Chapter 888: Real Dragon.

The entire hall seemed to freeze between one beat and another. Strax’s taunt still echoed in the air when the transformation truly began, and not as a mere visual trick or theatrical demonstration. The body that had previously occupied humanoid space expanded with controlled violence, muscles and bone structure rearranging themselves under almost palpable pressure. The sound didn’t resemble flesh tearing, but mountains shifting. White scales emerged like plates of living ivory, reflecting the pale light of the ceiling at thousands of sharp angles. Where once there had been a man with a relaxed posture, now stood a colossal creature, a white dragon whose mere presence made the hall’s architecture suddenly seem small.

The side columns vibrated with the displacement of air. Existing cracks in the floor widened into sinuous lines, running away from the previously opened crater. Dust fell from the upper structures in thin gray curtains. The ceiling, designed to accommodate ceremonies and displays of power between monarchs, now seemed to be testing its own limits. The dragon slowly raised its head, long horns curving back like natural blades, eyes gleaming with ancient intelligence and amused irritation at the same time.

Aelyra, Monarch of the Stormy Tides, paused for the first time since she had advanced. The aggressive impulse that had brought her there hadn’t disappeared, but it needed to reorganize itself in the face of a reality different from what she had expected. She had imagined confronting an insolent warrior, perhaps a powerful mutant, perhaps a brutal conqueror. She hadn’t foreseen facing a draconic entity whose breath altered the ambient pressure. Still, her pride was too old to allow for immediate retreat.

Scarlett was the first to react with genuine satisfaction. Her eyes gleamed as she watched Strax’s gigantic body fill the central space of the hall. A slow smile formed on her face, the kind that appeared when chaos finally lived up to her expectations. Tiamat let out a hearty laugh, crossing her arms as if watching the beginning of a highly anticipated play. Ouroboros, for his part, closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, like someone resigned to the certainty that any chance of civilized conversation was over.

The wounded man, still partially trapped in the crater, coughed again, this time more from panic than pain. Other monarchs moved instinctively, adjusting positions, calculating distances, assessing attack and defense routes. Some took a step forward out of pride. Others a step back out of intelligence. None of them, however, dared to act without first observing the Celestial Emperor.

Strax lowered his colossal head until one eye was at Aelyra’s level. His vertical pupil narrowed, analyzing her with the same irritating disinterest he had shown before. When he spoke, his voice didn’t come out like a human voice. It came out like thunder compressed within stone, deep enough to vibrate ribs.

"So," he said, "quiet still counts."

Aelyra clenched her jaw. Currents of bluish energy began to course through the metallic lines of her armor, scattering small sparks through the surrounding air. The scent of sea air and storm suddenly filled the dry hall, as if an invisible ocean had opened up somewhere nearby. Her hair stirred without natural wind, moved by the force she summoned.

"You confuse size with supremacy," she replied, her voice firm despite the overwhelming pressure before her. "Large creatures sink into the sea every day."

Tiamat clapped once, genuinely amused. Scarlett tilted her head, appreciating the response. Ouroboros opened her eyes again, alert to the slightest change.

Strax let out something close to a laugh. The sound came out as a succession of deep crackles and displacements of hot air.

"Excellent," he replied. "At least one of you knows how to speak without barking."

The provocation was enough. Aelyra raised her right hand, and a liquid whip made of condensed water and electricity instantly took shape, spinning around her arm like a living serpent. The attack launched before many noticed the movement. The weapon sliced ​​through the air toward the dragon’s exposed eye with brutal speed.

Strax moved only a few inches.

The whip struck a white scale and exploded in a luminous spray, dissipating into smoldering droplets and useless sparks. Not a mark remained. The dragon blinked slowly.

"Was that it?"

Aelyra lunged forward instantly, refusing to let the failure define the exchange. The floor cracked beneath her feet as she shot toward the colossal snout, enveloped in streams of pressurized water and concentrated lightning. Her fist descended like a hammer onto Strax’s jaw.

This time there was real impact.

The sound echoed throughout the hall. Some columns trembled. Fragments of the floor leaped. Strax’s face moved a few inches to the side.

Then it returned to its place.

Without haste.

Without visible damage.

Scarlett let out an admiring whistle. Tiamat laughed unrestrainedly now. Two monarchs in the background exchanged uncomfortable glances. The man at the entrance seemed torn between duty and pure survival instinct.

Strax tilted his head again, approaching Aelyra as she still hovered in the air, sustained by her own energy.

"Better than the dog," he said. "But still insufficient."

With a movement absurdly quick for something of that size, he exhaled.

Not fire. Not ice. Just compressed air from draconic lungs.

Aelyra was launched backward like a projectile, traversing the hall and colliding with a side column. Reinforced stone shattered into an explosion of fragments. She landed on her feet immediately afterward, sliding several meters, knees bent, arm raised in guard. Blood trickled discreetly from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes, however, burned with even greater fury.

Before she could advance again, a wave of pressure descended from the central throne.

There was no flash, no dramatic gesture. The Celestial Emperor simply raised two fingers.

The entire hall fell silent.

Aelyra’s energy wavered like a sail in the wind and partially dissipated. Strax turned his colossal head toward the center of the room. Even Tiamat stopped laughing. There was real authority in that simple gesture, unlike the title-based authority that Strax so despised. It was consolidated, disciplined power, impossible to ignore.

"Enough," said the Emperor.

The word wasn’t loud, but it swept through everyone present like a firm current.

Aelyra breathed heavily, still ready to continue, but she held back. Her pride fought against her ancient obedience. After a few tense seconds, she took a step back and remained motionless. Not defeated, just prevented.

The Emperor turned his eyes to Strax.

"Your talent for turning meetings into ruins is consistent."

The dragon seemed to smile, although in draconic form this was more of a threat than humor.

"Your talent for gathering irritating people is also consistent."

Scarlett almost doubled over with laughter. Ouroboros covered his face with his hand. Tiamat seemed close to applauding again.

The Emperor let out a long sigh, this time without hiding his exhaustion. "Return to your previous form. You’re ruining my architecture."

Strax remained motionless for a few seconds, as if considering refusal on principle alone. Then, the scales began to retract in luminous waves. The colossal mass gradually diminished, bones rearranging themselves once more, wings disappearing, horns retracting, until the man returned to occupy the center of the hall, his clothes surprisingly intact and his expression one of renewed boredom.

He cracked his neck from side to side.

"Better this way?"

"Marginally," replied the Emperor.

Aelyra still stared at him from afar, furious and humiliated in equal measure. Strax glanced at her.

"You hit hard," he said. "Keep practicing."

If before she was close to her limit, now she trembled with contained rage. A monarch beside her discreetly placed a hand on her shoulder, preventing another thoughtless attack.

The Emperor then rose for the first time since the beginning of the audience.

The movement was simple, but it altered the entire atmosphere. Seated, he dominated the hall. Standing, he seemed to become its very axis. His presence grew without physically increasing in size. The structures behind the throne, resembling horns or fossilized draconic forms, seemed to respond to the change with an almost imperceptible inner glow.

"Listen carefully," he said, addressing the monarchs before looking again at Strax. "If you continue to treat every provocation as a personal war, you will end up dead or useful only as examples."

No one responded.

"And you," he continued, now to Strax, "if you continue to enter every place as if everything belonged to you, you will end up forcing unnecessary conflicts."

Strax shrugged.

"If you don’t attack me, half the conflicts disappear."

"Half is still a lot."

"I agree. Do your part."

Scarlett clapped slowly. Tiamat approved with a nod. Ouroboros seemed to be pondering whether fleeing would be wiser than continuing to participate. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The Emperor approached the center a few steps slowly.

"Despite everything," he said, "I learned something today."

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"That your monarchs hiding behind pillars are disappointing?"

"That you truly intend to face things greater than this continent."

The hall fell silent again.

Even Aelyra diverted some of her attention from the recent humiliation to listen.

The Emperor continued: "One who seeks only land does not waste such arrogance. There is another target."

Strax held his gaze for a few seconds.

"I already said. I have war scheduled."

"Then survive long enough to fight it."

There was something different about the sentence. It wasn’t an order. It wasn’t a request. Perhaps it was respect disguised as pragmatism.

Strax smiled slightly.

"I intend to."

The Emperor nodded slowly and turned to the others. "The audience is over."

Some monarchs seemed annoyed. Others relieved. Aelyra cast one last hard look at Strax before turning away. The Ice Monarch, as she passed, inclined her head slightly toward him in a silent gesture. Shalom stood still for a moment, studying Strax, and then also left without a word.

Scarlett approached Strax’s side.

"Do you always have to transform into a dragon?"

"Only when someone asks too many questions."

Tiamat laughed loudly.

"I liked the sea woman. She has courage."

"She has impulsiveness," corrected Ouroboros. "Courage without calculation usually leads to death."

"You ruin everything with logic," complained Tiamat.

As the others began to leave the hall, the Emperor spoke one last time, without turning around.

"Strax."

He stopped.

"Next time you come to my palace... warn me before you break the floor."

Strax thought for a second.

"No promises."

Scarlett laughed. Tiamat joined in. Ouroboros merely sighed, already walking towards the exit.

And so they left behind a cracked hall, a humiliated court, an enraged Monarch, and an Emperor who, against all logic, seemed even more interested than before.