CHAPTER 1125: THE FULL FORM

Krono’s transformation was a spectacle of amazing magnitude. The air itself trembled when his body expanded. Molten veins of gold tearing through the storm of black stone with red veins around him.

The pulses of his change unleashed waves of raw Magic energy that shattered what remained of the tower from within. The black and red veins that once pulsed across the walls were obliterated in an instant.

A shockwave of golden energy burst outward, vaporizing stone and fire alike, and the explosion sent Erend, Eccar, and Aesa hurtling backward.

They were thrown into open air and they were engulfed by a cascade of blazing debris and searing wind.

For several seconds there was nothing but light, noise, and weightlessness.

When the chaos finally dimmed they managed to spread their wings, catching the turbulent air before they could crash into the ground.

Erend flared his own Dragon wings wide, lightning crackling across their span as he steadied himself.

Eccar did the same. While Aesa used freezing gusts to stabilize her flight.

They hovered amidst the ruin. Their eyes wide from what they just witnessed.

The shockwave was too sudden and it was now still raced outward below them, golden and violent, leveling everything it touched.

But at least now they could see again.

And at the center of that ruin floated Krono.

He was magnificent and terrifying all at once. His body stretched vast across the sky. His scales gleamed with hues of pure gold, but upon closer look, his form shimmered with living color of streaks of blue, green, and red that flowed through his scales with shifting light, changing place with each movement of his body.

Four colossal legs ended in claws. His wings were enormous sheets of light, and the edges were sparking like molten gold.

Two horns curved backward from his head, gleaming with some runes.

His eyes flickered between radiant white and deep gold, shifting as though they reflected the flow of time around him.

When he moved, the air seemed to ripple. Not just with Magic pressure, but with the distortion of time.

Then he roared.

It was a sound that was filled with power. The roar carried through every direction, shaking the air, the dark clouds, and even the light around him.

The echo resounded through the whole place, and Erend felt his chest vibrate from the force.

When the echo finally subsided, Erend turned his gaze toward the shattered remains of the black tower.

Only its lower levels still stood, the rest reduced to drifting rubble. The dark spire had been reduced to a carcass of stone and burning veins.

Krono floated above it. His wings spread but motionless. He was suspended in the air by some unseen power that defied gravity.

"Where is that thing?" Erend muttered, eyes scanning the debris. His instincts told him Zerathul was still alive.

Moments later, his suspicion was confirmed. Amid the falling shards of obsidian, a figure rose effortlessly.

Zerathul hovered in the air, untouched amid ruin. His body is surrounded by faint tendrils of crimson smoke.

His eyes glowed with their same cruel amusement as before without any sign of fear.

Eccar and Aesa turned to see him as well, and tension returned instantly.

"What will we do now?" Eccar’s voice came through their telepathic link, grim but still steady.

Erend didn’t answer right away. His gaze shifted between Krono’s colossal figure and Zerathul’s unmoving form.

The Time Dragon that was now in his full form was an amazingly powerful force. His power was immense, it was perhaps enough to kill Zerathul completely. It should have been reassuring.

However, Erend couldn’t shake the weight in his chest. Something about this felt wrong.

"I’m not sure," he finally said through their link. "Let’s just wait for now. When Krono’s in his full form, we shouldn’t interfere. I think... This will be his fight from now on. Unless we see some dangerous development."

Eccar nodded silently, agreeing despite the unease on his face. His grip tightened and his eyes never left the two that were now facing each other.

Aesa said nothing. Her jaw tightened.

Her expression was unreadable as the icy light flickered in her eyes. But within her thoughts, something darker stirred.

She thought about an unspoken realization she wasn’t ready to share with either of them.

She kept her gaze fixed on Zerathul with cold silence.

Krono stared down at Zerathul, his massive golden eyes narrowing as a deep rumbling growl built in his chest. The sound grew until it became a thunderous resonance that shook the air, making the blackened clouds twist and scatter.

The putrid air of this ruined world rippled outward from the force of that growl. Lightning in hues of gold and blue crackled across the torn sky, and the ground miles below them quaked.

Erend could feel his heartbeat quickening. Even from this distance, Krono’s presence pressed down on him like a mountain.

"This is it," he thought, watching the colossal Dragon coil his power. "This is the full strength of Krono... the Time Dragon himself."

But alongside the awe he also felt the unease. There was something wild in Krono’s energy that didn’t feel like his usual controlled flow.

"If he’s being influenced like I suspected, this could get out of hand fast. That much power with a clouded mind is very dangerous." His jaw tightened.

Then the air around Krono shifted.

The golden light surrounding him intensified, flaring outward in sudden brilliance. His wings opened to their full span. Then he moved.

It wasn’t just a flight. It was like teleportation because of his speed.

With one colossal beat of his wings Krono vanished from sight. The sound of a sonic boom came after.

A split second later, the space in front of Zerathul imploded.

Krono reappeared there in a blinding surge of golden light, his claws already swinging forward.

The impact sent a crescent wave of golden energy tearing through the air toward Zerathul.

Zerathul didn’t flinch. His body remained suspended, his tentacled face looked calm.

The moment before the strike connected, his body blurred, the crimson smoke around him thickening.

—