Hizari arrived at Nernginous once more, the desolate landscape stretching endlessly around him. His heart pounded with anticipation and tension. The dragon’s silhouette loomed on the horizon—a massive, serpentine figure that seemed to block out the sky. Its eyes gleamed with primal fury as it recognized Hizari’s return. With a thunderous roar, the dragon unleashed a swift, devastating attack, its claws tearing through the air like lightning.This time, Hizari was ready. He narrowly dodged the strike, the sheer force of it sending shockwaves through the ground beneath him. In the distance, Yushiro observed in silence, his gaze sharp and calculating. Now’s the time, Hizari thought as he prepared to unleash his first technique. He focused all his energy into forming the “Eye of the Maelstrom,” swirling a vortex of Shiden around the dragon. The storm howled, crackling with energy—yet it was still incomplete.The dragon didn’t even flinch. With a single sweep of its colossal tail, it dispelled the vortex like dust in the wind. Hizari gritted his teeth, determination hardening in his chest. I can’t lose here. Without wasting a moment, he called upon Kuren, merging it with the Shiden storm. The power surged through him, and this time, the storm raged with a newfound intensity. The ground beneath the dragon cracked as it struggled to maintain its balance, the force of the vortex destabilizing it.As the dragon staggered, Hizari seized the opening. His figure blurred, and in an instant, dozens of afterimages surrounded the beast. The dragon thrashed wildly, its roars echoing across the sky as it tried to strike at the illusions. But Hizari was no longer bound by fear or hesitation. He darted from one afterimage to another, striking the dragon from every conceivable angle.For a brief moment, Hizari felt the thrill of victory surge within him. I’m winning, he thought, his excitement building. But that excitement was dangerous—it began to cloud his focus. Unintentionally, his Shiden began to overflow, seeping out from beneath his feet in powerful waves. Yushiro’s eyes widened from his hidden vantage point. "Impossible... He’s using ‘Raging Thunderclaps,’" Yushiro muttered, both in awe and concern.With each step, Hizari’s energy surged violently, the ground quaking beneath his feet. The technique was raw and volatile—driven by emotion rather than control. He gathered his Shiden into a massive, meteor-like sphere of crackling energy, ready to deliver the final blow. The dragon’s fate seemed sealed, but just as Hizari was about to unleash the attack, Yushiro intervened.“Stop!” Yushiro’s voice boomed across the battlefield as he appeared between Hizari and the dragon. He placed a firm hand on Hizari’s wrist, grounding the wild energy coursing through him. “We need to capture its final breath—not kill it.”Hizari’s mind was still clouded by adrenaline, but he slowly released the energy, allowing it to dissipate harmlessly into the sky. The dragon, now barely clinging to life, lay motionless, its once fearsome presence reduced to mere exhaustion. Yushiro calmly approached the beast’s enormous face, extending his hand as he extracted the dragon’s dying breath—a shimmering essence that glowed faintly like starlight.“This should do it,” Yushiro said, his voice softer now. The tension in the air finally eased as both he and Hizari returned to Earth.Yet, unknown to them, something sinister stirred in Nernginous. As the two left, a figure cloaked in shadows appeared beside the dragon. The black-hooded man knelt beside the fallen creature, his voice low and filled with malice. “Look at what they’ve done to you,” he hissed. His eyes glinted with a cold, burning hatred as he laid his hand on the dragon’s scales. “I’ll make sure they pay for this.”