The Price of Departure

Zoren appeared beside the snake, right next to its eye, and said:

"Do you like the taste, you greedy snake?"

The cobra tried to move, but the movement was too weak, it could only shift by a few inches. The TaHfC inside was too heavy for its own body.

Then Zoren used Oblivion Blink and appeared right in its open mouth again. Now that he had mastered the fire magic of the Demonic Dragon, called Pyroclasm, at Layer 2, he decided to apply heat directly to the TaHfC itself.

TaHfC is a refractory ceramic, meaning the more heat it absorbs, the hotter it becomes. If I fill everything inside its mouth along with the TaHfC with fire, it will ruin its insides and roast it from within.

Zoren pointed his palms directly at the open mouth and began to unleash a mana-less Pyroclasm. When it hit the TaHfC, the heat began to travel from the mouth to the deepest parts of the cobra's body, meaning the tail was affected as well, since it too was filled with TaHfC.

The king cobra began to thrash about recklessly, but the heaviness of the solid structure inside its body made it unable to move freely. Worse still, the heat was intensifying, and it could feel its insides beginning to burn.

Zoren continued transferring heat, an unlimited stream of Pyroclasm, directly into the solid structure that absorbed it. It didn't melt, but because it retained the heat, the temperature within the cobra kept rising, ensuring it would die a truly painful death.

The cobra's insides had become a hell. They were burning from within. It was experiencing the same sensation one might feel if acidic venom were spat directly into their body. The heat only continued to grow.

When the cobra could no longer endure the torment, its body began to emit a foul smoke. Its entire form was smoldering, and the thick, dark air it produced filled the surroundings. The cobra began to lose consciousness.

Unable to take any more, it finally met its death. Once it was over, Zoren stopped unleashing fire.

.....

After killing the giant king cobra, Zoren returned to the same location where he had previously slain the Demonic Dragon. However, upon arrival, he found no trace of the creature he had defeated.

I can't see her. I was planning to experiment on how they were able to transform from dragon to demon, but now she's completely gone. I only see a faint trace of ice on the ground, but I know she was dead. Who did this? And why is the body gone?

As Zoren stood next to the fragments of ice, he felt a pang of hunger, his stomach growling.

"I feel like eating something. I don't know what exactly, since this place is now ruled by demons, but whatever kind of animal is edible, I'm going to eat it," Zoren said, before vanishing from sight.

.....

THE CITY OF DRAGONS: CINDRALORE

INSIDE THE CASTLE OF THE DRAGON KING

From the throne, a muscular demonic dragon sat. His skin resembled that of a human toned flesh. In his demonic form, the Dragon King's six-pack abs were perfectly defined and extremely firm. His biceps were large, and his forearms were thick as they rested on the arms of the throne.

His eyes were long and narrow, and his nose was pointed. His body and face were undeniably masculine, a figure of strength and power. His hair glowed a dark crimson, long and flowing straight down his back like a woman's.

In front of him, far below the throne, a female demonic dragon knelt on one knee, holding the body of the same demonic dragon that Zoren had killed earlier. She carefully laid the body on the ground in front of her.

"Father, someone killed Little Sister with an unknown ice magic we've never seen before. Your youngest daughter is dead," the female demonic dragon said. Small tears flowed as she looked up at the King.

The Dragon King stared down without any visible reaction. His eyes were completely detached before he finally spoke.

"Azireth, have you forgotten that your younger sister tried to leave Cindralore to live alone? She knew that as the daughter of the Dragon King, leaving the city meant leaving the family. She is no longer my daughter."

Azireth's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at her emotionless father. Then she looked down at the ground, more tears forming.

"But someone killed her. I just wanted to visit, to see how she was doing, if she was okay... but when I arrived, her body was frozen standing there, covered in that strange ice magic," she said. Her voice was low, and her body trembled.

The Dragon King spoke again, this time with a loud voice.

"If she is dead, it only means she deserved it for leaving the city. Had she stayed, she would have lived a peaceful life and been protected from danger. But she chose to expose herself to it."

"Azireth, no matter how much you loved your younger sister, she is no longer my daughter. Do you understand?"

With a sad face, Azireth replied in a low voice.

"Y-yes, Father. I understand."

She looked once more at her little sister's lifeless body before kneeling on both knees and bowing respectfully. Then, slowly sliding her arms beneath the corpse, she carefully lifted it.

After standing, she turned and walked away slowly, small tears dripping from her eyes. She continued toward the exit of the castle until she was no longer visible to the Dragon King.

Azireth arrived at the lava pit, where the corpses of dragons were thrown. She stood silently, gazing at her sister's face before carefully placing the body into the lava. The corpse slowly melted as it sank beneath the surface.

"I've never killed anyone. I didn't even kill a human. But killing my little sister... that's too much. She was very precious to me. Whoever killed my sister I will never forgive them. I'll kill them with my own hands."

Azireth closed her eyes and placed her palms together as tears flowed more freely. She wiped them away again and again as she continued standing before the lava pit.