CHAPTER 44: RULER’S WILL

The Artemis Forest belonged to the fairies and their sentinel, yet none of that mattered as Jett faced the sapphire dragon. These two powerhouses eclipsed every other soul in the clearing—their mere presence made seasoned warriors forget to breathe. When the dragon declared he could—and would—look down on Jett, the tension spiked, freezing people and monsters alike.

"First dragon I met was cool and sharp—but you’re the classic stubborn drake. Can’t talk you down, so let’s just throw down." Jett curled his lips into a smirk.

I’m about to fight a dragon, and I’m not even sweating. Mia and Noctlisa raised the bar. I can’t lag behind—I have to outshine everyone.

Black, undulating streaks coiled at his feet, swelling into a lean cloud that swallowed him whole; a crackle of static lifted the hairs on his arms as a sudden chill swept over his skin. Sound vanished—even the green lightning snapping inside the darkness was silent—and then he was gone.

As he blasted across the battlefield, nobody sensed him. Even the strongest fighters registered only a black flicker. The hero woman gasped—her eyes whipped after the black streak, yet even she couldn’t follow it.

Jett, however, saw every detail: monster corpses, terrified lizardfolk and wyverns, confused humans, stunned fairies, a gawking hero, and a regal fairy who seemed to rule the forest. Skirting past them all, he planted a foot on a massive gray trunk and rocketed up its bark in a silent sonic boom. At the crown he kicked off a branch, green lightning flaring, and shot above the dragon’s muzzle.

"Arrogant human! You dare bare yourself before my fury!" The dragon’s jaws gaped, a whirlpool of water swirling in his throat.

He unleashed his roar in one blast, the torrent surging toward Jett like a tidal cannon that hammered the air flat.

"Never planned to hide," Jett said. The shadow cloud peeled away as he rolled mid‑air, right arm cocked behind him. Crimson lightning cracked in his palm, stretching into a radiant spear.

Heat from the crimson lightning seared his palm, ozone crackling in the air while a concussive shockwave thrummed through his bones; sparks skittered from his sleeve as he tightened his grip at the spear’s midpoint and hurled the bolt with his full weight into the oncoming roar.

Thunder drummed in his chest, yet Jett didn’t scream. He merely whispered, "Cerven," and everyone heard.

With a sonic boom the crimson bolt carved the sky, leaving a light‑draining fissure. It shredded the water torrent, vaporizing it, then plunged into the dragon’s open maw.

Inside the dragon, flesh flash‑boiled and bones ruptured with wet, splintering cracks, his roar swallowed by a rolling thunderclap. Crimson lightning then punched twin holes through jaw and skull, forging a static red blade that seemed to cleave the very sky.

Branches snapped like matchsticks as the dragon’s bulk tore through the canopy, his impact gouging a smoking crater and launching a geyser of sapphire blood across the leaves. Silence lingered, broken only by sizzling blood steam. A thick, metallic pool formed around his twitching limbs while the shattered canopy dripped blue‑red rain that hissed against the steaming earth.

Jett landed on a white cloud and watched the mist peel back to reveal rivers of sapphire blood. Blue light cocooned the dragon’s body and shrank it to a speck.

[You have willed for your Cerven to force the dragon into a human form and have succeeded.]

[You have obtained a new skill: Ruler’s Will.]

[Ruler’s Will: Impose your will on others.]

Jett sneered.

...

Now human‑shaped, the dragon rolled over and spat blood. A hole still gaped in his chin, and crimson sheets drenched his eyes. He braced a trembling hand against the ground and pushed upright.

Cursed human...to shackle me in this wretched shell?!

Dragons wore no clothes, yet other races—humans most of all—insisted they should. Discovering himself draped in long blue robes, he ground his teeth and steadied his stance.

The human in the white suit and crimson tie strolled through the shattered canopy, hands in pockets, chin high. Even his posture grated on the dragon’s nerves.

"I get that this invasion’s about dragon slayers hunting your kin, but taking it out on helpless humans and fairies is pretty low, don’t you think?" Jett asked.

The dragon sneered. "Self‑righteous wretch."

He tried to swell back into his true body and crush Jett, but nothing happened. His regeneration had already closed most of his wounds, so the block could only be the human’s doing.

"You think this pitiful guise weakens me? You are gravely mistaken."

Sapphire scales rippled across his skin as wings burst from his back. He raised taloned hands and took guard. Having not fought in humanoid form for so long, he moved with stiff uncertainty, his guard betraying unfamiliarity. Yet as he pictured erasing that insolent smirk and tearing the human limb from limb, his veins ignited with murderous purpose as muscle memory roused from slumber. His aura flared with thicker killing intent.

Jett stayed unshaken. He was eager to test his skills in close combat, relying solely on the boosts from Cerven and Iebo—and he still had tricks up his sleeve. Take the green lightning he’d just used, Zelen, which supercharged his speed. That confidence had him standing tall, taunting the dragon without a shred of doubt.

He tilted his head. "You’re staying human, got it? If that was no sweat, finishing you off will take—what?—maybe three punches, tops."

This human!

Jett sneered again. "Still looking down on me?"

The dragon answered with a roar and lunged.

Jett’s eyes flared with emerald sparks that raced along his veins and shot from every pore, jolting his speed skyward. When the dragon lunged, he spun aside, slapped the incoming claw from one wrist, then caught the other arm in a single fluid move. He held the dragon’s sapphire gaze.

They were eye to eye, yet somehow Jett felt he loomed over the beast.

...

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