Ignition of the Past

The scene returned to reality, where the battle between Gon and Ilian had ignited. The sounds of clashing filled the ruins of the temple, while Kaido stood in silence, his eyes empty of shock, as if his mind had suddenly abandoned his body.

During the fight, Gon attacked Ilian with all his might, while Ilian skillfully blocked his strikes until he was finally wounded severely on his side. A stream of blood fell to the ground, while his face twisted, showing the suppressed rage within.

Ilian shouted in immense rage, his voice filling the space: "I won't die at the hands of a scoundrel like you!" His body began to transform. His limbs stretched unnaturally, his skin split to reveal shimmering scales like black waves, and massive wings of blue flame sprouted from his back, with a spiked tail that almost touched the ground. Gradually, he transformed into a terrifying, colossal dragon, his roar shaking the temple, the sound reverberating through the walls.

Ilian laughed with a thunderous sound, carried by the deadly winds: "Do you know why demons love games? Because we know how to change the rules as we please." Then he began to breathe, releasing blue fire from his mouth, igniting the air around him, turning everything into hell. But Gon was ready for this moment. With his shining sword, he cut through the blue flames as if they were nothing, then charged towards Ilian, prepared to face him in a brutal battle. Every strike he delivered carried the fury that burned inside him.

As the violent battle continued, the temple around them began to crumble, stone by stone, the ground cracking beneath their feet. Dust filled the air, and the sounds of destruction intensified.

At that moment, Terry slowly regained consciousness from his coma. His body groaned with pain, but he was determined to rise. He saw the terrifying scene before him—the battle between Gon and Ilian, and the temple that was gradually collapsing. He had no choice but to try and save the farmers surrounding him, who were struggling to stand under the weight of the disaster.

Just as a stone was about to fall on Kaido's head, he quickly raised his hands to protect himself, but in that instant, Loki appeared. Using his power, he destroyed the stone with his Gombangdae. Before striking the stone, Loki pulled out his Gombangdae pipe, lit it, and blew smoke into the air. Suddenly, the stone vanished as if Loki had made it disappear, leaving behind a trail of blazing smoke.

Kaido stood there, surrounded by destruction, when he suddenly felt something shift his focus. His eyes turned toward Terry and the farmers who were trying to escape from beneath the rubble. He felt the urge to help them.

And then, Ilian's voice filled the air again. Ilian, who had transformed into a giant beast, directed his blows at Gon. One of those strikes was aimed at his dragon tail, but Gon managed to sever it violently, as if his strike separated life from death. In the midst of this monstrous battle, Gon finally managed to land a fatal blow on Ilian, stabbing him through the middle of his body. The wound was wide, and Ilian's body hung from the wall as if suspended in mid-air, unable to move.

At that critical moment, Ilian slowly began to revert back to his human form. His body returned to its original state piece by piece. His ragged breathing was the only sound, as if his body was fighting death for the second time. His glazed eyes stared into the void, as fragments of past memories slid into his consciousness like shards of glass. With every backward step in his transformation, old scars hidden beneath the scales were revealed. When he fully returned to his human form, he collapsed to the ground, the scent of ash filling his nostrils as his last memory lingered. The old memories began to surface before his eyes like an old film reel.

As the battle stopped, Kaido stood in silence, his eyes fixed on Ilian, who was losing his monstrous shape. Ilian was exhausted, and the pain was evident on his face, as if he was remembering everything—the past he had escaped from, now alive in the form of this cursed being.

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The Past:

In the past, Ilian had been a simple farmer, a good man in his village. He lived off his hard work, planting fields and harvesting crops with the sweat of his brow, always facing the disdain of the rich and landowners who envied him for his small yet fertile land. His was the only land that had remained fertile during the drought.

Then came the season of drought. The village faced famine, and poverty struck everyone. But instead of offering help, the village elders decided to blame him. They accused him of stealing their sustenance through black magic and claimed he was the cause of their land's barrenness. He wasn't given a chance to defend himself. On a cold night, they attacked him violently, beating him until his body was broken, then dragged him to one of the fields and burned him alive.

With his last breaths, he cursed them all. He begged any force in the world to grant him vengeance, to make them taste the hunger and fear he had felt as he burned alive.

In that moment, something appeared before him, its voice like the rustle of dry leaves on a winter night. "Do you want to hear them scream as you did?" whispered the entity before him, as small flames swirled in the air like eyes watching him.

Ilian begged, but the entity's voice rose suddenly: "Then what will you offer me?"

That night, a fierce black storm swept through the village, one that had never been seen before. From the ashes of his body, a new entity was born—the demon who brought drought and consumed souls.

Years passed, and Ilian returned to the village in the guise of a strange priest, claiming he could bless the land and restore the crops, but he always asked for a price. At first, no one recognized him, but he knew them all— their faces, voices, and even their breaths, which he had heard as he burned. They accepted Ilian's offer and lived by his power, but at a cost. His soul was traded for human souls, and every month, he demanded at least one human soul. Whenever they refused, the land would die, the waters would dry up, and life became a nightmare for them.

Thus, Ilian became like their cursed god, giving them life, but at the cost of death. With his fall, some realized they could no longer bear this guilt. In a moment of despair, Kaido approached Ilian, stabbing him in the heart with the dagger he held.

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