CHAPTER 184: PROTECT THE PEOPLE

Draegon

Ruoxy.

The way she had changed her shape once she got caught. How the Abyss had overtaken her body, warping her into something unrecognizable—no longer a person.

Even the nun we fought changed her form as she got stronger, although her transformation was different, creepier in it’s own way

And now—this was happening again.

My instincts screamed at me to pull back, to retreat and regroup. But my arm was still trapped, caught in the thick, growing mass of black ooze and hardened tendrils that were now spreading through Reagen’s chest like armor.

"I let you get this far," he rasped, his form towering now, taller than before, warped beyond human. "I wanted to see how strong you really were. And you disappointed me, Draegon."

The forest around us darkened unnaturally. The clouds above churned into a violent spiral. Birds and beasts scattered, fleeing from the rot soaking into the land.

Reagen’s face was almost gone now—his eyes a glowing, alien white, his voice echoing with a chorus of whispers. Like he was no longer speaking alone.

"Now," he hissed, "let me show you what the Abyss’s chosen looks like."

A blast of black energy surged from his body I was thrown back.

The force ripped me from the ground, tore my claws free from his chest, and sent me flying across the forest clearing, crashing through trees like they were kindling.

I rolled once, twice—blood in my mouth, vision spinning.

I forced myself to stand.

Through the haze, I could see him—no, it—rising.

Towering.

Reagen was gone.

In his place was something else—his body now a blend of bone-white and abyssal black, veins of molten darkness coursing through him like a twisted constellation. Tendrils and wings unfurled from his back, smoke and ash pouring from every pore.

And he was smiling.

I wiped the blood from my mouth, braced myself, and summoned the full force of my fire.

This wasn’t over.

***

Rael

I watched as the other dragon prince and the serpent demon came to the ritual site. I saw the gate opening and monsters pouring out.

They both began to try and kill as many monsters they could there to make sure the monsters didn’t end up in the cities.

But the influx was too much for them.

And as the three giants stepped outside the eyes, I knew it was time to leave, so I slipped into the darkness of the forest

***

Drakkar

The city was a battlefield.

Streets once bustling with merchants and laughter were now painted in ash and blood. Screams echoed through shattered windows. Fire licked the edges of buildings, smoke curling into the storm-heavy sky.

I swung my claws through the thick, oily hide of a leech-like beast, grabbed the core in it and yanked it out to torch it. Another came behind it—smaller, faster—but Ariston lunged in, impaling it through its eye with brutal precision. He had his sword in flames and he was able to cut the core clean with it and then burn it.

This was extra work, having to cut through them, find the core and even burn it. But we had no choice.

We didn’t have the luxury of exhaustion. Monsters poured from every alley, climbing walls, tearing through stone, dragging people into the streets. The guards were doing everything they could, but it wasn’t enough.

The citizens needed us.

Ariston and I split across the square, pushing back the tide so civilians could flee. He was a blur of steel and fire, slicing through a towering beast with five snapping heads. Its blood sprayed black across the cobblestones, and he didn’t flinch. He was actively looking for the cores and burning them

I barely had time to breathe when I felt the ground shift again.

Heavier. Slower.

I looked up—

—and my breath caught in my throat.

Two of the giant abyssal titans were coming our way. The faceless brute, dragging its meat-slab limbs across rooftops, and the headless giraffe-thing, its acid saliva hissing across buildings as it lurched forward like a grotesque marionette.

And then the third—the serpent-shaped colossus—coiled mid-air and turned away, slithering toward a different city in the distance.

"Damn it," I muttered. "They’re splitting up..."

That’s when I saw it.

A dark shape. Fast. Powerful. Cutting through the storm clouds like a spear of shadow.

A dragon?

It wasn’t Draken or Draegon

Wait!!!

She wasn’t just any dragon. I’d know her silhouette anywhere. The curve of her wings, the way her tail whipped behind her like a blade of vengeance.

"Mom...?"

She had left the abandoned tower.

She came to fight.

For a moment, I just stared. A child again, watching the one person I thought I’d barely see again... now flying into the heart of chaos.

"She’s here..."

My voice was low, disbelieving, full of awe.

"Ariston!" I turned quickly. "I have to go. She’s here—my mother. She’s fighting those things. I have to help her."

He didn’t even turn fully, too focused on the five-headed monster ripping through a wall of soldiers. But his answer was immediate:

"Go!"

That was all I needed.

I pivoted, sprinting down the cracked stone of the avenue. I couldn’t shift here. My dragon form was massive—too massive. If I transformed now, I’d level half the city trying to save it.

I had to get clear. Had to get out. I—

But then...

A figure stepped into my path.

My boots skidded on wet stone as I halted sharply, nearly colliding into him.

His cloak was soaked. Rain dripped from the dark strands of his hair. His eyes... weren’t quite human.

One look and I knew who he was.

My chest tightened. "You," I hissed.

He didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

Just stood there—calm. As if monsters weren’t tearing the city apart around us. As if lives weren’t ending in the streets behind me.

I could feel it radiating from him now. The lust to fight

The Abyss clung to him like a shadow stitched into his bones.

I clenched my fists, struggling to rein in the sudden spike of rage. "Get out of my way," I growled.

Still, he didn’t budge.

The sky thundered.

"You will have to get through me." He said and took a battle stance

I glance at the sky, Mom was reaching for the giants monsters, I could see her massive form and her charging her fire breath

Shit!!