CHAPTER 363: CHAPTER 362 - FERAL RAVEN.

The black dragon’s molten eyes flickered toward the cluster of flying beasts holding Raven’s group aloft.

The creatures, massive and shadow-born, screeched in fear, their wings trembling as the dragon’s presence crushed the air itself.

The dragon’s grin widened.

"Now," it rumbled, its voice thick with malice, "it’s your turn."

Every word dripped with the finality of an executioner’s promise.

Selena’s eyes flared, her hands trembling despite herself.

"The beasts are too scared to move..." she hissed through gritted teeth.

Clara, quickly assessing the situation, clenched her fists. "W-We gotta jump down from the beasts—"

Before she could complete her words, the dragon’s pupils constricted, locking onto them like the gaze of an apex predator.

In that instant, every muscle in their bodies froze. Even breathing felt impossible.

Alex’s momentary relief shattered into panic again. "F-Fuck! Why me again?! I’m not even that tasty!"

Jessy, balancing on her iron surfboard, clenched her teeth as it wobbled. "You just had to call it a gecko, didn’t you, genius?!"

Even she couldn’t move, such was the pressure of a being above tenth level.

Siris, upside down on her beast, laughed nervously. "Heh... I think it’s angry."

"It didn’t look angry a second ago," Clara muttered, sweat rolling down her temple.

Selena’s tone darkened, quiet but chilling. "That’s because with Raven here... it didn’t want to leave an opening. Now—" she looked up, eyes glowing with a dangerous crimson shimmer, "—it can finally let its rage free."

The dragon opened its maw, black energy swirling in a spiraling vortex. The glow reflected in their terrified eyes as the pressure grew unbearable.

"Alex!" Clara yelled, her voice filled with alarm. "It’s aiming at you—"

"Y-Yeah, I can tell!" He barked, his face pale. "Kinda hard to miss the death beam of doom charging in my direction!"

The air shimmered, reality bending around the dragon’s throat as it began to inhale—

—And then, time slowed.

Literally.

Not for everyone, but Raven, who was below them, his altered form plummeting like a meteor through a void of shattered moments.

His senses stretched beyond mortal limits—every flicker of lightning, every speck of ash, every breath the dragon took felt like a century in his head.

"So, that’s my enemy..." the feral Raven muttered, giggling dangerously. "Such a nice target for my first fight."

The problem was that his body was spiraling toward the ground, and the force was not something he could control quickly.

But then, as an idea flashed past his head—an idea given by the real Raven, who was still conscious in the back of his head—the feral Raven grinned.

The next second, he straightened his body, wings tight to his sides, claws slicing through the air as he dove faster—until the fall itself became his weapon.

The world blurred into streaks of crimson and black as he curved his trajectory, turning that downward force into a pendulum arc. His body surged upward again, velocity multiplying with every second.

The black dragon didn’t notice. Its attention was locked on the group—on Alex—its throat pulsing with gathered destruction.

The speed at which Raven was moving, however, was so fast that Raven could feel his own body catching fire, but he didn’t care.

His eyes burned feral. The corners of his lips curled. No words. No emotion. Just one thought—kill.

He sliced through the clouds, the friction alone tearing shockwaves behind him.

Then the dragon sensed him, but it was too late.

Its head snapped back, and its pupils contracted. In an instant, the charged energy in its throat flared, turning toward Raven.

"You again—?!"

It was ready to shoot at Raven again.

But Raven cut it off, his voice cracking through the storm like a growl from hell itself. "Did you think I’d fall for the same thing twice?!"

The dragon unleashed the beam.

And Raven didn’t dodge.

He tilted—just enough. The beam grazed through his wings, punching molten holes clean through them—but he didn’t slow. If anything, he got faster.

His roar echoed like a demon’s wrath as he slammed into the dragon with a force that shattered the space itself.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The entire sky exploded in black and crimson light.

Both dragons—black and feral—vanished in that instant, consumed by the explosion.

The group barely had time to react.

"What—WHAT JUST—" Jessy screamed as the beasts beneath them screamed and vanished in the blast.

"Oh gods—WE’RE FALLING!" Clara yelled, grabbing at empty air.

Selena’s eyes widened. "Brace yourselves!"

"THERE’S NOTHING TO BRACE ONTO!" Alex howled, spinning mid-air as Nibbles clung to his hair like a tiny parachutist.

Nibbles flipped his sign mid-fall: "OH NOOOOOOOOO."

Siris, free-falling beside Jessy, giggled wildly. "This is fine~!"

"THIS IS NOT FINE!" Jessy shouted back, arms flailing.

The entire squad plummeted through smoke and shattered sky, chaos everywhere.

Their screams echoed, mingling with the sounds of thunder, laughter, and the faint, fading rumble of battle far above.

And as they fell, the last thing they saw was a flicker—

Two dragons, locked together in a spiral of flame and fury, were crashing into the horizon.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The world erupted.

The sky shattered, the earth split, and the ground itself screamed.

A storm of dust, molten rock, and black flame shot into the heavens as the two dragons collided with apocalyptic force.

The shockwave blasted the surroundings into splinters and carved trenches into the soil like the hand of a god striking the world.

When the chaos settled, the land was no longer plain.

It was ruined.

A crater stretched for nearly two kilometers—charred, broken, and still glowing red from the heat of impact.

At its heart lay two colossal bodies—one black as the void, the other obsidian streaked with crimson veins that pulsed like molten rivers.

Both dragons were alive. Barely.

Their scales were cracked, their bones broken, and their wings torn to ribbons. Yet their flesh twisted and crawled as it healed, threads of dark regeneration weaving over shattered limbs.

The ground beneath them hissed as their blood, pure and burning, seeped into the stone.

The black dragon groaned, molten smoke spilling from its fanged mouth.

Its once-majestic body now looked mangled, fractured—yet the worst part wasn’t the pain.

It was the sound beside it.

A laugh.

Low. Raspy. Wrong.

"...Heh... hehehehehehehehehe..."

Feral Raven—his body mangled and steaming—dragged himself forward through the crater with his claws and jaws, his laughter cutting through the smoke like a broken melody.

Every twitch sent arcs of agony through his flesh, yet he didn’t stop. His claws scraped stone. His breath wheezed, bubbling with blood and fire.

Step by step. Inch by inch.

He pulled himself closer—his grin wide, fangs glinting in the infernal light—as he stared at the black dragon’s trembling face.

"Why... aren’t you moving?" He rasped, his voice a cocktail of madness and glee. "What’s wrong? You look... scared."

The black dragon flinched.

Its body refused to move.

It wanted to roar, to burn this insane creature into ash—but the agony was unbearable. Its muscles screamed with each twitch. It wasn’t used to pain, sure, but it could tell that it wasn’t something tolerable.

Yet, Raven kept moving.

"Stay back..." the black dragon snarled, but the snarl broke midway into a shaky hiss. "Stay back, you... freak."

Raven’s laughter echoed across the crater, jagged and unholy. "Oh, I love that word."

And then—he lunged.

His jaws clamped onto the dragon’s shoulder, biting down with feral glee.

Scales shattered, black ichor spraying into the air as Raven tore upward, biting and clawing his way across the dragon’s body, laughing the whole time like a predator drunk on chaos.

"STOOOOOP!" the black dragon roared, its voice cracking under pain and rage.

But Raven didn’t.

He bit, tore, and climbed, and when his claws reached the dragon’s neck, his own body began to heal fully. Bones cracked back into place.

His wings regenerated, sharp and jagged. His eyes glowed like burning suns.

With a guttural growl, he slammed both claws down—pinning the dragon’s arms to the ground. The earth split beneath the impact.

"NO—!"

Raven’s tail whipped out, snapping around the dragon’s legs. His claws dug into the wings, nailing them down like spears of black fire.

The colossal beast thrashed—but couldn’t move. Not an inch.

Now, Raven stood above it, molten breath curling from his fangs.

The black dragon’s glare sharpened, eyes filled with confusion—and a tinge of fear.

"Who... are you?" It hissed. "You’re not the one I fought. You’re—something else."

Raven tilted his head. Slowly.

Then, with a low, echoing chuckle, he whispered, "You don’t need to know."

The dragon’s pupils narrowed. It tried to move—it tried to summon another wave of energy—but suddenly... it couldn’t.

Something was wrong.

Its soul was frozen.

When it looked back at Raven, it saw his eyes, which were red until now, had now turned golden.

At that moment, the black dragon knew that Raven was the one responsible for whatever was happening with its soul.

"You..." the beast croaked, panic seeping into its tone. "W-What did you do—"

Raven grinned wider, his golden eyes reflecting the dragon’s terror.

"That little trick of yours..." he rasped, his voice turning almost playful. "That infinite revival thing? Not gonna work this time."

The dragon’s eyes widened in realization and horror.

"This time," Raven said softly, his voice dripping with venom and satisfaction, "I’m finishing you."

His jaws opened.

The crimson glow began to gather in his throat—dense, unstable, and apocalyptic. The entire crater trembled.

The black dragon’s breath hitched. Its soul screamed for escape—but couldn’t move.

Then, suddenly—

BA-DUMP.

A single heartbeat.

Loud enough to shake the world.

Raven’s pupils flickered. The glow in his throat faltered.

Then again—

BA-DUMP.

His entire body froze. His molten cracks flickered, dimming.

The soul barrier around his heart finally gave way as he used his soul power to restrict the black dragon.

Now, his heart could no longer hold on.

His vision blurred. The world went white.

For the briefest instant, everything stopped—sound, breath, and time itself.