Pov Author
The world was made of noise and fire.
Anna stumbled backward, her feet catching on the rubble of what had once been a busy street. The fine silk of her robe—a light, layered garment like those she'd seen in manga—was torn and streaked with soot. Her ears rang with a terrible symphony: the roar of flames, the crash of collapsing buildings, and beneath it all, the screaming. The desperate, dying screams of people.
This was her doing.
Her eyes, wide with a horror so sharp it almost made her sick, swept across the burning city. Above the inferno towered the great dragon—Shou Feng—an immense serpent of shadow and destruction against the blazing sky. A ribbon of brilliant, merciless fire burst from its jaws, and a house exploded into splinters. People ran—tiny, frantic silhouettes against the flames. A woman fell, her cry cut short as a monster of shadow overtook her. A child, alone and sobbing, stood frozen before he, too, was swallowed by chaos.
Anna clapped a shaking hand over her mouth, choking back a sob.
She had done this.
She had pulled the ancient dagger from the seal, believing she was freeing an imprisoned soul. She had been a fool.
She staggered back, wanting only to flee—to hide from the carnage her naïve hope had unleashed. Her shoulder struck something solid. A stone chest? There hadn't been anything there before. She turned, but two hands—cold and unyielding as iron—clamped around her upper arms, holding her in place.
"Do you like what you see?"
The voice was a dark, silken whisper at her ear. Shou Feng. He held her there, forcing her to watch. She struggled, but his grip was immovable.
He chuckled—a low, unpleasant sound.
"Is it not beautiful? This is the finest art the world has ever known." His soft, mocking laugh was worse than a scream.
Tears streamed down Anna's cheeks, carving clean trails through the soot. He looked down at her—towering well over six feet, making her feel like a child at her 5'4". He released one of her arms and, with a horrifying intimacy, wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
"Do you love it so much you weep?" he murmured, dripping sarcasm.
A flash of hot anger cut through her terror. With a cry, she shoved at his chest. It was like pushing a mountain. He didn't budge—only took a single deliberate step back, granting her space.
Anna spun toward him, eyes blazing.
"You did this!" she screamed. "Stop it!"
"No." His smile was mild, almost amused. "I am taking my revenge. They humiliated me—trapped me. So I will burn their legacy to ash."
"Then take it out on the royal family—not innocent people!"
"And when mortals anger a god," he mused, tilting his head, "does the plague spare the innocent? Tragedy is impartial. Is this any different?"
"You are not a god!"
His hand shot forward, clamping around her throat—not enough to choke, but enough to promise death. She was forced to meet his eyes, dark as charcoal and bottomless. He searched her face—looking for fear, submission. Anna held his gaze, refusing to blink. Her eyes burned with fury and guilt.
He seemed… intrigued.
"I made a mistake freeing you," she spat. "I should've driven that dagger deeper instead of pulling it out."
His eyebrows lifted, and a slow smile curved across his lips. He released her throat and traced a possessive line along her cheek. Revulsion shuddered through her.
"You will suffer for disrespecting me," he said softly. "I thought you were on my side. But you are only a foolish little brat."
He tightened his fist in her hair, pulling her head back, and lowered his face to her neck. Anna froze, breath stuck in her lungs. He inhaled deeply, savoring her scent.
"You even smell like them," he whispered. "I will teach you a lesson."
Anna braced for a blow. She shut her eyes, trembling.
But instead, a deafening crack of thunder split the sky. The world shuddered—then fell silent
She opened her eyes.
Shou Feng was gone.
Her heartbeat pounded painfully against her ribs. She whirled, scanning the burning ruins. Where had he gone? What lesson?
Then she saw him—Shoto.
He landed unsteadily on a nearby rooftop, covered in blood, his clothing torn and slashed, but still standing—still fighting.
Suddenly, Shou Feng materialized from the shadows, placing himself between Shoto and the dragon—unarmed, relaxed.
"Shoto, look out!" Anna shouted, though her voice vanished in the roar.
Shoto lunged, sword flashing silver in the firelight. Shou Feng moved with effortless precision, sidestepping strike after desperate strike. He never blocked, never countered—only dodged, smiling, amused. A cruel game.
Their eyes met across the chaos, Shou Feng's smirk widening. In a blink, he vanished—reappearing behind Shoto.
There was no visible blow. But deep cuts opened across Shoto's body—arms, back, legs—an efficient dismantling. His sword clattered from his grip. He collapsed to his knees, blood pooling beneath him.
"NO!"
Anna ran, tumbling down the rubble and sprinting through the ruined street. Monsters shrank away from her as if commanded. She reached the base of the building and climbed—crate, windowsill, broken tiles scraping her fingers raw—pulling herself onto the roof.
What she saw froze her blood.
Shoto knelt broken and bleeding.
And behind him loomed the dragon—so vast up close its scales looked like obsidian armor, its breath a furnace wind.
Anna forced her legs to move. She leapt rooftop to rooftop, eyes locked on Shoto.
Shou Feng watched her approach, smirking. He didn't speak.
He simply nodded.
The dragon reared back, throat blazing with molten light.
"No!" Anna shrieked, leaping to the next roof.
The dragon lowered its aim—at Shoto.
"AAAAA! SHOTO!"
She slipped, skidding. The beam of sun-fire erupted with a sound like the sky tearing apart. It didn't burn—it erased. Shoto. The house. Everything. In an instant, nothing remained but a white-hot crater.
Anna fell to her knees, unable to breathe. Too stunned even to cry.
Then the truth hit her like a blade.
He was gone. Because of her.
A broken sob tore from her throat. Then another. She folded over, shaking with grief.
The air behind her grew cold.
She turned. Shou Feng stood there, expression unreadable. Anna launched herself at him, striking his chest with her fists—weak, furious blows.
"I hate you! I hate you!"
He let her hit him. He didn't raise a hand. Just watched—studying her like a curiosity—until he vanished, and she stumbled forward.
He reappeared behind her. A sharp pressure touched her neck.
The world went dark.
Shou Feng caught her before she fell, lifting her easily. The dragon lowered its massive head, huffing warm breath against her hair, its eyes shifting between master a girl
Shou Feng caught Anna's unconscious body before she hit the ground. The dragon lumbered over and sniffed her, blasting a wave of scorching breath that sent her hair shooting straight upward like an electrocuted cactus. It let out a low growl that sounded suspiciously like, "So… can I eat her?"
Shou Feng stared at him.
"No, you cannot eat her," he said flatly. "She's not a snack. She just fainted. Apparently crying, screaming, and dramatic monologues take energy."
The dragon blinked, unimpressed, then let out a huff of smoke directly into Shou Feng's face.
"Really?!" Shou Feng coughed, waving the smoke away. "I free you after a hundred years, give you back your body, let you burn half a kingdom, and this is the gratitude? Secondhand smoke attacks?"
The dragon groaned loudly, throwing its head back like a toddler denied candy.
"Stop whining," Shou Feng snapped. "You just vaporized sixteen buildings in one breath, you'll live."
The dragon grumbled again, clearly sulking, then nudged Anna with one massive claw.
"No," Shou Feng warned before it could try anything else, "if you lick her, I swear I'm sealing you again."
The dragon froze mid-motion and slowly—painfully slowly—retracted its tongue. It gave Shou Feng a betrayed look and rolled its enormous eyes. Shou Feng sighed, climbing onto its back with Anna in his arms.
"Unbelievable," he muttered. "I used to be feared as a god. Now I babysit humans and argue with an overgrown lizard."
The dragon snarled in offense.
"Oh don't start," Shou Feng said. "You're literally a lizard that doesn't even have wings, how the hell do you fly anyway? Don't pretend you're majestic."
The dragon snapped its jaws dangerously close to his boots.
"Touchy," Shou Feng muttered. "Fine. Majestic lizard. Happy?"
The dragon let out a smug rumble, spread its wings, and launched into the sky.
Shou Feng mounted its back, holding Anna securely. With a thunderous beat of wings, they rose into the smoke-choked sky. Below them, the kingdom crumbled—dust and blood beneath the God of Destruction.
They flew until the flames were distant embers and descended upon a remote mountain sanctuary—pagodas suspended among clouds, glowing softly in the pre-dawn light. The Sky Sanctuary, home to the gifted.
Shou Feng landed at the great gate and laid Anna gently on the stone steps. He lifted the bronze knocker and let it fall once—its echo rolling through the stillness.
Without a backward glance, he climbed onto the dragon and vanished into the sky.
As though he had never been there at all.
End Of The Chapter