Chapter 157: 157. Fight me. Oh, Dragon King

The wind carried Gorvax’s words across the floating island.

The hatchlings didn’t understand what was happening, but they felt something was wrong. The air suddenly felt heavy.

They all moved closer to Leah. She stood still, her mane standing on end.

The emerald one let out a small whimper. The shadow one slipped into a dark corner. The lightning one’s scales sparked in erratic, nervous bursts.

Owen turned to face his family. “Everyone. Huddle up.”

They stood in a circle around him—Yuki, Leah, Odessa, and Alfred.

Azure stepped forward, her crystal-like eyes locked on the robed figure at the edge of the training ground. Uru stood beside Yuki, her body tense, her green hair floating like wind was blowing, even though nothing moved.

Gorvax didn’t move. He just waited.

Owen spoke quickly. No pause. No soft tone.

“That is Gorvax, The Sower. The being we’ve been referring to as The Will. He planted this world a long time ago. He created the dragons, copying some noble cosmic race called the Progenitors. Then he erased them when they became too strong.

He’s operating on a whole different power system than us, He’s Tier 4, five stars and apparently I’m Tier 5, one star. There’s a higher system above all this too. A Tribunal and it’s Enforcers. If they find out what he did… they will destroy this world.”

Then He paused to Let it land.

“I made a deal with him, to travel the cosmos. Help him ascend in ranks and in exchange, he will mark this world as protected. Hidden from the Tribunal.”

Silence stretched across the training ground. The hatchlings stopped moving entirely.

Then Yuki’s voice cut through. “The Will? That’s the Will?”

Her hand shot toward Gorvax, not drawing her blade but pointing. Accusing. Her fingers trembled.

Leah’s muscles tensed. Her transformation flickered—claws extending, fangs lengthening. Instinctive fear as Her tail lashed behind her.

Owen stepped between them. “Whoa whoa, He’s not here to harm us.”

“You’re trusting him?” Yuki’s voice rose. “He deleted your entire race!”

“I know.”

“Then why—”

“Because the alternative would be our extinction. Not just dragons. Everyone. Every soul on this planet.” Owen held her gaze.

Yuki’s chest heaved. Her hand dropped to her side. The tension in her shoulders didn’t ease.

“Then what is he?” Odessa’s voice was quiet. Measured. “Really?”

Gorvax answered from the edge. “Like I said…. I am a cosmic gardener, And the only thing standing between this world and oblivion.”

The wind picked up again as the flagstones of the arena creaked.

—

Yuki’s eyes narrowed. “This deal. Traveling the cosmos with him. You think that’s a simple journey? You could be lost out there for years. Decades. You don’t even know his true scheme. What exactly does he need you to help him do?”

Owen’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know…yet”

“You don’t know? Yet!?”

“He’ll mark this planet. Veil it from cosmic vagrants and Tribunal forces. That’s enough for now.” He looked at each of them, at Leah’s rigid posture, at Odessa’s pale face, at Alfred’s steady hand resting on his shield. “And I need to get stronger. Strong enough to not fear these new threats: cosmic vagrants. gardeners. Noble races. The Tribunal. Whether I go with him or not, that truth doesn’t change.”

Alfred spoke. “You’re asking us to let you leave with a being who destroyed your kind.”

“I’m asking you to trust my decision”

The old butler’s eyes held Owen’s for a long moment. Then he nodded. Once.

Yuki’s face crumpled.

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “It’s not fair.”

No one spoke.

“We finally had peace. Months of it. Months of family. No war. No demons. No running.” Her voice cracked. “I could finally feel life settling. A steady pace. And now….this.”

She turned and stared at Gorvax with pure animosity in her eyes. Her hand found her katana’s hilt again, her knuckles white as she gripped it tightly.

The Sower did not flinch. He simply… waited.

“You….” Yuki’s voice was low. “…You come here after everything. After Erasing the dragons. After the system, the dungeons, the fear. And now you want to take him away?”

Gorvax tilted his head. “I am offering him a path”

“A path to what?”

“Into the Cosmo, for Ascension in Cosmic ranks. for Survival. For all of you.”

Owen reached for Yuki. “Yuki—”

“Don’t.” She stepped back. Then stopped. Took a breath. Wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I… understand.”

“You do?”

“I understand that you’ll do anything to keep us safe. Anything.” She looked at him, eyes red. “But That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

She turned to Gorvax. Glared. Then back to Owen.

“If you’ve decided, then I’ll accept it. And I’ll prepare to head out with you.”

Gorvax stepped forward.

“Not possible.”

The word was flat. Final. It cut through the air like a blade.

Yuki’s head snapped toward him. “Not possible?”

“You cannot accompany him. None of you can. Anyone on this world, in fact.” Gorvax’s featureless face somehow conveyed absolute certainty. His robe rippled. “Your cosmic rank is too low, almost nonexistent for what matters. Your constitution too weak. The deeper cosmos would shatter your bodies. Your skills would be useless against the foes we will face.”

Yuki’s hand moved to her katana. “I’ve fought—”

“You’ve fought lesser world threats. Demons. Corrupted beasts. Barely Bottom Tier 5 enemies at best.” Gorvax did not raise his voice. “The cosmos has Tier 4 predators that feed on beings like you. Tier 3 entities that Shatter lesser worlds for sports. You would die before you saw them.”

Azure stepped forward. “My King—”

“No.” Gorvax’s gaze shifted. “Not even you. Evolved or not. Your constitution is still bound to this world’s mana-stream.”

Odessa’s face went pale. Leah’s claws retracted slightly.

Owen raised a hand. “Yuki. Stop. All of you. Stop”

She looked at him. Her grip on the katana tightened. Then loosened. Her arm fell to her side.

“I’ll come back…” Owen said. “…I can open doorways to Drak’thar. Meet you here. That’s a middle ground.”

Gorvax shook his head. “No.”

Owen’s eyes narrowed. “No?”

“Opening a portal to this dimension pocket, Drak’thar, from the deeper cosmos is as good as sending a signal to be probed. The Tribunal’s enforcers would track the unauthorized dimensional breaches that leak of faint progenitor’s essence. Every doorway you open is a breadcrumb leading back to this world.”

Silence fell over them as The hatchlings pressed closer to Leah. Uru’s hands curled into fists.

“Then how do I return?”

“You don’t. Not until you’re strong enough to mask your signature and that of this world yourself.” Gorvax paused. “And you cannot use your sovereignties. Not in combat. Not in travel. They are still wisps of cosmic law, of the progenitors’ essence—unique and traceable, exactly what the Tribunal would scan for.”

Owen’s scales prickled beneath his human form. “You’re asking me to fight without my power.”

“I’m asking you to survive without relying on an obvious beacon.”

—

Gorvax stepped into the center of the training arena.

The stone beneath his feet cracked—not from weight, from presence. A ring of fractured rock spread outward. The hatchlings scrambled back. Leah pulled them away.

He raised his hand. No weapon. No visible power. Just the open palm of the confidence of power of being who had seeded worlds and erased species.

“I will test just how strong you are without relying on those wisps of authority.”

His voice came through calm and Measured, Like a teacher preparing a lesson for his students.

“Now… fight me Oh, Dragon King.”

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