A distant explosion rocked the ground.
The tremor rippled through the rear camp of the Empire.
Reyon's eyes snapped open.
"That mana… no doubt about it."
He shot up from his position without hesitation, the echoes of screams and alarmed voices barely registering in his mind.
He teleported straight to the front lines.
But the moment he arrived, everything else disappeared from his vision.
A single presence took over the sky.
Massive. Pale. Ancient. Familiar.
His heart twisted.
There it was.
That same white dragon.
The one that had killed his father in the previous life.
The one that had wiped out the Elise Kingdom.
The one that had killed Julie.
"No…"
His fists trembled, eyes glowing bright red. Bloodshot rage took over.
"You… YOU!!"
He didn't wait.
Didn't think.
Didn't hesitate.
He instantly began stacking σ—sigma—twenty times, raw mana bursting around him in pulsing waves.
Then, with a sharp thrust of his arm, he cast:
"AQUA SLASH!"
Fshh—Fshhh—Fshhhhhh—!
Millions of razor-sharp water blades burst forth from thin air, each one aimed directly at the dragon's massive body.
The dragon reacted immediately.
It opened its mouth and released its signature crystal breath, a blinding torrent of iridescent destruction.
But—
The Aqua Slash tore right through it.
Cleanly.
Reyon's blades shredded the crystal breath like paper.
A small smirk formed on Reyon's lips.
But the next moment…
Clang!
The blades slammed into the dragon's body—
—and did nothing.
Not even a scratch.
"What?!"
Reyon's smirk faded instantly.
The dragon's crystal defense stood impenetrable against his water-element attack. Not a single blade had pierced its scales.
"Even with twenty stacks of sigma…?!"
His rage deepened.
The white dragon, now provoked, let out a thunderous roar. Its wings flared, and with a flick of its claws, it launched dozens of crystal rays toward Reyon.
Reyon didn't move.
He calmly extended a hand, his fingers tracing the void symbol.
"∞."
The space in front of him twisted.
Each of the crystal rays vanished—absorbed cleanly by the sphere of darkness.
He didn't stop there.
"σ—Stack… Twenty!"
The absorbed rays were amplified and launched straight back at the dragon.
But—
Shatter!
Once again, the dragon's defense held.
It didn't even flinch.
Reyon gritted his teeth.
"Still not enough…?!"
The dragon roared again.
And then—
Crystals began rising from the ground.
Towering spires. Massive pillars. Glittering like divine monuments.
The air trembled.
"It's… raising mountains?!" Reyon gasped.
Suddenly, Edward stepped forward.
The emperor's aura surged.
"Reyon!" he shouted, voice booming. "Get back. Get them ALL back."
He didn't argue.
With a wave of his hand, Reyon used mass teleportation, grabbing every soldier within reach and sending the entire Empire army dozens of miles away.
From afar, Reyon looked back.
His eyes widened.
"W-What the hell…?"
The battlefield where they once stood was now a kingdom of crystals. Mountains had risen, dozens of them, pure and radiant.
"If Father hadn't moved us…" Reyon whispered. "We'd all be dead."
The air trembled.
Then Edward stepped forward alone.
And for the first time…
Reyon saw it.
"Sun Burst."
Miniature suns ignited one after another, orbiting the emperor like a solar halo.
Edward raised his arm—
And fired.
BOOOOM—
An explosion unlike anything Reyon had ever seen erupted.
Flames of pure light engulfed the mountains.
The sky turned golden.
Shockwaves swept across the continent.
When the dust settled…
Reyon stared in awe.
The dragon's right wing was mangled, torn and limp.
But the rest of it—
Still standing.
"…Still alive?"
Reyon's heart sank.
"That was Sun Burst… That's supposed to be the strongest spell after Elemental Spear…"
He clenched his fists.
"That dragon's defense… it's absurd. Crystal… it's only weak to melee attacks…"
A memory flashed.
"In the previous life… Father reached the 9th circle on the verge of death. He could only cast Sun Burst once before he died…"
"But now…"
Reyon's eyes sharpened.
"Now, he's already in the 9th circle. He'll be able to kill it… But if it drags on, he'll be injured. Badly."
He took a step forward.
"I can't let him carry this alone."
He inhaled deeply.
This was the best spell he could use.
"Stack σ… GO!"
The sky trembled.
He summoned boulders, each the size of cities. Layer upon layer, Rock Fall began to form.
But this was no ordinary Rock Fall.
With σ stacked, the spell surged beyond its original form.
This wasn't Rock Fall anymore.
It was as strong as Meteor Fall, a 9th-circle melee-type spell.
As the meteor-sized boulders began their descent, Edward joined him, casting another Sun Burst.
Both spells descended together—
The sky darkened.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOM—!
The continent shook.
From Empire to Brook to Elise—the very earth quaked.
"An earthquake…?!"
"No… this is something else…"
"Mana is splitting—!"
The tremors reached Magnitude 11 in nearby kingdoms.
But before the chaos could spread—
Reyon and Edward moved quickly.
"EARTH SETTLE!"
The father and son cast it together.
The quakes softened.
The land calmed.
And finally…
The dust settled.
The crystal mountains that the dragon had raised—
Were gone.
Flattened.
Buried beneath the massive rubble…
Lay the body of the White Dragon.
Dead.
At last.
Reyon let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"It's over…"
His gaze lingered on the shattered remains.
But—
Far across the border.
In the Brook Kingdom's rear camp.
Arthur stood silently, watching the sky.
His fists clenched.
"No… No, no, no!"
His expression twisted in fury.
"They… killed it?"
A soldier rushed up behind him. "Sir… they've also captured Lady Alice."
That did it.
Arthur's rage overflowed.
His voice shook the tent.
"Ferek!" he shouted. "Release it! Now!"
No reply.
He turned.
"Ferek—?"
Silence.
His blood ran cold.
He looked back—
And his eyes widened in horror.
Ferek's body lay motionless.
Crushed.
Beneath enormous black claws.
A dark presence loomed above.
The Black Dragon.
Methusela.
Its eyes glowed like twin eclipses, wings spread wide enough to cast a shadow over kingdoms.
Arthur's lips quivered.
"W-Why… Why now…?"