Lightning raced across the crimson sky. The mages called it the storm to end all storms, but I didn’t have time to worry about a little wind. My focus was directed solely at the apocalypse class monster sitting in the eye of the storm.

The monster went by many names, The Dragon King, The Last Red Dragon, The Walking Cataclysm. The Arch-Dragon Septimus was big enough to cast a shadow over the entire continent; Every footfall caused lava to erupt from beneath the ground. Every breath released torrents of heat powerful enough to glass a small mountain. Even the beats of its heart were causing catastrophic events; each one loud enough to rupture one’s eardrums and stop the hearts of those too young or too old to withstand it.

The only one left to fight such a beast… Was me. Just your average, ordinary high school student.

Hi, my name’s Robin Murray. Five years ago, during a storm not dissimilar to the one I was in now, I was somehow sucked into my dad’s copy of the video game; Titan Hunter 4. I’ve been trapped here ever since.

It hasn’t been all bad, I suppose. I’ve seen places untouched by the hands of man in over a thousand years, became friends with a future emperor, even fell in love… But that’s all gone now. Wiped away in Septimus’ rampage across the continent until only I remained standing.

Even if I did win, what would be the point? This world was done for. There weren’t enough people left to sustain the population, and those that remained were too scattered to help one another.

They were destined for a slow, painful death… But they would live. I’d make sure of it.

I lifted my staff and pointed it at Septimus; It was little more than a piece of firewood at this point. All the enchantments I’d placed on it over the years were now broken. The crystal core powering them cracked after shielding me from the Arch-Dragon’s horrible breath. Be that as it may, I had faith it would see me through to the end.

Blue sigils from a long dead language swirled up from the ground to encircle me. I guided them with what remained of my staff to form the building blocks of the only hope I had left.

Minutes passed as I gathered up the necessary mana to cast the spell. Each moment brought Septimus closer to my resting place; The cliff overlooking what used to be the capital of the Valdurian Empire.

The mana flow around me grew until its ferocity matched that of the storm. My slowly swirling blue mana mixed with the quickly flowing red of Septimus' mana to form purple crystals that drifted from the sky like so many snowflakes.

The mixture drew Septimus’ gaze towards me for the first time since our last encounter a month ago, when he broke my staff and damn near put me into a coma. I didn’t know if he was intelligent enough to recognize me, I’d never thought to ask since he’s been too busy bringing about the utter destruction of the world to hold a conversation.

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Septimus' eyes narrowed on me. His mouth opened wide and all the red mana in the atmosphere rushed towards him. The red mana swirled together in his mouth, creating a ball of hellfire the size of a small house. Just like that, it became a race to see who would finish gathering mana first.

The ball of hellfire was growing larger by the second, quickly doubling in size, then tripling. It grew so big, I wondered if Septimus would need to unhinge his jaw to keep it contained. But that changed suddenly, the ball shrunk so much it vanished to my eyes.

I finished gathering the mana for the spell at the same time Septimus threw his head back. His head came forward, his mouth opened wide, and a beam of red light fired in my general direction.

It tore the world asunder as it flew dozens of feet above the ground. I narrowed my eyes as it drew closer- At the last second I activated my sole remaining artefact: (The Ring of Recall) and my body phased out of existence just before the beam reached me.

The (Ring of Recall) was a single use item that allowed me to set a return point and return there instantaneously. I reappeared thirty feet in front of Septimus, though I wasn’t on the ground. I would’ve died instantly if I so much as grazed the area around his feet.

No, I was six-hundred feet in the air. I hovered in place for a moment thanks to the ring’s magic. The moment its magic ran out and I began to fall, the ring snapped in two and fell from my finger.

The reason for this hail mary attempt at casting was due to the effective range of the spell. It was most powerful within a hundred feet and quickly lost strength beyond that point. I wished I could’ve gotten away without using it; that ring was priceless, but I wouldn’t have survived otherwise. Just floating in front of him for a few seconds scorched my skin and ignited my robe.

I knew I would die here. I accepted that long ago… But I would not go alone.

I thrust my staff towards Septimus’ chest. "(Ice… Age)” I wheezed; I could feel my lungs burning from the inside out, thankfully, I didn’t need to speak again. The spell had been cast- now I just needed to hold on long enough to cast it.

A single, perfect snowflake was created on the tip of my staff and was launched towards Septimus’ chest even as I plummeted towards the ground.

The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes and waited for death, was the snowflake explode into a torrent of white light. All sound vanished instantly, even the sound of the wind rushing past my ears went quiet…

I felt the fluffy embrace of death, and I buried my face in its vinegary scent… Wait, what? I lifted my head up and found myself not in heaven; or possibly hell, considering all the monsters I’d killed over the last five years, but laying on a bed in a dark room. My sweat encrusted pillow stank to high heaven and was the source of foul odor.

I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around. I was back in my room; my computer was still on, with a document open on the screen. I didn’t remember what I was doing when I left, but I was sure my parents were going to be majorly pissed.

The other thing I noticed was the light shining from the corner of the room. My TV was still on and plastered on the screen in bright yellow letters was the word (Congratulations!)

“I’m… I’m back?”