The dragon did not descend immediately.
---
It circled.
---
High above the burning remains of the trade route, its wings did not beat the air—they *bent* it. Each shift carved invisible currents that tore smoke apart and scattered fire like it was nothing.
---
Rian couldn't move.
---
Not because he was injured.
---
Because something in him understood—
If that thing decided to come down…
Nothing here would matter.
---
Except—
---
Eron kept walking.
---
Step.
---
Step.
---
Step.
---
No hesitation.
No preparation.
---
"What are you doing…?" Rian whispered, but his voice died before it reached him.
---
The dragon noticed.
---
It wasn't obvious.
There was no sudden movement.
No dramatic reaction.
---
But its path… changed.
---
Slowly—
Deliberately—
---
It began to descend.
---
The sky darkened as its body lowered.
Not from shadow.
---
From presence.
---
Pressure built in the air again—thicker than before, heavier than before, *focused*.
---
Rian collapsed to one knee.
---
His lungs refused to work.
His vision blurred.
---
But Eron—
---
Eron stopped.
---
Right at the center of the ruined path.
---
And looked up.
---
For the first time—
He didn't look detached.
---
He looked… certain.
---
"…You're early," Eron said quietly.
---
The dragon's eye shifted.
---
Locked onto him.
---
And everything else…
Stopped mattering.
---
Rian felt it instantly.
---
He wasn't being ignored.
---
He was being *removed from relevance*.
---
Like the world itself had decided—
This moment wasn't his.
---
The dragon descended lower.
---
Now he could see it clearly.
---
Its scales weren't just armor.
They reflected something deeper—
Not light.
Not heat.
---
*Age.*
---
Cracks that weren't damage.
Patterns that weren't natural.
---
As if time itself had tried to mark it—
And failed to leave a dent.
---
Its eye narrowed.
---
And then—
It spoke.
---
Not in words.
---
In weight.
---
A force pressed into the ground.
Into the air.
Into Rian's skull.
---
A meaning forced into existence:
---
**"You."**
---
Rian screamed.
---
Not out loud.
His body didn't have the strength.
---
But inside—
Something tore.
---
Eron didn't react.
---
"…Yeah," he answered.
---
Casual.
---
Like he was replying to something normal.
---
The dragon lowered further.
Closer.
Closer.
---
Heat returned—
But it wasn't fire.
---
It was *attention*.
---
Eron took a step forward.
---
Rian's heart stopped.
---
"What are you doing?!" he tried to shout, but it came out broken, useless.
---
Eron ignored him.
---
"You remember," Eron said.
---
The dragon's eye sharpened.
---
The air tightened.
---
That pressure returned—
But different now.
---
Not crushing.
---
Recognizing.
---
**"Wrong."**
---
The word slammed into reality.
---
The ground cracked beneath Eron's feet.
---
Space distorted.
---
For a brief second—
Eron's body flickered.
---
Not like before.
---
Worse.
---
Like multiple versions of him existed—
And reality hadn't decided which one was real yet.
---
Then—
It stabilized.
---
Eron exhaled slowly.
---
"…Still doing that."
---
Rian's mind couldn't keep up anymore.
---
This wasn't a fight.
---
It wasn't even a confrontation.
---
It was something else.
---
Two things—
That should not exist in the same place—
---
Trying to understand each other.
---
The dragon moved first.
---
Not a full attack.
---
Not yet.
---
Its head lowered—
Massive jaws parting slightly—
---
And the world bent.
---
Rian felt it.
---
Not heat.
Not wind.
---
Erasure.
---
Like everything in front of the dragon was about to stop existing.
---
"Move—" Rian tried to scream.
---
Eron didn't.
---
He raised his hand.
---
Nothing flashy.
No magic circle.
No chant.
---
Just—
A simple motion.
---
And reality… resisted.
---
For the first time since the dragon appeared—
Something pushed back.
---
The air between them fractured.
---
Not shattered.
---
Split.
---
Like two rules trying to overwrite each other.
---
The dragon paused.
---
Just for a second.
---
And in that second—
Something changed.
---
Its gaze deepened.
---
Not anger.
---
Not hostility.
---
Understanding.
---
**"Not of this world."**
---
The meaning hit harder than before.
---
Rian's vision went black for a moment.
---
Eron smiled slightly.
---
Not confidently.
Not mockingly.
---
Just… knowingly.
---
"…Took you long enough."
---
The dragon's presence surged.
---
The sky cracked again.
The ground sank.
The air screamed.
---
This time—
There was no hesitation.
---
It attacked.
---
And Eron—
---
Did not move.
---
Because this—
---
Was where the real fight began.