Chapter 99: The Dragon’s Roar

Neo calmed his racing mind, dismissing every thought entirely from his body, as he concentrated on the sole moment of the battle, because he knew that simply fantasizing about things wasn’t going to keep him alive, not against someone who had already pushed him back several times.

What mattered in this current moment was silence, and he realized, somewhere in the middle of all this chaos, that he had been thinking about far too many things at once, worried about the villagers, worried about whether his family was still searching for him somewhere far beyond this forsaken wasteland, and in all of that worrying, he had forgotten a single, simple thought, and that thought was thinking about himself.

He had forgotten about his own happiness, forgotten about his own benefit, forgotten about his own goal, forgotten the exact reason he had chosen to survive in this world in the first place.

In the middle of all this so-called drama, in the middle of this entire reincarnation he had never asked for, he had somehow forgotten that he, too, had once simply wanted to live happily, wanted nothing more complicated than peace alongside the family he had been given.

He didn’t know exactly when it had happened, but somewhere in the quiet months spent sharing meals and chores and bad jokes with the people of Veldra, he had grown attached to them without ever meaning to. He didn’t understand when, exactly, he had begun to care so deeply about people who weren’t even his own, people whose blood held nothing in common with his, people he had no real obligation to protect.

A blade gleamed in front of him, cutting cleanly through the air, slashing toward his throat, and Neo barely managed to throw his own weapon up in time to block it, the edge passing by close enough that he felt the cold wind of its passage against his skin, and he skidded backward across the broken earth, catching the second strike with his glowing blade, the steel lined entirely with condensed mana.

The glow around his body dimmed slightly as his own thoughts began to eat away at his concentration, flooding in his mind faster than he could properly sort through any of them.

Varkos was pushed back by the force of that block, skidding a short distance across the ground himself, and he noticed, almost immediately, the blank, distant look settling over Neo’s expression, a smirk curling slowly across his dark features.

"Hah. Are you changing your mind, little one? If so, I must admit I’m quite disappointed. This had only just gotten interesting."

Neo glanced up at him with hollow, unfocused eyes, though his thoughts finally began settling back into place as he took in the dark elf’s smug, disgusting face.

’Sigh. I’ll think about everything else later. Right now, I just need to kill this disgusting, dark-skinned, pointy-eared bastard. Seriously, just standing near him makes me feel sick. I swear he hasn’t bathed in weeks, maybe even months.’

Neo pulled himself upright again, the glow of mana around his body intensifying sharply, his whole frame shining brilliantly against the darkness of the night, and he burst forward from where he stood, his blade glowing fiercely with starlight, the light growing several times brighter as the surrounding mana was drawn toward him in a wide, sweeping arc, gathering itself into something far larger than any attack he had used.

Varkos felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he watched the mana gathering around Neo’s blade. The condensed energy twisted and coiled, taking on a serpentine shape that stretched from the tip of the sword like a living creature brought straight out of legend.

"What in the—"

Varkos didn’t even have time to finish his thought.

The dragon of shimmering mana surged forward with a deafening roar, shaking the air around it. Though it had no physical voice, its roar carried all the fury Neo had been holding back since he first saw smoke rising over the settlement.

It tore across the battlefield, engulfing everything in its path. The ground cracked beneath the immense force of the condensed mana, sending chunks of stone and debris flying as the dragon rushed toward Varkos.

Varkos didn’t retreat. Instead, dark energy erupted from his body, wrapping around him like a second skin. It hardened with an unnatural sheen as his aura grew heavier, and the power he’d been holding back finally burst free, filling the battlefield with an overwhelming pressure.

"If you’re foolish enough to meddle with powers beyond your understanding, then I’ll show you exactly what happens when you cross the line!" Varkos snarled. His voice twisted into something deeper and harsher, carrying an unmistakably inhuman edge.

In that single heartbeat, both of them reached a level of power that threatened to destroy the entire settlement with a single clash. The villagers fighting nearby felt it immediately. A primal fear ran down their spines as the air trembled under the pressure radiating from the two combatants.

Diana reacted without hesitation, shouting for everyone to retreat. She grabbed those closest to her and forced them back, desperate to put as much distance as possible between the villagers and the two figures whose power had already surpassed anything they had ever witnessed.

The mana dragon and the wall of corrupted dark energy collided head-on.

The entire battlefield shook violently as the ground split apart, jagged cracks spreading outward from the point of impact. A moment later, the two forces exploded in a blinding flash, unleashing a deafening roar that swallowed the battlefield.

Broken stones and splintered wood shot high into the night sky as the shockwave swept through the settlement. The few houses still standing couldn’t withstand the force and collapsed instantly, leaving nothing behind but scattered rubble and thick clouds of dust.

For a long moment, the battlefield was swallowed by blinding white light and the deafening roar of two overwhelming forces colliding.

Gradually, the light faded, and the dust began to settle.

Neo stood among the ruins, barely able to keep himself upright. The glow surrounding his body flickered weakly before fading away, and the strength that had kept him standing drained from him all at once.

Neo’s legs finally gave out, and he fell face-first onto the broken ground. Before he could even register the impact, his consciousness faded into darkness.

Across the ruined battlefield, Varkos was still standing, though only barely. Deep cuts ran across his once-hardened skin, and dark blood trickled from wounds the explosion had left behind. His breathing was rough and uneven as he stared through the settling dust at the boy lying motionless on the ground.

Varkos took a cautious step forward, then another, keeping his guard up in case the boy had one last trick up his sleeve. But Neo didn’t move. He lay completely still, showing no sign of consciousness. Only then did Varkos release a long, exhausted breath, the tension finally leaving his battered body.

Varkos crouched beside the unconscious boy and pressed two fingers against his neck. After feeling the faint but steady pulse beneath his skin, he let out a quiet breath of surprise.

"Unconscious, not dead. Interesting..."

Varkos straightened up, studying the fallen boy with narrowed, calculating eyes. Now that the chaos of battle had settled, something about Neo’s face caught his attention. He crouched down again and brushed the messy silver hair away from Neo’s forehead, his gaze shifting toward the sides of his head.

His eyes widened slightly as he noticed a detail that changed everything. The boy’s ears weren’t pointed like those of an elf. They were rounded, just like those of an ordinary human.

Varkos stared down at the unconscious figure for a long moment, disbelief slowly spreading across his face. Then, a low laugh escaped his throat, growing louder until it erupted into full-blown laughter that echoed across the battlefield.

He grabbed a fistful of Neo’s silver hair and lifted his limp head, getting a better look at his unmistakably human face. The sight only made him laugh harder, his voice filled with genuine delight despite the blood still dripping from his own wounds.

"A human, huh...? The elves actually went crawling to a human child for help! Hahaha! This is priceless! Absolutely priceless! Just wait until the others hear about this!"

Varkos’s laughter echoed through the ruined settlement, sharp and mocking, rising into the night sky above Veldra’s shattered remains. The surviving dark elves began retreating cautiously, gathering around what remained of their battered forces.