Something was wrong. The color was off.
Unlike the Dragon Talisman in Alistair's memory, the dragon sigil on this stone was a pale, ethereal azure rather than the traditional vermillion red.
However, aside from the color, it was identical in every other way. It was unlikely that anything else could manifest in this specific form.
Is this a mutation caused by the world's local rules? Alistair wondered.
He recalled that his previous three Talismans had been modified by his "Acquisition" ability before being integrated into his body. This Dragon Talisman, for some reason, had manifested in this world prematurely and shifted its properties to adapt to the local environment.
In the original lore, the Dragon Talisman represented "Combustion," primarily used to discharge massive blasts of concussive energy. While the energy was red in the source material—likely due to its fire-based nature—Alistair viewed that as a stylistic choice. In reality, "Fire" was Shendu's innate Demon Chi attribute; the Talismans were simply specialized tools.
Specifically, the Dragon Talisman acted like a high-capacity, fast-recharging energy battery.
Under the influence of this world's laws, that characteristic seemed to have inverted. It had become a vessel for a peculiar energy that "burned" mana. Perhaps because Shendu was a "Dragon," the local laws linked the Talisman to the legend of a fire dragon. It had sacrificed its rapid recovery for the ability to consume the mana of others.
So, if my enemy can't recover mana, it's the same as me having an infinite supply? Mana Relativity?
Alistair toyed with the warm stone in his palm. Interestingly, because the Talisman possessed a physical form, he could draw upon its power, but he couldn't yet merge the source into his body like the others. For now, it was an external focus—a powerful wand rather than an innate limb.
Fwoosh!
The sound of sudden combustion echoed as a figure clad in crimson plate armor ascended the mountain path Alistair had just cleared.
The stranger gripped a crimson straight sword, roughly three feet long, with a crescent-shaped guard curving toward the blade. His other hand remained free. The armor was comprehensive, topped with a helm adorned with three axe-shaped crests. The visor featured three finger-sized apertures—narrow slits that would offer minimal visibility to anyone but a master.
A strange, oval sigil sat at the center of the breastplate, from which intricate, root-like protrusions spread across the metal like a biological network. Around his waist was a half-skirt of black faulds, and his greaves were etched with glowing red veins.
Unlike the pale blue "Ghost Fire" of the Talisman, this knight radiated a classic, searing orange-red flame. This wasn't a man tainted by the Dragonflame; this was something else.
"Another seeker of the Dragonflame?" Alistair muttered, coiling his energy.
If the knight made a move, Alistair would strike first with [The World]. He noted that the armor, while looking solid and terrifying, was actually a construct of condensed mana. The sheer volume of mana the knight projected made Alistair's skin crawl.
Alistair was a prodigy by any standard, and his "Mystery" made his mana quality exceptionally high. But compared to this man, the gap in raw power was a canyon. However, Alistair had a trump card: the Dragon Talisman. Since the knight's flames were mana-based, to the Talisman, this man was nothing more than high-grade fuel.
Clang. Clang.
The crimson knight gripped his sword with both hands, leveling the tip at Alistair. In the blink of an eye, a crescent wave of fire roared toward him.
"Holy shit!" Alistair blurted out.
The knight was thirty feet away, but the strike was blindingly fast. Alistair barely saw the swing.
DOOM!
Time ground to a halt. Alistair didn't dare test his durability against that wave. He repositioned himself as the grey world stood still.
The moment time resumed, the crimson knight was already in his face, his blood-colored blade raised high for a vertical cleave.
BOOM!
Alistair channeled the Dragon Talisman's mana. Pale blue demon-fire collided with the knight's orange-red inferno, resulting in a deafening explosion. The shockwave rattled Alistair's brain; while the Horse Talisman healed his body instantly, the mental disorientation lingered for a heartbeat.
Clang!
A blade of fire, struggling to maintain its shape as the blue flames ate away at it, stopped millimeters from Alistair's throat. The crimson knight was being swarmed by the pale blue mana-burn, but his seemingly bottomless well of energy acted as an active shield, holding the blue fire at bay.
"Your combat skills, boy... are pathetic."
A familiar voice echoed from within the helm, making the cold sweat on Alistair's back turn to ice.
"Uncle Takai?!"