Dancing on the golden ashes

My entire body felt extremely cold at that moment, as if I had been reborn from the depths of the underworld—and yet, it felt… good. That beam attack had awakened something inside me: a burning desire for more battle, for more chaos. And that power of mass destruction—I craved to wield an even more powerful version of it.

Immediately following the colossal explosion, we clashed once more. His body whirled through the sky, twisting mid-air as he dodged my relentless attacks. A massive lightning storm began to gather overhead, and in the blink of an eye, the enormous demonic form was swallowed by the tempest—a true sea of lightning, trapping me within its fury.

An immense pain washed over me, each bolt of lightning lashing my skin like a searing tongue. The sensation was both repulsive and excruciating, yet deep within me, a dark power stirred, urging for release. I pushed myself to the limit, unleashing the pent-up energy. In front of me, a vast circle of darkness coalesced, then surged forward with a force that made the very air vibrate. The colossal beam of darkness engulfed Nam Ji-Ho's dragon form before it had any chance to evade, moving with the speed of light.

Desperately, the dragon raised a shield of golden lightning—a manifestation marked by the Chinese character 护 (hù), meaning "protect." In an instant, that character transformed into a barrier of brilliant lightning. As the beam collided with the shield, the impact sent shockwaves rippling through the world. I could see people on the ground scattering in terror while my beasts maintained their vigilant guard, ensuring that no one could breach our defenses and threaten the city we were sworn to protect.

Is he still alive? I wondered desperately. Killing Nam Ji-Ho wasn't a mere desire—it was an absolute necessity. With him lingering, I knew that death was inevitable for either me or those around me. Yet, to my dismay, after the darkness dissipated, I saw that half of the dragon still remained, regenerating rapidly. The raging lightning storm abruptly ceased, plunging the entire battlefield into an eerie silence.

"Are you done fighting?" a combined voice inquired, causing the dragon's expression to twitch ever so slightly.

"I don't know who you are, but you're not the same person I once fought, are you?" the dragon retorted.

His words halted me for a moment.

"We remain the same at our core, but now we have merged—two souls becoming one. We are the embodiment of combined spirits. And you, too, are part of that union. That dragon should know us; that dragon and the power you wield do not belong solely to you, Nam Ji-Ho." The eerie voice resonated, weakening me further. I still had so many mysteries about this world to unravel, and I had never truly belonged to the game. Whatever machinations those higher entities were orchestrating in this realm, I vowed to shatter their control one day. I refused to remain a mere pawn. I longed to command my destiny, to learn every hidden secret, to confront the creator, and, most importantly, to uncover the origins of that eerie voice.

"Heh..." The dragon chuckled, and in the next moment its entire body recovered—any wounds it had suffered before seemed to be gone. "I'm not sure what you are talking about, but trust me when I say this, today I will walk out of here alive and I will drag this body back to that person who made this place." It laughed in a weird, maniacal yet desperate manner.

"The creator?..." My voice cut through the combination of our voices, and in that moment I understood everything. I understood why he was so strong, and why he was the only person who had ever defeated me. He was one of that person's favorites, just like Jeong Suhan—the two of them might even know each other.

"Is that how you call him?" It laughed and smiled at me in a mysterious way. Suddenly, its entire body started to glow, and in the sky the lightning began to rage again. In the next moment, a heaven-shaking spear of pure lightning manifested from the surrounding storm. Instantly, my instincts screamed at me to run—to get away from this place as fast as I could. But at the same time, I refused to move. I knew that that attack would most likely be powerful, to the extent that I could even die, but so what? I'm done running! I controlled my soul power to create a massive domain of darkness that enveloped everything in the surroundings. I could feel myself drift into this darkness domain, and then I disappeared, while the dragon desperately tried to search for me.

"Lee Gaon, you coward! Come here and fight me like a real man!" he screamed in a booming voice. Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"I told you, I'm a woman, you piece of shit!" In that moment, the eerie voice lost all control to me. My soul burned like a raging fire as the dark form I possessed began to transform. Golden fire wrapped around it like armor, while a bluish, ghastly light became my heart. Crimson lightning coiled around my arms like gauntlets with claws, and the elemental soul energy surged within me, shining ever so brightly. In that moment, I felt as if I could control the world. I reaped over the lightning spear, grabbing it with my own crimson lightning.

"Hahaha! You've lost your mind, Lee Gaon. Why are you willingly letting me kill you?" Nam Ji-Ho's voice cut through the air. I could feel the spear shaking as it turned toward me, but the moment it was about to strike my heart, I grabbed it tightly and wrapped my crimson lightning around it.

"What the—" I heard his stunned voice as I looked down at the dragon. It began to generate a powerful beam from its mouth, and it seemed to possess an extreme amount of power—perhaps even more than this spear—but...

My crimson energy invaded the spear of golden lightning, and in the next moment it turned fully crimson, submitting to my commands.

"That's how it should be..." I spoke softly, and the spear vibrated at my words as if it were too afraid to disobey. I could see the lightning beam rushing at me, but at that moment I channeled all my soul power into this final attack and sent the crimson spear flying straight through the beam.

The spear cut through the golden lightning beam as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter. It traveled swiftly, and in the next moment it hit the dragon's mouth. The spear didn't stop there—it traveled all the way through, exiting from the other end and smashing into the ground. But that crimson lightning not only pierced him in half; it left wounds with flickering crimson light dancing along the dragon's body. Then the spear detonated in the ground. The best way I could describe it was like an atomic bomb crashing into the earth and exploding—the massive mushroom cloud soaring into the sky, engulfing the dragon, and forcing me to flee to the side. I could see everything on the bottom floor being completely annihilated.

I waited for a while, yet no sign of my foe's demise flickered in my mind. After the clouds of fire and dust finally dispersed, I saw the man lying in a massive crater—no longer in his dragon form. He didn't seem to be breathing, or rather, it was too hard to tell from this height. I, too, was utterly drained of energy.

"This is it! This is my chance to finish him for good!" I thought excitedly and rushed down, canceling my massive demonic form. My scythe materialized in my hand, its pitch-black blade inching toward the life of my sworn enemy. I didn't hesitate—I charged down as quickly as possible.

"Die!" I shouted, my heart nearly bursting from my chest. This moment meant everything to me; I simply could not fail!

And then, the unexpected happened—a streak of pure white light crashed into me, sending me flying far away. I could feel countless bones cracking under the force of the attack, but somehow I managed to reach just in time to cast a chaos shield.

And then I saw him—the man with the white hair stood before the body of my sworn enemy. His cunning smile made me want to puke. With a casual gesture, he extended his hand, and white energy surged into Nam Ji-Ho. I could see his eyes snap open as he shot to his feet, placing a hand on the shoulder of the white-haired man. Not only had he recovered, but he also seemed to be back at full energy...

My heart sank. I knew that today, I had to fight not only Nam Ji-Ho—this bastard was here too—but also his loyal lapdogs, the obedient hounds of the creator.

"Jeong Suhan, come and meet your death!" I roared, my blood boiling with fury. This battle would determine if I lived or died today.