-----Matheus POV-----
I gritted my teeth as the suffocating bloodlust of the Red Dragons pressed in from all sides. Their eyes burned every twitch of my body.
I refused to look away.
Unwavering, I held their gaze for as long as I could, inching backward one careful step at a time. My heel scraped against the stone floor as I edged closer to the mural wall behind us.
Beside me, I felt Sebastian, frantic movements.
His breath hitched.
His fingers twitched at his sides.
Is he out of mana?
The thought stabbed through me.
A sudden cold stream of air brushed against my skin cutting through the heat radiating from the dragons.
My eyes widened as I slid my hand along the mural's surface as I backed into it.
Stone.
Stone.
Then—
A gap.
I snapped my head to the side. The mural wasn't solid. A section of it was hollow, pushed inward just enough to reveal a dark, narrow space behind it.
An escape!
Before I could speak, a thunderous roar ripped through the cavern.
ROOOOOOOAR!
One of the dragons lunged forward, its massive body surging ahead without coordination. Its shoulder slammed into the dragon beside it, knocking the others off balance. Wings flared. Claws scraped against stone. Several dragons stumbled into each other in a chaotic tangle of scales and fury.
This is our chance!
I tightened my grip on the shovel, channeled strength into my arms, and swung.
The metal edge smashed into the mural with a deafening crack.
Stone splintered.
Dust burst outward.
A jagged opening split across the wall, revealing a dark, circular chamber hidden behind it.
The sound snapped Sebastian out of his panic. His eyes sharpened, and without hesitation he thrust his hand forward.
A blast of wind erupted from his palm—
BOOM!
The crack widened, the mural collapsing inward as the hidden room fully revealed itself.
The dragons behind us were still stumbling over one another in their frenzy.
So the moment Sebastian finished his chant, I grabbed him and sprinted through the broken mural and into the chamber.
Inside, the cool air shifted.
Circular walls curved around us, smooth and unbroken.
I spun in place, scanning the room.
"Tch! A dead end?"
Sebas slipped free from my grasp and knelt, pressing his palm to the floor. His eyes darted across the stone, tracing faint lines I hadn't noticed.
"This room…"
He slowly lifted his head, gaze locking onto the center of the chamber. Awe washed over his face.
"Harbors a teleportation circle."
"Teleportation?"
I followed Sebastian's gaze to the center of the room… and saw bare stone. Panic clawed at my throat as I grabbed his shoulder, forcing his attention back to me.
"Can we escape this place?!"
Before he could answer, a thunderous crack echoed behind us. I glanced over his shoulder, stone chunks flying inward as our pursuers smashed through the small hole we'd came through.
Sebastian slapped my hand off his shoulder and sprinted toward the center of the chamber.
"OI?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"
"BUY ME SOME TIME!"
Buy… time?
BAM!
The mural wall exploded outward. My head whipped toward the sound just in time to see a massive chunk of stone collapse inward, revealing a monstrous eye on the other side.
A circular yellow iris.
A deep, vertical black slit.
Unblinking.
Locked onto me.
It stared straight through my soul.
Death.
A cold shiver shot down my spine, cutting through the heat of the cavern. The pain from my earlier injury flared violently, as if my body itself was warning that this was the end if I didn't move.
The dragon pushed closer, its breath steaming through the widening gap, claws scraping stone as it forced its way inside.
"Tch."
I clenched my jaw and tightened my grip on the shovel, feeling the rough wooden handle grind against the calluses on my palms. Sweat slid down my face in thin, trembling lines. My breaths came fast—too fast—so I forced myself to slow them.
"Fuuuh…"
I shut my eyes.
I reached inward, searching for that sensation my uncle had drilled into me.
Then a steady and unwavering current of energy rose deep inside my chest and flooding through my veins. My muscles tightened while bones humming with raw power. Heat and clarity washed over me as my hesitation wept away.
A grin stretched across my face as adrenaline surged in my heart.
My eyes snapped open just as I planted my feet AND I lifted the shovel.
"SEBAS! YOU ONLY GOT 20 SECONDS!"
-----Roxy Mirgudia POV-----
"PREPARE FOR LANDING!"
"HIIIIIEH!"
I swallowed the lump of terror stuck in my throat just as Reinhardt crashed into the Red Dragon's cave entrance.
The impact was catastrophic.
Stone shattered.
Dust exploded outward.
His body plowed through the floor, carving a long, jagged trench deep into the cave like a living battering ram.
The Red Dragon guarding the entrance jerked awake, wings flaring as it scrambled to its feet. Its screech tore through the air.
But I was already ready.
Cold air gathered in the tip of my staff.
"ICICLE BLADE!"
A massive wave of ice erupted from my outstretched staff, slicing through the air in a glittering arc. The spell struck the dragon square in the face, shards exploding across its snout and eyes.
The beast reeled back, blinded, roaring in pain.
"HAHAHA!"
Reinhardt's laughter boomed as he moved in an instant right beneath the dragon's shadow.
Reinhardt launched upward as his fist slammed into the underside of the dragon's jaw with a bone‑shaking crack. The creature's head snapped back violently, smashing into the ceiling hard enough to send dust and shards of stone raining down.
Before I could even process the sheer brutality of the strike, we were already sprinting deeper into the cave, Reinhardt charging forward with me on his shoulder.
"ROXY!"
"ON IT!"
I tightened my grip on my staff as I shut my eyes and forced my breath steady.
The ambient mana in the cave was thick, swirling like a fog.
Nether less my eyebrows furrowed as I pushed deeper, searching through the dense currents of mana that pulsed through the cavern walls.
"IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE!"
The rising heat wasn't just temperature—
it was mana.
A spark shot through my mind as the sensation clicked into place. Multiple large mana signatures clustered together in a tight space… And two much weaker ones trapped at the center.
My eyes snapped open.
I swung my staff toward the left as I shouted with everything in my lungs.
"THEY ARE OVER THERE!"
"HAHA!"
Reinhardt didn't hesitate.
He shifted his weight as a subtle twist of his hips snaped something loose.
His entire body surged forward.
A sharp and ripping sound sliced through the cave as the pressure around us collapsed.
Wind whipped against my face, forcing my eyes to narrow.
The ground blurred beneath us, stone turning into streaks of gray as Reinhardt's speed doubled, then tripled.
Hang in there! Matheus! Sebastian!
-----Narrator-----
Three dragons crashed into the cavern wall—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Stone shattered. Dust exploded outward. Their massive bodies slammed into one another, tripping, stumbling, trampling over each other in their frantic desperation to reach the intruder who dared enter their nest.
And in front of them—
A boy no older than ten stood his ground.
He faced the apex predator towering over him, its eyes burning with rage and hunger. The dragon's breath washed over him in waves of blistering heat.
Then the beast lunged.
Its jaws split open wide upon rows of needle‑long teeth glinting like blades swallowed the boy's entire field of vision.
Nevertheless, the boy sidestepped at the last possible moment, the dragon's jaws snapping shut where he had just been. He leapt upward, twisting his body mid‑air, preparing a counterattack.
But in that same instant—
Another dragon lunged.
A second massive head shot toward him, aiming to intercept his mid‑air strike.
The boy reacted on instinct.
He flipped backward, rotating just enough to redirect his momentum. His weapon came down in a sharp arc, smashing directly into the first dragon's iris. The impact sent a shock through his arms and blasted him backward—
just far enough to slip past the second dragon's snapping jaws.
The two dragons collided violently, the second slamming head‑first into the first with a thunderous crack.
Gritting his teeth, the boy hit the ground, boots skidding across the stone. He kicked off immediately, changing direction in a desperate burst of speed—
—just as the third dragon's claws crashed down where he had been a heartbeat earlier, gouging deep trenches into the floor
Matheus's legs and arms began to bleed—thin lines tearing open along his skin from the sheer velocity and force his brain was forcing his body to endure. Every movement screamed against his nerves, but he pushed through it, teeth grinding hard enough to crack.
He slammed his remaining foot against the ground, launching himself upward like a fired projectile. His body cut through the air, flying straight toward the third dragon's head just as the beast inhaled, preparing a devastating breath attack.
The dragon instinctively understood that Matheus couldn't dodge mid‑air.
A premature blast of heat and light surged up its throat.
Instinct sharpened by desperation, Matheus yanked the shovel back with one hand, coiling his body mid‑air. His other arm stretched forward, palm open, aiming directly into the center of the dragon's widening maw.
He roared as he forced every last ounce of strength into his arm. His muscles tightened until they felt like they were tearing, fibers twisting and compressing. His bones rattled under the pressure, vibrating with the strain of what he was about to unleash.
"RAAAAH!"
The shovel rocketed forward, spinning with brutal velocity as it slammed into the blinding orb of heat and light forming inside the dragon's throat.
BOOM.
The unstable energy detonated.
A shockwave burst outward from the dragon's mouth, blasting its head backward. Fire and smoke erupted from its jaws in a chaotic spray, spilling out uncontrollably as the beast reeled, choking on its own half‑formed breath attack.
Matheus's body, however, had reached its limit.
His vision blurred.
His limbs felt hollow.
His consciousness flickered like a dying flame.
With the last scraps of willpower, he curled his arms inward, forcing what little touki remained into a thin protective layer around his head and torso, just enough to keep the fall from killing him.
Sorry, Sebas… I couldn't hold it longer than twelve seconds…
THUD.
Matheus hit the ground hard. The impact knocked the air from his lungs, and his body went limp, sliding across the stone before coming to a stop. He lay there, unconscious, blood streaking down his arms and legs.
Behind him, the cavern trembled as the remaining two dragons shook off their stumble. Their wings unfurled. Their claws dug into the stone. Their eyes locked onto the fallen boy.
And they begun to move.
Sebastian finished the last sigil of his preparation as his breath trembled and sweat dripped down his chin. He spun toward the entrance desperately searching for his friend.
His eyes locked onto the boy's unconscious body that layer sprawled across the stone.
Sebastian gritted his teeth as he slammed his hand to the ground, dragging up every last grain of mana left in his core. His vision blurred at the edges, but he forced the energy outward, shaping it with urgency.
Two massive bodies lunged at once with jaws snapping wide open towards Matheus's limp form.
The ground erupted.
A pillar of dirt and stone shot upward, lifting Matheus upward like a rising platform. The pillar pushed him steadily higher, carrying his limp body out of the dragons' reach just as their jaws snapped shut on the space he had occupied.
Sebastian's arm trembled violently.
His vision dimmed.
His fingers trembled as he forced the last threads of mana into the structure. With a sharp motion, he broke the base, tilting the entire pillar toward himself.
The massive column of earth began to lean—
slow at first, groaning under its own weight—
then gravity seized it.
The tower started to fall.
Its descent accelerated rapidly, stone and dirt grinding against the cavern floor as it picked up terrifying speed.
The dragons, still recovering from their stumble, they tracked the collapsing tower's trajectory—straight towards Sebastian.
Like sharks scenting blood in the water, the dragons charged towards the child.
Fear slammed into Sebastian's chest.
The tower was falling towards him.
The dragons were racing beneath it.
The teleportation circle glowed faintly beneath his feet.
The supplies he'd gathered were piled beside him.
And death…
death was right in front of him.
I don't want to die!
Sebastian dropped to one knee and pressed his hand onto the circle, forcing the last remnants of mana to circulate through his core. His vision darkened as his breath hitched. The spell was seconds from activating.
But his unconscious stopped him cold.
So he looked back up.
Through the dust and falling debris, Matheus's body hanged from the tilted pillar barely within reach.
While the dragon's mouth has already covered Sebastian's figure.
Time slowed.
The roar of the dragons faded.
The rumble of the falling tower dulled.
Only his heartbeat could be heard as he felt the cold brush of death sliding across his skin…
SHUUSH
A blade of ice crashed into the dragon's skull, snapping its jaw shut a split second too early. The teeth clamped together with a violent crack missing Sebastian's head by barely an inch.
The next instance, Sebastian threw his hand out toward Matheus's falling body while his other hand powered teleportation circle beneath him.
Mana surged.
The circle ignited.
Matheus's body brushed the edge of Sebastian's fingertips.
And the world snapped empty around them.
A split second later, the dragon's massive body and the collapsing earth pillar crashed down onto the exact spot where they had stood.
And far from the red dragon's cavern, in a place neither boy recognized, the light of the teleportation circle flickered… and died.