My Infinite System.

The mountain shook like it had swallowed thunder.

Kaelis’s wings carved the air, each beat scattering fire and stone. His scales glowed molten, rivers of heat running between them, dripping like slag. When he opened his maw, the hall drowned in fire.

The Wolf King’s roar fought back, silver aura colliding with the inferno, but his people were already screaming. Warriors were burned where they stood. Chiefs were hurled across the chamber, smashing against stone. Shamans clawed at their glyphs, trying to hold wards together, but the wards shrieked like dying things and tore apart under the weight of Kaelis’s flames.

”Your pack ends tonight,” Kaelis growled, his voice shaking the mountain.

The Wolf King leapt again, claws flashing silver. He slammed them against Kaelis’s chest. Sparks erupted. Flesh hissed. Kaelis grinned through it, smoke curling from between his teeth, and whipped his tail around. The impact crushed the Wolf King into the stone dais, cracking it into rubble.

Warriors surged to cover their king. Wolfkin in black armor, their spears tipped with glyphs, roared as they leapt for Kaelis’s throat. He inhaled once.

Then exhaled.

Flames poured across the chamber like a flood. Their spears melted before they reached him. Their bodies burned away, the roar of fire louder than their howls. Only ashes remained, glowing faint before crumbling into the cracks of the stone floor.

The Wolf King burst from the rubble, silver aura exploding outward, cutting a path through the flames. His claws tore upward, catching Kaelis’s jaw, forcing his head back. ”You will not take my people!” he roared.

Kaelis’s laugh rumbled low, a sound older than the Wolf King could grasp. His molten eyes narrowed. ”Your people were dead the moment you howled.”

His wings snapped once. The blast of heat hurled the Wolf King backward. Kaelis lunged, his claws sinking into the king’s side. Flesh tore. Blood spilled, sizzling before it touched the ground.

The Wolf King howled, his aura surging to shove Kaelis back. He landed hard, panting, his silver mane blazing with power. His chiefs rallied around him, wounded but alive, snarling as they raised their blades.

Kaelis spread his wings wider, fire dripping from each scale. ”You think your pack saves you? Watch.”

He rose.

The roof of the hall ripped apart as his wings smashed through it. Stone cascaded downward, crushing shamans and warriors still alive. Kaelis ascended, his body too vast to fit in the ruins anymore, and the sky itself shook when he broke free.

Above, the Wolf Nation’s capital sprawled across the mountain—walls carved into the cliffs, wards glowing silver across its towers, wolves chained at the gates howling at the sky.

They howled at him.

Kaelis answered with fire.

One breath tore through a row of towers, stone melting into rivers of glowing slag. Another washed over the chained beasts at the gates; their howls cut short, their bodies turning to charred husks. The wards flickered desperately, shamans chanting louder, blood dripping from their palms as they pressed them into the walls.

The wards cracked.

Kaelis’s claws slammed into them, his laughter booming across the capital. ”Break.”

The wards shattered, silver light exploding outward in shards that fell like glass. The city gasped in one voice—their last shield gone.

Wolfkin poured into the streets, their formations tight, their chants sharp, but Kaelis was already among them. His tail swept once. Entire blocks crumbled. His wings cut through the air, the shockwave sending warriors flying like broken dolls.

He exhaled again, flames rolling over the streets, turning homes into ash and bodies into shadows painted on the ground.

The Wolf King emerged from the ruins of his hall, aura blazing brighter than before. He roared, the sound carrying across the city, forcing his people to their knees in instinctive submission. He leapt onto the wall of the capital, claws glowing silver, his eyes locked on Kaelis.

”Face me, beast!”

Kaelis turned, slow, his molten gaze narrowing with delight. ”There you are.”

He lunged, his body smashing into the wall. Stone shattered, towers collapsing. The Wolf King met him head-on, claws slicing through molten scales, cutting deep into Kaelis’s shoulder. Kaelis hissed, smoke rising from the wound, but he only laughed louder.

They clashed again and again.

Claws tore scales. Fire scorched fur. Each blow cracked the mountain deeper, the capital crumbling beneath their battle. The Wolf King fought with everything he had—every strike precise, every roar shaking his people awake. Warriors tried to rally behind him, hurling spears, swinging axes, chanting their packs’ names.

Kaelis ignored them.

He raked his claws across the Wolf King’s chest, silver aura flaring but faltering under the heat. He bit down, teeth sinking into the king’s shoulder, tearing flesh and bone. The king roared in pain, slamming his claws into Kaelis’s jaw, forcing him back, blood spilling down his chest.

But Kaelis only grinned, his teeth dripping with the Wolf King’s blood.

”You’re strong. Stronger than Taragon. But still a wolf.”

He slammed the Wolf King into the ground. The impact split the street in half, houses toppling, warriors crushed beneath falling stone. Flames rushed in, swallowing the ruins.

The Wolf Nation howled in despair.

Kaelis rose above them, wings outstretched, his body a storm of fire and shadow. His voice boomed across the city.

”Your king falls. Your wards are dust. Your pack is ash. This is the price of howling too long.”

He opened his maw.

The capital vanished in fire.

Walls melted. Towers collapsed. Wolves howled and fell silent. The mountain itself cracked under the weight of the flames, rivers of molten rock spilling into the valleys below. The night sky glowed red, brighter than dawn, brighter than any star.

The Wolf King still stood, barely, his mane scorched, his claws trembling. He raised his hand, blood pouring down his arm, and roared one last time. ”We are not prey!”

Kaelis descended upon him, claws tearing through his chest. The king’s roar broke into a cough of blood, his body collapsing under the weight of Kaelis’s strike.

Silence followed.

The Wolf King lay broken, his mane burned black, his eyes dimming. His people’s howls faded into nothing.

Kaelis stood over him, flames dripping from his jaws, his molten eyes burning with cruel satisfaction. ”No,” he whispered. ”You were prey the moment I smelled your blood.”

He raised his wings and unleashed fire one last time. The mountain glowed white-hot, the capital gone, the Wolf Nation reduced to ash.

Back aboard the Nova Sanctum, the crew stood silent at the viewport.

The horizon burned. The mountains glowed red, rivers of molten stone spilling into the valleys. No howls remained. No wards flickered. Only smoke and fire filled the sky.

Karl’s grin faltered, his arms crossed tight across his chest. ”That... wasn’t just a fight. That was... slaughter.”

Lucy’s face was pale in the firelight, her lips pressed thin, her hands clenched at her sides. ”He didn’t hold back.”

Lucian stood in the center, cloak loose around his shoulders, his eyes steady on the blaze outside. His voice was calm, low, but heavy.

”I don’t know what has gotten into him,” he said. ”But one thing I do know.” His gaze narrowed faintly, watching the last embers of the Wolf Nation flicker out. ”He must have had a beef with wolves.”

Karl let out a low laugh, sharp but uneasy. ”Beef? That was a massacre.”

Lucy turned away from the viewport, her voice quiet. ”If this is what he does when he remembers old grudges...”

She didn’t finish the thought.

Kaelis returned minutes later, his body shrinking, folding back into his smaller form. He landed on Lucian’s shoulder, smoke still curling from his nostrils, his grin smug. ”Told you,” he murmured, resting his head against Lucian’s neck. ”This one was mine.”

Lucian didn’t answer. He only kept staring at the fire, his eyes calm but sharp.

The Nova Sanctum drifted on.

And behind it, another nation of beasts was gone.

Monster Capital

A wolf staggered through.

Not just any wolfkin—a war-chief. His armor hung in shreds, one arm missing, his mane burned to ash. Blood dripped in thick trails behind him, every step carving pain into the stone road. His eyes were wide, frantic, caught between fury and terror.

The square silenced. Thousands turned to watch as he collapsed to his knees, claws scraping the ground. His voice cracked, raw, but it carried.

”The Wolf Nation...” His breath hitched, blood spilling from his jaw. ”...is gone.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. The chiefs nearest him surged forward, their auras sharp with disbelief. ”What do you mean gone?!” one snarled.

The war-chief’s head shook, his body trembling. ”Not fire from the heavens. Not humans. A dragon.” His voice broke into a howl, filled with despair. ”A dragon tore through our wards... slaughtered our packs... killed the King with his own claws!”

The square erupted. Roars, snarls, screams. The word dragon spread like lightning, striking fear even into the proudest monsters.

High above, in the King’s Hall, the Dragon King stirred. His molten eyes opened, their fire spilling across the chamber. The four dukes raised their heads in unison, silence falling heavy.

”A dragon...” the war-chief whispered one last time, his body slumping forward, lifeless.

The Monster Capital trembled under the weight of the news.

A dragon was behind it all.

And the war had only just begun.