Draco gently set Adi down against a wall in the Ganesha familia inner residence, his emerald eyes, now pools of shimmering light, never leaving Mors.
A faint, almost imperceptible green aura pulsed around him, like breath from a forgotten forest.
Mors stared, a flicker of genuine shock momentarily eclipsing the rage in his bloodshot eyes. Draco, a mere level five at best, now radiating an aura of something far beyond, was an anomaly he couldn't comprehend.
The sheer speed, the effortless snatch of Adi from his grasp, defied all logic based on their last encounter.
"Shed your colors?" Mors scoffed, though the tremor in his voice betrayed his unease.
"A pathetic trick. You've merely changed your appearance, whelp. You think such a superficial transformation can bridge the gap between us?"
He lunged, a blur of motion fueled by frustration and a desperate need to reassert dominance.
His hand, still crackling with sparks from his last spell, shot towards Draco's chest, intending to rip out his heart.
Draco didn't move in the way Mors expected.
Instead, he shifted.
It wasn't merely stepping aside; it was as if his body rippled, dissolving and reforming a foot to the left, the lunging attack passing harmlessly through the space he had just occupied.
The faint green aura intensified, clinging to his form like a second skin.
"You're slow," Draco said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion.
He was no longer the hesitant youth Mors remembered.
This was something colder, sharper.
Mors snarled, spinning on his heel, his other hand lashing out with a similar attack.
But Draco was already gone, a green streak flashing past Mors's peripheral vision.
A sharp crack echoed as Draco appeared behind Mors, his transformed arm a blur as he slammed his claw into Mors's back.
Mors grunted, a sound of surprise and pain, his body momentarily buckling.
He recovered quickly, twisting around, his bandaged form a whirlwind of furious strikes.
Each blow carried immense force, capable of shattering stone, yet Draco evaded them with unnerving ease, his green scales shimmering as he wove through the assault.
He was like water, flowing around obstacles, but with the underlying strength of a torrent.
Adi, propped against the wall, watched in disbelief, her breath catching in her throat.
Her body screamed in protest from her injuries, but her mind was fixated on the impossible battle unfolding before her.
Draco, the friend she had been desperate to protect just moments ago, was now something else entirely.
He was a force of nature, a green phantom dancing in the face of oblivion.
The tears that had streamed down her face moments ago had dried, replaced by a wide-eyed awe and a sliver of hope.
"Draco... what have you become?" she whispered, her voice hoarse, barely audible over the clash of blows.
......…
Draco hadn't just been idly unconscious for the past two days.
After his rampage during his past battle with Mors, he had fallen into a deep stupor.
During that trying period, within the depths of his fractured mind, there had been only an abyss of darkness—a suffocating tangle of regret, sorrow, and searing pain.
Draco had felt as though he would never again see the light, his consciousness sinking deeper and deeper into a viscous swamp of self-loathing and despair.
But then, as if it were all an illusion, everything was cleared away.
It was as if a gentle, cleansing rain had fallen, washing every shadow clean.
It was a sensation Draco was sure he had felt before, a whisper from the past.
It had happened once, on the day he nearly went mad, when the black dragon had taken almost everything from him.
This time, the feeling was more pronounced, more absolute.
With the darkness cleared, Draco quickly realized he was in a familiar place: the ephemeral, dreamlike world of the spirits, one he had visited twice before.
And cradling him in her arms, like a mother holding a fragile child, was a familiar spirit—Undine.
Behind her, radiating gentle light, were several other spirits he had never met, their forms ethereal yet substantial.
Over the two days his consciousness had stayed in this spirit world.
Draco had come to learn quite a few things about his kind, about himself.
The current power-up wasn't something special, nor was it a gift bestowed upon him by the spirits.
It was something he could always do, an inherent capability, but one he could never really utilize due to certain restrictions placed upon his very essence.
His recent rampage, the raw, uncontrolled power unleashed, and the resulting damage to his own body and spirit had somewhat loosened something within him, a crucial link in those ancient restrictions.
This allowed him partial access to an innate ability called 'Spirit Transformation,' or more specifically, 'Dragon Spirit Transformation.'
It was an intrinsic mutation, a manifestation caused by the unique mixture of the two fundamental aspects that made up his extraordinary existence: dragon and spirit.
Sadly, time was limited.
The flow of existence in the spirit world was mercurial, everything seeming so fast, yet achingly slow.
Draco couldn't learn as much as he desperately wanted, couldn't unravel all the mysteries of his heritage.
Just as abruptly as he had appeared in the spirit world, he had been suddenly jolted back.
Perhaps his physical body sensed it was in imminent danger, or some other unseen factors had pulled him back, but Draco was immensely glad that he had returned precisely when he did.
.........
Swish! Weave!
The air crackled, not with sound, but with pure, unadulterated force.
Two figures moved in a blur, fists clashing mid-air, creating subtle, emerald-tinged flashes of light.
Adi, the sole onlooker, watched, paralyzed, a strange unease settling deep within her.
The fight was a tempest of power, yet it felt unnaturally quiet.
No sonic booms, no shattered earth, no tearing winds.
For the sheer magnitude of energy being expended, the lack of corresponding destruction was bizarre, almost surreal.
If not for the vibrant green flashes that erupted from Draco's form, flaring like distant lightning with every impact, Adi wouldn't be able to discern his presence, lost in the chaotic dance of shadows and speed.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic snare drum against the eerie silence.
Just as quickly as it began, the ballet ceased.
Both fighters skidded to a halt, their forms coalescing from blurs into distinct outlines.
Mors, his now ragged clothing the only sign of exertion, smirked, a predatory gleam in his eyes.
"Hmm, not bad, dragon boy," Mors conceded, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest.
"But I believe that is enough warm-up. I have verified that this power of yours is indeed genuine. I'm going to get serious now, so you better squeeze out more from that new ability of yours."
He cracked his neck, then his knuckles, each pop echoing like a distant thunderclap in the sudden quiet.
His expression, once wild and almost feral, smoothed into a mask of cold, focused intent.
The surprise and blinding emotion that had fueled his initial assault had vanished, replaced by the honed precision of a true combatant.
'Warm-up?' Adi screamed internally, her blood running cold.
Her mind reeled, grappling with the impossible revelation.
All this while, she had thought they were fighting to the death.
The casual dismissal of such immense power as mere practice sent a fresh wave of terror through her.
"That condescending tone will be your undoing," Draco replied, his voice a low, steady current against the rising tension.
His green eyes held a dangerous glint, utterly devoid of the fear Adi now felt.
"But you are right. I should begin seriously trying to kill you."
"Heh, that's the spirit. Come, let us devour each other, but before that, we need a larger audience." Mors challenged, his feet stretched out, raised high.
He held the pose for a beat, a theatrical flourish, before plunging his foot down.
Stump!
The impact was immediate and devastating.
The full strength of a Level 7 slammed into the ground.
Boom!
Rattle!
The entire Ganesha familia home shuddered violently, a deep tremor that tore through stone and wood alike.
Dust billowed from ceilings, and the distant shouts of panic erupted from within, a stark contrast to the quiet battle that had preceded it.
Civilians and adventurers alike cried out, a wave of confusion and fear spreading rapidly.
"What was that?" Shakti demanded, her head snapping back from the frontlines, her eyes wide with alarm.
"It came from the inner residence. Did something blow up?" a subordinate stammered, his grip tightening on his weapon.
"Is it the Evilus? They couldn't have gotten inside, right?" another questioned, his voice laced with disbelief.
"No way, we have this place completely surrounded and secure!" A third argued, desperation creeping into his tone.
"Shut up! We're going to check." Shakti yelled, her grip tightening around the haft of her spear until her knuckles were white.
Her gaze swept over her panicked familia members and civilians, a silent promise of protection in her eyes.
Leaving a trusted subordinate in charge of the frontlines, Shakti, her heart pounding with a mixture of duty and dread, charged towards the inner part of the Ganesha familia home, her thoughts consumed by the safety of her familia, and a nagging worry for Adi.
"How dramatic," Draco muttered, a hint of disdain in his tone.
"Every great fight needs a good audience, don't they?" Mors retorted, a smug, almost childish grin splitting his face.
"What a stupid thing," Draco scoffed, shaking his head.
"As much as I want to rip that smug head off your shoulders right here and now, this fight cannot take place here. There will be too many casualties to the civilians."
His gaze briefly flickered to Adi, a fleeting moment of concern visible in his sharp eyes.
"And why should I care about them? Don't forget, I am part of the evilus," Mors replied, feigning an offended expression.
His true nature, a cruel disregard for life, shone through.
"I wasn't saying it to earn your understanding or what not," Draco countered, his voice flat.
"I was just telling you what's going to happen."
With a slight grunt, mighty wings, covered in iridescent green scales, burst from his back, tearing through his bare skin.
The air around him shimmered with raw power.
"Wha…"
Before Mors could even complete his retort, a mighty gale, born of Draco's surging power, suddenly erupted from beneath his feet, coiling and lifting him impossibly high into the air.
With nothing to grasp onto or push against, Mors could only let the violent currents carry him, a momentary look of shock replacing his smugness.
"I will be back when I am done with him, Adi. Some of your familia members should have noticed by now and are on their way, so get well soon." Draco called out, his voice carrying clearly on the wind, a strange blend of command and care.
Then, with a powerful beat of his new wings, he launched himself into the air, a green-scaled projectile.
"Hiyaaa!"
Using the unleashed wind elemental energy to boost his speed to an impossible degree, Draco delivered a powerful, guttural kick to Mors's body, which was still suspended helplessly high up in the air.
Swoosh!
Like a rocket, Mors's form shot away in a violent arc, a rapidly diminishing speck against the clouds, hurtling into the distance, away from the Ganesha familia home.
Draco followed instantly, a green streak in the sky.
"Come back safe!" Adi yelled, her voice hoarse, a desperate, tearful plea torn from her throat. She watched, her vision blurring, as Draco disappeared after Mors, flying towards his fall location.
A strange mix of relief and anxiety washed over her.
The immediate threat was gone, but her protector was now alone against a monster.
Immediately after Draco had vanished, the heavy footsteps of Shakti and some of her subordinates burst into the yard.
"Adi!" Shakti screamed, her voice a raw cry of relief mixed with terror, immediately rushing towards her little sister, her spear momentarily forgotten.
"Onee-san…" Adi shakily called out, her voice barely a whisper, the dam of her suppressed terror finally breaking.
Tears, hot and uncontrollable, burst forth, streaming down her face.
With Draco taking Mors away from the immediate vicinity, the suffocating pressure of impending doom lifted.
The realization that she had been inches from death, again, had finally elicited a torrent of emotions she hadn't even known she was holding in – fear, relief, helplessness....
As the two sisters collapsed into a tearful embrace, Shakti clinging to Adi as if she might vanish, the other familia members who had accompanied Shakti immediately snapped into a combat stance.
Their eyes, wide with a mixture of confusion and vigilance, scanned the yard.
They had all seen the two figures who had suddenly burst into the sky, but the distance, and the sheer speed, had prevented them from discerning their identities.
All they currently knew was that something impossibly powerful had just torn through their home, and now, mysteriously, had vanished.