The Reborn Witch had a nice 'Tea Time' with the Dragon Queen today-Chapter 16: Legacy (3)

Leona's voice boomed through the icy tempest, the blizzard around her spinning into a maelstrom of freezing power. Adrei's lips twitched at the pressure of the ancient magic, the weight of decades from Demond's journey with the wolf, the essence of their bond now coalescing into a terrifying force.

"You two are really one of a kind."

Both lived with pride as their code, and died with solitude as their shroud. Adrei's mind was drawn back to her father, he too died a miserable, lonely death, as a tyrant should. His arrogance had been his downfall, and she vowed not to follow suit. Her eyes narrowed, the fiery orbs reflecting the determination that had fueled her reign.

She will not allow her father's mistake to be repeated again. That is her pride as a daughter who buried her father without a drop of tears, an honourless peacekeeper who would succeed his arrogance but not his fate.

With those words, Adrei let go of her scythe, as her scales grew and shifted into a fiercer form, her eyes burning with a fiery determination that could melt even the coldest of hearts. Her human form melted away, revealing the true majesty of a dragon queen, her scales now a mosaic of golden lava. She spread her wings, the heat from them causing the ice to retreat, leaving a circle of fire around the two combatants.

The wolf's icy gaze met the dragon's fiery stare as the room grew quiet, the only sound the crackling of the flaming scythe on the frozen ground. The tension between them was palpable, a silent promise of an epic clash about to unfold. The warmth of Adrei's transformation reminded her the tyrant's wrath, and her own fear as an inferior being. Her claws and runes screamed for her to retreat, but her eyes, her pride, it remained steadfast.

With silence that could shatter the very fabric of the world, the dragon queen and the wolf queen lunged. Adrei's fiery wings flapped once, sending a shockwave of heat towards Leona. Yet the wolf remained unfazed, the blizzard around her thickening into a shield of solid ice. The two's claws collided with a force that would have shattered mountains.

Auras of fire and frost clashed, a spectacle that painted the throne room in a fiery blue hue. Adrei's golden scales reflected the light from the raging spirit of an honourless pillager, while Leona's fur stood tall, each strand a shard of the purest ice. The dragon's eyes narrowed, the fiery pupils dancing with the intensity of a star about to go supernova.

"Impressive, but not enough." Adrei's voice echoed through the chamber, a hint of respect seeping through her fiery tone. Her fiery claw dug deep into the shielded blizzards, cracked cackled in Leona's shield and sorrow as Adrei was pushing back the ice with the force Leona was so, so familiar with.

Leona's eyes remained fixed on Adrei, her teeth bared, her breath a cloud of frost. This dragon, she knew, was not the tyrant, yet strength and mana could not lie. The dragon queen's fiery might was something she had felt before, as menancing as the spirit king, as malicious as the strongest demon she and her master faced. The wolf felt a twinge of doubt, the hell of the past flared up her mind, just as the ashy torso tormented her spirit, yet she knew, she had no longer the luxury of fear, just as that fateful day they stood against the tyrant, the forest's fate hanging in the balance.

But Adrei would not respect such a resolve, as the dragon's fiery breath clashed with Leona's frosty shield. With that finality, the molten heat crashed through the shield, as the wolf was swept away by the dragon's fiery might. Her limps smacked into the ice floor with a thud, her fur singeing at the edges. Leona's eyes narrowed, the doubt in her heart smothered by the burning rage against a thousand battles lost, a thousand lives taken, a thousand prides broken.

"This is the end, Leona." Declaring with a fiery breath, Adrei's eyes gleamed with the fierce light of the sun. Her scales shrunk back as her human form took a stance, the fiery scythe back in her hand now pulsing with power.

"This fight is meaningless. Your death should be with your master, not with this enemy of your past." The words were a beg for surrender, a gentle reminder of the bond that had grown between them. Leona's gaze flickered towards Adrei, the flaming blade in her hand a stark contrast to the frosty air surrounding the wolf.

Ah, this hatred...that pitiful gaze as if she knew something of me. Leona's thoughts were a tumult of rage and doubt, her vision swimming with the flickering flames that danced around Adrei. The tyrant's laughter, the Spirit King's mockery, the master's warcry, it all roared in her ears, yet as her icy mana began to form again, her claws dug deep into ground trying to scratch her body into standing. But then she heard a whisper, faint, yet as clear as the frozen air around her.

"Leona."

The soft voice of a girl, not naive like a young boy, not grumpy like a tired old man, but pure, like the first snowfall, pierced through the cacophony of the battle. Leona's eyes snapped towards the sound, the fiery blade of Adrei momentarily forgotten. There, standing in the archway of the throne room, was Demond, her hand outstretched, her face with an understanding, haunting smile.

It was a smile she knew well, the smile that brought them into twenty years of solitude, the smile that broke the chains of their vows, the smile that signaled a journey's end. The fiery blade in Adrei's hand faltered, her eyes flickering towards the wolf, as the witch's gentle voice filled the air once more.

"This is the end, Leona."

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

The wolf growled, her eyes flickering with a mix of pain and determination as she pushed herself off the ground. Her fur was singed, the scent of burning filling her nostrils, but the call from the girl was stronger than any physical pain. The bond that had been forged over the years, the unspoken understanding that transcended the boundaries of contract and duty, the pride as Demond's summoned spirit, it all surged within her.

And so, the wolf bowed with grace, her head lowering not in defeat but in respect. The fire in Adrei's eyes dimmed, understanding the depth of the bond she faced. The dragon queen's hand trembled, the fiery scythe slipping from her grip, the heat dissipating as it clattered to the frozen ground.

"It is my defeat, Queen of Dragons."

The grudge that burned for twenty years, the solitude that plagued her soul, and the pride that kept her bound to a destiny she chose for herself—they all end in a moment of silent acknowledgment.