he deal was simple.
I would leave him free to move about in the Temple of Heroes — as I had already done once — and he would help me.
In truth, much of what he asked was something I felt that, at some point, I would have to do anyway — if only to find out whether I still had any control over that world-destroyer. So, in the end, the only thing Zaridan did was hasten the inevitable.
My concern was the fruit of insecurity about what he might do with that freedom. But the Oasis had proven very resilient at imprisoning him — and, mainly, at keeping him where he was. The freedom I offered was a controlled freedom, one that would only become real in a single scenario: my death.
And that was exactly my guarantee to him. Zaridan's freedom was tied to my death — which, honestly, was already an enormous victory for him. Because, the way things stood now, my death meant sealing him in that place forever. I had transformed his worst-case scenario into his only way out.
"Now that we have a deal… what do I have to do?"
Zaridan opened a smile — and pointed to the enormous creature that had remained sleeping throughout our entire dialogue.
"To beat a dragon… just this one here should suffice."
My eyes fixed on the gigantic creature.
I could argue that size didn't necessarily mean anything — I myself was living proof of that. But that unreal size was too much even to conceive. Honestly, that thing probably saw us as mere bacteria occupying a space that belonged to it.
"But how do I bring Vo'ruun here? After all… I don't even know how he brought me here."
Zaridan just smiled — while looking at a specific point in the darkness of that place.
"Don't worry. He's already arrived…"
Of course. That made sense.
He was inside my body — so he had to come fetch me. I just didn't expect him to arrive so fast. Or to come without taking any kind of precaution. And then I caught myself shaking my head alone, laughing at my own naivety: what kind of precaution does a dragon need to take against a human? He was the predator. I was the prey. To him, the only difficulty was finding me — and even that he made look easy, even in that infinite immensity.
✦ ✦ ✦
"How do I wake the big guy to help me?"
I turned quickly to Zaridan as I began to feel the presence of the creature hunting me — a weight growing in the darkness, like a storm approaching from underwater.
"That's a good question…"
Zaridan's answer surprised me. In the worst possible way.
He really didn't seem interested in helping me when the subject was the big guy — as though he had the tranquil certainty that his part of the deal was already done.
"What excellent help you're giving. How the hell am I going to get out of here alive, if what I have to do is wake that giant up — but not even YOU know how?!"
Zaridan looked at me with a stoic face, half spacey… and then clicked his tongue.
"It's not that I don't know how to wake him… It's just that this son of a bitch demands some things I can't give."
"What do you mean?! You're not answering anything with anything!"
Zaridan shook his head, as though he were irritated with himself — and then simply turned his face away, demonstrating total disinterest.
"Forget it. You'll understand… I think."
He still seemed irritated, but let the words roll from his mouth like someone tossing crumbs. And, before I could shout at him in search of real answers, a voice finally arrived.
Deep. And furious.
"What the fuck kind of consciousness is this… What the hell are YOU?"
The dragon that appeared before us seemed larger. And much more intimidating.
In truth, I felt like a small toy before that creature. Of course a dragon was large — but, stretched out as he was now, his body free of the space that confined him, he seemed almost twice as large as in the prison. As though, along with the chains, he had also left behind the size that fit inside them.
"I see you managed to free yourself… to get here."
The dragon, who seemed irritated, opened a smile at my provocation.
"Fortunately, my astral projection manages to help me with some things — and this is one of them. Now tell me… Why does an eternal void fill your soul?"
✦ ✦ ✦
It was funny to see that dragon demonstrate a genuine curiosity. Singular.
In truth, I myself had been frightened the first time I was there. But I knew that place didn't want to harm me — except, of course, the bizarrely large guardian. Honestly, I still didn't know what that place truly was. In the beginning, I thought it was inside the Temple of Heroes. But the experience I had with the Infernals — and now with the dragon — said something else: that place was something more intrinsic to me than to my kingdom.
And, in the end, the curiosity about what that place was… was mutual. Because, probably, I knew as much as he did.
"Honestly… I don't know. What's it supposed to be like normally?"
My question, even sounding presumptuous, was genuine.
And it was also calculation: I intended to buy time, even without yet knowing exactly what for. The only thing I knew was that I needed to stay alive — and hurrying that dragon went strongly against that desire.
"HAHAHAHA… I see you want to talk. Very well: the projection of an individual's soul is a mirror of what he is. I've seen destroyed places. Beautiful places. Even profoundly uninteresting places. But a nothing… eternal and without limit… this is new."
The dragon scratched his own chin, as though he were thinking deeply about what to answer.
"Now, the why? I have no idea. And I think no one besides the designer knows."
The words hit me deeper than I expected.
Because he had a point. If that space was a projection of what I was… then an eternal and limitless void wasn't something common to carry inside one's chest. Not even by the standards of a dragon who had seen everything.
I filed the thought away before it could take root. There were questions that could wait for the end of the night. And there were questions that could cost me the entire night.
And then the enormous creature came to my mind — and my eyes turned to it. There it was: exactly the same way, hidden from the void, but occupying everything that was space with its absolute black.
"What are you seeing, human? If you're going to die, at least die like a man — looking at your reaper. HAHAHAHA!"
The dragon carried his eyes to where I was looking.
And couldn't see what I saw.
At first, that surprised me. But then I realized: that creature, when still, was so obscure that it simply vanished into the contour of the void. If it weren't for its black — a black deeper than that of the nothing around it — hardly anyone could say there was something there larger than a silhouette.
My void hid that colossus. Even from a dragon.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Very well… do you prefer to do this quickly, or more slowly? I always liked slow deaths. But the time in that place made me somewhat apathetic about it."
The words that came out of that enormous mouth carried an eternal apathy about life and death.
He really didn't seem to feel impacted, in any way, by the idea of taking a life. From the words alone, I could feel it: killing was something as common to that creature as breathing. To him, I was a cockroach — something you kill by instinct, without needing a reason. With a single detail in my favor: I was still, somehow, his only way out of that place.
Either way, I wasn't really paying attention to any of that.
My mind was somewhere else — combing, one by one, through the ways of getting out of that situation alive. And the only one that seemed viable was, precisely, the one I definitely didn't want to do.
"You're making killing someone seem dull… You know, I miss the pleas and the screams… Hmmm… Do you think you have a way to beat me?"
The dragon analyzed my calm temperament — and with reason.
When something stronger, faster, and better armed enters your house, calm isn't the expected reaction. But I was so focused on how to get out of there alive that the calculation showed on my face — and that seemed to ignite something in that dragon. He began to look to the sides, hunting for the invisible plank I was clinging to.
And, in the background, distant… he found Zaridan. Bound, awake, and clearly uninterested in everything.
The funny thing was that he had already looked in that direction before — and seemed not to have seen anything. But, when he finally saw, I noticed the reaction immediately. It wasn't fear. It was something else. Something like… caution. The ancient wariness of one who recognizes danger without recognizing the form.
"Wait… What is this creature…?"
And, right then, I understood.
To that dragon, Zaridan was of a race that never set foot in the Oasis. If everything Zaridan told me was true, he was someone from outside that place — and it was obvious that a dragon who lived thousands of years wouldn't be able to identify something he had never seen. But it was funny how frightened he seemed. In truth, it was as though he could see the true essence of that creature — and didn't like one bit what he saw.
"How is a creature like this here… and hasn't killed you yet?"
The question came without him taking his eyes off Zaridan — perhaps out of pure dread of taking his eyes off such a creature. And that told me a lot: even that dragon, before Zaridan, chose caution.
"There are many things that have changed since you've been imprisoned. In truth… probably, not even the strongest races of your era would be capable of fighting for tenth place today."
The dragon seemed anxious.
Of course, what I said was tremendous nonsense. Taking into consideration everything I had seen, I was almost certain that the Aquamarines and the Stone Giants would manage — the latter, in fact, considered the strongest in the Oasis, despite no one ever having seen them fight. That was the difference between them: the Aquamarines, in their arrogance, demonstrated power at every moment; the Stone Giants were discreet in everything they did, and seemed simply not to care that no one discovered their advantages and disadvantages. Apart from those two, very probably no other current race was as strong as the ancient ones — whether the Wayward, or even Livina's own race. Maybe the Vriseus… but they were never permitted in the Oasis, so I didn't even count them.
But the words produced exactly the effect I expected.
Because the dragon who felt himself at the top of the world was now dealing with the only uncomfortable situation that exists for those at the top: the unknown.
✦ ✦ ✦
And, while he wasted time in his own thoughts, I moved.
To the distracted dragon, I must have looked like a boar cub captured by a pride of lions — still, static, scared to death. And I used exactly that image to my favor, sliding slowly toward the giant sleeping in the shadow of the void.
The reasoning was simple. The first time I was there, I was outside the creature's radius of action — and maybe, since that hadn't changed, it simply had no interest in me. But, if I got closer… maybe that would be the lure for something to happen.
Of course there was a risk: that of being killed with a hundred percent probability if everything went wrong. But there was a small chance the dragon would try to follow me — and I only needed him to die first. It was a calculated risk. Calculated in a sloppy and careless way, I admit. But it was what that situation allowed.
"What are you doing, human?"
As I got closer and closer to the point of no return, the dragon finally noticed my movement.
In that vacuum, however much I didn't want to draw attention, I needed to make movements to advance in any direction — there was no floor to step on lightly, nor shadow to use. It wasn't certain it would work when I tried. But it worked… until he noticed me. One sudden movement and I would be discovered completely. I just didn't expect it to be so fast.
"HAHAHAHA… Do you really think that minuscule creature, in that state, can do anything against me?"
The dragon found it funny, the way I advanced toward the creature he saw.
And that was exactly the beauty of the trap: the two of us looked at the same corner of the void — and saw completely different things. He saw Zaridan: strong, yes, but nothing compared to himself, as his careful observation must already have concluded. I saw his death, sleeping two steps ahead.
Maybe his curiosity was greater than any alarm. Maybe his thoughts were already on what he would find out there, in the new world awaiting him — and a crawling human could wait until tomorrow.
I was still far away. And it was advancing, centimeter by centimeter, that the audacious idea finally formed.
"Honestly… a pathetic creature of a dragon will never be capable of beating my strongest hero. When I free him… you're going to taste defeat."
Vo'ruun seemed shocked at my words — and something like a tear ran from his colossal eye.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA… I don't believe it… HAHAHAHA… You are going to manage to kill me, yes… WITH LAUGHTER!"
That dragon's arrogance was something extraordinary — and a human belittling him to his face must have been so absurd that the only thing that millenary creature could do was laugh. Maybe I had gone too far.
But, while he laughed — and I advanced — the laughter finally died in his throat.
"For your audacity… DIE."
✦ ✦ ✦
An enormous ball of fire formed in the dragon's mouth — and was hurled in my direction.
And, however absurd it may seem… that was one of the probabilities of the plan. The dragon getting angry and throwing his own power at me.
"Very well… Now, I hope this works."
The great ball of fire approached — nearly three times my size — and I had no certainty at all that I would survive it.
But, if I survived… that would be my lifeline.
Quickly, I formed a shield with my mark — a kite shield that covered my entire body — and pressed myself behind it. It wasn't the best option. It was the only one.
Because the plan was never to cross that void on foot: the dragon would never let me simply reach the giant. Leaving him angry was the best way to make him attack — and, for that, he needed to think he had total control of the situation. So I demonstrated weakness. My hope was that he wouldn't cast the strongest power he had: just something quick to conjure, thrown in an unpretentious manner, like someone swatting an insect.
Fortunately, I got both things.
The problem is that, even being an unpretentious ability for a dragon… it still seemed perfectly capable of killing me. I would have to trust the mark to stay alive.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
The ball hit the shield head-on — and hurled me far away, in the exact direction of the great colossus.
But, at the same time, I felt my arms melting with the heat that emanated through the shield. The choice was simple and horrifying: the melted flesh of my arms, or my entire body carbonized.
While my arm melted, I poured out healing magic without holding back absolutely anything.
There was no use in using another magic there. Zaetar was useless against that power — he wouldn't even serve to buy time. My throat hurt from screaming, but I insisted, casting healing on my arm while I felt the skin go black and red, black and red, in a cycle that wouldn't end. Sometimes, the temptation came: to simply stop and let the arm carbonize for good. I would no longer feel the pain. But I ran the risk of losing the shield along with it.
In the end, there was no option but to endure — while the ball of fire lost force with each second, diminishing, diminishing…
When it finally ended, my entire body was giving off smoke. I felt as though I had been cooked alive. If it weren't for the healing power, I would have died ten times in there.
The bad part? I had no mana left for anything else.
"Ohhh… You're alive… What a surprise! I'm glad — I would be very sad if you died from just a basic magic. You know, when I—"
"You talk a lot… Why don't you come here and teach me an advanced magic, you son of a bitch?"
My words cut his off in the middle.
It was the first time I had done that. And, very probably, it was the first time ANYONE had done that to him — because the dragon's face darkened at once, and the colossal features contorted in a frenzy.
"HOW DARE YOU, YOU COCKROACH?!"
The dragon advanced in my direction.
He had fallen into my trap.
When he finally got close, I was smiling — my body still exhaling heat and smoke, my arms raw flesh, and the most sincere smile of my life on my face.
"HAHAHA… My fire must have burned your neurons. Don't worry about your body — I'll make good use of it. HAHAHA."
"I don't think you noticed the screw-up you made… Why don't you look up?"
✦ ✦ ✦
The dragon felt, at the exact moment I spoke, that something was wrong.
He looked up.
And two black suns observed him.
Then he realized that, in truth… they weren't suns.
They were eyes.
"You know… the first time I saw it, I shat myself. Now, I think it's your turn."
I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid.
That creature was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my life — and waking it remained the worst idea, second only to all the others. But one thing was clear: Vo'ruun's pyrotechnics had drawn far more attention than a mere crawling human could ever manage. The lure was never me.
As long as he died… I would be alive.
Now the problem was another: how to stay alive in the middle of two colossi.
Surviving the plan going wrong was extremely difficult. Surviving the plan going right… might be worse.
"What the hell is this… How… WHO ARE YOU, really?"
The dragon seemed astonished — while a single finger pushed him down, with the casual force of someone sinking a leaf into water.
And I was completely screwed.
The pain took over my entire body, and the fight was happening too close for me not to suffer the collateral damage — each shockwave threw me like a twig in a current. But, before the desperation could rise for good, a hand grabbed me by the shoulders.
"Zaridan?!"
"I didn't think you'd have the courage. That was quite intelligent… and stupid. I liked it. But now you need to stay alive — if you die, I'M screwed. So hold on tight there."
Zaridan grabbed me by the clothes and, with an extraordinary strength, hurled me far from the battle.
And, while I flew, I could still see his face: the wide-open happiness of someone who knew he had just saved my life… and who would charge for it. With interest.
"Damn… In the end, the son of a bitch saved me?"
✦ ✦ ✦
While I traveled away from the battle, I could see the flashes.
And, to my surprise, the dragon — despite being much smaller than the enormous colossus — seemed to fight on equal terms. Eccentric powers tore through the void, things I felt were capable of destroying entire planets… and that, against that gigantic creature, seemed like pinches.
It was a lesson in humility broadcast live: the most powerful being I had ever encountered in my life… reduced to a dog fighting a mountain.
I don't know how much time passed until the lights finally ceased.
And then I saw something giant floating in my direction — all distorted, folded at angles that shouldn't exist.
I was in shock. Because I recognized what it was.
But, before I could say anything, a voice sounded next to my ear — cold, familiar, and implacable.
[ Congratulations. You have defeated Vo'ruun. ]
[ The DNA will be incorporated into your body. ]
[ Survive. ]
Before I finished reading, a pain filled my entire body — and, along with it, came the cruel memory: I no longer had any way to heal myself.
"Damn… I can't die. Not now… AHHHHHH!"
I knew exactly what that pain was.
The body being destroyed and remade, piece by piece — the same pain as when the mark was engraved into me. The difference was that, this time, I would face it without a single drop of mana. Without healing. Without help.
Alone.
I endured as much as I could.
And then, finally… I passed out.