Those words echoed through Gyre's mind for several long moments...
The way he looked at Valerius and the men beside him gradually changed...
He clenched his fangs...
Then adjusted his stance.
"Very well..."
"I'll simply put them down... until they're no longer capable of fighting."
With that, Gyre slowly spread his colossal wings before retreating several steps.
The soldiers watched in silence, unable to decipher his intentions...
The moment they entered his range—
His massive tail swept across the battlefield with overwhelming force...
"LOOK OUT!!!"
Valerius shouted...
Too late.
Those quick enough—or fortunate enough to notice the attack in time—managed to leap away.
The unlucky ones...
Were hurled violently across the battlefield, crashing helplessly into the ground...
A look of irritation crossed Valerius' face.
"Tch..."
"What a useless bunch..."
Before he could think any further—
A pair of enormous claws appeared directly before him...
The strike was so swift...
It was nearly impossible to perceive...
An instant later—
His body was launched across the battlefield like a cannonball.
Several soldiers felt the last remnants of their courage crumble...
Then...
A familiar laugh echoed through the battlefield...
"Hahaha..."
"Is that really the best you've got???"
The dust slowly parted...
Standing within it...
Was Valerius...
Aside from a few shallow cuts...
He remained standing...
His burning gaze locked onto Gyre, carrying a hatred that seemed older than the battle itself...
Before anyone could even blink—
He disappeared...
Reappearing directly before the dragon...
Gyre opened his jaws, intending to swallow him whole.
But Valerius had anticipated exactly that.
He propelled himself high into the air...
While simultaneously crushing Gyre downward with gravity...
A confident smile spread across his face.
The remaining soldiers watched without daring to interfere.
As he descended—
Valerius raised his blazing fist and roared,
"Nine Arts of Flame..."
"Fifth Art..."
"Miniature Sun!!!"
An intensely compressed sphere of fire formed around his arm...
He hurled it directly toward the dragon.
The battlefield exploded beneath the impact.
A deafening blast shook the land.
When the explosion subsided...
Valerius landed firmly upon his feet...
He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
Then glanced back at the surviving soldiers with unmistakable pride.
"Hmph..."
"See???"
"It isn't that difficult..."
But before his triumph could settle...
A thought suddenly pierced his mind...
"Why..."
"Why doesn't this dragon seem as powerful as I expected???"
"No..."
"Why does it feel like..."
"...he isn't truly trying to kill us???"
Before he could reach an answer—
Violent winds swept across the battlefield...
The smoke and dust vanished instantly beneath the force of Gyre's wings...
Then...
A deep, thunderous voice shook the heavens...
"You dare challenge a dragon... with flames???"
"You have overstepped your place, you lowly human!!!"
"Everyone!!!"
Valerius shouted.
"Brace yourselves!!!"
Without warning—
Towering violet fire tornadoes erupted toward them...
They twisted with terrifying force.
This was no spectacle.
Each one carried enough power to erase anyone caught within it...
The soldiers scattered in every direction.
Yet...
There were too many.
Far more tornadoes than there were men.
The battlefield dissolved into desperate attempts at survival...
Then—
Without warning—
Every tornado vanished.
Silence.
High above them...
Gyre descended like divine judgment.
His target—
One terrified soldier.
Time itself seemed to stop.
The man couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't even scream.
Then—
Valerius appeared before him...
He threw himself directly into Gyre's path...
Without looking back, he shouted,
"Run, you idiot!"
"If your life means anything to you—RUN!!!"
For several intense seconds...
Man and dragon clashed head-on.
Then Gyre spoke...
"You truly are a remarkable human..."
"...but in the end..."
"...you are still only human."
His tail lashed forward...
The impact hurled Valerius violently into the earth.
Yet...
That had merely been a distraction...
Before Gyre realized it—
Gigantic walls of stone erupted around him...
They imprisoned his enormous body.
Ice rapidly spread across his limbs...
His movements slowed.
Then stopped.
He collapsed onto one knee.
An irritated growl escaped him.
Before he could rise again—
An overwhelming force of gravity crushed him flat against the ground...
Heavy footsteps echoed.
One after another.
Valerius slowly approached.
His bloodied face remained devoid of fear.
He stopped directly before the dragon's remaining eye...
Raised his burning fist.
And quietly said...
"This..."
"...is for my father."
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A colossal explosion erupted.
Simultaneously—
A horrifying dragon's roar echoed across lands far beyond the battlefield...
When the flames subsided—
Gyre's body was burning...
His scales had blackened.
One of his eyes...
Had been torn away.
He glared at every human before him.
His voice overflowed with fury.
"You've squandered every last chance I gave you..."
Before anyone could react—
He vanished.
In less than the blink of an eye—
Half of one soldier's body disappeared between his jaws.
Another was consumed by dragonfire until nothing remained but a charred corpse.
His gaze shifted toward a third victim—
Only to be restrained once again.
Chains of stone.
Walls of earth.
Crushing gravity.
They bound him in place.
Gyre slowly turned toward the one responsible...
Hatred now burned within his remaining eye.
Standing there...
Waiting for him...
Was Valerius.
Blinded by rage—
Gyre abandoned the soldier he had already caught...
He charged forward with every ounce of his strength.
At that very moment—
Valerius remembered Raya's face...
"Raya..."
"Not yet..."
A faint smile appeared across his bloodstained face...
Then he looked straight at the charging dragon...
"Heh..."
"You fell for it."
Suddenly—
Gyre's charge came to an abrupt halt.
It was as though an invisible mountain had materialized before him.
His body refused to move.
"NOW!!!"
Valerius roared...
Every remaining soldier attacked at once.
Lightning rained upon the dragon without mercy...
Ice sealed his limbs.
Colossal walls and boulders crushed him from every direction.
Gravity continued forcing his gigantic body into the earth...
For the first time...
The mighty dragon could no longer move...
Standing before him...
Like the executioner awaiting his final sentence...
Was Valerius.
Blood streamed down his face.
Yet...
He smiled...
"Heh..."
"The final blow..."
"...belongs to me."
His voice thundered across the battlefield.
"Nine Arts of Flame..."
"Sixth Art..."
"Demonic Flame."
Flames gathered from every direction...
They swirled together...
Until they completely engulfed Gyre's body...
The infernal fire looked down upon him as though he were beneath its notice...
Then...
It consumed everything.
As darkness slowly claimed Gyre's fading vision...
One final thought crossed his mind.
"So..."
"They were the ones who struck first, my Lord..."
"Not us..."
His remaining eye slowly closed...
"Daim..."
"Your plan..."
"It seems you truly succeeded..."
"You despicable bastard..."