Chapter 483: P-Please! F-F-Forgive me, Hero!

“It doesn’t matter what he is, what he has done, or how great he is! What matters is that we were told to capture him! And now that we have cornered him—that is exactly what we are going to do, and there is nothing you or he can do about it!

This battle is over!

Ove—!!”

“RRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!”

The mage shouted, but before he could even complete, Igni’s pain-filled roar was heard, shaking the entire area.

For a moment, the beasts present in the area flinched. They too could feel the pain in the Dragon’s voice. The ridiculously strong enemy they were facing—it felt like it was finally going down.

But…

None of the beasts felt a sense of accomplishment. They didn’t even feel the joy of taking down an enemy they should have never been able to.

All they felt was…

A sense of dread.

As if… they had committed a…

Sin.

As if… they had done something they shouldn’t have done.

For a slight instant, every beast in the perimeter—even the beasts on Eastmourn Island, who weren’t involved in the battle in any way—slowed down as a foreign, uncomfortable feeling crept over them.

Even the Sky Kingdom soldiers felt something was amiss.

The mage, who was targeting Kael just now, was no different. The moment he heard Igni’s painful roar, his entire body flinched as he swallowed his own words.

For a moment, he turned silent too, sensing his Bond’s discomfort—he placed his hand on his Luminark to calm it down before turning towards the other mage who had laughed at him just now and—

“Heh, heard that?”

He grinned.

“That’s the sound of a Dragon screeching in agony like any other beast.”

He commented.

“Stop acting like they are some godly beings because they are not—”

He then turned towards the screeching Dragon.

Igni was in pain.

The mighty Primordial Fire Dragon, who once glowed like a burning sun, now looked… dim. The ferocious flames around him looked weak and were flickering nonstop, as if trying to cling to their last bit of existence.

Heavy magic chains were wrapped around his enormous body, glowing faintly with runes that pulsed every few seconds. Each pulse slowed his movements, dragging him down as if the air itself had turned to stone. Dozens of these chains clung to his wings, neck, tail, and claws. Every time he tried to move, they tightened, cutting into his scales.

Several weapons were stuck deep in his flesh—broken spears, arrows, and enchanted blades that had pierced through the thinner parts of his armor-like scales. Some burned faintly with magic, keeping his wounds open so they wouldn’t heal.

And from those wounds… came out…

Blood.

Blood much thicker, darker, and heavier than anything any of them had ever seen—dripped from his sides, hissing as it hit the air and turned to steam.

The Sky Kingdom soldiers, mounted on their flying beasts, had surrounded him from every direction. Their formation was perfect, like a cage made for wings and steel. They attacked from above, below, and both sides at once, using their numbers to wear him down.

Whenever the Dragon turned to one side, the other side struck. Whenever he roared, they used that brief opening to send chains and spells at him again.

“Hold the formation!”

One of the captains shouted.

“Keep the distance! Don’t let it break through!”

“Chains! Reinforce the chains!”

Another yelled.

And the chains tightened again, glowing brighter, sending shocks of magic through his body.

“RRRROOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!!”

Igni groaned in pain, his claws curling, but he didn’t stop.

He swung his tail—three beasts were sent flying back, their riders screaming as their formation shattered. But even that cost him strength. His tail dropped lower after the swing, dragging through the air like it had grown too heavy to lift again.

His wings beat once, slowly and weakly, and his body trembled.

But when his eyes—those blazing amber eyes—lifted to stare at the soldiers around him…

There was no fear in them.

There was pain, yes—a lot of it.

But behind that pain was something stronger—a burning will that refused to fade.

A stubborn, obstinate will that refused to fall.

“RROOOOOAAAAARRRR!!”

The Dragon roared again; this time, his roar didn’t carry pain—it was filled with strength—but…

It didn’t matter.

“Chains! Reinforce the chains again!”

“It roared! Attack! Its scales are hard! Aim for its mouth! Tear him from inside!”

For the enemy, his roar was just an opportunity.

And when the mage saw it all from afar—his grin widened even further and—

“They bleed the same way we do.”

He spoke, once again turning towards the mage next to him as if he were ready to deliver lifelong wisdom.

“Burn this sight in your mind, Zhahara.”

He began, pointing at the Dragon.

“In this matter, it doesn’t matter who you are, how strong you are, or how great your potential is—your ’fate’ still depends on your choices—the decisions you make.

Just because you are mighty does not give you the right to go against the World’s Order.

Today would have been a simpler day had the Hero chosen to come with us in silence. With the value he held, what he did would not only have been ignored—he would have been given exclusive training and resources to get better and live a lavish life.

But because of his decision to side against us—everything changed.

Now, not only will he be charged with the deaths of all these soldiers, which will put a stigma on his name, but he might even lose his Dragon.

All this—just because he was too foolish to make the correct choic—”

“RRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!”

It happened again—

The mage’s words weren’t finished as another roar cut them off.

A roar far scarier than the previous one. A roar that… shook the heavens themselves. The ground quaked, the clouds seemed to scatter, and every beast in the sky froze mid-flight, their instincts screaming that something ancient… something terrible… was coming.

The mage flinched again, his smile breaking.

If before, he sensed his beast’s uneasiness, now… he could feel it.

Its dread… the soul-shattering, heart-squeezing fear that it was feeling… he could sense and understand it all because…

Because he felt the same.

He turned, trembling. His eyes desperately searched through the haze of fire and smoke, looking for the source of that roar—

And then… he saw it.

Kael.

The air around the Hero was no longer calm.

It was burning.

A wave of terrifying heat rolled out from his body, twisting the air like molten glass. The warriors and beasts that had surrounded him—twenty, thirty, maybe more—were nowhere to be seen.

Gone.

All of them turned to ash in less than a second.

Their armor, their weapons, even their… screams—nothing remained.

The mage’s heart skipped a beat as his gaze fell on the source of that destruction.

Kael’s body… i-it was changing.

Fiery red scales crawled across his arms and chest, spreading upward across his neck and face. His eyes, once a calm blue, burned into gold, slit-like flames—if his eyes before seemed ferocious, now… they were purely… predatory. Now, he wasn’t just looking to survive…

He was looking for destruction.

Complete, utter destruction.

A big red tail erupted from his back, sweeping through the air like a whip.

SHHHHHHHKKKKKK

The tail moved once—

And a dozen Sky Soldiers were beheaded instantly. Their heads rolled mid-air before being consumed by the flames that followed. Again, not a single one of them could scream—they didn’t get the chance to.

“KRRRIEEEEEEKKKKK!!”

“RRROOOAAAAARRRR!!”

The beasts let out roars and screeches in panic but—

“RRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!”

Kael roared again. His roar instantly silenced every creature around him.

The mages in the back watched in horror as Kael’s transformation continued. His aura flared again—becoming even stronger, brighter, heavier.

His very presence seemed to bend the world around him.

And then—

Flap

Two vast, fiery wings burst from his back, and the next moment—Kael moved.

“!!!”

The mage froze.

The Hero… he… he was coming right at him!

’W-Why…?’

He stuttered. He looked and saw the Hero’s golden eyes staring at him as if he were staring right into his soul.

’Did… did he hear what I said…?’

The instant that thought came into his mind—his body began to convulse. Breathing became impossible, his every instinct screamed, telling him to run, hide—do anything but get away!

But he knew he couldn’t do that.

“R-Re—Remain in formation—”

He tried to speak, tried to command, tried to sound… brave, but his cracking voice gave it all away.

His words didn’t change anything, as if they didn’t matter.

The distance between him and Kael got less and less. The mage lifted his staff, as if prepared to fight, but…

As Kael got even closer—

“P-Please! F-F-Forgive me, Hero!”

The mage dropped his staff as he begged, his hands trembling as he clasped them together.

It was pathetic.

A pitiful sight.

And Kael…

He said nothing.

After all…

He didn’t even know the mage existed—to him, only his child fighting the enemies behind the mage mattered.

WHOOSH

A violent gust of wind swept across the sky, so strong it nearly threw the mage off his beast.

He turned, gasping for air—

And then—

He saw Kael.

Flying past him, toward his Dragon, at a speed that defied everything the eye could follow.

The mage exhaled shakily, his hands still joined in prayer.

“Heh… I-I’m alive…”

A broken, desperate laugh escaped his lips. His trembling body loosened as he slowly turned towards Zhahara, the mage standing beside him.

And Zhahara…

His trembling hand was pointing at the mage’s chest, and when the mage slowly looked down—

He saw it.

Just above his heart, a tiny flame flickered on his robe.

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