Chapter 52: Clearing the Dungeon
Having decided to take one dragon each, they immediately sprang to action.
At the same time, the dragons roared.
ROAARRRR!
The sound was not merely noise—it was a physical force, a shockwave of pure fury that rippled across the white floor, cracking the marble-like surface beneath their feet. The roar carried with it an immense pressure, a weight of ancient power that bore down on the couple like a collapsing mountain.
A brief estimate: these dragons had surpassed Life Rank 14. Perhaps 15. Perhaps higher. Their mana radiated in oppressive waves, distorting the air around them, making the very space seem to warp and bend.
Yet to the couple, that pressure felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze caressing their clothes.
The dragons, still haughty, still arrogant, still believing these two tiny figures were merely bugs to be crushed, had not yet released their full strength. They hovered in the air, their massive wings beating slowly, their sapphire and emerald eyes gleaming with contempt.
They thought they were facing prey.
They were wrong.
Gabriel and Lilith exchanged a single glance.
Then they revealed their true forms.
Gabriel’s twelve golden wings erupted from his back in a cascade of radiant light. Each feather blazed with ancient runes that writhed and pulsed with power. His body glowed with an inner luminescence, his cross-shaped pupils blazing like twin suns. The air around him crackled with temporal energy, and his presence alone seemed to bend the fabric of reality.
Lilith’s transformation was equally breathtaking. Her small horns elongated, curving upward like a crown of shadow. Two pairs of tattered dragon wings unfurled from her back, their membranes dark as midnight, their edges sharp as blades. Her silver hair lengthened, shimmering, flowing down her back like a river of moonlight. Crimson illusionary armor wrapped around her body, burning like slow fire. A thick dragon tail emerged, its heart-shaped tip swaying lazily. Sharp claws extended from her fingertips, each one capable of rending steel.
The dragons, still in mid-air, felt the shift.
Their haughty expressions froze. Their eyes widened. Their brains even though not developed like true dragons outside that made capable of humans language, they could understand danger, those beings certain of their superiority, suddenly recognized the truth.
These were not bugs.
These were gods. Their bloodlines mustn’t be underestimated.
Before the dragons could react, the couple moved.
Lilith raised her hand, and space itself obeyed. A rift opened beneath the emerald dragon, and before it could beat its wings to escape, it was swallowed—relocated to another part of the endless white floor, far from Gabriel and his chosen opponent.
Good luck, hubby, she sent through their bond.
You too, babe, he replied.
°°°
The sapphire dragon—now alone with Gabriel—tried to rise.
Its massive limbs pushed against the white floor, its claws scraping deep furrows into the marble-like surface. Its wings beat frantically, sending gusts of wind that would have flattened forests. But the weight of Gabriel’s presence, the sheer pressure of his revealed power, pinned it down like an invisible mountain.
The dragon roared again, this time not in fury, but in defiance.
The roar sent a shockwave directly toward Gabriel—a cone of compressed sound and force that cracked the floor beneath it, that would have shattered the bones of any mortal.
Gabriel did not flinch.
He swept his arm downward, a casual, almost dismissive motion. A wave of golden light erupted from his palm, meeting the shockwave in mid-air. The two forces clashed, creating a thunderous explosion that echoed across the endless plain. The shockwave dispersed, dissipating into harmless ripples.
The dragon’s eyes widened in shock.
What is this creature? it seemed to ask. What am I facing?
But it recovered quickly. Ancient instincts took over. It opened its massive maw, its throat glowing with an inner fire. The air around its jaws warped, the temperature skyrocketing to an alarming degree. This was no ordinary flame—this was dragonfire, the breath of a true dragon, capable of melting mountains, vaporizing armies, reducing cities to ash.
The dragon released its breath.
A torrent of destructive fire erupted from its mouth—blue-white at its core, crimson at its edges, so hot that the very air caught fire around it. The beam shot toward Gabriel like a lance of pure annihilation.
Gabriel did not seem overwhelmed.
He unfurled his twelve golden wings and flapped them once—a single, powerful beat. A current of golden wind erupted from the feathers, swirling with temporal energy and light. The current met the dragonfire head-on.
The two forces clashed.
Fire met light. Destruction met creation. The space between them became a maelstrom of competing energies—crimson and gold, heat and radiance, chaos and order.
For a moment, they stood at a standstill.
The dragon pushed harder. Its flame intensified, the temperature rising even further. Sweat would have formed on a mortal’s brow. But Gabriel simply smiled, his expression serene, his wings beating steadily.
"You’ll have to do better than that," he said.
And with a flick of his wrist, he increased the power of his golden current.
The dragon’s flame began to push back.
Suddenly, the dragon changed its approach.
Its sapphire eyes flickered with its limited intelligence, recognizing that raw power alone would not suffice against this golden-winged adversary. The creature’s maw closed, cutting off its stream of dragonfire. Its massive head tilted back, and from deep within its throat, a guttural chant emerged—a language older than any mortal tongue, older than the dungeon itself.
Draconic magic.
Countless magic circles erupted into existence across the sky, each one a complex web of interlocking sigils, glowing with malevolent blue light. They surrounded Gabriel on all sides—above, below, left, right—forming a sphere of arcane power that left no room for escape. The air crackled with barely contained energy. The temperature spiked again, hotter than before, as if the very atmosphere were being set ablaze.
From each magic circle, concentrated fireballs emerged.
They were not ordinary flames. These were condensed spheres of pure draconic mana—each one capable of leveling a city block, each one burning with a heat that could melt enchanted steel. They rained down from the sky like a meteor shower, hundreds of them, a torrent of destruction that sought to drown Gabriel completely.
There was no way out.
Or so the dragon believed.
