Help! Get Me Out of My Sister's Novel-Chapter 554: ’Towards Florian.’

Florian braced himself for the inevitable blaze, every nerve in his body screaming for him to run, to close his eyes, to do something.

But he didn’t.

He refused.

If fire was going to engulf them, he wanted to see it—he wanted to face it, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

He knew Hendrix wouldn’t let it touch him.

Somehow, he believed that.

But the others—those voices shrieking in panic, those bodies stumbling in desperation—he couldn’t say the same for them.

The air was filled with chaos: the clatter of heels on stone, the sobs of nobles clutching their jewels, the desperate shouts of knights trying to form order where there was none.

Some voices Florian recognized. Others were strangers.

All were drowning in terror.

He clenched his fists.

Waiting.

Waiting for the fire.

But it never came.

The seconds dragged like hours, his breath caught painfully in his chest until even Hendrix whispered, confused, "Did it not... attack?"

Florian’s head snapped toward him, but even without looking he could sense the disbelief in Hendrix’s voice. He could feel him turn, the tension in his body shifting.

’Why hasn’t it?’ Florian thought, his heartbeat hammering. ’Why hold back when it had us right there?’

He dared to move, dared to look—until the air split again with another roar.

Not the same one.

Different. Familiar.

"Everyone calm down! Do not worry any further!" a knight bellowed, his voice hoarse yet triumphant. "Look!"

Florian shoved himself out of Hendrix’s grip, stumbling toward the window with his heart in his throat. His hands slammed against the glass as he looked outside.

And there he was.

"Azure!" Florian’s voice cracked, a sob almost tangled in the word.

The little dragon who had once curled around his shoulders like a scarf was now enormous, his blue scales shimmering like living sapphires under the moonlight.

He was there—standing tall, wings stretched wide, his body blocking the red dragon’s line of fire.

Azure’s roar shook the ground, loud enough to rattle Florian’s bones.

He was alone.

Heinz wasn’t riding him.

No—this was Azure, acting on his own.

The sight made Florian’s chest ache, his vision blur.

His faithful little dragon, now glaring down an enemy far larger than anything they had ever faced together.

The red dragon’s crimson eyes glowed like molten cores, its massive body coiled and ready to strike.

But Azure didn’t flinch. He didn’t cower. He met its rage with his own, head lowered, wings beating the air with fury.

"It’s his majesty’s dragon!" a noble cried.

"We’re saved!" another exclaimed desperately.

But Florian barely heard them. His gaze was fixed outside, his breath trembling against the window.

"Where is his majesty though?" another voice whispered in the crowd.

Yes. Where was Heinz?

If Azure was here, then Heinz had to know. He had to be close.

And yet... the blue dragon flew into battle alone.

The red dragon showed no signs of a rider either.

No master. No command. Just raw, unchained destruction.

Azure, small against its size, still surged forward like a blade of will against a storm.

"Are they going to battle...?" Hendrix’s voice was grim, low, weighted with the inevitability of the answer.

Florian pressed his palm flat against the cold glass, his eyes never leaving the battlefield. His heart ached as he whispered, "I’ve never seen Azure this furious ever..."

His voice trembled, but there was no mistaking it. "They are definitely going to battle."

The air was heavy with the sound of wings.

Azure and the red dragon faced each other in the night sky, their massive bodies circling like predators sizing each other up.

Their roars collided, shaking the glass panes of the ballroom, making Florian’s heart hammer against his ribs.

Each roar sounded less like an animal cry and more like a declaration of war.

’Where did it come from?’ Florian’s thoughts spun in circles. ’Is it... another dragon of Heinz’s? Or someone else’s entirely?’

Was that even possible?

The red beast’s scales burned like smoldering embers, every flap of its wings fanning sparks into the night.

Azure’s blue glow, on the other hand, was sharp and clear, like moonlight turned to armor.

Two forces—fire and ice—deadly and unrelenting.

A tap on his shoulder snapped him out of it.

"Stay here." Hendrix’s voice was urgent, low, edged with a firmness Florian rarely heard. "I’ll look for my mother in the ballroom—I still haven’t seen her."

Florian’s throat tightened.

His mind screamed at him to argue, to tell Hendrix not to run headfirst into danger, but when he looked into those determined eyes, he knew nothing he said would stop him.

The fear pressed against his ribs, but he nodded anyway.

"...Alright," Florian whispered, his voice weak against the roar of chaos all around them.

Hendrix’s hand lingered on his shoulder for just a second longer, grounding, steady.

Then he forced a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Let’s talk again later."

And then he was gone—moving past the crowd, weaving through terrified nobles and panicked servants, slipping into the storm of smoke and fire that led into the ballroom.

The moment Hendrix’s presence vanished, gasps broke out around Florian.

Knights. Servants. Nobles.

All of them whipping their heads toward him with faces pale as ghosts, their eyes widening as though he had materialized out of thin air.

"Your Highness?!" a servant cried, nearly dropping the silver tray he clutched. "W-What are you doing here?"

"How come you were—We didn’t see you before—please, you must evacuate!"

"Yes, quickly! It’s too dangerous here!" another knight barked, already reaching out to drag him to safety.

But Florian only shook his head, his grip tightening against the window frame until his knuckles whitened.

His gaze never wavered from the battlefield outside, from the shadow of blue against the inferno-red sky.

"I can’t," he whispered, voice trembling but unwavering in its resolve. "I need to watch him. I need to watch Azure, please."

The words fell like stone into the silence that followed. The servants exchanged uneasy glances, and the knights stiffened as though torn between duty and the strange conviction in his tone.

They weren’t convinced—he could feel it—but Florian forced himself to steady his voice, to stand tall even as tears blurred his vision.

"I’ll be fine."

And then—

The air cracked open with another roar, so loud it shook the marrow in his bones.

The red dragon lunged. Its massive wings ripped through the air like blades, its claws glowing molten-hot as fire gathered at the pit of its throat.

Azure surged forward to meet it, his sapphire scales igniting with brilliance, his wings slamming down in a burst of raw force. His roar answered the challenge, fierce and unrelenting.

Florian’s chest constricted. His lips parted in a broken gasp. "Azure..."

The clash came in an instant.

CRAAAAASH—!!!

Azure’s breath—blinding blue light, searing and pure—collided with the red dragon’s inferno.

The two forces met mid-air with such ferocity that the night sky itself seemed to split apart. For one suspended heartbeat, it was as if day had come early—the world awash in blinding brilliance.

And then it detonated.

The explosion ripped through the heavens. The shockwave tore across the palace, rattling every stone. Windows exploded outward in showers of jagged glass.

Chandeliers swung violently, chains groaning as though ready to snap.

The marble beneath their feet buckled and cracked with the force.

Florian staggered back, his arms thrown up as shards and heat blasted across him. His ears rang, muffling the screams of nobles and the frantic shouts of knights as panic tore through the hall.

But even through the chaos, his eyes locked onto the battlefield. Two colossal shapes writhed and tore at each other in the sky, their wings blotting out the stars, their power lighting up the heavens with every clash.

And his heart ached with fear so sharp it felt like a blade pressing into his chest.

’Please... don’t let him lose.’

It wasn’t possible for him to lose. Right?

Azure and Heinz were supposed to be the strongest. The strongest in existence.

But...

Florian’s nails dug into the sill, his breath shallow.

At the same time, wasn’t Azure supposed to be the only dragon in existence?

So then... what was that red dragon?

The battle raged on above the palace.

Azure and the red dragon clashed again and again, their roars tearing through the night, each blow shaking the very stones beneath Florian’s feet.

Sparks, fire, and shards of blue energy lit up the sky like warring stars.

But then—

The red dragon moved differently. Its wings folded tight against its body as it suddenly dove.

Straight at Azure.

Azure’s eyes widened, his massive body faltering for a split second as he tried to reposition mid-air. That’s when Florian saw it.

The tail.

It wasn’t just a tail. It was long, barbed, a spear of jagged crimson crystal that gleamed under the moonlight. It curved forward like a blade, aimed directly for Azure’s chest.

Florian’s heart seized.

"Azure—watch out!"

But his voice was muffled by the thick glass between them, drowned by the storm of battle.

Azure couldn’t hear him.

"No, no, no!" Florian’s voice broke, frantic as his palms slammed against the cold pane. "He can’t hear me!"

His eyes darted wildly—until they landed on the knight standing closest.

"You!" Florian barked, his voice sharp with desperation. "Break the window. Now!"

The knight’s eyes widened. "Your Highness, it’s too dangerous—"

"DO IT!" Florian snapped, his chest heaving, his voice rising to a near-scream. "That’s an order!"

The hesitation cracked. The knight flinched, then obeyed, swinging his blade in a clean arc.

CRAAASH—!

The glass shattered, shards spraying outward into the night. Wind roared into the hall, carrying the heat of fire and the raw, thunderous sound of battle.

Without wasting a second, Florian leaned forward, cupping his hands around his mouth. His throat burned as he screamed with everything he had:

"AZURE! WATCH OUT FOR THE TAIL!"

The dragon froze mid-lunge. His great head snapped toward the sound of his master’s voice, eyes widening in recognition.

And in the split second that followed—he moved.

Azure twisted his massive body, wings beating hard as he veered away, the red dragon’s tail slicing past him, missing its mark by inches.

"Ha—! He heard me!" Relief surged through Florian’s chest, his knees almost buckling from the weight of it.

But his relief shattered as quickly as it came.

Because the red dragon didn’t follow Azure.

No—its crimson eyes swung sharply, unnaturally.

Right to the broken window.

Right to him.

Florian’s blood ran cold.

’No... it’s looking at me?’

The dragon’s roar was deafening, not at Azure, not at anyone else—but at him.

And then it ignored Azure completely.

Its massive wings beat down, fire scattering through the air as it turned its whole body toward the palace. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

No...

Towards Florian.