18 Ember and Ash

Ignis roared in agony—It didn't expect this puny creature to be able to deal so much damage to him. It twisted its massive body in a struggle to dislodge the embedded blade.

Lucian gripped tightly onto the blade, twisting it slightly before pulling it out. 

Somersaulting backwards, he created distance between themselves, while the dragon hit its limb into a pillar, shattering it into pieces. It roared in anger as its eyes locked into Lucian again.

It flew up, where it had complete dominance. It had seen the danger in that attack, and he wouldn't give the human any chance to replicate it.

Flapping its wings, it circled around Lucian, firing condensed balls of flames at him at regular intervals.

Lucian leapt up, dodging one, before diving forward, running across the room, using some of the pillars as covers.

Ignis flapped its wings, its eyes darting around the area, waiting for the dust and smoke to settle down.

Lucian crouched behind a pillar, cloaked in the Dragon's veil. He even slowed down his breathing if that would add a layer to his camouflage. 

Ignis looked around for a moment, before snorting in annoyance. It had eradicated the pesky fly. It was now time to head back and continue its rest.

Peeking from the side of the pole, Lucian noticed that it seemed to have given up. Slowly, he stood up, keeping an eye on Ignis till he turned around.

The moment it turned backward; Lucian shot out from behind the pillar at top speed. He ran up, jumping from one pillar to another as he reached higher and higher. He leapt up, releasing the Dragon's Veil as he did.

Ignis paused and turned back, roaring in anger, he clawed towards Lucian's head.

But that was exactly what Lucian wanted, he twisted his body to the side, avoiding most of the claws.

The last claw, though, caught him squarely in the arm, slicing through his left arm. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed back the scream that threatened to burst out of his mouth.

>>HP: -50<<

>>Time left: 1:09<<

He summoned Saphira from the pet space immediately as he slowly free-falled. Saphira burst out of nowhere and swooped downwards, latching onto his collar with her claws and pulled him upwards with all her strength.

Getting back to eye level with Ignis, Saphira let him go as instructed and he leapt right towards Ignis's eyes.

Time seemed to slow down for all of them as Lucian slowly inched towards his eyes. He activated the passive of the Dragon-bone sword and Crystal Talon at the same time.

Landing on the dragon's forehead, he stabilized himself and pulled both hands backwards, summoning the Crystal Talon in his right hand. With a shout, he brought down all the power he could muster, smashing the blade into the dragon's eye.

Blood spurted out like a fountain. Ignis roared, a sound that shook the very foundations of the chamber. It furiously thrashed about, it seemed like the eye was the weakest part of it body, seems it had no scales protecting that area.

>>Time: 0:57<<

Taking one look at the clock, he knew he couldn't afford to waste even a second. He twisted the blade in, pulled it out and slammed it in again.

> -45,700

>HP: 404,300

He left the blade in there and jumped backwards while Saphira caught him, taking all her strength to hold in place. Putting his two hands together, he condensed a massive ball of fire before immediately shooting it towards the injury he inflicted on its eye.

*BOOM*

> -120,000

The eye exploded immediately dealing critical damage and causing it to plummet to the ground immediately. Lucian recalled Saphira into the pet space as he dived downwards, landing on top of the dragon in mid-air.

As the dragon fell, he pulled the blade out and properly positioned himself before stabbing into its head. As the dragon landed, the extra force and gravity combined with his strength forced the entire length of the blade completely into its head.

A brief silence covered the entire chamber. 

>Time: 0:05

>You have slain Ignis: The Molten Heart

...