"Fuc..."
Dio didn't even get to finish his curse.
The claw came down fast. Way too fast.
He barely had time to throw his hands up, like a man trying to block a falling boulder with good intentions.
His brain screamed that this wouldn't work but his body did it anyway.
The air cracked.
The claw shadow swallowed him.
And then—
"Papa!!"
The tiny hatchling shot forward like a panicked firework.
One moment it was behind Dio, the next it was right in front of him, wings buzzing hard enough to sound like an angry toy.
It opened its mouth so wide its whole face scrunched up, and it yelled again, louder:
"PAPA!!!"
A blast of blue light exploded out of its mouth.
Not a cute spark.
Not a tiny baby burp.
A beam, straight, bright, and loud, fired into the darkness above them.
The dungeon shook.
Roar!!
A huge roar ripped through the dark, so deep it made Dio's bones hum.
Something massive flew back into the shadows, crashing into stone with a sound that promised broken walls and broken hopes.
Dust fell like rain.
Dio just stared, frozen, still holding his useless "shield hands" in front of his face.
"…What the hell."
Dio muttered under his breath as he finally lowered his hands.
His face froze somewhere between shock and betrayal. Someone help me understand what physics just witnessed.
His expression basically screamed: What the hell was that? Who gave the baby a death-ray?
But he didn't get time to stand there and process his new trauma.
His eyes snapped to the hatchling, which was now flailing in the air like a dying firefly.
Its wings twitched weakly, its body wobbled, and it looked about one second away from face-planting into the dungeon floor.
"Son!" Dio shouted instinctively, and loudly.
He didn't even know if it was male, female, but right now none of that mattered.
Something in his chest pulled tight.
The little thing had literally blasted a monster twice the size of his hopes and dreams just to protect him.
He rushed forward and caught the hatchling before it hit the ground.
It felt light. Too light. Its scales looked paler, its breaths short and shaky.
It tried to lift its head, managed only half an inch, and whispered the weakest little
"Papa…" imaginable.
Dio's throat tightened.
"Son… you gave up your life just to save your papa…" he whispered, sounding way more dramatic than he ever wanted to admit.
But the tone wasn't fake.
He felt it.
The fear. The worry.
The weird spark in his chest that had no business being there.
For the first time in his life, something warm and heavy hit him, an emotion he didn't even know he was capable of.
He held the weak hatchling closer, jaw clenched, breathing tense.
Dio gently stroked the little horn on the hatchling's head, hands trembling.
His voice dropped low, rough, and cracking in ways he'd never admit to later.
"Don't worry… I'll avenge you after I awaken," he said, absolutely convinced this was his dramatic anime moment.
A single tear slid down his cheek. A very stupid, very genuine tear.
This was the same creature he had planned to cook, roast, or maybe fry depending on seasonings.
Yet now the thought of losing it punched him right in the chest.
"Papa…" the hatchling whispered, barely audible.
Then its eyes fluttered shut.
Dio's heart dropped like a stone.
"Nooo!!!" he yelled, voice echoing through the dungeon like an overacted drama scene.
The worst part? He wasn't acting.
If he possessed even half a brain cell, just half, he would've realized the little thing simply passed out from exhaustion.
But Dio, heroic and hopeless, didn't even have that half.
His brain had left the chat.
He held the limp hatchling close.
"Don't worry, son… papa will give you a proper burial."
His face twisted with grief and rage. "I swear I'll make—"
ROAR!!!
A thunderous bellow cut him off.
The entire dungeon shook like the walls were having a panic attack.
Dio's eyes shot open wide. "Shit."
This time he didn't even pretend to be brave.
He didn't try to look at the monster.
He didn't try to check its size, shape, color, or even species.
He just turned around and ran.
Full speed.
No hesitation.
Boots slipped. The hatchling was tucked against his chest like precious cargo.
Dio sprinted back the way he came, cursing every god, monster, and life choice that led him to this exact moment.
Behind him, the roar echoed again, louder, angrier, and very, very close.
Dio didn't look back.
Because looking back meant dying, and he was very against that today.
Dio ran like a man who had just realized life comes with no refund policy.
His lungs burned, his legs felt like noodles, but the moment he saw a faint glow ahead, hope punched him right in the soul.
Light.
Actual light.
That meant he was almost out of the pitch-black death zone and heading toward the central chamber of the dungeon.
And from there? The entrance wasn't far.
Freedom was practically waving at him.
But behind him, the ground shook.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Huge, angry footsteps followed him, each one louder than his panic.
Whatever this monster was, it wasn't running.
It was stomping, like a pissed-off parent chasing the guy who ate two of its kids and kidnapped the third.
Which, to be fair, was exactly what Dio had done.
As he burst through the curtain of darkness into the lit chamber, he didn't stop.
He didn't slow. He didn't even breathe correctly.
He just kept sprinting like survival was a hobby he took very seriously.
The creature didn't slow either.
Its steps crashed into the stone, kicking rocks, smashing debris, and generally proving it was way too big to be reasonable.
Every hit of its feet sounded like it was crushing boulders just to warm up.
"Damn shit!" Dio yelled, voice cracking as he hugged the fainted hatchling tighter against his chest.
"If I ever awaken, if I ever get even one single power, I'm gonna cook you alive!"
His legs pumped harder.
Not because the threat made any sense.
Not because the monster cared.
But because fear was a great personal trainer.
The footsteps thundered closer and closer, each one shaking the ground behind him.
Dio didn't dare look back. Judging by the sound, the monster had to be about a hundred feet away.
It was close enough to ruin his future, yet far enough for him to keep lying to himself that he wasn't going to die.
He glanced down at the limp hatchling in his arms.
"Odd… why isn't this thing flying to catch up?"
Then, finally, finally, the single lonely brain cell he possessed decided to clock in for work.
Something wasn't adding up.
If the baby was that fast…
If the baby could fly around like a
hyperactive spark…
Then its mother should be faster, stronger, and probably the final boss of the dungeon.
So why was it stomping behind him instead of swooping down and ending him like a snack?
Dio frowned hard. Suspicion burned through the panic.
He turned his head to look.
ROAR!!
The creature spotted him and let out a scream that shook dust off the ceiling.
Dio flinched so hard he nearly tripped.
And that's when he finally saw it.
"Damn shit—YOU DON'T EVEN RESEMBLE THE HATCHLING!"
Because this thing… this thing was no dragon parent.
It looked like a T-Rex.
Thick legs, massive tail, rows of teeth that said I eat people recreationally. But the weirdest part?
Its front limbs were huge.
Not tiny. Not short.
Huge enough to tear down a building and then clap afterwards.
And its entire body was covered in hard, jagged scales.
Not smooth ones like the hatchling.
Not shiny violet eyes.
Not even the same shape.
There wasn't a single tiny detail that matched the baby in his hands.
He sucked in a breath, ready to scream,
"You damn thing! You're not even its mama, so stop chas—"
The words jammed in his throat.
Something hit him.
Not a rock.
Not a claw.
Not a divine message.
A thought.
A very stupid thought.
A thought so dumb it felt like lightning made of pure idiocy striking the last working corner of his brain.
Dio's eyes went wide.
"…Wait."
He glanced at the hatchling.
He glanced at the giant T-Rex-from-hell behind him.
He looked back at the hatchling.
Then back at the monster.
His brain made a terrible connection.
A very, very terrible connection.
"Could it be… this thing cheated with the hatchling's real father?!"
The idea exploded in his mind like he had just solved the world's greatest mystery instead of inventing the world's dumbest theory.
ROAR!!!
Behind him, the monster roared again, pure rage, pure fury, pure I will eat your soul.
Dio gasped dramatically.
"That's it! You bitchy lizardy! You're angry because I stole your illegitimate kid!"