Chapter 13: “S-Rank Challenge: Firebeast Reborn”

Some mornings smell like fresh bread and hope. Others smell like smoke and impending doom.

Today was the second kind.

I woke to shouting, the clang of alarm bells, and a familiar burning stench—the kind that sticks to your lungs like regret. Crimsonreach was on fire. Again. Which was ironic for a town named after flames.

Seras slithered across the floor, her crimson-gold scales glinting in the dim light. Her voice slid into my head like silk over steel.

“Wake up, Master. Something big is coming.”

“Define big,” I muttered, throwing on my gear.

“Big enough to eat a wyvern for breakfast.”

Lovely. Just the kind of motivational speech I needed.

By the time I hit the streets, chaos had bloomed like an angry flower. Adventurers ran, steel flashed, and the cobblestones burned with unnatural heat. The air shimmered. Then I saw it—

And my brain briefly considered shutting down for maintenance.

The creature was massive, all molten muscle and spines dripping lava. Its eyes burned like twin furnaces, and its jaws—oh, those jaws—looked capable of turning me into a light snack.

Firebeast. An S-Rank monster out of legend. The kind you tell children about so they never stop having nightmares.

And here it was. Breathing destruction down the main street like it was trying to redecorate in “Ashes and Screams” chic.

---

Adventurers swarmed it. Some hurled ice spells. Others swung enchanted axes. None of it mattered. The Firebeast shrugged off magic like rain and flicked soldiers aside like bad character arcs.

“Of course it’s immune to conventional tactics,” I muttered. “Why make life easy when you can make it cinematic?”

Then I saw her.

Thalira.

Standing near the front lines, blade drawn, fire reflecting in her eyes. She looked every inch the Flame Queen she used to be—commanding, fierce, unyielding.

And then the beast roared, and I saw something else in her gaze.

Recognition.

Fear.

“Don’t tell me…” My stomach dropped.

She moved with deadly grace, striking the beast’s leg with the Red Phoenix Blade. Sparks flew. The beast staggered. But when it turned its head toward her—when those furnace eyes locked on her—I understood.

“This isn’t random,” I whispered. “This is personal.”

---

The beast lunged. Thalira dodged—barely. Fire scorched the stones where she’d been standing. She slashed again, her blade blazing, but the creature’s molten hide laughed at steel.

“Seras,” I hissed, ducking into an alley. “What am I looking at?”

“A Firebeast,” she said dryly. “But wrong. Corrupted. Mutated.”

“Mutated how?”

“It reeks of infernal mana. Something fed it power. Something ancient.”

Great. So basically, my day went from “mildly inconvenient” to “apocalyptic side quest.”

---

The beast roared again. This time, its tail lashed—catching Thalira across the torso and slamming her into a stone wall. She crumpled. The Red Phoenix Blade skittered across the ground, coming to rest near me.

Something in my chest snapped.

Not because of the prophecy. Not because of revenge.

Because that was her. The woman who once sang lullabies to me when I couldn’t sleep through the sound of flames. The woman who just risked everything to protect people who’d probably forget her tomorrow.

“Seras,” I said. “We’re ending this.”

Her laughter slithered through my mind like fire. “Finally.”

---

I grabbed the Phoenix Blade. The moment my fingers curled around the hilt, something ignited inside me. Not just heat—power. Scales shimmered faintly on my arms. My pupils slit like a serpent’s. My heartbeat thundered like dragon wings.

The system chimed in like the obnoxious coach it is:

---

[Skill Unlocked: Dragon’s Howl]

Command the primal roar of serpent and dragon blood. Dominates beast instincts. Area Fear effect: 30 meters.

[Affinity Boost: +15 with Thalira (Witnessed Heroic Response!)]

---

“Dragon’s Howl, huh?” I muttered. “Sounds metal.”

I leapt onto the rubble, blade gleaming in one hand, Seras coiling around my arm like a living gauntlet. The Firebeast turned toward me, molten saliva dripping like liquid doom.

“Alright, big guy,” I said, my voice low, sharp. “Sit.”

And then I roared.

Not human. Not entirely. The sound ripped out of me like a storm given teeth. The air vibrated. Windows shattered. The Firebeast froze mid-charge, its eyes wide with primal terror. Every lesser monster within earshot bolted.

“Now,” I whispered.

Seras lunged, fangs sinking into the beast’s neck. Fire met fire, hissing like a thousand demons boiling. I drove the Phoenix Blade into its chest, twisting hard. The beast shrieked—a sound like mountains breaking—and then collapsed, its body hardening into black stone.

The silence afterward was deafening.

---

I stood there, chest heaving, blade still smoking in my grip. My aura pulsed like a living thing—serpent coils and dragon wings shimmering faintly around me.

And then the cheering started.

“Kira!”

“Who is he?!”

“He tamed that thing—did you see that?!”

Voices rose like wildfire, turning my name into something sharp, something dangerous.

The system, of course, couldn’t resist rubbing it in:

---

[Reputation Unlocked: The Serpent-Dragon Tamer]

Public Opinion: Heroic Savior of Crimsonreach!

Reward: +500 EXP | Beast Affinity +10%

“Look at you, stealing the spotlight like a good little protagonist. Mommy must be proud.”

---

I ignored it. Mostly because Thalira lay slumped against the wall, breathing ragged. I dropped the blade and rushed to her side.

“Thalira—”

Her eyes opened, hazy but burning still. “You… roared like… a god.”

“Yeah, well… don’t get used to it,” I muttered, slipping an arm under her shoulders. “You’re heavier than I remember.”

She managed a weak laugh. “And you’re stronger than I hoped.”

Something twisted in my chest at that.

“Hold on,” I said. “I’ve got you.”

As I carried her through the smoke and cheers, one thought burned louder than all the rest:

This isn’t over.

Not with her.

Not with Rein.

Not with the gods watching from their empty thrones.

---

[System Notification: Emotional Event Complete]

Affinity: Thalira Reinhold – 65% (“Flame That Lingers”)

Route Progress: ★★★☆☆

Skill Upgrade: Dragon’s Howl → Dragon’s Dominion (Partial)

“Congrats, Daddy. The MILFs are watching.”

I gritted my teeth.

The system laughed.

And the fire in my blood whispered:

Burn everything that tried to break you.