CHAPTER 183: YOU’LL BREAK BEFORE I DO

Draegon

I twisted to the side as another one of Reagen’s dark tendrils slammed down, obliterating the wooden beam behind me with a crack like thunder. I barely caught my balance before another lanced for my throat. My claws sparked as I swiped it away, spinning low and slashing at the corrupted prince’s midsection.

He leapt back, just in time.

"Getting slow, Draegon," Reagen sneered, his lips curled in that same smug grin I’d seen on cowards moments before they died. "All that rage. All that fury. But you’ve always been too clean. Too noble."

I didn’t answer. My breath was heavy but even. I lunged again, claws outstretched, forcing him to parry with a wall of black that rose from the floor like smoke made solid. My strike hit home anyway, punching through with a burst of energy that knocked him off balance.

His boots skidded against the floor, wood splintering beneath him, and I was on him again.

We collided, hand to hand, claws against fists. The magic around him writhed and howled, his dark tendrils swirling like a storm around our locked arms.

Our faces were inches apart. The heat of magic radiated between us. I could smell the rot leaking from his pores, the twisted scent of abyssal blood.

"You can’t win this," he said, breathless but grinning. "You think brute force will stop the Abyss? It doesn’t break—it consumes. You’ll fall like the rest of them."

Rage boiled in my veins. My grip tightened around his forearm. "Watch me win then."

With a roar, I broke the clash, slamming my clawed fist into his chest. The impact sent him hurtling across the chamber, crashing through two pillars and into the far wall. The wood groaned and gave way, and Reagen was flung through it, bursting out into the open air.

I didn’t wait.

I leapt after him, fire burning behind my eyes, wings flaring at my back as I dove through the destroyed wall and plummeted down to the forest floor below.

He hit the ground first, rolling and snarling, a dozen tendrils bursting from his back to steady him like twisted roots. His cloak flared as he stood, dark eyes flashing in the stormlight that filtered through the canopy.

I landed hard, cracking the dirt beneath my boots.

"Round two," I muttered, walking toward him as my claws lit with flame.

The trees groaned around us, wind howling like the cries of the damned. Magic in the air was thick, suffocating—his presence like a hole in the world.

Reagen surged forward with a scream, his tendrils snapping like whips. I deflected two, ducked the third, then charged straight through them, taking one lash across my side, but I didn’t care. I gritted my teeth, took the pain, and slammed my fist into his jaw.

He staggered—just enough.

I followed up with a blow to his ribs, then another to his back. He whirled, snarling like a rabid beast, dark magic flaring as he caught me in the chest with a blast of force that sent me reeling.

I hit a tree, bark and splinters flying everywhere.

Blood filled my mouth. I spat it out.

"You’re fighting for nothing," Reagen said, circling me now. "You think you can save anyone? You think you can stop the Abyss? You’re one man You can’t change what’s already started."

"I don’t need to change it," I growled, stepping forward again, blood running down my ribs. "I just need to stop you

."

He laughed, and then with a snarl, he attacked again—this time without warning. Tendrils coiled around his arms, forming jagged blades. I raised my claws, fire dancing between my fingers, and we clashed again, blow for blow, brute strength against corrupted power.

The forest became our arena.

Every strike shook the trees. Every blast of magic sent birds scattering from the treetops. Roots tore up beneath our feet. Flames hissed where my claws struck. Shadows screamed where his tendrils struck.

And yet, he wasn’t winning. Not really.

I could see it now. The small shifts. The tremble in his stance. The crack in his smirk every time my claws cut deeper than he expected.

He was strong. But not invincible.

I feinted left, then drove a claw into his side—deep. His breath hitched. I twisted it. He screamed, lashing out blindly. I ducked and drove my knee into his gut, then slammed him down into the earth with a punch that left the dirt cratered.

I stood over him, chest heaving, magic pulsing hot through my veins.

"You’ve already lost," I said, voice low. "You just don’t know it yet."

Reagen groaned, but even now, he smiled, blood running down his chin. "You really think you’ve won?"

I raised my hand—claws glowing with firelight. "How about you see it if you can’t believe it"

And I struck.

My claws ignited as I plunged my hand into his chest.

The searing heat should have been enough to tear through bone and sinew—should’ve let me rip out whatever corrupted core kept him standing. His eyes widened—at first. I thought I had him.

But then... he laughed.

The sound sent a chill straight down my spine.

A low, grating chuckle that turned into something deeper. Something inhuman. My hand—still buried deep in his chest—stopped moving.

!!!

What?

I tried to move it, but to no avail.

It was stuck.

Like the inside of him had turned to thick tar.

"What is this...?" I growled, trying to wrench myself free.

Reagen’s grin split wider. Too wide. His jaw cracked, unhinging slightly, revealing rows of teeth that hadn’t been there a second ago.

"Did you really think I’d be that easy to defeat?" he whispered. His voice had changed—no longer sharp and smug, but guttural, layered with something ancient and broken.

I knew the moment I heard it that whatever was coming next wasn’t good

And then it came

His skin began to peel.

Literally peel—like dead bark coming off a tree—revealing not flesh, but pulsing black tendrils writhing beneath. His arms cracked, twisted, contorting as more of the abyss bled through his form, forcing its way out like a second being trying to crawl from within him.

And suddenly—

Deja vu.

A sickening familiarity seized my chest like a clawed hand.

I’d seen this before.