Helena could only maintain her new form for 5 minutes.
She pointed her fingers at Inarius and shot five purple bullets.
Then, Inariusâs nine black spheres unleashed gray beams of light.
Inariusâs beams seemed larger and more powerful than Helenaâs ordinary purple bullets. Upon contact, however, the purple bullets instantly pierced through the beams.
Inarius quickly formed a multi-layered barrier. However, Helenaâs bullets pierced through that too and struck Inarius directly.
Massive shockwaves occurred one after another.
It was an obvious result.
She had used magic in its raw form, the primeval energy that was harnessed to cast spells. Inariusâs beams or its multi-layered barrier had no way of withstanding it.
Helena didnât stop there. She floated into the air and stretched out her arms. Purple energy fluttered in the wind like snow, and flew straight to Inarius.
Inarius protected itself with the ground and lava, but once again, it failed to block Helenaâs attack.
The dragon reeled from the impact.
The black tinge that covered Inariusâs body spread further. However, Inarius didnât concern itself with this. It transformed its wings into skewers and attacked Helena.
Helena created a thin, purple veil. It was thinner than colored paper, but Inariusâs wings were unable to pierce through it.
Meanwhile, Kang Oh and Valan made their move.
Kang Oh gathered a ton of dark red energy and struck Inariusâs neck, while Valan unleashed a massive amount of destructive energy from his sword.
Inarius countered by swinging its tail and claws.
However, Inarius was on the losing end of these exchanges.
After all, Kang Oh and Valanâs attacks were strong enough to shatter dragon scales. Whatâs worse, most of the scales had fallen off as the battle progressed.
Inarius did manage to repel Valan with its tail, but⌠Both Kang Oh and Valanâs attacks landed.
âYou insects! Stop annoying me!â
A giant ring of fire spread out, and their bodies began to float automatically due to the weakened gravity.
Sharp, stalactite-like rocks fell from the ceiling.
However, Kang Oh and Valan had Helena backing them up.
Helena drew a circle with her hands, and summoned primeval energy that wrapped around Kang Oh and Valan like a thin veil.
Inariusâs magic hit them right after, but it couldnât break through.
Kang Oh sprung upwards like a spring and forcefully swung Sarahoff.
His dark red blade cleaved through Inariusâs chest with transcendent speed. Hoffmanâs face smiled from behind Kang Ohâs body.
After that, Valan cut through its wings, and then its back.
Inariusâs golden irises turned black.
Annihilating Black Comet!
Spiral energy spun around Inariusâs body like a whirlwind, and flung both Kang Oh and Valan away.
They took quite a bit of damage.
Huge shards of light fell from their bodies.
The darkness was so potent that Helena had to focus the primeval energy to defend herself.
Kang Oh and Valan belatedly swung their swords in order to protect themselves.
The darkness energy dissipated.
âItâs almost over,â Kang Oh yelled.
âThis is the final phase,â his instincts whispered.
Kang Oh, Valan, and Helena simultaneously attacked Inarius.
Small specks of fire seeped out of Inariusâs closed mouth.
It was a dragonâs ultimate weapon: their breath.
Inarius had already used its breath twice before, and it was preparing to use it for a third time.
âLeave it to me,â Helena yelled.
Helena gathered her hands together. It was as if she was preparing a palm blast.
Glittering purple energy the size of a forearm shot out of her hands.
Actually, to compare it to a forearm was disingenuous. Considering how powerful primeval energy was, it must be an incredible amount of energy.
Helena returned to her original form. She had used all of the primeval energy she had left to unleash that attack.
Inarius opened its mouth wide.
Fierce Fire Dragonâs Breath!
Was it because its body was dyed black?
Fire radiating black light came out of its mouth.
Helenaâs primeval energy flew over and crashed against the Fierce Fire Dragonâs Breath.
The purple energy glittered like a giant star. Inariusâs breath, which was rife with evil energy, was overwhelmed by the primordial energy on all sides. It was as if a fully bloomed purple flower was drawn on black paper.
The two mighty energies clashed for supremacy. Eventually, the primeval energy was slowly overpowered by the dragonâs breath.
Inarius widened its blackened eyes.
âIâm Inarius. I wonât lose to the likes of humans!â
Then, Inarius gave it everything it had and spat as much fire as it could.
The black portions of its flames shimmered, and ultimately overcame the primeval energy.
Both energies dissipated simultaneously. The dark red flames flew through the air like tiny feathers, and shredded purple energy glimmered as it fell to the floor.
It was quite a magnificent sight.
âKuhahk, kuhahk.â Inarius breathed haggardly. It had used too much of its power in that last attack. However, there was no time for it to rest.
Kang Oh and Valan went on a rampage.
Kang Ohâs attacks were especially painful.
It may be a strong-willed dragon, but the horrendous pain it experienced repeated over and over again, so it almost lost consciousness.
Inarius went absolutely crazy.
It unleashed countless powerful spells, attacked with its wings and giant body, and destroyed its surroundings with its tail and claws.
However, it couldnât hit Kang Oh or Valan. They scurried around like cockroaches, making them impossible to hit.
Inariusâs face showed fear.
Death. That horrifying word passed through its head.
âI have to run away.â
He considered retreating, but his pride as a dragon wouldnât allow it.
âI wonât die to insects no matter what!â
Inarius forcefully released the incredible energy contained within its heart. As a result, there was an explosion of energy, as well as a huge shockwave that swept through everything in the vicinity.
Kang Oh and Valan were swept away, and were implanted into the ground.
Nile and Sephiro, whoâd been fighting the Giant Spirits, yelled simultaneously.
Then, Nile got hit by the Lava Spiritâs fist, and one of the Darkness Spiritâs spikes pierced through Waryongâs body.
Inarius, whose heart was now in tatters, arduously lifted its body and stomped on Kang Oh.
However, Kang Oh wasnât there. He had used Abyss Transfer.
âYou cockroach!â Inarius swung its tail at Valanâs location, and then forcefully pulled Kang Oh out of the darkness.
Its tail struck the ground.
Inariusâs tail was split in two, and fell to the floor in two equal halves!
Since Inarius was weaker than ever, Valan was able to sever its tail with Divide the Sea.
Inarius almost lost its mind due to the pain of losing a limb. However, it just barely managed to keep its mind intact.
âI need to take one out first!â
Inarius quickly stretched out its neck, intent on devouring Kang Oh.
An hourglass appeared over Kang Ohâs head, which turned upside down.
This was the dragonâs hourglass, the object that controlled time! He used it to reduce all of his cooldowns to essentially nothing!
In no time at all, Abyss Predator and Ice Soul Wall were ready to go.
A giant ice wall rose around his body. As it possessed the Ice Soulâs power, it was incredibly resilient!
Inariusâs head smashed into the ice wall. The impact caused it to momentarily pass out.
There was no way Valan would miss that golden opportunity.
He leapt into the air, rapidly plummeted to the ground like a meteor, and stuck his sword in the middle of Inariusâs head.
It was extremely deep at that!
That was its death throes.
Inarius was no longer a red dragon. Jet-black darkness spread across its entire body.
[You have defeated the Black Nightmare and the Wings of Despair, Dragon Inarius!]
That was exactly what heâd been waiting for.
âWe got it!â Kang Oh roared, and stretched out his hands.
Kang Oh immediately plopped onto the floor. He was completely spent.
âHoo.â Valan propped himself up with his sword and took a deep breath.
His companions came over one or two at a time.
However, he was interrupted.
All of a sudden, a wicked laugh rang out.
It wasnât Inarius. The system message had definitely confirmed its death.
âFinally! I finally took control of this body! I, Acroma!â
âInariusâ suddenly stretched out its black wings.
âBe careful!â Valan yelled urgently.
Then, the entire world was engulfed in darkness.
There was a dragon born without wings. It was a genetic deformity.
The immortal, primordial dragon, Gainus, bestowed it with the name Inarius.
In the language of dragons, Inarius meant soulâs wings. The name recognized that although it didnât physically have wings, Inariusâs invisible soul did.
The dragons didnât discriminate or ignore him for his deformity. After all, Inariusâs birth was a blessing for a race thatâd lost so many during the war.
But as time passed, Inarius gained a complex for being the only wingless dragon.
Ultimately, Inarius became obsessed with finding a way to gain wings. After failure upon failure, it gradually began to delve into more dangerous and forbidden practices.
While Inarius was testing darkness magic, which he hoped to use to create artificial wings, something went wrong, and there was a massive explosion.
The explosion destroyed half of its nest and grievously injured Inarius, leaving it at the brink of death for a week.
When it awoke, it found black wings attached to its back. The experiment that it thought had failed had actually succeeded!
Inarius couldnât contain its happiness and cried for three days straight.
After that, Inarius abandoned its destroyed nest and created a new one on the Phamas Mountains.
At the time, however, Inarius had no idea that its experiment had actually distorted space, and had allowed a being from another world to come through.
It was a demon that originated from the Demon World that parasitized its host until it eventually took control of them.
Acroma infected Inarius, giving the dragon black wings, and gradually influenced Inarius subconsciously.
This is when Inarius became tyrannical and started his misdeeds.
Acroma was the reason Inarius had become an Evil Dragon.
However, dragons were the strongest beings on the planet. Acroma couldnât take over Inariusâs body on its own.
It waited a long time. Until Inarius was either killed or was weakened enough for it to take control.
That time had finally come.
Once Valanâs blade had ended Inariusâs life, Acroma gained full control of its body.
A giant black dragon with black horns, four demonic wings, and four eyes raised its body.
The Demonic Dragon, Acroma, was born.
The darkness had, at some point, disappeared. However, his allies had paid the ultimate price; the darkness had taken their lives away with it.
Sephiro, Bart, and Helenaâs bodies were sprawled on the floor.
He had no idea what was going on.
âDefeat the demon that has taken over the dragonâs body. If you do not, then the entire continent will be in danger,â the Whispers of the Earth said. A Guardian of the Continent Quest popped up.
âA demon took control of a dragon?â
Inariusâs body rose with wicked laughter. Kang Oh wasnât sure what exactly was happening, but he was sure of one thing.
âWeâre taking it down,â Valan said.
âYes,â Kang Oh said firmly.
Valanâs sword radiated intense light and transformed into a completely different form.
The legendary holy sword had finally made itself known.