Ju’Nero’s lips curled into a predatory grin. “Your little helpers are starting to get annoying,” he growled, his crimson eyes locking onto Terra.
Before Alister could react, Ju’Nero crouched low and burst forward, kicking off the ground with such force that the earth beneath him shattered. “Terra, watch out!” Alzuring and Cinder yelled.
Ju’Nero closed the distance in the blink of an eye, towering over Terra. She stumbled back, her eyes wide as she tried to summon more sand for defense.
Ju’Nero tilted his head, his gaze fixating on her hands. “So, these hands are what you use to control the sands, hmm?” His tone was mocking, cold.
Before Terra could respond, Ju’Nero’s ether claws flashed. A sickening sound echoed through the battlefield…
VZZZZ
In the next instant her hands were severed in a single, merciless strike. Blood sprayed from the wounds, staining the golden sands as Terra let out a scream of agony.
Ju’Nero’s expression remained indifferent. “Annoying,” he muttered, lifting his leg. With a powerful kick to her torso, he sent Terra hurtling through the air like a ragdoll.
The impact against a nearby rock formation echoed with a massive…
BOOM!
Likke thunder, cracks rippling across the stone as she crumpled to the ground.
Terra coughed violently, blood spilling from her lips. Her vision blurred as she tried to push herself up, but her strength failed her.
She collapsed onto the sands, her blood pooling around her, before her body shimmered and began to break apart into particles of light.
“Terra!” Alzuring and Cinder cried out, rushing toward her.
Before Alzuring and Cinder could even get close, a figure with lightning-fast reflexes… With golden lighting streaking around their white and black scaled body as they moved… rushed over to Terra’s side.
Crouching down, he gazed at her, his expression devestated with concern and fury.
It was Alister.
His breath hitched as his golden eyes locked onto her unconscious face, blood staining her. The stumps where her hands once were… were gruesome, and her glasses had fallen to the side.
A wave of helplessness gripped Alister…
“Terra…” he whispered softly, his voice trembling as he reached out and gently tapped her face.
“Wake up Terra… look at me!”
“I said look at me Terra!”
“It’s an order!”
He yelled… the words coming out almost as a plea despite the authority in his tone.
His voice was filled with desperation, the kind that only those who have lost everything could understand.
He cradled her limp body in his arms, his heart pounding in his chest as he gritted his teeth, struggling to hold back the rage that threatened to consume him.
Suddenly system notification chimed in his mind.
[Summon Terra has sustained critical injuries and is rendered unconscious. She has been sent to the Mind Space for recovery.]
Terra’s body, now in Alister’s trembling hands, began to break apart into particles of light, fading away before his eyes.
He gritted his teeth, his grip tightening as he pulled her close. The golden sands around him seemed to shimmer, reflecting the raw emotion coursing through him.
His chest heaved as he fought to keep his composure, the weight of the moment crashing down on him.
That same silent notification occoured again.
[-??- has risen to 75%.]
In the distance, Alzuring and Cinder stood frozen, unable to approach feeling a bit uneasy. They glanced at each other, as they began to notice a change in their lord’s aura.
It was no longer the presence they had come to recognize. This was different… raw, dangerous, something far more primal.
It sent an instinctual chill through them, a sense of fear that they couldn’t ignore. They knew this was the kind of aura that heralded the rise of something terrible.
Ju’Nero, still standing some distance away, watched the scene unfold with a smug expression, his deep voice echoed and he let out a loud belly laugh.
“Look at you, screaming like some child,” he said, pointing one hand at alisr while the other rested on his belly.
“So much for being the overlord of dragons. What a joke.”
As the last of Terra’s body finally disintegrated into light, Alister’s gaze lingered on her glasses, lying abandoned on the sand. Without a word, he slowly reached out, picking them up gently, as if she were still there in his arms. A system window appeared beside him… His inventory, and he placed the glasses inside.
He stood up… And then…
VZZZZZ
BOOOOOM!
His mana burst out of his body like an Inferno, but it wasn’t it’s usual golden glow.
No…
This time it was. Red, intense, almost suffocating, it swirled around him, crackling like lightening.
The air itself seemed to tremble in response, as if the very world knew that something had shifted within him.
Turning to face Ju’Nero, Alister’s voice was 1 deadly serious, the concept of reason could not be seen in his eyes.
He looked like some sort of wild animal, a predetor… perhaps something more.
But he wasn’t out to hunt.
No…
He was out to destroy.
“YOU ARE DEAD.”
He suddenly said, but the words sounded like they were said with two set of voices.
The ground beneath his feet seemed to crack under the weight of his aure.
Ju’Nero blinked, his smug expression disappeared for the briefest moment as he sensed the
shift in Alister’s aura.
For a moment, the overwhelming pressure of raw, intense power sent a feeling of doubt through him. But only for a moment.
A sneer returned to his face as he stood tall, preparing to face whatever was coming next. “Go
ahead and tr-“
VZZZZ
Before he could finish his sentence, Alister was gone.
One heartbeat-gone.
The next, the ground beneath Ju’Nero cracked as a surge of red, crackling energy flashed across his vision. In the blink of an eye, Alister appeared directly in front of him, his claws extended and glowing with the intensity of lightning.
“Void Rend.”
The words barely left Alister’s lips before his claws connected with Ju’Nero’s flesh, tearing through him like a hot knife through butter.
The sound of rending flesh echoed across the battlefield as Ju’Nero staggered back, the gash across his body spewing blood.
His expression twisted in shock and fury as the intense pain surged through him.
Ju’Nero stood still for a moment, his eyes blazing with fury as Alister’s assault left a deep
gash across his chest. Blood dripped to the ground, mixing with the sand, but it only fueled
his rage further.
“You think this is a game, huh? I’ll show you who is the predator here,” Ju’Nero said, his voice
a low growl.
A surge of crimson energy erupted around Ju’Nero’s form, his muscles bulging with power as
his claws lengthened, crackling with the same destructive force that had just nearly torn
Alister apart.
His eyes flickered with fury as he slammed one foot into the ground. The earth beneath him trembled as his power increased exponentially.
The world seemed to bend and break as Ju’Nero shot forward, leaving behind a trail of fissures
in the ground with each step. In one swift motion, his body twisted midair, bringing his claws around to swipe at Alister’s side.
Alister barely managed to twist away, the claws grazing his side, tearing through his scales and leaving a deep, bleeding wound.
His eyes flickered with the pain, but his body didn’t hesitate. He twisted to counterattack, his claws coming at Ju’Nero in an explosive arc.
But Ju’Nero was already gone, his body vanishing and reappearing behind Alister. His claws came down like a hammer, slashing the Dragon Lord across the back.
Blood sprayed across the sands as Alister’s body jerked forward. The force of the blow cracked the earth beneath him as he stumbled, barely staying upright.
“Is that all you’ve got, Lord of Dragons?” Ju’Nero taunted. He flicked his claws, sending bolts of ether blasts arcing through the air further slamming Alister down. Behind him, Alzuring and Cinder were already charging in, in their massive dragon forms. Alzuring’s wings unfurled with a deafening crack, sending shockwaves through the air as he dove down toward Ju’Nero, his massive claws aimed at the target.
But Ju’Nero was faster. His body moved with a burst of speed, dodging Alzuring’s claws then slamming his ether claws into Alzuring’s side. A sickening crunch rang out as Alzuring’s body twisted midair, the impact of Ju’Nero’s strike sending him spiraling toward the ground. The dragon slammed into the earth with enough force to crater the battlefield. Alzuring’s breath came out in ragged gasps as his massive body lay motionless, blood pooling beneath him. He groaned, but he was clearly unconscious, his body broken from the
overwhelming force of the attack.
“Another one down,” Ju’Nero said, his eyes gleaming with twisted delight.
Cinder, enraged at the fall of her fellow dragon, moved in with a violent snarl. Her claws
slashed at Ju’Nero’s back as she shot an intense breath of blue flames at him while also moving around to avoid possible attacks, her movements blindingly fast for her size. But Ju’Nero was no longer just reacting; he was anticipating every move.
He spun in place, his claws slicing through the air, catching Cinder’s leg, ripping it off and sending her tumbling through the air.
She crashed into the rocks, her body limp as she crumpled into the stone. Her eyes flickered, but she was out cold… another one rendered unconscious by Ju’Nero’s overwhelming power. Alister’s rage intensified but it was pointless. His vision narrowed to a singular focus…
Ju’Nero had to die.
“You…” Alister growled, blood dripping from the wounds across his body. His eyes were wild,
his movements erratic, his claws crackling with violent energy.
But Ju’Nero only smirked. “You don’t learn, do you?”