“It’s time for your execution, Malthor,” Dustin said coldly, leveling his sword at him. Cyran swept his staff upward as the arcane sigil slowly pressed down from above, while Terraen cracked his knuckles, eager to jump in.
Just when everyone thought the outcome was decided, Malthor’s face twisted into an extremely unsettling smile-a blend of madness, cruelty, and grim resolve.
“Execute me? You think you can defeat me? He let out a harsh, broken laugh. His gaze swept over Valindra, Lysander, and Talmor -who were either sealed away or lying severely injured nearby. A glint of undisguised greed and cruelty flickered in his eyes.
“To force me to use this technique… You should be proud.”
Before his words fell, he threw both arms wide and began chanting an ancient, sinister incantation that seemed to crawl up from the deepest abyss.
As the chant echoed, the dark gold and platinum glow surrounding him turned pitch black. A surge of evil far darker and more nauseating than dragon blood malevolent energy erupted like a demon waking from eternal slumber.
“In my name, I offer the sacrifice of kindred blood. Devour their souls and return to the source. Rise, Demon Dragon!”
Three jet-black beams erupted from Malthor’s body, each one topped with a writhing dragon skull. They shot across the hall like chains from hell itself and slammed into Valindra, Lysander, and Talmor.
“No…”
From Valindra’s sealed light cocoon came a soul-piercing scream, filled with absolute terror. Lysander’s frozen body trembled violently, his expression cracking into endless pain and regret.
Talmor’s eyes widened in the blood-soaked ground. He let out a piercing, inhuman howl. What happened next made everyone’s blood run cold.
The three bodies deflated like punctured balloons, withering visibly. All the life force and souls they had cultivated over a lifetime, even the dragon essence flowing through their blood and flesh, were all forcefully siphoned away by the black beams and channeled directly into Malthor’s body
Valindra’s flawless beauty disappeared in an instant, her body reduced to a shrunken, skin-covered skeleton. Lysander’s slender frame collapsed into nothing but a leathery husk wrapped around bones. Even Talmor’s bulky frame was stripped down to a dry, lifeless skeleton.
In the blink of an eye, Malthor had turned all three of his formidable guardians into grotesque, horrifying corpses with his dark sorcery.
The last spark of life vanished from their eyes, leaving only endless emptiness and the weight of death.
Having absorbed the power of all three, Malthor began to twist into something terrifying. His already massive frame swelled again, bursting through the tattered battle robes.
Dark, dense dragon scales glinted with a cold, eerie light across his body. His hands morphed into savage claws, fingertips shimmering with deadly chill.
Two massive bumps rose from his forehead, like horns straining to break free. Behind him, a tearing sound split the air as a pair of jagged, incomplete black wings ripped open from his back.
Malthor’s face contorted into something neither human nor dragon, with bared fangs. His eyes burned into vertical slits of dark-red fire, raw with unbridled rage, chaos, and lust for destruction.
A storm of demonic energy surged outward, fused with the restless power of multiple dragons he had forcibly absorbed. The black whirlwind radiated from him, tangible and suffocating
The ruined Immortal Palace groaned under the pressure, teetering on the brink of collapse. Malthor had consumed his allies and become a terrifying half-dragon, half-demon abomination.
A roar that seemed to rise from the depths of hell itself shook the entire island. The sonic blast flattened the remaining palace ruins around them.
Dustin, Cyran, and Terraen’s faces turned pale. The evil energy radiating from Malthor far surpassed anything they had felt before. It made their very souls tremble, and their hearts sank at once.
Malthor had become a terrifying half-dragon, half-demon abomination. His overwhelming magical power twisted together with the jagged, unassimilated energies of the dragons he had forcibly consumed.
A visible black storm formed, tearing through the last remnants of the Elysium Immortal Palace. Stone and shattered pillars turned to dust in the storm. Even the surrounding space groaned and warped under the weight of such pure malevolence.
He threw his head back, letting out a roar neither human nor dragon. His dark-red vertical pupils locked onto Dustin, Cyran, and Terraen. In that gaze burned nothing but the purest desire to destroy.
“Pests… Become fuel for my ascent to the supreme path of the demonic path,” the demonized Malthor said, ready to attack. He didn’t even need to employ any complex techniques. A single sweep of his massive claw was enough.
The black-scaled talon tore through the void, leaving five jagged streaks of warped space in its wake, sweeping across the battlefield like a grim reaper’s scythe. Wherever the claws swiped, life withered, and spiritual energy vanished.
