The roar of the Tier-7 monster rolled across the clearing like thunder breaking over the forest.
The sound rattled the leaves above and sent distant birds fleeing from the canopy. The creature stood at the edge of the shattered treeline where it had burst through monts earlier, its enormous body frad by broken trunks and crushed undergrowth.
It was massive.
Even larger than the monster that had nearly wiped out the elven hunting party minutes earlier.
Thick armored plates overlapped across its body like layers of dark iron. Each step it took sank deep into the soil, leaving cracked earth and shattered roots behind. Its claws were as long as swords, curved and jagged from countless battles fought in the wild.
Venom dripped slowly from the creature’s fangs as it lowered its head toward the clearing.
Its crimson eyes burned with hunger.
Behind John, the surviving elves felt the pressure imdiately.
One of the younger warriors instinctively stepped backward.
The air itself seed heavier now, pressing down against their chests and making it harder to breathe. Their instincts scread at them that the creature before them was sothing far beyond what they were ant to face.
The elf leader clenched his jaw.
"A Tier-7 monster," he said quietly, though the words felt heavy in his mouth.
Even saying it out loud felt unreal.
Beside him, the archer who had fought earlier wiped sweat from his brow, though the air had grown strangely cool.
"Even our strongest warriors... rarely face sothing like that," the archer muttered.
Another elf spoke under his breath.
"And we are already wounded."
Silence followed those words.
They all knew what that ant.
If the dragon had not appeared monts earlier, the previous monster alone would have ended them.
Now sothing even stronger had arrived.
Their eyes slowly shifted toward the massive figure standing between them and the monster.
The dragon.
John stood calmly in the center of the clearing.
His wings remained half folded behind him, their enormous span casting a shadow that stretched across the broken battlefield. His scales shimred faintly beneath the sunlight that filtered through the damaged canopy above.
He looked relaxed.
Too relaxed.
His tail moved slowly across the ground behind him, stirring leaves and dust with each lazy sweep.
John stared at the approaching monster.
"...Tier-7," he repeated quietly.
The creature roared again.
This ti the roar was louder.
More violent.
The sound shook the forest itself.
John tilted his head slightly as he studied it.
"Big," he said simply.
Behind him, several elves exchanged confused looks.
That was the dragon’s reaction?
Big?
The monster suddenly charged.
Its massive body surged forward like a living avalanche. Each step shattered the ground beneath its weight as it rushed across the clearing toward the dragon standing in its path.
The speed of the charge was terrifying.
Even wounded, the elves could see that none of them would have been able to avoid it.
The creature lunged.
Its claws swung downward with devastating force.
The ground exploded where the strike landed.
But the dragon was no longer there.
The elves blinked.
One mont John had been standing directly in front of the monster—
The next mont he was several ters away.
The Tier-7 creature froze, confused by the sudden disappearance of its target.
John had simply stepped aside.
He landed lightly on the edge of the clearing, his claws barely disturbing the soil beneath his weight.
He glanced back at the monster.
"That’s it?" he asked casually.
Behind him, the elves stared in stunned silence.
The monster roared again, anger flooding its voice.
It spun around and charged once more.
This ti the creature attacked with both claws, swinging them toward the dragon with enough force to tear apart the trees behind him.
John didn’t dodge imdiately.
Instead, he waited until the claws were almost upon him.
Then he moved.
To the elves watching, the dragon seed to blur.
One instant he stood directly beneath the descending claws.
The next instant he had slipped between them.
The monster’s attack struck nothing but air.
Its claws slamd into the earth with explosive force.
Before the creature could recover—
John’s tail whipped through the air.
The strike landed across the monster’s side like a battering ram.
The impact echoed through the clearing with a thunderous crack.
The Tier-7 creature was hurled sideways.
Its enormous body smashed through two trees before crashing into the ground in a storm of broken branches and flying dirt.
The elves stared.
One of them whispered softly.
"Did... did you see that?"
Another warrior nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"He didn’t even try."
The monster roared furiously as it struggled back to its feet.
Blood ran from the side of its mouth now where the dragon’s tail had struck. Its breathing had grown heavier, though the creature’s eyes burned with even greater fury than before.
John watched it calmly.
He stretched one wing lazily.
"You’re durable," he admitted.
The monster roared again and charged.
This ti John stepped forward to et it.
Their bodies collided in the center of the clearing.
The monster’s claws slamd against John’s chest.
The sound was like steel crashing into solid rock.
The claws scraped across the dragon’s scales but failed to pierce them.
The monster froze.
John looked down at the claws pressing against his scales.
Then he raised one eyebrow.
"...You done?"
The elves behind him stared in disbelief.
The monster pulled its claws back and roared again.
John moved.
His claw struck the creature’s jaw with explosive force.
The impact snapped the monster’s head sideways and sent blood spraying across the ground.
Before the creature could recover, John grabbed its forelimb with his jaws.
Bone shattered instantly.
The sound of it breaking echoed sharply through the clearing.
The monster scread as the dragon lifted its massive body into the air.
For a mont, the Tier-7 creature dangled helplessly in John’s jaws.
Its claws thrashed uselessly against the dragon’s scales.
John tilted his head.
Then he flung the monster across the clearing.
The creature crashed into the forest wall like a thrown boulder, shattering three trees before slamming into the ground.
Dust and leaves filled the air.
The elves stared.
One of the younger warriors lowered his sword slowly.
"This... this is impossible," he whispered.
The elf leader shook his head slowly.
"No."
He kept his eyes fixed on the dragon.
"This is what dragons were always ant to be."
Across the clearing, the monster struggled to stand again.
Its breathing had beco ragged now.
One of its forelimbs hung uselessly where the bone had been crushed.
Still it roared.
Still it charged.
John sighed.
"You’re stubborn," he muttered.
The monster lunged forward.
This ti John ended it.
His wings spread wide, sending a powerful gust of wind tearing across the clearing.
Then he moved.
The dragon leapt forward with explosive speed.
His claws struck the monster’s chest.
The blow pierced through the creature’s armored hide as if it were thin bark.
The monster froze.
John lifted it into the air.
The Tier-7 creature struggled weakly in his grasp, its claws scraping uselessly against scales that might as well have been stone.
John looked directly into the creature’s glowing eyes.
"Too slow."
Then he slamd it into the ground.
The impact cracked the earth.
Dust erupted into the air.
When the dust settled, the monster lay motionless.
Dead.
The clearing fell silent.
For several long monts, no one moved.
The elves stared at the dragon standing over the fallen Tier-7 creature.
Finally, the elf leader stepped forward slowly.
His spear lowered slightly as he approached.
"In all the histories of our people," he said carefully, "dragons were described as forces of nature."
He looked around at the shattered clearing.
"I always believed those stories were exaggerated."
John glanced toward him.
The elf t his gaze without flinching.
"But now..." the elf continued quietly, "I see that they were not."
John shrugged.
"It wasn’t much of a fight."
Several elves stared at him.
The leader actually laughed.
The sound was quiet and tired, but genuine.
"For us," he said, "that monster would have destroyed our entire village."
John looked toward the deeper forest beyond the clearing.
Sothing in his expression changed.
The casual boredom faded slightly.
The dragon’s eyes narrowed.
He could feel it.
Sothing deeper in the forest had stirred.
Sothing much larger.
Much stronger.
And it was moving.
The elf leader noticed imdiately.
"Dragon," he said carefully.
John didn’t respond.
His gaze remained fixed on the dark forest.
The leader followed his gaze.
"What is it?" he asked.
John spoke quietly.
"That thing wasn’t the real problem."
The elves stiffened.
The leader’s grip tightened around his spear.
"What do you an?"
John finally turned his head slightly.
"There’s sothing else out there."
The wind shifted.
Then the forest trembled.
A distant roar echoed across the trees.
The sound was deeper.
Far more powerful.
The ground beneath their feet vibrated faintly.
One of the elves whispered.
"That... that can’t be..."
The dragon flexed his claws slowly.
A faint smile appeared across his face.
"Well," John said calmly.
"This forest just got interesting."
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