The cave trembled.
A pulse of scorching heat rippled out from the obsidian walls, licking the stone with invisible tongues of fire. Yet beneath that fire, there was a chill—an eerie, bone-deep cold that made the blood still and the breath hitch. Raizen stood in the heart of the abyss, where no ordinary man could walk without turning to ash.
And yet, he smiled.
Before him, suspended mid-air and wrapped in swirling streams of flame and shadow, floated the Dragon Core—a living paradox of elements. Half of it burned with the crimson fire of an Elder Dragon's fury, and the other half pulsed with the obsidian void of space, consuming light, warmth, and logic.
His system interface flickered.
[You have located: Ancient Dragon Core – "Heart of Fire and Void"][Compatibility: 89%][Warning: Risk of soul implosion – Extreme][Would you like to begin the Core Fusion process?][Y/N]
Raizen's eyes narrowed. "So, this is what that dying drake meant by the 'key to evolution.' A power that shouldn't exist in either heaven or hell."
He reached out his hand.
The flames flared. Shadows snapped. The cave screamed as though it remembered every creature that had died in pursuit of the Core—wizards, warriors, even dragons.
Raizen didn't flinch. He had killed for this. Lied, betrayed, destroyed legacies. And he would do it again.
Because power respected no virtue. Only results.
"Begin," he whispered.
[Core Fusion Initiating…][Soul Sync… 15%… 32%… 54%… WARNING! Ancestral Bloodline detected.][Activating hidden evolution route…]
A sudden burst of pain struck Raizen like a divine hammer. He dropped to his knees as fire entered his veins and darkness invaded his bones. His scream echoed like a dragon's roar—ancient, proud, furious.
Inside his body, the Core didn't just fuse.
It rebuilt him.
His blood turned molten. His soul cracked and reformed. Muscles twisted into draconic cords. His heart was no longer a human's—it pulsed with the rhythm of fire and void. Magic surged through him like a storm learning to speak.
[Dragon Core Assimilated][New Title Unlocked: Heir of the Dragon Void][Magic Evolution: Wizard → Voidflame Sorcerer][Unique Skill Gained: "Breath of Annihilation"]
Raizen stood. The cave no longer threatened him—it bowed to him. His very presence melted the rocks and devoured the shadows. Even the wind that flowed through the abyss stopped to kneel.
His voice was calm yet echoed with depth.
"I'm no longer just a wizard. No longer just a villain... I am evolution incarnate."
Outside the cave, skies trembled. In far-off kingdoms, dragons stirred from their slumber. Seers wept blood.
The world had changed.
And none of them even knew it yet.