Raym stood frozen, his chest tight, his breath shallow...
Grief, rage, guilt—they tangled inside him until he could no longer tell where one ended and the other began...
Everyone…Everyone falls before my eyes, one after another...
Lira...Lonz...Daniel...
They are paying the price for my weakness.
His fingers trembled as the thought carved itself deeper into him.
Will I always be trapped inside these pathetic limits??? Bound by hesitation… by helplessness???If my strength is real—then why am I always thrown into battles far heavier than I can bear???
His gaze sharpened.
No… this can't all be coincidence.
Every city...Every battlefield...Every step he took forward—
A prepared attack awaits me...
A scheme...
Someone, somewhere, was tightening a noose around his path...
Raym's lips curved into a grim, broken smile...
"Then listen carefully," he whispered, his voice shaking with resolve..."I don't care who you are… or how far your plans reach..."
His eyes burned...
"I will break every scheme you lay before me. And if you truly believe yourself powerful enough to claim your goal—then you will pay for it... You will bleed for it... Down to the very last drop..."
His gaze fell to the fallen behind him...
"Lira… Lonz… Daniel… everyone…"
His voice cracked...
"I'm sorry... I was not worthy of your trust."
He straightened...
"But I will stand. Again and again."
He clenched his teeth...
"And I will place myself between you and the enemy… until my final breath."
Raym gripped his sword with his right hand, bracing it with his burned, useless left arm.The blade shimmered violently, light pulsing along its edge as if responding to his heart.
He lowered his head slightly, speaking not to the world—but to the sword itself.
"Do you know something???"
A bitter breath escaped him...
"Even surrounded by warriors stronger and more reliable than I could ever hope to be… my greatest faith was always in you."
Memories surged...
"You never left me. Not in weakness. Not in strength. Not in pain."
His grip tightened...
"I trusted you… more than I trusted myself."
A pause...
"So don't fail me now."
Raym launched himself forward.
No hesitation.No restraint.
Blind fury and the desperate will to avenge those behind him became his engine.
Pain vanished.Fear vanished.The world vanished.
There was only one thing left in his sight—
The Dragon...
And his blade...
The dragon lunged, jaws snapping wide to devour him.
Too slow.
Raym vanished from its vision and reappeared behind it in a flash of light.
He soared upward, higher and higher, until the heavens themselves were swallowed by white brilliance...
The sky turned radiant—pure, blinding white.
Even the battlefield recoiled.
Even the dragon hesitated.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered in its ancient eye.
"Raym—!!!" Vail shouted."Stop!" Zack cried.
Their voices never reached him...
They understood instantly...
What he's about to do… is dangerous...
Without hesitation, they retreated—dragging the survivors to safety.
Above them, the dragon ignited itself and surged toward Raym, fire roaring like a living storm.
It exhaled flame that twisted and condensed—
Taking the shape of a colossal sword...
Light and fire collided...
The impact shattered the sky...
Raym's light—charged with suffering, loss, and the weight of others' pain—clashed desperately against the inferno wielded by one of the earliest lords... a true dragon
The world screamed.
Sparks rained like falling stars.The city burned.
Raym was losing.
He knew it.
I'm not even worthy to be called its equal...
A bitter thought surfaced as his strength bled away.
Vail… Deputy Commander Leo…
His teeth clenched.
I've failed you all...
Then—
A force struck from behind.
"Don't decide this alone, kid," Zack's voice rang out, steady and unyielding.
Raym's eyes widened.
Behind him, Zack and a badly injured Vail pushed forward with everything they had.
This wasn't Raym's burden alone.
They all knew the truth—
They were outmatched.
Hopelessly so...
But the will to protect others burned hotter than fear ever could.
That will became their fuel.
For a fleeting moment—
The clash balanced.
The dragon noticed.
With a furious roar, it ignited its body further, wings beating violently as it screamed and tore the air itself away...
The atmosphere collapsed.
Still—
They didn't falter...
Snarling, the dragon forged a second flaming blade...!!!
The balance shattered...
A cataclysmic explosion followed.
The city ceased to exist...
When the dust settled—
The dragon stood alone, towering, breathing heavily.
Below it, the others lay motionless—like corpses scattered across ruin.
Its blazing eye locked onto one figure without anyone else ...
Raym.
The dragon recognized it then...
And it prepared—
For the final strike...