CHAPTER 1135: TRAPPED

Erend’s breath caught in his throat. The anxious feeling that had gnawed at the edge of his instincts since the battle began now grew sharper and more tangible, as Zerathul’s words echoed through the chaotic air around him.

That laughter, that maddening and sounds to come from everywhere-at-once laughter, filled the space again. It sounds mocking, cruel, and confident.

The realization dawned on Erend like a freezing wind across fire. This monster had never been fighting only for his own survival or win in this world. He had been stalling. Preparing something while he and his Dragonborn companions were distracted.

"What have you done?!" Erend’s voice tore out in half a roar and half a demand, shaking the air.

Zerathul’s laughter deepened, reverberating like a chorus of broken bells.

"It’s far too late to run now, Dragonborn," he said, his tone echoing with amusement and malice. "Did you truly believe the only ancient god I killed and awakened was Thar’Zul-Vekar?"

The name struck like thunder through the memory that tied the Erend and Eccar together.

Eccar froze in the air, his heart pounding as his thoughts spiraled.

"Another ancient god?"

He felt the blood drain from his face. Memories of that battle returned. Thar’Zul-Vekar’s titanic presence, the waves of divine corruption, the sheer impossibility of matching strength with such a being.

Only he and Erend had managed to stand against it. The human adventurers who had come with them had collapsed under the mere sight of the god’s shadow form.

And now, another like that has been released somewhere.

Eccar’s clawed hands clenched, his scaled knuckles whitening.

"If Erend and I aren’t there... who will stop it?" The faces of those they’d left behind flashed through his mind.

Aurdis, Arty, Sylmira, the humans, the Elves. The thought of that god descending upon any of them twisted his gut with dread.

He looked up, scanning the skies for Zerathul’s true body. Only thick smoke, shards of debris, and chaotic Magic filled the air. The battlefield had become a storm of fractured energies.

Aesa can see Eccar’s expression. She immediately feels that something really bad has happened. Her expression was cold and taut.

She wasn’t present when Erend and Eccar fought that ancient god. but she knows that the ancient god must be capable of unimaginable destruction for the human world.

"This isn’t right," she said softly, eyes narrowing. "We need to go back. I’ll try to open a portal."

Eccar turned to her, his voice strained and hollow. "Oh—right. Do it. Hurry."

Aesa closed her eyes, summoning the rippling power of her frost-blue aura. The air cracked, frost forming in spirals as she focused.

But then, the Magic faltered.

The lines broke apart like glass, and the attempt dissolved in a burst of static.

"Something’s blocking me," she said through gritted teeth. "It’s like the entire space is sealed."

Eccar’s heart sank. The realization struck hard. Zerathul planned this. He wasn’t just keeping them occupied. He had trapped them here, severing their ability to return.

A cold fury rose within Eccar as his wings flared, the Earth Dragon energy around him pulsing.

"He’s making us stay away," he growled. "He’s isolating us so he can attack wherever he wants!"

In the distance, Erend scanned the chaotic sky, his mind racing faster than his heartbeat.

"What god did he awaken? Where did he send it?" His thoughts darted wildly. "Is he sent it to my world? Or... Arty..."

"Erend!"

Krono’s voice roared from somewhere unseen, filled with urgency.

Erend turned sharply, searching for the source. But the warning came too late.

Something massive slammed into his back faster than his eyes could track. The impact drove the air from his lungs, and he crashed downward like a meteor, blazing through clouds and hitting the ground with a thunderous explosion that split the earth beneath them.

BOOM!

The shockwave rippled for miles, tearing apart what remained of the battlefield on the ground. Blinding light erupted from the crater, scattering smoke and embers across the ruined land.

The ground cracked in jagged veins beneath Erend’s body as he lay momentarily dazed and half-buried in molten earth. Flashes of lightning and fire danced over his scales as his breath came heavy and ragged.

He forced himself to move, pushing up through the debris with a low growl. His body feels pain despite his scales, but it wasn’t much of a problem.

He could still feel traces of the energy that struck him. It was a twisted distorted echo of Zerathul’s power. He had attacked him from behind when he was unfocused.

The air above trembled. Through the haze a silhouette pulsing with dark lightning looming in the sky. The creature resembled Zerathul’s old form but it looks different and unstable, as if created from fragments of illusion.

His body flickered in and out of existence, part illusion and part real.

Erend rose fully to his feet, fire, lightning and water swirling in violent unison around his body, his aura burning brighter than before.

The earth shook as he stepped forward, eyes locked on the entity hovering above.

"You think this will be enough to stop me?" he muttered, his voice rumbling low like a coming storm.

Up in the torn sky, Krono’s eyes glowed like twin stars as his anger also grew.

Krono’s massive wings then tore through the storm clouds with a thunderous crack. His eyes locked onto the immense, half-formed shape that hovered amid the chaos that most likely Zerathul’s true body. The form was vast and coiled in shadows.

The space around the creature warped and twisted.

The Time Dragon’s fury burned hotter more. He could feel the distortion spreading through the realm, the unnatural flow of moments bending to Zerathul’s will.

"You dare twist the flow of time and creation for your games..." Krono growled, his voice echoing like the rumble of an ancient storm. "Then I’ll erase your existence from every era!"

Without waiting for Erend, Krono surged forward, wings blazing with gold energy. Time warped around him, compressing the distance into a blur. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the distance and collided into Zerathul’s domain.

Zerathul laughed again, the sound reverberating from every direction at once. "Foolish creature."

A surge of black lightning burst from Zerathul, splitting into a thousand writhing strands before converging into a single torrent of destructive energy.

It struck Krono head-on, exploding across his scales. The blast sent shockwaves through the sky and tore it open with veins of darkness.

Krono roared in pain, his colossal body faltering midair, his wings trembling under the attack.

But he refused to fall. His golden aura flared again.

He opened his jaws wide, light building inside his throat. A deep hum resonated through the entire battlefield as a sphere of condensed temporal energy began to form.

But then something else happened.

Darkness coiled around Zerathul like liquid shadow

The air ruptured. From the space around Krono, ten vast tentacles of pure darkness burst forth, writhing with impossible speed.

Before Krono could react, they lashed around his neck, wings, and tail, each one crackling with black energy that sapped his strength.

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