Chapter 102: 102. No winner

Owen’s power started climbing limitlessly. Just raw escalation pouring through his veins as his muscles expanded and his scales thickened.

He then launched himself at Vorthraxx.

The distance between them vanished in a single bound. Owen’s claws came down in an overhead strike that carried the weight of his enlarged mass. Vorthraxx raised both arms to block.

The impact drove Vorthraxx into the ground. Soil exploded outward. The crater deepened by another ten meters. Vorthraxx’s arms trembled under the force.

“Brother, that’s—”

Owen didn’t let him finish. He brought his tail around in a sweep that caught Vorthraxx across the ribs and sent him tumbling across the field. The crimson dragon rolled three times before his claws found ground and he steadied himself.

Owen was already moving. His wings beat once and he closed the gap before Vorthraxx could recover his stance. A straight punch aimed at the chest. Vorthraxx dodged left. Owen’s fist cratered the ground where he had been standing a moment before.

Vorthraxx countered with Dragon’s Breath. Crimson fire washed over Owen’s face and chest. The flames that should have scorched scales clean off barely registered. Owen walked through the inferno and backhanded Vorthraxx across the jaw.

The blow lifted Vorthraxx off his feet. He hit the ground hard, skidded twenty meters, and came up bleeding from the mouth.

“Owen! You need to—”

Owen roared. The sound carried no words. Just pure rage. His rational mind degraded further. The part that understood the sparring, that recognized brother, that knew when to stop—it fractured and dissolved under the rising tide of the destructive instinct.

He charged again.

Vorthraxx met him head-on this time. Their claws locked. Vorthraxx’s twelve meters against Owen’s twenty-four. The size difference should have made it impossible. But Vorthraxx’s technique was superior. His leverage better. His foundation stronger.

For three seconds they held the stalemate.

Then Owen’s power climbed another increment. His muscles swelled. The strength differential widened. Vorthraxx’s claws began to give ground.

“Brother, listen to me—”

Owen twisted and threw Vorthraxx overhead. The crimson dragon flew thirty meters before his wings clutched the momentum. He landed in a crouch, breathing hard now, his golden eyes wide with concern that was starting to edge toward alarm.

Owen’s eyes were completely red. No gold remaining. The magma veins across his body pulsed brighter. His size continued increasing. Twenty-four meters became twenty-six. Twenty-eight. The field beneath him compressed under his weight.

Vorthraxx’s Sovereignty activated. Nine replications materialized around Owen in a circle. All twelve meters. All moving in perfect coordination.

They rushed Owen simultaneously from every angle. Claws and jaws aimed at limbs, trying to grapple and restrain rather than damage.

Owen grabbed the first replication by the neck and crushed it. The body dissolved into a mana mist. He caught the second mid-leap and slammed it into the ground with enough force to create a shockwave. It burst apart. The third managed to lock around his arm. Owen’s muscles flexed and the replication shattered like glass.

Four down in as many seconds.

The remaining replications hesitated. That pause cost them. Owen moved through them like a storm. Each strike destroyed a body. Each step crushed another beneath his weight. In ten seconds all nine were gone.

Vorthraxx stood alone across the field. His expression had shifted from concern to genuine worry. This wasn’t sparring anymore. This was survival.

“OWEN!” he shouted. “You need to stop! Now!”

Owen’s response was another roar. Louder. Angrier. His rational mind degraded further.

Then He charged again.

Vorthraxx created twenty replications this time. They formed a wall between him and Owen. Owen went through them without slowing. Bodies exploded. Mana scattered. Vorthraxx was forced to dodge as Owen’s claws came within inches of his neck.

The crimson dragon’s breathing was labored now. His mana reserves depleting from constant replication. He couldn’t keep this up much longer.

Owen’s claws caught Vorthraxx’s wing. The impact tore scales and drew blood. Vorthraxx screamed and pulled away, his flight destabilizing as the damaged wing struggled to support his weight.

He hit the ground hard. Owen loomed over him, one massive claw raised for a strike that would kill rather than wound.

The last fragment of Owen’s rational mind dissolved.

Complete berserk state achieved.

Owen brought his claw down.

Vorthraxx rolled aside. The strike cratered the ground where his head had been. He scrambled backward, his damaged wing dragging. Owen advanced with a methodical inevitability. His power still climbing as His presence distorted the air around him.

Vorthraxx’s Dragon’s Eyes scanned Owen’s condition. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Owen’s mana reserves were completely empty. Depleted. For the first time in his existence, Owen had burned through his entire mana pool.

Relief flooded Vorthraxx for half a second. The berserk state should end now. Had to end. Without mana to fuel the transformation—

But the magma veins across Owen’s body flared brighter.

His power surged again.

Vorthraxx’s Dragon’s Eyes caught the shift. The Sovereignty of Destruction wasn’t drawing from his mana anymore. It was consuming Owen’s life force directly. Burning through his vitality to maintain the transformation. Killing him slowly with every second that passed.

“No—”

Owen’s claw came down faster than before. Vorthraxx barely twisted aside. The strike grazed his shoulder and tore scales away. Blood sprayed across the field.

This wasn’t training or testing abilities anymore. this was a dragon burning himself alive trying to kill his brother.

Vorthraxx’s mana flared. He pulled everything he had left and channeled it into his throat. His voice. The authority granted by Dragon’s Tongue amplified a thousand times over.

“STOP!”

The command hit Owen like physical force. His body froze mid-step. Every muscle locked. His raised claw remained suspended in the air. His red eyes blazed with fury but his body refused to obey the instinct to strike.

Glacius moved first. Ice erupted from the ground and wrapped around Owen’s limbs. Thick crystalline chains that anchored him to the earth. Owen roared and pulled. The ice cracked but held.

Verida came in from the side. Her blade flashed three times. Each strike precise. Each cut shallow but deliberately placed. Poison flooded Owen’s system. Not lethal but calculated to weaken, to slow the regeneration that kept him fighting through damage.

Owen’s struggles weakened. The poison worked fast. His movements became sluggish.

Then Zephron ascended above them. Lightning gathered in the purple sky. Thunder rolled across Drak’thar. He raised both hands and brought them down.

The lightning strike hit Owen, dead center. The voltage was massive. Enough to stop a heart. Enough to fry nervous systems.

Owen’s roar cut off mid-sound. His eyes rolled back. The red glow faded to dim embers and then nothing. His body went limp inside the ice restraints.

The Sovereignty of Destruction deactivated.

Owen’s mass collapsed back to normal. Thirty meters became six in seconds. His scales returned to pure black. The magma veins cooled and vanished, giving way to his normal golden accents. He hung unconscious in Glacius’s ice, breathing shallow but steady.

The field was silent except for the sound of settling debris.

Vorthraxx pushed himself upright. His damaged wing hung at an awkward angle. Blood dripped from cuts across his chest and arms. He limped toward his father, each step clearly painful.

Dominus met him halfway. The Dragon King’s expression remained composed but his eyes held concern.

“Well…” Vorthraxx said, his voice rough, “…my brother’s going to be a handful.”

Dominus looked at the unconscious Owen, then back at his son. “You’re one to talk.”

“I never went berserk and tried to kill you.”

“No. You set fire to the royal archives because you were bored.”

“I was hatchling.”

“You flooded the eastern district because someone insulted your scales.”

“They deserved it.”

“You challenged three Greater Dragons to simultaneous combat on your first evolution into a baby dragon.”

Vorthraxx’s grin returned despite the pain. “And I could’ve won.”

“You broke Zephron’s arm.”

“He got better.”

Dominus shook his head but the corner of his mouth moved. Almost a smile. “Your brother shares your talent for excessive force.”

“He’s learning. Give him time.” Vorthraxx looked at Owen’s unconscious form, his expression growing serious. “Though Father… it was consuming his life force. After his mana ran out, the Sovereignty started burning his vitality to keep going. If we hadn’t stopped him—”

“But you did stop him.” Dominus’s hand settled on Vorthraxx’s shoulder. “That’s what matters.”

Chronara approached from the side. Her silver scales caught the light. “He hasn’t trained that Sovereignty well.”

“He fought well before that,” Vorthraxx said. “The time manipulation caught me off guard. And once he stopped treating his abilities like tools…” He trailed off. “He has potential. Raw, undisciplined, dangerous potential.”

Glacius’s ice began to recede. The Greater Dragon maintained just enough restraint to keep Owen’s unconscious body from hitting the ground. Verida stood nearby, her blade already sheathed, monitoring Owen’s vital signs through her poison’s feedback.

Zephron descended from above. “His mana signature is gone. Completely depleted. His life force is weak but stabilizing. He’ll wake in a few days.”

“Good,” Dominus said. He looked at his son’s injuries. “You need medical attention.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Your wing is broken”

“I can still fly.”

“Hmm.”

Vorthraxx tested the wing and winced. “Alright. Maybe it hurts a little.”

“Come.” Dominus turned toward the resting grounds. “We’ll treat your injuries. And when your brother wakes, we’ll discuss what he came here to find.”

The field behind them was destroyed. Craters overlapped craters. Scorched earth marked where Dragon’s Breath had hit. Ice fragments littered the ground.

The first sparring match between brothers had ended.

But the story dungeon was far from over.

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