Chapter 31: Is He.... Okay?
Liliana stood amidst the ruins of her once-majestic Silent Peak, her fingers like iron vices around Kristen’s throat.
With a sharp yank, she ripped the concealment necklace artifact free from the spy’s neck.
The moment the artifact left her skin, the illusion shattered completely.
What remained was a pathetic, disfigured humanoid flame dragon — barely clinging to life.
Her once-proud draconic form was a ruined mess.
Her red scales were cracked and blackened like charred coal, one wing torn nearly in half and hanging limp, deep gashes leaking thick golden-red blood that sizzled as it hit the ground.
Her face was twisted in agony, eyes flickering with fading defiance.
Liliana clicked her tongue in irritation, shaking her head slowly as she surveyed the devastation around her.
The once-beautiful mountains were shattered beyond recognition — massive chunks of stone floated unnaturally in the air or lay in crumbling piles of rubble.
Her main peak had been split clean in half; ancient structures reduced to nothing but dust and broken pillars.
The Silent Peak, once the weakest of the Academy’s peaks, now lay in ruins—nothing but a wasteland of wreckage and lingering smoke.
"You all really did a number on my peak..." Liliana muttered, her voice low and edged with a dangerous chill, each word laced with icy anger.
Behind her, a small mountain of broken dragon corpses lay piled haphazardly on the rubble — dozens of them, their bodies battered, wings torn, and scales scorched beyond recognition.
When she finally reached her peak, she was just moments away from being too late.
From the start, her Peak had never boasted many disciples—only about five hundred—but in the short time it took her to get there, more than three hundred had already perished.
The cause of this devastation was none other than Kristen’s scheme, which involved summoning Tier 7 to Tier 9 Dragons to wreak havoc upon the Peak.
CRRRAA—
HUMMMM!!!!!!
She tightened her grip around Kristen’s neck, ready to snap it like brittle wood, but just then, the Kristen’s lips twisted into a faint, taunting smile.
Then a brilliant white light suddenly enveloped her body.
In the blink of an eye, Kristen was warped away.
Liliana scoffed, releasing her now-empty hand with clear disdain.
"How could I forget about something so simple like that," she said, shaking her head in mild annoyance.
Life-saving mechanisms were nothing unusual in the world of Kalpa and the verse of Pantheos as a whole.
There were plenty of ways to counter them, but she had been too caught up in stopping Kristen from killing more of her disciples.
On top of that, she’d hoped the Dragons might actually know the location of the Ancient Ruins—yet they were just as clueless.
With that, she turned and started heading back toward the main grounds, wondering how the larger battle was unfolding.
With a single thought, she transformed her entire body into a single drop of blood and began jumping rapidly from one blood puddle to another across the ruins.
----
She appeared in fleeting crimson flashes, moving with unnatural speed through the devastation.
When she finally arrived at the main grounds, even Liliana — who had seen countless horrors — was truly shocked.
Hundreds... no, thousands of dragons and Academy of Revelation warriors were being slaughtered helplessly.
As they all were already incapacitated, lying twitching on the ground as they were systematically cut down.
The once-proud invaders... were reduced to nothing but easy sitting ducks, their bodies broken and blood soaking into the cracked earth.
Liliana’s bloody crimson eyes widened slightly as she took in the carnage.
"What... the hell happened here?"
She knew that when she’d left, the invasion had only just begun, but now... in just a few short hours... somehow everything seemed fine?
Her eyes scanned the battlefield until they locked on a young man with long black hair, sword in hand, leading the final charge from the Academy of Veils.
A sarcastic smile tugged at her lips.
"Well, well... Tyron Alabaster. Somehow you always live up to your name — the Academy’s Hope and Pride."
She continued scanning the area, her eyes eventually locking onto Harlan in the distance. Without hesitation, she shot toward him.
As she drew closer, her nose twitched.
The stench of dragon blood grew heavier and heavier in the air — thick, metallic, and overwhelmingly potent. It clung to everything like a fog.
When she finally reached Harlan, she slowed to a halt, floating beside him.
As what she saw next made her freeze completely, just like Harlan had been for the past ten minutes.
Below them, Akasha was swimming in a massive, churning pool of dragon blood.
He moved through it with wild abandon, laughing maniacally as he drank deeply from the gore, blood pouring down his chin and chest in thick rivers.
His crimson-white hair was soaked dark red, void black horns glistening, and his light brown skin was painted crimson from head to toe.
"Hahahahaha!" Akasha roared with euphoric laughter, voice thick with blood-drunk ecstasy.
"Who knew blood would be this fucking delicious!!"
He had read many novels about vampires drinking blood, even seeking out specific blood types that were considered delicacies.
He never could have guessed that the taste of Dragon’s blood would surpass any meal he had ever stolen in his wretched life.
With a manic grin, he plunged beneath the surface once more, only to erupt from the water moments later, laughter spilling from his lips as rivulets of fresh blood streamed down his body.
Liliana stood frozen a short distance away, her bloody crimson eyes fixed on him with a strange mix of awe and morbid captivation.
"Is he... okay?" she asked, voice low.
Harlan took a deep breath; his sharp gaze still locked on the blood-soaked figure below.
"Lord Dream, he has been like this for the past ten minutes."
He paused, a clear conflict flickering across his usually composed face as he watched Akasha revel in the gore.
"In mere minutes... he slaughtered over 100,000 Dragons..... By himself."
Hearing those words, Liliana’s eyes turned overly possessive, a dangerous, obsessive smile slowly spreading across her lips.
"As expected of him," she murmured, voice thick with dark admiration. "His power is... magnificent."
Harlan turned to look at her, his expression one of quiet disbelief — as if he were seeing a completely different person.
"Peak Master Liliana... are you okay?"
Unknown to both of them, Luna floated past silently, heading straight for Akasha. She settled gracefully at the edge of the massive blood pool, watching him with composed amusement.
"Fufufu~ You let the Dragon Prince escape," she teased lightly. "And look at you... completely lost in your little euphoria."
Akasha swam over, still smiling as he surfaced near her.
"I know, I know... I’ll handle the prince once I’m done here."
Luna shook her head, reaching out to gently grab his face.
She stared directly into his bloody eyes with calm seriousness.
"Love... focus! and do it now." Her voice softened but remained firm.
"Don’t let the power of your races control you. You are the one who needs to be in control." She paused, a faint smile touching her lips.
"Look at me... despite how much I would love to be fucked in this bloody mess right now, I’m still focusing, aren’t I?"
Hearing her words, Akasha closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.
’She’s right...’ he thought, ’These bloodline traits are absolutely ridiculous...’
If not for his Divine Starvation, he would’ve never gone beyond what was necessary. But now that he’d gone a bit overboard, it was time to set things right.
’All loose ends need to be tied immediately.’ He couldn’t stand people who let problems fester until they became far worse.
Since the Dragon Prince had survived...
’Well, now that I’m at this point... I night as well wipe out the whole shit.’
With a single thought, he sent the entire blood pool into the Dream Land, appearing there floating just above the ground, clad only in his black boxers.
As he opened his eyes again, he nodded gratefully to Luna.
"Thank you." With another thought, his loose baggy black clothes materialized around him once more.
He then turned his gaze toward Harlan in the distance.
"Headmaster.... I’ll be back in a few minutes. But be sure to sign any agreement I have for you all when I return."
His eyes briefly caught Liliana’s.
Now that his Divine Starvation had passed, he quickly looked away, making a mental note to stay away from her.
’When I go to Silent Peak... I will be sure to avoid this crazy woman...’
With that, Akasha shot off into the sky, flying toward the Southern Nova Dragon Clan.
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