Garlan, a little too confident, thought the first demon was down for good.

  He turned his attention away for a moment—

  Just long enough to feel it—

  Too late.

  The black sword pierced his side without warning, skewering him clean through.

  A blinding pain stole his breath.

  Far away, Marenna froze.

  An unreal, brutal wave of pain surged through her.

  She understood instantly.

  “Garlan…”

  Without even raising her head, she reached out her hand and summoned a healing vine, charged with glowing green mana, which cut through the air in a perfect line toward him.

  The demon yanked his sword free violently, thinking the vine was an attack.

  He dodged it—

  Too late to realize its true purpose.

  The healing spell brushed Garlan at the critical moment.

  His body was already smoking.

  His breathing shallow.

  His blood boiling.

  He fought not to surrender to the pull of his draconic form.

  But the vine reached him.

  It wrapped around the wound, closed the flesh, stabilized his energy.

  Calm returned.

  Brief. But enough.

  Garlan stood slowly, spat blood onto the ground, wiped his mouth with the back of his arm—

  And looked the demon dead in the eyes.

  “Not yet,” he growled.

  He charged forward, short-range teleportations in a jagged rhythm—

  A flickering barrage of motion, each leap shaking the air.

  Like strobing lightning, he flashed around his opponent.

  The demon spun wildly, trying in vain to track the real Garlan.

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  Striking shadows, hitting nothing.

  Panic mounting.

  All around him, fireballs began to float—

  Encircling him.

  Marenna, in perfect sync, launched two massive thorny vines from the ground, wrapping around the demon’s legs and locking him in place.

  Garlan leapt—

  Charging a raw, compressed energy punch for the final blow.

  But above—

  The second demon, half-burned and writhing, dove like a black meteor.

  In a final burst of rage, he released a wide explosion of shadow serpents—

  Ten dark, snake-like forms surged in every direction, shrieking through the air.

  It was just enough to break Garlan’s focus.

  The grounded demon seized the opportunity—

  And slammed his sword into Garlan’s ribs with monstrous force.

  A sickening crack echoed across the arena.

  Garlan’s body flew like a broken doll—

  Smashing through the platform and crashing far below in a storm of dust and shattered stone.

  Marenna, unable to fly, instantly summoned a swarm of roots and hurled them toward the edge—

  Grabbing onto the structure, she descended in a tangle of vines, her heart on the verge of rupture.

  The two demons—

  One limping, one still smoldering—

  Moved slowly toward a shadow portal that had opened nearby.

  A few surviving minor soldiers joined them.

  All of them vanished into the demonic rift—

  Convinced they had killed Garlan.

  Marenna hit the ground in a sliding tangle of roots.

  She was already sprinting before her feet touched down.

  Garlan lay motionless.

  His chest half-collapsed.

  Dark veins of blood streaking the cracked stone.

  “No… no no no…”

  She fell to her knees beside him, hands trembling, eyes already brimming.

  A rising fury boiled in her throat—

  Something monstrous and ancient.

  Around them, everything went eerily quiet.

  The world held its breath.

  Marenna placed her hands on his chest—

  Ignoring the tremors, the blood, the heat.

  She poured her mana into him violently.

  A mixture of healing, screams, and imploding grief.

  “You don’t get to die. Not now. Not like this.”

  Her eyes were wild.

  Broken.

  Between despair and fury.

  Through the tears, she whispered:

  “I’ll bring you back, Garlan. Even if I have to burn every stone in this academy.”

  His body jerked violently.

  Like a jolt of raw nerve.

  She flinched.

  A second spasm. Quicker.

  Then a third. Faster.

  The frequency increased.

  Her face paled.

  “No... no, don’t transform… not now!”

  Panicked, she wrapped Garlan in a cocoon of roots and pulled him with her—

  Launching herself upward in a makeshift tunnel of vegetation.

  They burst into their dorm room—

  Roots slapping against walls, ripping through furniture.

  And there, at the center of the room…

  The dragon egg was trembling.

  Golden cracks were forming on its surface—

  Glowing like molten light.