I walked for a good while under the rain, feeling the weight of the armor.
Each step was heavier than the last, but I couldn't stop.
In the end, I saw that ancient church again, the same one I had visited before. Its stone walls were covered in moss and cracks, as if time had tried to devour it without success.
I knew I couldn't stay there.
I had to continue my journey.
That was the last place I had stopped, and now I had to move forward, no matter the pain or the fear.
There were still two princesses left to find. Two destinies still to face. I couldn't fail now.
The real problem appeared when I advanced a little further and saw the two paths in front of me.
One went to the right.
The other, to the left.
I stood still, staring at them for several seconds. Doubt gnawed at my head.
I had always chosen the right path. Always. And although I had survived, I had also suffered too much because of it.
Maybe it was time to change.
—This time… I'll go left —I murmured to myself.
Without thinking any more, I began to advance along that path.
The ground was uneven, wet from the constant rain, and the wind blew hard, making my cape flap uncontrollably.
After walking for a while, the path led me to an enormous stone bridge.
It was long, wide and old. The stones were worn, some broken, others covered in slippery moss. I stopped before crossing it.
I looked down.
There was only darkness.
A thick, deep darkness that let nothing be seen of what was below.
It was like looking into a bottomless abyss. I swallowed hard and took the first step onto the bridge.
The rain began to fall harder.
Each drop hit the armor and the ground, creating a constant, annoying sound. Still, amid the noise of the rain, I heard something else.
A strange sound.
It wasn't wind.
It wasn't rain.
It was something different.
Then it happened.
A gigantic fireball shot toward me from the front.
—Shit!
I reacted on pure instinct. I jumped with all my strength to the side, barely dodging the attack.
The fireball grazed me and crashed into the bridge behind me.
The explosion was brutal.
The edge of the bridge broke, stones flew in all directions.
Some hit my armor, making me lose balance and fall to my knees.
The heat burned my skin, even through the metal.
I tried to stand up while the echo of the explosion kept resounding.
Then I saw it.
In the sky, something enormous was slowly rising between the rain and the dark clouds.
When I focused my sight better, I felt my blood run cold.
It was him.
The same dragon I had killed a long time ago.
But this time… something was wrong.
Its body was decomposing.
Parts of its flesh were rotten, hanging from the bones.
On its head and chest there were areas where the flesh had completely disappeared, revealing black and twisted structures.
Even so, it kept flying. It kept living.
Or something like it.
—No… you were dead… —I whispered.
Without thinking, I drew my sword. I wanted to test how strong I had become.
I wanted to know if now I could face it without hesitation.
The dragon roared with such force that, for an instant, the rain stopped.
The sound was so powerful it made the air and the bridge beneath my feet vibrate.
Then it lunged toward me.
Its movement made the entire bridge tremble. Its attacks were fast, violent, though a little clumsy.
Even so, it was still the same monster that had almost killed me before.
I ran toward it, closing the distance between us.
Just as I prepared to attack, its tail moved with brutal force and hit me full on.
I felt my body fly backward.
The world spun. The air hit my face as I spun out of control.
But before hitting the ground, I drove my sword into the bridge with all my strength.
The impact was hard, but I managed to reduce the blow. Even so, pain coursed through my entire body.
I had no time to get up.
The dragon roared again and, without warning, the entire bridge turned into a river of fire.
The flames covered everything, advancing toward me without mercy.
I stood up as best I could and raised my sword, trying to resist the fire.
The flames burned the armor, the skin, the lungs. Every breath hurt.
My body began to burn.
The dragon didn't stop. Its fire breath seemed endless. I felt my strength draining, my body fading little by little.
Then something happened.
A name appeared in my mind.
I didn't know why… but I knew it.
My sword began to glow.
A red and yellow color covered the blade, as if it were made of living fire.
The heat changed. It no longer burned me.
—Infernal Breath —I shouted.
The light exploded.
With a speed I had never reached before, I pierced through the flames and the dragon's body. I felt the sword cut through flesh, bone and rotten magic.
I appeared behind it.
For a few seconds, everything was silent.
Then, a huge explosion shook the place.
The dragon's body shattered completely, disappearing amid fire and ashes. Pieces of its body fell into the void.
I turned slowly.
The bridge was a disaster. Cracks everywhere. Fire dying out. Broken stone.
I tried to walk.
But something wasn't right.
My legs failed. I lost balance. My body swayed from side to side without control. I felt all my magic had gone. Each step was worse than the last.
I tried to take one more step.
And then it happened.
My body tilted to the left. Right where the bridge wall had been completely destroyed by the battle.
I couldn't stop myself.
I fell.
I felt the void swallowing me as I plunged headfirst toward the infinite darkness beneath the bridge.
And everything disappeared before my eyes.