Darkness wrapped around Khael like a velvet shroud.

Weightless.

Soundless.

Empty except for the echo of his own heartbeat, faint and slowing.

Then…

A glow appeared in the void.

Soft at first.

A pale ember.

Then brighter.

Brighter still.

Until molten gold poured across the darkness, like sunlight bleeding through cracks in the night.

Khael's eyes fluttered open.

He was standing barefoot on a vast expanse of shimmering obsidian. Above him, a black sky pulsed with veins of gold, like a living constellation.

And in front of him…

A massive silhouette unfurled.

Scales of liquid light.

Eyes like twin suns.

Wings that stretched wider than mountains.

A dragon, ancient as the first dawn, stepped forward.

Each movement sent ripples of golden fire across the void.

Khael's breath caught.

"...Azael?"

The dragon lowered his enormous head, the molten glow of his eyes flickering with something almost… tender.

"Khael Corzedar," Azael rumbled, his voice both thunderous and gentle, echoing across the empty world, "my little flame. It has been a long time."

Emotion surged through Khael's chest.

"I… I thought you died," he said, voice shaking. "After you… after you gave me your power. I felt you disappear. I thought—"

Azael exhaled, and golden sparks drifted into the void.

"I did die," the dragon said softly. "My body turned to ash. My bones became dust. My fire scattered into the wind."

Khael swallowed hard.

"Then how… how are you here?"

Azael's great wings folded, his massive form settling into a reverent, almost human posture.

"Because death of the flesh is not the death of spirit," Azael answered. "My essence… my soul… has always remained inside you."

Khael staggered back.

"Inside me?"

Azael nodded.

"Hidden. Watching. Waiting."

Khael's throat tightened.

"Why didn't you… speak to me? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Azael's voice softened.

"You were not ready."

His molten-gold gaze dimmed sadness, deep and ancient, passing through them.

"And your path… was not yet in motion."

Khael lowered his head.

"I needed you… I needed strength. I needed guidance. I needed… someone. Why didn't you come?"

The dragon shifted, his massive head lowering until it hovered just above Khael close enough that Khael could feel a warm, radiant breath.

"You needed to learn to stand without leaning on me," Azael whispered. "To forge yourself, not hide behind my flame."

Khael clenched his fists.

"But I couldn't protect them. I couldn't stop Lucere. I, I failed…"

Azael's voice thundered through the void.

"YOU DID NOT FAIL."

Khael froze.

Golden flames crackled along Azael's wings, but the dragon's voice gentled again.

"You were outmatched. Injured. Surrounded. Any other mortal any other soul would have broken long before you did."

Khael's breath trembled.

Azael continued, "You shielded the girl. You faced a calamity without fleeing. You bore the weight of my power as best as any human could."

He lifted a single claw, the size of a tower, and pointed it toward Khael's chest.

"And because of your courage… I still remain."

Khael blinked.

"What do you mean… remain?"

Azael's eyes glowed brighter.

"The Shard may have been taken from your flesh… but it was not the Shard that once chose you."

Khael's heartbeat echoed faintly.

Azael stepped forward, massive wings unfurling divine, terrifying sight.

"The power I gave you, the power of I Azael was never tied to your body. That POWER resides in your soul. And they cannot steal what was forged inside you."

Golden wind swirled around him.

"You are not empty, Khael.

You are not broken.

You are not dead."

Khael's voice cracked.

"Azael… what do I do now?"

The dragon leaned in, touching his forehead lightly to Khael's—an intimate gesture, ancient, sacred.

"You rise."

The void trembled.

"You return."

Azael's voice deepened, wrapped in burning resolve.

"And you reclaim what is yours."

The golden world began to fracture, light spilling through the cracks like dawn breaking apart the night.

Azael's final whisper followed Khael as the world dissolved around him.

"Khael Corzedar…

my flame-bearer…

wake."

K vanished into the shadows not running, not retreating, but disappearing, fading like smoke into void-light.

A single swirl of black mist remained where he once stood.

His voice echoed faintly beside Lucere.

"Master… is the Dragon Knight really dead?"

Lucere didn't turn his head.

Didn't blink.

Didn't breathe.

His mismatched eyes, swirling colors like devouring galaxies, gazed toward the horizon where the wind still carried the echo of Azael's golden roar.

Then Lucere answered, quiet enough to freeze marrow.

"He didn't die."

K stiffened.

Lucere's smile tilted too calm to be human, too knowing to be sane.

"If the Dragon Knight had died… that friend of mine would have come."

K's breath hitched.

Lucere's voice dropped to an amused murmur.

"Master Isen."

The air trembled.

The mere name of the legendary master Khael's master hung in the air like a blade drawn in slow motion.

Lucere's expression sharpened in something almost nostalgic… almost longing… but far too twisted to be called affection.

"He always appears when his precious chosen falls."

His eyes slid toward K.

"Since he has not arrived… the boy lives."

Ceyla held Khael's limp body in her arms knees buried in dirt and shattered stone, her blood dripping onto his chest.

Her voice broke with nothing left but raw terror.

"Khael… Khael please… open your eyes…"

But he didn't move.

His skin had gone pale, cold.

His pulse was thin.

His breath faint, barely there.

And yet

The air around him shifted.

A wind with no source swept across the battlefield, lifting dust, leaves, and the hair of everyone present.

Ryn felt it first. His hands trembled.

"W-Wait… this… this isn't normal…"

Mari's eyes widened, her throat tightening.

"Is this Shinrei…? No… it's different…"

Juno staggered forward, clutching his side as blood dripped between his fingers.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"His aura… it's climbing, fast."

Andromeda froze entirely.

"N-No way… he should be dying… how is his power rising?"

Captain Robi whispered, horrified awe in his voice.

"This is… not human…"

Ceyla felt it before the rest.

The warmth.

A soft, pulsing heat beneath her palms.

Khael's chest… glowing faintly gold from within.

Her eyes widened.

"K-Khael…?"

Junjun and Sae, Matthew and Andromeda's echo pets whimpered, stepping back as the golden wind intensified, swirling violently around the unconscious boy.

Master Vince lifted his head barely conscious, barely breathing yet even he felt the impossible surge.

His eyes shook.

"T-That's… impossible…"

A crack of golden lightning pulsed through the air.

Ryn stumbled backward.

"H-He's radiating something—something ancient—!"

Ceyla's breath trembled as she clutched Khael tighter.

"Khael… come back… please… please come back…"

Her forehead touched his.

And the world stopped.

Every echo spirit froze.

Every wounded fighter halted their breath.

Even Lucere's swirling eyes narrowed, interested.

Because Khael's body

jerked.

His back arched.

His fingers twitched.

And then…

A breath burst from his lungs like fire, golden and burning, shaking the ground beneath him.

Everyone felt it.

Everyone.

A wave of heat and wind erupted outward, knocking dust, debris, and even small stones into the air.

Ceyla gasped, tears falling uncontrollably.

"K-Khael—!!"

His veins glowed gold beneath his skin.

A symbol draconic and old as creation lit up across his chest for a single, blinding second.

The echo of a roar ancient, divine, overwhelming shook the air even though no physical sound existed.

Juno dropped to one knee.

"T-That aura—! I've never felt anything like it!"

Andromeda's jaw dropped.

"This… this isn't just a Vein Gate… this is something else entirely…"

Master Vince's eyes widened, horror and awe mixing in equal measure.

"A dragon…? No… that can't be…"

Lucere tilted his head, watching with a devilish little grin.

"Ahhh… so he did wake up."

Ceyla's hands shook uncontrollably as she held him, unable to look away.

"Khael… come back to me… please…"

And slowly painfully his eyes opened.

Not violet.

Not human.

But molten gold.

Shining like the eyes of something that walked with gods.

Something reborn.

Something awakened.

Khael inhaled sharply, breath shimmering like sparks.

And the first thing he saw…

was Ceyla's face.

Her tears.

Her trembling smile.

He whispered her name, voice weak but alive.

"…Ceyla…"

She broke into sobs, pressing her forehead to his.

"You idiot… you scared me…!"

Khael blinked slowly.

And deep in his chest, Azael's power pulsed again.

Alive.

Awake.

Waiting.

Master Vince pushed a trembling hand into the ground, lifting his battered body just enough to look at the boy.

The boy who should've been dead.

The boy who now radiated the warmth of something not human.

His eyes widened not in fear, but in a rare, quiet awe.

"Kid…" he rasped, breath unsteady.

"You grew stronger… stronger than before."

Ceyla looked back at him, then at Khael at the golden glow still flickering beneath his skin.

Khael tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat. His breath came out shaky, like embers fluttering from a dying fire trying to ignite again.

Master Vince's mouth twitched into the faintest smile, a tired curve that barely held together.

"I don't know what the hell you just awakened… but that power…"

His fingers curled against the dirt.

"It's not something a human should be able to touch."

Khael blinked, the golden haze in his eyes pulsing softly with every heartbeat. He swallowed, voice hoarse and small:

"…Master Vince… I…"

But he couldn't finish.

A wave of heat swelled inside him gentle, ancient, patient.

Azael's presence, awakening like a dragon stirring beneath the earth.

Ceyla felt it, trembling against him.

Juno felt it, clenching his jaw as the air warmed.

Andromeda stepped back, nearly losing his balance.

"H-He's radiating more and more…!"

Even Lucere's expression shifted, one eyebrow rising in bored curiosity

.

Master Vince exhaled shakily, sweat running down his temple.

"Khael…"

He looked the boy dead in the eye, old instinct and master's intuition snapping into place.

"Whatever you touched… whatever answered you… don't let it consume you."

Khael's fingers curled into Ceyla's cloak, breath still quick and uneven. The fire in his chest throbbed once more, so warm, so alive it felt like a heartbeat not his own

.

A voice echoed in him.

Ancient.

Warm.

Immense.

"Easy now… you're not alone, little flame."

Azael's whisper.

Khael stiffened, eyes widening slightly.

Ceyla believed he was reacting to pain.

Vince, however, Vince knew something was happening beneath the surface.

To be continue

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