The sky was boiling, its colours spiralling like a living storm. Vaspera and the dragon were clashing again.
The dragon's throat glowed one more time—Then another beam erupted.
Vaspera once again caught it head-on.
Ren staggered backward as a violent rush of wind burst across the battlefield. The sky above churned with clashing orange and pink — like two divine forces tearing the heavens in half. His eyes widened, breath stolen from him. From below, it looked like angels made of fire were fighting for the sky itself.
Vaspera's palms ignited, pink mana streaking upward in a fierce, spiraling blaze. For a moment, the colors clashed evenly… but this time orange began to swallow the pink. The pressure crushed the air around her.
Her jaw clenched.
A thin line of blood trailed from her lip.
"I'm… running out of mana…" she hissed under her breath. "I have to finish this quickly in one final strike."
Below, the knights watched with dread tightening their throats.
"She's being pushed back!" one yelled.
"Is she going to lose?" another whispered, pale as ash.
"I don't… want to die here," a third whimpered.
Ren's voice rose above them — soft but unshakably firm. "You won't die."
His hands trembled, but his eyes didn't waver. "She'll win. I know she will."
But above them… her flames were thinning. Dying.
The dragon's beam devoured what remained of her power — then slammed into her chest with a sound like a thunderclap.
The sky shattered into light.
Vaspera was thrown downward like a broken arrow, crashing into the earth with earth-splitting force. Dirt blasted upward in a wave, a massive crater swallowing her completely.
"MA—MADAM VASPERAAAA!" Ren screamed.
He didn't think. He didn't hesitate. He ran.
The knights shouted after him, "Wait—kid!" but he didn't hear them. Tears welled in his eyes, blurring the world as he sprinted toward the crater.
"No… no, please no…" he gasped, voice breaking. "It's my fault… I forced her to come… it's all my f—"
The ground shook. He froze.
A shadow swallowed him whole.
The dragon stood before him — vast, monstrous, its scales glowing like embers beneath cracked gold. Its hot breath washed over him in waves, suffocating and metallic. Ren trembled… but he didn't back away.
The dragon raised its foot. A giant, clawed, earth-shaking limb.
Its shadow slowly stretched over Ren.
One second more — and he would be crushed.
The foot dropped— and a pink streak tore across the earth.
A flash. A thunderclap.
And Ren vanished from beneath the dragon's foot.
The dragon's eyes widened — stunned.
A single line of pink light cut through the smoke like a blade, and then materialized—
Vaspera.
She landed on the cracked ground, holding Ren in her arms as if he weighed nothing.
"M-Madam…" Ren whispered, tears finally spilling over. "I thought you—I thought—"
"Idiot," she snapped, voice hoarse but steady. "Did you forget who I am? I don't lose."
She set him down gently — then immediately grabbed his collar and pulled him forward with bared teeth.
"Are you an idiot?! Why would you charge in like that!? What exactly did you think was going to happen, huh?!"
"I—I'm sorry…" Ren squeaked, voice so small it barely existed.
From afar, the knights stared in disbelief.
"…Are they seriously arguing right now?"
"There's a dragon right there!"
Even the dragon paused — head tilted slightly — as if thinking : are you two quite finished?
Vaspera released Ren with a small shove and dusted her hands.
"You're so stupid," she muttered. "Now just stay behind me. And watch." Her expression hardened. Her voice fell silent as she stepped toward the dragon, stopping only when she'd put a safe distance between herself and Ren.
And the atmosphere became heavy.
A crushing pressure descended like a falling star — an invisible weight doubling, tripling in a heartbeat. The ground cracked beneath her feet. She slowly started to lift herself in the air again. The dragon stiffened, muscles locking as the force rolled over it. Its legs trembled.
The red dungeon sky slowly shifted… Bleeding from crimson into pink.
Mana spiraled upward from the ground around Vaspera, thin threads of shimmering pink weaving into the air like strands of silk. They entwined, tightened, and began forming a colossal structure high above the dragon.
A magic circle.
But not a simple one.
Three vast rings rotated within one another, engraved with unreadable runes that pulsed like beating hearts. Fragments of the sigil floated around it — glowing shards orbiting like pieces of a shattered moon. And through its center, pink threads of mana twisted together into a whirlpool of light.
The dragon let out a strained roar — but couldn't move.
Pinned by her power.
Vaspera slowly lifted one hand.
Crimson aura coiled around her wrist, swirling tighter and tighter, gathering heat until the air distorted.
She exhaled once.
Then lowered her hand.
The sky fell.
A column of pink fire shot down from the magic circle, slamming into the dragon with world-shaking force. The impact lit the entire forest brighter than daylight, painting every ruined tree in shades of rose and white.
The dragon's roar tore through the dungeon — raw agony shaking the ground. Its scales melted. Its wings buckled. Its massive form thrashed violently, then slowly… slowly…
Began to collapse.
The flames devoured it whole.
Smoke swallowed the battlefield. The sky flickered. A deep tremor rippled outward as if the dungeon itself groaned.
When the light finally dimmed, the dragon lay motionless — great body broken, steaming, dimming.
Then— Its flesh began to flake away.
Turning into shimmering golden ash that lifted into the air, drifting upward like embers set free. Piece by piece, the monstrous body dissolved, leaving only empty space and a slow rain of gold.
Ren stared in awe, chest tight, heartbeat frantic.
And standing before the fading storm of golden dust—
Vaspera hovered in the air, suspended by the last traces of her mana. Her torn clothes fluttered in the hot wind. Her skin glowed faintly. And her eyes…
Her eyes were nothing human.
A brilliant, blazing pink, cold and merciless — pointed straight at the place where the dragon had been.
The ashes drifted around her like stars.
And Vaspera simply stared, the battlefield reflected in her eyes — as if daring the world to send her another.
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