Chapter 123: - 123: Fighting Together
The air tensed abruptly, compressed as if under colossal pressure, then exploded in a blast of pure mana that swept the dust away in concentric circles. Blood-red flames erupted from his feet, spiraling around his massive body, covering him in an armor of living embers that crackled and hissed. Ancient runes, older than humanity itself, materialized in the air, etched by an inhuman will, drawing gravitational power circles around his imposing silhouette. The atmosphere thickened to the point of being almost unbreathable, compressed by an invisible force that seemed to crush their lungs.
The space around Belgaroth appeared to bend and twist like burning paper, crackling with raw, primordial, uncontrolled energy that made the very foundations of the building tremble.
- "On guard!" shouted Isaac, shifting into a defensive stance, the katana gripped firmly in his sweaty hands.
Naesha sprang to her feet with feline agility, her daggers sliding between her fingers like natural extensions of her body, her movements light and swift, betraying her preparation for combat. Akane positioned herself alongside Isaac, arms raised in a fighting stance, her gaze fixed on Belgaroth with a determination that seemed to have swept away all traces of her past enslavement.
Belgaroth remained motionless for a few seconds that stretched into eternity, his feet slightly apart, anchored to the cracked ground, his entire body crackling with crimson flames dancing around him like hungry serpents. The air around him grew suffocatingly hot, causing the atmosphere to ripple like it would above a burning desert. Then, without the slightest warning, he vanished in a scarlet flash.
- "Isaac!" screamed Naesha, her voice shredded by urgency.
Isaac didn’t have time to fully react. Belgaroth materialized before him, his massive fist crashing against his guard with titanic force. The impact resonated like a cannon blast, propelling Isaac several meters backward, his feet carving two deep furrows in the stone floor. Pain exploded in his arms as if they had been plunged into molten steel, but he refused to release his weapon, his joints whitening from the superhuman effort.
Akane leaped in turn, her blade tracing a deadly arc through the air with a sharp whistle.
But Belgaroth was no longer there; his body dissipated like a flame blown out by a violent wind. She pivoted on herself, her eyes frantically scanning the space around her, but the red dragon reappeared behind her, his flaming claws carving a perfect circle aimed at her neck. Akane leaned forward purely on instinct, narrowly dodging, but a lock of her black hair instantly ignited in a flash of red light, the acrid smell of burnt hair filling the air.
- "Now!" Isaac shouted, regaining his footing, the ground trembling beneath him.
Naesha emerged from nowhere, shadow among shadows, silent as death itself. Her poisoned daggers plunged straight toward Belgaroth’s exposed back, targeting vital points with deadly precision. But before she could strike, the dragon pivoted a quarter turn with impossible speed for his massive frame, his enormous hand coming down like a warhammer. The air violently vibrated around the blow, an invisible shockwave rippling in concentric circles, sending Naesha crashing into a stone pillar with devastating force. The stone cracked upon impact, and she collapsed like a disjointed doll, groggy but miraculously still conscious.