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In that instant, the Arts resumed their endless quarrel within me as I stood up. Just then, it arrived. A huge dragon with silver and golden scales landed behind me.
"You've finally made it."
I said.
"Why did you intervene?"
It asked. I purposely delayed the Guardian's arrival but he found his way out.
"Why does it matter? You're here for him and so am I."
Dragon Vessel who's been confronting the top-tier Dragon stopped, his aura concealed in a cocoon-like dome, signalling transformation.
"A twelve versus one? Two more people won't change a damn thing."
He spoke, his voice low, eerily calm, almost childlike, yet echoing with an undertone that made the air tremble.
His aura, once a storm of chaos and darkness, suddenly collapsed inward, folding into him. When the veil settled, his transformed state stood revealed, terrifying yet serene, a paradox made flesh. Shadows clung to his frame like loyal hounds, his confident smile that shouldn't have existed on something so dreadful.
Then, slowly, he lifted a hand beckoning.
"Come at me. All of you."
[[IMAGE]]
[[IMAGE]]
Without wasting a breath, they lunged at him, eleven in total. His clawed wings folded inward, enclosing his small frame like a cocoon of living darkness as they closed in.
'He's preparing something.'
The thought struck through my mind like lightning. I flinched, sensing what mortals could never perceive.
Before his wings could unfurl, I snapped my fingers. In an instant, ejecting everyone to Star Island. A fraction of a second later, the environment behind us vanished in blinding silence.
The moment his wings opened, an annihilation field burst forth, unmaking everything it touched. The Guardian braced himself, broad wings spread wide, Star Dust flaring around him to weave a thin, desperate barrier against the consuming storm.
'This is merely his shockwave. No void added.'
I noted, gauging how he'd instantly kill those ten dragons. A jolt passed through me as the Guardian's maw was crackling with white flames. Without delay, it tore through space hitting Dragon Vessel because he could react.
In that instant, I moved behind, unleashing Void Eater pinning him between the white flames and Void Eater's nullifying presence.
"Eheheh"
He chuckled, his darkness tearing through the Guardian's white flames approaching him while Void Eater was chasing him. Eventually, I know where he'll appear. I moved, but the Guardian already predicted his movement also. Claws drenched in Star Dust, it crashed onto Dragon Vessel knocking him out.
He spared his wings and followed, unleashing a torrent of white flames chasing Dragon Vessel. The Guardian is fast as predicted. I followed too, observing from a distance. That's when I noticed he wasn't just running away, he was purposely taking damage and I was able to pick up traces of Star Dust caught within his darkness-laced wings.
'No.'
Suddenly, he flipped, breathing his own flames in return, nullifying the white flames catching the Guardian off guard. Thanks to the faint Star Dust, his darkness was able to nullify the thin barrier around the Guardian interacting with his scales. I appeared in front of him, carving an arc of White, he ducked, teleporting away.
I turned to the Guardian, the darkness evaporating on his rich white scales.
"You think mimicking Star Dust is enough to harm me?"
He asked, blitzed past the boy, his claw mutilating him followed by a huge blast of white flames that dug through Azrith.
I can feel it, he's been completely wiped off yet, something is reconstructing itself. This is the best moment to prove if he's really the one. So I waited.
A bolt of darkness pierced through the white flames, ripping the air apart as it hurtled toward the source. The Guardian barely evaded it, his arm was grazed by a massive claw forged from cosmic-like darkness, its touch searing through his Essereos like acid.
I moved instantly. Silver Dust shimmered around me as I tore the malignant essence of darkness from the wound, vaporising it into nothingness.
"This is my fight."
I said, my voice calm but unyielding. The Guardian's draconic form dissolved in a burst of pale light; the darkness had already begun to eat away at his essence.
"No. I have to protect..."
"Kalidor is gone."
I cut in, my control faltering for the first time.
"And the Star Realm will soon follow."
He froze.
"Listen,"
I continued, my tone softening.
"The Queen and the Dragons are somewhere safe. Wherever they are, that is Kalidor. Hold on to that, and move forward."
He clenched his jaw.
"But..."
"Trust me,"
I said, stepping away, fear of Destruction might rip him apart.
"Not even the Supreme Star Dragon can save this crumbling World. Now go."
He lingered for a heartbeat, eyes filled with reluctant sorrow.
"If only I were stronger..."
"You are. It's just that this opponent doesn't belong to the system you exist in."
I replied, his gaze snapped up in surprise.
"I suppose only an anomaly can defeat an anomaly."
He muttered, summoning a portal beneath himself before vanishing into it.
'Good. Now I can fight freely.'
To be continued...