The cavern shook as Commander Draven stormed into the chamber, sword drawn and blazing with spiritual fire. His eyes widened for a single heartbeat when he saw the towering golden dragon.
Then his instincts took over.
"MEN! FORM LINES! DEFENSIVE ARRAY!"
Soldiers scrambled, struggling to stand in the trembling cavern.
Draven pointed his sword at the dragon.
"You dare appear before the Emperor's army?" he roared.
"Dragon or not — you will fall today!"
The dragon lowered its head, eyes glowing like molten suns.
"You challenge ME… while wounded, starving, hunted…?"
A deep growl rumbled.
"Then witness the difference between beasts and mortals."
A golden vortex exploded outward.
BOOOOOOOM!
Soldiers were thrown like leaves.
Several died instantly, crushed against stone walls.
Draven planted his sword into the ground, resisting the wave.
"Aran! Get your squad behind me!"
But Aran… did not move.
He stared at the dragon — not with fear, but shock.
Confusion.
Recognition.
The dragon's voice boomed again.
"Human… your child is mine by fate. He is the heir to the Silent Gaze… the only one who can see the world beyond light."
Aran's heart froze.
The only one… who can see?
Draven misinterpreted the dragon's words as a threat.
"You speak of stealing a child? Then you die TODAY!"
He charged.
Draven moved like a thunderbolt, slashing down with his flame-forged blade.
The dragon didn't dodge.
It simply lifted one claw —
CLANG!
Steel shattered.
Draven stumbled, eyes wide in disbelief.
"My… my sword—?"
The dragon flicked its claw.
CRACK!
Draven was hurled across the cavern, smashing into three stone pillars before collapsing in a cloud of rubble.
"COMMANDER!" the soldiers screamed.
Draven coughed blood but stood back up, refusing to fall.
"Army… ATTACK!"
A thousand men unleashed arrows, spears, and spiritual techniques.
The cavern filled with light, fire, wind, and steel.
For a moment — it looked like a storm of destruction.
But the dragon simply inhaled.
The air turned cold.
Its chest expanded.
And then—
FWOOOOOOOSH!
A torrent of golden flames swept the chamber.
Men screamed, armor melted, and walls exploded.
Half the force burned within seconds.
Aran could only watch in horror.
"NO… NO!" he shouted. "Stop! STOP!"
The dragon turned toward Aran.
"Why do you mourn for them? This fate was decided long before you arrived."
Aran gritted his teeth.
"I will NOT let my men die!"
The dragon's gaze softened slightly.
"You are loyal… but loyalty is never rewarded in your world."
Commander Draven tore a flaming spear from his back, eyes bloodshot.
"ARAN! HELP ME!"
He charged again, body blazing with his strongest technique:
"Crimson Tiger — Final Rampage!"
Aran turned instinctively to support him.
But the dragon's voice echoed in Aran's mind:
"If he kills me… your child will never see again."
Aran froze.
"What… did you say?"
The dragon stared deep into his soul.
"I can heal your child's blindness.
But if I die — the knowledge dies with me."
Aran's breath stopped.
For a moment, he saw his son's tiny face.
His clouded eyes.
His soft hands grasping air he could not see.
His wife's tears.
His own desperation.
And the dragon whispered:
"Help me… and your child will see the world."
Aran felt his heart tearing in two.
Duty vs family.
Honor vs blood.
Commander vs father.
Draven leaped, spear aimed at the dragon's heart.
"DIE!"
Aran's hand moved on its own.
Aran grabbed Draven's wrist in midair.
Draven's eyes widened in shock.
"Aran…? What are you doing?!"
Aran's voice trembled.
"Forgive me… brother."
He pushed.
Draven stumbled forward, losing balance.
The dragon's tail whipped around —
WHOOOOSH — BOOOOM!
Draven was smashed into the cavern wall, buried under falling stone.
The remaining soldiers gasped in disbelief.
"Vice-Commander… betrayed the Commander?!"
Aran stood trembling, sweat pouring down his face, heart breaking.
"I… I had no choice…"
The dragon breathed heavily, still wounded.
But it nodded.
"You have chosen your blood over your banner. That is the choice of a true father."
Aran fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.
"What… what must I do now?"
The dragon lowered its great head, speaking in a deep, weary voice:
"Help me survive… and I will save your son."
Aran closed his eyes, tears finally falling.
"Then I will save you."
Above them, the cavern ceiling began to crack.
The fate of the 5th Commander's army had already been decided.
And Aran had taken the first step…
toward treason, destiny, and the dragon's pact.
The night sky split with thunder as Draven's blade met Aran's spear.
Steel clashed. Flames roared. The forest trembled.
"You betrayed your Commander… your own brothers!!!" Draven roared, his greatsword cleaving through the air with monstrous force.
Aran stumbled back, his palms bleeding, knuckles white around the spear shaft.
"I betrayed no one! I chose my son!"
His voice cracked—half pain, half desperation.
Draven charged again. Each of his steps shook the earth. As one of the six top Commanders, he was a monster forged in a thousand battles.
Aran was only a Vice-Commander.
And it showed.
Draven's sword slammed into Aran's spear. The shockwave launched Aran back, crashing him into a tree so hard the bark exploded.
"Aran!!" the dragon thundered from the sky.
The massive shadow swept low, wings wide enough to darken the moonlight. Soldiers screamed as the dragon's golden eyes lit with fury.
Flames erupted from its mouth.
A blazing river of fire fell upon Draven's troops.
Men burned. Armor melted. The ground turned red.
"DRAGON—KILL IT!!" shouted Captain Vosk.
Hundreds of arrows shot up.
Hundreds turned to ash before they reached the beast.
But the dragon wasn't invincible.
A volley of ballista bolts fired from behind the trees—huge iron spears launched by twenty men each.
One bolt pierced the dragon's wing.
He roared in agony and fell to the ground, crashing through trees like they were twigs.
Draven didn't even look at the dragon. He marched toward Aran, voice cold:
"Even after all I've done for you… you choose a monster over your own Commander."
Aran spat blood but rose again, spear shaking in his grip.
"No… I choose the only chance my son has to see again."
Draven's eyes softened for the briefest moment.
Then hardened into iron.
"Then die for that choice."
He swung.
Aran blocked—
—but Draven's strength was overwhelming. The spear snapped in half like a twig.
Draven punched him in the gut. Aran coughed blood and dropped to his knees.
"Stay down," Draven growled. "I don't want to kill you."
Aran, barely conscious, whispered, "I… can't…"
Suddenly—
A massive blast of wind slammed Draven sideways.
The dragon, bleeding heavily, rose once more.
But this time… it wasn't alone.
BOOOM!!!
The forest shook as three enormous beasts emerged from the shadows.
A gigantic white-furred sabertooth with fangs like daggers.
A towering earth-plated gorilla whose fists cracked boulders.
A sleek storm wolf with lightning running through its fur.
These were Guardian Beasts—creatures that rarely seen in Nightfall mountains.
They growled and formed a circle around the dragon.
Draven's soldiers froze.
"W-Why are the mountain beasts here?!"
"They guard the dragon!"
"RETREAT—NO, FIGHT—NO, RUN!!"
Panic shredded discipline.
The wolf leapt first, lightning trailing behind it. It tore through half a squad in seconds.
The sabertooth tackled five men at once, ripping armor like paper.
The gorilla smashed the ground—sending shockwaves that threw soldiers in every direction.
The battlefield became a storm of claws, lightning, and screams.
Draven wiped the blood from his lip, eyes narrowing.
"Even beasts side with traitors now…"
He stepped forward—but the dragon slammed its tail down before him, cracks forming across the earth.
"You fight for duty," the dragon rumbled, "but he fights for his child."
Draven raised his sword. "And I fight for my Empire."
The dragon breathed in—
—and Draven vanished.
He reappeared above the dragon's head, blade descending like a falling star.
"DIE, MONSTER!!!"
The dragon roared, twisting aside—but the sword carved through its scales, slicing deep into its shoulder.
Blood splattered across the ground.
But before Draven could finish the strike, Aran crashed into him from behind—tackling him midair.
Both men rolled violently across the ground.
Draven stood first.
Aran didn't.
His vision blurred. His ribs felt shattered. His arm hung uselessly.
But he still forced himself up, breathing raggedly.
"I… I won't let you kill him…"
Draven's expression twisted with something between anger and heartbreak.
"Then this is where you die, old friend."
He thrust his sword forward.
But the dragon's wing wrapped around Aran, shielding him.
Draven's blade sank deep into the dragon's already bleeding limb.
The great beast screamed—but didn't move.
It protected Aran like a parent protects a child.
Draven pulled his sword free, chest heaving.
"You… monster… why protect him?!"
The dragon lowered its great head, eyes meeting Draven's.
"Because he is a father."
Silence.
Then—
"Commander!! MORE BEASTS—THEY ARE COMING!!!" a soldier screamed.
From the forest's dark edge… hundreds of glowing eyes appeared.
The mountain had sent an army.
The soldiers broke.
"RETREAT!!"
"SAVE YOURSELVES!!"
Draven clenched his jaw.
This fight was lost.
But not the war.
He stepped back slowly, eyes never leaving Aran.
"This isn't the end," he said. "You will face judgment."
Aran, barely conscious, whispered, "Not before my son can see."
Draven turned away.
The beasts closed in, forming a protective wall around Aran and the dragon.
The forest, moments ago full of screams, fell into a heavy silence.
The battle was over.
But the consequences were only beginning.