Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

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"DRAKE!"

Benladann and Miranda both panicked as they saw Drake being swallowed by Pandemonium's Domain, disappearing from there instantly, as if he had never been there to begin with.

It happened so soon, and before the Trial even began!

They never suspected that Pandemonium would simply snap, and no longer care about the Trial, or anything other than to kill Drake…

"He trapped Drake inside a Domain; I sense a strong dimensional distortion!" said Pekora.

"We have to tear through it!" Ruby invoked her Venerable powers. "We can't let him face that monster alone!"

"I agree!" Benladann said. "Everyone, let's break through!"

"We can't let papa fight him on his own!" Kate nodded.

"Papa! Wait for us!" Benladra said.

As everyone channeled their Divinities and were about to pierce through space to go save Drake, suddenly, a titan made of flames manifested.

"WAIT."

Suddenly, a power so strong nobody could resist washed over everyone, the owner of this entire space was someone else.

It wasn't Drake, and it wasn't Pandemonium.

It was him.

"I'll deal with them myself, no need to intervene, participants," the Venerable of Flames said. "Wait here."

His giant hands tore through the empty air, as the man shrouded in shadows watched in silence, although he smirked slightly after that.

Crack, crack…!

CRASH!

He forcefully broke through the Domain using his authority over the entirety of this space and then barged inside.

What he saw was something staggering.

Drake and Pandemonium, two monsters among monsters, fighting ferociously.

Space shattered with each of their blows, the two never giving up.

Never-endingly regenerating, and never-endingly fighting.

As someone that loved battles, the Venerable almost felt like he just wanted to sit down and watch the conclusion of this battle.

But rules were rules, and he couldn't have these two idiots ruining his inheritance, which he had set up for so long!

"ENOUGH."

With a loud voice, an immense pressure, stronger than the two-fighting surged, crushing them down into the floor, the entire domain then came undone a second later.

"What…?!" Pandemonium gasped for air. "H-How can you- UGH…! You're not stronger than me, Venerable of Flames! What trick is this?!"

Pandemonium couldn't believe he was being suppressed!

"Eons have passed since you were sealed, Pandemonium," said the Venerable. "Did you thought that Magic and Divine Arts remained the same since you died? We Venerables continued working, even after death. We've lived for hundreds of thousands, some even millions of years. The Trial is my Domain, my Realm, my World. You dare do what I told you not to… Then you are punished accordingly. Rules are RULES."

"Ugh…!"

The pressure became even stronger, making Pandemonium felt his entire body twist and break down, yet his powers remained as strong.

For a moment, he tried to break through, he knew he could still attempt to…

But after seeing Drake being just as suppressed and as pathetic… he smiled.

"Heh… Well, you said it was a Trial," Pandemonium laughed. "I… apologize for my attitude. I promise it won't happen again."

"You two-faced bastard…" Drake muttered. "I… I also apologize, but he was the one that suddenly came for my life. If I hadn't defended… I would have died."

"Hmmm…" the Venerable remained in silence and then sighed. "Drake is not wrong, Pandemonium, you will be punished. Drake, you may walk out of this."

"Thank you…"

Drake stood up and walked away, feeling tremendously exhausted, his soul was wavering, and the powers of Pandemonium's Left Arm were enormous, but they were also making themselves very hard to digest and completely absorb.

Like it happened with the Lung, he had to seal all the demonic power inside his soul like a bubble, and slowly let it leak out, absorbing the demonic energy over time.

Drake walked away, leaving Pandemonium with the Flame Venerable alone…

"Pandemonium, what drives you to such madness?" he asked. "Is your very existence about bringing destruction to all? Tell me, is this an impulse within you, or your mind alone that orders you?"

"Hah?" Pandemonium looked at the man made of flames, raising an eyebrow. "Hah… Hahah…"

And then he gave him the cockiest smile he could give.

He truly had the soul of a delinquent, more than the ancient father of all demons.

If anything, he was perhaps the person with the most carefree spirit of them all.

"I see…" sighed the Venerable. "So you're just a fool, a fool with too much power… Not a good combination at all."

After those words, Pandemonium suddenly fell silent.

His face grew serious out of nowhere, as if someone else had suddenly taken over his body and mind.

His crimson eyes stared through the Venerable's very soul.

And then, for a split second, he found himself within eternal darkness.

As countless red eyes glared at him.

Billions of demons manifested everywhere, laughing, roaring, screaming, dying, and being birthed.

"Wha…?!" the Venerable gasped. "A Mind Realm?!"

And then something appeared amidst the endless darkness and demons.

It was born from everything fusing together into the face of a man.

A very tired man…

"This is not a power I asked for…"

"You…?!"

"This is not a power I ever wanted…"

"What…?"

"What you think is power… is nothing but a curse."

"…!"

The venerable then noticed something amidst the endless darkness.

A little girl with charcoal black skin, with broken fairy wings, waring only a white dress, with long silvery-white hair, and with her eyes always closed.

Her arms and legs were chained, as she constantly bleeding black blood.

Miasma.

"That's…!"

The Venerable of Flames couldn't believe it.

"Pandemonium… Just what… what are you?!"

"The only thing keeping me together is her…" Pandemonium said. "I do everything for her… I promised I would destroy the world… And I promised her… We would live together forever and ever."

"She lives within you?!"

"Only a fragment… A piece of her heart."

"Why… are you showing me this?!"

"To make you understand… That I am not something you can look down onto."

FLASH!

Then the Venerable went back to normal, back to reality.

The pressure he exerted on Pandemonium disappeared, as he patted his blazing shoulders.

"I'll let it slide for now… But if you dare stop me a second time, I will not let you go."

"Hah…"

The Venerable of Flames laughed as he saw Pandemonium walk away.

"I suppose he's not just a fool…"