Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 686: Truly Overcome ()
As the fire crackled and danced, its glowing embers broke free from the main body of flames, swirling upward like tiny stars, escaping into the night sky...it was only that there was no open sky above them, and they could only disperse at the highest ascent.
But the flames itself roared fiercely, and even more embers broke free, the embers glowed with a fierce orange-red hue, casting flickering shadows that played across the walls and ceiling of the hall.
An intense, scorching heat radiated outward, creating an almost tangible wave that enveloped everything in its vicinity. It was the kind of heat one would feel from a very far distance, warning against a close approach at the risk of being engulfed.
The flames were everywhere, licking up the walls, engulfing the altar and they burned stronger and stronger, like a beast growing more furious with each passing moment.
They consumed everything in sight, wild and uninhibited. Fire was a force that could not be tamed, it was truly befitting of the great beasts of Asvar as they were much the same.
In the midst of it all, Xenon stood transfixed, his gaze locked onto the mesmerizing display before him, like he had no knowledge of how it had come to be.
However, a closer look to Xenon’s clenched fists and the flames dancing along his fingers, weaving in and out of his fist, one could already tell who the culprit of this great furnace was.
And if that was not enough of a tell-tale, there was also the obvious fact that save for Xenon, there was no other being within sight...at least no living being.
The bright flames licked hungrily at the air, their vivid colors shifted from deep crimson to brilliant gold as they consumed the entirety of the hall, with no fuel yet they grew.
Xenon’s onyx orbs reflected the fiery spectacle; the pitch blackness had consumed the entirety of his eyes, dispelling the whites, and there was barely any emotion in those eyes, save for a cold detachment. The flames illuminated Xenon’s features, highlighting the sharp contours of his face, the small glinting scales lining his neck and his narrowed gaze.
It was clear that Xenon was in a state, but what state exactly was not entirely clear.
Like they had a mind of their own, the flames burned everything around Xenon fierily, but kept a reasonable distance from Xenon on all sides.
There was just that portion of the ground on which Xenon stood that was left untouched.
In that moment, it felt to Xenon as if time had slowed down. The world outside faded away, leaving only him and the fiery flames, and all around Xenon, pillars cracked and debris rained down, dangerously warning of a swiftly approaching collapse.
Xenon barely took notice of it, he just stared at the flames in silent musing. And what thoughts he entertained at this moment were unknown.
"Xenon... what have you done?!" Verothrax’s voice was what broke through Xenon’s haze.
Xenon’s head turned slightly to meet Verothrax who had just appeared at the end of the hallway, but could not venture further than that point and fully into the hall, due to Xenon’s raging flames.
"What should have been done..." Xenon’s tone was low and deathly cold.
The gazes of both dragon lords met and Verothrax’s eyes widened slightly as he took notice of Xenon’s pitch black eyes.
Verothrax took an unconscious step back, on one hand, the heat of the flames had grown even more scorching, as though conveying an unspoken warning to Verothrax that Xenon was not in the right mood to be trifled with.
On the other hand, Xenon’s naturally intimidating aura was all the more potent in this moment. He was so far away, yet Verothrax felt a chill run down his spine, like it would only take a stretch of Xenon’s hand to reach right into his soul and severe it from his body.
But Verothrax restored his composure in just a moment, lesser dragon lords could afford to be intimidated by Xenon, but Verothrax was not one of such.
If it came down to it, though there was hardly any hopes in combat, Verothrax was certain he could hold his own against Xenon with his magic...
’If it came down to it...’ Verothrax contemplated, though the possibility of that was very high at the moment.
Centuries of slumber considered, Verothrax could still recognise what the change in Xenon’s eye colour indicated, and he was not unaware of Xenon’s wild haze.
Being one who had a touch of darkness himself, how could Verothrax fail to recognise it?
"The wild haze... I thought you had... overcome it..." Verothrax said in an uncertain tone.
"Suppress and overcome are two different things. The haze was truly suppressed by my beloved...but I see now that it prepared me to face it myself. Only now have I, with my own might, truly overcome it..." Xenon said. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
His head tilted to the side and then his eyes went closed briefly and when he opened them again, the darkness tainting his eyes had completely disappeared like it had never been there before.
The whites of Xenon’s eyes were back in view and the only signs of that pitch blackness were his natural onyx orbs.
Verothrax blinked in astonishment, squinting slightly to see properly through the raging flames.
"To suppress it is to keep it hidden, never to rise to the surface again. But to overcome it is to control it, so it comes and goes at will, yet your mind is intact..." Verothrax murmured in understanding.
"Well, if you have not lost your mind, then why are you setting everything on fire?!" Verothrax hissed, now furious.
"Just because I felt like it." Xenon replied with a casual shrug.
"I heard the shadow tower did not crumble even under dragon fire and so the ruins were left behind...well... let’s see if it is still so...indomitable." Xenon said, his fists clenched tighter.
"That Verothrax is to say, prepare to leave this cursed place... I do not intend to leave anything standing untouched, at least not without my mark." Xenon clarified.
