"The Abyss of Magic."

Ignis was not pleased with this kind of answer, since it didn't deliver an explanation why his wing suddenly got burned stronger than before but first and foremost why the fire suddenly pained him so much that he wanted to scream. The Abyss of Magic? Such nonsense.

He has done something and Ignis couldn't understand what it has been. Whatever it was caused corruption to spread throughout his opponent's magic, turning it more sinister, more nauseating. His devil-like smirk only proofing that he was right about his assumption. There's one more thing he realised just now.

He's not fighting versus a human.

He may look like one but he has lost his humanity a long time ago. That much is obvious. But if he's not a human anymore, what does that make him? An empty and lifeless shell? Certainly not. The blood oozing from his wounds and the evil power filling him to the brim deny both possibilities. This seemingly bottomless veil of magic inside him and his relentless persistence is new for Ignis as well.

Not once in his life did another living creature drive him this far. Naturally, considering the position he holds as a God Dragon, he has met many people. Among them were other dragons similar to him and even those superior.

Yet, none of them made him as restless as his former hostage at the moment. For him, it felt like a parasite crawling beneath his scales. He knew it was there but couldn't do a thing to stop it. Slowly, step by step, it got closer and closer to his heart and this creped him out. If this keeps going he will soon be forced to play his final card. Alone the thought of doing that disgusted him to such an extent that he wanted nothing but to vomit. Inconceivable. Even if grown into the powerful magician he was now it mustn't be that Ignis has to use all of his power to bring him down.

Once more Ignis inhaled deeply. His chest expanded as he collected his destructive fire to unleash it in form of a raging beam onto his opponent. Said anti force could have used the same attack to cancel the dragon's breath but slowly but surely he was fed up with this fight. He knew it would turn out to be difficult but enough is enough. It's time to bring this to an end!

He clapped his hands together, the sound of flesh smacking flesh erased every other noise, creating an eerie silence. From above, thunder growled as opening for the birth of yet another new sorcery the world has not seen before as the man offered his prayers to himself.

Dark ominous light crawled out between the slits his united hands left open, barely able to contain the spell they prepared in order to counter Igneel's godly roar. Debris began to rise upwards, levitated by the immense strength and magical power Ignis' former hostage used to craft his spell.

"Fire God Dragon's Roar!" opening his mouth Ignis released an infernal beam of hell. He made sure to make it more powerful to eradicate the ghost haunting him, tapping into the large reservoir of power he was still hiding due to his pride.

The skies were painted in reddish and orange hues by the gleaming flames. It will only take them seconds before they reach their aim but this is less than the amount of time the powerful mage needed to finish his counterattack.

He unsealed his palms only slightly but it was more than enough to startle Ignis. His roar twisted and convulsed as they were sucked in from the spell the man had created. His instincts rang every alarm bell his body possessed and screamed for him to run away but he didn't move an inch. Never would he do such a cowardly act!

Soon all of the fire was erased from the face of the planet, the magical contest between man and dragon ending with glorious victory for the man. Igneel's attack was gone and his remained, ready to be unleashed. Opening his hands finally revealed what sort of unholy power he has conjured upon this world.

Above his palm hovered a small orb of darkness, drenched in the deepest of all blacks Ignis has ever seen. Much to his abhorrence, the signals of his body had been right all along. His pride had coaxed him right into the trap. The ball of magic was almost not visible from where he flew in the skies but the magic radiating from the spell was no pushover.

In this fight, Ignis had to deal with a grand array of magic he has never seen or heard of before. Among them this newly addition stood out like a fire burning underwater would do.

Sensing the Fire God Dragon's uncertainty the caster smirked delighted and couldn't help the low chuckle escaping his lips. It was a gratifying result.

This plain-looking spell has enough power to destroy every living being, including himself as well. It's a risky game to make use of it but then again all spells cast from his True Heavenly Body Magic are difficult to control. Probably he's the only person alive, able to do so for it requires a deep understanding of magic. Otherwise, any spell from this type of sorcery would consume the summoner. Also, he wouldn't have been able to develop this magic, to begin with, if it hadn't been for the accumulated wisdom he acquired throughout the years of constant failure and repeat.

At first, he's only been able to enchant the properties of a meteor onto himself, later he could summon the destructive pebbles at will and gravity followed his every whim. After that more and more deadly spells were added by him. And at last, he managed to do the impossible. He created one of the most unstoppable events in the cosmos and he was about to unleash this upon his tormentor from long ago.

"True Heavenly Body Magic: Black Hole!"

Everything went so fast Ignis was unable to keep up with the proper order of events. One moment the dark ball was still in its master's hand, in the next one the sphere was already touching his chest. It felt like his whole existence was stretched across Earthland several times. At the same time, he swore his body was compressed and crushed into the size of an atom.

What is this magic?! He has suffered relentless attacks defying logic, he has endured the magical prowess of a prodigy but he could not endure this pain! For the first time in this fight, the air was filled by one of the combatants screams of agony. It was too much to handle for Ignis as this magic tore him apart.

"Kakakahahahahahahaha!" Soon mad cackling had joined into the concert of ongoing screams of a god. The powerful orb of mass expanded and swallowed the Fire God Dragon during the process. Everything nearby also began to dissolve and was absorbed by the raging spell. Whether it was living or unliving was irrelevant. The black hole ate every existing matter available!

As much as he would have loved to listen longer to Ignis death screams he could not afford any more delay. Otherwise, his spell might grow beyond a level he's capable of dealing with. He unfolded his magic across the area, connecting the loose string ends and retook control. Like a puppeteer master, he toyed with his magic and spells alike. Both happily followed his orders as he was the only person who has understood their very essence.

A clench of his fist was everything needed to bring an end to his ungodly power. The world around him came to a halt, every raging flame born from the brutal battle extinguishing immediately. The masterful mage commanded and the black hole obeyed his authority jubilantly and vanished from Earthland, taking one of the almighty God Dragons away into the bottomless abyss of magic.

After hours of gruesome fighting, the victor has finally been decided at last. The war waged between beast and man ended with the beast's demise. Oh, how long has he longed to snuff out Ignis' life with his very own hands. He had thought about, had imagined and had even dreamed about this and now it was reality. No aid nor help was granted to him in his search for revenge. Everything he did he did alone, whether it was researching, practising or improving. His reward was the successful revenge on the dragon who stole his freedom for many decades. But why should he stop here, he wondered.

During his life, he saw many things of this world but there was one sole constant. The unjustified arrogance of Gods, Devils, Dragons and Humans alike. They warred with each other all the time, not caring about their environment. Rivers and lakes were poisoned, mountains blast away and forests burned to ashes only to satisfy their lust for blood.

If they desire bloodshed he shall give them the largest and most violent they have ever seen! But before he comes to that there's something he must take care of. He averted his gaze far into the distance, where he senses his ally crushing two oversized worms. He needs to rest but a short playtime shouldn't do any damage.

Taking the first step towards his new aim he found himself already stopped when he heard the noise of something cracking. Looking above he saw a crack in the middle of the air constantly expanding before long an enormous claw breached through. It was clad in fire and was hurting him even though there was a good amount of distance in between and his highly increased heat resistance. In other words, those flames were insane!

"You gotta be kidding me," the man mumbled, not believing what his eyes showed to him. "I used one of the most advanced and refined magic spells I've created and yet you won't go down like you're supposed to, filthy oversized worm..."

The crack multiplied and the heat pouring out of the hole set everything ablaze that was too close. Only the profound mage was able to withstand the infernal hell – for now.

"As expected I should probably say. Still, it's hard to believe you actually survived a black hole." Pausing for a moment he allowed the truth to sink in before he admitted to himself the cruel reality."Apparently the title 'God Dragon' has not been given to you lightly but as far as I'm seeing this, it is a phrase not suitable for you anymore or am I wrong?"

The blood covering his body vaporized together with most of his clothing from unbearable heat as Ignis had fully emerged into this world from the clutches of the black hole. His reddish scales burned with such intensity that he looked like the embodiment of the sun itself. A halo of pure and white flames had formed on top of his hands, around his hands and behind his back. This also explained how he managed to escape the hit-and-death spell used on him. To counter a black hole an equal force is needed to break out and what else than a sun could be capable of such a feat?

He hasn't come out fully unscratched, though, because one of his horns was missing but he had already replaced it with a substitute crafted from his flames.

Seeing his enslaver in this new form only confirmed the magician's assumption. "Ignis, you've really gone ahead and done it, didn't you? No longer are you a God Dragon but something else... something more powerful." He inhaled deeply, his lungs burning from the agonizing heat engulfing him, as he prepared himself for the truth.

"You've become a Supreme Dragon. Dragons who stand above all and are easily able to destroy all of Earthland on a whim. You are the Lord of Fire Ignis now, aren't you?" He asked the dreading question aloud but didn't expect any form of an answer. By a mere coincidence, he got one nevertheless.

High above him in the skies moments ago, the dragon unmatched in power disappeared from his view and reappeared suddenly in front of him. His physical capacities have dramatically increased but more than anything did his speed! It was unworldly. Caught off guard by this sudden turn of events Ignis enemy left himself wide open. A crucial mistake the Supreme Dragon would not allow to be missed.

"Blazing Fire God Dragon's Demolition Fist!" The gigantic claw clenched tightly, quivering violently by its own unbound force before it darted downwards. It was a direct hit, a hit strong enough to shake the very foundation of Earthland. Large cracks were ripped open from the terrific punch. Pillars of fire shot out of each of them, burning everything that remained to ashes in an instant.


Far away Igneel's and Atlas Flame's position in their fight seemed absolutely helpless. No matter what they tried, the Celestial Spirit King didn't even as much, as flinch from their attacks while they had sustained critical damage. They had managed to avoid mortal strikes but how long could they persist in doing so? At this point simply maintaining their positions in the sky was zapping their strength away as fast as ice would melt in a volcano. One way or another this battle or rather this one-sided onslaught would come to an end soon. And as things were standing the outcome was clear. This changed when the nauseating magical power mixed with their direct opponent's vanished suddenly.

By the unexpected loss, the godly lord of the heavens staggered and fell to one of his knees. His head snapped in the direction, where his old friend was fighting. A devastating downfall in magical power normally allows only one thing to be the reason behind but could it really be?

"Have you failed in your quest for revenge or is this only another scheme of yours, old friend?" It wouldn't be the first time his old friend would turn the tables against all odds. After all, it was one of his masterful plans which had saved the Celestial Spirit Realm from total annihilation at the hands of the Moon Dragon God Selene and prevented any further meddling from the outside.

Due to the sudden separation, the Celestial Spirit King was distracted and left himself wide open. They didn't know but whatever had happened this was their only chance to win this fight!

With burning fists, both dragons surged forward! Ripped away from his distraction the Celestial Spirit King realised his mistake a second too late as he turned his head back to his two enemies. Both claws connected with his face, the dragons roaring as they poured every last drop of magic left in them into this one final attack. It was their last hope!

Caught off guard and unprepared as well as weakened by the loss of his source of power the heavenly king was unable to defend himself and took the brunt of the attack. For the first time in this battle, he suffered damage – breaking through this tiniest of tiny windows imaginable.

However, even without the support of his old friend he was still far superior to his inexperienced foes. They may have hit him once now but how many times did he strike them already? Countless times.

He stopped the momentum the combined punch had forced him into easily, brushing it off like it was nothing. A wide grin spread across his lips as he straightened himself up, much to the dread of the fiery dragons. But he was not grinning because of their fright but because he could feel his old friend's magic flaring up inside him again. He was still good and ready to go so it was time to finish this battle once and for all.

Unlike before he cast his merciful side away and vanished once again in bright yellowish light. All it took to get rid of one of the dragons was a single slash engulfed by his old friend's flames. Atlas Flame screeched in pain and agony as his belly was split open and his insides were burned. A mighty punch infused with the power of the stars was his undoing as he was send flying into a small island nearby in the ocean. There he remained motionless as blood poured out of his open belly.

Everything happened so fast, that Igneel didn't even manage to keep up. Only when the gargantuan sword aimed for his head did he react – too late to prevent the damage. The tip found its target and cut his right eye, probably taking his eyesight forever from him. But he couldn't mourn his loss as the follow-up attack was already aiming for his life!

In front of the Celestial King's left fist, a golden star emblem crafted from pure light had formed, brimming from intense and highly concentrated magic. Still recovering from the small yet fatal strike from before, Igneel was unable to react in time this time. The armoured hand of the transcendental being connected with his stomach, the emblem phased through his body and ripped apart his insides. He heard his bones break and vomited a torrent of his own blood before he was catapulted away. He crashed into the same island as Atlas Flame before and remained motionless, the area on his chest steaming from the impact, where he was hit.

In the beginning, both dragons were eager and too overconfident in their assumption of being able to do anything in this storm. For this arrogance, they suffered the suitable punishment as the warrior of the stars send his sword away and crossed his arms over his chest again like he did at the start of this battle.

"I am the Celestial Spirit King and in honour of our contract, nobody shall pass past this point. That is how it has been decided and that is how it shall be." the king of spirits declared and thus marked the end of this fight.


He was in a hurry. He could sense his most promising son's magic escape at a drastic tempo. He needs to finish this quickly or otherwise his whole line will be lost. During the battle, he was not aware of the gravity of the situation over there, too occupied with his arch-nemesis. But now with the fight as good as over, he had a grasp of what was going on. There was someone extremely powerful fending off Igneel and another dragon whom he didn't recognise and as far as he could see things the battle was over by now. Time is of the essence because the ally of his former hostage is about to kill his sole remaining son but as if to mock him the magus currently crushed in his giant claw denied to finally die.

Instead, he kept his physical form and clung to life, despite Ignis' best affords. The heat inside his own palm was becoming unbearable even for him in his new form so it was utterly incomprehensible how the mage could survive in this environment of fire and death.

Suddenly a sharp pain forced him to release his grip and not a moment too late. His reddish, orange fire was burned away by a fire he's never seen before. It was blacker than the blackest black he has ever seen before. Even with his newfound power those black flames unnerved him – frighted him.

What were they? Only looking at them and it was obvious they were not the cause of anything natural. No, they were the result of a century-old grudge, the physical manifestation of a single individual's madness.

Too shocked by this new development Ignis could only continue to watch in horror as the black fire parted and revealed the grotesque monstrosity he was fighting against.

Only now did he really understand the whole magnitude and consequences. He thought so earlier but when the black flames fully dispersed was he sure of it.

A pair of horns grew from his head, His muscles had bulged and became more prominent. His nails had stretched slightly and were coloured in a pearly white now. His arms and legs were covered in black and dark lines ran across his torso. Two wings had formed from his back and a tail whipped behind him. He wore a crazed look on his face, his sharp and pointy teeth full at the display. But the most horrifying about this transformation were those reddish gleaming, evil eyes. By now the pupils were mere slits and around his first iris had formed another one, drenched in a bloody red. His hair had turned more unruly as well and the very tips were coloured in black.

Not a trace of humanity was left behind. Only this corrupted form remained.

This is not a human anymore. This is a Demon!


One or two more chapters remain for this flashback. Stay tuned for the ending!

See you next time.