Adam’s jaws opened wide, and flames erupted from his throat—a wild, raging torrent that consumed everything in its path. Fire Breath, amplified by his Ouroboros Progenitor form, turned the air to plasma. The cobblestones beneath him melted, running like rivers of molten glass. Buildings that had survived the earlier battles crumbled, their wooden beams igniting, their stone facades cracking under the heat.

Croft’s massive ice dragon form recoiled. The frost coating his scales hissed and evaporated, steam rising in thick clouds that obscured the battlefield. He raised a clawed hand, summoning a wall of ice, but Adam’s flames bored through it like paper. The ice melted, then vaporized, and the fire struck Croft’s chest.

The dragon roared—a sound of pain and fury. Blackened blood seeped from cracks in his scales.

But he didn’t fall.

His jaws parted, and a beam of pale blue light shot toward Adam’s chest. [Cryo Singularity]. The cold struck Adam’s flames, and for a moment, they warred—fire against ice, heat against cold. Steam exploded between them, obscuring the street, the buildings, the sky.

Adam pressed forward, his flames intensifying. But the cold was spreading, creeping along his scales, slowing his movements.

Croft’s voice rumbled across the battlefield, distorted by his draconic form.

"You’re weakening, serpent. Your regeneration can’t keep up."

Adam’s internal voice was sharp, assessing.

’He’s right. I’m running on fumes.’

[Shadow Lance] .

A spear of condensed darkness materialized above Adam’s back, between his wing joints. It shot toward Croft’s chest, trailing shadow.

Croft raised a clawed hand. Ice erupted from his palm, forming a barrier that the lance struck. The ice cracked but held.

Croft’s lips, hidden beneath his draconic snout, curled into a cold smile.

"Is that all you have left?"

Adam’s mental voice brushed against Ignis’s mind, urgent and sharp.

’Ignis. I need your strength. Let me use Crimson Siphon on you.’

Ignis’s mental voice came back, fierce and defiant.

’What?! No! I want to fight too!’

’He’s too strong. We need to combine our power.’

’Then let me fight beside you! Not just... feed you like some battery!’

Adam’s mental voice softened, just a fraction.

’I’m not asking you to be a battery. I’m asking you to trust me. Let me carry us both. I’ll finish him.’

Ignis’s flames flickered. Her golden eyes, fixed on Adam’s serpentine form, blazed with frustration.

’No. I don’t want to. I want to fight him.’

’Ignis—’

’I’m a dragon too! I won’t just stand by while you do everything!’

Adam’s mental voice fell silent.

The ice dragon’s claw swept toward Ignis. She leaped, flames erupting from her palms, propelling her out of range. The claw struck the ground where she had been standing—stone shattering, ice spreading.

Ignis landed in a crouch, her golden eyes fixed on Croft’s massive form.

"I’m not hiding, Adam." Her voice was fierce, unwavering. "I’m fighting. With you. Not behind you."

Adam watched her—her flames blazing, her scales gleaming, her eyes burning with the same fire that had carried them through dungeons, through battles, through impossible odds.

His mental voice came back, quiet.

’Fine. Then you take point. I’ll hold him. You finish him.’

Ignis’s lips curved into a fierce grin.

"Let’s do it."

She launched herself at Croft, flames wreathing her body, her claws extended. The ice dragon’s tail swept toward her, but she twisted, dodging, and drove her claws into his flank.

[Dragon’s Will: Solar Claw] .

Her claws blazed with solar fire, digging deeper into Croft’s flesh. The dragon roared, twisting, trying to shake her off. She held on, her flames melting his scales, burning through his hide.

Adam circled behind them, his serpentine form coiling, waiting. His regeneration was still working, but slowly. His left arm remained a stump of half-formed flesh. His wings, though healing, were still tattered.

His mental voice brushed against Ignis’s mind.

’I’m in position. When you’re ready, drive him toward me.’

Ignis’s response came back, fierce and eager.

’Got it.’

She released Croft’s flank, dropping to the ground. The ice dragon spun, his jaws opening, frost gathering in his throat.

Ignis raised her hands.

"[Solar Flare]!"

A beam of concentrated light and heat shot toward Croft’s face.

He recoiled, the blast searing his snout, and staggered back.

Right toward Adam.

Adam’s jaws opened. Dark energy gathered in his throat—shadow and void, condensing into a sphere that pulsed with barely contained devastation. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"[Cataclysm Tempest]!"

The vortex of shadow and storm exploded from his mouth, tearing through the air, tearing through the ice dragon’s defenses. It struck Croft’s back, and he roared, stumbling forward.

Ignis met him head-on.

Her fist, wreathed in solar fire, slammed into his chest.

"[Dragon’s Will: Solar Impact]!"

The blow drove through his scales, through his flesh, through his ribs. Croft’s eyes bulged. Blood sprayed from his mouth. He staggered, his massive form swaying.

Adam’s tail lashed out, wrapping around Croft’s throat and pulling him off balance. The ice dragon crashed to the ground, the impact shaking the city.

Ignis landed on his chest, her claws digging into his scales, her flames blazing.

"Yield."

Croft’s pale reptilian eyes, dimming, fixed on her.

"...Don’t want to."

His jaws opened. Frost gathered in his throat.

Ignis raised her hand.

"[Solar Lance]."

The beam of concentrated light shot into his open mouth.

The explosion was massive. Light erupted from Croft’s throat, from his eyes, from the cracks in his scales. His body convulsed—the ice that had coated him shattering, melting, evaporating.

Croft’s body convulsed, scales cracking, blackened blood seeping from a dozen wounds. His wings, once majestic, were shredded, hanging in tatters. But he did not fall. His pale reptilian eyes, dimmed but not extinguished, fixed on Ignis with undying hatred.

"Did you think... that would be enough?" His voice emerged as a rasp, each word a struggle.

His claws shot forward.

Ignis’s eyes widened. She tried to dodge, but Croft was faster. The talons raked across her chest, carving deep furrows through her scales. Blood sprayed, hot and immediate. Ignis screamed, stumbling back, her flames flickering wildly.

"IGNIS!"

Adam’s roar tore through the chaos. His serpentine body surged forward, but he was too far, too slow. The ice dragon’s tail swept toward him, forcing him back.

Croft rose. His body, broken and bleeding, somehow found the strength to stand. Frost gathered around his wounds, crystallizing, sealing the cracks. The ice that had coated his scales thickened, darkened, turning from pale blue to something deeper, something colder.

"You want to see true power?" Croft’s voice deepened, resonating with ancient, borrowed authority. "Then witness the end."

He raised his clawed hands, and the air around him grew still. The hail that had been falling ceased. The wind died. The very temperature seemed to drop, the cold pressing against Adam’s scales like a physical weight.

"[Frozen Apocalypse]!"

The ice did not explode outward. It contracted.

It gathered around Croft’s form, compressing, tightening, until he was encased in a shell of crystalline frost. The shell pulsed, once, twice, then shattered.

Croft emerged.

His body was smaller now, more compact, but the power radiating from him was denser, more focused. His scales gleamed with an inner light, and his eyes burned with cold, ancient fire.

[Skill Evolution: Frozen Apocalypse → Eternal Winter’s Embrace]

[Effect: The user’s ice becomes absolute. It cannot be melted by conventional flames. It freezes not just the body, but the soul.]

Adam’s blood ran cold. ’He’s not just getting stronger. He’s evolving.’

Croft raised a clawed hand, and frost gathered around his palm. He thrust it forward.

"[Eternal Winter’s Embrace]!"

A beam of pale blue light shot toward Ignis.

Ignis tried to raise her flames, but the cold was already spreading, seeping into her scales, slowing her movements. The beam struck her chest, and ice exploded across her form. It froze her wings, her arms, her torso. She gasped, the cold stealing her breath, and her flames guttered out.

She fell.

Adam caught her before she hit the ground, his serpentine body coiling around her, absorbing the impact.

"Ignis! Ignis, can you hear me?!"

Her eyes fluttered. Frost clung to her lashes. Her lips moved, but no sound emerged.

Adam’s mental voice was a snarl of fury.

’She’s still alive.’

He laid her gently on the stone, his scales brushing against her frozen form. Then he turned.

His wings spread wide, tattered but still functional. Dark energy gathered around his claws, around his fangs, around his very being.

"You want to kill us?" His voice was low, cold, resonant. "Then kill me first."

He lunged.

Croft’s ice met him head-on. Waves of frost crashed against Adam’s scales, slowing him, freezing him, but he pressed forward. His claws raked across Croft’s chest. His tail lashed out, striking the ice dragon’s flank. His fangs sank into Croft’s shoulder, venom flooding the wound.

But Croft did not fall.

His claws carved deep furrows across Adam’s back. His tail slammed into Adam’s side, sending him crashing into a building. The structure crumbled, burying him in rubble.

Adam pushed himself up, shaking debris from his wings.

’He’s still standing. Why won’t he die?’

He lunged again.

[Monarch’s Pierce].

His fist, wreathed in dark energy, slammed into Croft’s chest. The ice dragon’s scales cracked. Blood sprayed. Croft staggered, his form flickering.

"Die, old man," Adam snarled.

He pressed the attack, his fists hammering against Croft’s guard. Each strike drove the ice dragon back. Each blow cracked more scales, drew more blood.

[Abyssal Pierce].

His claws tore through Croft’s shoulder, through flesh, through bone. The ice dragon roared, thrashing, trying to shake him off.

Adam held on.

"Die. Die. DIE!"

[Cataclysm Tempest].

The vortex of shadow and storm exploded from his palms, striking Croft’s chest at point-blank range. The ice dragon flew backward, crashing through a building, through another, through a third.

Adam stood in the center of the destruction, his chest heaving, his scales smoking.