The scene now shifts from the front to inside a deserted and mysterious cave. The atmosphere here is completely different from the outside world and cold.
And in the darkness, three figures are moving forward. All three of them were wearing strange kinds of hoods that completely concealed their faces. On the back of their outfits was a special symbol—a finely carved design of a dragon.
One of them had a very massive build, almost 7 feet tall. The other two companions were of average height, between 5.9 and 5.10 feet tall. Suddenly, in the silent cave, the sound of footsteps and a voice echoed.
"It took us 18 days to get here, but we still haven't found the thing we need in this cave!" one of them said irritably to the companion walking beside him.
Just then, from the side came a sharp yet melodious voice, which made it clear that it was a girl's voice. Without looking toward him, she replied, "Don't worry. Once we find what we're looking for, we can return to our base in just 3 days. So instead of making excuses, focus on the work."
The three of them kept walking deeper into that dark cave until they reached a massive rock. The sight here was strange—the cave's ceiling had a fairly circular hole through which sunlight was falling directly downward. Right in front of that rock there was a deep and straight abyss.
Then the three of them stopped right at the edge of the rock. Looking upward, the girl said, Looking toward it, she said, maybe this is the place where we might find that thing.
But at that very moment, cutting through the silence, they felt the presence of someone deep below in that abyss. Light was coming into the chasm from above, but the depth was so great that everything looked blurry and mysterious. It was difficult to see anything clearly, but if someone looked very carefully, they could make out something within the darkness inside that chasm.
When the three of them fixed their gazes into the depths, between the dim light and dense shadows they saw the reflection of a gigantic creature. That creature was as large as a small hill and looked extremely ferocious. The sounds of that creature echoed upward, tearing through the silence—such a disgusting sound as if it were chewing raw flesh.
Instead of being frightened by that sound, there was a strange satisfaction in the girl's tone. She said, "Looks like we found what we were looking for."
A gleam appeared in the eyes of her companion beside her as well. He replied, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's begin our work."
An evil smile spread across the girl's face. "Then let's go…"
Saying that, the three of them jumped into that deep black chasm without any hesitation. The moment their feet struck the surface below, terrifying cracks appeared in the ground and a cloud of dust rose. From the way they landed and how the ground split, it was clear that they were no ordinary humans but possessors of extraordinary powers.
When the dust settled, the creature before them became clear. That creature was none other than a blue-colored, ferocious and powerful dragon that had already sensed the presence of intruders in its cave.
The girl looked at it with her eyes and replied happily, "At last we've found that dragon!"
The dragon had completely noticed their presence. It turned its massive head and, looking toward them, spoke something in a very heavy and echoing voice.
That voice sounded like mountains colliding with each other, but her two companions could not understand a single word. In fact, the dragon was not speaking in any human language but in the ancient Dragon Language—a language used for centuries by dragons and those who communicate with dragons.
And among the three of them, only that girl could understand that mysterious language. Amid the silence and the dragon's heavy breaths, her companion stepped a little closer and asked softly:
"Hey Michelle, will you tell us what this dragon is saying?"
Michelle, who until now had been watching the dragon closely,
Michelle looked toward her companions, pride shining in her eyes at understanding that ancient language. She replied, "This dragon says it already had a feeling someone would come." From Michelle's words it was clear that this was a female dragon.
As soon as that was said, the gigantic dragon, which had been sitting until now, slowly stood up on its feet. The glow in its eyes showed it had already sensed the intentions of these hunters.
Michelle now addressed it directly in its language: "Actually, you have been chosen to be offered to Evan Castle. That's why we must take you from here."
A faint cold laugh echoed from the dragon's throat. It replied, "I already knew someone would come. In fact, Mother Ava informed me of your arrival beforehand… and today none of you will leave here alive!"
Michelle tried bargaining again. She said, "Look, if you come with us and surrender yourself to Evan Castle, we promise we'll bring back Mother Ava of the Child Prophecy into existence." But upon hearing the name Child Prophecy—
The dragon's eyes filled with anger and hatred. Roaring, it asked, "Are you really from the Child Prophecy group? Does that mean the same group that captured one of my sisters 12 years ago? Back then your group made the same promise, but when she didn't agree you captured her by force. I don't know why you and your group did that, but tell me—where is my sister? If you give me information about her, maybe I'll let you live."
Michelle's tone hardened. She replied, "I don't know anything about her. I've been ordered to bring you, and I will take you from here, even if I have to cut off your wings!"
Hearing this, the dragon didn't hesitate and attacked them directly with its massive claws. The strike was so fast that the cave echoed, but the three of them swiftly leapt back and avoided it.
Michelle's companion asked nervously, "Michelle, what did you say to it that it suddenly wants to kill us?"
Instead of an answer, the dragon unleashed from its mouth a blue flame-thrower-like attack. The blue flames were so hot that stones began melting. The three had to retreat again, but that 7-foot-tall man, instead of backing away, rushed toward the dragon. He was charging straight at it, so the dragon saw him coming and tried to attack with its claws—but it was shocked. Its legs wouldn't move from their place! When it looked down it was stunned—a thick iron chain, shining like sunlight, had bound its legs. It was no ordinary weapon but a Hallowed, impossible to break.
Taking advantage of the moment, that 7-foot-tall man leapt high. Flying through the air, he reached directly near the dragon's face. Suddenly a strange orange energy began gathering in his hand. In moments all that power condensed into his fist.
Then with the full force of that same fist he landed a powerful hit on the dragon's face. The blow was so deadly that the dragon's long neck bent completely backward and slammed into the cave wall.
But that punch wasn't powerful enough to defeat a dragon, so within moments it recovered from that fierce strike. Yet now its eyes were filled with bloodlust. It straightened its neck and roared so loudly that stones began falling from the cave ceiling.
Just then the third companion, who was holding those shining Hallowed chains, moved. He swung the chains in the air and hurled them with lightning speed toward the dragon's massive neck. The chains twisted in the air like snakes and wrapped around its neck. The dragon struggled to break free, but the chains shone like sunlight and seemed to be absorbing its strength.
At that very moment Michelle focused her mental power and attacked directly at the dragon's mind.
That mental attack was so dangerous that—
The dragon, which had opened its mouth to attack, suddenly froze. It felt as if thousands of needles were stabbing inside its brain. That meant Michelle's psychological attack was so deep it could drive even a dragon insane. The dragon slowly began breaking mentally and fell into confusion. Seeing this advantage, the 7-foot-tall man advanced again. He saw the dragon was helpless due to the mental assault and Hallowed chains. So he filled both his hands once more with that same orange energy. This time its glow seemed even stronger.
Then that man took a tremendous jump and, spinning in midair, focused his strike toward the dragon's chest (heart area).
Amid the mental pain, the dragon opened its eyes and saw death approaching. But gathering all its strength, it yanked the chains, dragging the third companion forward along with them. The cave—
Just then the dragon opened its mouth and began filling it with wind-like energy. Before the 7-foot man's attack could land again, the dragon released a terrifying sonic-blast-like attack from that energy. The force was so great that the huge man flew backward through the air like a straw.
The echo of that sonic blast caused earthquake-like tremors throughout the cave. Heavy rocks began breaking from the ceiling and falling. The third man controlling the Hallowed chain was forced to step back to avoid being crushed by falling stones. The moment he stepped back, his grip on the dragon loosened and the chain slipped off its body.
Freed from the chains, the dragon didn't waste even a second. It spread its massive wings and looked toward the round opening above the cave from where sunlight was entering. Then it flapped its wings and began flying upward with full force.
Michelle, who was still busy dodging falling rocks, saw the dragon rising and immediately understood the situation was slipping out of control. She shouted to warn her companions, "If we don't stop it here, it'll escape from here and then finding it again might become impossible."
But now the dragon had come very close to that opening, and from the speed and force of its flight a whirlwind of air formed inside the cave.
But just as the dragon reached the cave's mouth, Michelle once again used her mental attack. She focused all her mental power into a single point and struck the dragon's mind with a fierce psychological attack. Because of it the dragon again felt as if a thousand needles were piercing its brain at once. The pain was so unbearable that its eyes shut and it lost balance while flying. Out of control in the air, it slammed into the cave walls and crashed back down to the same spot it had taken off from. As it fell, dust flew everywhere, but the dragon did not give up and stood up again in its place.
But now the dragon understood that in this confined space it could neither defeat these hunters nor escape. Only one path remained—using its most destructive and suicidal move.
Just then it felt it had once again fallen into the grip of those Bright Chains. Their third companion had seized the chance and bound the dragon again. The dragon knew that if it used its ultimate move in such conditions, it too could die in its own attack. But it had decided—it was better to embrace death here than be captured by these Child Prophecy people.
So it began forming a massive blue energy ball inside its mouth. Its glow was enough to blind the entire cave. But then the chain wielder hurled a part of his chain into the air, which flew and twisted straight around the dragon's mouth and clamped its jaws shut with full force.
Yet the dragon still did not give up. It decided it would let that energy sphere explode inside its closed mouth. It had made its final decision—it would die itself but would not fall into the hands of the Child Prophecy. The chain-user read that suicidal intent in its eyes. He realized that if the explosion happened inside its mouth, the dragon could die. So he immediately loosened all his chains.
But the very next moment, the cave thundered with an ear-splitting explosion. Blue fire and energy waves spread everywhere. The entire battlefield was filled with smoke and flames. When the smoke cleared a little, only the dragon stood there with its glowing blue body. It looked around—fire everywhere and silence. It thought it had won the battle and so it breathed a sigh of relief.
But that sigh had not even finished when it sensed movement within the flames.
Suddenly, tearing through the blazing fire, that same 7-foot-tall human emerged. He was completely burned, yet his strength had not diminished. Before the dragon could understand anything, he leapt into the air and landed a powerful punch straight onto the dragon's mouth.
Disch…!!
The impact of that punch was so terrifying that the dragon's head slammed straight into the stone wall. Darkness covered its vision and it collapsed unconscious.
The dragon had now lost.