Before he could react or even understand where he was and what exactly had happened, the white space suddenly began to take shape. It did not take long before it completely changed.
The ground beneath Daniel’s feet was made of black stone, with veins of extinguished fire flowing across its surface. The sky above was cracked open, and dark flames burned within those fractures. There was no sun. No stars.
Only one presence remained.
In front of him, not far away, a being stood.
A dragon.
But not an ordinary dragon. It was different from every dragon he had ever seen, both in aura and appearance.
Its body was covered in matte black scales, and across them ran golden lines that glowed like old scars. Two long, broken horns extended from its head. Its eyes burned with white flames, not red, not gold.
This was a version of the first dragon who had rebelled against the Goddess.
He was from the lineage of the earliest dragons. A being whose essence had been built from law itself.
’So this is a dragon from the primordial lineage? The strongest dragons? His aura is truly transcendent and majestic. It feels like he is favored by heaven and earth,’ Daniel thought.
He had never seen such a being before. The closest comparison was that child born with divine power, the one the demons wanted in the Gulf of Sumer.
This dragon gave him the feeling of being cherished by the world itself, the most beloved existence between heaven and earth.
So does that mean he has to fight a primordial dragon? He knew that those dragons were, at the very least, at the level of gods.
Then how could he possibly fight one of them? Unless its power has been restricted.
A deep voice echoed inside Daniel’s mind.
"So you are the first to reach the heart without collapsing."
Daniel summoned The Heavens Honor into his hand. The blade was calm and cold, but deep within it, the Law of Death and the Law of Eternity were flowing.
"This is just a test, right?" Daniel said calmly.
The dragon did not smile, but its gaze shifted.
"It is not a test. It is an evaluation of essence," the dragon said in a godlike tone, and then it began its attack.
[ Sovereign Gravity Collapse ]
The dragon spread its wings.
The ground beneath Daniel compressed inward. Gravity multiplied several times over. Not only his body, but even the energy within his veins was crushed under pressure. Stones turned into powder.
This was an advanced version of the pressure created by the heart. But this time, it was targeted.
Daniel did not kneel.
[ Eternal Anchor ]
The Law of Eternity stabilized within his body. He imposed the concept of "standing" onto the moment. Gravity tried to bend him, but the moment in which he stood became eternal. The pressure could not break it.
He stepped forward.
"Interesting. Two laws, and you can use them so well. But it is not enough," the dragon said with admiration.
[ Black Star Devourer ]
The dragon opened its mouth.
No flame came out.
Instead, a black point formed before it. A compressed star that devoured the surrounding light. Then that star shot toward Daniel.
Everything in its path was destroyed. Space twisted.
Daniel raised his sword.
[ Grave Reflection ]
The blade moved and drew a thin line before the star. The Law of Death severed the energy’s path and brought it to an "end before impact." The star trembled, and before reaching him, it collapsed.
But the shockwave destroyed the land within a kilometer radius. The dragon became more serious.
"Well, this might become troublesome. But I will not lose," the dragon laughed and continued attacking.
[ Primordial Flame of Rebellion ]
A white-black flame erupted from the dragon’s body. This was not ordinary fire. It burned concepts.
Air, earth, even the surrounding laws.
Wherever the flame passed, the structure of reality cracked. Daniel felt that this fire could even burn the connection to the Law of Death itself.
"As they say, the best defense is offense."
This time, he did not defend.
[ Silent Boundary of the End ]
An invisible domain formed around him. Anything that entered it moved closer to its endpoint. The flame collided with the domain. Its speed slowed. Then slowed further. Then it became unstable.
The Law of Death imposed the concept of an end upon a flame that burned concepts.
The flame did not simply extinguish. It collapsed.
"For a human to reach this level," the dragon said with a smile.
It was clear he knew Daniel was human.
But it did not seem to matter to him.
The ground trembled.
[ Tyrant’s Dominion of the First Blood ]
The world changed.
The sky turned red. The earth cracked open. Suddenly, hundreds of dragon shadows appeared around Daniel. Each one as large as a mountain, and each one completely real.
This was not an illusion. Every shadow could strike.
They attacked at the same time.
Daniel took a deep breath.
[ Abyssal Crown: Endless Requiem ]
The Law of Death was no longer just around him. It rose upward. It expanded. It touched the sky. Every shadow that entered its range connected to its potential moment of death.
One after another, they cracked apart. Not with explosions, but with silence.
For the first time, the dragon stepped forward. The ground was destroyed with every step.
It was clear he had concluded he needed to become even more serious. At this rate, he could not defeat this human.
[ Lawbreaker’s Eclipse ]
The dragon folded its wings, and suddenly all the surrounding laws were disrupted. Death became unstable. Eternity trembled. Daniel’s connection to his laws weakened.
This skill directly attacked his essence.
For a moment, The Heavens Honor dimmed.
The dragon appeared in front of him at an incomprehensible speed and brought down its claw. Daniel retreated this time. The ground split open and blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
This attack was real. It was the first blow he had taken.
"Your laws are not absolute," the dragon said.
"This is the end."
Then it added—
[ Final Cataclysm of the Betrayed ]
The dragon released all of its energy. Its body burned in white-black light. A massive crack opened in the sky. A rain of primordial flames fell.
If this strike fully landed, the entire realm would be destroyed.
This was the final attack.
Daniel closed his eyes.
The Law of Death.
And the Law of Eternity.
He released both at the same time.
[ Eternal Severance: Absolute Horizon ]
This time, the blade did not just cut through space.
It cut the horizon.
A horizontal line stretched across the entire world. Everything above it was separated from everything below it. The dragon’s attack was split in two before it could fully form.
The energy collapsed.
The rain went out.
And in the heavy silence, the blade passed through the dragon’s chest.
It did not cut his body.
It severed his connection to this realm.
The flame in his eyes trembled.
Cracks spread across him, and his body turned into light.
Before disappearing, he looked at Daniel. In his gaze there was admiration, respect... and at the end, a trace of mockery.
The world reformed.
Daniel stood before the heart once again. The black flame within it pulsed more calmly now.
"Victory recorded," the voice of the Goddess echoed.