CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 359 - CRUSHED PRIDE.

The ground was still trembling from the last impact when a new shadow cut across the smoke.

The fresh black dragon launched up toward Raven, its massive frame blotting out what little light bled through the ruined sky.

Its molten eyes blazed, and its voice thundered across the wasteland like a funeral bell. "I am the dragon of death. And death is not something I fear."

That voice made it clear that this black dragon wasn’t just a lookalike, but the same.

The next instant, its throat flared, mana collapsing into a singularity of annihilation. This time, the breath wasn’t wild. It was focused, a spear of pure extinction.

Raven’s instincts screamed.

"That one’s not just going to burn..." he muttered, molten cracks racing across his chest.

The last attack was stopped mostly because of his dragonic scales, and the most it had done was burn his scales, which regenerated quite quickly.

Of course, normal people wouldn’t have been able to do it, as it was a death breath. They would’ve died, losing all the lifeforce in their body the moment the breath touched them.

But dragons were different. Their bodies were strong enough to resist any such attack to a point since they were born.

However, even a dragon could die, so Raven knew that he had to dodge this attack, and he did.

With a violent twist, he pivoted midair, the comet-trail of his body veering off.

The death beam grazed past him, tearing a scar across the sky, almost shattering the space.

For a second, Raven kept spiraling upward before he started falling back down, his wings still healing from the burn of the last attack.

However, now that he was falling toward the black dragon, who was about to shoot another attack, he could also attack.

So, before the dragon could attack, a concentrated Breath of Destruction erupted from Raven’s maw, a torrent of black-red ruin that carved straight into the dragon’s wings.

Flesh and bone detonated, and the beast let out a guttural roar as its balance broke.

Now both colossal dragons were winding downward, locked in a storm of their own making.

And still—they fought.

Side by side, two blurs of scaled titans hurtled through the sky. Both pulled back massive fists, and with bone-shattering force—

KRAAAAAAASHHH!

—They slammed into each other’s faces.

The impact split the air like thunder, shockwaves flattening the wasteland beneath them. Blood, black and molten, spattered into the storm as both dragons crashed into the earth.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The impact cratered the land again, fissures spiderwebbing out for miles.

For a brief second—silence.

Then Raven, claws tearing through shattered stone, pulled himself upright, molten breath hissing through his fangs.

Across from him, the black dragon did the same, its chest heaving, jaws dripping with smoke.

Raven’s molten eyes flicked sideways. Omni lay in the distance, jutting out of the land like a jagged boulder. He narrowed his gaze.

"...Extend."

His command rang like judgment.

The blade answered.

With a deafening groan, Omni grew, stretching and warping until it was a mountain-sized edge blotting out the heavens.

But then, without any support, the titanic blade tilted before it fell.

The black dragon noticed it, but it merely snarled, then lunged forward.

Its maw snapped at Raven, and its claws raked across scales.

Death spikes erupted from the ground, jagged obsidian lances stabbing upward.

Chains of pure entropy slithered around Raven’s limbs, trying to bind him.

But Raven answered with destruction.

Every chain that touched him shattered. Every spike crumbled into dust. His claws ripped forward, catching the dragon’s throat, while his tail swept through the death constructs, annihilating them.

The two monsters brawled like gods of old. They punched, tore, and bit. Raven clamped his fangs into the dragon’s wing, ripping chunks free, while the beast dug its claws into his shoulder, trying to tear through molten plates.

They were both giving their all, but none of them seemed to be winning.

One was a plate-eight boy transformed into a dragon, while the other was a real dragon with the power that eclipsed the boy, yet their clash resulted in a standstill.

That fact alone enraged the black dragon, but there was nothing it could do—not with its body incomplete.

Above them, the falling sword howled, splitting the clouds in half.

Every passing millisecond, the sword’s speed kept increasing, but the black dragon didn’t stop fighting.

The black dragon knew that Raven was engaging in close combat because he wanted it to be crushed under the sword, but it stayed, fought, bit, and clawed.

It was only when the blade was just about to reach them that its eyes flicked upward, madness flashing across its face.

"Now, be crushed under your own sword!" It roared, defiance carrying even as its molten eyes flickered.

Then, its roar broke. Its eyes glazed. The life drained out in an instant.

Its colossal form slumped.

In the same breath, just when it looked like it was over, another black dragon shimmered into existence, standing just a hundred meters away, watching.

It was the same phenomenon that had happened before.

The black dragon seemed to somehow revive after death. Now, its molten eyes gleamed with cruel expectation.

Raven, chest heaving, looked up at the incoming blade.

When it seemed like the sword would crush him, he chuckled and raised his dragonic palm.

The instant Omni touched his hand, the impossible happened.

The mountain-sized edge shrank, compressing until it was once more a twenty-meter monstrosity, fitting perfectly into his grasp.

He swung it down with a savage flourish, the air shrieking as the weight tore it apart.

Then he tilted his head toward the watching dragon. His molten eyes narrowed, a grin splitting across his jagged maw.

"What was that about getting crushed again?"

Omni hummed with anticipation, and Raven’s voice dropped, low and venomous.

"The only thing I see getting crushed here... is the image of an ancient black dragon losing to an eighteen-year-old human."

The fresh dragon froze, just for a heartbeat. Its pride cracked.

Then—its roar split the heavens, furious and endless, as its throat ignited, charging another breath attack.

But Raven didn’t move. He didn’t flinch. His molten eyes narrowed, steady and calm, and a grin marred his dragonic face.

"...Come then."

The instant the death breath surged toward him, Raven only raised Omni, his voice sharp.

"Extend."

The sword obeyed with a guttural roar of its own, stretching and widening like a fortress of indestructible black steel.

The breath smashed against the blade like a tidal wave of entropy. Space trembled, and the earth quaked, yet the blade stood still in Raven’s clawed grip.

Behind the storm of ruin, Raven’s voice slid into his mind.

’Omni... talk to me. What kind of cheat code did that lizard install in himself to keep crawling back after death?’

Omni’s laugh rolled in his head like a friendly gangster behind a bar counter.

"Man, I already got that scoped out. Dragon boy’s runnin’ on a divine plug-in. They call it the One Who Cheats Death."

Raven’s molten brow twitched. ’Of course, they do.’

"Yeah, it’s busted, I won’t lie," Omni went on, utterly unfazed as extinction flayed across his indestructible body. "Every time he keels over, the divinity kicks him back to the respawn lobby. He revives like nothing happened."

Raven groaned, pressing harder against the blade. "So, you’re telling me this guy’s got infinite continues? That’s... so damn OP."

Omni chuckled, his tone all swagger.

"Relax, champ. Every cheat’s got a catch. See, during that tiny sliver of a second before the revival locks in, the lizard’s wide open. Strong once he’s back, sure, but hit him in that gap? Different story. And if he keeps spamming it, power’s gonna fray. Even cheats get lag, y’know?"

Raven hummed low, the storm still raging against the sword. "Noted. You got anything else for me?"

"One thing," Omni said, voice lowering like a whispered deal. "If you cut down his soul—like, slice it cold—revives won’t mean jack. No soul, no comebacks."

Raven’s molten eyes gleamed. "Good."

The breath attack sputtered, finally burning out.

Raven pulled Omni aside, the blade shrinking to a manageable size with a grinding groan.

Smoke drifted away as he scanned the field, but what he found was nothing. The black dragon was gone.

The boy frowned in his dragon’s head. ’...Where’d you go?’

It was then that the answer came on a rush of air.

WHOOOOSH.

Wings thundered high above, and there it was—its titanic frame blotting out the fractured sky.

Its throat flared, another breath attack charging.

Raven tilted his head, unimpressed. "Seriously? You already know I’ll block it. What are you trying to pull?"

The dragon roared anyway, the beam crashing down.

Raven scoffed, raised Omni again, and this time the weight drove him back. His claws dug trenches into the ground, both arms locked on the hilt as the torrent pressed down.

Blocking the attack, Raven realized something—this attack wasn’t destructive but merely heavy.

However, before he could think about anything, the black dragon’s voice rolled like a curse across the wasteland.

"Did you think I’d keep fighting you alone? Death is mine to command. Let my minions greet you."

The ground split.

Behind Raven, skeletal claws burst from the earth, ripping upward. One. Two. Ten. A dozen.

Then their entire ribcages tore free, skulls with horns twisting into the air.

Bone dragons—an army of death-wrought monstrosities—rose with unholy shrieks, their hollow eyes fixed on Raven.

And Raven, arms busy bracing Omni against the storm, couldn’t move.

The bone legion lunged, wings snapping open, talons slashing forward as their jaws unhinged in unison.