RE: ZERON I will return for you, even if it takes a million

Chapter 18 : The battle between the dragon and feline

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​The minutes felt like hours as I clashed with Frexia. I was constantly being sent skidding across the dirt, my body vibrating from the sheer force of parrying her blows. The dry, churned-up earth kicked into my face, coating my tongue with grit. Even when my blocks were technically perfect, the raw kinetic energy behind her strikes was enough to launch me off my feet. My arms went numb, the vibration rattling my very bones.

​The battle raged on, drawing the attention of local soldiers, but even they were no match for the ferocity of a Dragonaire. With a casual wave of her hand, Frexia encased the approaching guards in pillars of frost, halting them instantly. The air temperature plummeted, frost crystals biting at my skin.

​I fell to my knees, gasping for air, my lungs burning. The sharp scent of ozone and cooling ice filled the space around me. My stamina was bottoming out just from the effort of self-preservation; I hadn't even managed to graze her.

​Frexia walked toward me with measured, heavy steps, her voice a cold reminder of the gulf between our species. "The gap between a Dragonaire and a human is a mountain you cannot climb. I could end this now, but I would rather watch you surrender."

​"Surrender?" I spat, struggling to stand. I gripped my sword until my knuckles turned white. My heart hammered against my ribs, a desperate, erratic rhythm. "I wouldn't have challenged someone like you if I was the type to just give up."

​I tapped into my remaining reserves, and a surge of violet flames erupted around me. The fire began to weave itself into a spectral armor, taking the form of feline ears and a lashing tail as Lavender’s Celestial Item pulsed with a rhythmic, ethereal light.

​"Master Aren, your condition is critical," Lavender’s voice echoed in my mind, laced with desperation. "Please, let me help you fight her."

​I had been holding her back to conserve our collective energy, but I was at a dead end. "I'm sorry for keeping you on the sidelines, Lavender. I need you now."

​"I am ready, Master Aren. I will give you everything I have."

​I felt her mana pour into me—a torrential, scalding heat that made my blood sing. It felt as if our souls were intertwining, sharing a single vessel. I looked at my hands in awe; we had achieved a resonance I didn't think possible.

​Frexia halted, her expression shifting from boredom to genuine wariness. "I feel a different presence... this is more than just the power of a spirit item."

​The violet shroud made me feel feral. It sharpened my senses and stilled my mind, turning me from a desperate survivor into a predator ready to pounce.

​I lunged. My own speed startled me; my body felt weightless, capable of darting through the air like a shadow. Frexia parried my first strike and tried to counter, but I was already gone, leaping away before her fist could connect.

​I circled her in a blur of violet light, striking and retreating. "Yaahhh!!" I brought my claws down on her arm, but the blow skipped off her skin. Even with this surge of power, her natural draconic armor remained unbroken.

​I kept up the pressure, forcing her to step back through sheer volume of attacks. Irritated, Frexia finally called upon her own Celestial Item. She slammed her hand down, and jagged mountains of ice erupted from the earth to cage me.

​"Master Aren, leave the ice to me!" Lavender cried.

​The violet flames intensified, lashing out like whips to melt the frost. Lavender’s ability to siphon energy from what she burned made quick work of the barriers, turning the ice into hissing clouds of steam. Seeing her path blocked by fire, Frexia took to the sky.

​"I don't know what kind of power you've tapped into," she called down, "but my instincts say those flames are dangerous."

​Her necklace began to glow, and her arms and hands elongated, growing into massive, taloned dragon limbs. "I have been holding back to avoid killing you," she admitted. "As a superior being, I did not think you worthy of my dragon form. But I will not be careless. Try not to die."

​She dived from the heavens, a comet of freezing energy. I didn't flinch. If anything, the violet energy made me more aggressive, eager to meet her head-on.

​We collided. I dodged a punch that pulverized the ground where I had stood a millisecond before. I found an opening and raked my claws across her back, but she barely felt it. Her new form had tripled her strength and bolstered her magic barrier to an absurd degree.

​Each of her strikes leveled walls and sent tremors through the town. People were fleeing in a panicked exodus, their screams muffled by the roaring wind of our collision. Yet, thanks to Lavender’s agility, I was still a ghost she couldn't catch.

​"Enough of this!" Frexia roared. She struck the earth, sending up a freezing mist that blinded the battlefield.

​In the whiteout, I missed a rising ice spire that caught me in the ribs with a sickening crack. As I was knocked off balance, Frexia’s massive hand clamped onto my arm. I tried to claw at her, but she ignored the pain, lifting me up and slamming me into the dirt.

​She didn't give me a chance to breathe. She pinned my chest with her foot, burying me in the crater, and followed up with a punch that felt like a falling star. I crossed my arms to block; the impact was like a bomb going off, the shockwave shattering windows for blocks.

​Even with Lavender’s protective flames, the pain was agonizing, radiating white-hot through my joints. Frexia grabbed my arm again and swung me into a nearby building, never letting go, only to slam me back into the ground.

​Suddenly, a massive feline arm made of violet fire manifested from my side, swiping at Frexia. Lavender was taking direct action from within the item.

​"Master Aren, you must retreat! I cannot maintain this protection for much longer!"

​I tried to leap away, but Frexia’s giant hand caught my right arm again. With a brutal, clinical tug, she wrenched my arm from its socket. Even through the haze of battle energy, the scream that left my throat was primal.

​She tossed me aside like trash and threw my severed arm at my feet, a mocking smile on her face. "Ahhh!!" I collapsed, clutching the stump, blood hot against my cold skin.

​Violet flames suddenly swirled around me, forming a protective sphere of fire that expanded into a massive explosion. It bought me enough distance to scramble back. Under Lavender's guidance, the violet flames knitted a new arm for me, restoring the limb in a flash of heat.

​But the cost was high. I was heaving, my vision swimming. The violet shroud flickered and died as Lavender was forcibly ejected from her celestial item, collapsing beside me.

​"Master Aren! Are you alright?" She tried to help me up, her face pale with exhaustion and guilt. "I'm so sorry... I couldn't protect you."

​"Lavender’s energy has hit its limit," Ora warned. "She hasn't mastered her power yet. You can't rely on her as a battery anymore."

​"Master Aren, that last blast took everything I had," Lavender whispered, her hands trembling. "We have to run."

​Even with our powers combined, we were still outmatched by a Dragonaire of Frexia’s caliber. Ora urged me to flee—to accept the loss and live to fight another day.

​I agreed and turned to help Lavender, but we were suddenly surrounded. Towering spires of ice rose from the ground, sealing every exit.

​"Did you really think I’d let you walk away?" Frexia landed softly, her dragon limbs slowly shrinking back to human size as she approached. She looked at Lavender. "So, the 'other presence' was a Musang. Remarkable."

​Lavender stepped in front of me, her voice shaking but resolute. "Run, Master Aren! I’ll hold her back!"

​Frexia laughed. "A Musang? Your kind are clever hunters in the forest, little cat, but you are no match for me in a real fight."

​Lavender didn't back down. She ignited the last of her mana, shifting into her predatory stance. "I will never let you hurt him!"

​"Master? You call a human 'Master'?" Frexia’s voice was full of disdain. "Your kind is superior to humans. Why would you choose to serve one?"

​"Master Aren is the only one who saw me as a person and saved me from slavery," Lavender barked. "He is the only Master I will ever lay down my life for!"

​She lunged, moving with the desperate speed of a cornered tiger. She was a blur of violet sparks, dodging Frexia’s heavy blows and landing a sharp kick to the Dragonaire’s head that actually forced Frexia back a step.

​Lavender kept moving, darting in and out, raking her claws across Frexia’s back. For a moment, she was winning the battle of speed. But Ora’s voice was grim.

​"She’s just playing with her. Frexia knows she can’t match Lavender’s agility, so she’s just waiting for her to burn out. A Dragonaire can fight for hours; Lavender has minutes."

​I chased after them as they moved toward the outskirts of town. By the time I caught up, Lavender had collapsed. The violet flames were gone. She was on her knees, gasping for breath, her body shaking from total mana depletion.

​"Your speed is useless if you have no endurance," Frexia said, raising a hand. Ice began to crawl across the ground toward Lavender.

​I saw the look of defeat in Lavender’s eyes. I couldn't let it end like this. She had fought for me, bled for me, and nearly died for me. It was time for me to stop hiding behind her strength. This was my mission, and I had to be the one to finish it.