Chapter 145: 145. Brothers Fight, But not to the death.

The sky was lit up with sparks.

Owen recovered from Vorthraxx’s last strike just in time to see the adult dragon circling back, his purple-veined scales catching the light bleeding through the clouds. The battlefield below was a smear of motion: hunters and demons locked in combat, the lines shifting by inches, by feet, by bodies. But up here, there was only the two of them.

Owen activated his [Dragon’s Eye]. Vorthraxx’s movements slowed in his perception, not enough to matter, but enough to track. The adult dragon was faster, stronger, more experienced. But Owen had more than enough months learning to read momentum, to predict strikes before they came, to move where his opponent would be instead of where he was.

Then vorthraxx dove toward him!

Owen rolled left, his wings folding, his body dropping ten meters before spreading to catch air again as Vorthraxx’s claws raked through empty space where Owen’s chest had been. [Momentum Shift] kicked in and Owen reversed his direction instantly, driving upward, his shoulder connecting with Vorthraxx’s ribs.

CRACK!

The impact jarred through both of them. Vorthraxx grunted, twisted with his tail whipping around. Owen caught it the impact on his forearm, his [Indestructible Scales] held, but the force drove him sideways, tumbling through the clouds.

He righted himself, while Vorthraxx was already there.

Their claws met in a shower of sparks again. Owen parried left, then right, then left again—each strike faster than the last, each one predicted by [Dragon’s Eye] and met with a counter. But Vorthraxx wasn’t just fast. He was precise. Every movement flowed into the next. No wasted motion. No openings.

Owen tried a feint—a strike aimed at Vorthraxx’s throat that pulled short, designed to draw a block and expose his side, But Vorthraxx didn’t block, He instead slipped inside the strike with his shoulder driving into Owen’s chest and his claws finding Owen’s side.

SHICKT!

Scales got torn off clean, Owen felt the wound open, felt blood slick his side, felt [Ultra-Regeneration] kick in almost instantly. But the damage was done. His mana dipped.

He created distance with his Wings beating hard, driving him back fifty meters. But Vorthraxx didn’t pursue immediately, He hovered, watching, his golden eyes tracking Owen’s every micro-movement.

“You’re Doing well…” Vorthraxx said. “Good. This exercising is very much needed for my thousand year old sore bones.”

“Yeah…well, I’ve got more routines for you!.”

“Nah, I think I’m happy this just this one!” Vorthraxx roared as He attacked again.

This time, Owen didn’t try to match him blow for blow. Instead, he activated [Sovereignty of Space-Time]

The world slowed. Vorthraxx’s dive became a crawl, his claws extended, his wings spread. Owen had maybe two seconds before the skill drained too much mana with the strain it took to manipulate time around a being who could resist the slowed time stream to an extent. He used them to reposition—flying above and behind Vorthraxx, where the adult dragon’s peripheral vision was weakest.

Then Time snapped back.

Vorthraxx’s claws closed on empty air. His head whipped around immediately but Owen struck from above, his claws raking across Vorthraxx’s back, opening wounds that leaked purple light instead of blood.

Vorthraxx roared. His tail snapped up catching Owen across the chest, sent him spinning. Owen caught himself, wings flaring, momentum shifting to kill his spin. But Vorthraxx was already turning, his [Dragon’s Breath] building in his throat.

Purple fire erupted.

Owen answered with his own—red against purple, the two streams colliding in the space between them. The explosion sent shockwaves across the battlefield below. Hunters stumbled. Demons fell. The sky itself seemed to crack through reality.

They broke apart again.

Owen’s mana was dropping. Ultra-Regeneration and Sovereignty of Space-Time were expensive to sustain And Vorthraxx hadn’t even started using his own advanced abilities.

“You’re slowing down, brother” Vorthraxx observed. “Your regeneration is eating through your reserves. Your time manipulation costs more than you can sustain against me, You’re fighting a battle of attrition against someone who has been stockpiling power for a thousand years.”

“I noticed.”

“Then why are you still fighting?”

Owen thought about Yuki. About the eggs in the Hatchery. About the world that was still standing because people like Sael, like Solhart, like every hunter on that battlefield had refused to let it fall.

“Because… I’m not alone.” he said.

Vorthraxx’s expression flickered. Something old and wounded passed behind his golden eyes.

Then he attacked again.

—

The next exchange was different. Vorthraxx wasn’t just fighting now, it seemed more like he was teaching. His strikes came in patterns, each one designed to test a different aspect of Owen’s defense. Speed. Strength. Timing. Positioning. Owen adapted, learned, countered. But every time he thought he had found an opening, Vorthraxx closed it.

Owen tried a spatial teleportation, short-range, maybe twenty meters, just enough to appear at Vorthraxx’s side. He reappeared with his claws extended, aiming for the gap where wing met shoulder.

But vorthraxx wasn’t there.

His Sovereignty of Replication had spawned a copy in his place. Owen’s claws tore through it as it dissipated into just mist and shadow. The real Vorthraxx was above him, diving, his Dragon’s Breath already firing.

Owen didn’t have time to dodge. He activated Sovereignty of Space-Time again—not to reposition, but to create a spatial rift. The air in front of him tore open, swallowing Vorthraxx’s flames, redirecting them into empty sky.

The rift collapsed. Owen’s mana dropped another chunk.

Vorthraxx landed on a broken tower that had once been part of the city’s outer wall. Owen landed on another, fifty meters away. They faced each other across the rubble, both breathing hard.

“You’re using your abilities creatively,” Vorthraxx said. “I’ll give you that. The spatial rift was clever.”

“Yeah? Sovereignty of SPACE-time, you know?”

“It bought you seconds. So, What are you going to do with them?”

Owen didn’t answer. He was already moving.

[Dragon’s Aura] flared, not the passive pressure he usually projected, but a focused wave, aimed directly at Vorthraxx. The adult dragon staggered as he was hit, just for a moment, just enough. Owen crossed the distance in a blur of [Momentum Shift], his claws extended and his fire building.

Vorthraxx met him head-on.

They crashed into the rubble, through the rubble, out the other side. Stone shattered around them. Dust filled the air. Owen lost track of up, of down, of anything except the dragon in front of him.

He remembered his first fight with Vorthraxx in the story dungeon and prompted to use [Dragon’s Tongue]. One word, channeled with intent and mana, bending reality just enough to matter.

“[Fall]”

Vorthraxx’s wings faltered. He dropped ten meters before catching himself, his golden eyes widening. Then he laughed.

“Dragon’s Tongue?. Impressive. But you used it on someone who knows it better.”

He spoke his own word.

“[Burn]”

Owen’s scales ignited, his regeneration working overtime to keep the flames from consuming him.

He forced the fire out. Directed it away from his body, into the air, into the ground. When the last of it faded, his scales were cracked, his mana was critically low, and Vorthraxx was already moving again.

—

The beat down was systematic.

Vorthraxx didn’t just hit Owen, he tore him apart. Every strike was placed exactly where it would hurt most. Every counter was anticipated. Every attempt to escape was shut down.

Owen tried spatial teleportation. Vorthraxx’s replications surrounded him, cutting off his exits.

He tried a spatial rift. Vorthraxx’s fire overloaded it, the rift collapsing before it could redirect anything.

He tried slowing time. Vorthraxx’s [Sovereignty of the Demonic Dragon resonated], a Sovereignty that replaced his Sovereignty of a dragon king ever since he absorbed Outer-divinity miasma, it had a countering the effect, keeping him moving at near-normal speed.

Nothing worked.

Vorthraxx drove him down, through the clouds, toward the battlefield below. Owen hit the ground hard, cratering the earth, his wings broken, his scales cracked, his mana almost gone.

He pushed himself up.

Vorthraxx landed in front of him, grabbed him by the neck with his adult dragon form towering over Owen’s juvenile body and flew him back up into the sky, His golden eyes holding something that wasn’t quite triumph.

“Why?” Vorthraxx asked. “Why do you still fight!?”

Owen spat blood. “Because… I haven’t lost yet.”

“But you will…. You just haven’t accepted it.”

“Same thing.”

Vorthraxx studied him. For a long moment, neither of them moved. The battle raged below them—hunters and demons, beastfolk and elves, dwarves and fairies—but here, in this small circle of broken earth, there was only silence.

“You remind me too much of myself….” Vorthraxx said finally. “Before. When I still believed that fighting harder would make a difference. When I still thought that if I just tried enough and believed, that I could save everyone.”

Vorthraxx’s eyes flickered. He looked down at the battlefield, at the hunters fighting and dying, at the chaos he had unleashed. Then his gaze found one figure in particular.

Yuki.

She was fighting below, her katanas flashing, Uru wrapped around her like armor. She moved through the demon ranks like something unstoppable, her [Phantom Step] carrying her from shadow to shadow, her [Battle Precognition] keeping her one step ahead of every strike.

Vorthraxx watched her for a long moment, Then thought.

“She’s the one, isn’t she.” he said. “The human who you’ve bonded with. The one you love… your Celeste.”

Owen’s blood went cold. “Leave her out of this.”

Vorthraxx’s voice with his reply was soft. “I’m going to see how strong your morals are when you’re the one who loses something.”

He raised his hand. Replications spawned around him, dozens of them, each one a perfect copy, each one moving as one.

Then he lunged toward Yuki.

Owen’s wings spread. His broken scales screamed. His mana reserves were almost empty. But he launched himself after Vorthraxx anyway, his claws extended, his his fire building within his chest.

“VORTHRAXX!”

The adult dragon didn’t look back.

The replications closed in around Owen, blocking his path, buying their master time. Owen tore through them…

one,

two,

three…

but more kept coming. He couldn’t reach Vorthraxx. Couldn’t stop him. Couldn’t—

“Yuki!”

Below, she looked up and Their eyes met across the battlefield.

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