The grand doors of Blackthrone Castle cracked and splintered beneath Azeris' might. His dragon-enhanced strength cleaved through enchanted stone and steel, tearing through the ancient runes meant to bar even the fiercest of beasts. Flames licked the walls in his wake as he stormed down the castle's marbled halls, ignoring the terrified servants and soldiers scattering before him.
There was no time for mercy.
There was only one goal now—reach Kane Blackthrone.
The iron doors of the Blackthrone war chamber exploded inward, reduced to molten slag by the sheer force of Azeris' fury. Smoke surged in behind him, coiling like a living creature, casting his silhouette in golden firelight. His emerald robes whipped in the rising heat, glowing with arcane energy, and his eyes—lit with power—swept the chamber with a predator's focus.
At the center of the long obsidian war table stood Kane Blackthrone, flanked by elite guards and frantic advisors. Scrolls, war maps, and crystal data arrays lay scattered across the floor as the council scrambled to react to the chaos.
But it was already too late.
"Protect Lord Kane!" a commander shouted.
Azeris didn't wait.
With a flicker of movement, he was among them.
The Infinity Sword howled through the air like a chorus of wrathful spirits. Guards fell like wheat before a reaper's scythe. Spiritual barriers shattered. Enchanted armor melted. Bones cracked like dry twigs. Blood splattered across ancient runes engraved on the war chamber floor.
Kane backed away, pale and trembling, the royal sword in his hand quivering.
"S-Stay back! I am a Blackthrone! My father—"
"—Will watch your soul burn if you don't answer," Azeris cut in, voice low and lethal.
With a single stride, he seized Kane by the throat and slammed him onto the war table, the impact shattering it in two with a thunderous crack.
The sound echoed through the castle like a cannon blast.
Kane gasped, choking on blood. His ribs crumpled under the pressure.
"Where… are they?" Azeris growled, fury radiating from every word. "My mother. Selena. Where are they!?"
"I—I won't tell you anything—"
Kane tried to summon a technique, but Azeris crushed his fingers with a sickening crack before the spell could form.
Then came the beating.
Azeris struck him with the pommel of the Infinity Sword—once, twice, again and again. Bones shattered. Teeth flew. Blood poured freely down Kane's face. His once-elegant noble robes were reduced to shredded crimson rags. His screams turned into garbled moans, barely intelligible through broken lips and swelling flesh.
Azeris' voice grew colder. Deadlier.
"You took them. You enslaved them. You branded them like cattle." His eyes burned brighter than ever. "Tell me where they are—before I tear your soul apart."
Kane whimpered, trembling on the brink of unconsciousness.
"Th-The dungeon… b-below… they're in the family dungeon… Your… your mother… and Selena…"
Azeris froze, every muscle tense.
"And Isabella?" he asked, voice suddenly sharp as steel.
Kane coughed more blood, his body twitching.
"C-Capital… Vermilion Kingdom… wedding in twenty days…"
Azeris's gaze narrowed.
"And you're not there because?"
"My… father… told me to stay… defend the city… against opportunists… He'll leave five days before the wedding…"
Azeris dropped him.
Kane crumpled to the floor like a broken puppet, gasping ragged breaths.
"You'll never see that day."
With a wave of his hand, a rift of infinite light tore open behind him—the Infinity Prison.
Dark chains of void and flame burst forth, coiling like starving serpents. They wrapped around Kane's bloodied form and dragged him toward the vortex of eternal torment.
"No! No, please! Not that! Not—"
His screams were cut off as he vanished into the swirling abyss, doomed to die a thousand deaths and be resurrected again in eternal agony.
Azeris turned without another glance.
A trail of fire followed in his wake as he stormed toward the lower dungeons.
The air grew colder and fouler with every step down the spiral stairwell. Old torches sputtered along the stone walls, casting long shadows that danced like ghosts of past victims. Azeris reached the dungeon—a forgotten place of rusted iron, dried blood, and silent screams.
Then he saw them.
His mother, Lilian, bruised and frail, her once-regal robes tattered.
His sister, Selena, unconscious, her arms bound in shackles. Dried blood clung to her skin like a second layer.
Both bore glowing slave seals on their necks.
For a moment, the world stopped.
And then—it broke.
Azeris' heart thundered like a war drum. The Infinity Dragon Progenitor Bloodline stirred within him, awakened by a surge of disgust, pain, and rage so pure it shook the foundations of the dungeon.
A blinding golden light surged through his veins.
The slave seals on his mother and sister ignited—not from activation, but destruction.
His bloodline rejected the very concept of bondage.
The ground trembled. The air shimmered. The very stone twisted and cracked, unable to contain the fury of a force born of ancient, divine freedom.
Azeris dropped to one knee, gripping the floor as the power surged wildly through him.
Suddenly, a cold, mechanical voice echoed within his mind:
[Ding! Sensing Host's bloodline is unstable.]
[Ding! Forcefully stabilizing Host's bloodline.]
[Stabilization in progress… 2%... 10%... 25%... 60%... 85%... 99%... 100%...]
[Ding! Host's bloodline has been successfully stabilized.]
The dungeon began to settle. The cracks in space slowly sealed themselves, and the warped air cleared.
Azeris exhaled, rising to his feet. "System… what was that?"
[Ding! Your bloodline sympathizes with freedom and free will. It rejects all forms of bondage. This is a core trait of the Infinity Dragon Progenitor Lineage.]
Azeris turned to his mother. Her eyes were wide with fear—fear not of her, but for him.
"I'm okay, Mom," he said gently. "We'll talk after we leave."
He turned toward Selena and shattered her chains with a touch. Then, with a wave of his hand, he conjured a gleaming rift of light—an Infinity Portal leading to the sanctum of his personal realm.
"Take Selena and go through the portal," he said, voice firm. "I'll come to you once we're safe."
Lilian hesitated for only a moment, then nodded. She carried Selena gently into the portal. The light shimmered and sealed behind them.
Azeris turned, his expression cold once more.
He stepped out of the dungeon, walked through the burning wreckage of Blackthrone Castle, and reached the outer courtyard.
There, he shed his human form.
With a deafening roar, Azeris transformed into his dragon form—a majestic, cosmic beast cloaked in cosmic fire and infinite light.
He soared into the sky, wings beating with divine fury, and left the ruined city behind.
His eyes burned with one thought.
Vermilion Kingdom.
They had twenty days.
And then the world would burn.