Chapter 385: Under an overwhelming storm.
Miasma took the form of a dragon.
Yet, its size wasn't nearly as imposing as a true dragon. Compared to them, Miasma was barely fifty meters wide from wing to wing.
A dragon like Monolavir, who was larger than his peers, easily reached a hundred and fifty meters when stretching his four wings.
But even a small dragon was a dangerous opponent. Even more when Miasma was the one wearing this form.
He opened his mouth, releasing a dark purple cloud.
Orion observed Miasma with focused eyes, and a stable state of mind.
This dragon had light purple scales, a rather long tail with razor-sharp points following his spine, and two wings in an incredibly sorry state.
It was to wonder how Miasma was able to fly with such damaged wings. Nonetheless, here he was, flying, unbothered by such a detail.
The bone structure of the wings were crooked in various places, making the wings a mess. The skin forming the wings itself was ripped, uneven, and full of holes.
Following the neck of the monster, a thick head looked down with its red eyes. Two large horns, arching upward, stood on each side of his head.
*CRACK*
Lightning rained around them. The storm above them was getting even wilder, as wind began to get siphoned into the pitch-black vortex.
Inside the dark spot, black lightning bolts incessantly joined each other dangerously. As more time passed, the hole in the sky began to suck even the air near the ground.
This was a scene no one even laid their eyes upon.
From all the way over Hocride, the tall funnel of blackness could be seen, like a tornado ravaging the sky instead of the ground.
The situation was turning grim for Triazils' inhabitants, who barely survived the onslaught of corrupted humans thanks to two dragons.
All eyes were turned to this unnatural phenomenon, and all ears were listening to the low rumble of the storm.
Under this intense storm, only Orion and Miasma stood, unbothered by the changes occurring around them.
Orion lifted his left arm in front of him, invoking rows of dark crossbows above him, all aimed at the purple dragon.
Suddenly, a metallic object flashed in front of his eyes, wrapped around his wrist.
The device that held his parents' souls, the keepsake with his name engraved upon it.
He looked at the tiny screen in the corner of the bracelet. There, a small number appeared, telling him that it was still working perfectly.
Once before, a notification appeared on this screen. He was hoping that maybe his parents' would once again convey something to him, but even as the seconds passed, nothing answered his hopes.
"..."
His gaze moved away from the bracelet, back onto Miasma. He made up his mind, and unwrapped the bracelet from his hand.
He pressed it against his chest, and closed his eyes.
Miasma, who had finally adjusted to his new form, fell toward the ground in a dive.
When Orion opened his eyes, a starry energy, similar to the night sky, covered his demonic form. The energy merged with the dark matter, before Orion leaned forward, pushing on his leg with the 'Fourth Gear'.
The crossbows that were over him fired toward Miasma, who switched directions a meter above ground, grazing the earth as he flew toward Orion at an incredible speed.
With a breath of purple matter, Miasma countered the dark arrows, and lunged at Orion, his mouth wide open, ready to bite him.
Orion and Miasma met, as Amelia, Karteira, and Henrietta held their breaths.
Using the small space below the dragon, Orion bent his knee, and slid under the dragon after avoiding his jaws.
"!"
Focusing the power of the 'Arm Overdrive' in his right arm, he punched Miasma's stomach.
The dragon's advance was instantly stopped, as a large shockwave traveled through his body, pushing its large body upward.
A blast of air dragged Miasma upward, while Orion drew Taygeta with one hand. He aimed at his enemy's chest, and fired a beam of dark matter.
And then, Orion disappeared. A rift formed above Miasma, where Orion escaped from, before dropping a terrifying kick on the top of the dragon's head, smashing the left horn in the process.
Miasma fell to the ground, creating a large crater as he dug into the earth from the impact.
Using this opportunity, Orion used a portal to appear in front of the fallen dragon, and punched its side with everything he had.
Sending Miasma rolling toward the massive chasm, Orion appeared on his path, ready to give him another strike.
But Miasma was done taking it without a fighting chance. Visions poured inside his mind as he rolled toward Orion.
With a flap of his wings, he broke his momentum, gliding above the ground. His large claws dug into the ground as his feet made contact with it.
With his whip like tail, Miasma attacked Orion, who was preparing to punch him with an even more destructive punch.
The tail crashed on Orion, only to return to Miasma after behind countered. Seeing that a part of his tail was missing, Miasma attacked Orion with his corrupted breath.
Knowing that Orion would move away from it, he reconstructed his tail, and turned his massive head to the side while opening his wide jaws.
Orion was right between his teeth, having warped exactly where Miasma had seen it.
Yet, this wasn't enough to kill him. Orion used Taygeta to push himself out of the dragon's jaws with a Pulse arrow, which he used against Julian's corrupted form.
He crashed toward the ground, disappearing into a dust cloud.
Before the vortex above them pulled the dust toward it, Miasma slammed his front claw where Orion landed.
Then, he turned his head to the other side, in the air. Releasing another breath of purple energy, he attacked Orion, who fired a dark arrow in his direction.
The arrow traveled through the purple cloud as Orion warped away, piercing the thick scales on the neck of the dragon.
It glowed brightly, before exploding. Miasma's eyes opened wide at the pain this attack caused, which left a gaping hole after the explosion.
Reconstructing this wound back to its original state would take a few seconds, seconds difficult to find in this fierce battle.
But Miasma wasn't discouraged. All he had to do was focus on not letting Orion use this weakness, and he would be fine.
Whipping his tail around him, Miasma pushed Orion away, enough to distance himself from him.
With more than a hundred meters between them, Miasma lifted his body, standing on his hind legs.
A vision appeared in his head, as he stretched his neck tall. Then, he opened his jaws.
Purple flames gathered, as a glowing light appeared under the skin of his chest.
Orion, without wasting precious seconds, aimed Taygeta at the Remnant. He fired at the glowing part of the dragon in hope to stop the gathering of energy, but Miasma's tail blocked the projectile, exploding a part of the tail instead.
The glowing energy traveled upward, and through the throat. Miasma suddenly dropped his head, and fired a condensed beam toward Orion, ripping the earth asunder.
A long trail of purple fire devoured the ground, as the beam approached Orion rapidly.
"!"
Warping somewhere this attack would avoid the others watching, Orion hurriedly left his spot.
Miasma turned his head with little effort, following Orion precisely. For a minute, Orion was unable to do anything but avoid the incredibly lethal flames that could burn a city in less than a minute.
Both had expanded more than two thirds of their total energy. Especially Miasma, who finally stopped breathing flames toward Orion.
On the other hand, Orion's stamina was starting to take a hit. Since he was unable to recover efficiently after expanding the entirety of his light magic, he had to finish this fight fast, or he would be the one to lose.
'Tsk! This power to see the future his troublesome.'
He glared at Miasma, who shared the same look of annoyance. The only thing keeping Orion alive was his resourcefulness.
Without this tenacity, he would have been unable to fight back Miasma, who saw each future actions he would take.
Miasma's large body crashed on the dragon, as his front claws touched the ground. All of his wounds were now healed, with no traces of damage.
Orion was at a loss. Nothing he would do would help fight this monster now that it could see the future.
'Is that it?'
Lowering his gaze, he opened his left hand. The bracelet, tightly clenched until now, entered his sight again.
The ground rumbled, as Miasma ran toward Orion. The dragon opened its mouth near Orion, who kept his gaze on the bracelet.
Miasma was about to close his mouth, before Orion suddenly bent his knees, and jumped out of his jaws.
He spun in the air, flapped his dark wings, and dropped a devastating kick into the dragon's skull, which managed to catch Miasma by surprise at the very last second.
His foot dug into the skull of the dragon, crushing the tough scales and bones underneath.
Orion then punched at the same spot resolutely, splashing himself with corrupted blood as he plunged deep into the large monster.
Making his way deeper into Miasma, Orion fired Taygeta deep inside his head. The beam of dark matter ripped the insides of the dragon, destroyed his organs, and exploded his head.
But Miasma was still fine, even if the pain was tremendous. He managed to move his core out of the way of Orion's attack, and survive.
But, this was it for the dragon form.
As Orion's feet touched the dirt, panting heavily, what remained of Miasma's dragon body shrunk into a smaller, bipedal being.
The usual smile on the Remnant's face was no more. Anger was clearly visible, deforming his face even more.
Yet, he wasn't sure what to do anymore. Orion's tenacity in front of his overwhelming power was just concerning at this point.
As he thought that, Orion's demonic form was released. His normal, human form appeared, showing that the last of his energy was depleted.
A dark grin suddenly appeared on Miasma's face.
"I've won."
The only one with energy left to spare...
Was Miasma.