The voice came from directly above him.Asta's eyes widened. His head snapped up just in time to see Jabber's foot coming down.The kick caught him square in the ribs.The impact drove every bit of air from Asta's lungs in a single explosive ‘whoosh’. Pain exploded through his chest,sharp, immediate, overwhelming. Something cracked. Maybe multiple things.His body left the ground like a ragdoll, arms and legs flailing uselessly. The talisman, which had been millimeters from his grasp, fell away as he flew backward through the air.The world became a blur of motion and agony. He saw the ceiling. Then the wall. Then the floor again. Everything spinning too fast to track.Then he saw the pillar.He hit it back-first with a sound like a tree branch snapping. The stone column cracked from the impact, spider-web fractures spreading out from the impact point like frozen lightning. Chips of stone exploded outward.Asta bounced off and crumpled to the ground in a heap. His sword clattered from

‘"Because I was weak."’ The dragon admitted, and there was something like shame in its voice. ‘"The process of saving you nearly destroyed me. I needed time to recover, to regain my strength. And yes, I watched. I waited. But I never took control, did I?"’Asta couldn't argue with that. Twelve years he'd lived with this thing inside him, and it had never once forced his hand, never seized control, never done anything but exist in silence.‘"Even now."’ The dragon continued.‘"I'm asking. Not demanding. Not forcing. Asking."’Across the chamber, the dragon controlling Jabber was advancing slowly. Savoring the moment. His footsteps echoed off the walls, steady and unhurried. He had all the time in the world, and he knew it.Flora and Mira stood frozen near the entrance, weapons ready but uncertain. They couldn't help without getting killed. Couldn't leave without abandoning their friend. Trapped in indecision.‘"Come on."’ The Emperor Dragon urged, and now there was genuine urgency

They didn't burn him. Didn't even seem to register as heat against his skin. They simply flowed from his lips like he was breathing out raw power itself, like his lungs contained a forge rather than air.The flames drifted across the chamber, not rising like normal fire but moving horizontally, defying physics and gravity alike. When they touched the ground, the stone didn't scorch or blacken,it simply accepted them, like the earth recognizing something fundamental and ancient.Flora and Mira both stumbled backward a step, their bodies moving instinctively away from the presence they felt."No freaking way." Mira breathed, her voice barely audible. Her eyes were locked on Asta, on the flames dancing around his form. "Asta has awakened his flames?"But Flora was shaking her head. Her eyes had gone wide, wider than Mira had ever seen them. Her face had gone pale beneath the flickering light of Asta's flames."That's no ordinary flame." Flora whispered. Her voice carried absolute cert

The dragon's vision cleared slowly, colors bleeding back into the world one at a time. White first. Then more white. Just... endless white in every direction.He blinked. Once. Twice.Jabber's body,his borrowed body,stood in what looked like an infinite room with no walls, no ceiling, no floor that he could distinguish. Just white emptiness stretching in every direction forever."What…" His voice came out shaky, uncertain. The confidence from moments ago had evaporated completely. "Where am I?"He spun around, his clawed hands coming up defensively. The purple flame claws he'd summoned were gone. In fact, all his flames had vanished. He felt... diminished somehow. Like he'd left part of himself behind in the real world.Fear crept up his spine like ice water."What is this place?" He called out to the emptiness. "What did you do?!"No response. Just that vast, oppressive silence that seemed to swallow the sound itself.He took a step forward. Then another. His boots made no sound

The white space shattered like glass.Reality came rushing back in a disorienting flood,the chamber's heat, the smell of scorched stone, the flickering light of dying flames. The transition was violent, jarring, like being thrown from a dream into ice-cold water.Asta gasped, his lungs suddenly remembering they needed air. His hand was still pressed against Jabber's face, his forehead still touching his friend's. The salamander flames that had been wreathing his body flickered once, twice, then died completely.His left eye stopped burning. The green-gold-purple fire vanished, leaving just his normal dark iris staring back.Then his legs gave out.There was no warning. One moment he was standing. The next, his knees buckled and he was falling. His hand slipped from Jabber's face as gravity claimed him.He hit the stone floor hard, his shoulder taking most of the impact. Pain exploded through his already-cracked ribs, sharp enough to make white spots dance across his vision. A groan es