Primordial Soul's Rebirth

As the last of the dragons crashed into the earth with a violent tremor, Alex hovered silently above the battlefield.

Smoke curled into the sky, the air still thick with magic and blood, but he didn't care. His crimson eyes calmly scanned the wreckage below.

Around him, the remnants of the once-mighty draconic strike force lay shattered and broken, their bodies twitching or still, some vanishing into ash as their power unraveled.

He turned his gaze toward the dragon trapped within the shimmering barrier Barbara had cast.

Dead.

'She wasn't lying when she said she could control what happens inside the barrier,' Alex thought as he recalled Barbara's words.

After all, he had sent that dragon hurtling toward the barrier to verify it.

Looking at the dragon's body hung limp in the glowing net of spiritual energy, scales blackened and cracked, Alex exhaled.

Then, he slowly descended.

Below, one by one, the girls regrouped around him.

Emberlyn landed beside Violet, brushing soot off her glaive.

Ann was next as Alex brought her down.

Then Seraphyra, her gaze was downcast, and the air around her was heavy.

She couldn't look at any of them, feeling useless as she couldn't even fend off one dragon. She was too weak.

Ann noticed her mood, her gaze softening; it reminded her of the time she was mastering weapon conjuration.

She had tried so hard to learn the skill, feeling like she was lacking, and right now, she could tell Seraphyra felt the same.

'Alex...' She turned to Alex, calling out to him inwardly, and Alex, feeling her gaze, turned to her, knowing what she wanted to tell him without her saying it.

He gave her a reassuring nod as he already thought of a way to help Seraphyra.

It was then that Alice touched down with a gust of heat, stretching her arms lazily.

"Is that all of them?" She asked, rolling her shoulders.

Alex nodded, his eyes calm, then turned toward a distant hill. "All but one."

Everyone followed his gaze.

Behind a broken cliffside, a glimmer of movement—a dragon, white with golden light shimmering across its scales—was sneaking away.

"Coward," Ann muttered.

"Well, it knows it can't win," Alice chuckled, and Alex vanished.

WHOOM!

Wind cracked like thunder as he reappeared beside the dragon.

"Going somewhere?" He asked coolly.

The dragon froze.

A wall of sheer air pressure slammed into it from all sides, locking it in place.

The grass flattened, trees snapped, and the hill cracked under the force.

It tried to struggle, groaning as if being crushed under a divine weight.

Its golden eyes turned to Alex, wide with fear.

'Fuck! What kind of monster is he?!' It roared inwardly, trembling in fear.

It had expected the others to fall, but not like this. It had thought that they would at least take one of the demon lord's limbs.

Much less take a limb, they couldn't even scratch the surface of his clothes.

But it also realized that they weren't the ones to blame. The fault was its own. It should've studied their target more before attacking.

It was at fault for underestimating the demon lord.

Alex, on the other hand, raised a hand, fingers tightening.

The dragon let out a low, choking cry, something between a growl and a scream.

But just as Alex was about to end it—

RUMBLE!

The entire land shook. The air shimmered.

It was as if something massive and ancient had moved, and then, before anyone could understand the reason behind it, a voice rang out, calm yet authoritative:

"Stop."

Alex paused, frowning, turning.

Barbara stood there, not as a voice through the barrier or an illusion but in person.

The Black Tortoise of Melanochelys had arrived in her human form—tall, elegant, her black-and-silver hair cascading down her back.

Her presence alone made the battlefield fall into a hush.

The barrier faded behind her.

Even Alice and Ann blinked in surprise. After all, her beauty was comparable to theirs.

Barbara stepped forward, her gaze landing on the white dragon. "Don't kill it. That dragon is a part-dragon."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Part-dragon?"

Barbara nodded. "After the fall of the Phoenix Empire, Antares, the golden dragon, began experimenting with his own blood. He created five Part-dragons using humans, beasts, and other races. They're like his limbs. He created them to keep other empires in check."

She pointed at the dragon as its eyes shimmered dangerously. "That one... notice the golden eyes and golden horns? Any part of them that's golden is directly connected to Antares. He can see everything they see."

Alex glanced at the dragon.

"So he watched all this?"

The puzzle finally pieced itself together.

He now knew who was behind the attack—it was Antares, the golden dragon and the strongest of the guardian beasts.

If it were him, it made sense how he could order this many legendary dragons to move.

As for what his motive was...

[He probably wanted to test your limits or see your powers.]

Sophia answered that question, and Alex nodded, already having guessed it.

'Well, too bad for you, Anteras,' he grinned inwardly. 'I didn't even have to go all out.'

Above all, Alex had gained something surprising thanks to this attack, and with this, he was confident he could defeat the golden dragon even if they were to fight now.

But he would wait.

After all, haste makes waste.

Barbara, on the other hand, nodded to Alex's question. "He can't hear us. But he can see. And if this attack was part of his scheme... he probably has been watching since the start."

Silence fell as everyone understood the implication.

They could tell what the golden dragon wanted from this attack.

But then again, when they thought about how Alex had fought, they couldn't help but think: 'Did Antares succeed?'

They didn't think so.

Alex, however, smirked.

A wicked grin curled on his lips as he got an interesting idea. 'Why don't I give him a small gift?'

Alice and Ann exchanged glances, their eyes twinkling.

"He's going to do something," Ann whispered.

"Oh yeah," Alice whispered back, grinning. "And it's going to be good."

Alex walked up to the dragon and waved a hand before its face. "Hey, Antares. You watching?"

He knew the golden dragon couldn't hear him, but emotions could be felt from expression, and he was sure Antares would feel how sincere he was.

He lifted his fingers.

Snap!

The white dragon blinked, and suddenly, its vision changed.

Alex created an illusion around them and made the dragon see it. He was using his upgraded epic-ranked guise manipulation.

The Part-dragon was also epic-ranked, so there was no way it could break the illusion.

So, the illusion started, featuring Antares himself.

But he was in a frilly pink dress.

He was prancing around like a ballerina, pirouetting and twirling through a field of glittering daisies, golden wings flapping daintily.

Worse yet, he was singing.

"I'm the sparkly golden princess~ La la la~"

His voice was heavy, but his expressions were soft like a girl in love.

The illusion showed him tripping on his own tail, falling face-first into a giant, pink cream pie.

The last scene? A crown landed on his backside as fireworks erupted behind him with the words:

"ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS OF FAIL!"

The white dragon convulsed, trying to shake it off, screeching in shame and agony, but it couldn't do anything.

When the illusion ended, Alex appeared before it again, smiling as he bowed slightly. "Thank you for watching."

Then, with a grin, he leaned in and whispered, "Hope you enjoyed the show."

Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose.

Ann was on the verge of losing her ladylike manner, while Alice was straight out wheezing beside her.

Even Violet smirked.

Emberlyn stared at Alex. "You're insane."

The smirk on her lips, however, told that she enjoyed the show.

Seraphyra, who had been silent all along, finally smiled.

Alex turned back to the group. "Well, shall we go back?"

And so, the skies above Melanochelys calmed again.

But far away, in the dark cave of the dragon empire, Argon was pulling his hair out as he stared at Antares.

'Alex! Fuck yourself!!'

He roared inwardly as he tried to breathe, pressed on the ground by Antares's mana.

The moment Alex had shown that illusion, it had shown on the display before Antares.

For the first few seconds, the guy was shocked to the point that he forgot to turn off the projection, letting Argon catch sight of it, and now, when the guy finally waved the illusion off, he wanted to kill Argon.

He wanted to kill him to erase the shame.

He wanted to kill Argon to remove the only person other than him who witnessed this scene.

Yes, there were a few others, including Alice, Ann, Seraphyra, Emberlyn, Violet, and Barbara, who had seen it, and Antares knew it.

That was why he had been muttering about how he was going to kill them all.

Argon, for the first time, had seen Antares lose his calm.

And, for the first time, he wondered if it was the right idea to come to this guy to ask for help.

But having no other choice, he had to do whatever he could to calm the dragon down.

He needed to survive for now, and once he did, he had to direct all of this hate and rage in Antares entirely toward Alex.