---
The sky broke open.
Not metaphorically.
Reality itself split as Ven'rael descended.
Crimson-black clouds were torn apart by wings so vast they erased the horizon. Each beat didn't move air, it redefined pressure, crushing the land beneath into submission. Mountains groaned. Rivers reversed their flow. Mana screamed as it was dragged toward a singular existence that refused balance.
Ven'rael had arrived
Its body coiled in the sky like a living disaster scales layered with crystallized corruption, veins glowing with molten gold beneath obsidian flesh. Its presence warped perspective; looking directly at it made distance meaningless.
Too close.
Too far.
Both at once.
Yuto stood alone at the fractured plain, cloak whipping violently, boots carved deep into the earth as authority pressure pressed down from every direction. His mana was now stabilized and he was ready..
Ven'rael stepped closer,
" So this is the presence that awakened me from my slumber..., well now you that you are ready, you have to face me!, because you have trespassed my land ..."
Yuto smiled..
" Really, well am prepared, cause I won't give up my city just that easily..."
This was the judgment.
[Advisor: "Ven'rael has fully manifested. Near-Overlord state confirmed."]
Yuto rolled his shoulders, aura flaring silver-blue, fighting to remain coherent under the sheer mass of the dragon's will.
"Good," he said, exhaling slowly. "Then let's stop staring."
He stepped forward.
The land exploded beneath his foot.
---
Yuto vanished.
[Spirit Step: Absolute Acceleration.]
The world folded inward as he crossed kilometers in a single breath, reappearing directly in front of Ven'rael's massive skull. His fist was already moving, mana compressed so tightly it fractured light itself.
"BREAK...LINE!"
The punch landed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A shockwave detonated outward, carving a canyon through the corrupted plains and blowing apart distant hills like sandcastles.
Ven'rael's head snapped sideways.
For the first time,..
The dragon reacted.
A low, thunderous rumble echoed from its chest. Not pain.
Amusement.
Its eye, larger than a fortress...focused fully on Yuto.
" Impressive".....
[ Advisor: "Impact registered. Damage negligible."]
Yuto grinned through the pressure. "Yeah. Figured."
Ven'rael moved.
No roar.
No warning.
A claw descended....,
Yuto barely reacted in time.
Spirit Instinct screamed.
He twisted mid-air, barely avoiding instant annihilation as the claw slammed into the ground where he had been.
The impact erased everything within a half-mile radius.
The shockwave flung Yuto like a meteor, smashing him through layered stone and corrupted crystal. He skidded across the earth, carving trenches before flipping upright, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Fast," he muttered.
Ven'rael's tail followed.
WHOOOOOOM,
It struck with the weight of a collapsing continent.
Yuto crossed his arms..
..and was obliterated.
His barrier shattered instantly.
He slammed into the ground hard enough to expose glowing fault lines of mana beneath the crust. His vision blurred, ears ringing violently.
[Advisor: "Structural damage detected. Multiple fractures, minor regeneration active]
"Still… standing," Yuto growled, forcing himself up.
Ven'rael's wings spread wider.
The sky darkened.
---
Ven'rael inhaled.
The world panicked.
Mana rushed uncontrollably toward its maw, dragged screaming from ley lines, from living beings, from the air itself.
Elira screamed from afar, her and the rest had just arrived back from preparing the city, only to see this
"YUTO!"
Too late.
Ven'rael exhaled.
Not a beam.
Not a blast.
A wave.
Corrupted dragon breath rolled outward like an advancing apocalypse, disintegrating everything it touched, stone, mana, space itself unraveling under its density.
Yuto charged straight into it.
[SPIRIT COAT: MAXIMUM!]
His aura flared blindingly bright, silver-blue lightning tearing around him as he pushed forward step by step, boots digging into dissolving ground.
His skin burned.
His spirit screamed.
But he advanced.
Until,
Ven'rael's will hit him directly.
Not power.
Authority.
The breath didn't overpower him.
The dragon did.
Yuto's aura shattered.
He was flung backward like a broken doll, tumbling end over end before slamming into a mountain face and collapsing into the crater he created.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
---
Ven'rael lowered its massive head, eye narrowing as it observed the crater.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Certain.
Yuto coughed, blood pooling beneath him as he tried, and failed to rise.
"…So this is it," he muttered.
[ Advisor: "Correction. This is the gap."]
The dragon shifted, coils tightening as its presence pressed down harder, the world bending in its shape...
"You resist instinctively."
"But resistance is not equality."
The pressure spiked.
Yuto's vision darkened.
His HP plummeted.
Not zero.
But close.
Ven'rael lifted its claw.
Not to kill.
To end the attempt.
Seraphina screamed his name.
Elira's magic flared desperately.
Zarek roared in fury.
Mimi cried out.
Ven'rael paused.
Its gaze shifted, briefly..toward them.
Interest flickered.
Yuto's eyes widened.
"…Don't," he rasped.
The dragon's claw moved.....
The strike came down beside Yuto instead of on him.
The impact unleashed a secondary shockwave that annihilated the battlefield and sent the group flying like leaves in a storm.
Yuto screamed as his body was crushed by pressure alone, bones cracking, spirit pathways screaming in protest.
Then,
Ven'rael withdrew. It's mana was running out, it used up his mana during the dragon breath and needed to recover...
The pressure lifted just enough to breathe.
Just enough to survive.
The dragon rose back into the sky, wings folding as its form began dissolving into storm and corruption.
The clouds closed.
The calamity retreated.
---
Yuto lay broken in the crater.
Breathing.
Barely.
His evolution meter flickered weakly.
94.1% → 94.3%
Mocking.
[Advisor: "Conclusion: You were defeated."]
Yuto laughed weakly, blood bubbling from his lips.
"…Yeah."
Seraphina crawled to him, tears streaming as she held his head. "You idiot… you absolute idiot…"
Elira's hands shook as she stabilized his mana. Zarek slammed a fist into the ground in rage. Mimi clutched Yuto's sleeve, trembling.
Yuto stared at the sky where Ven'rael had vanished, it would soon be back..
"But I'm still here."
His eyes burned faintly silver-blue.
"And now… I know."
The dragon wasn't unbeatable.
But it was stronger, and he would soon face it again.....
-----