Chapter 8: Dark Dragon Awakens

The temperature dropped and Noah immediately knew that this was the closest he’d ever been to death. And if he did nothing about it, he’ll be entering the underworld in a few seconds.

Standing in front of him was an even more terrifying sight than the fire breathing wolf or flying octopus.

It was a minotaur.

The beast stood at a massive ten feet tall, its large bulk blotting out the light streaming from the top of the gorge.

The rough skin on its muscles were filled with old scars and a few fresh wounds that refused to close, as if the creature fed on its own agony.

Rising up from an incredibly thick neck and hunched shoulders was the head of a bull, its eyes burning a fiery red that saw not the world, but the prey that was in front of it.

Twin horns curled upwards from its head, painted with dried blood.

The air around it reeked of rot and as it snorted, steam blew out of its flared nostrils like the exhaust of a car.

This was death wrapped in flesh.

As the minotaur took a step forward, Noah realised that he wasn’t scared. In fact, what he felt made no sense.

Frustration.

Why? Why had he been peeled out of his life for all this?

Why was everybody trying to jerk him around like a puppet, while thinking they’re smart?

But that wasn’t all.

He also felt something else.

Confidence.

Arrogance.

It bloomed inside him like fire finding dry wood.

He didn’t know where it came from, but it was powerful. Righteous.

He was tired. Tired of being dragged from one place to another. Tired of being used. Tired of being underestimated.

He glared up at the beast, his jaw tightening.

Then he opened his mouth and roared.

The sound wasn’t human.

It didn’t even sound like it came from his throat.

The sound that ripped out of him was deep, ancient, and filled with wrath.

It rolled through the gorge like a tidal wave, shaking the stones, disturbing the air, and freezing the minotaur in its tracks.

And in the next moment, Noah’s vision vanished.

He wasn’t in the gorge anymore. He wasn’t even Noah anymore.

He was a dragon.

Massive. Ancient. Coiled atop a vast mountain surrounded by endless black mist.

The air in the Abyss was thick with magic, everything vibrating with chaos, and that chaos meant potential.

He saw through slit golden eyes, and with each blink, expelled more power than most beast ever used in their lifetimes. Beneath him, the mountain trembled with his every breath.

In the distance, a titanic battle was ongoing. It was titanic for the monsters down below but for him, it was just a note of dust in the grand scheme of things.

A titanic fire hydra barreled through the dark, wreathed in dark fire that dripped from it, leaving behind trails of destruction.

The beast was locked in battle with a behemoth that looked like a mountain wrapped in muscle and tusks.

Their battle shook this part of the Abyss, and they were heading directly for the mountain. The place where Noah the dragon slept.

The behemoth’s howl cracked the sky. The hydra’s fire scorched the black clouds.

But they were about to touch the Dragon’s precious mountain.

And so, the dragon stood.

Noah rose to his full height.

He inhaled.

And then he roared.

A single, perfect roar.

It wasn’t a sound. It was a command.

Sovereignty. Dominion.

The wave of force that left him was like a tidal wave made of authority itself.

The behemoth’s strength shattered, its howls becoming whimpers. The fire from the hydra sputtered, then died completely, like candles in a storm.

Their magic had been snuffed out. Their powers, broken.

Not absorbed. Not resisted.

Nullified.

Noah felt it all. The vastness of his presence. The sheer scale of his might.

In that moment, he wasn’t a hero, or a summoned pawn. He was the apex predator. The top of the food chain.

He was the Lord.

And then he blinked.

Reality returned with a jolt.

He stood in the gorge again. But something had changed.

A pressure surged outward from him like a silent explosion. The ground cracked. The air shimmered.

And everything vanished.

The minotaur dissolved as if it had never existed.

The mist evaporated in the blink of an eye.

The stones, the plants, the dark shadows, gone. Not destroyed. Not disintegrated.

Just… gone.

As if they had never been real to begin with.

Noah staggered a step, panting. His chest heaved. His fingers twitched with residual power.

And then, without being told, he knew.

He knew the name of his Origin Memory.

“Dragon’s Roar.”

From the top of the gorge, a delighted whistle rang out.

Arlo landed beside him a second later, dropping from above with impossible grace. His blindfold was still in place, but Noah didn’t need to see his eyes to know he was grinning ear to ear.

“Well, well, well. Look who finally woke up.”

Noah turned to him, jaw clenched. “What the hell just happened?”

Arlo laughed. “That, my friend, was you knocking out the entire Thresher.”

Noah blinked. “What?”

“You heard me. The Thresher is an illusion. Controlled. Designed to prod your instincts, rattle your fear, and break open your Origin Memory.”

Noah glanced around. “So none of it was real? The wolf? The octopus? The dragon?”

“Oh, no, the dragon was real. That was you.” Arlo grinned.

“But yeah. The rest? All tailored abyssal illusions. But you didn’t just pass the test, Noah. You obliterated it. The Thresher is supposed to break down chimeras. You? You broke it.”

Noah opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again. He didn’t have the words.

Arlo clapped him on the back. “Congratulations, Lord Noah. You’ve officially joined the big leagues. But, uh…”

Noah turned, narrowing his eyes. “But what?”

Arlo’s grin dimmed slightly. “You might’ve roared a little too loud.”

Noah scowled. “What does that mean?”

Arlo turned serious for the first time. “You sent out a shockwave. Not just magic. Authority.”

“And that kind of pulse… well, it echoes. Any Abyssal beast hiding within ten miles? Felt it. Heard it. Recognized it.”

Noah felt his blood beginning to boil at the prospect of a challenge. “And what are they going to do?”

Arlo grinned. “They’re going to answer the challenge.”

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