Chapter 302: A Hunger

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--- Mild Gore and Brutality Warning ---

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Mid Evening - Mid Winter : Atlas, Bahamut

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*Rrrrrumble* The deep rumble of a fireball over a kilometer wide, reaching temperatures rivaling the center of a burning star, surrounded me in an instant; the roar of the blazing plasma blotting out the noises of my surroundings and its blinding light rendering my vision useless.

Yet, while most dragons wouldn't even be able to react before the blaze melted their scales and incinerated their flesh, I felt as if a layer of frost had formed around me. -Of all the people you could have mimicked...- Slowly looking up into the sky, I could somehow feel the gaze of a being in the distance. -You must have a death wish.-

*vwoop* Encompassing myself in a gate, I threw myself through the void before returning with a pocket of antimatter and hydrogen swirling in my breath gland.

*vwoop* The instant I returned, I was almost a dozen kilometers in the air over the academy, right behind a cloudy, feminine figure.

A god. -Had you not been so shameless, I might have given you a chance.-

Opening my mouth before the gate could dissipate, a deep black cloud finally showed itself. A breath of the void so dense that the universe's most violent reaction wasn't even visible until it had already consumed the sky. *crackle-BRRRRRRM*

In an instant, the bright blue sky, lit by the momentary creation of a star, was consumed by the void in an unfathomable mass of darkness before releasing a flash of light so violent that it was visible nearly a thousand kilometers away.

But somehow, although I couldn't describe how I could feel it, her faint presence had yet to vanish. -Where is she...-

Trying to heighten that odd sensation, I completely relinquished control of my aura and stripped the rest of my senses down to their most basic forms. *VWOOOM* And sure enough, I found her almost instantly. -There you are!- Looking past my unfurled wings, I met eyes with a young woman, still somewhat mimicking Mother's figure.

She disappeared before I could even react, and simultaneously, my senses started to blur as if they were contaminated by noise.

But now I had a new sense I could follow. -Trying to run?!-

Chasing after the presence, I hurled myself through the void before reappearing over a vast ocean.

But this time, the instant the gate began dissipating, I felt a sudden pressure followed by a searing pain in my neck and was launched to the ground.

*SPLA-CRRACK* I hit the water like a rocky mountaintop, turning its surface into a field of ice before shattering and vaporizing it simultaneously.

-Tch...- Quickly regaining control of my aura, I instantly noticed the huge gash exposing a cracked vertebrae at the base of my neck.

It was a very shallow wound, especially if I could treat it immediately.

But unfortunately, I wasn't even given time to breathe.

*ZIP-CRACK* Barely managing to react in time, I jolted my head to the side and narrowly dodged a small object traveling faster than I could even calculate. -WHAT THE FUCK?!- *crackle*

*sizzle-BANG* Creating and using antimatter as fast as I could, I launched myself out from beneath the blast of air, plunging the area into the depths before looking up at the goddess with dilated pupils. "You should have run when you had the chance."

*vwoop* Disappearing into the void, I did a few prompt repairs on my neck before exiting the void several kilometers above where I was. -I won't give you time to breathe anymore.-

*vwoop* The instant the gate stopped expanding, I forcefully dissipated the gate and opened my mouth. *sizzle-crackle*

But before the reaction could even start, she disappeared. -Shit, she's fast...- And before I could even find where she moved to, my instincts threw me to the side. *ZIP-crackle* Although it just grazed me, it blew off my scales and flesh like it was made of jelly before turning it all into a dark, bloody mist.

"Ack..." Wincing slightly, my thoughts sped up several-fold. -She's too fast for me... I need to either slow her down.. or...- Looking up at her, I saw her creating a miniature black lance, and when I looked down, I saw that there was still only one impact on the surface of the water. -To reuse divinity like that... Is that how she's using it without a tether?-

By the time I looked back up, the lance was already finished, and she had her arm outstretched with the lance floating just beyond her fingertips.

From there, all it took was a wave of her fingers. *ZIP-FWOOOSH* It reached me almost instantly, passing through a kilometer of aura before I could even consider intercepting it.

But I already knew where it would land.

*CRACKLE* Shredding the fabric of space just over the base of my wing, I tried to catch and rip apart the lance, but the moment before it hit, it froze in place.

-Tch...-

Taking my chances, I moved the nearly half a kilogram of antimatter out of my breath gland and into my mouth before pulling up and facing it toward her. *crackle-BAAAAANG*

The explosion engulfed the vast sky like a cup of ink in an aquarium, except it spread at the speed of light. The supposed speed limit of the universe.

Yet as if expressly to defy it, before I could even recognize where her presence went, I felt a searing pain in my abdomen, and I looked down to see a massive gash, just below my reserve, with the goddess swinging the tip of a massive lance like a sword.

It almost felt like time had slowed down as she swung it, but as it finished slicing through my flesh, she pulled it around and smiled at me with a crazed expression. "~What an odd place to have your mana core!~"

My mind froze. Although I had time to try and catch her in a gate, I knew if I tried, she would simply move to a new spot and do the same thing. -I need to brace my reserve...-

If I could withstand the hit from this close, there was not only a chance to destroy the lance, but also a moment where she may be slowed enough for me to catch her, if only for an instant. -But you can only fight divinity with divinity...-

Without the time to think, I tightly gripped the fabric of space around my reserve and created the strongest pressure wave I could, completely dwarfing what I used in Siratha.

But as I did it, the sudden memory of Ilios swirling my mana came to mind, and my body instinctually mimicked it.

*vwowo-wwom-VWOWOOOM* The next thing I knew, pain ripped through my body, quickly spreading from my reserve to my head, but rather than stopping, I swirled my mana faster and faster.

Eventually, the pain and immense pressure I felt all disappeared simultaneously.

The mana in my reserve spun like a nuclear reactor, but now there was something other than mana at its center.

Liquid divinity.

"W..what..."

My body instantly became heavy and stiff, and it felt as if I could walk on air, but as I looked down at the goddess, I saw her frozen in place. "Hooh..." I stared at her like a predator that caught prey in a corner, with a dark black fog leaking from my mouth like the breath of a wolf.

"N..no... This isn't possible..." Her voice quivered with fear, and her face was drained of any semblance of confidence.

I had no idea what I had done at the time, nor did I care. All I knew was that I didn't have time to waste. *crackle*

Her eyes instantly widened. "W-W-W-WAIT! I DIDN'T KNOW! I SWEAR! LORD NOTT, PLEASE! I DIDN'T DO IT-"

*vwoom-BRRRRMMMM* Detonating half a kilogram of antimatter laced with space mana right in front of her face, her final plea was abruptly cut short, and the crackling of the fabric of space trying to repair itself filled the air.

"Hooh..." Letting out a deep breath, the mana violently swirling in my reserve began to slow, and the liquid divinity finally crystallized and spread through my body. "Ack..." Gritting my teeth through the pain for a moment, it eventually subsided, and with it, time started to move again. My body felt lighter, and the air started to move again. 

*FLASH* -There it is...- Glancing away from the seemingly delayed flash, I took a moment to clean up the gashes around my body, stopping the bleeding and closing the wound wherever there wasn't too much flesh missing, but most of the repairs were needless, as thin fibers of muscle had already started growing out to fill the gaps. -The scales might take a day or so.. but I should be able to go back and rest now...-

With my head spinning and a wave of nausea washing over me, I just wanted to go back and rest. The academy was destroyed, and the goddess who tried to intervene was dead. All that was left was to meet with Poniriá and see if there was anything else I needed to do.

At least, that's what I thought. 

*vwoop* Momentarily hopping through the void, I reappeared in the skies over Atlas, inside a tall, dark cloud.

But when I descended toward the ground, expecting to find a field of molten rock, a voice amplified by magic met my ears.

"Citizens of Atlas! How can we stand by in the face of such brazen actions?" Poniriá's voice rang out, passion and fury evident in her tone.

-Ah, she already started her speech?-

"To think those dogs known as the Ancient Fenrir would attempt to destroy our city!"

I froze instantly. 

"Thank heavens for our valiant professors, the very pillars of Atlas, stood tall and defended our legacy!" Poniriá continued, "Their bravery has saved the beacon of draconic knowledge, still standing tall just as it did after the Great War!"

Her words met my mind like a spark meets lighter fluid.

"Our city, our traditions, and our future generations depend on our unity and resilience. We cannot let these threats deter us from our path forward. Let us come together and unite in the face of adversity! The Chalastís family will lead this revolution from the front! We will be at the forefront of guiding Bahamut to a brighter fu-"

*BAAANG* Clearing out the clouds with antimatter, I found myself over the central spire of the academy, its roof only partially melted, with Poniriá wrapping herself around it.

My stare was cold, and the air around me was even colder. -So it wasn't just a rouge goddess taking advantage of the situation...-

Her silence following the clouds clearing spoke a thousand words, but eventually, she looked up at me. "Look who it is! The culprit! The dragon who-" *WHAM-CRACKLE-CRUUUNCH*

Not giving her a chance to run her mouth, I drove her through the roof of the spire and through almost a dozen floors before suddenly stopping in the spire's central pillar.

My claws sliced through her scales and broke through her ribs with ease. *CRACKLE* 

But rather than wincing, she smiled. "I must truly commend your strength. It's no wonder the Fenrir made you their apostle," Her eyes widened with craze, "but this time, you are out of your league."

*FWIP-CRRRRACK* Jolting my head to the side, a second cloudy figure, this time with the figure of a man, zipped past me, gouging the edge of Poniriá's neck and destroying a colossal section of the academy's spire in a single swift attack. *CRUMBLE*

It was an attack on par with Tyr, and as the spire started to collapse, several full-size ancients exposed themselves and stared at me like a pack of hungry wolves.

It was the professors, but somehow, rather than feeling like prey, I felt like a predator. I felt hungry.