Surprise!

The fires from the night before had died down. The laughter, the chaos, the madness—it was all over.

Now, only silence remained.

Rayal stood at the edge of the highest watchtower on surface , staring at the underground city below. This was the last sunrise Hetlyl would see before war.

The final battle was coming.

But then, just as the sun's light touched the cavern walls—the alarm bells rang.

Something was wrong.

The First Strike

A scout rushed into the war room, his face pale. "We're under attack."

Elric, who had barely sat down after the long night, shot up. "The final war wasn't supposed to start yet."

"It's not the full army," the scout panted. "It's an advance force—three hundred dragons. They're trying to weaken us before the real battle."

Rayal didn't hesitate. "Then we crush them first."

The entire war council turned to him. Hetlyl's forces were still exhausted from training. But Rayal's eyes burned with determination.

They would not be caught off guard.

He grabbed his swords and turned to the room.

"Everyone who can fight, follow me. We defend our city now."

The Underground Battlefield

The dragons were already inside the tunnels by the time Hetlyl's forces reached the outer gates.

The battle erupted in an instant.

Flames lit up the cavern walls, casting long shadows as warriors clashed with the invading beasts.

The air was thick with the roar of dragons, the clang of swords, and the screams of war.

The tunnels shook as massive dragon claws crushed the stone beneath them.

Rayal dove into battle.

He leapt onto a dragon's back, driving his twin swords deep into its spine. The beast shrieked, twisting wildly, but Rayal held on.

With a brutal swing, he severed its wing, sending it crashing into the cave floor.

One down. Many more to go.

The Fight for Hetlyl

Dain, the giant warrior, stood in the center of the battlefield, swinging his massive axe like a war machine. A dragon lunged at him, its jaws snapping—but Dain caught it mid-air and hurled it into a rock wall.

Kael moved like a shadow, weaving between the dragons, his daggers flashing in the firelight. He struck at their weak spots, vanishing before they could retaliate.

Rika, standing at the front lines, walked straight through a wave of fire, her body barely reacting to the heat. When she reached the dragon responsible, she stabbed it straight through the eye.

And Syra—Syra was commanding it all.

From the watchtower above, she read the battlefield like a puzzle, shouting orders, redirecting troops, predicting the enemy's next move.

Hetlyl wasn't just fighting.

They were winning.

The Unseen Threat

Just as the battle seemed to be turning in their favor, a deep, rumbling growl echoed through the tunnels.

Then, the ground cracked open.

Something massive was coming.

Rayal barely had time to react before a shadow fell over him.

A dragon unlike any other emerged from the darkness.

Twice the size of the others.

Armor-like scales that shimmered like steel.

Eyes that glowed with an unnatural blue fire.

This was no ordinary Hollow Dragon.

This was a Titan-class beast.

Rayal clenched his swords. "This one's mine."

The Titan roared.

Rayal charged.

The Titan's Wrath

The Titan-class Hollow Dragon towered over the battlefield. Its massive wings blocked out the cavern lights, casting long shadows over the warriors of Hetlyl.

Rayal didn't hesitate. He sprinted forward, blades ready, aiming for the beast's legs. If he could cripple it, the battle would be over quickly.

The Titan moved faster than expected. It swung its tail, sending a shockwave through the ground. Rayal barely rolled aside as the force shattered the stone beneath him.

This would not be an easy fight.

The dragon lunged, its steel-like jaws snapping shut where Rayal had just been. He flipped onto its back, driving both swords into its thick hide—but they barely pierced the surface.

The Titan shrieked in rage and bucked wildly, throwing Rayal off. He hit the ground hard, rolling to avoid the follow-up attack.

Elric shouted from the battle lines, "You can't cut through it! Its armor is too strong!"

Rayal gritted his teeth. There had to be a weak spot.

Above him, the Titan's eyes flashed with an eerie blue light. Before he could react, a wave of pure energy blasted from its mouth, tearing through the cavern wall.

The battlefield fell silent for a moment.

This wasn't just a dragon. This was something worse.

Rika, watching from a distance, muttered, "That's not normal Hollow Dragon fire. What is that thing?"

Syra, still directing the battle from above, narrowed her eyes. "That's not just a Titan. That's something new."

Rayal stood, shaking off the impact. His blades wouldn't work against its armor. He needed a new plan.

He took a deep breath and charged again.

This time, he wasn't aiming for the body.

He was aiming for the eyes.

The Turning Point

The Titan swung its claws, trying to crush him. Rayal jumped, barely dodging in time, and landed on its snout.

For a split second, the dragon's glowing eyes locked onto his.

Rayal didn't waste it.

With all his strength, he drove both swords directly into its left eye.

The Titan let out a deafening roar, thrashing wildly. Its tail smashed into the cavern walls, sending chunks of rock crashing down onto the battlefield.

The warriors of Hetlyl scattered to avoid being crushed.

Dain, seeing an opportunity, grabbed his massive axe and ran toward the beast's legs. With a roar of his own, he swung with all his might, landing a direct hit to the knee joint.

The Titan staggered.

Kael sprinted forward next, daggers flashing. He sliced into the now-exposed flesh, landing hit after hit.

Rika threw her flaming spear directly into the wound.

The Titan howled, shaking the entire underground city.

Syra called out from above, "It's working! We can bring it down!"

Rayal pulled his blades from the dragon's eye and leapt off its head, landing on the battlefield below. The beast was weakened but still standing.

Elric ran up beside him, panting. "We need to finish this now!"

Rayal nodded. "We end it together."

The Final Strike

The Titan let out one last roar and charged.

Rayal, Dain, Kael, Rika, and Elric all moved at once.

Dain struck first, swinging his axe into the Titan's already injured leg, forcing it lower.

Kael leapt onto its back, stabbing at the exposed wounds.

Rika lit another spear and hurled it directly into the creature's throat.

Elric called out the final command.

"Rayal—now!"

Rayal sprinted forward. The Titan's head was lowered just enough. He jumped onto its snout, ran up its neck, and drove both swords straight into the soft, unprotected spot beneath its jaw.

The dragon shuddered, its entire body tensing. Then, slowly, it collapsed onto the ground.

The battlefield fell into silence.

Then—Hetlyl's warriors erupted into cheers.

The advance force was defeated. The Titan was dead.

But this was only the beginning.

The Aftermath

The warriors regrouped, tending to the wounded. The battle had been won, but the real war was still ahead.

Rayal stood over the Titan's massive corpse. He could still see the faint blue light in its destroyed eye.

"This thing was different," he muttered.

Elric nodded. "It wasn't just a Hollow Dragon. It was something… more."

Syra approached, holding a bloodstained notebook. "We found this on one of the enemy scouts."

Rayal took it and flipped through the pages. The writing inside was ancient, but one word stood out, written over and over.

Ascended.

Rayal frowned. "What does that mean?"

Syra's expression was grim. "I think it means the King of Dragons has been experimenting on his own kind."

Rayal closed the book.

This war was far worse than they thought.

The Realization

Rayal stood over the Titan's massive corpse, staring into its dim, glowing eye.

Something about it felt wrong.

Not just its unnatural size. Not just the strange blue energy it breathed. It was something deeper—something familiar.

Then, it hit him.

His breath caught in his throat.

The glow. The strange color. The unnatural power.

The egg.

The one he had found alone in the ruined temple. The one he had never told anyone about.

The egg that had pulsed with an eerie blue light, sending a chill down his spine.

Rayal felt his fingers curl into fists. No. It couldn't be.

But he knew the truth.

The egg he had left behind had hatched.

And what came out of it was this.

This monster.

His stomach twisted. If he had taken the egg, destroyed it, or even warned someone, would this battle have ever happened?

For the first time in years, he felt doubt.

Elric walked up beside him, nudging the Titan's corpse with his boot. "This thing isn't normal. I don't know where it came from, but the King of Dragons has definitely been experimenting."

Rayal didn't answer.

He couldn't.

Because he knew exactly where it came from.

And he had been the one to leave it behind.

The Truth Revealed

Rayal stood frozen, staring at the Titan's massive corpse. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.

This was his fault.

He could feel Elric watching him, waiting for an answer. The others were busy tending to the wounded, but he knew he couldn't keep this to himself any longer.

Rayal took a deep breath. His throat felt dry.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said, his voice quieter than usual.

Elric turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Rayal hesitated. For a brief moment, he thought about lying—about letting this secret die with the Titan. But the weight in his chest was unbearable.

Finally, he forced himself to speak.

"This dragon…" He swallowed. "I think it's from the egg I found."

Elric blinked. "What?"

Rayal clenched his fists. "Before Akira was revealed as a traitor, I found a dragon egg in the ruins of the temple. It wasn't like the others. It… pulsed with this strange blue light. I didn't know what it was, so I left it behind."

Elric stared at him, his face unreadable.

Rayal continued. "This thing—" he gestured at the Titan's body "—has the same glow. The same unnatural power. That egg… it must have hatched into this."

A heavy silence filled the air.

Elric exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "Rayal. You left it behind?"

Rayal didn't answer.

Syra, who had been listening nearby, stepped forward. "If this was a mutated dragon, then the King of Dragons must have known about it. He must have been waiting for it to hatch."

Rayal looked at her. "You're saying… this wasn't just an egg. It was an experiment."

Syra nodded. "That would explain why it's stronger than any dragon we've faced. The King must be trying to create something even more powerful than himself."

Elric crossed his arms. "And we just killed it before it could reach full power."

For a moment, there was a strange sense of victory.

But Rayal knew better.

"If this was just one experiment…" he said slowly, his voice tense. "Then how many more are out there?"

No one had an answer.

But they all felt the same realization settle in.

The King of Dragons wasn't just building an army.

He was evolving his kind.

And this battle?

It had only been a test. The attack time was rescheduled. Everybody needed rest, the attack time was delayed by 12 hour from 7 am to 7 pm time was ticking fast everybody was fast asleep. Resting their bodies as much as they could for the last 12 hours, everyone was woken up one hour before attack, at 6pm they started their warm up, they started gearing up for the intense battle coming ahead, their newly built dragon gear, dragon skull armor, dragon bones sword, dragons flame breaths stored bottle for fiery attacks, everybody was loaded up.