With a thunderous rumble, the ground began to collapse, and a great dragon rose up before them.
"I had begun to think the young demons had lost the courage to challenge the throne. Congratulations, you have passed the trial. Now for the final challenge. Only one of you may leave this place alive. You have ten minutes. The survivor will be granted the title of king and the rewards of the demon sovereign. Fail to decide, and you both die."
Wynn's expression darkened. So they were expected to fight each other to the death. He was the future of the Dusk Realm. He could not end here. But Gail gave him the feeling of someone whose true power was impossible to read.
Gail struggled to hold back a grin. What a gift. This was a once in a lifetime chance to actually get himself killed.
He started taking off his armor. "Since only one of us walks out of here, hurry up and do it."
Wynn was thrown off again. What was he doing? Was this another trap?
Gail could read his mind and quickly put on the most sincere expression he could manage. "Relax. I've got nothing left on but my shorts. One good hit is all it takes. And the title of king is yours, along with everything that comes with it. The new king. It's you."
But the more Gail acted that way, the more suspicious Wynn became. "What are you scheming? You're on the verge of winning. Why would you just give up?"
Gail's face twitched. "Stop being such a coward. If you're a man, just do it already. You've already earned your highness's trust. You hold military authority, and you're far from weak. A basic attack from you is enough to take out an A tier plus demonic envoy. If you actually came at me, I'm not even sure I'd win. So why are you holding back?"
"Because the Dusk Realm cannot afford to lose the Hawk family. Your father has served three reigns and given everything he has to this nation. And you, you're the young hero this nation's future depends on. I'm just a nobody who got lucky. My life isn't worth a fraction of yours. For the sake of the entire demon race, I have to be the one to die."
And just like that, he pulled it off flawlessly.
Wynn fell silent. He thought of his mother's words. One day you must become someone who carries the world in his heart, Wynn. Our people can only truly grow strong if we stand together.
The next second, he pulled back the fist he had already swung. He felt ashamed of himself. In his eyes, Gail was someone who thought beyond himself, willing to throw his own life away for the future of their entire race. Yet here he was, assuming the worst, convinced Gail was trying to lure him to his death. The two of them simply weren't operating on the same level. All he had been thinking about was the title of king, while Gail had been thinking about the future of their people.
The evil dragon sensed something was off. Two minutes had already passed. Why hadn't these two made a move yet? It pushed them to get on with it, warning that if they didn't act soon, it would step in itself.
Gail was equally frustrated. "Hey, just hit me already. What are you doing? What are you waiting for? This thing said if neither of us kills the other within ten minutes, it kills us both."
Wynn fixed his cold gaze on the dragon. "I've got another idea I want to try."
He began charging up. Then, with a fierce shout, "Scatter!"
The evil dragon's eyes sharpened. A crackling sound spread across its scales. The next second, it was swallowed by the explosion.
"You dare break through the barrier?"
Wynn had entered high spirit. "What do you say we take this dragon down together?"
The evil dragon let out a wild laugh. "Pathetic fools who don't know their place."
Wynn felt completely invincible, his entire body surging with explosive power. He had gained the assassin attribute boost. Strength up one hundred percent, speed up two hundred percent.
Gail let out a helpless sigh. Another one picking a fight on his own. Why did everyone around him have to make simple things so complicated?
The evil dragon was charging up as well. They were about to collide. A massive torrent of dragon breath came crashing down, but Wynn blocked it. Even the evil dragon seemed mildly surprised.
Wynn charged at the dragon again, but the damage he dealt was negligible. Wynn thought the dragon's HP bar was absolutely absurd. He charged again, only to be met by another blast of dragon breath. Wynn unleashed phantom weaving around it from every direction, then landed slash after slash on the dragon, but against a creature with defense that broken, it barely tickled. His strikes rang out against the dragon's scales with a sharp metallic clang. When he turned around, the dragon sat coiled before him, completely unscathed.
The next second, Wynn's eyes went wide. The dragon's tail made very direct contact with his face. Wynn was sent flying straight into Gail.
Gail figured he couldn't let Wynn die. If he did, Wynn might actually end up becoming the king.
The evil dragon began charging again, crackling electricity gathering in its jaws. Gail stepped in front of Wynn without hesitation and took the full hit.
This was a once in a lifetime chance, but after taking the hit for Wynn, Gail wasn't instantly killed. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, but that was fine. One more hit from the dragon and it would be over.
Wynn felt completely humiliated again. Gail had taken a fatal blow for him. He pulled out a potion that rapidly restored ten thousand HP and slapped it right onto Gail.
The next second, Gail's HP bar filled back up. Gail's veins nearly burst. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Wynn acted like he hadn't heard a thing and pulled out a whole stack of potions, unloading them all onto Gail. Cloud resistance plus one hundred. Recovery plus fifty. Defense plus five hundred.
Wynn, the single biggest obstacle standing between Gail and death, had just stacked him full of buffs.
Gail forced out a few words through gritted teeth. "I really do appreciate it."
Wynn downed a strength-boosting potion himself, then entered high spirit and launched straight at the dragon. Electricity crackled from the dragon's feet as it glared at him. Wynn flashed a dangerous smile and crushed something in his hand. From that point on, the two of them began trading spatial blinks back and forth, but the dragon had the edge.
Wynn took a direct lightning strike. His entire body seized up in paralysis, and he dropped straight out of the air.
Seeing the dragon wind up for another breath attack, Gail rushed in front of Wynn. The dragon breath hit him square in the upper body. When it cleared, his HP bar had miraculously held at roughly half.
Looks like all those buffs weren't wasted after all.
The next second, his HP filled back up again.
Gail was ready to explode. "Are you serious? Will this ever end?"
Wynn struck a pose and gave him a look that said he understood completely.
And so it went, the two of them fighting the evil dragon relentlessly inside the cave. Their persistence paid off. They had finally ground the dragon's HP down to half.