"Hmph?"
Draktharion's brow furrowed. He tried to pull his hand free, but Kael's grip tightened.
Crack.
The sound of bone grinding against scale echoed out. The force was so intense, even Draktharion's draconic bones creaked under pressure.
Before he could react
Whoosh!
A tear in the air. A purple blur zipped in from the side. Zoey appeared mid-air, her sword construct gleaming in a vicious arc toward his face.
Simultaneously
"Haaah!!"
A roar split the air as Aurora, flames swirling around her, lunged forward with a blazing fist.
Draktharion scoffed.
"Don't get cocky."
Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire
His aura exploded, a monstrous eruption that shook the earth. A concussive blast flung Zoey and Aurora back, both grunting in pain as they flipped through the air.
"Kugh!"
"Ahh—!"
Still, his eyes flicked back down.
Kael hadn't let go.
If anything… he gripped even harder.
His second hand now grabbed the massive broadsword on his back.
"Berserk Form: Fury."
Draktharion's eyes narrowed.
Kael's sword flashed, and came crashing down toward him with catastrophic force.
BOOM!
The ground cracked, debris shot upward, and the force rippled out.
Draktharion's other hand moved fast, slamming the blade aside, but the sheer power was intense.
'What the hell is this boy…?'
He didn't want to kill him.
This wasn't his mission.
His mission was Aurora. And he wanted to keep it that way.
'No more innocent deaths.'
But Kael wouldn't stop.
Despite their overwhelming difference in power, despite his own grievous wound, Kael raised his blade again.
And again.
His eight sheathed swords around his waist detached, flying into motion, surrounding Draktharion, attacking from all sides.
Draktharion blocked them all, hands a blur of motion.
"Core!" Kael suddenly shouted, crimson blood flailing from his mouth.
Aurora and Zoey, hearing that, turned immediately.
Their eyes flashed as they focused on the core. They understood what he meant instantly.
He would hold him and they would save Atticus.
Their expressions hardened. Spiritual energy and fire surged as they launched toward the orb again.
"Enough!" Draktharion growled.
His claws lashed out, smashing into Kael.
Bones snapped, blood spilled, but Kael didn't let go.
His grip only grew stronger. His grin wider.
Draktharion's frustration finally turned to fury.
His claw gleamed, and in a brutal slash, Kael's arm was severed.
"GAAAH!"
The next punch sent Kael flying, but before he could chase down the girls…
Kael's other hand snapped onto his leg.
Still smiling. Still holding on.
"Tch—!"
Draktharion raged.
"You leave me no choice!"
Dragonfire erupted from his body, engulfing Kael in roaring hellfire.
And yet…
Kael still didn't let go. He didn't make a single sound.
"JUST LET GO!!"
Draktharion stomped down, crushing Kael's hand over and over, until finally, it broke apart.
Finally Freed, Draktharion's body flickered again, appearing instantly before the orb.
"Hah—!"
Zoey gasped, about to reach the orb, but it was too late.
He kicked her away, sending her crashing into the dirt, then turned, his hand wrapped around Aurora's throat.
"AURORA!" Zoey screamed.
Aurora struggled, her flames roaring around her, as she tried to burn the dragon holding on to her. But they did nothing.
He was a dragon. Fire was his birthright.
"This has gone on long enough."
Draktharion's eyes blazed as he prepared to snap her neck. But then…
A chill crawled down his spine. That feeling… there was no way he could ever forget it.
His head snapped sideways, where a gleaming katana sliced through the air, aimed directly for his arm.
Draktharion let go of Aurora and yanked back instinctively, just in time.
The blade carved through the space his hand had been a moment ago.
Draktharion jumped back and created distance with his claws raised, and guard raised higher.
Then, his gaze settled on the figure now standing between him and Aurora.
Cloaked in azure radiance and dust, standing just in front of Aurora. His aura burned silently, lethal, contained, suffocating.
One eye gleamed azure.
The other… violet.
Atticus Ravenstein.
Draktharion's face twisted in disbelief.
"How…?"
Silence fell over the forest.
His disbelief was complete. He couldn't understand it. No matter how hard he thought.
How the hell was Atticus out?!
But then, his gaze flicked to the core still hovering nearby, intact.
His eyes narrowed.
'It's not him…'
Something was off. The faint translucency. The echoing shimmer in his form. And most of all, the aura. It was powerful… but not overwhelming.
If this were the real Atticus, he would've been dead already.
But, the had managed to react to his attack.
'Aurethanians…' Draktharion's thoughts raced.
He'd heard from his grandfather, how Atticus had used those abilities against the Vampyros Elders. He hadn't believed it then.
But now?
Draktharion's body trembled.
'He planned for this…?'
Atticus had anticipated capture. Even though he was Paragon-level strength and was only meeting a mere expert-ranked Lucas, he'd still made contingencies.
He'd left behind an Echo of himself, an echo duplicate to protect the others if the worst happened.
'How can such a being exist…'
Draktharion's claws extended, gleaming sharper. A suffocating silence descended once more as he stared at the echo.
Then, a thunderous roar shattered the stillness.
Colonel Zenon's voice rang across the skies, delivering his rousing speech.
Still, Draktharion didn't move. His eyes never left the echo.
'Just around Grandmaster+ rank…' he assessed.
It was significantly weaker than the true Atticus. But even so, it was still him.
The echo carried his instincts, his coldness, his combat understanding, everything that made Atticus a nightmare.
Zenon's speech ended.
And then, a light ignited across the skies.
BOOM!
The paragons clashed.
A shockwave detonated outward, tearing the heavens.
The ground cracked, buildings crumbled, trees were uprooted.
The massive island trembled, plummeting from the skies.
Aurora and Zoey were flung back by the blast, each grabbing onto tree roots to stay upright. Nate and the other Ravenstein had long since been hurtled backwards.
Still, Draktharion and the Echo stood unmoving.
'He's coming…' Draktharion's eyes sharpened.
An azure arc screamed toward him.
'His life weapon isn't here… I don't have to worry about that katana…'
He blocked the slash easily, but another came from the left. Then another from above.
The echo barraged him. Fast. Calculated. Unrelenting.
'It's still him…'
Draktharion grit his teeth. He remembered it vividly, how Atticus fought during the Nexus.
Cold. Calculating. A battle obsessed monster.
The echo twisted mid-air, slashing twice in a seamless motion. Draktharion blocked, but smoke burst from the clash, blinding him for half a second.
Too late.
CRACK!
A punch landed straight into his face, sending him hurtling backwards.