I Ascend Alone-Chapter 136: The Birth of National Level Part XV

The words were not shouted, but they were spoken with the gravity of eternity.

The cameras caught it. Drones zoomed in, and even through broken lenses and half-fried sensors, the entire world saw it.

A Calamity-Class Dragon that brought to heel, and bowing to me.

The livestream comment sections erupted again:

***

@CelestialHuntersHQ:

IS THAT... IS HE... IS THE DRAGON KNEELING?!

@DeepZoneLorekeeper:

I HAVE NEVER SEEN A CALAMITY CLASS KNEEL. NOT ONCE. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

@DarkSystemFiles:

That isn't a Hunter. That's a King. That's something else!

@InfernalWitch:

He didn't just win. He claimed Pyraethrax.

@ApocryphaRising:

That dragon SERVES him now.

***

From behind the barricades, silence had overtaken the cheering.

Even Orion Graves, still gripping his shattered greatsword, stood stunned. Celestine Ardent's flame-slicked hair flickered quietly in the wind as she whispered, "What is he...?"

President Vaughn stared at the image on the screen with a pale face and a shaking hand.

Agent Hale was the first to speak, jaw clenched. "Send this footage to the International Summit. Now. All of it."

And as the world scrambled to understand what they had just witnessed, I stood before my new servant—shadow trailing behind me like a throne's silhouette—and spoke only once:

"Rise, Pyraethrax."

The dragon obeyed. Silent. Bound. Eternal.

His head lowered again, not in submission this time, but in solemnity. His voice, deep and ancient, echoed like the toll of a forgotten bell.

"...My King," he rumbled. "If I am to walk this new path... then grant me a name."

I looked up at him, brows furrowing slightly. The smoke swirled around us, caught in the quiet tension between rebirth and remembrance.

"You want me to name you?" I asked, voice low. "Even though I'm the one who ended you?"

There was no hesitation in his reply. "Precisely because of that."

A gust of abyssal wind stirred, ruffling the ragged edges of my coat.

"What of your creator?" I asked, eyes narrowing. "Whoever made you—bound you. If I name you, it means you've severed all ties. They might come looking for you. For us."

He lifted his great head, eyes burning not with fire, but with that steady violet-black flame of loyalty now etched into his being. There was no doubt in his voice when he answered.

"I no longer fear the will of my past. My flames were once forged for destruction, for conquest under a god who saw me as a tool. You saw me as something more. You didn't just defeat me. You freed me. I stand now not as a Tyrant..."

He lowered his head again, reverent.

"...but as your blade, your fang, your shadow. From this day forth, I serve you, and only you."

The wind stilled.

And in that moment, the name came to me—not born of fire, but forged in abyss.

I stepped forward, placing one hand on his colossal, obsidian-scaled snout.

"Then rise, no longer as Pyraethrax," I said, voice steady, echoing through the airwaves still locked on me. "From this day forward... you are Umbraezar—the Voidflame Sentinel."

His form pulsed. The name took root like a binding deeper than any contract.

He threw his head skyward and let out a new roar—not one of rage, but of rebirth. The sound tore through the clouds and shook the heavens, a declaration to the world that the Ember Tyrant was gone.

As Umbraezar's roar faded into the sky, the Abyss trembled in approval.

A flicker of black code shimmered in my vision.

A familiar chime echoed—sharp, regal, absolute.

***

[ System Update - Subordinate Bound by Name ]

Entity: Pyraethrax the Ember Tyrant

Status: Claimed

Soul Binding Complete.

Monarchal Authority Imprinted.

Processing transformation...

Name Assigned: Umbraezar

Title: Voidflame Sentinel

Status Reconfiguration Complete.

***

A luminous obsidian screen flared into view before me, glowing with deep violet glyphs as the system formalized his rebirth:

***

[ Updated Status Window ]

Name: Umbraezar, the Voidflame Sentinel

Level: 100

Class: Abyss Monarch's Shadow Vanguard

-

[ Exclusive Skills ]

Abyssal Strike (Lv. 5) – Converts raw power into shadow-based melee attacks that bypass conventional defenses

.Shadow Manifestation (Lv. 5) – Allows creation of temporary dark-formed constructs or extensions of body.

Night's Guard (Lv. 5) – Grants a protective field of sentient shadows, absorbing damage and retaliating.

Abyssal Rebirth (Lv. 5) – Upon fatal damage, instantly regenerates once per battle using Abyssal essence.

Voracious Darkness (Lv. 5) – Consumes enemy spells, flames, and mana to restore HP and MP.

Special Ability:

Abyssal Commander – Grants immunity to Abyssal corruption. All dark-based abilities gain 30% power boost. Can command lower abyssal entities with perfect authority.

-

[ Updated Stats ]

Strength (STR): 350

Agility (AGI): 250

Vitality (VIT): 250

Intelligence (INT): 250

-

[ Special System Stats ]

HP: 90,000 / 90,000

MP: 60,000 / 60,000

***

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The screen flickered out, but the weight of it settled across my soul like a second heartbeat.

Umbraezar bowed once more. "Your shadow shall stretch as far as you walk, my King. And I shall burn only at your command."

I gave him a nod, and I stood still for a moment, staring up at the towering figure of Umbraezar—his molten-black wings folded behind him like twin monoliths, his breath a low haze of smoke and shadow. The ground still hissed beneath his claws, but there was no longer malice. Only power, waiting.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, tone casual, almost quiet beneath the weight of everything."Do you have a humanoid form?"

Then came the reply—low, proud, and tinged with something ancient. "Yes, my King," Umbraezar said, his voice still carrying the echo of a dragon's might. "Would you like me to assume it?"

I gave a nod.

The air shimmered around him—space flexing, folding. A deep, resonant thrummm pulsed outward, like reality itself giving permission.

And then he shifted.

It wasn't just transformation—it was translation. One being rewritten into another. The wings folded into a swirling mantle of smoke and scale, his massive frame compacting, reshaping, refining. The light of the crater dimmed around him as his colossal body compressed like a collapsing star.

When it was done, he stood before me in human form—tall, regal, radiating dark nobility.

His hair was pitch black with veins of ember-red threading through it like living coals, swept back in sharp strands. His eyes remained that same deep violet-black, vertical-slit pupils gleaming with restrained fury and loyalty. His skin was pale ash-gray, with faint markings glowing faintly across his neck and arms—remnants of the draconic runes that once lined his scales.

He wore a long, dark coat lined with flame-scorched trim, high collar upturned, and armor beneath that shifted like liquid obsidian—elegant but deadly. Every step he took left behind faint afterimages, as though even his presence had inertia.

"Umbraezar," I said, studying him.

He inclined his head, one fist crossing his chest in salute.

"I stand ready," he said. "In any form, by your will."

Behind us, the broadcast drones were still locked in—silent now, catching every moment.