Extra's Ascent

ROAR!!!

A deafening cry echoed through the city's farthest reaches, a regal bellow that shattered the skies and shook the streets. It marked the arrival of a tyrant cloaked in lightning, a crowned beast of destruction summoned by none other than Eric Aldaman.

High above the collapsing rooftop, Hector braced himself. Channeling every ounce of his mana, he began sculpting his own retaliation. As the black tiger descended, wreathed in crackling voltage and malevolent fury, Hector's response took the form not of instinct, but of artistry.

Born from sheer will and shaped by unyielding imagination, an Ice dragon emerged.

It rose from the fractured tiles beneath his feet, conjured from the densest ice mana he could muster. This was no replica of ancient lore, nor a mimicry of draconic heritage. No, this creature existed purely in Hector's mind, a fake born of rivalry, crafted to challenge the very embodiment of Eric's tempest.

"I name you… Ice Dragon Roar!" Hector announced, pride swelling in his chest. A fitting title for his creation. "Now fly! Shatter that roaring feline!"

The irony wasn't lost on him. In legends, the tiger and the dragon were eternal opposites, iconic adversaries locked in perpetual struggle. And here they stood, mirrored by their conjurers, about to enact that ancient dance once again.

With a piercing cry, the ice dragon burst upward, its serpentine body twisting gracefully as it surged through the atmosphere. Its crystalline scales glistened under the fading sun, catching light like shards of frozen moonlight. Wings of jagged frost cut through the air, trailing cold mist in their wake.

Above, Eric released the leash on his summoned predator.

With freedom granted, the obsidian beast thundered downward. Each movement radiated feral energy, each step of descent guided by guttural roars and surges of darkened lightning. The sky trembled. Bolts slammed into the surrounding buildings, reducing glass facades to clouds of glittering debris. Streetlights flickered and died. The city itself recoiled from the approaching doom.

And then, they met.

The moment of reckoning arrived.

The ice dragon's ascent intersected with the black tiger's descent. Frost and lightning collided in midair, a whirlwind of raw force and elemental opposition. Time seemed to freeze at the peak of their clash, an instant stretched to infinity.

Then came the detonation.

A blinding flash engulfed the battlefield, followed by a bone-rattling boom that tore through concrete and steel alike. Buildings shattered as shockwaves raced outward. Entire floors buckled under the pressure. Some towers, despite their reinforced foundations, split apart and began to collapse.

Amid the storm, Hector's eyes widened in horror.

He watched helplessly as the black tiger's fangs tore through the heart of his creation. The ice dragon shattered, its elegant form reduced to glittering fragments caught in the wind.

It wasn't enough.

He had given everything to forge that beast, every thread of mana, every ounce of belief and still, it had been overpowered.

Now, Eric's thunderous construct descended unabated.

The roaring monstrosity slammed into the earth, and the explosion that followed was apocalyptic. A column of shadowed lightning erupted into the sky. The rooftop Eric had occupied disintegrated, swallowed by the very force he had unleashed.

The structure beneath him groaned and gave way. Chunks of concrete and twisted steel fell like hail.

Yet Eric remained unfazed.

With reflexes honed in battle and instincts sharpened by countless encounters, he leapt from one falling slab to another, navigating the collapsing terrain with unmatched agility.

That's when his eyes widened not from pain, but from panic.

The neighbouring hotel, tall, slender, and modern was swaying.

Its base had cracked under the pressure, one side sinking dangerously. The building tilted, windows exploding as the foundation shifted.

Inside that tower were two people.

Ramprandt. Marvelous Kennedy.

Eric's breath hitched.

"Damn it!" he snarled through clenched teeth.

There was no time to wonder if Hector had survived. The detonation had consumed him entirely, but whether he endured or not no longer mattered. Right now, lives were at stake.

Without hesitation, Eric pivoted mid-leap and angled toward the tilting structure.

A few moments later, he crashed through the upper floor, glass and steel giving way under his entry. He landed in the penthouse suite, the same room he'd last seen Marvelous and Ramprandt held hostage.

But now?

The room stood empty.

The charred remnants of furniture lay scattered. Walls buckled. Dust thickened the air.

No bodies. No captors. Nothing.

"Damn it!" he cursed again, this time with desperation clawing at his voice.

"Sir Ramprandt! Where are you!?"

He sprinted into the corridor, dodging falling beams and pieces of ceiling. Sparks danced along exposed wires as fire alarms wailed uselessly.

Then a thought slammed into him.

When the building started collapsing, the terrorists must've abandoned their posts.

If they had time to kill their prisoners, he would've found bodies. But the penthouse was empty.

They were alive.

Somewhere.

A sudden realization struck.

"The elevator…" he whispered, then broke into a sprint, veering down the corridor toward where the shaft should be.

"Help! Somebody help!"

A voice, muffled, but unmistakably human echoed from below.

Eric arrived at the edge of the gaping elevator shaft. What he saw made his stomach twist.

The car had dropped several floors. Only a single cable held it aloft now, the rest of the support having torn free with the building's shifting weight.

"Sir Ramprandt!". He called, alarmingly.

The elevator dangled, creaking ominously. The shaft walls had fractured. One wrong tremor and it would plunge.

"Eric! Can you hear me? We're down here!"

Ramprandt's voice pierced the chaos, rising from below.

"I hear you!" Eric shouted back, peering into the darkness. "Miss Kennedy? Are you with him?"

"She's here with me!" Ramprandt confirmed.

A wave of relief washed over Eric.

They were alive. Together.

That saved him precious minutes.

But they were far from safe.

The entire tower was minutes if not seconds from tipping entirely. Its uppermost floors, where they were located, would be the first to collapse when gravity finally won.

"I'm getting you both out now! Just hold on!"

Eric knelt, examining the thick cable supporting the elevator. It frayed under the strain, its fibres unravelling with every heartbeat.

He gripped the rope, intending to pull.

But the second he flexed, his arms trembled. Mana sputtered at his fingertips. The vibrant energy he relied on felt thin… depleted.

No… not now.

His reserves had finally hit their limit. The Black Tiger's Roar uncontrolled and unleashed had consumed nearly everything he had left.

His breath hitched. He was running out of time and options.