The dragon's collapse was unlike what Angel had seen when the "Calamity" charm reduced someone to dust from the inside out. Instead, it resembled a loss of control caused by exhausted spirituality, when the body could no longer contain its Beyonder power.
Hvin Rambis's golden pupils turned dark red. Thick blood vessels sprouted from the gaps between his eyeballs and the surrounding scales, bursting under the pressure and swiftly covering his still-human face in blood. The dragon's powerful limbs flailed wildly in the air, as though trying to seize something to maintain his balance, while his membranous wings beat out of sync, leaving his heavy body swaying through the air as if he might plummet at any moment.
His human mouth opened at an exaggerated angle, tearing the skin between his upper and lower lips. He let out a continuous, discordant roar and spewed transparent breath.
But it was not aimed at the enemies below. It swept aimlessly in every direction, looking less like a deliberate attack than an unconscious attempt to resist.
The scales covering his body lifted one by one, revealing constantly writhing flesh beneath. It seemed to have gained a consciousness of its own, desperately trying to push aside the dragon scales enclosing it, burrow out of his body, and gain freedom.
Dark red blood rained down in torrents, forming a circular patch of red and black on the ground, like an eye gazing up at the sky.
Having evaded the "Rotting Meteor" with Mirror Substitution, Angel emerged elsewhere and stared in astonishment at what was happening above. She had no idea why Hvin Rambis, who had still been brimming with fighting spirit a moment earlier, had suddenly suffered a collapse of his spirit body and the destruction of his flesh, as though...
As though he had