On the front lines, Aria fought bravely, each movement a battle against exhaustion. The quantity of pure aetherium contained in the atmosphere of the Drakaryon world allowed her to sustain the fight. However, the fatigue was growing more and more intense. She had increasing difficulty carrying on, her muscles burning like fire. The size of the army had drastically diminished thanks to Aria's heroic efforts. Around twenty remained standing — and worse still, they were the most powerful among them, the fiercest survivors.
Aria had chained them to the ground using shimmering energy chains, but with all their thrashing, the chains would not hold much longer. The dragons fought with primitive rage, desperately trying to break free.
Suddenly, as Aria was fighting, her vision blurred and she collapsed to the ground, her body refusing to obey. Her voice muffled and her breathing ragged, she said weakly: "Ah, it seems the end has come. So this is what it feels like to reach your limit. I feel as though my body is leaving me."
Her limbs trembled and it was impossible for her to stand. Aria's vision was progressively darkening and her heartbeat was unstable, erratic. For living beings, consuming all of their aetherium is tantamount to dying — and it seemed Aria had reached that very limit after a long and grueling battle.
Despite these conditions, she managed to keep the chains in place, binding the dragons. One wondered where she drew this superhuman strength from. With every last ounce of her power, she fought to her final breath, refusing to give up even in the face of death.
"Shinrei, I won't hold on much longer," she murmured, her voice barely audible. "I hope I've bought you enough time."
But just as Aria was about to collapse in the moments that followed, a barrage of attacks rained down upon the battlefield, reducing everything and knocking out all the chained dragons in an explosion of fire and raw power.
Aria's eyes went wide, her mouth agape. She lifted her head skyward despite the exhaustion and the difficulty it cost her. She saw an entire army of dragons coming to her aid. Without her fully understanding how, a battle between dragons erupted before her — a symphony of fire and determination.
An imposing dragon drew close to her and spoke in a deep but benevolent voice. "Human, I thank you for your efforts. You may rest now. It is for us to defend our land."
Aria called out to him, her voice weak but full of urgency. "Is my brother Shinrei alright? Was it he who warned you?"
The dragon looked at her with compassion and thought to himself: "She's in a sorry state. Five more minutes and she would have been dead."
A few moments later, he replied. "Yes, it was he who warned us. Now rest. If you do not wish to leave this world prematurely, human, you must rest."
"Aria," she called out to him weakly. "You can call me Aria."
The dragon, surprised by this request for familiarity even under such circumstances, answered her with newfound respect. "I am Regulus. Pleased to meet you, Aria."
Aria's situation had improved. Her life no longer in immediate danger, she was saved. Kael and Harris, on the other hand, found themselves in a far worse predicament. The Vorthrax kept pouring endlessly from the crater without stopping — an inexhaustible, frenzied horde.
While the two heroes fought on, Harris involuntarily let his guard down, overwhelmed by the fatigue that had invaded every fiber of his being. A Vorthrax seized the opportunity immediately and, with a brutal strike, slammed into Harris's ribs. The blow was so violent it shattered several ribs on the spot and sent Harris flying. The force behind the strike was so powerful that his body tore through five stone columns before embedding itself in them, leaving a trail of debris.
The impact knocked Harris unconscious, leaving him covered in blood and grievous wounds. Darkness took him gently.
Kael, who witnessed the scene, let out a cry from the very depths of his being — a primal rage resonating. "Harris!"
But it was at that very moment that a Vorthrax appeared behind him and slammed him to the ground with force. With a gleeful, mocking air, it spoke to him, a demonic grin stretching across its face. "Finally you let your guard down. So we had to go after your brother to land a hit on you. Got to say — you're impressive."
Despite the pain spreading through Kael's body, he demanded, his rage plain on his face. "You can talk?" Fury consumed him entirely. "Don't you dare lay a hand on my little—"
He never had time to finish his sentence before a great, unbearable cry of pain rang out. The Vorthrax had plunged its razor-sharp claws into Kael's body, blood gushing from his wounds like a red fountain. The pain was beyond imagination.
With a wide sadistic smile, the Vorthrax sneered. "Now I'm going to bite your head off in one go. You can be proud of how long you held on."
But the very second it finished its sentence, its head was torn off in an explosion of blood and flesh. Kael turned his head and saw a Velocix — a species of dragon known for its extraordinary speed, both in the air and on the ground. It held the Vorthrax's head in its hands right before him, blood dripping from it.
The Velocix looked at Kael and said in a deep but friendly voice. "It's over now. The reinforcements are here."
A second later, it vanished in a burst of superhuman speed.
Kael, lying on the ground, stared up at the sky above him. Exhausted but relieved, he murmured, a smile forming despite the pain. "Harris, we did it. Our mission is a success."
And before losing consciousness, the smile still on his face — the smile of a warrior who held on until the very end — he left the rest to the reinforcements.
Thanks to the herculean efforts of Aria, Kael, and Harris, they had bought enough time for Shinrei to warn the king and seek reinforcements. Their three heroes, though exhausted and in terrible shape on the brink of death, were nonetheless still alive. They had held on.
The situation was greatly improving for the heroes. The last front to overcome was Nozomi's. Soaring through the air on Nyx's back, he approached the kingdom and spotted the ancient dragon in the distance — Draka, as he had decided to call it — its massive silhouette darkening the sky.
"Nyx, there it is," said Nozomi, his voice determined despite the growing fatigue. "It's a good thing the reinforcements came to help us. I did the right thing listening to Elyra and studying the five main elemental aetherium. I have a more or less solid grasp of the fundamentals and core principles of the five elements."
Nyx spread his wings and carved through the air majestically at great speed, the raw power of his movements revealing his nature as a legendary dragon. But unfortunately, without warning, Nozomi coughed up blood and dizziness struck him — the world spinning around him. Nozomi placed his hand on his head, murmuring weakly. "I spoke too soon. For now, I command the five elements instinctively, and that has significant side effects on my body."
A small growl from Nyx pulled Nozomi from his thoughts. He noticed that Nyx was hovering in place, immobilized by worry. Nozomi's gaze met Nyx's eyes and he understood that Nyx was deeply concerned about his health and his physical and mental state.
With a sad expression, he gently stroked Nyx's head, feeling the smooth scales beneath his fingers. In a soft but resolute voice: "I'm sorry you have to worry about me so much. Let's beat this monster as quickly as possible. Then I promise I'll rest and take care of myself."
Nyx did not seem entirely convinced by Nozomi's words and remained visibly worried, the tension apparent in every contraction of his muscles. Nozomi, reading the uncertainty on his face, spoke to him with sincerity. "Please, do this for me. It is my duty to stop it. Otherwise, many lives will perish."
Faced with Nozomi's unshakeable determination, Nyx resolved to trust him and set off once more.
Draka, with its towering and imposing silhouette, swept across the land, casting a vast shadow that covered everything in its path. Over Aria's front, the ancient dragon soared above the battle. Everyone — Aria and the dragons alike — was struck with fear and terror before the sheer brute power of the colossal beast.
The dragons were preparing to spread their wings and pursue it before it reached the kingdom. But Aria sensed a familiar presence and stopped them with a gesture. She said with a happy, confident air, a small smile lighting up her exhausted face. "It's alright. My brother is handling it."
Nyx had drawn close enough to Draka. The next second, he unleashed five plasma orbs in rapid succession — a swift and powerful assault. The explosion struck the dragon, and with a single glance, it spotted Nyx and Nozomi — but continued on its course, choosing to ignore them entirely.
Without hesitation, Nozomi leapt onto it and surged forward to reach its head. He descended to the level of one of its massive eyes and hurled a blazing fireball directly into its socket. After that, the dragon was consumed by rage, thrashing through the air, roaring with pain and fury.
Nyx diving in a steep plunge assailed the dragon with a powerful plasma breath. Following the spectacular blast, Nozomi fell — but thanks to his instinctive mastery of air, he conjured a whirlwind to break his fall, gliding gracefully.
Draka was wild with rage, attacking Nyx and Nozomi with claws sharp as blades and devastating breath attacks, orbs of energy flying in all directions. And so began a dance of evasions between Nyx and Nozomi. They both dodged Draka's attacks without the slightest difficulty, and even though the dragon was incredibly powerful, under the grip of rage, its strikes became predictable and easily avoided.
Between evasions, Nyx counter-attacked with plasma bursts and powerful strikes, its movements a symphony of precision. Nozomi, for his part, formed arrows of condensed wind that he launched with surgical precision, or charged with thundering lightning bolts that illuminated the sky.
Each attack from the dragon ravaged the terrain further. Peaks that had stood proudly for millennia crumbled to dust. Underground rivers of lava burst from the fractured earth, creating torrents of fire that consumed everything. The sky itself seemed to weep red and black ash.
After Nozomi's multiple attacks, fatigue had progressively taken hold of him. He felt his entire body burning, a fever rising from the energy exhaustion, and he struggled to breathe, each inhale a labored effort. "This is not the moment! Nyx, your turn! We attack at the same time!"
Nozomi took a deep breath to clear his mind, his thoughts concentrating beyond the pain. He circulated his aetherium through his entire body, coursing through his veins, flowing toward his hands with clear intent. Once he felt ready, he positioned himself beneath Draka and aimed at it with both clenched fists.
In an instant, from one fist erupted a dense flamethrower and from the other, a powerful crackling lightning bolt that sizzled dangerously. The point of impact where the energy of lightning collided with that of fire created a spectacular explosion — a dome of fire and electricity. At the same moment Nozomi's attack fired downward, Nyx charged in a swift and powerful upward strike — a devastating core attack.
The impact of both simultaneous explosions hit its mark. Blood sprayed in every direction like a crimson rain. Consumed by panic and pain, Draka turned toward the kingdom, trying to shake off Nyx and Nozomi in a desperate flight.
Nyx quickly returned to collect Nozomi and together they gave chase after Draka. Along the way, Nozomi had an idea to stop it and whispered his plan to Nyx. When Nyx caught up with Draka, Nozomi climbed onto it. He then placed both his hands on it and infused it with lightning aetherium.
It demanded a tremendous amount of energy from him. Blood ran from his eyes and nose. He coughed up blood from his mouth — and yet, not for a single second did he stop infusing lightning energy for the sake of his plan, determined to the very end.
Breathless and spent, he said: "Your scales are extremely resilient. It's not with my current level of lightning mastery that I'll be able to paralyze you. But this advantage cuts both ways. Without even realizing it, right at this very moment, your entire body is overloaded with electricity. Imagine what will happen when a single spark touches your body."
Once ready, his voice resonating with determination: "Nyx, your turn!"
Having heard Nozomi's signal, Nyx unleashed a breath of fire upon Draka. What followed was a catastrophic chain reaction — an enormous explosion detonated in the air, an explosion the creatures on the ground could see from far away, a sun descending from the sky. Smoke concealed everything.
Nozomi, exhausted, fell through the air — using his mastery of air was now impossible. The world was spinning around him. All he could do was fall.
Suddenly, he heard a roar from below — a blood-chilling sound. And in an instant, a single beat of wings dispersed all the smoke, revealing Draka, its jaws gaping wide beneath Nozomi, ready to devour him alive.
With no possible escape, no refuge in sight, Nyx cleaved through the air in a full-speed dive to save Nozomi. Their eyes met and — as once before — a phenomenal power flooded through them both, like a perfect synchronization.
Nyx's green scales lit up with a brilliant emerald light. His jet-black wings likewise turned verdant, shimmering like jewels. Meanwhile, Nozomi's eyes ignited with a magnificent green — the glow of life itself — and green streaks appeared in his hair.
Unfortunately, Nyx too was swept up when Draka swallowed Nozomi in a cruel gesture of victory. But as all hope seemed lost and the end appeared certain, suddenly, green fissures appeared across the dragon's body. It let out cries of pain that resonated across the entire surrounding land — the mark of an absolute, unimaginable suffering.
More and more fissures appeared, bathing the surroundings in a soothing and magnificent light — a pure green light like the very essence of life itself. All at once, Draka's entire body exploded, sending its limbs flying in every direction, blood cascading like a river of fire and water mixed together.
But amid all this chaos, an intense light illuminated all the lands of the Drakaryon world. Like a new star being born — a star of emerald green. A revelation.
Nozomi and Nyx, from within, had slain Draka — thanks to that superhuman and unknown force that had flooded their bodies. A synchronization so powerful it transcended simple union.
In the kingdom, the Dragon King witnessed the scene and beheld that light which bathed the entire Drakaryon world in an indescribable serenity and comfort. The Dragon King, his expression overwhelmed and stunned by the revelation, murmured: "This light..."
His eyes widened with understanding. "I never believed I would see it again." He paused, his expression growing solemn and full of reverence. "Then the Elemental Master has returned."
And with those words, a new chapter of history began — the birth of a new hero had come to light.