The flame burned between them. Its voice echoed in Vermyros’s ears.
"Give your honor. Give your soul. And receive power beyond him."
For a brief moment, hesitation appeared in his eyes. But only for a moment. His anger was deeper than his pride.
"Take it! Take whatever you want! Just give me the power!" he roared from the depths of his being.
Soul? Honor? What were they worth when he had been humiliated like this? When he had been so afraid that he no longer even had the courage to fight?
His pride was completely shattered... and he knew that if he did not rebuild it, his entire life would be over.
The flame exploded.
White and black light covered the entire field. The spark sank into his chest, and immediately his massive body began to burn. Not a fire that destroyed, but a fire that reconstructed.
His scales melted and turned into pure fire. His wings became pillars of flame. His horns stretched and twisted like burning spears. His eyes no longer had pupils, only two spheres of primordial fire.
But more important than his appearance... his awareness faded.
He was no longer Vermyros. There was only rage. Only the desire to destroy.
With unimaginable speed, he charged toward Daniel. The ground evaporated in his path.
Daniel tightened his grip on The Heavens Honor. The Law of Death and the Law of Eternity flowed through the blade.
The first strike arrived.
A pillar of flame split the sky.
Daniel spoke without delay.
[Eternal Deny]
The concept of "damage" was separated from the attack. The flame collided with him, but it was as if it found nothing to burn. The energy twisted around him and scattered.
However, the shockwave crushed the ground and pushed his body back several meters.
His skin cracked. Blood flowed from his arm. He immediately used Mana Healing to close the wound. Flesh regenerated. Bone stabilized.
"What did this idiot do?" He had not heard the conversation between Vermyros and the two flames, so he did not know what had just happened. But whatever it was, it was clearly not good.
This dragon had been completely suppressed just moments ago, yet suddenly he gained enormous power. That was not something that happened naturally.
Vermyros attacked again.
This time with a claw that tore through space.
Daniel activated his shield. The power of the attacks had increased drastically. Even his bare strikes were shattering space itself.
[Demonic Twilight Shield]
A dark shield formed. The blow landed. The ground collapsed. But the shield not only deflected the strike, it absorbed part of the flame’s energy and returned it to Daniel’s body.
Lightning energy ignited in his veins. He stepped forward. Defending was enough. It was time for him to attack. No matter how much stronger this dragon had become, it still was not enough to face him.
He raised his fist. The Law of Thunder and the Law of Death gathered together.
[Thunder Of Lost Dreams]
His fist struck the dragon’s flaming chest. An explosion of black and silver lightning spread through Vermyros’s body. Lightning that did not only burn the flesh, but activated memories of defeat, humiliation, and suppressed fear.
The dragon’s movement paused. But the flame was insane. With a roar, he released a wave of primordial fire that swallowed the entire field.
It was not just swallowing. It was consuming everything. Even space was not spared and was erased.
Seeing this, Daniel understood that this was not Vermyros’s own power. It was easy to tell he had taken power from somewhere else.
[Glass Domain]
A transparent, cracked domain formed around them. Vermyros’s power was temporarily cut in half. His flames shrank—but were still destructive.
Daniel moved through the burned shadows.
[Bloody Shadow Dance]
In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the dragon.
The Heavens Honor shone.
[Strike Of Destruction]
An aura of destruction covered the blade. A vertical slash fell. The dragon’s flaming body split open and the flames became unstable for a moment.
With a wild spin, Vermyros slammed his flaming tail.
This time the hit landed completely.
Daniel’s body was thrown to the ground. His ribs cracked. His breath stopped for a moment.
But before the dragon could continue, his injuries were closed with Mana Healing.
He stood up. His eyes were cold.
"This is your power?" he said calmly.
The dragon only roared and tore open the sky. A rain of primordial fire fell. Daniel raised his sword.
[Everlasting Edge]
A strike without end.
The blade moved through the air and created a continuous line of cuts that severed the rain of flames one by one. Each cut was followed by another, as if an endless horizon of slashes had formed.
Vermyros became more insane.
He compressed all his flames and condensed them into a monster even larger than himself, the embodiment of his sold rage.
It fell toward Daniel.
This time Daniel used his fists. The aura of death spread around him. Lightning energy ran across his skin. He released the Law of Eternity.
He simply walked forward.
First punch. Infused with death.
Second punch. Infused with thunder.
Third punch. A combination of both.
The flame was pushed back. The Heavens Honor shone.
[Eternal Scar]
The blade passed through Vermyros’s flaming chest. A wound was created that the flame could not heal. The more it burned, the deeper the wound became.
The dragon’s fiery eyes trembled. For the first time... fear appeared in them.
He had received power beyond law. But he still could not break Daniel. Daniel stepped forward.
[Death Roar]
A silent roar that targeted the mind. Analysis, focus, and any sign of control collapsed. Vermyros, who had already lost his sanity, fell completely into chaos.
He stepped back. His flames became unstable.
"Impossible..." a broken voice came from within the fire.
Daniel held his sword horizontally. The Law of Death flowed through the blade. The Law of Eternity stabilized it.
[Eternal Severance – Final Requiem]
A calm slash. There was no massive explosion and no blinding light. Just separation.
Vermyros’s connection to the flame was cut. The fire separated from his body. His dragon form collapsed.
His body fell to the ground, no longer flame, no longer a monster. Just a being breathing... and trembling. His eyes stared at Daniel.
There was no anger left in them.
Only fear.
"Even... with this power..." In the end, even after selling his soul and his honor, he still could not defeat Daniel.
Why? Why couldn’t he win? Why is this bastard so powerful? Who exactly is he? He could not remember ever seeing this man in Dragon Valley or hearing anything about him.
His reaction would probably have been even worse if he had found out that Daniel was actually a human.
Daniel stepped forward. He placed the sword at his throat again.
"Your will is broken."
Vermyros took a heavy breath. He tried to stand. He failed. The spark on his chest trembled. It cracked.
Then it collapsed.
"Will broken. Eliminated from the trial," the goddess announced.
Vermyros’s body dissolved into light.
The scattered flames moved toward Daniel. He was the only one left.
The battlefield became quiet, though nothing remained of it.
The Heavens Honor stood silent and cold in his hand.
And the First Flame... this time without resistance, floated before him.
"So this is it."