ones who abandoned him!”
‘We are not!!’
They wanted to scream those words, but their mouths remained tightly shut. Their voices refused to come out.
Emberlyn’s lips trembled violently. The anger in her chest boiled, burning her insides. She wanted to shout at them, to unleash everything in her heart. But before she could, Lyirrs stepped forward.
She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t give a long speech.
She simply said—
“He holds his pride in us.”
Silence.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Shock. Disbelief.
‘H-He holds pride in us?’
An Emperor who held pride in his people? This was unheard of!
Lyirrs exhaled sharply and cut the mic. Her gaze shifted toward Raven and the others. “We’ve done everything we could. If this isn’t going to wor—”
But Raven shook her head, cutting her off. “It’s working…”
She pointed at the video.
The children—still pouring their flames into the funnel—suddenly looked up as their mothers appeared before them.
Their mothers knelt, voices gentle yet firm.
“So, you want to save your big brother?”
“Yes, Mommy!”
“Yes, Mommy!”
“Yes, Mommy!”
Their tiny voices rang out in unison, filled with determination. They nodded eagerly and continued pouring their flames.
Their mothers’ eyes softened, their hearts swelling as they watched their mutated children doing their best!
Then, they shouted—
“Though he may not be a dragon… he saved the children who were nothing like us, Dragons!… Yet, our blood is the one that runs through their veins.
After loving this child… I have realized—blood does not determine who we are!”
Her body trembled. Her voice wavered.
Then—
“We are dragons!
We hold our pride high! And we bow to no one—except to those who have earned the right to stand tall beside us!
And he did that!
So,
I hold him in my pride. He will be my only Emperor and… my pride!”
A powerful roar shook the air as their bodies transformed. Their very souls ignited.
PPPUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!
Torment flames poured into the funnel!
“MOMMYY!!”
The children shrieked in happiness as the flames surged even deeper. They cheered louder—
“We are helping big brother!!”
And once again, they poured their own flames into the funnel.
Their flames weren’t strong enough—not even enough to reach a meter.
But it didn’t matter.
Because in that moment, it wasn’t about power.
It was about emotion!
Even a single drop of water could form a mighty ocean!
Seeing the pairs of mothers and children, the people watching this turned back toward the live footage.
Victor—still drifting in space…
It was only a matter of time before he vanished into the endless void.
The image of his last, warm smile—the one they had never seen before—burned into their minds, into their souls.
He did it for them!
He sacrificed everything for them!!
And yet… they had been ungrateful.
Where was the pride of the dragons?
A mere human had protected the dragons.
That wasn’t even something out of a fairytale!
It was beyond belief!
There was no pride in humans… and yet—
“His pride is us.”
“His pride is us!”
“His pride is us!!!”
The words echoed across the Empire, rippling through the air, rising in a deafening chant that seemed to shake the very foundation of their world.
An Emperor who held pride in his people…?
Such a thing had never been heard of before.
It was unimaginable, unheard of, a concept so foreign it seemed almost impossible.
But here it was, reality itself bending to a new idea.
This was new. A strange, unfamiliar feeling, something they had never truly experienced.
And yet, somehow, impossibly…
It felt good.
One by one, their bodies began to transform, their forms shifting and contorting as they inhaled deeply before—
PPPPPPPPPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!
A monstrous surge of flames erupted, travelling through the funnel, racing down the deep tunnels, and connecting with every other stream of fire pouring in from different directions. The flames surged deeper and deeper, gaining intensity with every passing second as they converged—
Until they reached the very end of the Empire’s ground!
SShhhhhhhh!!
The flames struck the ground with an explosive hiss, but it wasn’t enough to break through! The impact caused ripples of heat to spread outward, but the surface held firm, resisting their efforts.
“MOOORRREEEE!!!”
The people roared in unison, their voices shaking the very air, their desperation reaching a fever pitch as they inhaled once more, filling their lungs to the absolute brim before—
PPPPPPPPPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!
CRACK.
A deep, jagged fracture split across the ground. The sheer intensity of the flames finally forced it to give way—
BAM!!!
A small circle part of the Empire’s base blasted open, sending debris flying in all directions!
The flames surged outward, bursting from the newly formed hole, spilling into space like a celestial inferno, spiralling and twisting!
Raven and the others exhaled sharply, almost as if they had forgotten to breathe. Their gazes snapped toward the camera feed.
Victor’s body…
It was drifting.
Drifting dangerously close to the flames!
Was it luck?
Was it a pure, divine coincidence?
Or was it something else?
Victor’s motionless body had unknowingly aligned with the very tunnel of fire as if fate itself had woven this moment into existence!
“See? Arcane already showed us the path. We just refused to accept it before!”
An old man’s voice trembled with wisdom, his aged eyes glistening with newfound clarity.
The tunnel—it wasn’t just a chance occurrence. No…
It was guided.
By Arcane herself!
She had chosen their Emperor long before they had ever realized it!
Tears welled in the eyes of many. The weight of their mistake, the depth of their rejection—it all came crashing down like a merciless wave.
Arcane had sent them a saviour.
And they had refused to accept him until now!
Only a few knew the truth of who worked hard for the tunnel!
“Just a few inches…”
Everyone mumbled, their breaths held, their hearts pounding like war drums.
Victor was so close.
So close!
Yet—
Instead of reaching the flames, his body began to drift away!
“NNNOOOOOO!!!”
Panic erupted like a storm!
“No, Emperor! Wake up!”
“We won’t let you give up! You are our pride!”
“Please… wake up!”
Desperation choked their voices, their hands clenched into trembling fists.
Victor was drifting further and further away from the flames.
Their faces paled.
A deep, horrifying sense of loss settled in their hearts.
Was this it?
Was this truly the end?
30% was not enough!
They needed more!
But then—
“I BELIEVE IN BIG BROTHER!! BIG BROTHER IS MY PRIDE!!!!”
A mutated child’s voice rang out, piercing the tension, shattering the fear, igniting a spark in the darkness.
Fury burned in her young eyes as she screamed with every ounce of her soul—
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Suddenly, a purple glint flashed through everyone’s eyes before the entire Pyra people—the entire dragon race within the Empire—lifted their upper bodies, their gazes snapping upward to the sky.
In unison, they screamed with such intensity that even other Empires could hear them clearly, their voices reverberating across the lands!
“OUR PRIDE!!!”
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BOOMMMMM!!
As they slammed their bodies down in unison, a powerful shockwave surged through the Empire, pushing the very ground beneath them, causing a ripple of energy that spread outward.
AAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRMRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
Every single bit of flames erupted, pouring out from every funnel in a breathtaking display of raw power!
‘Okay, that’s enough acting!’
Victor thought to himself, a sly smirk curling on his lips, before slightly pushing himself forward. His finger gracefully traced through the pouring flames that fell like a torrential downpour—
And then…
With a snap!
The flames were instantly swallowed by Victor, disappearing into him like a massive black hole, vanishing without a trace!
The people’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief, but they didn’t stop—they couldn’t stop. They kept pouring their flames, chanting louder and louder—
“Our pride! Our pride! Our pride! Our pride!!!”
It was like a machine recharged like a dormant soul had been awakened. Victor’s body twitched, his every muscle snapping to life as his eyes blazed with a pure purple gaze, an electrifying energy radiating from him.
“I fucking love you guys!!!!”
A wild, flashing grin spread across his face as he shouted, his voice filled with intense affection and raw energy.
Whether they could read his lips or not, the message was clear.
They understood.
And they replied—
“WE LOVE YOU TOO!!!!”
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