{Note for readers - There is gore and violence in this chapter....}
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[DETECTED HOSTILITY OF A TYRANT RANK DRACONIC BEING…..]
[HOST IS ADVISED TO RUN AWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE…]
[WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!!]
The system that he could barely activate after so much effort now screamed like a siren, and the dark foreboding in Kale's heart increased even further.
His face was a mixture of panic and confusion; sweat trickled down his forehead; his heart was overwhelmed by fear. The system told him to run away, but his trembling eyes went to the old and young villagers, smiling at him and cursing the dragons. Suddenly, his ever-so-perceptive father noticed that his expression wasn't right.
He asked, "Son? What's wrong?"
Kale gritted his teeth and just as he was about to answer with a hint of truth, a catastrophic roar of a mighty beast resounded through the skies, which shook the very grounds, the birds, the insects, and every wild animal that heard the enraged cry of the ruling species of this world shuddered unilaterally; even the grass under the villagers' feet wilted.
Just the wrath of that creature was enough to condemn any semi-sentient existence to die.
Fear gripped the hearts of the villagers. Mothers hugged their child, who began crying. Fathers stood in front of their families in a protective gesture. The old dropped to their knees, their eyes opened wide in an unknown terror, a fear they had never felt in their entire lives.
But deep down their souls knew it was the unmistakable enraged roar of a Dragon.
A terrifyingly large creature pierced the clouds in the night sky, unveiling the moon, and the silver light softly illuminated the world. The majestic creature, as it descended from the heavens, slowly became visible in the eyes of all.
Two gargantuan wings that cast a shadow upon the entirety of Dagan, four legs each with crushing power, claws so large and sharp, filled with enough strength to uproot the largest of trees with ease, every part of its body was covered in shimmering blood red scales, and two large backward curved horns stood on its head.
But the most striking thing was its eyes, which held untold fury: a reptilian, narrow slit at the center of its yellow gaze, staring directly at Kale with visible hatred. Kale was stunned; every single cell on his body protested against him, and all the hair on his body stood on end.
He was unable to move, while his little sister hugged his leg, crying uncontrollably.
[HOST MUST RUN AWAY!!!]
[RUN AWAY!!]
[RUN AWAY!!]
[RUN AWAY!!]
The nonstop warning shouts of the system only made the situation worse; its voice wasn't so mechanical anymore, it was desperate. Even enraged or pleading in between the words…
But the cold gaze of the descending Red Dragon made Kale utterly helpless, unable to move a single muscle in his body. Kale struggled madly to escape the influence of the injected fear,
With every ounce of his willpower…
With all of his sanity….
He needed to save them,
His father, Mother…
His little sister…
The villagers…
And Himself…
Yet, he could only see with terrified eyes the Dragon growing larger as it came down. The creature opened its maw, revealing a row of Jagged fangs like glistening black metal. Its tongue, like a living tentacle of eldritch horror.
From its dark abyssal throat, a heat radiated outward, and...…..
GRAAAAH—SHHHHHHHHHH!!!
This time, its catastrophic roar turned into gushing flames hotter than the hottest lava, its maws became the living incarnation of the most destructive volcano, and the world slowed to a crawl in Kale's eyes.
Not like the time when the World Dragon cursed him, but this time it was the flash of recollection, the moment before his impending death.
He saw, in disbelief, how Selene hugged little Iria and him simultaneously in a protective gesture; his father, Darius, stood in front of all three of them like an immovable mountain against the raining flames.
Only the back of his father could be seen, filled with the will to protect his family no matter the cost. Not an ounce of hesitation in his shoulders.
Kale's life flashed before his eyes, finally giving him the window to slip past the hold of the Dragon, and he screamed at the top of his lungs…."NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...….."
The sea of scorching Draconic flames swallowed the entirety of Dagan, the old, the young, the healthy, the ill, male or female, human or animal, even plants; nothing was spared in the face of that invincible might.
[HOST IS ABOUT TO DIE]
[USING EMERGENCY PROTOCOL %^%$%$#%$#%]
[EMERGENCY LIFE SAVING PROTOCOL HAS BEEN INITIATED….]
[SYSTEM HAS ENTERED RED MODE]
Kale didn't hear a single thing of what the system said, just as the flames were about to swallow him away, a thin, transparent but extremely powerful shield of dark energy erected all around his body.
Kale witnessed with terror how his father and his mother were almost melted alive, their screams echoed in his ears, even so, their last breaths were not of their unfathomable agony, but of the desire to protect their children, "Protect your little sister…."
And they were gone, turned into an unrecognizable sludge of melted organs and intestines, and finally, when the flames reached his innocent little sister, he tried everything he could not to let the flames touch her, standing against the flames, but it was of no use.
He roared, "SYSTEM, PROTECT HER…..NOW…."
"PROTECT HER...."
"PROTECT HER...."
But it replied in its usual emotionless voice, [System is only obliged to protect the host]
Iria did not even get the chance to scream in pain; it happened so fast that her last words as she dissolved were a whisper that almost drowned in the scream of the villagers who were all dying, "Browther, it hurttsss….."
Kale dropped to his knees, the melted sludge of his little sister sticking to his body, only separated by the thin energy barrier that protected him. The heat still reached his skin through the barrier, but it wasn't strong enough to burn him. Tears of blood fell from his eyes, leaving an arc of blood in his cheeks. Slowly, everything descended into an utter silence.
Dagan was now nothing but a charred, lava-covered ground, with the molten flesh of its inhabitants mixed into it. Everyone was dead, except for Kale. His eyes remained transfixed on the remains of his little sister.
Unable to believe what just happened, his mind was completely shaken to the extreme.
The Dragon did not land on the grounds, for it did not need to; such a gesture would be beneath its grandeur. Its eyes landed on the one it needed to kill, and seeing the insect still alive, it let out a dissatisfied snort.
However, as it noticed the broken state of the accursed boy, it laughed, "GRRRAAA–HA… HA… HAAAAAAHHH!!!"
Kale's ears picked up the monstrous laughter of the Dragon, his lost eyes finally turned from the remains of his family, to the one responsible for this destruction.
His sad eyes slowly but surely transformed from a shattered gaze to sundering hatred. Gritting his teeth, he stood up from the ground, which was filled with lava and flames. He gazed directly in the eyes of the Red Dragon; this time, there was not an ounce of fear in his eyes, but only rage, rage great enough to burn the world.
His green eyes shimmering with cold ruthlessness, a desire for brutality he had never felt in his two lives, he did not speak a single word, for his gaze conveyed it all.
The Dragon was furious at the insect's insolent gaze, so it let out another roar at the cursed boy, its mouth like a furnace spewing destructive red flames.