I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1240: Dire Situation

Fear finally crept into Erend’s heart.

It was not the fear of pain or death, but the sharp and choking dread that came from watching Eccar and Aesa fall one after the other.

His mind screamed with worry as their broken bodies vanished below the clouds. His instincts pulled at him to follow, to catch them, and make sure they were still alive.

But there was no time for it.

Zerathul arrived before him in a violent blur, the necrotic sword already descending.

Erend barely moved aside as the blade passed where his neck had been, the air itself blackening and screaming in its wake.

The follow-up strike came instantly, then another, then another, each of those swings aimed to kill.

But Erend roared and met the assault head-on, claws flashing as he struck back, sparks exploding as his claws and scales met corrupted power.

Lightning surged from his body in violent bursts, cracking outward in wild arcs that slammed into Zerathul’s torso.

His fire followed next and detonated in close-range explosions that engulfed them both.

Some of the attacks landed cleanly, tearing through warped flesh and forcing black energy to spill like smoke.

Zerathul did not care about it.

He did not bother to dodge. He did not retreat. He pushed forward through fire and lightning, enduring the damage and pain as if it were meaningless.

His focus narrowed to Erend alone, every motion devoted to relentless offense. The necrotic sword carved again and again, forcing Erend back, ripping through the air with killing intent that never slowed.

Erend felt it then. This was different.

This was no longer a coordinated battle. This was survival.

He bared his fangs and poured everything he had into the fight. His fire roared hotter and his lightning screaming louder as he refused to be defeated here while Eccar and Aesa still lived. Not while Zerathul still stood.

The sky around them shattered as Dragon and ancient terror collided.

Zerathul laughed as he pressed the attack. A monent later his voice tearing through the battlefield like a chorus of echoes.

"You don’t want to stop opposing me, right?" he snarled while swinging the necrotic sword in a wide, murderous arc. "Then let me destroy everything around you until you fall into the deepest despair!"

The sound of his voice roared from every direction at once, bleeding into the sky, the air, and Erend’s own mind.

It sent a violent shudder through his heart, fear clawing its way deeper as his focus wavered for just a fraction of a second.

His next strike came a little off, his timing not perfect anymore.

Zerathul felt it.

"You think I can’t?" he continued, his words dripping with absolute certainty. "Your system power is dead. The Creator is gone. You can’t take power from them anymore. I am the new ruler of the worlds!"

Erend wanted to demand answers. His mind burned with questions, but his body had no room for them. Every breath and motion went into survival as the necrotic sword came down again and again, forcing him back under a relentless storm of killing blows.

But, the words struck deep in his heart.

"He knows about the Creator of the the real system power. That being is missing. Is that why he dares to act like this?"

The realization chilled him more than any wound.

"Argh. That doesn’t matter right now. I must defeat him first. The answers will come after."

Erend roared and forced his fear down, turning it into raw momentum. He surged forward again, claws flashing as fire and lightning fused together around his limbs.

This time, he did not aim for Zerathul’s core or throat.

He targeted the hand that hold the sword.

His strike landed at the hand, claws tearing through blackened energy and corrupted flesh.

Zerathul, too consumed by fury to anticipate the move, lost his grip.

The necrotic sword wavered, its dense black energy fluttering and destabilizing for a moment.

However, it did not vanish.

Zerathul snarled and reached for it immediately, forcing the weapon back into shape again. But that single heartbeat was enough for Erend.

Erend’s jaws snapped open wide as he drew everything he had into one point. Fire and lightning compressed together, spiraling into a blinding lance that screamed as it tore free from his mouth.

The attack slammed into Zerathul’s chest.

The impact detonated with catastrophic force, hurling the ancient being backward through the sky.

His gold-and-black armor cracked under the blow, fractures spreading as black energy spilled violently from the wound.

Erend hovered there, wings beating hard, chest heaving as he watched Zerathul tumble.

"Is this it? Is this the moment?"

His mind turned inward, to the presence he had been holding back.

"Khepra-Ankh..."

Erend knew the truth. He could summon the Psychopomp Dragon at any moment, but only briefly. The being could not remain for long. That was why this battle mattered so much. Why Zerathul had to be weakened first.

Erend clenched his claws as he watched Zerathul begin to stabilize in the distance.

"Not yet. But soon."

The sky groaned around them, fractured and burning.

Erend did not waste time or hesitate.

He surged forward and attacked Zerathul with everything he had, knowing the ancient being finally felt every attack that he sent at him.

Fire roared fiercer and lightning screamed sharper as he pressed harder, refusing to give Zerathul even a breath. His attack landed on Zerathul with terrifying force. And those attacks were driving the pain deeper into Zerathul’s body.

Zerathul raised his necrotic sword to defend, but his movements became much slower than before and his reactions no longer as precise as before.

The damage was taking its toll.

He snarled in fury and pain, then unleashed a thunderous roar that shook the sky itself for the tenth time.

The rings restraining his time power began to crack, fractures spreading across them like shattered glass.

Erend felt it instantly. "This is bad... if that time power awakens again, this fight will become even harder. I think I don’t have a choice right now. I need to call him."

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