Ancestral Lineage

The frozen clearing trembled beneath their feet, a battlefield now cratered and scarred from the monumental clash. The air crackled with tension, frosted steam rising in thick plumes around the combatants. Kaldaroth stood at the center, calm and collected, the cursed runes along his arms glowing with a sinister purple hue. His eyes gleamed with a predator's delight, sharp teeth bared in a grin.

Regnare snarled, the snow flurrying around his feet with each breath. His teammates lay paralyzed or buried in snowbanks, barely conscious but alive. His fury burned hotter than any flame, and yet his breath steamed with frost. Steam and snow mixed into a tempest around him.

"You're protecting them… admirable," Kaldaroth muttered. "But you're still weak."

He raised a clawed hand, and the wind howled with unnatural force as cursed ice daggers formed in a ring above him, rotating like blades in a magical turbine.

Regnare growled, "Weak? You think this... is all I've got?"

A pulse of ancient energy rippled outward from Regnare's chest.

Kaldaroth's grin widened. "Ah. There it is."

A thunderous heartbeat echoed across the landscape. Then another.

BOOM.

BOOM.

THIRD BOOM.

The ground shattered beneath Regnare as his body erupted in a blinding light. Snow and darkness spiraled around him. His roar pierced the heavens, part wolf, part dragon, and wholly something… divine.

His form shifted.

Scales dark as a stormy ocean shimmered over his arms and torso. His back arched as three massive tails unfurled behind him, swaying with lethal intent, each brimming with raw elemental force. Fur laced with icy mist covered his shoulders and chest, blending seamlessly with smooth, jagged dark-blue draconic scales. His claws thickened, talons becoming blade-like, with veins of glowing blue power coursing under the skin.

His eyes snapped open—deep violet orbs, brimming with wrath and wisdom, radiating his Draconic-Wolf Youkai heritage. Jagged dragon horns jutted skyward, now longer and gleaming with a sheen of ice and magic.

Regnare's full power had awakened.

Kaldaroth's expression sharpened, excitement flaring in his cursed aura. "So you are worthy after all. Entertain me, prince of fangs!"

Regnare charged.

The snow beneath him exploded in a blast of force. He blurred across the field, his claws slashing in rapid succession, one tail smashing toward Kaldaroth while another coiled to defend.

Kaldaroth responded in kind, disappearing in a flicker of cursed mist and reappearing above Regnare, raining down a volley of black ice spears. Regnare snarled and unleashed a tail-driven spin, shattering half of them mid-air.

They clashed again—BOOOOOM!

A shockwave burst out, annihilating the surrounding pines in a massive ring. Their punches and slashes blurred to the eye, claws and fangs singing songs of death. Regnare's tails moved like sentient whips, each laced with distinct icy enchantments—frostbite, pressure, and kinetic force.

But Kaldaroth… Kaldaroth was no ordinary foe.

He spun mid-air, extending both arms outward as cursed black runes spun in the sky above.

"Invertum: Frozen Calamity!"

A massive glyph opened above them. Ice—not cold but cursed—rained down like spears of despair. Each shard burned through the air, eating away at light and magic alike.

Regnare dodged right, two tails coiling around him as a barrier while the third smashed upward, shattering the runes before they fully formed. He opened his maw and roared:

"Glacial Howl!"

A cone of ancient frost breath surged forth, laced with pure youkai magic. Trees turned to ash. Rocks exploded.

Kaldaroth tanked the full blast—then reappeared behind Regnare, claws glowing purple-black.

"Curse Break."

One hit.

Regnare's armor of scales cracked.

"Shatter Pulse."

Two strikes.

His shoulder burst in a spray of violet sparks.

"Binding Tether."

Chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around Regnare's legs.

Kaldaroth's foot slammed into Regnare's gut, launching him into a jagged cliff. The impact leveled the ridge.

Regnare groaned, his tails twitching, vision blurring—but he wasn't done.

He stood, barely, and snarled.

"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!"

Kaldaroth tilted his head. "You're still standing? You truly are monstrous."

He inhaled deeply, then whispered, "Time to end it."

Kaldaroth's body began to change. The cursed runes spread across his entire frame, his skin turning an eerie blend of shadow and frost. Ice formed around his legs and arms, swirling like smoke. His claws extended, and a crown of ice and shadows formed around his head. His eyes turned completely black, leaking darkness.

He raised both hands.

"Final Domain: Black Ice Burial."

The very sky darkened.

Regnare raised his hands defiantly, his tails whipping into a spinning shield around him. He gathered everything—his pain, his fury, his pride, his ancestry—and shouted with primal force:

"Dragon-Wolf Ascension!!!"

The impact was cataclysmic.

The world turned white for a heartbeat—then black.

The ground cracked for miles. A thunderous pulse rippled outward, flattening forests and mountains in the far distance.

When the snow settled, the battlefield was a cratered wasteland of black glass and twisted, frozen stone.

Regnare lay at the center, unconscious, blood dripping from his mouth, his tails limp. His scales flickered, then faded slightly, his transformation exhausted.

Kaldaroth stood over him, breath ragged, one arm singed and bleeding black ichor. He stared at Regnare for a long moment, then nodded silently.

He didn't kill him.

Instead, he turned his back.

"It was… a test," he said softly, his voice echoing through the barren field. "You've passed."

Then he vanished into cursed mist, leaving behind only silence… and the promise that the real battles had only just begun.

...

"Ugh! My head..." Regnare muttered in pain as he forced his eyes open. Everything was blurry to him, and his head ached like he was being constantly hit with his father's hammer.

"So you met my personal butler and survived, impressive, Reg!" a voice Regnare didn't feel like hearing entered his ears. "Here, let me help you."

The voice said again as a cool sensation enveloped his body. The pain and lack of clarity he was feeling just disappeared like it was never there.

"Your personal butler? What the fuck, old man??!" Regnare exclaimed as he finally saw the face behind the voice: Ethan, his father.

"Yep. How did you find him? Strong right?" Ethan continued, ignoring Regnare's annoyance.

"I almost died! We almost died! Wait..." Regnare felt like pulling his horns out now.

"Don't worry, they are all fine. They are resting currently. And keep your voice down!" Ethan answered with a tired sigh.

"That's a bit good to hear but still..."

"You did well, though. Kaldaroth is someone strong, very powerful."

"How strong?"

"As strong as your uncle, Jerry, or maybe stronger."

"Doesn't that mean he didn't fight at full power?"

"He was using his weakest form. The form I fought him in once. Congratulations! You fought him at 5% power!" Ethan said, making fireworks explode in Regnare's room.

"That's not helping, you know?!"

"I'm very much aware, my son. Oh, and guess what, you awakened something more."

"I felt something in me when I exploded in anger. It was like I felt wrath and wanted to bring wrath on Uncle Kaldaroth." Regnare said, squeezing his palms. His three tails, which had now become permanent, swayed behind him mesmerizingly.

"Yep! You are now legally a Sin candidate!"

"What THE FUCK?!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"