"His blood abilities... they're a real nightmare to deal with," thought Uriel, cold sweat trickling down his temple as his eyes tracked Abu's every movement. "And as if that wasn't enough, he's better than me at everything... What the hell was I thinking when I created this character? Seriously, I couldn't have made a weaker boss?" Despite the internal revolt, he kept lightly flapping his wings in the air. He couldn't move — not out of lack of will, but pure survival instinct.
Ahead, Abu flashed a wide, wicked grin, his red eyes glowing with arrogance and a thirst for domination.
"Not going to attack, huh?" he said with disdain, extending his hand as if delivering a verdict. "I get it... if I were in your place, I'd be paralyzed too. But luckily, I'm not. So shut up... and be my slave!" His voice rose with a tone of madness. "You will be the stepping stone of my ascension!"
With a sharp motion, he activated his special ability: [Blood Control]. The dark energy pulsed around his body and projected toward Uriel like living red tentacles, seeking to wrap around his soul.
"Now!" Uriel screamed inside his mind, feeling the desperation turn into a burst of power. With one eye glowing icy blue, he gathered all the mana into his lungs and unleashed, with a roaring cry, his trump card: [Great Ice Dragon Breath].
A colossal blast of freezing energy cut through the air, wrapped in snow crystals that danced like sharp blades. The ground below cracked and froze at the slightest touch of the icy wave, creating a deadly path toward Abu.
"Fly up, now!" Abu shouted in alarm to his wyvern, which responded with a fierce growl and soared into the sky, flapping its wings urgently as it narrowly dodged the devastating blast.
In the air, Abu looked at the ice now covering part of the snowy field and clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Tch... That dragon... physically he's not much, but that breath is something even I'd rather avoid," he muttered, his eyes blazing with greed. "But I will capture him. I will tame him. And when I become a dragon like him... I'll be even stronger!"
Abu drew his sword with a firm and decisive motion. The blade glinted under the red light of the sky, reflecting the cruel shine in his eyes. He no longer wanted to waste time. His intent was clear: to bring Uriel down right then and there, no more stalling or speeches. But then... he stopped.
It was as if something had abruptly cut off the flow of his rage. His eyes widened, filled with silent shock. Abu's gaze shifted — not to Uriel, but beyond him, to the other wyvern, where a lizard was riding. For a brief moment, the lizard looked confused, not understanding why it was being stared at like that. But when it saw the terror rising in Abu's eyes, its own blood froze.
Both wyverns began flapping their wings frantically, driven not by command, but pure survival instinct. In a second, they were flying high and fast, as if fleeing from something even Uriel couldn't sense.
Uriel watched everything without understanding what was happening. Still panting from the tension, his mind was in chaos. Had he a human form, he'd be completely soaked in sweat. The only certainty he had was that by luck — or perhaps sheer arrogance — Abu had underestimated him. And it was exactly that which gave him the chance to survive.
Wasting no time, Uriel returned to his fortress. His claws scraped across the stones until he reached his safest hiding spot: a deep hole dug with his own hands. Once inside, he curled up like a tired serpent.
"How pathetic... I feel disgusted with myself... Must be this dragon instinct... But it won't happen again. Next time we meet, Abu... just wait. I won't be the one to lose."
His eyes shut tight, trying to block out the thoughts and the bitter feeling of helplessness. But his mind still questioned what had happened.
"But why did they run like that? Did something happen...? It doesn't make sense for Abu to flee just because of my breath... I saw he was cautious, sure, but... not to that extent. So why? Was there something there I couldn't sense?"
He took a deep breath, his chest slowly expanding before releasing a long sigh.
"Whatever... Whoever — or whatever — caused that... saved me. But it also made it clear how weak I am. Way too weak. I need to change that. I need to get stronger... much stronger!"
And with that resolve hammering in his draconic chest, Uriel finally allowed himself to fall asleep — not a peaceful sleep, but one born of necessity, of preparation for what was to come.
Elsewhere, outside the fortress, Eskandor watched the dark sky. The blood moon had vanished — as if it had never existed.
"Majesty must've won..." he muttered, voice low and almost indifferent.
He stood still, staring blankly at the empty sky, but soon stopped thinking. There was nothing he could do now, nothing that depended on him. Only silence kept him company.
Abu was already far from Uriel's fortress, the wind slicing against his scaly skin like blades as he flew at full speed atop his black-scaled wyvern. The sound of beating wings was muffled by the urgency thundering in his temples. He cast an anxious glance at the stormy sky and then screamed, his voice tearing through the air like thunder:
"What are you waiting for?! Open the portal!"
To his left, the other lizard rode a greenish-winged wyvern. His body trembled. His normally dull scales were drenched in sweat, glistening under the last rays of twilight like wet glass. His chest heaved with difficulty, each breath a battle — as if the air itself was too heavy for his lungs. But he didn't respond. He remained completely silent, eyes half-closed, fixed on an invisible point ahead, entirely absorbed in magical conjuration.
Abu felt the anxiety growing inside him like poison. The distance from the fortress should've brought relief, but all he felt was the terror of being caught, torn apart in the air. He looked around like a cornered animal, his reptilian pupils narrowed. Fear pounded inside his skull like a drum. His jaw clenched, and he ground his sharp teeth so hard that tiny drops of blood slipped from his gums. A desperate whisper escaped between his clenched teeth:
"I won't die... I won't die... I won't die..."
It was more a prayer than a declaration.
Then his eyes widened as he saw his companion begin to bleed. Thin, dark lines slowly trickled from his nostrils, the corners of his eyes, even the pores of his scales. The mage's body shook uncontrollably, and the wyvern beneath him seemed agitated, sensing its master's distress.
With a final effort that seemed to tear a piece of his soul away, the lizard raised his arm forward, fingers slowly spreading to form an unstable cone. The air around them vibrated, distorted, and a metallic scent began to fill Abu's lungs — the dense, nauseating smell of fresh blood. A crimson vortex began to form ahead, swirling with savage ferocity, as if it were hungry.
Space tore open.
A pulsing portal, made of liquid blood and dancing shadows, opened before them with a wet, repulsive sound, like flesh being ripped apart.
Abu didn't hesitate. Without looking back, he dug his spurs into the wyvern's sides and charged toward the crimson rift in reality. The other lizard followed closely, the two of them disappearing into the magical storm that swallowed them whole, as if they had never existed.