After the final clash…this time, it wasn't silence that fell—it was as if sound itself had been severed... It's a sound of nothing !!!
The clouds returned, swallowing the sky once more, and soon the rain followed....
Raym lay on the ground, fully conscious of everything that had happened...
Am I doomed to remain shackled by shallow limits???Limits that make me collapse before everyone else???Limits that force me to wait for someone to save me every time???Will I remain their prisoner forever???
No.No—absolutely not.
"I will stand," Raym said, his voice ragged as he struggled to breathe."Even if it costs me my life, I will not remain bound by limits that stop me at the decisive moment."
He drove his sword into the ground and rose, leaning heavily against it.
The dragon's full attention shifted toward him.It had sensed it—the greatest threat was Raym.
Without hesitation, the dragon spread its wings high across the heavens and unleashed a torrent of fire toward him.
Raym, barely comprehending what was happening, did nothing.
And without either of them realizing—
Vail stepped forward.
He placed himself between Raym and the inferno.
Flames consumed his body.
Raym lost his voice in that instant.He tried to speak—anything—but his tongue betrayed him.
Vail turned toward him, a sorrowful smile on his burning face.
"Raym…" he said quietly."You must live."
"As for me…""I can always be replaced..."
Raym tried—desperately—to do something, anything, to stop it...
Another person… dying before me… while I'm powerless again???
But his body had already surpassed its limits...
Vail ignited his body once more with the Nine Arts of Flame, forcing himself to endure just a little longer...
The dragon sensed it and intensified its flames even further, until it decided to end everything with a single, focused attack...
Vail knew survival was impossible...
Yet he did not move...
He looked into Raym's eyes and saw light—salvation.
So this is what Daniel saw…when he threw himself into danger for this boy.Is this his true power???The ability to make people believe in him…to place him above themselves???
Raym placed his hand on Vail's back.
With the last of his strength, he healed some of Vail's burns using his pure light.
Raym began to lose his balance, but Vail caught him with his left arm, still standing.
The dragon finally roared in fury and released its ultimate flame.
For everyone present…this was the end.
Vail welcomed it with a smile.
And just as the attack reached him—
Something descended from above...
A spear wrapped in blue lightning...
Leo's spear !!!
The Vice Commander landed, surveying the battlefield, his gaze settling on Vail, who still stood—barely...
"You're unbelievable," Leo said calmly."I leave you alone for a moment, and you end up fighting a dragon."
At that instant, everyone felt Leo's overwhelming aura.Even the wounded stirred.
But then—
Another presence.
Something different.
Something so immense that its power could not even be measured.
Leo smiled and raised his spear toward the dragon—
Then a firm voice echoed:
"Leo."
Leo lowered his weapon immediately, chuckling.
"Alright, alright… I was just playing."
At that moment, the dragon lowered its wings without understanding why.
Its voice changed.
Before them stood a man unlike any they had seen before.
A calm, imposing figure with an eyepatch over his left eye.
He appeared to be in his mid-thirties.
The dragon locked eyes with him.
The man drew a strange blade—a sword resembling a katana, yet unmistakably different.
The dragon roared and unleashed multiple waves of fire.
The man casually cut through them.
They vanished instantly.
Realizing the danger, the dragon retreated slightly, screamed, and erased the air around them, launching far more brutal attacks—as if it had been holding back until now.
The man evaded them all.
He even cut several apart.
As he closed the distance, the dragon sensed true danger and immediately forged its flames into a massive sword—its strongest technique—while igniting its body with power greater than ever before.
As Leo gathered the wounded to safety, everyone stared at the dragon.
They were certain of their deaths.
But the man…
He simply closed his eyes.
It was the perfect moment for the dragon to strike.
Yet even as the attack drew near, the man did not open his eyes.
Only when the flames were upon him did he act.
He opened his eye calmly.
With a single motion, he sliced his palm, coating the blade in his own blood.
In a commanding voice, he spoke:
"Here is your price."
"Now—lend me your power."
Then a terrifying black-violet aura surrounded the blade...
The dragon's attack met his own.
The man struck once.
"Balance Breaker."
A force beyond comprehension erupted...!!!
It erased the dragon's attack entirely...!!!
Then it continued—
Splitting the dragon cleanly in half...!!!
The wave did not stop...
It surged onward and severed a portion of the sky itself...
Everyone stood frozen...
No sound...
No breath...
No air...
The dragon collapsed, releasing its final breath...
The man sheathed his blade and walked forward in silence.
As he passed Lonz, he spoke coldly:
"Lonz.We need to talk... later."
Lonz stiffened, then nodded immediately.
Raym stared at the man—awed, terrified, and overwhelmed...
He turned to Leo and whispered:
"Who… is that???"
Leo smiled.
"Oh??? Haven't you met him before???"
"That is the Supreme Commander of our army…"
"Seroh..."