Noah stared at the system panel, his thoughts looping endlessly around a single line. His face remained calm, almost empty, yet inside him, something violent churned—hope, fear, disbelief—all clashing without pause, refusing to settle into something he could trust.
"…Is this real?" he asked silently.
His voice didn't tremble outwardly, but deep within, it cracked.
"…Will I really be able to meet her again?"
The System responded without hesitation.
[If you clear the mission.]
Cold. Absolute. Final.
Noah's fingers curled slowly into a fist, tightening until his knuckles whitened. A quiet breath left his lips as something within him hardened—not desperation, but resolve.
"…Then I'll do it," he thought.
"Whatever it takes… I'll complete it."
His senses shifted.
Even without sight, the overwhelming presence before him was impossible to ignore. Vast. Ancient. Dominant.
"…Velzahar," Noah recalled inwardly.
The name felt heavy, like something that belonged in legends rather than reality.
Silence stretched between them.
Then—
The Dragon spoke.
"Human child… Noah."
Its voice carried weight, pressing against the air itself.
"I have been given a role in your journey. Tell me… are you aware of this?"
Noah's brows tightened beneath the cloth over his eyes.
"H-How do you know that?"
Velzahar's pupils narrowed slightly, ancient thoughts stirring behind them.
'…So Nirovan really told him nothing,' it concluded inwardly.
'…Good. Then he will learn when he is ready.'
"I see," Velzahar replied calmly.
"Then listen carefully."
A faint pressure leaked from his body.
"I am Velzahar… the Chaos Dragon."
A pause.
"Among your kind… I am known as the Calamity Dragon."
The forest seemed to shrink around him.
Even restrained, his presence distorted the air itself—heavy, suffocating, undeniable. It wasn't power meant to intimidate… it simply existed, like a natural disaster given form.
But suddenly—
Velzahar's gaze shifted.
His perception expanded instantly, stretching far beyond the forest, reaching the very borders. Multiple presences. Fast. Organized. Armed.
"…So they came," he murmured.
His eyes returned to Noah.
"We have guests."
Noah frowned slightly.
He sensed nothing.
"I can kill them all," Velzahar continued casually, as if stating something trivial.
"But they are not here for you… they are here for me."
A pause.
"So we will leave."
Noah hesitated.
"But… how?"
Velzahar didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
His massive body began to compress.
Scale by scale, his colossal form shrank, folding inward as if space itself bent around him. In mere seconds, the dragon vanished—replaced by a humanoid figure standing where he once was.
Tall.
Overwhelmingly so.
Seven feet of refined power.
Two curved horns emerged from his forehead, intricate and sharp, while long black hair flowed behind him like a shadow given motion. His blue attire shimmered faintly, carrying an elegance that felt almost unreal.
Noah couldn't see it.
But he felt it.
"…This is really a fantasy world," he thought quietly.
Velzahar stepped forward.
Without effort, he placed a hand on Noah's shoulder and pulled him up to his feet.
"We are leaving," he said.
"Prepare yourself."
"Wha—"
"Space Jump."
The world twisted.
Space folded inward like collapsing glass—
And in the next instant—
They vanished.
Completely.
Yet just before disappearing, Velzahar's gaze flickered toward the black sword embedded near the temple.
With a simple motion—
It disappeared.
"…He'll need it," Velzahar muttered faintly.
Half an hour earlier—
The moment Velzahar awakened—
The world broke.
An invisible pressure descended across the entire continent of Norox.
People collapsed mid-step.
Knights dropped their weapons.
Nobles choked on their own breath.
Even Kings—
Fell.
In the Kingdom of Velzar, the closest to the forest, the effect was absolute.
King Velzar was forced to his knees before his throne, his body trembling uncontrollably as cold sweat poured down his face.
"…Impossible," he thought in horror.
"That dragon… it awakened?!"
Time stretched painfully.
Minutes felt like hours as the pressure suffocated everything beneath it. Only after it weakened slightly did the strongest manage to rise, their breaths ragged, their pride shattered.
And then—
Orders were given.
"Mobilize all forces!"
"Gather every knight!"
"We march to the Forest of Imosul!"
Across the continent—
Armies moved.
Kings advanced personally.
War… began to form.
At the borders of the forest—
They arrived.
Thousands of soldiers.
Dozens of elites.
Multiple Kings.
And then—
They felt it.
Nothing.
The pressure—
Gone.
The presence—
Erased.
As if it had never existed.
"King Velzar!" a commander shouted urgently.
"The Dragon's presence has disappeared! What are your orders?!"
Velzar narrowed his eyes.
Frustration surfaced first—
Then calculation replaced it.
'…It ran?,' he thought.
'…It must be weakened.'
A slow smile formed across his lips.
'…If I report this… they'll reward me greatly.'
And he wasn't alone.
Across every border—
Every King reached the same conclusion.
Not fear.
Not caution.
But greed.
And far away—
Unaware of the storm gathering behind him—
Noah continued forward.
Toward something far greater.
Meanwhile—
Far away… beyond the reach of Velzar, beyond even the boundaries of the continent of Norox—
Another land existed.
A land nearly forgotten.
The continent of 'Velmor'.
Once—
It was known as the Continent of Dragons.
Now…
It belonged to the Elves.
Towering trees pierced the heavens, their roots spreading endlessly across the land, their branches stretching beyond the clouds themselves. Entire civilizations thrived upon them, homes carved into living wood, glowing faintly with ancient energy.
Yet beneath that beauty—
A history lingered.
The Dragons were gone.
Not extinct.
Not defeated.
Gone.
And only one being in this world truly knew why.
Velzahar.
Deep within one such forest—
There existed a place no Elf dared approach.
A cavern.
Massive.
Endless.
Stretching more than ten kilometers into the earth like a scar carved into the land itself.
Even after centuries—
It still breathed.
Not air.
But remnants of power.
Ancient.
Oppressive.
Alive.
The lingering aura of Dragons.
No Elf stepped inside.
Not out of fear alone—
But reverence.
To them, Dragons were not mere creatures.
They were beings that stood at the edge of divinity.
And so, they only approached from afar…
Offering flowers.
Prayers.
Respect.
And then—
Space tore open.
Not cracked.
Not bent.
Torn.
As if reality itself had been split apart by force.
A rift formed.
Violent.
Unstable.
From within—
A figure stepped out.
Velzahar.
His hand held the space itself apart, as if it were nothing more than fragile cloth. Behind him—
Noah fell.
Hard.
The moment his body hit the ground, his senses collapsed.
"Ugh—!!"
He vomited instantly, his body rejecting the violent displacement of space itself.
His breathing became erratic, unstable, as his perception flickered wildly.
Velzahar stepped forward calmly, his movements smooth, controlled… untouched by the chaos he had just crossed.
He looked down at Noah.
And sighed.
"You humans…"
His voice carried faint disappointment.
"…are really weaker than I expected."
Noah didn't respond.
Not because he accepted it—
But because his body simply couldn't.
"…Tch…" he thought weakly, wiping his mouth.
'These dragons… arrogant even in real life huh?'
But even that thought faded quickly.
Because—
He felt it.
The cave.
The moment his senses stabilized, they spread outward instinctively—
And what he felt made his body stiffen.
This place—
It was wrong.
No…
Not wrong.
Too powerful.
The walls themselves carried pressure.
Not physical—
But something deeper.
The same kind of presence…
As Velzahar.
Cold sweat slid down his face as his body instinctively reacted.
'Wh… what is this place…?' his thoughts trembled.
Before he could finish—
Velzahar spoke.
"This…"
His voice echoed through the cavern.
"…was once my home."
Silence followed.
For the first time—
Something changed.
His gaze moved slowly across the cave walls.
Not scanning.
Remembering.
A past long buried beneath time.
Something ancient flickered behind his eyes—
Before vanishing completely.
"And now…"
His tone hardened again.
Cold.
Absolute.
"This will be your training ground."
Noah's body tensed instinctively.
Velzahar turned toward him fully.
And for the first time—
His presence pressed down intentionally.
Heavy.
Dominating.
Unavoidable.
"This place…"
He paused.
"…is the most powerful place in this entire world."
A step forward.
The ground itself seemed to acknowledge him.
"And if you wish to survive what is coming—"
His eyes locked onto Noah.
"…you will become something worthy here."
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Final.
And in that moment—
Without realizing it—
Noah had stepped into the place where his true transformation would begin.