Elsewhere, Modi had gone only a few hundred meters from the battle when a powerful presence surged up behind him, crushing the breath from his lungs. He leaned against a wall, teeth clenched, panting hard. When he looked back, he saw a huge ring of light suspended in midair. A terrifying silver-gray dragon's head was emerging from it, jaws wide as it unleashed a roar that shook heaven and earth.
It was Modi's first time seeing a True Dragon. His legs gave way, and he dropped straight to the ground, staring openmouthed. He even forgot to clutch his injured arm. His racing heart quickened the flow of blood, and the wound that had stopped bleeding began to seep again.
"What... what is that?" Modi muttered, staring upward, heedless of his reopened wound. "Why? Why is this happening? Are we... are we doomed to fail in our revolution? Something that powerful—is that the power of a god?"
Modi had always held fast to his beliefs. He believed that if they kept fighting, stood united as one, and were willing to make sacrifices—even if an entire generation had to be sacrificed—they could overthrow the rotten Lorenzo Kingdom. They would build an ideal nation without exploitation, oppression, war, or suffering. In the nation he imagined, even the Lorenzo people living there now would not be excluded. Hatred would be resolved, discrimination would vanish, and everyone would live as equals beneath this sky, happy and free.
But now the colossus that had emerged halfway through the Portal had mercilessly torn his dream to pieces.
The silver-gray behemoth was so large that even the enormous Portal could barely accommodate his powerful body. His vast wings were pressed tight against his sides as he squeezed through. Once his upper body emerged, they suddenly spread, immense enough