The ground.
South of Crossroad. End of the plains.
The last of the resistance forces had been annihilated.
The clones summoned by Ash couldn't withstand the onslaught of the waves of darkness and were swept away.
Ash himself, after being slashed repeatedly in front of Night Bringer's forged night, had fallen.
Jörmungandr, unable to endure the wound that split his body in two, died right there, and Crown the Clown, who stood beside the snake, was torn in half by Night Bringer's own hands.
Parekian, who resisted fiercely, fell with his entire shell shattered by a single punch from Night Bringer.
Finally, Scalian.
"Gah, grrk...!"
Held by the throat in Night Bringer's hand, Scalian choked and was lifted into the air.
Though he had the strongest magical defense among the Black Dragon Legion, the beautiful scales that covered his body were all shattered, falling like rain, leaving him a hideous sight of wounds and blood.
"Scalian. My progeny."
Night Bringer asked in a mocking voice, addressing his own son.
"Did you see what you wanted to see?"
"...Yes, Father."
Spewing blood in front of the choking grip, Scalian smiled wryly.
"I saw it all."
"Ho... and what was it?"
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
Scalian's eyes were calm, as if he had no more regrets and was truly satisfied.
"The beauty you would never find, Father, crouching in the night, only plotting to close the world..."
"..."
"I saw it."
Scalian chuckled faintly, mocking.
"Not feeling this beauty... Father, you are truly... pitiful..."
Crack!
Scalian couldn't speak any further.
Because Night Bringer tightened his grip and broke his son's neck.
"Since you came from me, return to me."
Night Bringer carelessly tossed Scalian's limp body onto his back.
Where the two dragon bodies touched, Scalian's began to melt black and slowly absorbed into Night Bringer.
Night Bringer looked around. Ash, who had boasted loudly, was thoroughly shredded and couldn't rise anymore. Now, there was no one left to oppose him.
The last resistance of the world had been so futile...
There was no longer any reason to linger and play around. Night Bringer decided to end everything now.
"...Hm?"
It was then.
Rumble...
Suddenly, the sky trembled.
And as Night Bringer looked up in puzzlement-
Rip!
The Veil of Darkness that covered the sky was torn apart, letting brilliant sunlight pour through the gaps.
"What...?!"
Night Bringer couldn't comprehend the situation for a moment.
The Veil of Darkness that covered the sky was crafted from the darkness beneath the Lake Kingdom.
It was an evil, repulsive darkness imbued with the will of those Outer Gods.
To achieve his goal, Night Bringer even used the darkness he loathed.
The reason was simple. That darkness was powerful.
The darkness scattered under the lake by the Outer Gods was different from ordinary darkness, filled with malice that dragged all living beings into despair.
Since the world became the playground of the Outer Gods, no mortal had ever overcome that darkness.
Thus, he trusted the darkness even more than himself, and yet...
"Argh-?!"
The brilliant dawn light poured down like spear tips.
Night Bringer's massive body began to melt incessantly under the indiscriminate sunlight.
Before landing in this world, he had covered the sky with a Veil of Darkness to deepen the night and merged his body with that darkness to gain transcendent power beyond his original form.
To destroy the world this time, he used the reverse-heaven art to turn day into night, overturning the natural order to come this far.
"Don't be ridiculous..."
It was collapsing.
As the Veil of Darkness was torn apart and the dawn that should rightfully come spread over the world... his body and plans crumbled like twilight before dawn.
"You think I'll give up with just this-!"
Night Bringer glared at the sky, activating the dark evil eye.
Boom!
With the transcendent evil will of the dragon, the torn Veil of Darkness began to stitch itself together, reaching out its tendrils to seal the rips.
Sunlight was once again blocked one by one through the patched Veil of Darkness. Night Bringer exerted all his strength to reclaim his night.
It was then.
Thud, thud, thud...
The sound of several legs lightly tapping the ground was heard. Night Bringer flinched and looked down towards the source.
There it was.
With no eyes, nose, ears, or mouth. With six legs and six tails...
Another one of his sons, more lizard-like than dragon-like.
Night Bringer trembled as he called out his son's name.
"Parekian...!"
Parekian, the Black Dragon's Claw, slowly lowered his stance. And then.
Vroom-!
A sound like a mechanical engine echoed from his core, spreading a red hue through his cracked body.
"Don't interfere, you worm-!"
Night Bringer roared and unleashed dark magic wildly.
Boom! Boom, boom...!
Parekian's entire body exploded under the direct hit of the magic. Night Bringer thought his child was crushed.
But he was not.
"...!"
As the thick smoke cleared, Parekian had transformed into another form.
When his stamina drops below half, Parekian enters the next phase, revealing his 'true form'.
This form was so difficult to deal with that Ash used mind control tactics to capture Parekian without letting him pass the phase.
Vroom...
With his outer shell peeled off, Parekian transformed into an even sharper and sleeker form than before.
If he was a lizard before, now he looked like a fox wearing armor.
Vroom!
The unique engine sound echoed once more, and red flames burst from the joints of Parekian's six legs simultaneously.
Boom-!
Kicking off the ground, Parekian sprinted at an unbelievable speed.
His six trailing tails also emitted red flames from their ends, resembling a living rocket and further boosting his speed.
The fastest dragon.
Among the members of the Black Dragon Legion, no, among all the dragons that ever existed in history, the fastest being.
That was Parekian, the Black Dragon's Claw, and even the almighty Night Bringer momentarily lost track of his speed.
In an instant, Parekian reached right in front of Night Bringer.
However, Parekian was also a being that originated from Night Bringer.
"No matter how fast you are..."
Night Bringer's golden eyes glinted menacingly.
"You think I can't catch you-?!"
'Forged Night' descended.
It was a precisely aimed attack without any gaps, and Parekian was hit directly.
Crash...!
With a sound like shattering glass, Parekian exploded once more.
And then,
"...What?"
From beneath Parekian's shattered shell, emerged an unexpected final phase - a third form.
Smaller, sleeker, more agile, having shed even the armor, in the shape of a fox.
This form, unseen by even Night Bringer, was the result of using Scalian's second dragon orb on Parekian.
The dragon orb is a tool that elevates the essence of a being.
With this, Parekian forcibly broke through his limits, reaching the pinnacle of latent talent.
And Parekian wasn't the only one who used a dragon orb and surpassed his limits.
"W-Whoa, whoa...!"
Inside Parekian's shell, hidden, was the illusionist, Violet, who clung to Parekian's neck with trembling arms.
"It's okay."
Parekian spoke then.
Without a mouth, the voice resonated from within his chest, sounding metallic yet gentle. Violet's eyes widened in surprise at the unfamiliar yet kind voice. Parekian spoke once more.
"Let's go."
"Ah, yes...!"
Boom-!
Parekian rocketed upwards like a missile.
In his third form, Parekian scaled Night Bringer's body with blinding speed.
So fast that even Night Bringer couldn't react, Parekian swiftly climbed up to Night Bringer's neck and approached his head, signaling.
"Now, Violet."
"Uuuh..."
Despite trembling in fear before the world's strongest monster,
"Uaaaah-!"
Violet kicked off Parekian's back, leaping up, and placed both hands on Night Bringer's head.
Violet was merely a petty thief, just a scammer of a human, but she wanted to become great.
So Scalian gifted her his dragon orb, using it to elevate her essence right before this battle.
Thus, her illusion magic, which was only used to swindle money from villagers in a backwater gambling den,
Flash-!
gained enough power to be used against the world's worst Black Dragon.
Violet's ultimate skill, [Daydream], exploded.
"...?!"
For the first time, Night Bringer felt his mind shaken, roaring in pain all around.
Roar-!
The Dragon Roar tore through the air, slashing in all directions.
Even as Violet fell after using her illusion, the Dragon Roar descended upon her. Violet sensed her impending death.
"Ha."
But why? She wasn't as scared as she thought she'd be. Instead, she felt relieved.
Perhaps it was because she had achieved something she had never even dreamed of in her life.
'See that, world?'
Violet closed her eyes with a bright smile.
'I got you back.'
The blade-like Dragon Roar crashed towards her.
Violet couldn't avoid it.
Crash...!
***
"Gasp... gasp..."
Night Bringer bent over, gasping for breath.
His mental strength was formidable. He wasn't weak enough to be caught by mere human illusions.
But he was shaken.
He didn't fall for the illusion, but his mind was undoubtedly shaken. Night Bringer felt his chest boiling with unprecedented agitation.
'It's because of the sunlight. The sudden burst of sunlight...'
Rip, rip-
His concentration faltered, and the Veil of Darkness that covered the sky like dark clouds began to tear apart again.
More and more sunlight pierced through the darkness. The darkness that was fused with Night Bringer's body also began to evaporate.
As Night Bringer gasped for breath and lifted his head...
"...?"
He saw a wavering image of a woman like a mirage before his eyes.
From a distant past, at the end of that now-forgotten mythic era.
The red-haired woman who had looked down at him with sorrowful eyes as she killed him.
Truly like a daytime dream...
- Your story ends here, Night Bringer.
With her long red hair flowing, the woman smiled sadly.
- ...Wait. I'll follow soon.
"Ugh?!"
Night Bringer shook his head violently, and when he looked ahead again, the woman from his memories was gone.
Instead, amidst the flickering ashen haze, a battered man in a black chain coat, holding a raised banner, was walking toward him.
Step, step.
In the now silent battlefield, only the man's footsteps echoed softly.
Was it an illusion?
In the shadow of this degraded, diluted, and tainted descendant, with no trace of the great ancestor dragon...
"What's wrong, Black Dragon?"
Why did he smell so strongly of her?
Why?
Ash approached the trembling Night Bringer with a bloody smile.
"Did I dig up some painful memories?"
Without answering, Night Bringer roared violently and charged at Ash.
With his gleaming golden eyes, Ash also charged head-on.
The final battle, determining the world's fate, was now reaching its climax.