For a moment, Ethan was certain the man was looking directly at him. Those golden eyes were fixed on the exact spot where he stood.
Ethan couldn’t understand what was happening. Ever since he had entered this dream, or more precisely, begun witnessing these memories, no one had been able to see or sense his presence. Everything felt real, yet he was certain he was merely observing events from the past. Although he couldn’t make out the silver-haired man’s face clearly, he could have sworn that a flicker of gladness had passed through those golden eyes.
Did he just...?
Before Ethan could finish the thought, the man’s expression changed. The warmth vanished from his eyes in an instant, replaced by a cold, unreadable gaze, while the smile on his lips twisted into a smirk.
ROOOAAARRR!
An ear-piercing roar tore through the crimson sky from behind Ethan. He turned his gaze. The Demonic Dragon was descending from the same direction, its massive wings spread wide as it dived straight past where Ethan was, its murky crimson eyes locked onto the silver-haired man.
Ethan’s thoughts stalled. He couldn’t tell whether the man had been looking at him or at the approaching dragon, so he reluctantly set the question aside.
Until now, the dragon’s eyes had always carried a disturbing calm, filled with pleasure as it slaughtered everything in its path. This time, however, they burned with unmistakable fury, as though the mere presence of the silver-haired man was enough to enrage it. Its killing intent surged across the crimson landscape, so overwhelming that even Ethan, who was only a spectator, felt a chill run through him.
The difference between the two was clear. The dragon’s hostility was so intense that the surrounding landscape seemed to tremble beneath it, yet the silver-haired man regarded the creature as if it were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
"YOU DARE COME HERE! I WILL KILL YOU!"
The dragon roared again, unleashing a wave of pressure that swept across the crimson landscape. Mountains of bones trembled before collapsing, while even the molten rivers seemed to recoil beneath its overwhelming presence.
Ethan had felt Dragon Fear from other dragons before, but nothing he had encountered came close to this. The difference between them was so vast that they couldn’t even be compared.
Yet the silver-haired man didn’t flinch. Only the ends of his hair stirred, as though a gentle breeze had passed through. For the briefest moment, surprise flickered across the dragon’s eyes. Then its fury swallowed every other emotion.
The man simply watched the dragon approach, his expression calm, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Then he raised his right hand.
A black blade began forming in his grip. Strange runes circled its edge, glowing faintly as different kinds of energy poured into it without the slightest resistance. Within a fraction of a second, the blade was formed. As soon as it settled in his hand, the air around it began to tremble from its presence.
The moment Ethan’s gaze fell upon the blade, a sharp pain pierced his mind, and a vision flashed before him.
A similar sword, almost identical to the one in the silver-haired man’s hand, was held by a scarred hand. The figure executed a slash with a movement that flowed effortlessly from the shoulder through the arm and into the fingers. Even though it looked simple, Ethan could see intricate principles woven into every part of the motion. His attention became completely absorbed by the technique, his mind instinctively trying to comprehend every detail.
Before the slash could finish, another spike of pain tore through his head, and the vision vanished.
What was that...?
Everything had happened so fast, barely a fraction of a second. Ethan steadied his thoughts and turned his attention back to the battle, yet the principles he had glimpsed remained etched in his mind.
The dragon struck first.
Its jaws opened wide, and a torrent of black fire poured down towards the silver-haired man, so vast that it swallowed the ground for miles in every direction. The bones scattered across the plains turned to ash the moment the flames touched them.
Ethan expected the man to evade immediately. The flames were so overwhelmingly powerful that he doubted even Marcus could survive a direct hit. Yet the silver-haired man remained motionless until the very last moment.
Then he took a single step.
It was barely more than a shift of his feet, yet he had already reappeared a short distance away. The torrent of black fire roared past him, close enough for its heat to stir the ends of his silver hair, but not a single flame touched him.
Before the flames had even dissipated, the man was moving. He crossed the distance in an instant, his blade sweeping upward towards the dragon’s throat.
The dragon twisted its massive body and intercepted the strike with its claws.
CLANG!
The collision sent a shockwave rippling across the plains. Cracks spread through the already fractured earth, and molten lava erupted from dozens of fissures.
The dragon didn’t rely on its physical strength alone. Dense demonic energy surged from its scales, and dozens of crimson-black magic circles materialised across the sky. Spears of black flame poured from them, followed by thick chains that erupted in rapid succession, forming a storm of attacks around the silver-haired man.
He didn’t slow down.
He moved through the barrage, his blade flicking out only when an attack came too close. Every spear that met its edge split cleanly in two, scattering into dying embers behind him. The chains swept through the spaces he had occupied a moment earlier, but none managed to restrict his movements.
The dragon attacked again and again... using different draconic spells, demonic magic and even its gigantic body, yet none of its attacks worked.
Ethan watched in awe, his mind racing to follow every movement the silver-haired man made. His footwork, movement techniques and combat forms were mastered to absolute perfection. Although the battle was unfolding too quickly for Ethan to grasp every detail, he refused to look away. If there was even a single thing he could learn from watching this fight, he intended to absorb as much of it as he could.
The Demonic Dragon’s crimson eyes narrowed as it rose, and an overwhelming pressure descended upon the battlefield once more.
The black flames suspended in the air froze in place. The rivers of lava stopped flowing, and even the ash drifting across the plains hung motionless. For a moment, Ethan could only stare at the frozen world.
Yet the silver-haired man remained completely unaffected.
He strolled forward through the stillness, raising his sword as though nothing had changed.
Then he swung once.
CRACK!
A thin line split through the air, and the frozen world shattered like ice. The flames resumed their descent, the lava surged through its channels once more, and the dragon recoiled as though an invisible blow had struck it.
He cut through the authority?
Ethan’s thoughts went blank. Resisting such power was one thing, but cutting through it entirely? He had never imagined that something like this was possible.
The dragon let out a roar filled with fury and pain.
Then its body began to change.
Its enormous form shrank, its vast wings folding inward as its frame rapidly condensed. Within moments, the colossal dragon had vanished, replaced by a humanoid figure only slightly taller than the silver-haired man.
Yet its draconic features remained unmistakable. Two curved black horns rose from its head, while dark scales covered its arms, neck and the sides of its face. Its crimson eyes burned brighter than before, and a long tail lashed behind it, cracking the ground with every swing.
Dense demonic energy poured from its body, wrapping around its limbs like black armour. At the same time, its draconic mana surged, and the two forces fused seamlessly despite their fundamentally opposing natures. Its claws lengthened and sharpened, becoming coated in crimson-black energy that hissed through the air with destructive force.
Ethan closely observed every change...
The ground beneath the dragon cracked as it vanished.
BOOM!
It reappeared directly before the silver-haired man, its claws already slashing towards his throat. The man met the attack with his blade, and their collision sent another shockwave tearing across the plains. Before the sound had faded, the dragon struck again, launching a relentless series of attacks.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
This time, the dragon was keeping pace with him.
Its tail swept low across the ground. The man leapt over it, but the dragon twisted in mid-air and drove its knee towards his chest. He blocked with the flat of his blade, sliding backward as his boots carved twin furrows through the burning earth.
For the first time, the man was being pushed, even if only barely.
And then he was hit.
The dragon’s claw slipped past his blade and grazed his shoulder, tearing through his clothes and leaving a thin line of blood. Before he could recover, its tail struck him squarely from the side, sending him skidding across the plains.
Ethan’s attention sharpened.
When the man finally came to a stop and straightened, however, the wound on his shoulder was little more than a scratch. The claw had been aimed at his heart, but he had turned at the last instant, allowing it to graze past instead. Even the tail strike hadn’t truly overpowered him. He had simply allowed its force to carry him backward, creating distance without wasting unnecessary strength.
The dragon charged again, and the same thing happened. A claw grazed his arm instead of piercing his side. A burst of black fire singed his back instead of engulfing him. Every time an attack landed, the damage was as small as it could possibly be, and every time, he struck back harder.
Ethan had fought countless battles in his previous life, and he knew injuries were unavoidable in a real fight. But he had never seen anyone handle them like this. From the start of the battle until now... he hadn’t used a single named technique, only basic forms... which only made Ethan wonder how powerful the man actually was.
As the man straightened, his golden eyes briefly shifted towards Ethan. A faint smile returned to his lips, and for a moment, they moved, as if saying something, before his attention settled on the dragon once more.
The longer Ethan watched, the stronger his strange feeling became. He could have dismissed the first instance as a coincidence, but not this time. The man had looked directly at him again.
Ethan hadn’t heard a single sound, yet it somehow seemed to echo in his mind.
"Watch closely."