The smoke gradually cleared.
The Chimera was once again hovering in front of them, completely unharmed.
It looked as though nothing had happened, as if the battle had only just begun for it.
Zhyragos stared at it for a moment before grinning.
"Well... that's annoying."
Ysellia tightened her grip around her sword.
Veynaris remained silent, his eyes fixed on the Chimera.
The creature's four enormous wings slowly spread.
Then the glowing symbols across its violet scales began to shine.
The corrupted aura surrounding it erupted.
A wave of dark energy spread across the battlefield.
The pressure was immediate.
Ysellia felt her body become heavier. Veynaris's psychic senses were suddenly flooded with interference, while Zhyragos felt the corrupted energy burning against his scales.
The Chimera moved.
An energy ring shot from one of its wings.
Then another.
Then five more.
The three scattered.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The battlefield was immediately filled with explosions.
Veynaris raised his hand, creating a psychic barrier as several rings collided against it.
"Keep moving!" he shouted.
Zhyragos ignored him.
He charged directly through the smoke.
Blue flames erupted from his fists as he swung at the Chimera.
The Chimera vanished.
Zhyragos's punch cut through empty air.
"Again?!"
An energy ring appeared behind him.
He twisted his body and blocked it with his forearm.
The impact sent him skidding backward.
Ysellia immediately moved beside him.
"Stop chasing it blindly!"
"I've got it!"
"No, you don't!"
The Chimera appeared above them.
Ysellia reacted instantly.
"Blue Fang Torrent!"
Water surged around her double-edged sword.
She swung upward, sending a rapid series of water-infused slashes toward the Chimera.
The creature dodged each strike, moving between the attacks with unnatural speed.
Veynaris took advantage of its movement.
His psychic energy gathered around his hand.
A powerful psychic force slammed into the Chimera from the side.
For the first time, the creature was forced off course.
Zhyragos saw the opening.
He launched himself upward.
His fists erupted with blue flames.
"Got you!"
His punch connected with the Chimera's side.
The impact sent it flying.
Ysellia smiled.
"That's more like it."
Veynaris nodded.
For a brief moment, the battle seemed to have shifted in their favor.
They had finally begun to understand the Chimera's movements.
Veynaris would disrupt its path.
Ysellia would restrict its movement with water and wind.
Zhyragos would finish the openings with raw physical force.
It worked.
For several exchanges, the Chimera was forced onto the defensive.
An energy ring fired toward Ysellia.
She sliced through it.
Another came toward Veynaris.
He crushed it with psychic force.
Three more appeared around Zhyragos.
He punched through the first, ducked under the second, and caught the third with both hands before throwing it aside.
"Ha!"
He grinned.
"That's all you've got?"
The Chimera's eyes spun.
The glowing magical circles within them rotated faster.
Then it disappeared.
Zhyragos's smile faded.
"Where did it..."
The Chimera appeared behind him.
A concentrated energy blast struck his back.
BOOM!
Zhyragos was thrown forward.
Ysellia immediately rushed toward him.
"Zhyragos!"
He recovered in midair and landed on his feet.
"I'm fine."
The Chimera was already attacking again.
Ysellia raised her sword.
Veynaris reinforced her with psychic energy.
Together, they forced the creature back.
For a while, the battle continued like that.
Back and forth.
The Chimera would gain the advantage, only for the three Dragonkind to turn things around.
Zhyragos would land a powerful punch.
Ysellia would follow with a sword combination.
Veynaris would manipulate the battlefield with his psychic abilities.
Then the Chimera would disappear, reappear somewhere unexpected, and unleash another barrage of energy.
Neither side could maintain control for long.
But slowly... Something changed.
Zhyragos began noticing it first.
His breathing became heavier.
The burns across his fists were spreading.
Ysellia's movements were becoming slower.
Even Veynaris was struggling to keep his psychic barrier stable.
Meanwhile, the Chimera remained almost completely unchanged.
Its movements were just as fast.
Its energy rings were just as powerful.
Its corrupted aura continued to grow.
Another barrage came.
Veynaris raised his psychic barrier.
The rings crashed against it one after another.
CRACK.
His eyes widened.
The barrier fractured.
"Veynaris!"
Ysellia rushed toward him.
A ring slipped through the broken section.
She deflected it with her sword, but the explosion still forced her backward.
Zhyragos charged forward.
He punched through another energy ring and drove himself toward the Chimera.
The creature vanished.
Zhyragos's fist struck nothing.
An energy blast hit him from the side.
He was sent crashing into the ground.
Silence followed.
Ysellia looked toward him.
"Zhyragos!"
He slowly pushed himself up.
The Chimera descended slightly.
Its glowing eyes remained fixed on them.
Veynaris lowered his hand.
"We're losing."
Ysellia looked at him.
"You noticed too?"
"Yes."
The Chimera wasn't simply matching them anymore.
It was adapting.
Every exchange was becoming harder.
Every opening they created was being closed faster.
And while they were gradually becoming exhausted, the Chimera seemed to be getting stronger.
Ysellia gripped her sword.
"We'll have to use it."
Veynaris nodded.
"Overdrive."
Ysellia looked toward him.
"Overtempest."
They both prepared themselves.
The Chimera's wings spread wider.
Its corrupted aura intensified.
Then Zhyragos suddenly stepped between them.
"Don't."
Ysellia blinked.
"What?"
Veynaris looked at him.
"Zhyragos, we're being overwhelmed even together."
"I know."
"Then why are you stopping us?"
Zhyragos looked toward the Chimera.
Then he smiled.
"I'll handle it."
Ysellia stared at him.
"...What?"
Veynaris frowned.
"Alone?"
Zhyragos cracked his neck.
"Yep."
"You realize we've been fighting it together this entire time, right?"
"Yep."
"And we're still losing."
"Yep."
Ysellia stared at him in disbelief.
"Then what exactly are you planning to do?"
Zhyragos raised both fists.
He smiled.
"No worries."
He looked directly at the Chimera.
"Let the Chimera see what a Dragonkind can really do."
He cracked his knuckles.
Ysellia and Veynaris exchanged a confused look.
They both knew what this sounded like.
Zhyragos was about to use an Over mode.
Ysellia had never heard him speak about one, but surely this was it.
Veynaris prepared himself to support him if necessary.
Zhyragos lowered his stance.
The corrupted aura around him seemed to shake.
His blue flames intensified.
Then he shouted... "OVER PRIDE!"
Nothing happened.
Ysellia blinked.
Veynaris blinked.
Zhyragos stood there.
Still exactly the same.
Ysellia slowly lowered her sword.
"...That's it?"
Zhyragos glanced back at her.
"What?"
"Your Over mode."
"Over mode?"
"Yes!"
Zhyragos laughed.
"I don't have one."
Veynaris stared at him.
"Then what was that?"
"That?"
Zhyragos pointed at himself.
"That's just my pride."
Ysellia's expression went completely blank.
"You made us think you were activating some ultimate transformation."
"I was."
"You literally just shouted the name of your ego."
"Exactly."
Veynaris looked toward the Chimera.
Then back at Zhyragos.
"This is ridiculous."
Zhyragos grinned.
"Maybe."
He turned toward the Chimera.
"But I'm a Dragonkind."
The atmosphere around him had changed.
There was no transformation.
No new form.
No overwhelming burst of energy.
Yet somehow, the way Zhyragos stood was different.
His shoulders were relaxed.
His expression was calm.
His eyes were focused.
The pain and exhaustion that had been weighing him down seemed almost irrelevant.
The Chimera attacked.
Zhyragos moved.
He disappeared from its line of attack and appeared directly beneath it.
His fist connected with its abdomen.
BOOM!
The Chimera was launched upward.
Zhyragos followed.
Blue flames exploded from his feet as he propelled himself into the air.
The Chimera fired several energy rings downward.
Zhyragos punched through one.
Then another.
Then another.
He reached the Chimera.
His fist slammed into its face.
The creature was sent flying.
It immediately stabilized itself.
Its wings flapped.
Energy gathered around them.
Dozens of rings formed.
Zhyragos smiled.
"Come on."
The rings fired.
He charged forward.
One exploded beside him.
Another struck his shoulder.
Another grazed his side.
But he didn't stop.
He punched through the attacks, closing the distance one step at a time.
The Chimera vanished.
Zhyragos turned.
The creature appeared behind him.
Its energy blast fired at point-blank range.
Zhyragos twisted aside.
The blast passed over his shoulder.
He grabbed the Chimera's wing.
Its eyes widened.
Zhyragos pulled.
The Chimera was violently dragged downward.
He slammed it into the ground.
The battlefield shook.
Ysellia stared.
Veynaris's eyes narrowed.
The Chimera immediately tried to rise.
Zhyragos was already there.
A blue-flamed fist struck its chest.
Then another.
Then another.
The Chimera tried to counter.
Zhyragos dodged.
It fired energy rings.
He destroyed them.
It vanished.
He followed.
It attacked from above.
He caught its arm.
Every second that passed, Zhyragos became more aggressive.
And somehow, more precise.
The Chimera had spent the entire battle controlling the distance.
Now it couldn't create any.
Whenever it tried to retreat, Zhyragos was already there.
Whenever it tried to attack, he broke through it.
Whenever it tried to disappear, he tracked it down.
The battle had completely changed.
Ysellia lowered her sword.
"He really is..."
Veynaris finished her sentence.
"Dominating it."
The Chimera released another massive wave of corrupted energy.
Zhyragos charged directly through it.
His scales burned.
Blood appeared across his body.
But he kept moving.
The Chimera tried to escape upward.
Zhyragos grabbed one of its wings.
It thrashed violently.
He pulled it back down.
The Chimera fired an energy blast directly into his face.
Zhyragos endured it.
Then he smiled.
"Found you."
His fist struck the Chimera's chest.
The outer scales cracked.
The glowing symbols across its body flickered.
The Chimera tried to retreat again.
Zhyragos grabbed it by the throat.
Its wings beat desperately.
He drove it into the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Then he pulled it back up.
The Chimera's body was covered in cracks.
Its energy began fluctuating wildly.
Zhyragos stared directly into its spinning magical eyes.
"You've had enough."
His blue flames surged around his arm.
He drove his hand forward.
The corrupted scales broke apart.
His arm sank deep into the Chimera's chest.
The creature convulsed.
Zhyragos's hand reached deeper.
Then he felt it.
The core.
He grabbed it.
The Chimera's entire body froze.
Ysellia and Veynaris watched in silence.
Zhyragos clenched his fist.
CRACK.
The core shattered.
The Chimera's eyes stopped spinning.
Its wings went limp.
Zhyragos ripped his hand free.
Blood covered his arm and splattered across his body.
The gigantic serpent crashed to the ground.
Silence.
The corrupted aura disappeared.
The glowing symbols across its violet scales faded one by one.
Zhyragos stood over the fallen Chimera, breathing heavily.
Ysellia slowly walked toward him.
"That..."
She looked at the destroyed Chimera.
"...was completely insane."
Veynaris approached as well.
"You were holding back the entire time?"
Zhyragos looked at him.
"Nah."
He grinned.
"I just hadn't gotten serious yet."
Ysellia stared at him.
"You call that not serious?"
Zhyragos shrugged.
"Well..."
He looked at his blood-covered hand.
"Maybe I got a little serious."
Veynaris sighed.
Ysellia shook her head.
The three of them stood together once again.
The third Chimera had fallen.
And somehow, the battle had ended with the most ridiculous ability of all.
Not an Overdrive.
Not an Overtempest.
Not even a new transformation.
Just the overwhelming pride of a Dragonkind who genuinely believed that nothing in front of him was allowed to be stronger than him.