"Hah! You refuse even them? You might be more interesting than I thought."
The dragon leaned forward, wings twitching slightly behind its back, golden eyes glinting with newfound curiosity.
"Very well, mortal. Let's see if your strength is as sharp as your will."
Aelion gave a small nod, his voice calm but resolute.
"I need half an hour to recover my strength."
The humanoid dragon raised a scaly brow, his molten gold eyes flickering with amusement—as if he'd just heard a child make a bold declaration.
Without a word, he stepped forward. Despite his towering form, his movements were silent, regal. One clawed hand extended, and he pressed his palm lightly against Aelion's chest.
A sudden golden glow flared from the point of contact, pouring into Aelion's body like liquid fire.
His pain vanished.
His limbs stopped trembling.
His energy roared back like a surging tide.
In a blink, he was back at his peak—wounds fully healed, stamina brimming, and every skill reset, as though he'd never fought at all.
Aelion's eyes widened.
What was that? Regeneration? Divine-class magic? No, it felt… deeper. Like it reached into the system itself and rewrote the rules.
But he didn't question it.
Instead, the fire in his gaze burned hotter, focused.
The dragon stepped back, his massive wings folding neatly behind him. Then, with a subtle shift of his presence, his overwhelming aura collapsed inward, folding until it settled at a level that mirrored Aelion's own.
Their stats were now equal.
Aelion arched an eyebrow, cautious.
That's when the dragon vanished.
A blur—an afterimage—was the only warning before a crushing blow smashed into Aelion's ribs from the right, launching him into the air like a ragdoll. He slammed into the stone floor with a resounding crack that echoed across the chamber.
Pain exploded through his side, but the dragon wasn't done.
He was already there.
Another strike. Then another.
Aelion could barely defend, barely breathe.
The hits came like thunderclaps, each one laced with precision and weight, not wild fury—this was skill refined over millennia.
Desperate, he growled through clenched teeth:
"Lightning Flash!"
A surge of light burst from his body.
In an instant, he vanished—reappearing three meters away, crouched low, gasping for air, sweat trailing down his brow.
No time to think. No time to recover.
He unfolded his domain.
Lightning cracked through the air. The chamber's light dimmed as the world warped—his surroundings sharpening with unnatural clarity. Every motion, every sound, every vibration was magnified within the field of his perception.
His figure began to flicker.
He blinked from one point to another, dodging the dragon's onslaught with increasing speed and precision. The gap between attacks and evasion began to close—he was adapting.
But then—
The dragon's domain unfolded.
Reality bent.
Aelion felt the sheer weight of it bear down like a mountain. His vision dimmed for a heartbeat—then… it was gone.
Vanished.
No tremor. No pulse.
Just... gone.
But something felt off.
The chamber still carried a weight—subtle, coiled, waiting.
Aelion's eyes narrowed.
"It's still here," he whispered, realization dawning like a slow-moving tide. "He didn't cancel it… He compressed it."
The dragon had folded his domain inward, containing its radius to his own body—rendering Aelion's domain ineffective against him, while preserving all its benefits.
He's not just powerful... he's tactical.
Aelion grit his teeth. But then—
He smiled.
Because while the dragon's domain was tightly wound, his own was expanding.
Crackles of azure lightning pulsed from the floor beneath his feet.
His domain widened—meter by meter—amplifying his senses, sharpening his reactions, and gradually…
Increasing his strength.
Suddenly, Aelion felt a shift.
His domain—once steadily expanding—halted.
Then it began to retract, slowly inching inward toward him.
Its radius decreased, but the energy within grew denser, more focused.
The pressure around him changed—became sharper, alive with intent.
And then, in a crackle of raw power, the entire domain condensed into a glowing silhouette behind him.
It mirrored his form—same posture, same stance—a phantom of pure lightning, standing tall at Aelion's back.
For the first time, the dragon paused.
His golden eyes widened slightly—then a booming, rumbling laughter filled the chamber.
"To think… I would witness someone reach Domain Shaping just by seeing it once…"
The echo of his amusement rattled the stones around them, but Aelion said nothing.
He simply stood, eyes focused, breath shallow—his body now riddled with bruises, burns, and cuts. Blood dripped steadily down his jaw.
Then, as another crushing strike came toward him, he whispered:
"Counter."
A pulse of dark crimson energy surged through him.
In a single instant, his wounds vanished—while the dragon's health bar plummeted, diving straight into the red.
The dragon recoiled slightly, lips curling in disdain.
"A casualty skill… You weaponize the damage taken… clever."
But Aelion wasn't finished.
All the energy within his shaped domain—the raw lightning, the condensed will, the heightened awareness—converged into a single point.
The silhouette at his back raised its hand.
A weapon began to form—a spear of pure energy, pulsing like a thunderclap caught in solid form.
Aelion raised his hand in tandem, syncing with the silhouette.
And with a final breath, he uttered the word that had once carried him through impossible odds:
"Limit Break."
The chamber exploded.
A deafening detonation erupted as the spear was hurled, shattering space between him and the dragon.
Light consumed everything.
Stone melted. The air screamed.
The floor buckled beneath the weight of their combined might.
For a long moment, there was nothing—only dust, light, and silence.
Smoke blanketed the battlefield, a thick veil of ash and dust swirling through the shattered chamber.
Aelion remained poised, breathing steady, eyes sharp—on his toes, waiting. Watching.
Every muscle was tense, ready to move.
Had he won?
Seconds passed in silence.
Then—
The same laughter returned.
But this time…
It was different.
Deeper. Louder. Crushing.
The very air vibrated with it. The chamber trembled.
Aelion's heart pounded, not from fear—but from anticipation.
He turned toward the source.
Through the smoke and sparks, all he could see was a single eye.
Enormous. Inhuman. Ancient.
A towering presence loomed within the dust—a force that dwarfed everything he'd faced so far.
Then it hit him.
A wave of energy, so dense and hostile it felt like it would rip his body apart from the inside out.
His bones screamed. His vision blurred.
Even his soul felt like it was about to unravel.
But still…
The fire in his eyes didn't waver.
He gritted his teeth, planted his feet, and stood tall.
He was Aelion Darkshade.
And no matter what stood before him—
No matter what god, beast, or shadow tried to break him—
He was going to win.
e