The energy of the Dark Dimension was fundamentally different from the structure of skills and stats that governed the real world. Unlike the Dragon King or mortal beings, who were restricted to specific skill sets, the inhabitants of the Dark Dimension were formless, immortal entities. While they functioned as distinct beings in their own realm, they required a physical host to anchor themselves in reality.
Lace's eyes glowed with a sickly purple light as he initiated a search for Leon, using a forbidden tracking ability capable of finding anyone, anywhere in the world. Soon, he caught Leon's trail near the borders of the Diamond Kingdom. A sinister smile widened across his face as he muttered, "I found you."
Back in the woods near the Diamond Kingdom, Leon stepped out of the hut he had erected using earth manipulation. They had taken their time to enjoy the journey, and this was to be their last camp before reaching the city gates, which were now only a few hundred meters away.
"Hey, Draken, pack up. We're leaving," Leon said, stretching as he walked into the morning air. "Hmm... I'm still thinking about those purple fruits we plucked a few days ago. Do we have any left?"
Draken panicked. He had eaten the final fruit the previous day without his master's permission. "Ah... apologies, My Lord, but I... I may have eaten the last one yesterday," Draken said, his voice shaking as he bowed low.
Leon sighed. The purple fruit had an incredible taste, and he had been looking forward to that last piece.
"Anyway, I'll just go grab another from the tree. I'll be back in a bit. Have everything ready when I return; we're leaving immediately," Leon replied, teleporting away instantly.
The second Leon disappeared, Lace manifested on that exact spot. To his surprise, Leon was nowhere to be found—only a simple hut made of earth remained.
In that same instant, the black humanoid dragon walked out of the structure. With a single snap of his fingers, Draken caused the hut to shatter back into dust, clearing the campsite as ordered.
Did... did he turn into a dragon? Lace thought, his mind racing. That doesn't look like a standard dragon, but I can feel a crushing presence emanating from it. Since the tracking spell led me exactly here, this must be him.
"Hey, you there!" Lace called out, his purple eyes narrowing at the dragonoid. "Are you Leon, the noble's son?"
Draken turned around to face the old man behind him, his golden eyes narrowing in curiosity. He wondered what business a withered human like this could possibly have with his master.
"And you are...?" Draken asked, his voice a deep, vibrating rumble.
"Don't pretend you don't know me!" Lace snapped, his voice crackling with insanity. "You took everything from me, and now you will pay with your life!"
Watching Lace's outburst, Draken felt a wave of disappointment. He had believed that everyone associated with Leon's past must be formidable, but the old man before him looked too weak to even be alive.
"I'd assume you were weak in the past," Draken replied coolly, "but now you are just delusional."
Those words ignited a furnace of rage within Lace. He launched himself toward the dragonoid, tapping into his Dark Dimension powers to artificially skyrocket his speed, durability, and strength. But before he could even get close, Draken moved at a pace that surpassed the speed of light. He caught Lace by the face and hurled him across the clearing, sending him crashing through multiple ancient trees like a ragdoll.
Before Lace could even hit the ground, Draken materialized above him, delivering a devastating punch directly into his gut. The resulting shockwave pulverized every tree in the vicinity, and a spray of blood erupted from Lace's mouth. Draken didn't stop, raining down a barrage of punches, each carrying the same mountain-shattering impact.
Desperate, Lace countered with a jagged blast of dark energy from his mouth. Draken twisted mid-air, dodging the beam just before it touched his face. The blast soared into the atmosphere, causing a massive explosion in the sky that could be seen for miles.
Leon, who was still plucking the purple fruit a few miles away, paused as the sky turned a bruised purple from the detonation. "Huh... wait, is that Draken?" he muttered, teleporting back instantly.
Lace struggled to his feet, gritting his teeth as he wove a dark barrier around himself. His body began to knit back together with unnatural, dark-fueled healing.
Damn, he's a monster, Lace thought, his mind racing in terror. He's stronger—way stronger than the last time we fought. He hasn't even opened his Soul's Palace and I'm already losing.
Draken smiled, his long obsidian claws sliding out. It was time for round two. He began a slow, predatory walk toward the barrier, but suddenly, Leon appeared directly behind him.
"Huh... what's going on?" Leon asked, his voice cutting through the tension and interrupting Draken's approach.
On hearing Leon's voice, Draken immediately turned and bowed. "My Lord, this peasant seeks to annihilate you. I will rid you of this nuisance shortly," Draken replied.
Lace stared in absolute confusion, and then, in a flash of clarity, the truth clicked. The dragonoid was merely a servant; the man in white was the master. Even though his face was mostly obscured by the hood, strands of Leon's long, shimmering white hair spilled out into the sunlight.
Since the boy he remembered fighting years ago also had white hair, it meant the dragonoid was the subordinate—and the "White One" was indeed Leon, the noble's son.
"You... it's you, Leon!" Lace screamed, his voice distorting as dark energy began to manifest violently around him. "You are the one who stripped me of my identity and made me suffer for years! I swear, I'll make you pay dearly for it!"
His dark aura exploded, turning the morning sun into a cold, purple eclipse.
Leon looked at the now-enraged Lace and thought to himself, I am not interested in any battle today. He had just retrieved his purple fruits and the sweet aroma was far more enticing than the bitter stench of a century-old grudge.
"Argh," Leon sighed as he bit into the crisp, juicy purple fruit. He turned around to leave, his white cloak fluttering in the morning breeze. "Draken, you're up. Do as you please," Leon said over his shoulder as he began to walk away, his pace casual as if he were merely strolling through a park.
"I'll be with you shortly, My Lord," Draken replied, his voice dropping into a guttural, predatory tone as he turned to face Lace.
"How dare you ignore me!" Lace screamed, his pride shattered by Leon's indifference. He launched himself toward Leon's retreating back, his body wreathed in the violet flames of the Dark Dimension. But before he could cover even half the distance, Draken's hand shot out like a whip. He caught Lace by the ankle mid-flight and slammed him into the forest floor with enough force to create a crater.
"Where do you think you're going, peasant?" Draken asked, his eyes burning with absolute disdain. He didn't let go of the leg; instead, he swung Lace like a ragdoll, smashing him left and right into the earth repeatedly until the ground was a mess of shattered stone and dirt. Finally, he threw Lace forward, sending him crashing through a dozen trees until he came to a jagged halt.
As soon as Lace's feet touched the ground, he channeled the dark energy into a concentrated ball of void and launched it toward the dragon. Draken countered instantly, opening his maw to unleash a gigantic fireball—a miniature sun so massive it made Lace's energy ball look like a marble by comparison. The solar blast obliterated the dark attack on contact and surged forward.
The impact was cataclysmic. The forest was replaced by a sea of white-hot flame, incinerating everything within a half-mile radius. Lace struggled to stand, staggering through the smoke. His body, though fueled by a dark god, was broken. His ribs were powder, and his lungs burned.
I don't understand, Lace thought, coughing up dark, viscous blood. I have the power from a higher dimension, yet it still makes no difference. What is this thing?
Suddenly, an ancient, hidden memory resurfaced—a traumatic event he had desperately tried to bury. Over a century ago, Lace had joined the Legendary Ranks to stop the Dragon's Parade. They had faced a newly born Dragon King, one that had not yet awakened its true power. There were only five Legendary Ranks at that time, and Lace had been the only one among them with a Primordial Skill. Even so, the battle had claimed the lives of all the other Legends and countless S-Ranks. Only he and two S-Ranks had stood over the fallen, unawakened dragon at the end.
And now, he was face-to-face with that same entity—but this time, the Dragon King was fully awakened, and Lace was alone.
A world-class calamity is standing right in front of me, Lace realized, his mind spiraling into terror. I thought the Dragon King was defeated by the S-Rank party... no, I was ignorant. If a party of Legends couldn't stop it before, why would I believe a group of S-Ranks could now? The most terrifying fact is not that the dragon lived, but that someone tamed it. It willingly serves him. Lace looked toward the distant figure of Leon. I underestimated that kid. He is nothing short of a God.
As Lace watched Draken walking slowly toward him through the settling ash, the dragon suddenly vanished in a blur. Before Lace's nerves could even register the movement, he felt a cold, sharp pain bloom in his back and erupt through his chest. He looked down to see a clawed hand protruding from his sternum, holding his still-beating heart in a firm, obsidian grip.
"I... I... I lost?" Lace whispered, his vision fading into a purple-tinted darkness.