Steve's heart pounded.
"Can I… see him?"
Nygeris snorted.
"Hah. Brave… but foolish.You don't have enough power to summon him yet let alone control him.But… I suppose you can have a glimpse. Call his name. Vaelyx!
Steve hesitated. Then whispered:
"Vaelyx."
Steve looked around the chamber, his breath steadying. The silence buzzed in his ears.
Then he whispered the name:
"Vaelyx."
Nothing happened.
But just as disappointment flickered in his chest, the ground beneath his feet trembled. A swirling blue globe of energy formed ahead crackling with ancient power. And from its center… something massive emerged.
A dragon.
Sleek midnight-blue scales shimmered like liquid stone. Wings curled like torn thunderclouds. Its violet eyes blazed with impossible age. With one deafening roar, it shook the entire chamber.
Steve couldn't move.
His body locked in place, frozen not just by fear but by sheer power.
"I-I'm not kidding," he muttered, breath shaking. "I can't even move..."
Inside his mind, Nygeris's voice chuckled.
"That's what most of them say."
The colossal dragon lowered its head, exhaling a slow, burning breath. Then… it sniffed Steve as if confirming something hidden inside.
It gave a single nod.
Up. Then down.
And just like that it vanished into thin air.
Steve stumbled back a step, shocked.
"Nygeris…? Where did it go?"
"Mr. Steve," Nygeris said with a sigh. "You don't have enough power to tame him yet. That… was Vaelyx my dragon. The greatest of all. And you, my friend, are still just E-rank."
Steve clenched his fists. "But… I got this power because of what happened. Because people died. Because Lee Hyun died…!"
Silence.
Then Nygeris spoke, quieter now.
"I know you're hurting. And you should be. Their deaths weren't meaningless… but they were necessary. You weren't strong enough to protect them. Not yet."
Steve's voice cracked.
"Then why me? Why was I chosen? There are others out there stronger, better, more capable… So why me?!"
Nygeris didn't answer right away.
Then finally:
"That… I won't tell you. Not now."
"You'll understand when the time is right."
Inside his mind, Nygeris's voice returned deeper now, more serious.
"Steve, let me be honest with you."
"You didn't get this power just to wander around, flex your strength, or create chaos."
"You were given this for something far greater."
Steve frowned, chest still rising from the rush of the dragon's presence.
"Don't worry," he said, clenching his fists. "I'll protect the world. I swear it."
Nygeris chuckled not mockingly this time, but with something else beneath it… maybe sorrow.
"Protect the world?" he echoed.
"Steve, you have to protect more than just the world."
"You have to protect the universe."
Steve's eyes widened.
"...The universe?"
"And the multiverse," Nygeris added, his tone now a cold ripple of thunder in Steve's thoughts.
Steve blinked. "What... what do you mean, multiverse?"
Steve frowned, still trying to process the word. "No… everyone says the multiverse is just a myth."
Nygeris chuckled inside his mind low, ancient, amused.
"You people… if there's something you don't understand, you simply call it a myth. That's always been your way."
END OF CHAPTER.