BOOM—!
Kael Vane's body, wreathed in flame like a fire dragon, kicked off the floating rocks and shot forward.
Alazam couldn't believe Kael could still attack in mid-air. Worse—he was too fast. Before the dragon could even adjust his gaze, Kael was already in front of him.
But Alazam wasn't worried. The human's attacks hurt, yes—but only a little. A sting. Annoying, not fatal.
They couldn't really harm him.
"Cycle!"
Kael Vane shouted, and his body flashed past the dragon in a tight arc, leaving a thin, burning trail across the sky.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
"ROAAAAAAR—!"
Alazam screamed in agony.
He was wrong. So, so wrong.
Kael's slashes weren't just skin-deep. Almost every cut bit straight to the bone. The pain wasn't just burning—it was tearing, the kind that made a creature forget pride and only remember terror.
His organs had been hit.
In one move, he had been heavily wounded.
"Damn it! How is this possible?! Your attacks could barely break my scales! How can you suddenly wound me this badly?!"
Alazam stared at Kael, his eyes full of hate—hate sharp enough to choke.
Kael Vane said calmly, "My attacks only broke your scales. But that doesn't mean that's all my attacks can do."
"If I only broke your scales, you would be angry, but not scared. You would think I couldn't hurt you."
"So, you would be careless when I attacked again."
"And... did you think I was just attacking randomly before? Take a look at your wounds."
Alazam was confused for half a heartbeat—then he looked down.
His eyes widened.
The worst wounds… were in the exact same spots Kael had struck before.
The earlier cuts weren't meaningless. They were marks. Weak points carved into the armor—opened once, then opened again.
This human had planned it all.
First, he made small cuts to crack the scales.
Then, he returned to those same spots and drove the blade in deep.
"Bastard!"
"Good, you understand. Now you can die in peace."
Kael lifted his sword, ready to finish it.
"Damn human! I won't be killed by a mere human! Don't look down on dragons!"
Alazam roared, flapped his wings, and shot high into the sky.
He took a deep breath, his chest swelling, magic gathering in his throat like a storm being compressed into a single point.
Erza's face changed. "Is... is that..."
She screamed at Kael. "Kael, dodge! It's a Roar!"
She had known Natsu for a long time. She knew Dragon Slaying magic. And a Roar was a dragon's most common—and most brutal—attack.
"Disappear!" Alazam roared, and fired the blast downward.
A giant beam of purple energy erupted from his mouth.
BOOM—!
A terrifying explosion swallowed the forest.
A purple dome of energy expanded outward, devouring everything in its path—trees, stone, soil—turned into dust in an instant.
Crack! Crack!
The 100-meter-tall city wall began to break apart from the pressure alone. Lines spread through the stone like lightning through glass.
"Aaaaaargh!"
The soldiers and swordsmen threw themselves behind the remains of the wall, gripping shattered stone and each other just to avoid being blown away.
The blast wave rolled into the city.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Houses collapsed as if kicked over by an unseen giant. Streets split. Roofs lifted, twisted, and vanished into the purple glare. Everything that wasn't anchored became debris.
After a long moment, the explosion finally faded.
Rumble...
Dust fell in sheets. Smoke drifted low across the ground. The air itself tasted burned.
People climbed out of the rubble, coughing, bleeding—eyes wide and empty.
"The... the city... it's gone!"
More than half the city had been erased. Whole blocks were flattened into broken stone and ash. Only the arena—protected by its barrier—still stood, a lone shape behind shimmering light.
Just the shockwave had destroyed a city.
Now they understood the old stories. They weren't exaggerations. They were warnings.
If the dragon had used this attack first, no one would have survived.
"Kael!"
Erza stared out at the battlefield, searching through smoke and heat haze.
There was a giant, smoking crater where he had been. The ground was charred black, glassy at the edges.
"How...?"
"Mr. Kael... is he...?"
The king's face was pale with fear. If he had known the dragon was this strong, he never would have made his plan.
"..."
Everyone was silent.
The attack was too big. Too wide. Too absolute.
There was no way Kael could have survived.
"Hahahaha! You damn brat! You're finally dead! Blown to bits! Hahahaha!"
Alazam's voice echoed from the sky.
The humans were filled with anger and grief. Kael Vane—the man who had saved them twice—was dead.
The dragon descended and landed with a quake that shook the broken streets.
"Aaargh!"
People fell over.
"It's the dragon!"
Everyone stared in fury. The dragon was badly hurt, but they all knew the truth.
They still couldn't fight it.
"The annoying brat is gone. Now, all of you can die!"
Alazam was too wounded to play anymore. He was going to kill them all, then find somewhere to heal.
He gathered magic in his mouth again, the purple light swelling, ready to fire another breath.
Suddenly—
"——!"
A black line appeared in the air.
With the sound of tearing cloth, the space itself split open, as if reality had been cut with a knife.
A black rift yawned wide.
A figure in white stepped out, hands in his pockets, posture relaxed—as if he'd just walked out of a doorway, not the sky.
He raised a hand and smiled. "Oh? Fancy meeting you all here."
"Kael!"
Erza and the others were overjoyed.
But the dragon was terrified.
"Y-Y-You... You're still alive?!"