Starting out as a Dragon Slave

The air tensed abruptly, compressed as if under colossal pressure, then exploded in a blast of pure mana that swept the dust away in concentric circles. Blood-red flames erupted from his feet, spiraling around his massive body, covering him in an armor of living embers that crackled and hissed. Ancient runes, older than humanity itself, materialized in the air, etched by an inhuman will, drawing gravitational power circles around his imposing silhouette. The atmosphere thickened to the point of being almost unbreathable, compressed by an invisible force that seemed to crush their lungs.

The space around Belgaroth appeared to bend and twist like burning paper, crackling with raw, primordial, uncontrolled energy that made the very foundations of the building tremble.

- "On guard!" shouted Isaac, shifting into a defensive stance, the katana gripped firmly in his sweaty hands.

Naesha sprang to her feet with feline agility, her daggers sliding between her fingers like natural extensions of her body, her movements light and swift, betraying her preparation for combat. Akane positioned herself alongside Isaac, arms raised in a fighting stance, her gaze fixed on Belgaroth with a determination that seemed to have swept away all traces of her past enslavement.

Belgaroth remained motionless for a few seconds that stretched into eternity, his feet slightly apart, anchored to the cracked ground, his entire body crackling with crimson flames dancing around him like hungry serpents. The air around him grew suffocatingly hot, causing the atmosphere to ripple like it would above a burning desert. Then, without the slightest warning, he vanished in a scarlet flash.

- "Isaac!" screamed Naesha, her voice shredded by urgency.

Isaac didn’t have time to fully react. Belgaroth materialized before him, his massive fist crashing against his guard with titanic force. The impact resonated like a cannon blast, propelling Isaac several meters backward, his feet carving two deep furrows in the stone floor. Pain exploded in his arms as if they had been plunged into molten steel, but he refused to release his weapon, his joints whitening from the superhuman effort.

Akane leaped in turn, her blade tracing a deadly arc through the air with a sharp whistle.

But Belgaroth was no longer there; his body dissipated like a flame blown out by a violent wind. She pivoted on herself, her eyes frantically scanning the space around her, but the red dragon reappeared behind her, his flaming claws carving a perfect circle aimed at her neck. Akane leaned forward purely on instinct, narrowly dodging, but a lock of her black hair instantly ignited in a flash of red light, the acrid smell of burnt hair filling the air.

- "Now!" Isaac shouted, regaining his footing, the ground trembling beneath him.

Naesha emerged from nowhere, shadow among shadows, silent as death itself. Her poisoned daggers plunged straight toward Belgaroth’s exposed back, targeting vital points with deadly precision. But before she could strike, the dragon pivoted a quarter turn with impossible speed for his massive frame, his enormous hand coming down like a warhammer. The air violently vibrated around the blow, an invisible shockwave rippling in concentric circles, sending Naesha crashing into a stone pillar with devastating force. The stone cracked upon impact, and she collapsed like a disjointed doll, groggy but miraculously still conscious.

- "I’m starting to have fun..." murmured Belgaroth, a carnivorous grin stretching across his lips, which seemed redder, more inhuman with every passing second.

He spread his arms slightly in an almost theatrical gesture, and the ground beneath his feet cracked even more, red smoke seeping from the fissures like the breath of an underground world. Flames suddenly erupted, coiling around his powerful arms like fiery serpents, vibrating with a primal energy that seemed born from the beginning of time.

Isaac, his breath short and erratic, sweat beading on his forehead, straightened up with effort. His gaze met Akane’s, and he gave a brief nod, barely perceptible. They positioned themselves with perfect synchronization, as if they had fought together their whole lives. A slight smile, almost imperceptible, appeared on Akane’s lips. She was back, whole, and her determination had not lost an ounce of its ferocity.

- "Ready?" Isaac murmured, every muscle in his body taut to the extreme.

- "More than ever," she replied, her eyes blazing with a fierce light that erased the years of slavery.

They attacked simultaneously, like two blades of the same knife. Isaac sliced through the air with his katana, his movements calculated to the millimeter, as fast as lightning, each strike tracing a perfect arc that caught the light of the flames. Akane moved alongside him, her movements fluid and precise, perfectly complementing his, their coordination so perfect it seemed almost supernatural. Naesha, slowly getting back up from the impact, slid back into the shadows with absolute discretion, her sharp eyes seeking the slightest crack in the dragon’s defense.

Belgaroth greeted them with a carnivorous smile that no longer held anything human, his features subtly transforming to reveal his true draconic nature. His massive arms rose like two pillars of fire, and the air twisted around him, bending to his inhuman will. Flames erupted in concentric circles, lacerating the ground, burning the very atmosphere, turning the oxygen into incandescent poison.

Isaac activated his [Intangibility] with a fraction of a second to spare, his body becoming ethereal, translucent, the flames passing through him without leaving a trace. Akane leaped back with feline agility, spinning on herself in a perfect spiral, her foot striking the ground with enough force to crack the stone, propelling her out of reach of the devouring flames.

- "You dance well," mocked Belgaroth, the flames roaring around him as if they were extensions of his own rage. "But... it won’t be enough against an Ancient."

He propelled himself forward with an explosion of power, his feet barely touching the ground, his massive body glowing with a pulsating scarlet light. His fist, surrounded by swirling flames, shot towards Isaac at a speed unimaginable for a being of his size. Isaac parried at the last moment with a desperate gesture, but the impact tore a scream of agony from his throat. The raw strength was unimaginable, as if a mountain had crashed down upon him. He staggered back, his arms shaking violently under the impact that still resonated in his bones.

Akane immediately replaced him at the front, her blade tracing a perfect circular arc, seeking any opening in the dragon’s defense. Belgaroth blocked the strike with negligent ease, his claws bursting with fiery light upon contact with the steel. The ground beneath their feet cracked further under the colossal pressure, the air vibrating with unbearable tension.

He vanished suddenly, evaporating in a blood-red flash that burned into Isaac’s retinas.