Chapter 17: Dragon vs Dragon

  Darek felt Dex’s footsteps growing faster.

  Each step thundered across the sand, vibrating through the air itself. His movements changed. These were no longer punches—they were the attacks of an animal. Raw. Precise. Lethal. Like the claws of a tiger that had learned how to kill humans with a single strike.

  Iris’ voice echoed in his mind.

  “Shit… fly!”

  Darek tensed his wings, ready to pull upward. Wind gathered beneath him—but just as he pushed off, Dex was already airborne.

  A single jump.

  A shadow above him.

  Dex clasped his fists together, and for one heartbeat, everything went silent.

  Then they crashed down onto Darek’s chest with the force of a falling comet.

  The blow struck him square in the chest.

  Steel against flesh.

  A dull, crushing boom rolled across the entire field.

  Darek slammed into the ground.

  The earth trembled.

  Sand exploded outward.

  The impact sent vibrations through his bones, his lungs screaming for air.

  For a moment, Darek thought the world had stopped. His heartbeat was the only thing he could hear—heavy, uneven, pounding. Every breath burned, as if air itself had turned into fire.

  If this keeps going… he’s going to break me.

  Mentally, this is barely bearable. This pain, over and over again—each of these blows would normally be a death sentence.

  His wings flailed helplessly before he crashed fully into the ground. A brief black flash tore through his thoughts—and then everything went quiet.

  In a blinding, black shimmer, his wings dissolved, as if turning into smoke. Shadowy particles, like drifting soot, scattered into the air until nothing remained.

  Iris… can you hear me? Are you still there?

  Healing kicked in. Warmth spread through his chest as his Soulbound flared briefly with light. Darek gasped for air and cursed between ragged breaths.

  “Shit… fuck… I really thought he had me just now. I didn’t even get a chance to react. That hit was way too strong—I blacked out so hard my wings dissolved… I don’t stand a chance…”

  Dex stood calmly. Smoke curled upward from his cigarette. For a brief moment, something crossed his eyes that Darek hadn’t expected.

  Respect.

  Then it vanished, replaced by that dangerous smile.

  “Truly incredible… your ability,” Dex said. His cheek twitched slightly.

  “Good. That means I can finally test something I’ve always wanted to try.”

  He’s insane…

  Darek trembled, his stomach knotting. He really sees me as nothing but a test dummy for his damn abilities.

  Dex raised his arm. His left hand extended forward, elbow bent downward, fingers forming a claw. His right hand remained open, held close to his solar plexus. His back began to glow—faint at first, then brighter. Lines. Patterns. Ink beneath the skin coming alive.

  “What happens,” Dex asked flatly, “if I attack your Soulbound directly?”

  My… Soulbound? Directly? The one bound to my soul?

  Darek’s pulse spiked. Pressure squeezed his chest, as if something invisible were slowly crushing him.

  An icy wind swept across the field. The spectators held their breath.

  Even Carris’ voice sounded distant now, muffled.

  “I think this fight is getting out of control,” Carris said grimly. “I don’t know what that dragon tattoo is—but my intuition says I should intervene.”

  He leapt toward the battlefield.

  Darek’s and Dex’s gazes met in that instant—

  —and the world shattered.

  The sky cracked apart.

  The sun stretched into a white裂, tearing itself open.

  The sand dissolved into mist.

  Sound vanished.

  So did the people.

  No wind.

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  No breathing.

  Only emptiness.

  Darek stood in a world of gray and shadow. The sports field still existed—but pale, frozen, as if sculpted from memory rather than reality. The ground shimmered faintly like glass. Light was everywhere and nowhere.

  Dex’s cigarette still hung at the corner of his mouth, smoke rising sluggishly as if it possessed a will of its own. The tattoos on his skin burned brighter, sharper. Lines shifted, as if trying to break free.

  “Hah… so it really is just like I hoped,” Dex murmured. His voice echoed twice—once in the space, once inside Darek. An echo without a source.

  “Looks like my intuition was right.”

  Darek stepped back.

  W-What is this? Where is everyone? And why… why do I feel so light? Where’s that stupid floating eye when I actually need it?!

  Dex laughed quietly, deep and joyless.

  “This is a space on the soul-plane. A sealed domain. Only our souls may enter here. No spectators. No interruptions. Just you. Me. And the fight.”

  A space of souls…?

  Darek looked around. It feels like… my inner world. But it isn’t mine. And it isn’t his either. Something… in between.

  Mist flowed along their bodies like breathing light.

  Dex tilted his head, smoke curling like a serpent around his face.

  “Neutral ground,” he said softly. “And the perfect place to break you completely.”

  “Show me your Soulbound. Where is it?”

  Darek slowly turned, scanning the ground.

  “…Ah. There. The pillow.”

  Dex raised an eyebrow.

  “The thing the snake sleeps on?”

  Darek froze. His head twitched slightly to the side.

  “Snake?”

  Then he saw it.

  A movement.

  A hiss.

  Suddenly it was there—small, silver, barely a meter long. Its scales flowed like liquid metal, reflecting the light of the soul itself.

  Something inside Darek shattered.

  Memories.

  Images.

  Hissing.

  Darkness.

  Not her. Not again.

  He screamed, tore himself free, stumbling backward, desperately seeking shelter—as if his life depended on it—

  —ending up behind Dex.

  Dex stared at him, stunned.

  But as Dex’s thoughts flared—I’ll crush it—

  —the snake lifted its head.

  Slowly.

  Deliberately.

  Its eyes opened.

  Silver.

  Luminous.

  They locked onto Dex—and the gaze cut through him like a blade.

  A single instant.

  Sweat broke out across Dex’s body, uncontrollable, his forehead soaked without him even realizing it. And for the first time in his life, Dex felt something he did not know.

  Helplessness.

  Then the snake yawned.

  Lazy.

  Almost playful.

  It stretched, glanced around as if it had only just awakened. Its gaze drifted from Dex… to Darek, who was still half-crouched behind him.

  Its eyes suddenly sparkled like stars.

  It let out a soft, joyful sound and floated toward him—graceful, almost dancing.

  “Ah!”

  Darek flinched and bolted.

  The snake glided after him, its movement like music—fluid, elegant, playful.

  Dex’s brow twitched.

  “What is this bullshit children’s nonsense?!” he roared, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a violent motion.

  Darek stumbled, gasping, as the snake coiled around his neck—tight, yet familiar. Its body pressed against him. The tip of its tail slid down his left shoulder, along the back of his neck, while its head settled comfortably against the right side.

  She… she’s protecting me?

  “I’m not getting intimidated by some oversized worm!” Dex snarled, and the ground beneath his feet trembled.

  His tattoos ignited—one after another.

  The lion.

  The turtle.

  The cat.

  The snake.

  Then new ones—patterns burning through skin and fabric: shark, eagle, hummingbird, hidden beneath his undershirt.

  And finally—

  The dragon.

  A light so intense that even the mist recoiled from it.

  Dex’s body vibrated as if about to tear itself apart. A scream—raw, primal—filled the space. Then he charged.

  An explosion of motion and energy, aimed straight at Darek.

  Until now, the snake had barely acknowledged Dex, too occupied with curling against Darek. But now—it felt his murderous intent.

  The snake slowly turned its head.

  Its gaze changed.

  First—pride.

  Then—majesty.

  Then—wrath.

  And Dex no longer saw a snake.

  Behind it rose an illusory being—gigantic, shapeshifting, incomprehensible. Majestic. Terrifying. Endless. Ancient.

  “D-Dr… a dragon…” Dex gasped. His voice was no longer his own.

  The being rose higher. Every scale glowed like a star. Its gaze fell upon Dex—and the world held its breath.

  The image before him towered, more vast and overwhelming than anything he had ever seen. It radiated contempt, as if the entire world were too insignificant to exist in its presence.

  “No… not even that,” Dex whispered.

  “Even among dragons… that would be a king.”

  Then everything collapsed.

  The astral ground trembled.

  Mist exploded into light.

  Lightning tore rifts through the air, slicing the world apart.

  A sound filled everything—half thunder, half song.

  Then—

  Silence.

  Darek felt the ground vanish beneath him.

  I’m… falling?

  His consciousness unraveled, torn between light and darkness.

  Was that… really mine?

  One heartbeat.

  Then endless calm.

  And suddenly—warmth. Air. Voices.

  Sand beneath his feet.

  The sun above him.

  Life returned.

  Darek blinked.

  Once.

  And with that blink, the world came back.

  For a heartbeat, everything remained frozen—suspended between two moments. No wind. No breath. No sound. Colors drained, nearly black and white, as if life itself had been siphoned away.

  The students on the stands stood like statues, faces twisted in fear or awe, completely motionless. Even the swirling dust hung frozen in the air, as if time itself had paused.

  Then—movement.

  The students jerked back into motion, as though an invisible switch had been flipped. Some stumbled, others clutched their ears, startled by the sudden return of sound, of life.

  Carris was still mid-sprint—the same posture, the same tension—only now his movement continued, as if the film had resumed.

  “…Insane,” Darek whispered.

  Only Dex was anything but unharmed.

  He suddenly collapsed, gasping, sweating, trembling. His eyes stared wide and empty as he crawled backward. The cat tattoo on his arm burned like fire, glowing relentlessly, desperately trying to stabilize him.

  He tried to breathe.

  He couldn’t.

  He tried to speak.

  No sound came.

  The cigarette slipped from his mouth, extinguished in the sand.

  And in his eyes—it was there.

  The fear he thought he had lost.

  And it did not fade.

  Not after what he had seen inside that small, silver snake.