The chamber trembled under the sheer weight of chaos.
André lunged forward once more, golden staff gripped in both hands, slamming it down onto the dragon's thick scales with every ounce of force his body could generate. The clash rang out like thunder in a storm but again, the blow barely chipped the surface. The S-rank beast didn't even flinch.
Its eyes burning like twin suns locked onto him, filled with a wrath that was ancient and pure. It growled low in its throat, and the air rippled with heat.
Then it moved.
The dragon's claw swept sideways, and André was too slow to dodge. The blow smashed into him like a battering ram, launching him several meters across the stone floor. He hit the ground hard, rolled once, twice, then slammed into a broken pillar with a sickening crack. Blood trailed behind him like spilled ink.
Kyle gasped. "He's… he's done for…"
Darlene took a step forward, hand half-raised, but froze when Lucas shouted sharply, "Stay back."
André stirred. Slowly. Mechanically.
His body was broken. Blood flowed from his chest, his legs, even his mouth. But he stood.
No scream. No groan. Not even a wince.
Because André didn't feel pain.
Didn't feel fear.
Didn't feel anything.
His face remained blank as he picked up the staff again and resumed walking toward the dragon.
Lucas stared at him. There was no pride in his eyes. Only quiet calculation, and a thin thread of unease that tightened with every step André took.
"…How far can he go like this?" Lucas muttered under his breath. He wasn't asking anyone. The question was for himself.
Meanwhile, Siman had barely moved from his place near the dragon's flank.
Unlike André, he was smiling.
Still.
Like this was a game.
The dragon roared then a deafening, bone-shaking sound that tore through the air like a cannon blast. Its mouth opened wide, light building in its throat. Fire was coming.
Real fire.
Not the kind used for cooking or lighting a torch.
This was ancient flame dragon fire. The stuff of myths. The temperature spiked. The floor beneath them began to crack from the heat.
Darlene's eyes widened. "We have to run !"
"No!" Lucas shouted. "No one moves!"
"But he'll die !"
Before anyone could blink, the fire came.
A river of flame exploded from the dragon's mouth, heading straight for André like a judgment from the gods.
And in that moment
Siman moved.
He disappeared in a blur of wind and reappeared beside the dragon's head, face calm, expression almost… bored.
He whispered one word:
"Enough."
Then, he cocked his fist back.
A subtle hum of energy danced around his knuckles. His whole body tensed for just a second—and then he drove his fist into the side of the dragon's face.
The impact didn't just make a sound. It made a shockwave.
BOOM.
The dragon's entire body lifted off the ground and slammed into the far wall of the chamber. Cracks spiderwebbed through the stone as the beast's massive frame crumpled into the surface, embedded like a broken sculpture.
The fire stopped. The heat dropped.
Silence.
Dust filled the air, dancing in the torchlight.
The group stood frozen.
Even Kyle, usually full of commentary, said nothing. His lips were parted, his face pale.
Then Siman spoke, voice casual as ever:
"André."
The bloodied soldier stopped walking.
"Throw the staff."
There was no hesitation.
André's fingers clenched around the golden weapon. He shifted his stance, raised it above his head and hurled it.
The golden staff soared through the air like a divine spear, spinning with elegance, light building around it with every rotation. It gleamed brighter and brighter, almost blinding by the time it reached the halfway point.
But the dragon, somehow, still had fight left.
It lifted its head from the rubble, chest heaving. Fire welled up in its throat for one last strike—a final, desperate blast aimed straight at André.
Lucas opened his mouth no words came out.
Siman raised one finger.
Snap.
A shield erupted in front of André, violet and shimmering, like a bubble of reality folding over itself. The dragon's fire hit it and dissipated, harmless.
And then the staff struck.
It pierced through the dragon's heart.
And detonated.
The explosion lit up the chamber with blinding brilliance. The shockwave shook the floor. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes.
When the light faded
The dragon was dead.
Its body lay limp, sprawled across shattered stone. Its chest had a gaping wound—smoking, glowing slightly from the leftover energy. Its once-majestic eyes were dark.
Silent.
Dead.
Nobody said anything.
For several seconds, the only sound was the faint hum of energy lingering in the air and the slow drip of water from the cracked ceiling.
Then Kyle finally found his voice.
"…That was an S-rank monster…"
Darlene nodded slowly, her lips trembling. "And Siman…"
"…Wasn't even serious," one of the C-rankers finished.
Lucas didn't speak.
He was still staring at Siman.
At the way the man dusted off his clothes like he'd just finished cleaning a room. The way he smiled faintly, eyes never showing strain, as if the dragon had been little more than a workout.
Terrifying.
Not just in strength but in control.
Siman wasn't a brute. He was precise. Calculated. Efficient. And something about that made Lucas's heart pound harder than any monster ever had.
Siman turned to the group and grinned.
"Alright," he said, "let's go see what's behind the dragon."
Kyle looked at him like he was insane. "Wait, what? We just killed a dragon. Can we—can we breathe for a second?"
"Nope," Siman replied cheerfully, walking toward the dragon egg that still sat undisturbed beside the corpse. "Dungeons don't wait."
He crouched next to the egg, studying it closely.
"…It's alive," he muttered.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Siman glanced back at him. "The egg. It's healthy. Stable. It wasn't corrupted."
He stood up and smiled. "Which means it's ours."
"You're saying… we take it with us?" Darlene asked, still looking shaken.
Siman nodded. "Exactly."
Kyle scoffed. "Oh sure, let's take the baby of the monster we just killed. That'll end well."
Lucas, finally regaining his composure, stepped forward. "No. He's right."
Everyone turned to him.
Lucas's voice was calm now, cold even. "This egg might be the rarest thing we've ever seen. If it hatches… if we raise it…"
He looked down at the still-smoking corpse of the dragon.
"We'd have an S-rank monster on our side."
Darlene took a deep breath. "That's assuming it doesn't try to eat us."
Lucas looked over his shoulder, his expression unreadable. "Then we make sure it doesn't."
Siman chuckled.
"You're learning," he said.
Lucas didn't respond.
But in his mind, a thousand thoughts were spinning. About the egg. About André's broken body. About Siman's terrifying strength.