The boy looked around, searching for any sign of danger.
Nothing.
For the moment, there was no enemy in sight.
Then—
A deep voice reverberated through the air.
“Ugh… you little bastard, Zuko.
Don’t you know when to give up?”
The boy’s eyes widened.
A figure suddenly blinked into existence only a few meters away.
A tall dragon-man stood before him, his bronze skin contrasting sharply against his long brown hair, which flowed down his back.
His eyes narrowed as an oppressive wave of killing intent radiated from his body.
“You fool,” the dragon-man growled.
“You know he’s using you, right?”
The boy laughed.
“Yeah.”
A mocking grin spread across his face.
“And it’s fun.”
The dragon-man’s expression twisted with anger.
He suddenly sprinted forward.
The boy charged toward him at the same time.
Their fists collided.
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled through the air, sending the surrounding scales and leaves trembling.
Neither of them backed down.
The dragon-man immediately threw another punch.
The boy ducked underneath it, grabbed him around the waist, and used his momentum against him.
CRASH!
The dragon-man slammed into the ground.
The boy climbed on top of him and unleashed a rapid barrage of punches.
But after only a few strikes, he stopped.
He stood and kicked the dragon-man away, sending him skidding across the dragon’s back.
Without wasting another second, the boy turned around and continued running.
He had to keep moving.
He had to reach Zuko.
But the dragon-man recovered almost instantly.
He caught up.
The boy barely had time to turn before the dragon-man tackled him.
The two crashed into the scales, and the dragon-man immediately retaliated with his own barrage.
The punches struck the boy with tremendous force, each impact rocking his body like a cannonball.
The boy gritted his teeth.
“Damn it!”
He planted his foot against the dragon-man and kicked him away.
The moment he regained his footing, he charged again.
He tackled the dragon-man—
But the dragon-man slipped through his grasp.
Gone.
The boy’s eyes widened.
He appeared behind him.
BOOM!
A devastating punch struck the back of the boy’s head.
His vision instantly turned white.
For a moment, everything disappeared.
Then—
Stars.
The boy staggered, his senses slowly returning.
He shook his head violently.
“Get—”
His vision finally cleared.
The dragon-man was right in front of him.
The boy immediately swung his leg.
WHAM!
His roundhouse kick connected with the dragon-man’s head and sent him flying off the dragon.
The boy took a moment to catch his breath.
Then his expression changed.
Something was wrong.
The dragon-man suddenly appeared in front of him again.
And this time, his killing intent had doubled.
The boy barely had time to react.
The dragon-man kicked him directly in the stomach.
BOOM!
The boy was sent flying toward the dragon’s massive wing.
His body spun through the air.
The edge of the dragon’s back was getting closer.
Too close.
Time seemed to slow.
I’m going to fall.
Just before he slipped away—
Something flew toward him.
A long sword made entirely of black, jagged spikes.
The boy instinctively reached out and caught it.
His fingers tightened around the strange weapon.
Without hesitation, he drove the sword into the dragon’s wing, using it to anchor himself.
The dragon let out a thunderous roar.
The boy looked down.
“Sorry!”
The dragon-man roared from across the dragon’s back.
“What the hell are you doing?!
How dare you injure Lord Vanga!”
The boy glared at him.
“Shut the hell up!”
Then—
The dragon began to glow.
White divine light seeped through the gaps between its scales.
The entire atmosphere changed.
The boy’s eyes widened.
From somewhere in the distance, he heard Zuko’s voice.
“Alright, kid!
This is it!”
The boy looked around.
“What’s it?”
“Prepare for impact!”
The boy’s expression darkened.
“That’s not reassuring!”
Zuko’s voice rang out again.
“But before that—you’re gonna want this!”
Suddenly, the boy felt something burning into his back.
He winced.
“What the hell is this?!”
“It’ll help you survive!”
The boy looked toward the horizon.
His expression immediately froze.
An enormous volcano towered in the distance.
The mountain was trembling.
The ground beneath them was shaking.
The volcano was about to erupt.
The boy’s eyes widened in horror.
Then he remembered Zuko’s words.
We have to cause some type of destruction.
He stared at the volcano.
Then at the dragon.
Then back at the volcano.
His face twisted into disbelief.
“Ah, fuck…”
He swallowed.
“I don’t think I can survive this.”
Zuko’s voice echoed from somewhere ahead.
“You’ll be fine!”
A pause.
Then Zuko laughed.
“Hahahaha!”
The boy’s eye twitched.
“Why are you laughing?!”
The dragon’s divine light grew brighter.
Brighter.
Brighter.
At the same time, the volcano began to erupt.
The world shook violently.
The dragon accelerated directly toward the erupting mountain.
The boy’s eyes widened.
Everything around him seemed to slow down.
Am I gonna die?
That was his final thought.
Then—
Everything exploded.
The dragon collided with the volcano like a meteor striking a planet.
For a single moment, the boy lost consciousness.
Everything became white.
Then came the heat.
An overwhelming wave of heat unlike anything he had ever experienced.
The boy had endured countless battles.
He had faced monsters.
He had fought creatures that should have been impossible for a human to challenge.
But this—
This was different.
For the first time in his life, he experienced true, overwhelming pain.
The explosion spread outward with catastrophic force.
The very foundations of the Dragon Realm trembled.
The shockwave traveled across the realm, swallowing everything in its path.
Light consumed the world.
Space itself began to tear apart.
The boundaries between realms twisted and distorted as though reality itself were being pulled apart.
For what felt like an eternity—
There was nothing.
Then slowly—
Color returned.
The boy’s eyes opened.
He groaned.
“Ugh…”
His body felt like it had been thrown through an entire mountain.
He slowly pushed himself upright.
Then he stood.
The world around him had changed.
A vast volcanic wasteland stretched across the horizon.
Ash covered the ground.
The sky was unfamiliar.
The Dragon Realm was nowhere to be seen.
The boy looked around in confusion.
Then he spotted Zuko sitting nearby.
The boy stumbled toward him.
“Hey…”
His voice was shaky.
“What the hell was that?”
He looked down at himself.
“Why am I still alive?”
Zuko looked just as stunned by the sheer destruction they had caused.
Finally, he sighed.
“It’s a spell I cast on you.”
He glanced toward the boy.
“It’s particularly useful for moments like this.”
The boy stared at him.
“You could’ve mentioned that earlier.”
Before Zuko could answer—
CRACK!
Yellow lightning streaked across the sky.
The boy looked upward.
Another bolt struck the ground.
Then another.
And another.
Too much lightning.
The boy’s expression slowly hardened.
He could feel something.
A presence.
Something powerful.
Something that was approaching.
He looked at Zuko.
“What’s happening?”
Zuko slowly stood.
His expression became serious.
“Be ready.”
The boy immediately tensed.
A figure descended from the sky.
BOOM!
The ground shook as the figure crashed into the volcanic wasteland.
Dust and smoke erupted outward.
Then—
The smoke dispersed.
A dragon-man stood within the crater.
He was enormous.
Nearly eight feet tall, with a heavily muscular build and brown dragon scales covering his body.
A long, jagged tail extended behind him, radiating an ominous aura.
His facial features were sharp.
His long, straight hair fell all the way to his lower back.
But what truly caught the boy’s attention were his eyes.
Three yellow eyes.
One on each side of his face.
And a third in the center of his forehead.
The dragon-man’s presence alone caused the entire minor realm to feel heavier.
His will pressed down upon everything around him.
The boy gritted his teeth.
“Just who are you?”
Zuko narrowed his eyes.
“Vinhor.”
The dragon-man smiled.
“I would like to talk, Zuko.”
He raised one hand.
A bottle of wine suddenly blinked into existence.
Vinhor looked toward the boy.
“I have wine.”
The boy’s expression immediately soured.
“Not even in a million years.
You’d never find me good company.”
Vinhor’s hand slowly lowered.
A faint look of disappointment crossed his face.
“Oh.”
He shrugged.
“I’m sure we’ll find plenty of things to talk about.”
Zuko finally stepped forward.
He extended his hand.
A medium-sized table suddenly appeared before them, accompanied by four chairs.
The boy looked at the fourth chair.
He frowned.
Four?
Zuko remained completely motionless.
Then he simply said—
“Sit.”
Vinhor chuckled.
He walked toward the table and took his seat.
The boy and Zuko sat across from him.
Vinhor placed the bottle of wine on the table.
The atmosphere grew heavier by the second.
Zuko extended his hand.
Two cups appeared.
Vinhor smirked and began pouring himself a drink.
Zuko’s expression remained serious.
“Why are you doing this now?”
Vinhor took a sip.
“I’m simply introducing myself to your little friend.”
He turned toward the boy.
His expression became slightly more animated.
“You know, kid…”
He leaned back.
“You seem like an adventurous and mischievous person.”
He smiled.
“Are you?”
The boy calmly leaned back in his chair.
“If the moment calls for it, sure.”
Vinhor chuckled.
“After what you two just did?”
He gestured toward the devastated landscape.
“I’d say the moment definitely called for some mischief.”
Before the boy could respond—
A white portal appeared in the distance.
It formed directly out of the void.
The atmosphere immediately changed.
A figure stepped through.
A woman.
She possessed long, snowy-white hair and wore a simple white tunic.
Her eyes were black.
Not dark brown.
Not deep blue.
Pure black.
Like the night itself.
The portal vanished behind her.
Zuko’s expression immediately changed.
For the first time, genuine distress appeared in his voice.
“Lady Nova…”
He slowly stood.
“Queen and leader of the Draconic Angels.”
Nova’s gaze shifted toward the boy.
Her expression was cold and unreadable.
She studied him for several seconds.
Then she spoke.
“Do you even understand what you’re getting yourself into, boy?”