The World Is Mine For The Taking

Leon’s POV

The battle between me and the Great Darkness had dragged on for hours, stretching my endurance further than it had ever gone before. Every muscle in my body burned, my limbs quaked from exhaustion, and my breaths came in short, ragged gasps. Meanwhile, my opponent—a colossal dragon in human form—seemed untouched, unfazed, as if this grueling fight was nothing but an idle exercise. Not a single bead of sweat marred its scales. Hell, it barely looked like it was trying.

Even though I had little hope of victory, a grin spread across my face. For the first time, I was truly feeling the thrill of combat. This world had blessed me with a cheat skill so overwhelming that I’d plowed through most enemies without breaking a sweat. But now, I was on the losing side, barely making a dent. I was fighting a battle I couldn’t win. And yet, instead of fear, what I felt was exhilaration. For once, I was truly alive.

"Thou art strong… for a mortal," the dragon rumbled, his gaze cast down upon me, sizing me up with a smirk in his golden eyes. "Ne’er did I expect a mere human to endure so, to survive this long against mine own strength. But thou art spent, art thou not? Thy muscles do scream beneath mine onslaught. Thy barrier fares little better."

He was right. Guardian, my once-impenetrable shield, had been smashed repeatedly, barely holding up under his relentless attacks. It softened the blows, yes, but it had a limit I’d only now begun to understand. Guardian wouldn’t make me immortal—it wouldn’t save me forever.

"Why dost thou persist in this fool’s struggle, mortal, when thou art so close to death’s embrace?" he sneered, his voice a thunderclap laced with disdain. "What dost thou fight for? Women? This world itself? I could cast thee unto another realm, grant thee dominion there to gather more wenches, shouldst thou desire. Why dost thou cling to this world so stubbornly?"

A hundred answers buzzed in my mind, but only one mattered. That’s right. The women I loved. Truthfully, I could go elsewhere. I could build another company, gather new allies. But it wasn’t about the victories I’d gained or the power I’d accumulated. It was about the women I’d come to love here, the ones who’d shared in my journey.

In this dragon’s promised world, there’d be no Amon. No Gabrielle. No Titania or Trill. No Erica and the Starry Knights. No Sandra and her Shadows. No Elise. All the women who’d given me their trust and affection, who fought alongside me, who did their best for me. As much as I hated to admit it, even Shredica was irreplaceable.

In that other world, they wouldn’t exist. The bonds we’d forged, the affection we’d kindled, the passion they’d shown for me, and the lengths they’d go for me—it was all irreplaceable.

"As I said," I rasped, straightening up, "this world is mine. And I won’t let you take it from me."

This was the world I intended to rule. No force, neither from the heavens nor the shadows, would take it from me. This world is mine for the taking.

"You mortals art indeed stubborn," the dragon sighed, his voice carrying a deep rumble that seemed to shake the air itself. With that, he dashed toward me, moving with an impossibly swift grace that defied the massive bulk of his form. Under any ordinary laws, something so large shouldn’t move that fast. Yet here he was, a blur of shadow and scales bearing down on me with deadly speed.

I moved as quickly as I could, dodging where possible, and, when I couldn’t avoid him, redirecting or blocking each blow. Every strike missed me by mere inches, but each one I barely evaded left me a little slower, a little more worn. It felt like an endless, uphill battle, one I had no hope of winning. I threw everything I had at him—every skill, every creation from Spell Creation—but nothing I did left so much as a scratch on that hardened hide. I might as well have been trying to move a mountain with my bare hands.

"If this is all ye can muster, then thy defeat is assured," he mocked, his golden eyes gleaming. "If thou wouldst protect this realm from me, show me something worthy! Surprise me, mortal!" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But how could I surprise him? Even my strongest strikes couldn’t pierce his scales, barely even scraping the surface. It was as if every weapon I wielded, every ounce of strength I poured into each swing, met only an unyielding wall. This was a losing battle—my sword, though it had carried me this far, couldn’t endure much more of the dragon’s raw power. Each impact rattled my arms, and even Guardian wasn’t enough to fully counter his blows.

Then came the mistake—just one misstep, but that was all it took. My foot slipped, my balance faltered, and in that split second, my focus shattered. I couldn’t brace myself in time, and the dragon’s massive fist slammed into my gut. I tried to shield myself with Guardian, but it didn’t even soften the blow. His scaled fist drove into me with full force, and I felt the breath explode from my lungs, the impact reverberating through every nerve and bone.

The force of his punch launched me like a ragdoll, the world spinning in a blur around me until I finally collided with a wall, the stone shattering under the impact. Guardian had mitigated the worst of it, but pain tore through my body regardless.

I struggled to breathe, tasting the metallic tang of blood rising in my throat before I doubled over and vomited it onto the ground. The punch had done real damage—my ribs screamed with every shallow breath, some likely cracked or broken. My organs felt bruised, battered, as if the dragon’s fist had shaken me from the inside out.

"Pitiful," the dragon’s voice thundered as he advanced, each of his steps reverberating through the earth beneath me. "I had thought thee capable, that perhaps thou couldst manage a scratch upon me! Yet thou hast naught to show for all thy bluster. How dost thou proclaim to rule this world, to claim it as thine own, when this—" he gestured contemptuously at my battered form "—is all thou canst muster?"

I tried to push myself up, but my legs wobbled, feeling weak and unsteady, like the legs of a newborn fawn struggling for its first steps. They trembled under the weight of my own battered body. Was this it? Was I really going to be defeated here, at the edge of my limits, with nothing left to give?

"Dost thou desire mine aid?" echoed a voice from deep within me, a voice layered with an ancient authority, like the one belonging to the dragon towering before me. I realized at once who it was—Lilith, the dragon who had given me this body as a vessel, binding her own fate to mine. "Thine body suffers, teetering on the brink. I have no wish to see thee perish, which is why I offer my aid. Wilt thou accept?"

"Help? If you’re talking about some deal that would sell my soul to you, then no thanks," I replied, voice hoarse. I knew what Lilith wanted—she’d created this body to eventually return herself to life. This was her vessel, a means to escape her shackles.

"I require naught of the sort from thee," Lilith assured, her voice soft but unwavering. "As it stands, thou canst hardly scratch him, let alone defeat him. My strength alone would be insufficient as well, yet, combined, there may be hope. Together, we may bring this fiend low."

"So, you’re saying he’s stronger than you?" I asked. I had always thought of the Great Ones as being truly… great, the apex beings in existence. Yet here was Lilith, hinting that this dragon surpassed her.

"Were I in mine true form, I could crush him," she replied. "He is but a creature of lowly rank, a lesser wretch in the draconic hierarchy, whilst I hold a place higher than he ever could. Yet, bound within thee as I am, I am powerless alone."

I fell silent.

"And truth be told, his arrogance doth chafe me. Despite his lowly station, he struts as though he were ruler and god, playing tyrant across worlds unclaimed. A scavenger, a bottom-feeder at best."

Funny. Just like you once did.

The thought barely crossed my mind before I felt her bristle, having picked up on it from within my subconscious.

"This world doth owe me its life. It was on the precipice of extinction, teetering towards oblivion, and I—and others like me—brought it back from ruin, brought it to prosperity."

Then, why did you want to destroy it? Your next read awaits at empire

She left that question unanswered, her silence sharper than any words, before continuing, "Enough of that. Will you do this, or will you flounder alone? Without me, there’s no chance you’ll even land a blow upon him."

That much, at least, seemed true. But how could I trust her?

"Trust in me," she replied, her voice steady and firm. "’Tis all that I ask."