Chapter Thirty-Four: The Red Dragon vs The Lightning Lizard
The wind howled around us, saturated with the scent of rain and electricity… but something else pricked my senses. Something not of this nature. Something sharp. Ancient. Hungry.
I stopped speaking suddenly and slowly turned my head toward Mia, whispering
Mia… we're not alone.
She tightened her body beside me, folding her wings in tension. Her heartbeat quickened—soft, barely audible, but to me, it was like thunder in my head.
Mia said in a low voice, carrying an instinctive tremble: I felt it too… It's much stronger than us.
The storm around us was a veil, yes, but not thick enough to obscure the killing intent dripping from the air. A chill crept over my scales, and my once-still blood began to boil. The scent of lightning was familiar… but its rhythm had changed. It was no longer the pulse of the sky. It was the pulse of something else.
I lifted my gaze toward the horizon. From the shadows of the clouds, its form emerged. A reptile. But its eyes glowed with blue light, and its hunger… was fiercer than lightning itself.
A lizard?
His scent carried traces of dragon blood. Low-level, tainted. He had spent years lurking within storms, feeding on shards of lightning, gathering his strength like a desperate beast. And now, he believed he could devour me. Steal my blood. Seize my power. Violate my legacy.
I almost pitied him… but my flame ignited.
I whispered it, my tone saturated with seething rage
You dare… chase a true dragon?
He leapt at me—fast, wild, as if lightning itself moved his limbs. His claws dripped with sparks, flashes, like a living nightmare.
But I was faster.
In an instant, I spread my wings. Energy burst from within me—pure, white, absolute. The sky shook with my roar.
It was not a cry of fear… nor a warning.
It was a declaration of dominion.
The lightning didn't come from the sky this time.
It came from me.
A white flash exploded between us, tearing the clouds, rending the sky.
But in the moment he prepared to lunge again… his eyes shifted toward Mia.
I understood his intent before he even moved.
I shouted,
No!
But it was too late.
He lunged like an arrow, his electricity-charged tail slicing through the air, then struck her chest. Mia flew through the air, her body like a torn doll, before crashing into a rock behind us and falling motionless.
…And silence prevailed for a moment.
Then my rage exploded.
It wasn't lightning this time.
But raw flame… emerging from my blood, from the deepest point of my lineage.
My cells didn't burn with electricity, but with a wrath older than time.
The wrath of the imperial lineage.
I screamed with a voice that shook the sky.
A primal roar, deep, stained with the resonance of ancient thrones, blended with the sound of lightning and thunder, as if the sky itself obeyed me for a moment.
The earth trembled.
The lightning retreated.
And the lizard… froze.
This is the dominance of the lineage, at the level of an Emperor…
I saw it in his eyes—fear.
That confident, arrogant gleam that once filled his gaze… vanished.
His muscles began to tremble. Those sparks that once danced around his body, symbols of his strength, began to fade one after another… like candles fleeing from the wind.
Then he whispered in a cracked voice, barely audible
The lightning lizard said, Impossible… does he possess such a concentrated pure lineage? No… this is impossible…
I smiled. Slowly.
A smile not of joy, but of judgment.
My inhale was fire, and my exhale was lightning. Something inside me—something that was the essence of the storm—was working perfectly, merging with my blood.
"You live in the storm…But I… was born from it.
In that moment… everything settled.
He was no longer above.
And we were no longer below.
The three of us—me, him, and Mia, injured behind me—stood at the same level in this arena.
The challenge was no longer about who held the greatest power.
But who held the strongest will.
I looked at Mia.
She was trying to rise, blood dripping from her side, her left wing trembling, but her eyes still glowed with determination.
Her eyes told me everything before she spoke.
Mia… leave him to me.
My voice was low, but sharp as a blade. I'll teach this lizard the meaning of manners.
She hesitated for a moment, her body swaying from the pain, then nodded.
She said, in a soft yet firm voice: Fine, Arthur… I won't interfere.
I roared.
And pushed my massive body forward, the rocks beneath my feet scattering like dust. There was no spiritual energy. No magic. No tricks.
Just… pure combat.
No spiritual energy.
No techniques.
No tricks.
Two bodies equal in strength, but one bore the majesty of a bloodline born to rule, and the other carried the greed of a crawler, and a hunger for power.
My body crashed into his like a meteor falling to earth.
Bones cracked.
Lightning exploded around us like a raging storm.
My claws locked with his.
My hot breath touched his neck.
And his tail wrapped around my wing like a serpent trying to strangle me.
We became two masses of fury, clashing, biting, striking, rolling over rocks, shattering them with our weight.
He fought with the experience of a life spent in the heart of the storm.
But I…
Fought with the instinct of the bloodline.
He gripped my neck with his claws, a spark of lightning pierced my chest.
I felt the pain tearing through me, but it didn't stop me.
It awakened me.
Pushed my head forward, sinking my fangs into his shoulder.
He screamed.
A scream not just of pain… but of pride being torn apart.
I struck him with my wing with all my might.
He slammed into the ground, the rocks trembled, and he flew for meters.
But he didn't fall.
He came back to me.
His face covered in blood, his breathing ragged, but his eyes…
Still burning.
As if the storm itself wasn't watching us…
But cheering us on.
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(Number of words in this chapter: 1,087 words)
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