Chapter 150: Monster Form
The chamber burned like a furnace, flames eating at the walls, the ceiling trembling with each clash. Dust rained down, the once-grand throne room now a crater-riddled battlefield.
Lucian stood in the smoke, cloak torn, blood staining his side. His chest rose and fell, but his golden eyes burned hotter than the inferno around him. Space cracked faintly with every breath he took, reality groaning under the strain of his will.
Across from him, Taragon’s mane blazed like a sun. His claws glowed molten gold, his breath heavy but still rumbling like a storm in his chest. The Lion King’s amber eyes narrowed, his lips curling back to bare fangs.
"You should be ash by now," he growled. "And yet you stand."
Lucian smirked, his voice low but steady. "That’s the difference between me and you. You burn out." He lifted his hand, light bending around his fingers like warped glass. "I don’t."
Infinite mana—an endless ocean that never ebbed, never drained. Every fold, every strike, every warping of time and space that would have crippled another mage only refilled itself within him. He could fight forever.
Taragon felt it too. His mane crackled, his aura pressing harder, but there was the faintest flicker of unease in his gaze. "Many tricks will not change your place, human."
Lucian stepped once, and space folded.
He reappeared behind Taragon, hand slicing down. The floor ripped open as compressed space carved a fissure deep into the stone, flames pouring from the crack. Taragon spun, claws hammering into Lucian’s chest. The strike should have ripped him apart, but Lucian’s body blurred, folding an inch to the side, less than a blink. The claws tore through only cloth.
Lucian’s fist shot forward, folding time with it. To Taragon, it seemed like Lucian struck a dozen times at once—each blow crushing into his chest, ribs cracking under the compounding weight. Blood sprayed, hissing as it hit the molten floor.
The Lion King staggered back, roaring in fury. His mane flared brighter, golden fire spiraling up like a beacon. The chamber walls split, the ceiling groaning as chunks of stone collapsed.
"You dare wound me, human?! ME?!"
Lucian straightened, blood dripping from his lip, his smirk sharp as a blade. "You’re loud for someone bleeding."
Taragon’s roar shattered the walls. He lunged, claws carving arcs of golden fire that split the air. Lucian folded again and again, flickering through warped cracks in space. Each dodge was effortless, his infinite mana filling every seam of reality he tore.
He countered, folding Taragon’s body into a distorted frame, compressing his limbs together for a heartbeat. The king roared in frustration, flames bursting to tear reality apart, but Lucian’s fist was already in his jaw. The impact bent space inward, sending Taragon crashing across the hall, stone exploding under his massive frame.
Lucian walked forward slowly, his steps unhurried. "How does it feel?" His voice echoed across the broken chamber. "To know you’re stronger... but to lose anyway."
Taragon rose, blood dripping from his mane, his aura snarling as much as his voice. "You mock me."
Lucian tilted his head, eyes burning brighter. "No. I kill you."
He folded forward, his strikes coming in a blur. Each punch bent space inward, each palm strike compressing time to hit harder, sharper. Taragon staggered under the storm, his roars breaking into snarls of pain. Golden blood sprayed across the cracked stone.
Lucian twisted, his foot folding space beneath it, and he snapped a kick into the king’s ribs. The Lion King smashed through what was left of his throne, stone dust billowing into the air.
Silence hung for a moment.
Lucian lowered his hands, breathing steady.
Then the air changed.
Taragon’s chest heaved. His claws dug into the ruined floor, his mane dimming... then flaring brighter than ever. His body trembled, muscles bulging, his aura pressing down like a mountain. His roar built in his chest, deep, primal, shaking every stone in the citadel.
Lucian’s smirk faded into something sharper, more cautious. He felt it before it happened.
The king wasn’t beaten. He was changing.
Taragon threw his head back and roared. Golden fire erupted from his body, not as flame but as pure energy, tearing the chamber apart. The ceiling collapsed, stone melting before it hit the ground. His frame swelled, muscles doubling, claws lengthening into molten blades. His mane became a crown of living fire, and his eyes burned white-gold.
The pressure was crushing. His aura wasn’t Delta anymore. It had surged higher, cracking through barriers. This was Beta Rank.
Lucian’s cloak snapped under the storm, his body trembling against the weight of it. His infinite mana rushed to his defense, warping space around him to keep him standing, but even that strained.
Taragon’s voice rumbled, no longer mocking, no longer regal. Pure monster. "NOW... HUMAN... YOU DIE."
He vanished in a burst of speed. Lucian barely folded in time, the claws tearing through his afterimage. The strike alone split the chamber in half, stone collapsing into molten rivers.
Lucian reappeared at the edge of the wreckage, breathing sharp. His golden eyes narrowed. "So this is your real strength."
Taragon blurred again. His claw smashed into Lucian mid-fold, golden fire ripping through his body. Blood exploded from Lucian’s mouth as he was hurled across the battlefield, smashing into the far wall. His cloak burned away, his chest torn open, flesh sizzling from the golden flames.
Lucian coughed, his vision trembling. But mana rushed through him, infinite, endless. His wounds closed even as fire tried to eat at him. He rose, shaky but steady, his smirk flickering back.
Taragon stomped forward, each step quaking the ground. "You heal. You endure. But can you endure forever against a king?"
Lucian folded again, fists snapping forward. His strikes bent space, but Taragon’s claws were faster now, sharper. He batted aside each blow, his roar deafening. His counterstrike slammed into Lucian’s shoulder, nearly ripping the arm free. Blood gushed down, staining the floor.
Lucian twisted, folding time for half a second, reversing the wound long enough to keep the limb attached. His knee snapped upward, folding space with it, driving into Taragon’s jaw. The Lion King staggered a step, blood spraying from his mouth.
Lucian didn’t hesitate. He poured mana outward, warping the chamber into his Dominion again. Time slowed, gravity shifted, the flames frozen midair. He struck again and again, raining fists and palms into Taragon’s chest, his back, his head. The king bled under the barrage, his body rocking under the storm.
But then his roar came again. The sound cracked reality, shattering Lucian’s Dominion. Flames burst back, golden light overwhelming the chamber. Taragon’s claws slashed down, ripping across Lucian’s chest. The human folded at the last second, but blood still poured, his chest split open.
He staggered, nearly falling.
Taragon towered over him, his voice thunder. "This is what you wanted, human. To challenge a king." He raised his claws, golden fire swirling into a storm around them. "Then die like prey."
Lucian coughed blood, but his smirk didn’t fade. His golden eyes burned hotter than ever. "I told you already..."
He spread his hands. Space cracked around him, time lines bending, the floor trembling. "Prey doesn’t walk into the predator’s den."
His infinite mana surged outward, raw and endless. Space folded a hundred times over, time snapping into loops, gravity compressing into blades. His body blurred, his strikes raining like meteors, each one fueled by infinite energy.
Taragon roared and swung, his claws tearing through storms of warped space. The citadel collapsed around them, stone melting, sky opening to fire and ash.
King against human. Predator against predator.
And neither willing to fall.
The storm of their clash lit the night above the burning nation, a battle too great for walls to contain.
And as Taragon’s final monster form clashed against Lucian’s infinite storm of spacetime, the world itself bent beneath them.