**The Domain of Dragons**
The moment Ethan stepped through the portal into Antares's domain, he was surrounded.
Thousands of dragons filled the sky—a living ceiling of scales, wings, and fire. They ranged from juveniles the size of cars to ancient wyrms whose bodies stretched longer than skyscrapers.
Every color imaginable was represented: crimson reds, deep blacks, brilliant golds, venomous greens, royal purples. Their roars created a cacophony that would have driven normal humans mad from sheer auditory overload.
The domain itself was apocalyptic in its majesty. Mountains of volcanic stone jutted toward a sky that burned perpetual orange-red with reflected firelight. Rivers of molten lava carved through the landscape like glowing veins. The air itself was thick with heat and the scent of sulfur, barely breathable for anything that wasn't adapted to extremes.
And at the center of it all, standing on the edge of a massive cliff that overlooked his kingdom of fire and fury, was Antares—the Monarch of Destruction and undisputed King of Dragons.
Despite being completely surrounded by hostile dragons numbering in the thousands, Ethan didn't panic. Didn't even look concerned. He simply walked forward calmly with his hands in his pockets, his expression one of mild interest as he surveyed his surroundings.
Behind him, floating at a discrete distance, was his enhanced camera. The magical device recorded everything silently, its runes glowing faintly as it transmitted a live feed back to Jean and Anna.
Ethan walked toward the massive cliff, his footsteps echoing across stone that was still cooling from recent lava flows. He stopped at the base and slowly looked upward.
Antares stood at the cliff's edge in his humanoid form—tall, powerful, radiating authority that made even the dragons around them instinctively dip their heads in respect. He wore a long black coat that billowed dramatically in the hot winds rising from below, his hands clasped behind his back in a pose of absolute confidence.
The Monarch of Destruction looked down at Ethan with eyes that burned like miniature suns—not metaphorically, but literally glowing with the heat.
Ethan grinned up at him. "So... are you just standing there waiting for me to arrive so you can aura-farm while looking cool? Because if so, I gotta say—it's working. Very dramatic. Ten out of ten for presentation."
Antares's expression didn't change, but something flickered in those burning eyes—amusement, perhaps, or respect for Ethan's boldness in the face of overwhelming odds.
"Are you the one who has been hunting my fellow Monarchs?" Antares's voice was like thunder given speech—deep, resonant, carrying across the entire domain without him needing to raise his voice.
"'Hunting' implies a challenge," Ethan replied as his grin widens. "Implies that the prey has a chance to escape, to fight back effectively. What I've been doing is more like... pest control? No, that's not quite right either." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "It's not hunting if the targets are weak. Or, to be more precise, I'm just too strong for it to be called a hunt. It's been a one-sided massacre."
The dragons around them growled at that—a sound like avalanches beginning, like the earth itself preparing to split. How dare this human insult their king and his fellow Monarchs?
Antares raised one hand slightly, and the growling stopped immediately. Perfect obedience.
"I sense no mana from you," Antares observed, his analytical mind working through the puzzle before him. "Yet you possess power enough to kill Monarchs. You are something—"
"Can we skip this part and start fighting?" Ethan interrupted while actually yawning. "I'm getting bored already. The whole 'mysterious villain analyzes the hero' routine? Played out. Let's get to the good stuff."
Antares stared at Ethan for a long moment. Then, surprisingly, he laughed—a genuine sound of appreciation for someone who didn't bother with pretense or formality.
"Very well," the Dragon King said. "But understand this, human. Do you truly think you can take me on? Me, along with my nine million-strong army of dragons, each one capable of razing cities?"
He gestured, and as if on cue, thousands of dragons opened their mouths simultaneously. "Let me show you what that means."
"DRACARYS!"
It wasn't actually that word—each dragon roared in their own ancient tongue—but the effect was the same. Thousands of streams of dragon fire converged on Ethan's position, creating a pillar of flame so intense it turned the stone beneath to glass.
The inferno continued for several seconds—enough fire to melt bunkers, vaporize armies, reduce entire city blocks to ash.
When the flames finally stopped, smoke rose from where Ethan had been standing.
Slowly, the smoke cleared.
Ethan stood in exactly the same position, completely unharmed. His clothes—black tuxedo weren't even singed. His blonde hair wasn't even mussed. He looked like someone who'd been standing in a pleasant breeze rather than a firestorm that could melt steel.
He smiled widely. "My turn."
Ethan's irises began to glow with blue Genesis light. A golden aura materialized around his body—not just a visual effect, but tangible power that warped the space around him.
"Let's start with twenty percent," he said casually.
Then he vanished.
No, not vanished—moved. But he moved so fast that the concept of "movement" barely applied. One moment he was standing at the base of the cliff. The next instant, he was floating in the air directly in front of Antares, looking down at the Monarch despite being smaller.
Behind Ethan, every single dragon that had been in his path was suddenly blasted away—thrown through the air by the sheer force of his passage, their massive bodies tumbling like leaves in a hurricane.
He'd moved through thousands of dragons so fast they didn't even register the impact until after he'd passed.
Antares's eyes widened fractionally—the first genuine surprise he'd shown. 'That speed—'
"Not bad reflexes," Ethan commented. "You actually tracked my movement. Most couldn't. Guess you're not just another disappointment."
Antares decided immediately, no more holding back. No more testing. This required his full attention.
His body began to transform—not into his complete dragon form yet, but into his hybrid state. His humanoid features became more draconic, scales spreading across his skin in patterns of crimson and black, horns erupting from his skull, claws extending from his fingers, wings of membrane and bone bursting from his back.
He was still roughly human in appearance, but packed with the concentrated power of a dragon the size of mountains.
"ROOOAAR!"
Antares attacked with speed that would have made him invisible to normal eyes. His claws glowed with destructive energy—the fundamental authority over destruction itself made physical.
The two clashed in mid-air.
BOOM! CRASH! BOOM!
They fought for several seconds—a exchange of blows so fast and powerful that each impact created shockwaves that rattled the entire domain.
Antares's centuries of combat experience showed in every movement, perfect technique, no wasted motion, attacks flowing seamlessly from one to the next.
But he couldn't land a hit.
Ethan dodged every attack with minimal movement—shifting just enough to let claws pass millimeters from his skin, tilting his head to avoid devastating tail sweeps, sidestepping wing attacks that would have crushed him flat.
All while delivering his own counter-attacks. Each time Ethan's fist connected, it sent waves of Genesis energy rippling through Antares's body. Not enough to severely damage—not at twenty percent—but enough to push the Dragon King back, to make him feel the impacts.
"Not bad at all," Ethan said while grinning as he blocked a claw strike with one hand. "You've got skill, experience, and genuine power. You're actually making me work for it."
BOOM!
Another punch, this one sending Antares skidding backward through the air.
"But let's see if you can handle twenty-five percent of my power."
The golden aura around Ethan intensified slightly. His speed increased. The beatdown escalated.
Now each of Ethan's punches didn't just impact—they released energy blasts that exploded against Antares's body. The Dragon King was forced onto the defensive, his hybrid form taking damage faster than his healing factor could repair.
And through it all, Ethan kept up a running commentary.
"Come on, Dragon King! Is this really the best the Monarch of Destruction can do?"
BOOM!
"You're supposed to be the strongest! Show me something interesting!"
CRASH!
"At this rate, I'm going to fall asleep mid-fight!"
BOOM!
A final kick—delivered with precisely twenty-five percent of Ethan's full power—connected with Antares's chest and sent him flying. The Dragon King's body crashed through a mountain, the impact destroying the geological formation completely.
For a moment, there was silence. Dust and debris filled the air where the mountain had been.
Then a roar—louder than any before, carrying power that made the entire domain tremble—erupted from the destruction.
"KNOW YOUR PLACE, PUNY HUMAN! I AM ANTARES, MONARCH OF DESTRUCTION!"
What emerged from the rubble wasn't the hybrid form anymore. This was Antares's true form—his complete draconic majesty unleashed.
He was massive. A Western dragon easily five hundred meters from nose to tail, covered in scales that looked like they'd been forged from rubies and obsidian. Four legs, each ending in claws that could rend continents. Wings that blotted out the sky when fully extended. And a head crowned with multiple horns, jaws that could swallow buildings whole, and eyes that burned with the hatred of ages.
The sheer presence of his true form was overwhelming—a Monarch showing why he was called the King of Dragons.
Antares opened his massive jaws, and energy—not fire, but pure destructive force—began to accumulate. The very concept of "destruction" made tangible and weaponized.
"DESTRUCTION BREATH!"
The beam that erupted from his mouth was wider than a highway, traveling at the speed of light, carrying enough power to crack planets if left unchecked.
Ethan, still floating in the air where he'd been, simply put one hand in his pocket and stood his ground.
The destruction beam washed over him like a tidal wave of annihilation.
The attack continued for a full ten seconds—long enough to reduce mountain ranges to plains, to vaporize oceans, to make civilization cease to exist.
When it finally stopped, Antares stared at the point of impact with his massive eyes, waiting to see the result.
The smoke cleared.
Ethan stood in the exact same position, completely unharmed. His tuxedo was intact—not a single thread out of place.
He looked down at himself, brushed imaginary dust off his shoulders, and smiled up at the massive dragon. "You should be proud, Antares. You actually managed to destroy all the magical protection spells I'd woven into these clothes. That's legitimately impressive."
His golden aura flared brighter—not much, just a tiny increase that barely looked different. But the pressure it created made even Antares's true dragon form feel heavy.
"As respect for that achievement," Ethan said, "I'll use thirty percent of my power."
His blonde hair began to float upward, lifted by the sheer energy radiating from his body.
Then he vanished again.
What followed was brutal, one-sided, and almost educational in how thoroughly it demonstrated the gap between them.
Ethan appeared directly in front of Antares's massive dragon face and began delivering punches. Each strike was enhanced by Power Genesis—golden cosmic energy that didn't just damage physically, but attacked the fundamental concept of Antares's existence.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Despite his enormous size, Antares was being knocked backward across his own domain with each impact. His scales—which could withstand nuclear weapons—cracked and shattered. His bones—stronger than any metal—fractured under the force. His healing factor tried desperately to keep up but was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of damage.
Ethan was relentless, creative, and clearly enjoying himself. He punched, kicked, elbowed, kneed—using every part of his body as a weapon. Each impact created blasts of Genesis energy that spread through Antares's massive form.
Then came the finale of this exchange. Ethan joined both his hands together above his head, forming a massive hammer of condensed energy. He brought it down on Antares's skull with devastating force.
CRASH!
The Dragon King was driven downward like a nail being hammered. His massive body crashed into his own domain with such force that it created a crater kilometers wide and hundreds of meters deep.
Ethan appeared above the fallen dragon and placed one foot on Antares's massive face—a gesture of pure dominance, pressing the Dragon King further into the crater.
"How does it feel," Ethan asked conversationally, "to be looked down upon by a human? All those millennia of being the apex predator, the unstoppable force, the terror that made civilizations tremble—and now you're face-down in your own domain, being stepped on by something you used to consider prey."
Antares roared—a sound filled with rage, humiliation, and desperate fury. "KILL HIM! ALL OF YOU! TEAR HIM APART!"
The entire draconic army responded to their king's command. Nine million dragons—the full might of Antares's forces—began converging on Ethan's position from every direction. The sky turned black with their numbers. The air filled with the sound of wings and roars.
They opened their mouths simultaneously, preparing to unleash a concentrated bombardment that would make their earlier attack look like a candle compared to the sun.
Ethan laughed—genuine, delighted laughter. "Now this is somewhat entertaining! You actually survived thirty percent! That's legitimately something, Antares. Most beings would be cosmic dust by now."
But both of them knew the truth, Antares couldn't heal anymore. His energy reserves were completely exhausted. His legendary healing factor had burned out trying to keep up with the damage Ethan inflicted. The wounds covering his massive body were getting worse, not better.
This was the end. They both knew it.
As the millions of dragons prepared to fire, Ethan raised one hand casually.
His Genesis Telekinesis erupted outward in an invisible wave that covered the entire domain.
Every single dragon—all nine million of them—was suddenly slammed away by overwhelming force. They were thrown hundreds of kilometers in all directions, their attacks interrupted, their formations broken, their charge scattered like leaves in a tornado.
In less than a second, Ethan had neutralized an army that could conquer galaxies.
Ethan began floating upward, rising high into the blood-red sky of Antares's domain. As he ascended, his power manifested visibly.
A massive phoenix made of blue Genesis flames materialized behind him—not fire in the traditional sense, but Genesis energy given form. It dwarfed even Antares's true dragon form, its wingspan seeming to stretch across the entire domain.
White lightning began dancing around Ethan's body, crackling with power that made space itself uncomfortable.
His body became wreathed in blue flames—not hot in the traditional sense, but burning with the fundamental force of creation and destruction.
"You showed me your strongest attack," Ethan called down to Antares. "Now it's my turn. Blue Phoenix versus Dragon Monarch—this will make a good show for the audience!"
He glanced at his floating camera, which was recording everything faithfully. He flashed it a grin and a wink—pure showmanship.
The blue phoenix behind him screeched and dove into the sea of dragons still trying to regroup. Everywhere it touched, dragons were consumed by blue flames that unmade them at the fundamental level. Not killed—erased, broken down to their component concepts and recycled into pure energy.
Below, Antares slowly, painfully pulled himself to his feet. His massive dragon body was covered in holes, bleeding from countless wounds, barely holding together. But his eyes still burned with defiant pride.
"I'LL USE EVERYTHING!" he roared while gathering every last particle of power remaining in his body. "I'LL DESTROY YOU, BASTARD!"
Ethan descended until he was floating at eye level with the massive dragon, several dozen meters away. "Are we ending this already? Okay then."
He settled into a combat stance—right fist drawn back, left hand forward in guard position. Blue flames danced around his clenched fist. White lightning coiled around his entire body like living serpents.
"Better to end this before it turns into a disappointment," Ethan said, his voice carrying genuine respect despite the gap in their power. "It was fun fighting you, Antares. You're the first opponent in this world who actually made me feel like I was in a battle. So, be proud. You're strong."
Around them, the domain was crying out—the blue phoenix continuing to destroy the millions of dragons, their death screams creating a apocalyptic symphony.
Antares, in his massive true form, opened his jaws one final time. All his remaining mana, all his authority over destruction, all his rage and pride and desperate will to survive—everything concentrated in his mouth as a sphere of pure annihilation formed.
Ethan's fist began to glow brighter. He spoke quietly, almost reverently, "Destruction Fist."
A massive wave of blue fire laced with white lightning erupted from his punch—a beam easily as large as Antares's entire body, traveling faster than thought, carrying power that made reality itself scream.
Antares fired his final Destruction Breath—everything he had left, poured into one desperate, defiant attack.
The two beams met in the center of the domain.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion was beyond description. A sphere of destructive energy expanded outward, consuming everything in its radius. The camera, positioned at a safe distance, recorded a flash of white light so bright it temporarily overloaded its magical sensors.
Then... nothing. The feed went completely white, then cut to black as the magical transmission was overwhelmed.
.
.
.
**Back Home**
Jean and Anna sat in their comfortable living room, both holding bowls of popcorn that they'd completely forgotten about. They were staring at the holographic projection screen that Ethan's camera had been broadcasting to—a screen that had just gone completely dark.
"What happened?" Anna asked while leaning forward anxiously. "Did the camera break? Did something happen to Ethan?"
"The explosion must have overwhelmed the transmission magic," Jean said, her telepathy reaching out across space to try sensing Ethan's condition. But the distance and dimensional barriers made it difficult. "I can't tell if—"
A red portal opened in the middle of their living room.
Ethan stepped through, completely unharmed, his tuxedo now showing signs of damage but his body perfectly fine. He was smiling widely—the satisfied grin of someone who'd just had an excellent workout.
"ETHAN!" Both women rushed forward simultaneously, nearly tackling him with the force of their concerned hugs.
"What happened after the explosion?" Jean demanded, her hands running over his body to check for injuries even though she could see he was fine.
"Did you win? Are you okay? What about Antares?" Anna fired off questions rapidly.
Ethan laughed, holding both of them close. "Is there even a need to ask? I beat him, of course. All the Monarchs except the Shadow Monarch are now eliminated. I've got their cores and we can start planning how to integrate these powers into all of you."
His arms tightened around both women. "Now then, about that celebration..."
Anna grinned wickedly. "Oh right. Let's go and help you get cleaned up in the bath."
"And making sure you're properly... relaxed after such hard work," Jean added, her eyes glowing with affection and promise.
Ethan was about to respond with enthusiasm when his enhanced senses detected something. His expression shifted to something more gentle. "Actually, as much as I'd love to take you up on that immediately, it's better we meet our guest first."
Jean's telepathy caught it at the same moment. "Elizabeth. She's waking up."
The three of them walked quickly to the guest room—a comfortable space they'd prepared while Ethan was fighting Antares. The soft bed that Ethan had materialized on the mountainside was now positioned beside a window with a view of Seoul's nighttime skyline.
Elizabeth was sitting up in bed, looking down at her hands with an expression of confused wonder. Her silver hair fell around her shoulders, clean and brushed (Jean had taken care of that while she slept). She was wearing comfortable pajamas that Anna had provided—soft and modest, nothing that would make her uncomfortable.
But it was her hands that held her attention. She was slowly opening and closing her fingers, watching them respond to her will, as if she couldn't quite believe they were truly hers to control.
After decades of being a prisoner in her own body, even the simple act of moving her fingers freely was miraculous.
The door opened softly. Elizabeth's head snapped up, her blue eyes wide and slightly fearful—old instincts from when any change in her environment might mean Querehsha was about to do something terrible.
But when she saw who entered, her expression transformed into something approaching relief.
Ethan stood in the doorway, flanked by Jean and Anna. All three of them were smiling—warm, welcoming expressions that held no threat or deception.
Elizabeth's spiritual senses, which had never stopped working even during her captivity, read their intentions clearly.
Safety. Kindness. Genuine concern for her wellbeing.
Ethan spoke first, his voice gentle and filled with warmth, "Welcome back, Princess Elizabeth. How are you feeling?"
Elizabeth stared at them for a long moment, her blue eyes filling with tears—not of sadness, but of overwhelming emotion that she couldn't quite name. Relief? Gratitude? Joy? All of them mixed together.
When she tried to speak, her voice came out hoarse from centuries of disuse, barely above a whisper, "Is... is this real? Am I truly... free?"
Jean moved forward slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking one of Elizabeth's trembling hands in both of hers. "Yes. You're free. Querehsha is gone—completely destroyed. You're safe now."
"We're here to help you," Anna added while moving to sit on the bed's other side. "Whatever you need, however long it takes—we're here."
Elizabeth looked between the three of them, and the tears finally fell. Not quiet, dignified crying, but huge, wracking sobs that shook her entire body—the release of centuries of pain, fear, and desperate hope finally being realized.
Ethan moved to sit at the foot of the bed, while Jean and Anna wrapped their arms around Elizabeth from either side, holding her as she cried. They didn't try to stop her tears or tell her to calm down. They just held her, offered their presence, and let her release everything she'd been holding inside for so long.
"Thank you," Elizabeth managed to gasp between sobs. "Thank you... thank you... thank you..."
"You don't need to thank us," Ethan said softly. "You survived something that would have broken anyone else. You fought when you had every reason to give up. You kept your hope alive through decades of hell. That strength? That's all yours. We just helped free what was already there."
Elizabeth looked up at him through her tears, and for the first time since her ordeal began, she smiled—a genuine, beautiful smile of pure happiness.
"Welcome home, Princess," Jean said warmly. "Welcome to your new life. It's going to be better than you can imagine. We promise."
Elizabeth smiled through her tears as thoughts of her father, mother, her sisters—of everyone—filled her heart.
'Papa… Mama… sisters… I'm finally free… sob… I'm alive, and I'll live a happy life—just like you wanted me to.'
The strength that kept her holding on came from her family. Their final words were all the same—live on, Elizabeth. Live, and have a happy life.
That was why she endured for decades. So she could live. So she could remember them. And as long as she remembered, they would never truly be forgotten.
And as Elizabeth continued to cry—this time tears of joy and relief—surrounded by people who genuinely cared about her wellbeing, the long nightmare finally, truly ended.
A new beginning was just starting to dawn.