19.4

Velerion’s feet squashed at John’s skull with strength that increased in small increments.

The elder dragon himself had yet to declare his victory.

The reason for his prolonged silence was so he could inflict the utmost pain upon John as he watched the foolish boy before him struggle.

 

No, Velerion would not declare victory.

 

For as long as John still had life in him, Velerion would give John hell as long as he could.

To him, the young man beneath his foot was only a toy, an amusing one at that.

Like his duel with Ephinelyth, he barely had to use a significant portion of his true strength to end the duel.

He defeated his sister with just his wit. All he had to do was to lure Ephinelyth to use her ultimate spell and deflect it back to her. Certainly, preparing that barrier trap took him almost a year’s worth of preparation, but it was a swift and elegant victory.

For the dragons who served under him, Velerion was not given the title of the Relentless Visionary without merit.

Just as Ephinelyth was dubbed the Silver Maiden of Judgment, the title given to Velerion spoke of his exploits in unifying dragon kind

Ever since his father’s passing, Velerion had become the sole person who kept the other dragons in check by overseeing negotiations between dragons who fought over territory, engage in diplomatic arrangements for the ancient dragons that were constantly harassed by neighboring nations that sought to slay them.

He was as cunning as he was vain. Everything he took pride it stemmed from his competence.

He went as far as using personal his own funds to deal with potential political threats by silencing those who sought the whereabouts of dragons.

Whatever he had in planned, he always achieved it.

 

That was how the dragons saw him.

 

Though many of his tactics are ruthless, cold, and sometimes violent, the fact remained that he was always doing his duty.

That was why he was furious when Ephinelyth denied him as the rightful leader of dragon kind.

 

She stood in the way of his ambition.

 

“Surrender, put your convictions to rest.” Velerion urged, “And all of this will end…”

Having dealt with someone as stubborn as Ephinelyth once was one too many times. By publicly beating up John, he was signaling whoever opposed him—be it outside forces or internal—that he would stop at nothing to ensure his power. He was merciful that he would murder a lower being like John. So long as he was given the respect he deserved, Velerion was content.

At the same time…

He was punishing John for the feelings that Ephinelyth harbored for him.

He wanted to teach this demon a lesson for outright declaring his relationship with Ephinelyth.

Though he cared not for Ephinelyth’s romantic life, nor the partner she chose, the fact that John announced Ephinelyth’s promise to him was the same as him declaring her his mate.

If the mighty Velerion allowed a meager demon who could barely defend himself against an Elder Dragon to be with Ephinelyth, it would show to the world that Velerion was weak.

If the leader of dragon kind was deemed vulnerable, there was no telling what foreign forces would do if they learned of this.

There are standards, and he would uphold them.

 

“I beg to differ…” John croaked, as his body became enveloped in a dark aura, restoring his body and the gaping wound that Velerion created in his abdomen.

“Insolent boy!” Velerion applied a stronger pressure on John’s head, causing a loud crack to ring out before John’s body became limp.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

“Ah...I suppose that is all he could endure.”

He thought to himself as he removed his feet from John as a solemn emotion washed over the other dragons.

Bowing to John’s stiff body, Velerion offered his sincerest apology, “I will make sure Ephinelyth be compensated for your—”

 

“[Illuminate]!!!”

 

A blinding white light flashed and penetrated Velerion’s retinas, searing his vision as he stumbled backwards as he heard rapid footsteps from where John’s body was.

Velerion blinked his eyes rapidly, waiting for his natural healing abilities to kick in and restore his vision, but nothing came to him.

 

“Ha!” John ran to where Convictus was taking the window of opportunity he created for tricking Velerion he was dead.

He had absolutely no plan in his head. If using petty tricks gave him a fighting chance, he would stop at nothing to use them to his advantage.

John, for all intents and purpose was a devious man when he decided to be one.

 

“Sarvod!!!”

 

The ground rumbled as the temperature beneath John increased sharply at Velerion’s howl.

Like back then, the Elder Dragon was about to engulf the grounds with molten rock.

 

Think John, think! He is temporarily blinded, and is about to flood this place with magma!!!

 

His own mind shouted at himself as he looked towards the various dragons that were still taken aback by his act of blinding Velerion.

Their faces, in shock and awe, their wings curled behind their backs as they watched him with great anticipation.

He was a mere human—demon—in their eyes. Yet, here he was, still standing before them, defying all that they knew of the lower races.

John cared not for what they thought, however, as the wave of bewildered gazes fixated on him, the dark aura poured from him like a boiling pot.

The dark aura around him thickened, as though the building anticipation of the dragons before him fueled the dark power, fully giving him the strength and support to see through his conviction. His conviction to fight for himself.

 

Boom!

 

His legs launched against the ground as he ran towards where Velerion was with Convictus in his right arm.

“[Heat Bomb]!” Velerion’s ears perked at John’s movements, sending a blast of scorching wind at John, missing him because of his shorter stature. “[Heat Signa—]”

John swung Convictus at Velerion, the mythril sword bit into the Elder Dragon’s flesh for the slightest millisecond.

Velerion grabbed John’s arm before he could react.

 

“!!!”

 

“Enough with your tricks!” the Elder Dragon declared as he held John in place, his grip on John grew as Velerion humanoid body enlarged as scales formed on his body, replacing his skin, clothes and even his hair, his deep red dragon wings sprouted from behind him along with his tail.

Velerion had taken into his dragon form.

Velerion's hands turned into razor sharp claws that dug into John’s right arm, tugging at John’s limb with a controlled force that was just enough to dislocate his arm but not enough to rip it from him.

“Ahhhh!!! [Heal]!!!”

Without thinking, John to fell back on the habits he long cultivated in A’vetheas, numbing his nerves and undoing the dislocated shoulder with his magic.

“Splendid, my vision is restored.”

Unbeknownst to him, excess of the [Heal] spell spilled over to Velerion in John’s haste. Elder Dragon’s vision was restored.

The Elder Dragon was just as sly as John was.

Fuck...

A grin formed at Velerion’s dragon snout. With John gripped tightly in his claws, Velerion zoomed into the skies.

 

Shroom!!!

 

The wind blasted against his skin, threatening to peel his bones from his flesh. John can only grit his teeth as he passed through layers and layers of clouds, watching the sky endlessly expand before him.

Pop!

At the extreme drop in pressure, his eardrums became puncture, nerves in his body ruptured as he felt a crimson stream flowed from his nostrils.

 

H-he’s going to kill me… [Heal].

 

Even then, his grip on Convictus remained to be strong.

If he had survived against the vampires with Convictus, against the demented succubus…he had faith that this weapon will see him through whatever Velerion was doing to him.

 

He just had to hang on.

 

Hang on to his weapon and his dear life.

 

Then, Velerion promptly stopped, with the gathered momentum that he had by flying at the upmost speed, he flung John into the skies with all his strength, fully intending to send him into the stars that were now visible to him.

“May the heavens smite you down to hell, John.”

John’s coat combusted in flames as the relentless air friction tore through it, eating away his only protective equipment as he cast his magic on himself over and over.

[Heal].

The burns on him recovered, his eardrums became anew, but with his tremendous elevation, his healing magic was quickly undone as the surrounding atmosphere continued to rip his body and tear through his nerves.

[Heal].

He repeated himself like a broken record, allowing his body to switch between completely broken and restored as he watched his body to decrease in speed.

“I…” he tried to speak, but the air was far too thin for him to even breathe.

 

...need to get ready for the downwards fall.

 

As soon as that thought passed through his mind, his body stopped moving upwards.

 

Here goes!!!

 

Gravity returned, clasped John’s body with invisible hands as it dragged him down with an overwhelming force, assaulting him with the ever-increasing atmosphere that came with plummeting downwards.

This time, instead of ripping his eardrums out or burning his flesh, the atmospheric pressure around him collapsed in on him, threatening to squeeze his guts out of him.

 

Despite all of that, John remained calm.

 

I need to focus.

 

Closing his eyes as he placed his two hands around Convictus, amidst his body plummeting to the ground at supersonic speeds, a sense of serenity flowed in his heart.

The surrounding pressure abated, replaced by a wave of clarity and vigor that energized him, the same clarity and vigor that prompted him to dodge Velerion’s strikes earlier.

 

Now he understood.

 

His heightened instincts, his increased speed, his increased resistance, his increased strength despite having not moved much in the past week, all of it was a reaction to the commands in his mind.

A reaction that came from the dark aura, for it abided to his will.

This was his power, his strength.

 

An ability gained from his conviction.

 

It presented itself when he sought to kill Prishine and her lackeys.

It incapacitated the imperial guards when John had to escape the empire.

It manifested when John desperately wanted to use [Heal] on Aurelius’ soulless broken body.

It was there when he met Elijah Harvest and manifested itself as [Illuminate].

And was how he saved Raina on that very fated night.

For all the selfless acts John could have used it for had he not rejected this power. It was only when he acted on his brash, selfish impulses did he learn to master it.

All he had to do, was to use the power in accordance to his desire and trust in the magic that ruined his life, to amend it in his vision.

 

“Hmph…”

 

A stupid smile found its way on John’s face as his eyes sparkled with a confidence that he had once long lost, a haughtiness that his boyish self was full of, a pride that he knew from his naïve self, and most importantly his conviction.

John brought his sword before him, held it beside his waist as though he would do in a charge.

It mattered very little to him that his arming sword, Convictus, was on the verge of shattering into pieces.

All that mattered now was to trust in the magic he once abhorred, to trust in himself.

 

His mind became still as continued downwards in a straight trajectory.

 

No matter what happens to him next.

Like all the suffering that he had in his past, this predicament that he faced would, too, conclude.

John took in a deep breath, knowing the chains to his fate had become undone. That he, who consigned his own suffering, shall now revel as he consigned the world around him.

After zooming past countless layers of clouds and breaking the speed of sound the ground finally came into his view.

 

John’s target was exactly where he thought would be.

 

Still in the skies where he last tossed John.

 

The Elder Dragon, upon witnessing his pending arrival, opened his jaws emitted a brilliant beam of destruction in John’s direction.

 

But Velerion was too late.

 

The beam of an Elder Dragon was split into two by Convictus, a mere mythril sword wielded by the man who answered to no one but himself.

 

A man who sought to consign his fate.

 

John’s sword plunged into the Elder Dragon before bringing Velerion crashing down into the ground below, ending the duel as the world around the two parties blackened.