The moment Kael vanished, motion returned to the clearing.

Alenia was the first to react.

She turned smoothly, her voice calm but carrying. "Fighters. Hunters. Defensive perimeter—now. No one approaches the water unless instructed."

There was no hesitation.

Groups split off immediately, seasoned hunters moving with practiced efficiency, fighters spreading out in overlapping arcs.

Messengers ran, relaying orders, while guards positioned themselves closer to the civilians, voices raised—not in panic, but reassurance.

Evethra's crimson eyes swept the clearing, sharp and predatory. "He wouldn't tell us to clean the lake unless something unpleasant lived in it."

Druvarn, still in his plush bear form, rolled his shoulders. "Aye. And knowing him, unpleasant means 'capable of ruining everyone's day.'"

Alenia glanced toward the edge of the crowd. "Inform Aldric and Vaelen as well. If something breaks through, I want everyone who can fight ready."

The message was carried swiftly.

Aldric, already tense from the relocation, nodded grimly, hand tightening around his weapon.

Vaelen—caught somewhere between prisoner and resident—said nothing, but his eyes sharpened as he took position beside the fighters.

Only when the perimeter was set did the three of them move.

They walked toward the lake without haste.

The water lay unnaturally still.

Too still.

Evethra felt it first—a pressure, subtle but vast, like a coiled presence holding its breath.

"…There," she murmured.

The lake rippled.

Once.

Then again.

The surface bulged outward.

And then—

The water exploded.

A colossal shadow burst free, sending a wall of water crashing outward. Hunters shouted. Fighters raised weapons. Mana flared across the clearing like sparks catching fire.

From the lake rose a massive serpentine form—scales the color of deep sapphire, slick with water, eyes glowing faintly gold.

Its body was as thick as a tower trunk, its length impossible to judge as it coiled midair, blotting out the sky for a heartbeat.

Screams rang out.

"DEFENSIVE LINE—!"

"PROTECT THE CIVILIANS!"

Bows were drawn. Spells half-cast.

And then—

"WAITWAITWAITWAIT—!"

The serpent flailed.

It twisted awkwardly in the air, splashing back into the lake with a thunderous crash that drenched the front line. Its massive head re-emerged almost immediately, eyes wide with sheer terror.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME—!" it bellowed, its voice echoing across the clearing. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO OFFEND THE GREAT DRAGON—! I WILL SERVE! I WILL CLEAN! I WILL MOVE ROCKS! I WILL EAT MONSTERS—!"

Silence fell.

Weapons wavered.

Someone coughed.

Druvarn blinked. "…Did the lake just apologize?"

The serpent bowed—actually bowed—its massive head dipping low enough that its snout nearly touched the shore.

"LET ME LIVE, GREAT DRAGON!" it cried again. "I SWEAR UPON MY CORE AND BLOODLINE—!"

Evethra slowly lowered her hand.

"…Kael isn't here," she said flatly.

The serpent froze.

Its eyes darted left.

Right.

Up.

"…He's not?" it asked, its voice suddenly small for something so large.

Alenia stepped forward, calm as ever, gaze steady. "Did you think he was here because you sensed him a second ago?"

"Yes!" the serpent said quickly. "His mana shook the lake! He even looked at me—with mana sense, maybe—and I knew! I knew I was finished!"

It shuddered violently, coils tightening. "I've lived here for a century! Hidden! Quiet! I never ate people—only fish! I swear!"

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

"It looks like an S-rank beast," one hunter whispered, pale. "No, it's definitely an S-rank beast…"

The serpent's gaze finally focused on the three standing at the shore.

It tilted its massive head, studying them.

"…Then where did the great dragon go?" it muttered, confusion bleeding through its fear.

Evethra crossed her arms. "He left us to deal with you."

The serpent flinched. "O-Oh."

It glanced around, finally noticing the sheer number of people—thousands of them—staring back in stunned silence.

"…You're settling down here?" it asked weakly.

"Yes," Alenia replied. "Around the lake."

The serpent went very, very still.

Then, slowly, it lowered its head again. "Then I will not harm a single soul," it said hurriedly. "I swear it! I will guard the waters! Keep them clean! I will even leave if commanded—just—"

Its voice cracked.

"—Please don't make the dragon angry again."

A beat passed.

Then Druvarn laughed.

Not mockingly—just incredulous.

"Well," he said, rubbing his plush chin, "that's one way to do pest control."

Evethra smirked faintly. "Looks like Kael already subdued it without lifting a finger."

Alenia studied the serpent for a long moment.

"You will remain in the lake," she said finally. "You will not reveal yourself without permission. You will protect this place as if it were your own den."

The serpent nodded so fast the water churned. "YES. ABSOLUTELY. DEN. HOME. FAMILY."

"And if Kael returns," Evethra added softly, her eyes glowing, "you will present yourself properly."

The serpent gulped. "I-I will bow. Immediately."

Weapons were lowered.

Tension bled out of the clearing, replaced by stunned disbelief—and, slowly, laughter.

The lake settled.

And beneath its surface, an ancient serpent coiled tighter than ever, heart pounding—not from fear of death…

… But from the desperate hope that the dragon would never look at it like that again.

Because it had almost died a while ago when Kael's mana and unintentional killing intent had locked on it.

It didn't want to feel like that ever again.

After all, it was just a friendly neighborhood, somewhat (very) scary-looking large snake beast.

........................

At the same time, Kael teleported back alone.

The empty town greeted him with silence and heat.

The barrier dissolved at his will—threads of his magic unraveling like ash in the wind.

The moment it vanished, the outside rushed in. Scorched air flooded the streets. Heat shimmered above shattered stone and melted rooftops.

The land outside still remembered his breath from hours ago. The earth outside was still blackened, glassed in places where his breath had kissed too deeply.

But Kael didn't even flinch.

Because this much heat was nothing for him.

After all, it was his attack; if the residue of it were to harm him, then he wouldn't be able to call himself a dragon.

Now, he stood at the center of what had once been the square and exhaled slowly.

Then his body unfolded.

Bone cracked—not painfully, but inevitably.

Flesh stretched. Shadows peeled away as scales emerged, vast and obsidian, drinking in the light. Wings tore free from nothingness, blotting out the sky as they spread. His spine elongated, tail carving a trench through ruined stone.

The dragon rose.

Golden draconic eyes opened—vast, ancient, and cold.

Kael lowered his massive body into a waiting posture, claws digging into the earth.

'They won't delay,' he thought calmly. 'No one delays when the prize is the last dragon.'

A humorless certainty settled in him, as he was sure that both the demihuman and the human side must be racing to see who could capture him first, as he was just that valuable.

That, however, somehow made him chuckle again, as he knew they needed him alive.

That was his advantage.

'You want to capture me,' Kael mused, heat building faintly in his chest. 'To chain me. Study me. Use me.'

His lips curled back, revealing rows of teeth like blades.

'I don't have that restriction.'

Yes, so while the others would fight with no intention to kill, he would be going straight for the kill.

Time passed.

The forest stood unnaturally still.

Then—

The sky rippled.

Space twisted high above, reality folding inward like wounded flesh.

Kael's entire body tensed.

Mana surged instantly—not outward, not visible—but compressed, violent, contained. His lungs ignited. Black flame coiled deep within his chest, dense and starving, rotating slowly like a forming star.

He did not open his maw.

Not yet.

'One second,' he thought. 'Show yourselves.'

A figure stepped out of warped space.

Human.

Tall. Armored. Aura compressed to a lethal density.

SSS-rank.

Kael's pupils narrowed.

'Seraphina's level,' he judged instantly. 'Or close.'

Another ripple.

Another human emerged.

Then another.

Then another.

Four.

Four SSS-ranked humans, standing in the air as if gravity had forgotten them, auras flaring as they stabilized themselves.

Their expressions shifted—from confidence to surprise to something tighter, sharper.

They hadn't expected this.

They had expected negotiation.

Containment.

Time.

Kael felt it then.

That instinctive certainty.

He was sure that more of them were coming.

'No need to wait.'

His maw opened.

The world screamed.

Black flames condensed before his jaws, forming a sphere so dense that light bent around it. Shockwaves tore outward just from its existence—trees miles away snapping like twigs, the ruined town collapsing further into itself as stone disintegrated into dust.

The SSS-ranked humans shouted, mana flaring defensively—

Too late.

Kael released the breath.

The sound was not thunder.

It was annihilation.

A nuclear boom tore through the sky, the blast flattening the land for kilometers as the black inferno surged forward, devouring air, sound, and light alike.

The first SSS-ranked human didn't even have time to scream properly—his cry was cut short as the flames swallowed him whole.

No ash.

No remains.

He was erased.

The others recoiled in sheer horror as the breath attack continued—unstoppable, roaring toward them like the end of the world itself.

Kael's golden eyes burned.

'This is your answer.'

And the black fire kept coming.

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