Clear muscle cuts emphasizing his sturdy build, his body was the epitome of youth. Oily fair skin with bulging blue veins all over his body, it was demonstrating his none-sentian origin. The blue veins resembled the lightning itself, and his face was still unclear to see due to all the lightning flashes.

Kaye clenched the spear with his full strength, and his eyes were blazing with insecurity towards the boy in front of him.

Is he a demon? Kaye thought.

“Hahahahaha…” As the boy laughed the whole cavern grumbled with his heavy beast like laughter and he said “A demon you say. How dare you compare me to those puny demons uh?” His voice was depicting the maturity of an elder complete opposite to his young looks.

But Kaye couldn’t possibly hear him due to all the buzzing lightning streams and his earplugs. He just looked at the boy in anticipation of what he would've said.

The boy sensed that Kaye couldn’t hear him and said “Oh! I take it you can’t hear me. Let me make the surroundings a bit acceptable for a conversation.” He lifted his right hand till his shoulder and snapped his finger.

All the lightning streams in the huge cavern submerged into one and formed a big lightning pillar, which was resting on the boy’s hand now. That single bolt illuminated the whole cavern. The boy’s face became clear to see. His medium-sized purple-black hairs were waving below his head like in water. Brown eyes with slitting iris like a reptile’s. His veins were glittering, and showing the lightning coursing through them.

Kaye put his left leg behind him and held his spear with both his hand towards the boy. He can read my mind. He vigilantly proceeded to let his thoughts disappear from his consciousness, only letting those revealed which were vague.

“Hmm…” the boy looked at Kaye slowly tilting his head and said “if you don’t like relaying my thoughts to you directly I won’t do it, and neither will I read yours.”

To his assertion Kaye didn’t ease up and stayed cautious. I need to stay calm. Let's just try to talk myself out of this. First I need to find his motives and then I would be able to make a way out. Kaye thought internally and with every breath he was taking in, his clench on the spear became tighter and tighter.

The boy ignored Kaye’s alarmed pose, and while letting the lightning pillar connect to the ground instead of holding it in his hand, he said: “What were you saying me being a demon? Can you tell me once again?”

“Who are you?” Kaye asked and he was fully prepared for any assault, sharp-eyed he added “What do you want from me?”

“That is the correct question to ask. I am Dragon Lord Neehish and I just want to show my gratitude to you, because you are the person who freed me from my damnation.” Neehish replied with a smile and thought gratitude to be my first feast after 3800 years.

He is a Dragon Lord, does it mean he is a dragon too. Dragon is a species capable of living hundreds of years and who could prison a Dragon Lord then? I need to stall him as much as possible.

“Who prisoned you here? I mean you are a mighty Dragon Lord.” Kaye hesitantly asked with a confused expression, and he started to recollect his position according to the existing tunnel.

“I see, you are in a mood to hear a tale.”

Neehish sat on the floor and started telling him his story “When I first descended here, in this world with my kind. My goal was to plunge this world into chaos and destroy it, it was a small errand for me to run, but that lowly king of yours proved to be more powerful than what I could handle. Instead of killing me he damned me here.”

Only one name came to Kaye’s mind, after he heard the word "King". Zaki-Ne-Peru: the sorcerer-king

“So why didn’t he kill you instead?” As Kaye was asking all these questions, he was heedfully moving towards the tunnel from where he came in. From Neehish’s control on the lightning, it was a given to Kaye that the enemy in front of him was much more powerful than he could ever hope to defeat.

“As I said before, he was powerful but not enough to kill me without destroying the world in the process. Our battle would have fulfilled my purpose. Therefore, he decided to seal me here, giving me my own home such that nobody could enter it. If anybody ever would enter it, I will be freed. I guess this is the best spell he could devise to seal me, after all everything is possible then my escape should be too, shouldn’t it? Thus, I have been waiting for almost 3800 years that someday, somebody strong enough to enter this particular area will come and free me. Hence, you are the one who freed me.” Neehish completed nonchalantly and didn’t leave anything such that Kaye couldn’t ask any more questions.

He is an apocalypse and did the sorcerer-king consider it before setting that as a condition to free him ‘If anybody ever would enter this cavern, Neehish the Dragon Lord will be unleashed'. Those are weak bolts out there, how could they possibly keep someone from entering? Kaye thought, while he had completely ignored the fact that enduring those bolts almost killed him. At the same time it was also true, the bolt which was currently lighting the cavern was at least a hundred times more powerful than any of those out there. Reason, the ground beneath the bolt was turning into magma.

“Oh you are almost at the exit, where are you planning to go already?” Neehish stood up and asked.

“I am not your enemy. As you have said, I just freed you from this prison. So let me go from here now.” Kaye asked.

“Haahahahha…” Once again the cavern rumbled from his laugh and he explained Kaye “Enemy you say, what made you believe that you could be my enemy, you are just worthy of being my food nothing else.”

Kaye quickly turned towards the exit to get out of there “ [MINANK~NIAALISHII~LIAMASS] ” but Neehish incanted with an evil smile on his face.

Before Kaye could enter the tunnel, it was filled with thousands of INCINELA like bolts but with no sound, he left speechless and his eyes started to quake from fear. It was a spell made by Neehish himself in draconic magic language or rather Draani, the most destructive magic language.

“Oh lowly mortal give me a few seconds, you don’t have to worry about me enjoying you, I will be devouring you with utmost pleasure, just let me be ready for the meal,” Neehish said, while he started to bend every bone in his body to its maximum capacity.

Sadness clouded on Kaye’s face, once again he was feeling powerless and terrified, the same feeling he felt when he got to know he couldn’t use magic, there were countless incident like that in his life, but none of them ever could come close to what he felt at the time of Ava’s murder. I won’t let anything stop me from finding her. Even with his strong resolve his body couldn’t make a move for some reason.

“Behold the true Nature of Neehish, the Lord of the Dragons. [DRA~MINIASTASS…] ” While saying that Neehish wide opened his hands. With a loud splutter his body started to gain flesh out of nowhere, creaks of bones resounded the cavern, clanking scales appeared throwing sparkles everywhere.

In a few seconds what had been looking like an epitome of youth turned into a majestic embodiment of destruction.

Neehish was almost 50 meters in length. His 8 feet wide head was adorned with four rough-black horns, and a huge mana stone in the middle of his head, shining in blue. With that big of a mouth, he could easily swallow a few sentian, without even needing to chew them. Black-purple scales tiled his whole body, while spaces between them shining in blue. His black, overhanging wings were full of veins, which glistened in lightning-blue. His front legs were taller and slimmer as compared to his back legs.

Kaye was visibly shivering now, but not due to fear but from rage. His brain couldn’t hold all that immense fear and started to turn it into rage using his resolve, while his conviction on his own life and decision’s he made acted as catalysts.

“Now mortal, will you come to me? Or are you planning on bothering me to come over there?” Neehish asked in his adenoidal and stentorian voice.

I will see her again. No one can stop me from doing that, not even death. He put his spear into the space ring through an opening he created behind his back, and instead he unsheathed his swords. To Neehish it looked like he was putting an arrow in his quiver.

He started running towards Neehish. The armor was being ripped apart due to his run, and chunks of copper were flying out of it, he didn’t care for his armor anymore.

After noticing Kaye running towards him with swords in his hand, Neehish said “Don’t bother to struggle for your life, it was already forfeited with the lives of inhabitants living in this world, when you entered this cavern and unleashed me upon this world.”

“I WON’T DIE HERE,” Kaye shouted and when Kaye reached close enough he jumped, it sent him near Neehish’s chest instantly. He slashed near Neehish’s Firestone; it was a crystal embedded in Neehish’s chest, glowing in rouge and yellow. None of his swords left a scratch on the scales.

“I’d rather see your pitiful attempt, before enjoying you,” Neehish said unbothered with Kaye’s attack.

“THEN YOU’LL DIE.” He landed on the ground just to shoot back himself towards Neehish once again.

“Hahaha… did you say die.” Neehish retorted, but Kaye ignored him and continued his assault.

Let see how long you will continue… Neehish thought, but when Kaye jumped back the third time and hit him; he left a scratch on Neehish’s scale with his attack.

“Hey bug, you are ruining my scales. Shoo… try something else otherwise I will eat you right now.” Neehish said looking down on Kaye.

Kaye didn’t listen to him and almost seemed to be flying around Neehish with his redoubtable jumps, and was striking him everywhere with his futile attacks. To Neehish it was like a bug humming around him, he was trying to squat Kaye with his leisure claws’ movements, after all he didn’t want his scales ruined, and his food spluttered on the ground.

Why, just why all these things happen to me? What did I ever do to deserve this? With every flowing thought in his mind, Kaye’s strikes were getting more and more powerful. It was the 6th strike, and Blackswing extirpated out a scale from Neehish’s chest, but the attack also degraded its edge.

Blackswing had only 311 Niyak from the attack's perspective, but it was Kaye’s strength which pulled it off, degrading Blackswing in the process.

“YOU BUG, DIE!!!” Infuriated by Kaye’s feat, Neehish with seriousness struck him with his right claw, and Kaye flew in the wall with a boom, it made a crater on the wall. Kaye’s armor stripped from his body in the process.

DNNROARRRR…

Neehish let out a thunderous roar putting the cavern into peril of collapsing, a few rocks fell on the ground from the ceiling. Kaye was still conscious. He clenched his teeth, while he was trying to get up. With the support of Blackswing he stood up. No trace of his armor left on him, his back fully soaked in blood due to the impact. The blood was from bruises he got from the impact, not from any fatal injuries. Kaye filled with malice he was losing himself to the anger. Throw what you will. His rage and hatred wasn’t focused on Neehish, but it was for his own life.

Neehish was looking down on a sentian bug and didn’t give his all in that blow, but the truth was it was still too much for killing a sentian.

“You annoying bug! I am done playing with my food.” Furious by the fact that he intended to kill Kaye with that blow, but to his annoyance it was no way near to kill him and he stood up again. Neehish leaped towards Kaye to eat him alive. His wings movements engulfed the cavern in air turbulence.

Kaye was looking in Neehish’s eyes without a bit of fear, Neehish with his canine and giant saw-like sets of teeth, was flying towards him. Kaye knew he couldn’t defeat Neehish in any aspect. So he was letting Neehish come towards him, or what else he could do?

Lost in his pride of might and a ravenous hunger to devour living flesh, Neehish abandoned his magic and lightning, even the dragon-fire. Neehish wasn’t able to see that the being in front of him wasn’t just a normal Sentian, and the same lowly bug was exuding an ominous aura filled with malice. He just swept himself towards Kaye to put him in his mouth, but before he could eat Kaye a tremendous force combined with his momentum pulled him in the abyss, which appeared in between him and Kaye.

The abyss was the opening made by Kaye using his space ring. The vacuum inside the dimension created by the space ring was a low-pressure area (Consider Volume: for the science geeks out there) and the cavern had been filled with highly pressurized air, which was atmospheric pressure of that world. When Kaye had opened the other dimension all the air present in the cavern rushed into it, taking Neehish along.

There were only a few sorcerers who could use space magic, but none of them control it with precision. There were records in history of sorcerers’ deaths who tried to practice it, and end up being pulled into its darkness. The reason for their lack of control was mana present in their body, which disturbs the image of the spell in their minds. It was also the same for the other elements, but unlike space elements other elements weren’t destructive enough to kill the practitioner. With enough practicing their minds obliviously adjusted the mana flow within their body according to their spells, eventually gaining control over the spell. The sorcerer-king had to oblige the same rule, but to his disadvantage he wasn’t apt in space magic when Neehish descended in this world.

But for Kaye above rules didn’t apply, because of his lack of mana. The image of the space spell he pushed in the ring through his imagination didn’t get distorted, and conjured every time accurately as he wanted.

After sealing Neehish in his space ring he quickly looked towards the tunnel. It was there, the bolts sealing the tunnel were still present, so did the bolt in the middle of the cavern. “Hiyaaa…” A scream resounded the cavern; it was Kaye’s. He was enraged because after all his struggle and ingenuity he was still trapped within the cavern, and had no hope escaping out of there alive.

Neehish could sense his mana flowing through the dimension into his spells out there, but he was losing control. “I WILL KILL THAT BUG” Neehish shouted “Even if I have to use all my mana to get out of here. How dare he try to trap me here? [NARLIBIATH~DAREN]” as he said, an explosion of mana erupted from his body. Neehish couldn’t use space magic, it wasn’t his element. He was a lightning and fire dragon, so he decided to release all his enormous mana into breaking the dimension.

The bolts slithered dramatically and with an explosion once again Neehish appeared in front of his eyes. Kaye looked left and right, he searched his swords like a maniac and noticed that he couldn’t reach them. He gave a dreadful look to Neehish, like he would kill him with his bare hand. He had gone insane.

No one is stopping me from seeing her, NO ONE. I will kill you… Kill you… Kill you…

Neehish was exhausted but Kaye couldn’t notice it, he just wanted to kill Neehish, the obstacle in his goal. Neehish couldn’t use magic nor his dragon-fire, the only mana he has was currently sealing the cavern, but screw planning or finding a way out with wits. All he wanted to do was to kill Neehish.

He retrieved the spear, and strode towards Neehish. Neehish was sprinting towards Kaye too, while he was lifting his left claw to pummel Kaye on the ground, Kaye fueled with his anger zealously jumped on his claw and then once again towards his head from above his claw. When he reached near Neehish’s head in the mid-air he thrashed the spear and penetrated Neehish’s head. The spear entered from one of his eyes and came out all the way through the other.

All the bolts disappeared, only Neehish and Kaye could be seen in the cavern illuminated by momentary flashes of lightning coming outside from the tunnel, these were the bolts crackling outside of the Luckard. Neehish was screeching in an ear-piercing voice, while his head was writhing in agony. Blood was spilling out on the ground from his head like a waterfall. His tail assaulted the ground, and the cavern’s walls in a desperate attempt to distract his senses from the pain caused by the hits. All his attempts were only proving to be futile.

Kaye fell on the ground and he quickly stood up, didn’t caring for the pain he was feeling. He ran to his swords and picked them up, fortunately it wasn’t Blackswing.

“This will kill him… kill him… kill him…”

He reached to the now-dead Neehish’s body and climbed up his head. He started to stab its head die… die… die… His sword broke into pieces when pitted against Neehish’s scales, and his eyes started flowing. I will see her… I will see her. He fell on his knees and started sobbing uncontrollably.