The newly acquired fragment pulsed inside Liriel's magical barrier, emitting a bluish glow that shifted in intensity as the flame inside me reacted. The path back to the center of the demi-dragon territory was silent, tense, and each of us seemed absorbed in our own thoughts. We knew there was something greater behind all of this. Something using portals, vessels, and constructs as disposable pieces.
When we arrived at the great terrace where the elite groups were gathered, everyone's expression changed at the sight of the fragment. King Desgame rose immediately from the improvised stone throne, his golden eyes fixed on the deep glow.
"That fragment… came from the void," he said.
The silence that followed was heavy. Even the rank S warriors, accustomed to facing calamities, stepped back half a pace.
Rai'kanna took the lead. "Your Majesty, that portal is not the work of natural magic. Nor of dragons. It is something… foreign."
"And worse," Liriel added, "the portal is growing. If we don't destroy the source, more vessels will appear."
The king looked at me. Not at the group. At me. "Your flame is the only detected force that reacted to the fragment. Without it, this enemy cannot be stopped."
Lyannis gripped my arm, as if fearing the king was about to throw me alone against disaster. "Your Majesty… he can't face this alone."
"And he won't," the king replied. "But without him, there is no victory."
Then something unexpected happened. The ground vibrated — deeply, as if something dormant beneath the earth had awakened. The vibration grew stronger, shaking structures, knocking down shards of ice, and making the soldiers form ranks.
Vespera looked up. "That's not normal. Not even an earthquake makes that sound."
And then, we heard it.
A roar.
But not a normal roar.
It was something ancient, heavy, as if coming from a creature made to destroy worlds.
The king clenched his teeth. "He has arrived."
There was no time for questions. From the far north, exactly where we had found the portal, a mass of dark fog began to move. The fog took shape, form, structure. Massive claws appeared first, then frozen membranous wings, and finally an elongated head, with luminous slits where eyes should be.
It was a dragon.
But not a living dragon.
A dragon corrupted by the void.
Its scales were fragments of black ice mixed with rigid flesh, as if trapped in an incomplete form. Every movement made the air heavy, brittle, almost colorless. Soldiers recoiled instinctively, feeling the weight of that presence.
Lyannis whispered, terrified, "That… cannot exist."
Rai'kanna readied her spear. "That's a void guardian. We were not trained to fight something like that."
The dragon lunged with a frozen roar, and a wave of absolute ice spread across the field. Vespera jumped, creating a wall of wind; Elara fired arrows that shattered on impact; Liriel raised a circle of runes that barely held up.
I felt the flame inside me vibrate, almost painfully, as if it recognized that creature — or was being recognized by it.
"Takumi!" Rai'kanna shouted. "It's coming straight for you!"
The creature opened its wings, creating a frozen gale that tore stones from the ground. Soldiers were thrown like dolls. The dragon warriors raised flames, but the fire died before reaching the monster.
"It absorbs elemental energy!" Liriel shouted. "Don't attack it with regular magic!"
King Desgame charged forward, his arms transforming into large draconic crystal blades. "I will restrain the creature! You find the core!"
We ran between falling ice chunks and explosions of wind. The dragon attacked relentlessly, carving craters into the terrain. The flame inside me burned so hot it felt like it was trying to take control of my body.
"Takumi, focus!" Liriel said, running beside me. "It wants to unleash too much power at once!"
"If I restrain it too much, it won't work," I replied.
"Then find the balance!" Vespera shouted.
The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of cold that seemed to tear the air apart. King Desgame intercepted it, splitting the ground in half.
Rai'kanna pointed at the creature's chest. "The fissures! They're like the vessel! The core is there!"
We focused everything on that point. Elara aimed enchanted arrows; Lyannis attacked the legs with surprising strength; Vespera created openings with gusts of wind; Liriel stabilized the flow of magic.
I jumped over a slab of rock and advanced along the dragon's flank. It tried to crush me, but Rai'kanna pulled me upward, using her flaming wings as propulsion.
"Now, Takumi!" she shouted.
The flame exploded inside the sword. Not in fury— in precision. Controlled heat, firm, vibrant.
The blade pierced through the fissure.
The frozen dragon roared in agony, and the cold around us shattered into fragments of bluish light. The core was fully exposed— a dark crystal pulsing like a sick heart.
Before it could react, Liriel cast restraining runes around it.
"Takumi! Finish it!"
I leapt toward the fragment, the flame responding to the call. A single thrust.
And then, silence.
The frozen dragon broke apart into massive pieces, like a giant sculpture collapsing. Fragments fell to the ground, dissolving into dark snow until they vanished completely.
For a few seconds, no one moved.
Then Rai'kanna approached and touched my shoulder. "You did it."
Elara took a deep breath. "I thought we were going to die."
Vespera let out a tired sigh. "At least it was beautiful at the end."
Lyannis hugged me without hesitation, almost knocking the sword from my hand. "I thought that… you…"
"Hey," I murmured, returning the hug. "I'm still here."
King Desgame approached, limping slightly. "You saved an entire race. The lost patrols will be freed. And this threat… has been ended."
The final fragment rested on the ground, not pulsing, not dangerous. Just residue.
Liriel examined it quickly, her expression serious. "Takumi… the voice that spoke to you. It wasn't from this world. That flame… it's not ordinary. And now that we defeated this… it has grown stronger."
I already knew. The flame pulsed inside me like never before.
And it reminded me of that voice:
"Continue."
Rai'kanna crossed her arms. "So this isn't over."
"No," I answered.
And everyone understood.
The battle had ended.
But whatever awakened my flame in that frozen valley…
Was far from revealing itself.