Willem was engulfed in a warm whirlpool of magical energy while absorbing the Red dragon's potential. The more he tried to absorb, the more Willem felt like he was just a small drop in a vast ocean that sought to devour him completely.

Outside, Willem's hand was completely inside the black hole of Raj's chest. Inside, however, Willem was having a very difficult time absorbing the massive quantity of energies flowing into his body. Small cracks began to appear on Willem's skin, revealing black steam pouring out from the wounds.

The cracks on Willem's skin were happening both inside and out in the real world. For a few brief moments, it almost appeared as if the Red Dragon had an advantage over Willem.

Zira pounded the ground in grief and anger as she watched a sneer appear on the Red Dragon's face.

Though the pain Raj felt was like being torn from the inside out, he saw that Willem was suffering just as much as he was while attempting to absorb his life energy. Coming from a long lineage with vast knowledge, Raj knew that if Willem was unable to completely absorb the life energy, it would resurge and kill Willem.

Since Willem was just a human with a few tricks, how could he possibly consume a Red Dragon's vitality?

The cracks on Willem's skin began to worsen, and his usually immaculate face looked broken and fake, like a destroyed mask hiding dense black mist underneath.

The mist thickened and churned as it poured out of Willem's body, rapid healing him as much as it could.

This mist was a combination of both the Aura of Darkness and Darkness Healing. The mist came from the Aura of Darkness, stealing the shadows from the other creatures and increasing the potency of his Magic, and the Darkness Healing was repairing his body at an incredible rate.

Despite the magical energies flooding Willem's body and drowning him, the rate at which he was healing made up for the danger he faced.

The Squad that Willem commanded and the enemies they faced did not dare to move, and barely even breathed, for fear of inadvertently turning the tide in their enemies favor.

Even the trolls understood that if they moved, their life might be forfeit.

Soon, the balance of power shifted from the Red Dragon back to Willem as it became clear that he did not have the same limitations as the human race. The seemingly unending magical energies that should have overwhelmed his body only made him stronger as the condensed magical energy in his body would break and reform constantly.

The pain of the magical energies breaking and reforming was like a limb being torn off multiple times only to miraculously heal and be ripped off again.

Despite the pain, Willem understood more than anyone that he was reaching previously unseen heights as he absorbed the magical potential of the Red Dragon.

The vortex of life energy was coming to a close, and it was at this time that Willem had to face his toughest challenge yet.

"In the name of the Nine Kings, I demand to know who dares to harm my spawn!" A deep, malicious voice spewed out from the the darkest depths of the Red Dragon's soul.

"Who are you to demand something from me?" Willem retorted, with neither a pretentious nor oppressive voice. Despite the great anger he heard from the malicious voice he remained steadfast and unperturbed.

"I am the King of the Red Dragon's, Baron of the Red Reef and the wreathe of undying flames, Sharl Vatra the Third." The malicious voice now gained a measure of composure when speaking his titles.

"Well Sharl Vatra the Third, you should have at least taught your spawn how to fight. I am the man that broke his army of magical beings and devoured his life energy. You can call me the Dragonslayer." Willem provoked the voice in the dark.

"Presumptuous! I will devour you whole for what you have done to my spawn!" The voice returned to being malicious, angered by the lack of manners of his spawns assailant.

"You need not worry about finding me. I will be coming to you. The Red Reef will be where I enslave your people and establish a brothel in your honor." Willem could tell that the personality behind the voice was prone to anger.

"You will not get the chance! My spawn, detonate yourself for your clan's honor!" The malicious voice gave it's order before an eerie silence befell the black world Willem was in.

Quickly, Willem removed his hand from the black hole where Raj's chest was. A deep fiery light filled Raj's eyes as all his regrets and misgivings shed from his mind.

"IGNITE!" Raj shouted as his body began to overflow like lava from the inside out, erupting into a pool of flames.

The methane that Raj produced in his Dragon body spewed out of his pores as it met with the intense heat, igniting the atmosphere.

A wave of heat and flame brushed over the tops of the trees within the forest. Only Willem and his Squad was protected, as Willem had placed a shroud of Darkness over those he wished not to be harmed. Even if he had wanted to protect the other magical beings, he simply could not.

The Elves, Trolls and other species melted down to the bone as the blast radius continued to grow.

Even Willem was unable to halt the progression of the blast, especially due to the exhaustion of absorbing the Dragon's life energy.

Willem was already pushing the limit of his weakened power by splitting the front of the blast.

When the destruction finally subsided, only Willem, Zira and the Squad of soldiers remained in tact. Everything within two hundred meters was completely destroyed, upended from the roots and charred beyond recognition.

When Willem knew it was finally safe, he lowered the protective field of Darkness and sat on the charred ground.

All the moisture of the earth had been evaporated, leaving dry dirt and even drier air. On the edges of the blast radius, several hundreds of trees had caught fire and threatened to continue burning down the rest of the forest.

"All water mages are to be escorted to the edge of the blast to quell the fire. We lose geographical advantage if we lose this forest, so go get it done." Willem commanded.

Despite the soldiers being beaten up and tired, no one dared say anything in protest. The water mages stood from their seated positions and began to gather everything they would need to go fight the fires.

Sir Kris and Sir Rowan split the water mages and their envoys before pointing in a direction so that the water mages did not overlap.

In mere minutes, the water mages and their envoys were running through the forest to go fight the raging fires.

The smell of burnt flesh and charred bones hit Willem for the first time since the fight ended. Willem was not even sure if he could eat food after the lingering stench of death and decay flooded his senses.

Willem, while sitting on the charred ground, began to consolidate his magical energy. After the constant tearing and regenerating of his magical power, his magical soul had many cracks that needed to be healed.

From the massive magical energy Willem took from the Red Dragon, the cracks in his soul quickly healed and his soul continued to grow. The strings that attached to his soul began to reform and expand through his inner organs, bones and muscle fiber.

Willem knew that the magical energies he absorbed pushed him close to the completion of his magical soul. Some of the magical energy that was not used to form his soul leaked out of his body, making it's way deep into the earth like a seed that had been planted.

Willem knew that he would not need the excess magical energy, and allowed the extra energy to leak from his body willingly.

The magical energy reached deep into the earth before expanding and healing the charred ground. Before long, signs of life began to sprout from the earth once more.

A few buds broke through the charred earth, nourished by the magical energy, and began to cover the ground floor of the burned forest. Though it would take some time, the magical energy Willem willingly gave helped heal the scar that he could not stop from happening. This was his way of asking forgiveness from nature for not protecting the forest.

The winds kicked up for a moment around Willem's encampment as he continued to condense his magical soul. From the feeling of his body and the expansion of his mind, he felt that he was very close to the epitome of his perfect magical soul.

Though his body was still slender and his face still young and without wrinkles, the aura Willem exuded was unlike anything a human could possibly show. Even the soldiers that he commanded could no longer look him in the eyes, even when he ordered them to.

Unknowingly, some of his soldiers began to cry or scratch at their arms deeply in protest.

Willem found this bizarre behavior incomprehensible, and did not test the soldiers further.

When the fires around the blast radius had been doused, and the soldiers had returned to Willem, he stood from his sitting position and gathered everyone together.

Some of the soldiers still had broken arms, corrosive burns and horribly disfigured bodies despite being in a fantastic mood.

The pain suppression elixir was in full effect, and would continue to be for quite some time.

Willem, however, wanted to heal them of their wounds for helping secure a victory in this first fight. When the soldiers had gathered together, Willem enshrouded them all in Darkness and began to heal them with his own condensed magical energy.

The entire process only spanned a few minutes, and even the worst of the injured was completely healed.

Sir Kris and Sir Rowan expressed their gratitude in healing their comrades, and politely asked what the Grand Mage had planned next.

"We will return victorious, and will gather anyone who wishes to go on the offensive. This war will not be quick, and we need more resources." Willem explained his line of thinking before issuing his next command. "Gather and link hands, we are returning."

Willem linked hands with Zira, whom linked hands with the other soldiers as Willem warped space to shift them back to the Army Training Grounds teleportation formation.

Understanding that they would be temporarily blinded and deaf, the army waited patiently even when other soldiers not a part of the Squad began to crowd around them.

When their eyesight and hearing returned, they quickly spread the news of their victory not just to the Army Training Grounds, but to the Bastion of Hope and it's denizens.

Many celebrated as if the war was over, despite it only being the first victory.

Feasts were held in every tavern from the outer ring to the inner city and even the thieves guilds. The night was filled with joyous celebration, ruckus lovemaking and more than a few drunken brawls in the street.

While the Bastion of Hope celebrated, Willem sat atop the tallest bell tower of the Royal Palace, quietly sipping on wine while looking over the city.

The events of the battle, especially the Great Wyrm, weighed heavily on his mind. In the heat of the moment, he had to push his thoughts to the side in order to thoroughly beat down the Red Dragon, but now he had time to properly think about what actually happened.

"Jörmungandr..." Willem kept repeating out loud to himself. No matter how much he repeated the name, nothing suddenly popped into his mind. When he tried to access the information that the Great Wyrm planted, he was instead beset upon by an incredible pain.

No one came to speak to Willem, despite several maids climbing the bell tower in order to pour him wine.

Willem just continued to watch as one by one, the lights in the city flickered before being snuffed out.