Five Minutes Prior, Everest's Perspective:

  In the depth of the darkness, I find myself floating in the same dark space.

  I'm confused. I just closed my eyes to rest, but that brought me here.

  It is frigid. Feels like something is blowing wind at me. The calmness and cold of the space give me a sense of loneliness.

  But I'm not dead.

  The spirit and the user should have a mutual connection. One side can't wish for power and expect the other side to comply. The basic rule of an exchange.

  Something for something. But the simple thing it asked of me was to call its name. Even on that, I lied and cheated. What good comes from that?

  After all, even prayers demand us to cultivate some patience.

  "Haven't I been punished for too long?" My voice echoes in the cold void.

  My body finally touches a surface.

  So I've been moving all this time. What is the meaning of this?

  Illumination. A green light appears, facing me.

  I don't feel the loneliness anymore. Someone is here with me.

  "Indeed, someone is present with you, but do you deserve my attention?" The voice comes out of the light.

  I try to roll over and stand up, but my body doesn't find a surface to take pressure on.

  I can feel there is something beneath me, but why can't I stand?

  "You're surely an interesting person. Even in this very moment, you don't ask yourself the correct questions."

  Sure, seeing me agitating myself feels funny to him.

  "You refer to me as 'him,' but you can only see the light. Why are you so sure about myself belonging to a given noun?"

  "What you are? I know. Only one person knows this place, and not only do you have the same voice, but you sound like a man, so I believe it's not a bad thing to presume you're one."

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  The light begins to laugh, a laughter sounding more like a roar.

  "Has the lesson been well integrated?" he says. "You have been dedicating your days to manifesting me. It must've been boring to have no results, but your dedication and beliefs were real."

  "I surely learned a lesson. It's not worth doing all of those prayers. In the end, I've been the only person demanding too much while all you wanted me to do was to call your name. Let me correct my mistake."

  After hearing that, the light begins to laugh even harder than before.

  "You seriously think that I will be giving you another chance? What a naive brat."

  "Who's naive? Me? Maybe. But I guess you too."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "You bringing me here is enough proof I need to know you care deeply about me." I smile.

  "What do you mean? There's no difference between this and your dreams. I could totally have manifested in your dreams."

  "You say that now, but I know that you're lying. You knew, didn't you? Even if I was scared, after getting back up, I'd still try going there. After all, that's the role of a hero."

  "Hah. That reason is indeed close to my intentions, but still they're far from the full story. But what were you trying to do there? If I hadn't brought you here, you would've simply died like the rest of them. Is your goal secretly to get killed?"

  "Believe it or not." I grin. "I actually wanted to make a desperate move, one that would produce a miracle."

  "What is this new thing of yours?"

  Like it has been a habit to be here, my body instinctively finds support to sit up. The endless darkness feels lighter. I can feel my body cracking like I'm fading.

  I look at the light. No, the red translucent eyes staring back at me. My fingers caress scales. Looking down, I can see the transparent green of the serpentine dragon.

  "All this time, I've been on you." I say in a low voice.

  "As it should be."

  My mind begins to fade. My body cracks into stardust, but I feel no pain.

  The dragon brings its head closer to mine. I place my hand on its nose, but then it cracks and fades away.

  I look at my fading body, then back at the imposing beast.

  "Your name is Oran, right?" I smile. "I'll be visiting you again, but please let me make a miracle."

  My consciousness completely fades from the depth of that emptiness. No, my second home. And so I make it to the other side.

  My eyes open slowly. My heart pounds faster. I can move my hands freely. When putting them back on the ground, I suddenly realize the cold of the water underneath me.

  "Everest, you're up?" It is the voice of Melissa.

  I stand.

  "What are you doing, Everest? I just healed you. Are you trying to die?!"

  My palm halts her without me looking. "Melissa, carry her and go far from here."

  "What? Are you serious? After all what you went through, you're still willing to play the hero?"

  I take a deep breath. "Melissa. At the moment, I'm not a hero. I'm a decoy, and as such, I want to give you the chance to flee."

  "Everest." Her voice is hesitant.

  The chunks of rubble and ruins produced by that absurd fight lie before me. Without looking back, I march forward.

  After a while, a horrific scene comes into view. I can see the blood all over the ground. The centipede runs over Pirine. The crack appears as a weakness I aim at. Light emits from my palm. Like a beam, it shatters the centipede into pieces.

  Jiaolong is crawling away from the man who attacked us. As his hand is about to touch him, I kick it away.

  "I think you've done enough now."