"Even humiliation can hatch dragons."
Far beyond the academy, in the obsidian valleys of Vhor'kai Rift, an ancient cavern pulsed with molten light.
Crystals bled orange mana down the walls, dripping like tears from the earth's heart.
In the center lay the Abyssal Behemoth Drake—breath slow, half-submerged in magma that glittered gold.
Scars webbed its body, and across its chest ran one wound that refused to fade: a diagonal burn that pulsed faintly with divine fire.
A memory lived in that scar.
A boy—barefoot, laughing—charging through smoke with a stick that glowed like a star.
A wooden sword.
The Drake had roared, confident, eternal… and then bled.
Not sealed. Not slain.
Humiliated.
It had chased the child through forests and stone, until its body shredded and its breath grew shallow.
When the child vanished, the Drake almost continued the hunt—
but another presence had appeared.
A shadow that bent reality.
The Demon King.
And so the Drake retreated, nursing rage and curiosity.
Even then, it had sensed something in the child—an impossible aura sleeping inside him.
A power that screamed: If you press him further, you'll wake something you can't kill.
So it slept.
And for days the world believed the Behemoth had gone quiet.
Until now.
A tremor rolled through the cavern.
Mana surged, thick as honey.
Its scales split and re-forged, each one gleaming like mirror-black obsidian veined with silver fire.
It's body titanic, shaking molten dust from the ceiling.
"The child lives," it rumbled, voice older than mountains.
A pause.
"Good."
It felt his aura again—faint, but unmistakable.
The same laughing defiance.
The same spark that had carved its pride open.
The Behemoth's body glowed brighter.
Three silhouettes gathered around it—its lieutenants, once lesser kings of the rift.
Feral Magilion — a lion wreathed in living blue-white flame, mane rippling like solar wind.Titan Gorilla — a kaiju of muscle and stone, fists large enough to crater mountains.Bladeback Drake — sleek, silver-scaled, its spine unfolded into blades that hummed with mana.
They bowed as one.
"My lord," the Magilion growled, "the air changes. Is it your will?"
"No," said the Behemoth. "It's his."
The cavern dimmed—mana sucked away like breath before a storm.
The three guardians staggered, limbs locking as pressure flooded the cavern — not from their master.
One collapsed.
Another barely stayed conscious.
They blacked out.
When they woke seconds later, the Behemoth glowed like a newborn sun, eyes molten gold.
Its tail lashed once, and magma parted like water.
"That boy humiliated me."
"So I'll return the favor."
The Abyssal Behemoth Drake roared—
and the Demon Realm heard.
The roar cracked mountains and turned clouds to ash.
From its head burst new horns of crystalized mana; its wings now shown; its scales shone violet-black.
Something new stirred within the Abyssal Behemoth.
✦ Academy Interlude
Azelar bowed so fast his glasses almost slid off.
"—Sir, I regret to inform you that we… lost the prince."
The retired Demon Queen froze.
Then slowly turned her head.
"…We?"
Keith blinked awake mid-stand.
Selene looked like someone just told her the moon vanished.
Azelar swallowed, sweat everywhere.
"Yes—we—well technically—"
The Queen stepped forward.
Eyes narrowed.
"You were responsible for his supervision. Do not drag me into your incompetence."
Azelar panicked.
"We only lost him after the incident—!"
Selene and Keith looked at him sharply.
Both knew exactly what incident he meant.
The Queen raised one eyebrow.
"Azelar."
He shut his mouth immediately.
Right. Because she knew if the Demon King found out she allowed a divine-class sealing artifact to lock up his grandson.
Keith crossed his arms. Calm. Sleepy. But his voice cut clean:
"You sealed the prince. With a relic meant for divine beings. And then lost him again?"
Azelar: "When you say it like that it sounds—"
Keith: "—accurate? Yes."
Selene covered her mouth, politely horrified.
She was absolutely ready to yell, but etiquette said "don't yell at retired demon royalty," so Keith did the yelling for her.
Some terrified instructor whispered:
"Is he really shouting at the former Demon Queen…?"
Another muttered:
"He can. He's the Demon King's most trusted knight… And the Prince's personal knight."
The Queen looked more annoyed than offended.
"I saved the boy from being sealed permanently. You lost him before and after I arrived. My retirement is at stake here!"
Selene blinked.
"…your retirement?"
"Yes!" The Queen snapped. "Do you have any idea what the Demon King will do if he learns his grandson was sealed and lost while under my supervision? He might—"
She gasped dramatically, clutching her robe,
"—reduce my retirement allowance!"
Selene and Keith stared.
She wasn't finished.
"He could take away my personal realm! Do you know how hard I worked to decorate that?"
Azelar tried to salvage his dignity.
"Your Majesty, surely the Demon King wouldn't—"
"He absolutely would," she whispered like someone remembering trauma.
Keith sighed.
"So where is Asura?"
Azelar coughed.
"We, ah… believed he returned to his dorm."
Selene's brow twitched.
"You believed?"
Then—
the room shook.
Books rattled. Candles flickered.
Every instructor went still.
A pulse of mana rolled through the academy like a stormfront.
Keith stiffened.
Selene looked toward the horizon instinctively.
The Queen whispered,
"…that power… I haven't felt since…"
Keith finished for her.
"The Behemoth incident."
Selene's eyes widened.
"…Prince Asura?"
Keith slowly unsheathed his sword just a hair.
"His presence wasn't that overwhelming before. Was it?"
The Queen looked offended at the sky.
"That little boy better not be ascending forms without official documentation! I just retired!"
Another tremor hit—like a wave of pressure.
Several instructors fainted.
Keith muttered,
"Well… that's definitely his."
Selene, worry turning soft, whispered,
"…he must be scared again."
But then, as the pressure peaked—
Selene stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
"…No. He's… angry."
Keith blinked.
"…he gets angry?"
Selene nodded slowly.
"Rarely."
Keith exhaled, rubbing his forehead.
"Wonderful. The prince is emotional. And evolving. While unsupervised."
Azelar tried to smile.
"Perhaps he simply found a new training ground—"
All three glared at him.
"—right, shutting up now."
The queen massaged her temples.
"I swear… if he destroys another continent, the King will absolutely cut my retirement package…"
Keith turned toward the exit.
"Selene. Let's go find him."
Selene bowed, composed but worried.
Keith looked back once.
"Headmaster. Lock down the Academy. No one moves unless authorized by me or the Demon King himself."
Azelar paled.
"Yes sir. Of course, Sir. Immediately, Sir."
Selene followed Keith out—skirts swaying, eyes shining with worry.
Behind them, the Queen whispered under her breath—
"Demon King, please… don't repossess my vacation dimension…"
The building trembled again.
Everyone felt the pressure.
Selene stopped walking.
Closed her eyes.
"…Asura," she whispered.
Keith tilted his head.
"You recognize it now?"
She nodded once.
"…his aura grew."
Keith muttered, astonished,
"He was already terrifying."
Selene—very quietly—
"…he's growing up too fast…"
✦ The Beast That Remembers
Inside the rift, molten rain fell like gold dust.
The three guardian beasts rose, trembling, as the newborn dragon spread its wings.
Its voice carried through every mind that ever feared it.
"Little Demon… You taught me shame."
"Now watch what shame becomes."
The magma parted beneath its claws; a thousand crimson runes blazed to life, marking the birth of a new apex predator.
And far away, in his inn room, Asura felt it—
a pulse that brushed against his soul like déjà vu.
He smiled faintly, eyes glinting gold.
"Oh… that thing."
[ ＳＹＳＴＥＭ : Host, recommendation — do not antagonize the evolving world-ender. ]
[ ＡＥＴＨＥＲＢＯＲＮ : Do it. It would be fun. ]
[ ＳＹＳＴＥＭ : I hate this party. ]
Outside, the Demon Realm thundered.
A new dragon had awakened—
and it still remembered the child who humiliated it with nothing but a stick.