Évra tries to retaliate—
but she loses her balance and falls.
She rises slowly.
Then, as if something finally clicks in her mind, she nods.
"I see. I can't beat you anymore. The more I try… the more misfortune hits me. Very well. In that case—
you no longer exist."
Her gaze shifts.
Toward me.
"Do you remember my draconic form?"
I struggle to speak.
"Yeah… I remember the heat. Unbearable."
"Good. Try surviving again."
She leaps.
High.
Towering above the Coliseum.
She screams:
"HEYOOOOOO! THIS ATTACK IS FOR YOU! You broke my arm once, remember? So here is… my revenge!"
She left me for dead, and she's complaining about her arm?
One she healed in seconds?
But if she hits me with the same attack she used that day—
I'm dead.
I shiver.
Why me?
Why always me?
She can't hit Fortuna.
So she'll use me as collateral—
pulverize me
and catch Fortuna in the blast.
I focus.
A shield. I need a shield.
My body burns from the inside.
I crouch. I gather my energy. I try to reinforce myself.
Not enough.
Not even close.
I'm going to die.
I tremble.
My palms sweat.
I want to live.
"HEYO! SURVIVE! DRAGON BREATH!!!"
⸻
(POV Évra)
I soar above the arena.
My breath scorches the air.
From up here, they look so small.
So fragile.
So I unleash hell.
Fire floods the Coliseum.
A draconic wave—brief, but absolute.
Just a few seconds.
That's all I need.
You don't have to last long when you know exactly where to strike.
I hit the ground again, knees bending lightly.
The earth still smokes beneath my boots.
My eyes sweep through the clouds of dust.
Fortuna—
on the ground, body blackened, breath ragged.
Aris—
unconscious, skin marked with red fissures,
as if the heat had cracked him open.
They withstood it.
Barely.
But they withstood it.
I extend my hand.
A blue flame bursts from my fingers.
It coils.
It caresses.
It wraps around their broken bodies.
They twitch.
They exhale.
The flame heals.
It's my favorite power—
and the hardest one I ever learned.
Because a good beast knows when to fix what it destroys.
I walk.
Slow.
Steady.
Toward the grotesque, half-burned shield Heyo summoned.
I lift it.
And I see it.
The sack.
The same one he trapped me in.
Half-charred,
but still standing.
Intact. Resilient.
Like him.
I smile.
A real smile.
Not mocking.
Not cruel.
A smile that says:
well played, brat.
I open it.
And Heyo crawls out.
"You used that sack again… little rat."
Short of breath.
Sweat-drenched.
Half-burned.
Alive.
He groans, of course.
"Hooo shit… I thought I was dead."
He annoys me.
But he impresses me, too.
He snaps, eyes wild:
"You trying to kill me again with your dragon powers? Seriously?! Once wasn't enough?!"
I stare at him.
Calm.
Like staring at an animal you're trying to tame.
"I had to show Fortuna the limit of her power."
I motion toward him with my chin.
"And I knew you'd survive."
I raise my hand again.
Blue flames dance around him.
He steps back at first—
wary.
Then he stops.
He feels it.
He understands.
This fire doesn't burn.
It warms.
It repairs.
It shelters.
My flame.
My war-fire turned life-fire.
I watch him soften.
Relax.
Close his eyes.
He breathes.
He gives in to it.
I don't need to tell him he'll come back to this flame.
I know he knows.
And he knows that I know.
I think back to that day.
The day they summoned me.
The day she was there—
that strange woman.
Poor kid…
Your breath still reeks of innocence,
but your eyes…
they betray what's coming for you.
I feel it.
I see it.
You're walking straight into the slaughterhouse
without even realizing it.
Your fate is already cruel.
And not because of me.
No.
Someone else marked you long before I ever did.
I recognize that scent—
the scent of the Great Families.
One of them laid its claws on you.
And it will not let go.
Not without breaking you.
Not without tearing you to the marrow.
I'm no saint.
I'm a weapon.
A beast.
A survivor.
But I swear this much:
As long as you are under my tutelage…
I won't let you die.
Not here.
Not like this.
Not before you understand who you are.
I'll prepare you.
Strengthen you.
Skin you alive if I must.
But you will live.
And when they come to claim you—
You will look them in the eyes.
And on that day…
you will make them regret choosing you.