The Last Resort

-----

Crack… crack!

CRASH!

Everything around Sylph's soul began to shatter as the System flew around desperately, trying to evade the large sharp pieces of soul falling from the ceiling of Sylph's Soul Scape.

"S-Sylph… Stop using so much mana… y-you're… you're going to die!"

The System felt completely powerless right now. She couldn't do anything for Sylph throughout all this. Her power was only confined to the status and her skills. Plus, due to the countless glitches, she couldn't even interfere and aid her.

She carried Naturia above her body, which resembled a glowing orb of white light. Currently, Naturia was weakened and in a coma. No matter how many times she tried to wake her up, she wouldn't. The little spirit had done everything it possibly could to help Sylph but ended up exhausted as well. If she were to use more of her power, she would also die.

"That monster is so strong… Sylph's parents are not showing up… is everything… is it really going to end here?!"

The System began to despair. She had forged a strong bond with Sylph all this time, to the point she saw her as her only family and her beloved sister. She had been healed greatly from her mental trauma as a glitched and wrongly made being by Sylph's words every night, slowly and tenderly healing her broken mind.

"No… there must be some way… surely…"

She quickly tried to exert her powers in every way possible. However, only sharp pain encompassed her being. Because of that, the glitches suddenly became even worse, even feeling paralyzed for several seconds.

"Ungh… why…? Why am I such a failed being…? I… ah!"

At this moment, the System suddenly noticed the large bubble floating in the sky, filled with flames. This bubble was also being bombarded with sharp glass-like fragments of soul, slowly tearing it apart.

"T-That's where Ignatius is!"

Seeing the bubble, the System flew towards the grumpy dragon's soul as she saw him evading the sharp soul fragments, completely confused as to what might be going on outside.

"W-What's happening? Sylph's soul… is it shattering?! No… t-there's no way… Where are her useless parents?!" he roared, also feeling despair.

Despite how he acted and how much he hated humans, throughout the past three years of doing mock battles with Sylph, he slowly softened up to Sylph. Without any other way and any other person to speak, he began to slowly forge a bond of love and hate towards her.

Despite how he reluctantly decided to never help her, at this moment, he began to despair. Thinking about her friend dying as her soul was shattered made him extremely desperate. That was especially so because his soul would also be destroyed as it was "merged" with hers.

The System flew towards the bubble where Ignatius was, calling for his help.

"You! The dragon! Help Sylph out! S-She's dying, you know?! If she dies, you'll die too!" the System told him.

"Y-You? …Help her? But… I…" Ignatius muttered.

"How can you even think twice after all this time?! Sylph has been trying to be friends with you this whole time! You know that she's not at fault of your soul being trapped here? It's… my fault! Don't blame her for it! Blame me!" the System exclaimed; her tone desperate.

"T-This…"

"I hate to admit it because I don't really like your attitude, but you're the last resort I have… go out… and help her out… please…!" the System begged once more.

"…"

-----

Leviathan died a sorrowful death as he was crushed, his last words screaming for Aquarina. At this point, I really don't know what to say, but I felt bad for this. He had probably been protecting her this whole time, only to end up dying at the end.

With Leviathan dead, Aquarina's entire body fell to the floor after he died. She was completely knocked out…

Is everything… over now?

The massive specter approached us quickly. In a split-second, his gigantic claws approached me.

"You're the strangest thing I've seen in all my life. Despite your body already torn apart, you're still hanging on?! This soul… you somehow have it stuck on your corpse… yet you're not an Undead… what a bizarre ability. Don't worry, you're going to die now. Maybe you can't die physically… but your soul is already quite shattered…" he said with a malicious cackle, his claws extending towards my soul.

However…

FLASH!

An explosion of flames quickly emerged from my soul. However, these were not my own flames.

A draconic presence emerged from my entire soul, flashing with vast amounts of blazing power.

"W-What? Dragon flames? Agh!"

Hell suddenly retreated back in an instant. At this moment, I realized that the flames that came from my soul were from no one else than him, the annoying dragon that never let me make him my familiar.

To think he showed up at the very last moment… this feels… rather ironic.

"Sorry for the wait…" he apologized.

Soon, a massive amount of flames emerged from my soul, transforming into a gigantic red dragon.

The mana flowing into him was mine, but somehow, the pressure on my soul was minimal.

Realizing this, I noticed that the System was doing something outrageous, using her own body as the conductor of mana, taking all the pressure herself. Her entire body was gaining even more glitches due to this pressure. On top of that, she was also groaning in agony…

But she wasn't stopping.

She's… doing this for me? Even if it hurts so much?

With the nigh endless amount of mana flowing into Ignatius, his body continued to grow bigger and bigger as he immediately flew towards Hell. Soon, the two began to fight each other.

"A-A dragon?! From where did you come from?! Wait! Are you her familiar?! Does the Dragon King know about your treason?!" Hell roared.

"I-I don't care anymore! ROOOAAR!"

Ignatius merely answered Hell's darkness-filled blows with loud roars, bites, slashes, and powerful breath attacks, bathing the enormous skeleton with all the deadly flames he possibly could. With that, the entire battlefield suddenly turned into an immense inferno. Surprisingly, these flames didn't hurt us, but instead protected us.

"Another traitor! Fine! More of the same, then! You'll die a pitiful death just like that sea snake!" Hell roared, pushing forward with great fervor.

"Don't compare a dragon with a sea snake! I'll show you the true might of the son of the Dragon King!!!" Ignatius roared in response.

BOOM!

-----