The roar of the ice dragon tore across the floating city like the wrath of a dying god.
Frozen towers shattered beneath the pressure of its magic while blizzards spiraled violently through the ruined streets. The heavens dimmed overhead as the creature spread its colossal wings, snow and ice exploding outward in waves powerful enough to flatten entire districts.
Its hatred was suffocating.
Ancient.
Personal.
And every second it stared at me, I could feel the entire floating city feeding it more power.
Dark purple flames rolled slowly across my armor as I stood at the center of the frozen battlefield, Edith humming violently in my hand. My scales burned beneath the Voidsteel plating while destruction magic crackled around my wings in unstable bursts.
The dragon's eyes locked onto me again.
Then the voice echoed through the city once more.
"Destroyer…"
The frozen streets trembled.
"You carry the blood that ruined us."
The dragon lunged.
I vanished instantly.
Its jaws slammed shut hard enough to split the city beneath us while I reappeared above its head, sword already swinging downward.
The impact detonated across the sky.
Edith crashed against the dragon's skull with enough force to shatter mountains, sending cracks racing through the ice covering its body.
Then—
the wounds healed immediately.
"Of course they did," I muttered irritably.
A massive claw ripped toward me.
I twisted sideways barely in time, though the pressure alone still blasted me through three frozen buildings. Ice and debris exploded around me as I skidded across the streets below.
Amelia landed beside me a second later, black-and-crimson flames spiraling around her scythe.
"We need another plan," she snapped. "This thing keeps regenerating."
Yura's voice echoed from farther above us.
"It's not healing naturally!"
Massive ice sigils glowed beneath her feet as she floated high above the battlefield, her eyes shining bright blue while she analyzed the city itself.
Then her expression changed.
"There!" she shouted.
The dragon roared again as frozen spikes erupted from the ground toward her, but Amelia intercepted instantly.
"Wrath Style: Crimson Severance."
Her scythe carved through the incoming ice in a violent explosion of black flames.
Yura pointed downward toward the center of the floating city.
"There's a ley core beneath us! Ancient planetary magic!" Her voice sharpened urgently. "The dragon is connected directly to it!"
I looked down.
For a brief second, destruction magic inside my eyes peeled through the layers beneath the city.
And I saw it.
A massive frozen sigil buried beneath the floating fortress.
No.
Not a sigil.
A seal.
Something was chained underneath the city itself.
The dragon attacked again before I could think further.
Its tail whipped across the battlefield like a collapsing glacier.
I caught it head-on.
The impact shattered the ground beneath my feet instantly.
Pain exploded through my arms as the force launched me backward through another cluster of ruined buildings.
The dragon opened its jaws.
Cold erupted.
A blizzard beam swallowed half the city.
Everything froze.
Buildings.
Magic.
Air itself.
Even my armor creaked under the pressure.
"Tch…"
Purple flames burst violently from my body as I forced myself forward through the freezing storm.
The Beast of Destruction inside me was laughing now.
Not because we were winning.
Because it enjoyed this.
I hated that part of myself.
But right now—
I needed it.
"Amelia!" I roared.
Her crimson eyes gleamed instantly.
"Already moving."
She disappeared into a burst of black fire.
The dragon sensed her too late.
Her scythe slammed directly into its left wing with enough force to tear the entire limb downward. Corrosive flames spread violently across the frozen flesh, slowing its regeneration for the first time.
The dragon screamed.
Yura moved immediately afterward.
Massive pillars of divine ice erupted upward from beneath the city, piercing through the dragon's limbs and pinning it temporarily against the shattered skyline.
"SHIRO!" Yura shouted.
I understood instantly.
End it.
Dark-purple destruction magic exploded outward from my body violently enough to crack the atmosphere around me. My armor flared alive while Edith transformed in my hands, expanding into a massive black-purple greatsword pulsing like a dying star.
The dragon sensed the danger.
It panicked.
For the first time since the battle began—
it looked afraid.
Good.
I launched forward.
The city cracked beneath the force of my acceleration alone as I shot toward the dragon's chest.
It tried to break free.
Too slow.
Amelia anchored its wing with chains of black fire.
Yura froze its movements again.
And I drove the blade forward.
"Destruction Style…"
Purple lightning erupted across the heavens.
The dragon roared desperately.
"FALL."
The sword pierced directly through its chest.
Straight into the frozen core hidden beneath its body.
Silence.
Then—
the entire floating city exploded with light.
Cracks spread across the dragon instantly.
Its regeneration stopped.
Frozen flesh shattered apart in enormous chunks while destruction energy spread through its body like poison.
The dragon let out one final scream.
Not hateful this time.
Painful.
Almost… relieved.
Then its body collapsed into billions of glowing ice fragments that drifted slowly through the sky like frozen stars.
The blizzard stopped.
Snow began falling softly across the ruined city.
Quiet.
Gentle.
I landed hard against the shattered streets below, breathing unevenly. Steam rose from my armor while blood dripped slowly from beneath the cracks in my gauntlets.
Amelia walked over first.
"You look terrible," she said casually.
"I feel worse."
"Good. Means you're alive."
Yura landed beside us next, her icy aura slowly calming as she looked toward the center of the destroyed battlefield.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"Wait…"
The frozen ground beneath the city cracked open.
Slowly.
Ancient chains emerged first.
Massive.
Covered in glowing runes.
Then purple light erupted upward from the depths beneath the floating fortress.
Amelia immediately raised her scythe.
I tightened my grip on Edith.
Something stepped out from beneath the broken seal.
A woman.
Tall.
Ancient.
Silver hair drifted weightlessly around her body while broken chains hung from her wrists and neck. Massive dragon horns curved backward from her head, glowing faintly beneath the snowfall.
And her eyes…
Purple.
The exact same shade as mine.
The moment she looked at me—
my entire body froze.
Not from fear.
Recognition.
Ancient.
Instinctive.
The woman stared silently for several long seconds before her lips finally moved.
"…So you're the one who inherited it."
My chest tightened instantly.
Inherited what?
Before I could speak, her body suddenly collapsed forward.
I caught her automatically before she hit the frozen ground.
The instant my hand touched her skin—
memories exploded through my mind.
Fire.
Dragons screaming.
A purple throne.
Worlds collapsing beneath wings larger than galaxies.
And a voice.
Ancient.
Familiar.
"The last heir of destruction has awakened."