As Adam snickered, a malevolent mass of energy swirled inside the palace. It colored the engraved Persian pillars and ancient stone throne in crimson and venomous purple as its insidious voice echoed.
"My, my. We received an interesting guest, didn't we? Why don't you greet him, Howl?" It let its words linger, his tone growing somber. "Make Tiamat understand her mistake and retrieve the fragment from his contractor."
A young man rose from the throne, his long dark hair cascading down his angular human face. He glanced at the empty brazier behind the mass of energy before he knelt and clasped his hands over his heart religiously.
"I swear to honor you and the powers you bestowed on me, oh great Ahriman."
His scarlet eyes sparkled as tremors rumbled through his body.
Two demonic dragon heads emerged from his trembling shoulders, rising and coiling above him. The air sizzled, their putrid breaths releasing a toxic fog as venom dripped down their sharp teeth.
Somber scales sprouted on his growing body, their jagged form creating sharp spikes along their necks. Four wings burst from his back and muscular forearms, and then his human head shifted to resemble the other two.
He gazed through the window, sizing up Adam's devilish looks and faded traces of draconic bloodline with a smirk.
"I'm better and more balanced than you in every aspect. Hahaha! Witness my perfection. Witness how I'll surpass the first Azi Dahaka." His eyes narrowed as he bolted through the sky. "And witness how I'll conquer every single realm as a part of me."
The booms of his flapping wings drew Adam's attention. He narrowed his eye, his fingers tightening around his blade and his palm flickering with scarlet flames.
Instead of the expected confrontation, the monstrous three-headed dragon stopped before him, his brows raised and smirks splitting his faces.
"Isn't it the Adam that was on everyone's lips five years ago? Who would have thought you crawled down the abyss like a roach?"
Adam sized the creature's eight-meter-tall body, a smile playing on his lips.
"And you must be..." His smile broadened to reach his eye. "Who? A random lord no one ever heard about."
He struck his palm, his face brightening in realisation as the dragon trembled.
"Oh yeah! One of your men told me about you. The new Azi Dahaka, right? You're as ugly as he described you."
"Enough!" Toxic fog billowed from the dragon's quickening breath. "I'm Coyle, you cocky bastard. Now that you know the original name of your killer, die in peace."
"I never asked, but I'll make sure to forget it the second I vaporise you."
He watched the fuming Coyle cleave the air, teeth barren and claws glinting. His smirk faded, replaced by a clenched jaw and a narrowed eye at the surprising speed.
With a split-second decision, he dropped to the ground, dodging the enraged charge by a hair's breadth as questions plagued his mind.
'Is he as fast as me because of his multiple wings, focused on agility... or is he as powerful as me?'
The last question vexed him slightly. After all, he had carved a bloody path through six layers of the abyss to reach his level. Could Coyle really match him?
He landed on the deserted street and gazed up, snickering at his descending adversary.
'Doesn't matter. He's just another fool who shows more than what he should.'
Confident, he hurled his fist in an uppercut.
Superheated flames swirled with the movement, erupting into an inferno of plasma.
The air distorted in its wake, leaving a trail of vapor as the nearby buildings melted in the blink of an eye.
Coyle smirked, the scarlet plasma casting dancing shadows on his right face as he landed heavily on the ground.
In a disturbing spectacle that made Adam frown, the mouth snapped open and engulfed the strike like water. He watched Coyle's long neck brighten, the scales turning incandescent. Yet, they darkened the next second as if everything had been a mirage.
"That's it? Hahaha! I applaud your mastery, but there is nothing my true poison can't dissolve."
As if to prove his claim, Coyle jerked his heads back. His throats bulged before he propelled them forward and spit three streams of purple venom toward him.
He lunged to the left in a narrow dodge, but a cacophony of sizzles still grated at his ears. The stench struck his mind like hammers and made his eye water as he watched the darkened ground dissolve where he had stood.
With a forceful spin of his hand and a bright burst of flames, he disintegrated the gas. But questions still rang in his mind.
'How can mere venom endure my plasma?'
It made no sense. He had thoroughly assimilated the devouring blaze's destructive characteristic. So, how could Coyle consume it without sustaining damage? A great fire resistance couldn't explain this.
However, a sharp whistle and a lethal glint forced him out of his analysis. He glared at the claws closing in and answered with an overhead swing of equal ferocity.
A deafening clangor reverberated as dark cracks spiderwebbed the surrounding space.
Painful tremors rocked his arm, his legs digging into the melted ground for a few centimeters before his eye widened in shock.
Overwhelmed by Coyle's raw strength, his bones shattered without warning. Gritting his teeth, he fired a plasma bolt to force his adversary back.
However, one of Coyle's heads flashed before it. Mouth open, it swallowed it and smirked.
"Poor Adam. How does it feel to fall so much? Do you enjoy losing to a random lord? But don't worry, your sufferings will soon end."
But he didn't hear the taunt. Instead, flames burst from his palm, propelling him back before a bolting claw ripped him to shreds as his mind raced.
'This bastard's level isn't higher than mine.' He clenched his jaw, realisation dawning on him. 'He reached the eighth tier.'
He crashed into a building. Rubble buried him under a thick dust cloud, yet a grin split his face as the scabbard healed his arm. After all, he had finally found a tier-eight boss.
'Time to act a little.'