Altleno staggered to his feet, every nerve in his body screaming. His left arm hung by a strip of torn flesh, swinging uselessly with every breath. Blood trickled down his chest, painting his body crimson, yet his eyes still burned faintly through the haze.
> "I'm not… going down so easily…"
he muttered, voice trembling but defiant.
He looked at his mangled arm, the thought of tearing it off flickering through his mind — a desperate, reckless instinct to keep fighting. But before he could move—
The air suddenly twisted.
A violent rush of wind whipped through the trees, and instinct forced him to look up.
All he saw was a blur of gold and scale — Nugst's massive tail cutting through the air like a blade.
There was no time to dodge.
The tail slammed into him with bone-shattering force.
The impact cracked like thunder, sending Altleno hurtling across the battlefield. His body tore through rock and soil before crashing against a boulder. His head struck it hard — the sound dull and final. Blood burst from his skull, splattering across the stone.
He fell motionless.
Dust settled.
Altleno's body lay twisted in the dirt, one arm torn, one eye barely open. His chest rose shallowly — just enough to prove he was still alive. His gaze was hollow, unfocused, staring into nothing. He looked less like a man and more like a corpse whose heart refused to stop beating.
The dragon's shadow loomed again, wings unfurling, her eyes glowing with cruel satisfaction.
> "Pathetic human…" Nugst hissed. "Even your death is weak."
Nugst lifted her colossal foot and brought it down.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
Each stomp shook the ground, cracking stone and bone alike. Altleno's body twisted beneath her weight, blood splattering across the earth.
The dragon leaned closer, her molten eyes narrowing. Her vision glowed — like an X-ray piercing through flesh and bone. She watched, waiting.
Then… his chest stopped moving.
No breath.
No heartbeat.
Satisfied, Nugst grinned, baring her sharp, steaming teeth.
> "So that's it… the insect is finally crushed," she hissed.
"Now that you're dead, I can finally take over this world—and erase every last human from existence."
She reached down and plucked Altleno's limp body from the ground, raising him to her face.
But what she didn't know—
He wasn't dead.
Deep inside his still body, Altleno's mind was awake, detached from his flesh.
He was performing the forbidden technique Ru had once taught him — the Breathless Meditation, a way to silence the heart and free the spirit from the limits of flesh.
And then…
His right arm twitched.
A sudden, violent movement — unnatural, instinctive, like something controlled by pure will. His dead eyes stayed open, his face unmoving, but his arm rose and latched onto Nugst's snout.
> Grip.
The contact sent a shock through the dragon's body. At first, Nugst didn't react — she thought it was a final muscle spasm. But then she felt it.
That same dreadful pull.
Her scales cracked. Her mana began to drain — faster this time, far faster.
> "N-no… not again—" she growled, trying to throw him off, but his fingers dug deeper, his grip impossibly strong.
Altleno's body glowed with threads of dark crimson light, his wounds knitting together before her eyes. His broken bones mended. His severed arm reattached, flesh reforming in streaks of white fire.
The air trembled.
His aura roared to life, tenfold what it was before — the stolen mana of a dragon flooding through every cell.
Nugst stumbled back, panic flashing across her massive face.
> "W-What are you…!?" she screamed.
Altleno's voice finally returned — faint, cold, inhuman.
> "Something beyond you."