The sky roared with thunder, its once crimson hue swallowed by unnatural storm clouds. Rain fell in heavy sheets, turning the battlefield into a swamp of mud and blood.
Boom!—Boom!—Boom!
The earth trembled as craters littered the ground, scars from a battle between beings beyond mortal comprehension. At the center stood the lone warrior, his breath ragged, his body drenched in rain and sweat. His grip on his sword—the dragon-hilted blade—never wavered.
Before him stood Dravonir, golden lightning crackling around his armored form, and two others—Selverix, with eyes like frozen death, and the black-eyed warrior whose name Drake still didn't know. The fourth attacker was missing, but the lone warrior knew better than to assume the fight was fair.
{SKY LAW: SOVEREIGN'S TEMPEST}
Dravonir swung his blade horizontally, and the heavens obeyed.
A colossal sword of storm and cloud mirrored his strike, descending with the force of a falling mountain. Lightning split the sky. Hailstones sharp as daggers rained down. The impact shook the world itself.
CRACK!
The ground split open—a canyon of fire and molten rock stretching into the horizon. Lava bubbled up, swallowing the corpses of the fallen, friend and foe alike.
"You show no respect for our dead," the lone warrior growled, stepping out of the fissure unharmed, lava sliding off his body like water. His voice carried the weight of a thousand battles.
Dravonir smirked. "The dead know nothing at all."
Golden lightning wrapped around him like a second skin. Then, from the folds of his armor, he drew a blade that should not exist.
It pulsed with a sickly, unnatural glow, its aura so vile the very air recoiled from it.
The lone warrior's eyes widened. "How?!" Even the other attackers froze, their faces twisted in shock.
"So this was your plan?" the black-eyed warrior hissed.
"You made a deal with them?" Selverix demanded, his voice tight with disgust.
Dravonir's grin was razor-sharp. "A small price for victory."
"I didn't agree to this!" Selverix snapped.
"Too late to back out now," Dravonir sneered. "Either we kill him here, or he kills us."
He turned to Selverix, extending a hand. "Join me, brother. Help me rewrite history—for the greater good."
Selverix hesitated, then muttered, "...For the greater good."
{FROST LAW: DIVINE FROST}
Selverix's left eye burned blue, a glacial symbol flashing within it.
Reality itself froze.
The air turned to ice. Time slowed. The cold wasn't just physical—it seeped into the lone warrior's mind, numbing his thoughts, his reflexes, his will to fight.
"Now!" Selverix roared.
Dravonir vanished—space bending as he reappeared behind the lone warrior, the cursed blade thrusting forward like a viper's fang.
"Die."
With a roar, the lone warrior forced his body to move, twisting at the last second.
Tch!
The blade sank into his side instead of his heart.
Agony.
Not just pain—corruption. The weapon's malevolence surged through his veins, poisoning his soul. He stumbled back, blood—red streaked with gold—pouring from the wound.
His knees hit the ground.
For the first time in centuries, he felt weak.
But he refused to fall.
Gritting his teeth, he stood.
---
"AHHHHH!"
Drake jolted awake, his scream tearing through the silence of his dorm. His hands flew to his side, expecting blood, a wound—something.
But there was nothing.
Just sweat.
Just fear.
Just the memory of a pain that wasn't his.
His breath came in ragged gasps as he stared at the ceiling. This wasn't like the other dreams. This time, he wasn't just watching.
He had felt it.
The cold. The betrayal. The blade.
His heart pounded like a war drum, heavy with emotions that didn't belong to him—grief, rage, a betrayal so deep it ached.
He turned to the sword beside him on the bed.
Silent.
Unmoving.
But he knew.
Something inside him had shifted.
A connection.
A memory.
He checked his smartwatch.
6:30 AM.
An hour before lectures.
With a shaky breath, he dragged himself to the bathroom, his reflection in the mirror pale and haunted.
The dreams were getting worse.
And he had a terrible feeling—
They weren't just dreams.