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He steadied himself midair, preparing to confront the white dragon, when a flicker of purple caught his peripheral vision.
Before he could react, the other half of the white dragon, its scales now as black as the void, erupted in a torrent of dark flame, engulfing him.
Asteri escaped the flames, his body burned from the flames.
'That's no ordinary flame. It's wrong to call it fire in the first place. This is a void. A bit superior to my current black void. These guys are-the Balance Dragons.'
With his unrivalled speed, he caught Yin off guard, his flaming fist connecting cleanly—yet it failed to leave even a scratch on its scales. In response, Yin lashed out with its jagged tails, swatting him aside as Yang reared back and unleashed a torrent of golden flame.
Elaine and Atlas watched as the two dragons clashed with Asteri, their battle tearing through the air around them.
"So this is the power of a dragon."
"They need not Arts to surpass us."
Faint footsteps sounded behind them—and their bodies locked in place. A vast draconic aura closed in, heavy enough to crush thought itself. Neither of them dared to turn.
'What is this? I can't move.'
'Without a doubt… this belongs to—'
The pressure vanished just as suddenly, and a voice followed.
"Sorry. I'm not used to this. It's my first time experiencing something like this."
Her voice was different, yet unmistakably familiar. As the weight lifted, the two of them turned and saw her.
She wore her usual attire, but everything else had changed. Her hair had grown long, now pure white, and her eyes gleamed gold—just like Asteri's. Faint golden runes glowed beneath her skin, visible even through her clothes, radiating quiet power.
Elaine and Atlas could only stare.
The once poor, fragile human now stood before them bearing divinity that surpassed theirs combined.
She was Hinamatsuri, the Mother of Dragons.
'Mama, reduce the energy output, or you'll run out of stamina soon.'
Yin spoke to her mother telepathically as it continued to face Asteri.
'I don't know how.'
'Now that you've awakened, your imagination is the limit, Yang replied. Just picture it. It will happen.'
She tried.
The glowing runes across her skin slowly dimmed.
"Don't stare so much,"
She said, turning slightly away.
"It's embarrassing."
Despite everything, traces of her old self were still there.
Asteri noticed. Someone acted out of line. Without warning, he seized Atlas by the head and dragged him away.
"Stop staring."
He drove Atlas into the ground, the impact carving out a massive crater beneath them.
"His speed has increased?"
Elaine, who was caught off guard by this, asked.
'He's growing stronger by the second. If this keeps up, we'll lose.'
Hinata understood at once, the message from her children settling into place.
Moving instantaneously, ignoring both time and space, the Balance Dragons were already on him. Their flames erupted together, Asteri trapped at the centre of their convergence.
In that same instant, he reacted—hurling Atlas into the void breath while opening a portal to redirect the golden flame elsewhere.
Despite the harmless existence placed before it, Yin did not extinguish its flames.
'Too late to turn down, sacrifices are needed.'
'Don't burn him.'
Despite its stubborn nature, it could not bring itself to disobey its mother. Yin's tail teleported, swatting Atlas away before the flames could reach him.
'Too rough.'
'Sorry, Mama. You said don't burn, not hurt,'
It replied without hesitation.
With Atlas removed from the path, Asteri opened another portal, channelling the converging flames down towards Hinata and Elaine.
'How dare you?!'
'You miserable bastard!'
The dragons roared in fury at his attempt to harm the woman he loved.
Hinata raised her hand. With a quiet breath, she rewrote the very property of the flames, stripping them of harm before they could strike.
Warmth washed over the land instead of destruction. The change was brief—only a moment of conceptual interference. The Dragons still needed their flames.
'That's—'
Asteri was caught off guard, but there was no time to dwell on it. Yin's violet breath was already onto from him.
"I can do that too."
He smirked. Silvery particles shimmered at his fingertips as he lifted his hand.
He seized the essence of the violet flames and reshaped it, altering its nature to suit his will. As he turned, Yang's jaws loomed behind him, ready to tear him in half.
But Asteri struck first. The remodelled void breath, clenched in his grasp, smashed into Yang with a single blow, knocking the massive dragon unconscious.
'You're kidding, with a single strike?'
'Yang's consciousness has left its body. I can see everything.'
Hinata observed, her eyes glowing along with the new runes beneath them.
Then Yin came next, lunging in with violet flames coating its clawed hands. Asteri snapped his fingers, and a thin barrier formed in front of him. Despite its fragile glass-like appearance, it absorbed the blow without so much as a scratch.
Black mist clung to Yin's teeth as it tried to bite down, but missed.
"Yin, don't use that,"
Hinata warned sharply.
"Void."
Asteri muttered, recognising it as he kicked the dragon away with enough force to shatter one of its horns.
Yin recovered instantly, surging back, its jaws opening wide—no longer a mouth, but a bottomless abyss threatening to swallow Asteri whole.
He let it. Asteri drove himself between the gaping jaws, planting his foot against its razor-sharp fangs while his burning, silver-lit fingers clamped onto the upper jaw. With raw, overwhelming strength, he forced it open, halting the abyss itself.
'Who knew he was this strong…'
Yin realised, finally experiencing Asteri's unfathomable power firsthand.
Asteri spread his hand—and reached into the limitless abyss.
"Wait!"
HHinata shouted—but it was already too late.
Yin collapsed, its massive body crashing down as a flaming silver orb sank into its void. The abyss sealed, leaving nothing but stillness behind.
'That's not…'
Whoosh.
In an instant, Asteri was standing above the last two living beings. His black cloak was gone, reduced to nothing but the inner garment clinging to him. Silver stained his fingers, the glow fading slowly.
To be continued...