I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1224: Without Delay

The remaining monsters died quickly even without Erend, Eccar, or Aesa joining the fight.

They hovered above the battlefield and watched as the others finished it themselves. Blades flashed, Magic flared, formations shifted smoothly, and enemies were cut down one by one with practiced efficiency.

There was no panic or scrambling to recover fallen lines. Every movement carried confidence.

As the last monster collapsed, faint streams of light rose from the battlefield and flowed into the fighters below. Essence settled into their bodies, steady and warm.

The Dungeon World acknowledged their victory in silence, but the change was obvious.

Erend folded his wings slightly as he descended, landing at the edge of the field. Eccar and Aesa followed, touching down beside him.

He looked over them carefully.

"You all alright?" Erend asked.

Adrien wiped his hands clean on his clothes and nodded. "Yeah. We're fine. But after you left, things got chaotic."

Erend's eyes sharpened. "What happened?"

"Yeah, I'm curious. You all look like you've been through more than just regular mobs," Eccar said while crossing his arms.

Aurdis stepped forward, her expression composed but also tense. Arty stood beside her.

"After you vanished the level changed into something worse," Aurdis said.

Arty continued without hesitation. "Undead started appearing."

Erend's breath stilled. "Undead?"

"Elves," Arty said. "Undead Elves."

For a brief moment, Erend's expression turned visibly shocked. His eyes widened and his jaw tightened.

"That must have been hard for you," he said while looking at Aurdis, King Gulben, Aerchon, and Saeldir.

"It was," Aurdis admitted quietly. "They weren't mindless monsters. Some still wore their armor and carried insignias from old houses I remembered."

King Gulben stepped forward then. His presence drew the group's attention naturally.

"Yes," he said. His voice sounded heavy, carrying years of loss behind it. "It was hard."

His gaze lowered slightly, as if the battlefield beneath his feet had become something else entirely.

"They were our people," he continued. "Cursed by that spell long ago. Bound to suffer even after death."

Then his eyes lifted again. The heaviness did not disappear, but determination replaced his sadness.

"But we could not stop," King Gulben said firmly. "We had to keep moving forward. They were already dead. All we did was end their suffering."

Erend saw it clearly. The weight still lingered in King Gulben's eyes. The loss of the Elves had never truly faded, especially knowing it had begun with Laston's-his brother-betrayal.

But Erend chose not to reopen that wound now.

He looked at all of them instead.

"What do you think now?" he asked. "Can we go outside?"

They exchanged glances. No one argued.

After everything they had endured, the answer felt obvious.

King Gulben nodded.

"Yes," he said. "I think we're ready now."

Erend sighed and reached inward, his will extending toward the system itself toward Veyrun.

The response came instantly.

A massive black double door appeared before them.

One by one, they stepped through.

The world folded.

They emerged into the lobby, a vast expanse of dark ash sand beneath their feet and a night sky filled with distant stars above.

Erend turned to face them once they had all fully emerged into the lobby.

"This isn't the end," Erend said calmly. "What comes next is the real deal."

Their attention sharpened immediately.

"Zerathul is still out there," Erend continued. "And this time, it won't be a projection or an avatar. We'll be facing the real one. On top of that, he has inherited part of Krono's power. Time power itself will bend for him."

The weight of his words settled heavily over the group.

Even after everything they had fought through, that damned name still carried incredible pressure on their heart.

"But," Erend added, "we're not walking into it with just us. We found a helper down in level 60."

Several of them looked up at that.

"His power directly counters Zerathul's power," Erend said. "It won't overpower him immediately, but it will disrupt his control over time. That will give us a window. A real opportunity long enough to unleash everything we have."

Quiet but unmistakable hope flickered through the group.

They had grown stronger inside the Dungeon World. They had absorbed essence, refined their control, and pushed past limits they once thought impossible.

But even so, the thought of facing Zerathul had always carried uncertainty. His power was so terrifying that strength alone could not be the answer.

Hearing that there was a counter, even a partial one, changed that.

Aurdis let out a relieved breath slowly. The group exchanged glances, determination hardening behind their eyes.

They still weren't certain they could win.

But now, victory no longer felt impossible.

King Gulben nodded only once but said nothing. His silence carried clear purpose and determination that didn't need to be said.

They had already lingered too long inside the Dungeon World. No one knew what had happened outside while time passed within these shifting levels. Whatever Zerathul was planning would not wait for them.

They had to move.

The wounds they had earlier were gone. Fatigue no longer weighed down their limbs. After the essence flowed cleanly through their bodies, it made all them sharper and more refreshed than when they had first entered.

Erend looked at them and saw it clearly.

They were ready.

He turned inward again and reached for Veyrun.

"Let us out," he said.

The response came without delay.

A portal opened before them, its surface rippling with controlled power. The air around it distorted.

One by one, they stepped forward.

Without hesitation, they entered the portal together.

—

The portal released them into the Elf Palace garden again and the change struck instantly.

The air felt heavy and thick with pressure that pressed against their chests and crawled along their skin.

The once-clear sky above the palace had darkened. They glanced up and saw dark clouds twisting unnaturally as massive tentacles spread across it, swallowing radiant tendrils and roots of light that struggled and snapped one by one.

Eccar's face drained of color.

"That presence!" he shouted. "It's Thar'Zul-Vekar! They won't last much longer!"

Erend clenched his jaw and flared his wings. "Let's help them."

Without another word or delay, all of them shot into the sky.

—