The battlefield shook.
One hundred elite beast tamers rushed toward Lin Z from every direction.
Dragons roared.
Lightning tore across the sky.
Phoenix flames ignited the broken mountain.
Shadow beasts vanished into darkness.
And floating high above everything…
Dragon Apex Academy watched.
Silent.
Waiting.
Kael Draven stood with his arms crossed on one of the distant sky towers, smiling faintly.
"Choose," he whispered.
Lin Z stared at the golden system screen in front of him.
SOVEREIGN PROTOCOL DETECTED
Awaken Fragment Memory Layer 2?
WARNING: Host survival probability: 27%
YES / NO
Sweat rolled down his face.
Scrappy stood beside him, staring upward.
For once…
No sneezing.
No tiny flames.
Only silence.
Inside Lin Z's mind, Scrappy's voice echoed.
"If you do this…"
A pause.
"…I may never become the same again."
Lin Z looked at the hundred incoming enemies.
Then at Scrappy.
Then smiled.
"When have things ever gone normally for us?"
And
He pressed YES.
Everything stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
Frozen.
The charging dragons.
The fire.
The wind.
The sky.
Even time itself.
Darkness swallowed the battlefield.
Lin Z found himself standing alone in a black void.
No academy.
No enemies.
Nothing.
Then
A sound.
Clink.
Metal chains.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Something enormous moved inside the darkness.
Then two eyes opened.
Massive golden suns.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
A voice shook existence.
"Who touches my seal?"
Lin Z couldn't breathe.
Before him floated a dragon so large reality bent around its shape.
Its wings stretched beyond visible distance.
Black star chains wrapped around its neck, chest, legs, and wings.
Each chain pulsed with ancient symbols.
The same dragon he had seen before.
The true form.
Scrappy.
No
Something far older.
The dragon stared down at him.
"You are not my original contractor."
Lin Z swallowed.
"Contractor?"
The dragon lowered its head.
"Millions of cycles ago…"
"…I had another."
Suddenly memories exploded around Lin Z.
He saw worlds burning.
Entire galaxies collapsing.
Ancient dragons fighting impossible creatures made of broken mathematics.
The Dragon Council in its original form.
Not evil.
Protective.
Guardians.
Then
Something worse appeared.
A hole.
A tear outside existence.
Creatures beyond reality.
Not monsters.
Not gods.
Errors.
Living contradictions.
One of them spoke.
A voice impossible to understand.
"Creation is flawed."
Then the ancient dragon
The Lost Sovereign
Attacked.
And war began.
Lin Z staggered backward.
"What… was that?"
The dragon answered.
"The First Collapse."
Its chains tightened.
"I was created to defend existence itself."
"But the Council betrayed me."
"They feared what I would become if I evolved completely."
Lin Z narrowed his eyes.
"So they sealed you."
The dragon's golden eyes darkened.
"No."
A pause.
Then
"They shattered me."
"And turned my body into fragments."
Lin Z froze.
That explained everything.
Scrappy wasn't a beast.
He was literally a broken god.
The dragon leaned closer.
"You have reached Synchronization Threshold."
"I now offer a choice."
System text appeared.
ULTIMATE CHOICE
Option 1: Maintain Current Bond
Safe progression
Slow evolution
Preserve Scrappy's current personality
Option 2: Force Sovereign Restoration
Immediate massive power increase
Restore ancient memories
Personality corruption possible
Unknown side effects
Lin Z stared silently.
He looked upward.
The dragon watched him.
Waiting.
Then Lin Z asked quietly
"If I choose option two…"
"Will Scrappy disappear?"
For the first time…
The dragon hesitated.
Then answered.
"Yes."
Silence.
Outside the void
Time resumed.
The hundred beast tamers attacked simultaneously.
Fire.
Ice.
Thunder.
Darkness.
Poison.
Explosion magic.
Everything converged on Lin Z's position.
Lyra shouted from a distance.
"He's dead!"
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"No…"
Then
The attacks froze again.
Space cracked.
A golden pulse exploded outward.
BOOOOOOOOM
Every single beast tamer was blown backward instantly.
Their dragons screamed.
The mountain shattered.
The clouds disappeared.
Even Dragon Apex Academy trembled.
A giant golden sphere of energy formed around Lin Z.
No one could see inside.
Inside the sphere
Lin Z stared at the final choice.
His hand shook.
Then
He smiled softly.
And looked toward the massive dragon.
"No."
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
Lin Z crossed his arms.
"Scrappy is annoying."
Tiny pause.
"Always sneezing."
Another pause.
"Sets random stuff on fire."
The dragon stared.
Lin Z grinned.
"But…"
"He's my friend."
The void became silent.
Lin Z continued.
"I'm not replacing him for power."
"Find another idiot."
Complete silence.
Then
For the first time in millions of years…
The dragon laughed.
A deep cosmic sound.
Stars formed around them.
Reality trembled.
"Interesting."
"You rejected absolute power."
"Even my first contractor did not do that."
The chains around the dragon suddenly shattered.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Hundreds.
Exploding into starlight.
System alarms screamed.
SYSTEM ERROR
UNEXPECTED RESPONSE DETECTED
New Path Created
SOVEREIGN COEXISTENCE PATH UNLOCKED
Lin Z blinked.
"What?"
The dragon smiled.
A terrifying smile.
"Then I shall evolve…"
"…without consuming him."
Lin Z's eyes widened.
"That's possible?!"
The dragon spread its massive wings.
"It has never been done before."
Outside
The golden sphere shattered.
Everyone looked upward.
Scrappy floated above Lin Z.
But different.
Very different.
Still small.
Still dragon shaped.
But now
His gray scales had turned black and gold.
Ancient runes moved across his body.
His eyes contained galaxies.
Tiny black star chains floated around his neck like ornaments.
New system message appeared.
Evolution Complete
SCRAPPY to CHAOS SOVEREIGN DRAKE
Level 10 to Level 35
New Skills Acquired:
1.Void Flame
2.Sovereign Aura
3.Star Chain Authority
4.Reality Resistance
5. Concept Devour
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Then one student whispered
"…What rank is that?"
System tried answering.
Threat Rank: ERROR
Threat Rank: ERROR
Threat Rank: ERROR
Kael Draven's smile vanished.
Completely.
Lyra stepped backward.
Actually afraid.
Dragon Apex Academy began shaking violently.
And then
A new voice echoed.
Not the Council.
Not the Academy.
Something else.
Something ancient.
Something awake.
The sky split apart.
A giant crimson eye opened above the world.
Larger than the previous one.
Much larger.
The System instantly screamed.
ABSOLUTE THREAT DETECTED
ENTITY IDENTIFIED
THE FIRST ERROR
Lin Z stared upward.
"…That sounds bad."
Scrappy floated beside him.
His voice entered Lin Z's mind.
Calm.
Ancient.
Serious.
"No."
A pause.
Then
"That is the thing that killed gods."
The crimson eye blinked.
And smiled.