The six-winged dragonhawk's sudden appearance was not merely a coincidence. When Rossweise was pregnant with Muse, a daring pair of these creatures had once intruded into the Silver Dragon territory to steal a precious Jade Dew Dragon Fruit.
An enraged Leon had pursued and reclaimed the stolen fruit. However, he soon discovered the reason for the dragonhawk's desperate theft: it was providing for its injured mate. As a husband and father himself, Leon empathized with its plight. Furthermore, he saw an opportunity to teach his daughters a lesson about compassion for all intelligent beings. Thus, he had gifted one of the dragon fruits to the pair.
Leon had assumed that act of mercy was a closed chapter. He never imagined that the descendant of that very dragonhawk, or perhaps one blessed by the same lineage, would return the favor in his most desperate hour.
Gently stroking the powerful feathers on the creature's back as they soared, Leon said, "My mistress once told me, 'Good deeds always bring rewards.' Looks like she was right." In truth, Rossweise's words had been closer to, "Do good without seeking reward," but Leon, never one for lofty sentiments, had adapted the philosophy to fit his own understanding. "Well," he reasoned aloud, "as long as the intent is noble, the wording hardly matters."
He patted the dragonhawk's neck. "Thank you. I'll need your help once more. As long as I can match it in the air, that overgrown candle doesn't scare me."
The six-winged dragonhawk let out a piercing, understanding cry before banking sharply and heading back toward the chaotic battlefield.
On the ground, the Lionheart Guild members stared in stunned silence.
"That... is that a six-winged dragonhawk?" Martin breathed. "But there are no dragon nests near the Flaming Valley. How could one appear here?"
Six-winged dragonhawks were not ordinary beasts; they were evolved forms of Iron-Winged Greyhawks, a transformation that only occurred in environments saturated with potent draconic energy. Their presence here defied all ecological logic.
"It looks... different," Rebecca said, her sharp eyes analyzing the creature. "The draconic signature within it is faint, but its movements are intelligent, disciplined. It's not behaving like a wild animal." Though she couldn't decipher its origin, her relief was palpable. She wiped away the tears of fear that had welled up earlier and shouted at the sky, "Look, witch! The captain's flying now! Your overgrown fire-lizard doesn't stand a chance!"
Elizabeth was visibly shaken by the dragonhawk's intervention. "This... this wasn't part of the plan! Damn it, Leon... Why don't you just die?!" she screamed, her composure shattering. "Flame Demon! Burn him! And destroy that damned bird!"
At her command, the Flame Demon roared, the sound shaking the very gorge. Its massive, bone-and-flame wings ignited fully, making it look like a true beast of hell. It charged Leon, a blazing meteor cutting across the sky.
Seated securely on the dragonhawk's back, Leon patted its left wing and made a series of intricate, crossed-hand gestures. "Avoid this charge, then follow the flight path I show you," he instructed.
The dragonhawk trilled low in acknowledgment. Its agility and speed were far superior to the Flame Demon's lumbering assault, and it evaded the fiery charge with effortless grace.
Leon immediately guided the dragonhawk into a new course. But Elizabeth noticed something peculiar—Leon wasn't turning to engage the Flame Demon directly. Instead, he and the dragonhawk began tracing a complex, erratic pattern in the air, weaving through the sky in wide, seemingly random arcs.
"What is he plotting now...?" she muttered, a knot of unease tightening in her stomach.
On the ground, the Lionheart members also watched the strange aerial dance.
"Is the captain setting up for an ambush?" Nacho wondered aloud.
"Or is he just buying time?" another member asked.
Maite adjusted his glasses, his scholarly mind working. "No. Six-winged dragonhawks are highly intelligent. They can assess battlefield dynamics and understand complex commands. This is not random flight. The captain is directing this. He has a purpose."
"Then what is he trying to do?"
Meanwhile, the Flame Demon's attacks grew more frantic and wild. It hurled volleys of fireballs in every direction, but Leon and the dragonhawk continued their bizarre spirals, always staying just out of reach, their path becoming more defined with each pass.
Elizabeth's patience finally snapped. "Leon Cosmodeous! Have you had enough of this pointless circling? If you have the courage to fight, then fight! If not, just surrender! You cannot outlast the Flame Demon! Its power is infinite here! You and that stupid bird will both be reduced to cinders!"
At that moment, Leon and the dragonhawk finally came to a halt, hovering a significant distance from the enraged Flame Demon.
Leon stood up slowly on the dragonhawk's broad back, his balance perfect. He looked toward Elizabeth, his expression utterly calm. "The reason your Flame Demon keeps reviving and has limitless stamina is that the Flaming Valley itself continuously feeds it power and life," he stated, his voice carrying clearly over the crackle of flames. "No matter how many times I strike it down, the valley restores it in seconds."
He paused, letting the truth of his words sink in. "So, I've decided to simply sever its connection to the valley."
Elizabeth's eyes widened, a flicker of genuine fear breaking through her fury. "Sever? What are you planning, Leon?"
Leon allowed a sharp, triumphant smirk to grace his features. "Say goodbye to your precious pet."
With those words, he brought his clasped hands together in a sharp, definitive motion.
FWOOM!
A massive, intricate blue magic circle materialized in the sky above the gorge. It was colossal, its glowing lines and arcane patterns stretching across the cliffs, exactly mirroring the erratic flight path Leon and the dragonhawk had just completed. The entire area hummed with immense power.
Martin, watching from below, gasped. "That's... the Lightning Prison Annihilation array... but on a scale I've never seen!"
He let out a low whistle of admiration. "So that's what he was doing. He wasn't evading; he was inscribing the array components in the air itself!"
Nacho's jaw went slack. "He... he completed a magic array of that magnitude right under Elizabeth's nose, during combat?"
"Precisely," Martin confirmed, shaking his head in awe. "Its activation pattern was hidden within his flight path. None of us would have guessed, and Elizabeth was too arrogant to see it. The captain laid this trap while she was boasting."
The fully formed Lightning Prison Array activated with a deafening crackle of energy. A cage of brilliant, sizzling lightning formed around the Flame Demon, the bars of its prison extending and anchoring into the cliff faces on either side of the gorge, physically and magically isolating the beast.
The Flame Demon thrashed against its new confines, but every blow it landed against the lightning bars was met with a violent backlash of pure electrical energy, scorching its own fiery form.
Nacho watched, understanding dawning. "That's it... the array is reflecting its own power back at it."
Dozens of searing lightning bolts descended from the main array, pinning the Flame Demon in place, forcing it to its knees within the cage. It roared in frustration and pain, but could not break free.
Elizabeth watched in horrified disbelief. She understood the implications instantly—the Flaming Valley's magma was the source of the Flame Demon's power. But as those arcs of lightning struck the array's boundaries and grounded themselves into the earth, they were actively purging and disrupting the demonic energy that flowed from the valley to the beast. The chaotic electrical surges were creating a dead zone.
If Leon's words were true, and the Lightning Prison Array had truly severed the connection between the Flame Demon and the valley's energy...
It meant the Flame Demon had lost its immortality.
Seizing the moment, Leon raised his right hand high. Dark, heavy clouds gathered overhead with unnatural speed, and the air grew thick with the smell of ozone. Bolts of lightning flickered within the gloom, converging toward his outstretched palm.
From below, the members of the Lionheart Guild could only watch in awe. He stood tall on the six-winged dragonhawk, a figure of immense power silhouetted against the storm he had summoned. He looked down at the trapped and helpless Flame Demon, his voice cold and final.
"Let's see you try to survive my Dragon Extinction now."
With a decisive motion, he brought his hand down.
A pillar of blinding, raw lightning erupted from the heavens, transforming in mid-air into a pack of massive, roaring lions made of pure, destructive lightning. They fell upon the Flame Demon within its prison with primal fury.
"ROAR—!"
The sound was not of fire, but of the world itself tearing apart. The ensuing flash of light consumed everything.
The monster's agonized screams were swallowed by the roaring tempest of light and sound, fading into nothingness as the lightning lions tore its form apart.
"This strike... will erase you completely."
"No... NO! This can't be happening! Damn you, Leon! You will pay for this!" Elizabeth shrieked, her voice raw with fury and despair.
Seeing her grand plan unravel, she scrambled onto her remaining skeletal bird, desperate to flee. But she had not flown even a hundred meters before a precise, forked bolt of lightning shot from the dissipating storm, striking her mount squarely. The bones shattered into smoking fragments.
"Ahhh!" she screamed, tumbling through the air and landing in a heap on the scorched earth, her white dress now torn and smudged with ash.
Seeing her fall, Rebecca and the others immediately rushed over, surrounding her in a tight circle.
"Not so high and mighty now, are you, you old hag?" Rebecca sneered, cocking her hand cannon and pressing the cold barrel firmly against Elizabeth's sweaty forehead.
Leon descended, leaping gracefully from the dragonhawk's back. The majestic creature gave a soft, respectful trill before beating its powerful wings and soaring away, its duty done. Leon walked toward the gathered group, his expression unreadable.
"Wait, Rebecca," he said, his voice calm but firm. "Don't kill her yet. She's a vault of information. She knows more about their operations than anyone we've captured."
"Understood, Captain," Rebecca replied, though her finger itched on the trigger. She reluctantly lowered the weapon and stepped aside, her eyes never leaving the fallen queen.
Leon stood over Elizabeth, looking down at her disheveled, pathetic form. His gaze was like ice.
"Talk," he commanded, the single word laden with deadly intent. "What is the 'Infernal Fire Plan'? What is the Shadow's ultimate goal?"
Elizabeth didn't answer immediately. Instead, a soft, unnerving chuckle escaped from behind the curtain of her tangled hair. It grew in volume, becoming a full, hysterical laugh. "Heheheh... hahahah! Leon, you fool! If I wouldn't tell you when I held all the cards, what makes you think I'll tell you now, on my knees? Go on, kill me! See if you can dig the secrets from my cold, dead brain!"
Leon's frown deepened. His tone remained eerily calm, which was more terrifying than any shout. "Do you know of memory-probing magic? I don't need you dead to tear the information from your mind. But I should warn you—while the process isn't fatal, it shatters the psyche. The person you are will be gone, replaced by a babbling, broken shell in a padded cell. Is that the legacy you want?"
Elizabeth's manic laughter cut off abruptly. Her smug smirk faltered, replaced by a flicker of genuine fear.
Leon straightened up, his presence dominating the space. "This is your only chance. Tell me everything you know. Otherwise, your future is a lifetime of staring at white walls, lost in your own madness."
"I—" Elizabeth began, her voice a shaky whisper.
"Let her go, Leon."
The voice that cut through the air was not loud, but it carried a weight that seemed to freeze the very atmosphere. It was deep, unfamiliar, and laced with a chilling, ancient cold that seeped into the bones. An oppressive, suffocating aura descended upon the gorge, so potent it felt difficult to breathe.
Leon felt as if he had been plunged into the depths of a frozen ocean. Every instinct screamed of imminent, overwhelming danger. He turned his head slowly, his body tensed for a fight he already knew was beyond anything he had faced.
What he saw made his blood run cold. All around him, the members of the Lionheart Guild lay unconscious on the ground. They were not dead—their chests rose and fell faintly—but they had been neutralized in the blink of an eye, without a sound.
And standing at the edge of the blasted battlefield was a figure cloaked in shifting, ethereal shadows. His face was hidden deep within the hood, but the aura of absolute power radiating from him was a physical pressure, saturating the air with a sense of primordial dread.
In his right hand, he held Rebecca by the throat. Her feet dangled limply above the ground, her face pale, her consciousness fading fast.
Leon's pupils constricted to pinpricks. There was not a shred of doubt.
"Shadow..."
A voice, deep and frigid, emanated from beneath the cloak. "Release her, or these people die."
"Ugh—!" A weak gasp escaped Rebecca's lips as Shadow's grip tightened infinitesimally. She had no strength left to struggle.
Leon's mind reeled. This man had subdued his entire elite team in the moment his back was turned, without him sensing a thing. The sheer speed and power required were incomprehensible.
Clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white, Leon forced down a surge of pure rage. He knew he was outmatched. Slowly, deliberately, he crouched and pulled a trembling Elizabeth to her feet.
"Good," Shadow's voice was a flat, emotionless echo.
Elizabeth stumbled toward her master like a whipped dog, immediately hiding behind his cloaked form, her earlier bravado utterly gone.
"Useless," Shadow muttered, the word dripping with contempt.
"I'm sorry, Lord Shadow..." she stammered, her body trembling violently.
Shadow ignored her, his hidden gaze fixed on Leon. "I will kill you myself, Leon. You are the single greatest obstacle to its return. Therefore... your existence must be extinguished."
"Its return...?" Leon echoed, the phrase chilling him more than the oppressive aura.
Shadow began to float backward, the unconscious Rebecca and the cowering Elizabeth levitating with him as if they were weightless.
"When you die, it will descend upon this world. Cherish what little time you have left, Leon, because soon... you will lose everything."
"Damn it, Shadow! Tell me! What exactly are you planning—" Leon roared, taking a step forward.
But before he could finish his sentence, the space around Shadow, Rebecca, and Elizabeth shimmered and collapsed inward. In the blink of an eye, they were gone. Vanished. Only the lingering, icy dread remained.
"Damn!" Leon cursed, slamming his fist into the charred ground in a burst of frustrated fury. He immediately rushed to the nearest unconscious guild member, checking for a pulse. He was relieved to find it strong and steady. He moved to the next, and the next, confirming they were all merely unconscious.
A fit of coughing drew his attention. Rebecca was stirring, pushing herself up onto her elbows, her hand going to her bruised throat.
"Captain... was that...?" she croaked, her eyes wide with a fear Leon had never seen in them before.
Leon pressed his lips into a thin line and gave a single, grim nod. "It was him. He took Elizabeth."
Rebecca gritted her teeth, her voice shaky and weak. "That... that power. It was... I've never felt anything like it."
Leon lowered his gaze, the admission tasting like ash in his mouth. "Yes... I could feel it too. He's... incredibly strong." He paused, searching for the right words, finding only the terrifying truth. "That strength felt... bottomless."
Rebecca had never, in all the years she had known him, heard her captain acknowledge anyone's superiority in power. A bitter, helpless smile touched her lips. "Endless, deep, and dark... just like his name. Shadow."
Leon stood up slowly, his body aching, his spirit weary but unbroken. He stared into the empty space where his nemesis had disappeared, the promise of utter annihilation hanging in the air. He clenched his fist so tightly his palm bled.
"I will defeat him," he vowed, his voice quiet but filled with an iron resolve that resonated in the silent, scarred valley. "No matter what it takes. Mark my words—I will."