Alix doesn't answer. His eyes turn back toward the dragon as the ground beneath them begins to tremble.

The air grows heavy—dense enough that even Mero's smoke flickers. A low, guttural sound rolls through the grove, more felt than heard.

Then two eyes open.

The dragon exhales, each breath shaking the surrounding trees. Its scales shimmer with molten veins of gold and black, ancient runes faintly glowing along its wings. It raises its head slowly, gaze settling on the monster standing among the corpses of its guardians.

When it speaks, its voice isn't just sound—it's vibration, resonating through mana, through earth, through bone.

"You…"

The dragon's pupils narrow to slits, faint arcs of lightning flickering in its breath. "It's you who massacred the beasts in my territory the other day."

Alix meets its gaze without flinching, the faintest smirk curving his lips. "Ah," he says quietly, "so this is your domain."

The dragon's wings unfold fully, blocking out the faint sunlight that filters through the canopy. The pressure doubles, then triples, rattling the trees for miles.

The air trembles, thick with the dragon's killing intent. Trees bow under its aura, leaves torn from their branches and scattered like green rain.

Mero hovers back slightly, his smoke getting swayed from the wind. "Oh, this one's pissed," he mutters.

Alix doesn't move. His expression stays perfectly calm—almost bored—as his eyes meet the dragon's glowing gold pupils.

Then he says, voice low and steady, "Become my pet."

The words hang in the air, sharp as a blade.

The dragon freezes for a moment—then a deep, rumbling laugh shakes the clearing. The sound isn't amused; it's mocking, enraged. Its maw opens, showing rows of teeth like jagged obsidian spears.

"You… what did you just say?" the beast growls, its tone layered with disbelief and fury. "You dare—dare—say that to me?"

It lowers its head, molten gold eyes narrowing. "I, the descendants of the ancient dragon race, one whose blood once burned skies and split continents—and you, a lowly Tier Six monster, want me to become your pet?"

Its wings flare, shattering the ground beneath its claws. Wind spiral upward as it rises to its full height, towering over Alix like a mountain.

"Such arrogance…" it snarls, voice rising into a roar that shakes the forest. "How does a weakling like you even have the guts to speak those words in front of me!?"

The dragon moves. Its claw tears through the air—a blur of green and black, big enough to crush a fortress.

The impact never lands.

A deafening clang resounds instead.

The dragon's claw stops inches from Alix's face—pressed against an invisible wall of light. Ripples spread through the air where the barrier holds firm, glowing faintly with crystalline blue lines that shift like flowing water.

The beast's pupils contract in disbelief. It pushes harder, mana surging—but the barrier doesn't so much as flicker.

Alix doesn't even raise his hand. His eyes remain cold, expression unchanged. "You should be careful what you boast about."

The dragon snarls, teeth bared. "You think a mere shield—"

Alix cuts him off, voice calm but edged with quiet dominance. "You only have about ten percent of true dragon blood. You shouldn't boast too much."

The dragon freezes. For a heartbeat, its mind blanks. Then a guttural growl escapes its throat—deep, trembling with rage. "Ten… percent?" it repeats, voice booming through the clearing like thunder. "You dare belittle me, monster!?"

Alix doesn't reply. His eyes narrow slightly, faint mana glinting within them like stars through fog.

The dragon's rage surges. It rears back, veins pulsing violently beneath its scales. The air itself seems to quake. "I'll erase you!"

But before it can strike again—

Alix vanishes.

The dragon's eyes widen. "What—"

A voice echoes from above, smooth and cold.

"You should be grateful," Alix says, tone almost casual. "That I'm making you my pet."

The dragon jerks its head upward—just in time to see Alix descending, his right fist wrapped in dense, swirling mana.

The moment his fist connects—

BOOM!

The impact is like a mountain falling from the heavens. The ground caves in for miles, a deafening shockwave ripping through the forest. Trees are uprooted, boulders split, and the surrounding ridge collapses in on itself.

The dragon's body slams into the ground, scales cracking along its shoulders as dust explodes outward in a massive ring. It roars in pain, its voice echoing for kilometers. The earth beneath it splits like broken glass.

Mero whistles, hovering far above the chaos. "Well damn… I think he felt that one."

Alix lands lightly on the dragon's skull, expression unreadable. The air around him hums with power, the faint shimmer of mana lingering around his arm.

The dragon snarls, eyes glowing like molten suns. "You… you'll regret that!"

The air begins to bend.

Wind howls around the dragon, rising into a violent storm. Its wings stretch wide, carving cyclones into the sky as mana pours from its body. The soil around its claws hardens instantly into black crystal, and the cracks left by Alix's strike begin to close, swallowed by the earth itself.

"I'll crush you!!" the dragon roars.

Something ignite along its scales as two distinct auras burst forth—one deep and heavy as stone, the other sharp and wild as a hurricane.

Earth and wind.

Mero's eyes widen slightly. "Oh, a rare find, he have two affinity…"

The ground beneath Alix hums, runes spreading outward from the dragon's body like a living circuit. The mountain itself seems to awaken, trembling in sync with the dragon's heartbeat. The trees bow, rocks rise, and the air distorts with razor-sharp wind currents spiraling into the sky.

This is no simple Tier 6 aura—there's a trace of something far greater.

"The Law of Earth…" Mero mutters, his smoky voice low. "And the Law of Wind. He already touched them."

The dragon's mana surges again, heavier and denser than before, shaking the entire valley. "You think I'm some lesser beast?" it snarls, rising from the crater Alix made. "I am Zevran, descendant of the Earthwind Monarch! My claws have torn through mountains! My breath has erased cities!"

Its wings beat once—just once—and the storm explodes outward, scattering the clouds. Stones levitate around it, wrapped in spinning wind.

"Bow before me, mortal," Zevran roars. "And I'll make your death swift!"

Alix stands still, watching as the earth and sky twist together in a violent cyclone of raw power. The wind tugs at his coat, dust swirling around him in a halo of golden light.

Then he lifts his gaze, eyes calm and sharp as blades.

"Zevran," he says quietly. "A proud name."

His mana flares—not outward, but inward. The air thickens, space itself trembling as his presence rises to meet the storm.

"But pride," he says, stepping forward as the ground fractures under his foot, "is meaningless before power."

The dragon roars, unleashing its full might. The forest vanishes in a storm of light and force—

—and Alix disappears again.

The world flashes white.

Then—crash!

Zevran's massive body is suddenly flung backward, scales shattering as Alix's fist smashes into his jaw with the weight of a collapsing mountain. The shockwave ripples outward, slicing through trees like a blade of air.

The dragon is hurled across the valley—slamming through stone, tearing through cliffs—until his enormous body collides headfirst with a mountain.

BOOOOM!

The entire peak crumbles from the impact, half of it collapsing inward, leaving a gaping hole shaped like Zevran's form. Dust and molten rock rain down as the dragon groans, his vision spinning.

He shakes his head, disbelief clear in his golden eyes. "Impossible…" he rasps, his voice trembling with fury and shock. "How… can this be? You're nothing but a tiny monster, your mana, your aura… it's weak!"

Alix appears in front of the crater, expression calm, eyes gleaming faintly. His coat flutters in the gale of Zevran's power. "Weak?" he says softly. "Then why are you bleeding?"

Zevran's gaze drops. Golden blood seeps between the cracks of his shattered scales, dripping down his neck like molten sunlight. His breath trembles with rage, disbelief cutting deeper than the pain.

"You—!" he snarls, voice booming across the mountain range. "This power… it's unnatural! It's like you're wielding the Law of Strength itself!"

Alix's lips curl faintly. "Maybe I am."

Zevran roars, wings spreading wide, shaking the mountainside. "No, that's impossible, how can a tier 6 wield the power of law!"

He slams both claws into the ground. Instantly, mana surges outward in golden waves, the earth beneath them glowing like molten iron.

"[Tier 6 - Cataclysmic Veins!]"

The ground erupts—pillars of stone and magma burst upward, twisting under the control of Zevran's mana. Each one carries a fragment of the Law of Earth, heavy, crushing, and absolute. The air warps as gravity itself bends to the dragon's will. Mountains fracture, and the valley sinks under invisible weight.

Mero throws up a shield. "That's no ordinary Tier 6 skill, it already carries a trace of law!"