Xavier and his team burst through the shimmering dungeon portal, stumbling into the streets of the Megacity.
Their faces flushed, their armor and equipment dusted with sand, and their breaths coming in ragged gasps.
Chase leaned heavily against a nearby lamppost, his chest heaving. “What… what the hell was that thing?” His voice trembled, his usual bravado shaken by the sheer terror they had just experienced.
Xavier bent forward, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted, then added, “I didn’t have time to scan its talent window. Whatever it was… it wasn’t just some wolf monster… No… It was different.”
Ethan sat on the floor, his hands trembling. He looked up at Xavier, his face pale. “Do you think Alister and his dragons will be okay? That thing… it looked unstoppable… I may not be some expert since I only joined the guild recently… But even I can tell that that was something else.”
Xavier straightened, wiping the sweat from his brow. There was a look of uncertainty in his eyes as he looked back at the blue glowing portal, still humming faintly in the air. He exhaled sharply.
“I can’t be certain,” he admitted. His voice was heavier now. “Alister is strong. Stronger than any of us. And his dragons… they’re not just creatures; they’re forces of nature.”
Chase pushed himself upright, his hands clenched into fists. “Then why didn’t we stay? We could’ve helped-“
“Helped?” Xavier interrupted. He turned to face Chase, his expression serious. “Against that? We’d have been crushed before we even drew our weapons. It was so fast… I didn’t even see it move… Trying to fight such a thing would be suicidal.”
The team fell into silence, the weight of Xavier’s words sinking in.
“All we can do now is hope Alister makes it out in one piece,” Xavier said, pinching the ridge of his nose.
….
Back inside the desert dungeon.
Alister and his dragon generals, Draven, Mar’Garet, Terra, Cinder, and Alzuring, were locked in combat with Ju’Nero, who stood in his towering wolf-man form.
Draven and Mar’Garet suddenly pushed forward together. Their combined strength forced Ju’Nero back, his feet digging deep into the sand, creating trenches.
Ju’Nero growled, but before he could regain his footing, Alzuring, perched at a distance, unleashed a powerful wind arrow.
The arrow cut through the air with precision and speed, striking Ju’Nero squarely in the chest. The force of the impact sent him sliding backward, his claws grinding against the earth as he resisted the push.
As the dust settled, a low, mocking chuckle came from Ju’Nero’s throat. His eyes gleamed with a predatory glint as he looked at the group, unfazed by their attacks. “Was that supposed to be an attack?” he asked in a condescending tone, smiling as he then said.
“It tickles.”
Hearing his words, Alister’s expression hardened, his eyes narrowing as he prepared himself for what he knew was coming next.
Suddenly, a surge of power erupted from within Alister. White, black, and gold scales began to appear across his body, each shimmering. His muscles expanded with the energy coursing through him, and in a burst of raw strength, his tail erupted from his spine, followed by massive wings that tore through the air with a powerful flap. His face was now covered in scales, and two horns spiraled from his forehead, crowning him in his true combat form.
The transformation was both amazing and terrifying. His voice, now deeper, echoed across the battlefield as he spoke.
“Beast Overlord…”
“You raid a sacred library belonging to my people, and then you proceed to attempt to steal a fragment of a sword my people kept in waiting for me… And yet you act as though it belongs to you.”
“Tell me… Is this foolishness on your part… Or is this a clear insult directed at me?”
[Dragonic Rage activated!]
[All stats have risen by 100%.]
[Berserk has been activated!]
[A synergic effect has occourd!]
[All stats have risen by 300%.]
The air seemed to crackle with mana as Alister’s presence alone became a force to be reckoned with… Yet it was nowhere close to Ju’Nero’s even with the activation of berserk.
His wings stretched wide, casting shadows over the desert floor as his eyes locked onto Ju’Nero. The ground beneath him seemed to tremble in response, as if the very earth itself could feel the weight of his presence.
Alister’s voice echoed within the minds of his dragon generals trough a a telepathic link.
~ ‘Our goal isn’t to fight him. Our goal is to escape with our lives. Do whatever you can to avoid engaging him for too long. We need to hurry to the portal and get…’~
“…Get out of here?”
Before Alister could finish, Ju’Nero suddenly spoke, completing his sentence with mockingly.
The fact he did so sent a feeling of unease through the group. Every dragon general tensed, the air around them thickening with their mana.
They had all been bracing for a fight, but Ju’Nero’s words made it clear that the situation was far worse than they had anticipated, if he could read their thoughts, what else could he do?
Alister’s eyes narrowed, his fists clenching as Ju’Nero’s taunting tone continued, “Do you really think that after all this, you will be able to get away? It seems I need to make it clear just how grim your situation is.” Ju’Nero said as he flexed his muscles, his clawed fists freeing and
re-curling.
The atmosphere shifted. In an instant, the space around them seemed to distort, and with a surge of raw Ether, Ju’Nero vanished from their sight.
A deafening BOOM erupted where he had been standing, the shockwave of his movement hitting them milliseconds after he had already moved.
Alister whipped his head around, his instincts screaming for him to locate his opponent. “Where is he?” he shouted, eyes scanning the horizon.
Alzuring’s voice came through the telepathic link. – ‘He’s standing before the dungeon
portal.’~
Alister spun around just in time to see Ju’Nero standing before the shimmering portal, his presence a dark and foreboding… Like some kind of shadow. Alister’s mind raced.
‘Dose he want to step out… into our world?’
But before Alister could react, Ju’Nero’s voice echoed once again.
“You are planning to make your escape through this, right?”
A sinister smile curled across Ju’Nero’s lips. His body seemed to ripple with power as he
stepped forward, his massive hands reached for the edges of the portal.
His muscles bulged, and the crimson ether surrounding him flared, swirling violently around
his body.
With a sudden surge of brute force, Ju’Nero gripped both sides of the portal, his veins bulging as he slowly began to close it with overwhelming strength.
The very air around them seemed to crackle with his power, the ether raging with an almost unstoppable fury.
Alister’s heart pounded in his chest as he watched, realizing that the only escape they had was
now in jeopardy.
‘How… How is that even possible… He is closing a Dimensional crack with his bare hands…’
Alister’s eyes blazed with intensity as he watched Ju’Nero’s power surge, the crimson ether swirling around him.
He could feel the very fabric of reality bending under the pressure Ju’Nero was exerting on the
portal.
If that portal closed, their only chance of escape would be lost, and the consequences would
be dire.
Without hesitation, Alister’s voice rang out in a commanding tone, his authority cutting
through the tense air like a blade.
‘Stop him!’
The order echoed in the minds of his dragon generals, each one charging into action.
Draven, the fastest to respond, leaped forward with astonishing speed, his armored body a
blur of motion. In his combat form, the runes of his sword shon brightly, it’s edg sharpened as he lashed out with a primal fury, aiming for Ju’Nero’s arm, hoping to disrupt his grip on the
portal before it was too late.
Mar’Garet followed suit. She charged in, spear raised as she summoned her dark magic to lash out, sending scorching tendrils of dark magic in Ju’Nero’s direction. Her voice echoed with fury as she shouted, “Get away from there right this instant!”
Terra struck from the opposite side, her earth magic surging as she raised the ground beneath
Ju’Nero’s feet. Massive stone pillars erupted from the sand, aiming to forcefully separate him from the portal and break his focus.
Alzuring, perched at a distance, focused his energy into a massive wind barrage. Arrows of
compressed air shot from his position, flying at high speed to slam into Ju’Nero’s back, aiming to weaken his stance and disrupt his focus.
But despite the combined efforts of his dragon generals, Ju’Nero stood like an immovable
wall. His strength was immense, and the power of his ether seemed to saturate the air around him, making it nearly impossible for the attacks to land as effectively as they should have. He barely flinched as the blows rained down upon him.
Alister’s eyes narrowed. He could feel the growing pressure as the portal began to shrink under Ju’Nero’s might, but he wasn’t about to let it end here. He gritted his teeth, preparing for his next move.