CHAPTER 365: CHAPTER 364 - “THEN BURN WITH ME!”

As soon as Cluckles’s words echoed, Crisaius blinked, frowning. "...Raven?"

Even Argon’s eyes sharpened. "What?"

Cluckles stomped his claw for emphasis. "Yes! Raven faces a creature above Level Ten! The fried man said so before tragically collapsing in a pile of heroism! Cluckles swore on his scarf to deliver this message, even if Cluckles perished heroically in the process!"

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Crisaius’s grin vanished, replaced by a rare, cold seriousness. "Above Level Ten..."

He knew the difference between a level ten and an imperial, so he knew that it was impossible to win.

Even Argon’s expression twisted. His fists clenched tight enough to crack air, as, like Crisaius, he was aware of the power difference.

Without hesitation, Crisaius turned to him. "Go."

He knew that Raven wasn’t one to die easily, but they needed to act fast.

Argon, on the other hand, froze. "What?"

"You heard me," the old man barked, pointing his blade at the demon. "This bastard’s time is nearly up anyway. His summons would be over soon. Until then, those traps would stop him."

The demon indeed was trembling now, molten veins flickering weakly as the summoning sigils under his feet began to flicker out.

"I’ll handle him," Crisaius continued. "You go save the kid."

Argon’s jaw locked, torn between fury and hesitation. "If I leave—"

He wanted to leave, but he was hesitating because he knew that if the demon somehow managed to get past the traps, then it would be Crisaius’s end.

After all, Crisaius’s body condition was the worst it had ever been.

Argon would believe it if someone told him that he could be killed by a plate-one right now.

Crisaius, however, smacked the back of Argon’s head with a bloody hand, cutting him off. "You gonna stand there and watch another son die, you idiot?"

The silence that followed was heavy.

Argon gritted his teeth, as there was nothing else he could do.

His going to Raven himself was the only way to save him.

His gaze lingered on Crisaius and then the demon for a second longer before his eyes hardened.

"You better not die," he muttered under his breath, lifting one hand and tearing open a rift of bending space beside him.

The portal shimmered violently, unstable from exhaustion.

However, Argon realized something—he didn’t know where Raven was exactly.

So, he looked at Cluckles. "You know where he is?"

The chicken saluted with one wing. "Cluckles always knows! Follow the glorious feathers of destiny!"

Without another word, Argon stepped into the rift.

Cluckles gave a final nod to Crisaius. "Cluckles believes in you, old wrinkly warrior."

Crisaius snorted. "Go before I turn you into dinner, featherball."

With a dramatic cluck, Cluckles dove into the rift after Argon—the portal sealing behind them in a burst of light.

The battlefield went quiet once more.

Only Crisaius and the demon remained.

The air between them pulsed, space trembling from residual magic.

The demon’s laughter returned—low, savage, and blood-filled. "You think you can kill me alone, old man? The only reason I was struggling until now was because there were two of you, you know."

Crisaius wiped the blood from his lip, his grin returning slowly, feral.

"I know I can’t win," he said, lifting his spirit blades as time sigils flared back to life around him. "But I can make sure you don’t live long enough to gloat."

None of them were in their best condition, but they knew that their fight was about to end.

However, another fight was nearing its end—one that Argon was moving toward.

The fight between Raven and the Black Dragon.

...............................

In the Ashen Expanse, Raven towered above the black dragon’s body. But just when it looked like he would win—

—He paused as his heart froze for a second.

The silence, however, didn’t last long.

The black dragon’s molten eyes widened—then narrowed. It saw the flicker in Raven’s golden eyes, the dimming cracks along his scales.

’Weakness.’

Without a moment’s delay, the beast moved.

"DIE, YOU WRETCHED IMITATION!"

With a roar that split the heavens, the dragon lunged, its colossal claws slamming into Raven’s chest.

The ground cratered under the impact as Raven was flipped backward.

The black dragon’s fangs gleamed before it slammed its head down, pinning Raven into the burning crater. Its wings flared, igniting the air.

Then came the fire.

A torrent of black flame erupted from its jaws, swallowing Raven whole. The sheer heat melted the surrounding rocks into rivers of magma. The fire roared and twisted, devouring everything in sight.

For a moment, the black dragon almost smiled.

But then—

BOOM!

A black-scaled foot crashed into its jaw, hurling the dragon’s entire body back like a mountain struck by lightning.

The beam missed—barely grazing Raven as he spun through the smoke, his body half-charred but his grin alive.

"Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to scream in someone’s face?" Raven rasped, smoke rising off his back as he spread his wings again.

The black dragon snarled, shaking off the pain. "You insolent—"

It didn’t finish. Raven had already moved.

They collided midair, their impact splitting the storm clouds apart. Claws tore, teeth sank, and black fire exploded between them. The air trembled under the collision of two godlike beasts locked in primal combat.

Blood—red and black—splattered in torrents.

Raven’s laughter echoed like madness. "Come on! You call this pain?!"

The black dragon thrashed, biting into Raven’s shoulder, ripping away chunks of his flesh—only for Raven to retaliate by tearing half its face open in return.

Each time one struck, the other struck harder.

Each wound healed only to be torn open again.

Every second was like violence and insanity woven together in perfect rhythm.

"STOP LAUGHING!" the black dragon bellowed, slamming Raven into the earth again.

Raven rose from the crater, wings tattered, his grin stained in blood. "Make me."

The dragon inhaled, its chest swelling with power. "Then burn with me!"

The world turned black again as the breath cannon burst forth—an ocean of annihilation swallowing everything.

But this time, Raven didn’t dodge.

He stepped forward.

The fire washed over him, melting his scales and burning his flesh away. His claws cracked, and his bones glowed red as he was enveloped in the fire.

The dragon’s laughter rumbled across the plains. "It’s over! You’re finished!"

But through the storm of black fire—two golden eyes burned back.

Then—movement.

The impossible happened.

Raven rushed through the breath attack, ripping the flames apart with sheer will. His body shattered, wings tearing off piece by piece, but he didn’t stop.

His claws ignited, and before the dragon could react, Raven appeared before it.

"Over?" He growled. "You wish."

He lunged—his jaws locking onto the dragon’s throat.

The black dragon’s eyes widened in disbelief and pain. The fire in its maw cut off instantly as Raven’s bite crushed its windpipe.

"GRAAAAAAAGH!"

It thrashed, wings beating wildly, but Raven didn’t let go. His claws buried into the dragon’s ribs, his wings spread wide, pinning it down again.

The black dragon’s limbs flailed, claws tearing the ground apart in panic. It couldn’t move.

Its soul screamed—frozen again.

But Raven felt it too—his strength fading. His vision blurred. His jaw trembled.

The soul lock was weakening.

He couldn’t hold this for long.

The dragon, blinded by agony, didn’t realize.

But Raven did.

And then—he saw it.

Something above.

A flicker of light.

Fast. Purple.

His cracked lips curled into a grin.

With a guttural roar, he heaved—his shredded muscles straining as he lifted the black dragon upward, his claws sinking into its wings and ribs. He hoisted it into the sky like a god displaying his trophy.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the dragon bellowed, thrashing in rage and humiliation.

Raven laughed, bloody and hoarse. "Me? Just... setting you up."

The black dragon froze.

Its pupils dilated.

Because now—it saw it.

Something big.

Something glowing.

Something falling.

A streak of violet flame cutting through the clouds—screaming toward them.

It was Graye.

She, who was launched into the sky by the dragon’s breath a while ago, was finally coming down.

"RAVEN!!!" She roared, her illusionary greatsword the size of a building, blazing with purple fire. Her body burned with the recoil of her own energy. "MOVE, DAMMIT!"

Raven looked up, his eyes wild, smiling like a madman.

"Can’t," he yelled back. "If I do, it moves too!"

Graye’s eyes widened. "Then you’ll—"

"DO IT!" He roared, voice breaking through the storm. "KILL THE DAMN THING! NOW!"

She hesitated, her sword trembling, fire flickering like her resolve.

"GRAYE!!!" Raven’s voice erupted again, filled with raw fury. "DO AS I SAY! THIS IS OUR ONLY SHOT!"

Her teeth clenched. Her eyes burned.

"DON’T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!" She screamed as she swung her sword down, violet flames spiraling with apocalyptic light.

The world blinked white.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The impact shattered the heavens. A tidal wave of fire and shock tore through the battlefield.

Stone, smoke, and blood rose in a single explosion of light and ruin.

For a heartbeat, nothing existed but that sound.

When the dust began to clear—

—Only the crater remained.

A smoking scar on the earth.

And silence that screamed louder than any roar before it.