Queen Medusa vanished in the blink of an eye, transforming swiftly from her human form into her true gorgon form. Her long black hair morphed into a mass of hissing snakes, and her lower body twisted into a powerful serpent tail. Towering over Tom, she glared down at him, her eyes glowing with rage.
"Very well. You won't be easy to kill... but you will die," Queen Medusa snarled, her voice laced with fury and confidence.
Tom stepped forward, his face cold, yet a small, mocking smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Then prove it. Kill me," he said with chilling calm.
Medusa raised her hand, and a glowing magical sigil appeared in the air before her palm. With an evil grin, she chanted in an ancient tongue:
"Per sanguinem caeli et umbras aeternas,
Exaudite vocem meam, in tenebris clamantem."
From her spell, a colossal serpent made of pure fire emerged, writhing and roaring as it charged toward Tom.
Tom chuckled, unimpressed. As the flaming serpent lunged, he raised his staff and murmured darkly:
"Plumas pluna volaentas."
A surge of black light shot from his staff, colliding with the serpent. In an instant, the fiery beast froze solid, transformed into a massive sculpture of ice.
Queen Medusa stared in disbelief. "This is impossible... No one has ever withstood my magic!"
Tom smirked, stepped forward, and punched the frozen serpent. It shattered into hundreds of shards, scattering like broken glass.
"As I told you, if you're the storm... then I am the sky," Tom declared, his voice full of mocking superiority.
Enraged, Medusa lunged in her monstrous gorgon form. But Tom calmly stabbed his staff into the ground. A radiant blue aura flared around Medusa, freezing her in midair—completely immobilized.
"I refuse to believe this. I will never be defeated by a mere mage!" she growled, thrashing in a futile attempt to break the magical restraint.
Suddenly, 29 of Medusa's elite serpent soldiers stormed into the room. The moment they saw their queen suspended in the air, they charged at Tom with blades drawn.
Without flinching, Tom lifted his staff and slammed it into the ground. A shockwave of hellish energy erupted. The soldiers were consumed instantly—reduced to nothing but smoldering skeletons.
"So weak, your soldiers… aren't they, Medusa?" Tom sneered.
Just then, Queen Medusa's sister, Stheno, entered the room, confusion in her eyes.
"Sister, what's going on? Who the hell is that!?" she demanded.
Medusa's eyes widened in terror. "Stheno, run! Don't stay here!"
Stheno turned to flee, but slipped and fell. Tom extended a hand toward her, his eyes dark with intent.
"No! Tom, please—don't hurt her! I'll do anything, just don't kill my sister. Please… have mercy!" Medusa cried, her voice breaking.
Tom paused. His hand lowered slightly as he stared at Medusa's tear-streaked face.
"I won't kill her," he said coldly. "But you'll have to do something for me."
Tom's eyes gleamed with a cruel spark as he raised his staff, his voice cold and commanding.
"You have to—"
But before he could finish his sentence, Stheno bolted, running toward the hallway to alert the rest of the palace guards. Tom's eyes flicked toward her, just for a second—but that second was enough.
Using the opportunity, Queen Medusa summoned the last reserves of her ancient power. Her eyes glowed crimson, her body surged with divine energy, and with a desperate cry, she shattered the magic that held her frozen in place. The enchantments cracked like glass under pressure, and the aura around her exploded outward with a shockwave that cracked the floor.
In a flash of golden light, she teleported both herself and Tom far away from the heart of her kingdom—away from her sister, away from the danger—into the vast, lifeless desert that stretched beyond the palace walls.
They landed in the scorched sands under the vast night sky.
Tom staggered slightly, then looked up with fury burning in his eyes. The stars reflected in his dark pupils like distant dying suns. He gripped his staff tightly with both hands, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"You think this will stop me?" he said, his voice low and deadly. "A teleportation trick? You really think this can save your kingdom?"
He lifted the magical staff high into the air. The ancient gemstone embedded within it pulsed with power—first dimly, then brighter and brighter, until it glowed with a blinding light. The skies began to darken. Clouds swirled violently as if summoned by some forgotten god. Thunder cracked. The ground trembled under his feet.
The staff began to draw energy from the heavens, pulling power from the very fabric of the world itself. Wind howled, sand whipped through the air like knives. Tom's cloak flared behind him, and his hair whipped in the storm as he stabbed the staff deep into the earth.
A massive surge of dark energy erupted from the point of contact, traveling in a blazing trail of destruction across the desert, heading straight toward Medusa's kingdom.
The energy gathered form as it traveled, twisting and expanding, morphing into the shape of a monstrous black dragon with burning red eyes. Its wings blotted out the moonlight, and its roar split the silence of the world.
Medusa watched in horror, helpless, as the colossal beast descended upon her home.
The impact was devastating.
The magical dragon tore through the kingdom like a force of pure annihilation. Towers crumbled into dust. Soldiers and innocents alike were vaporized in an instant. The sky lit up with violent explosions, and the very ground split apart. What was once a proud, ancient realm was now a field of smoldering ruin. Nothing remained but ash, fire, and broken earth.
Queen Medusa fell to her knees.
Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the horizon—at the empty void where her kingdom used to be. Her golden eyes filled with tears, her shoulders trembled. She let out a cry of anguish that echoed across the barren desert, mourning everything she had just lost.
Tom turned to her slowly, his eyes devoid of sympathy. There was no remorse, no hesitation—only cold satisfaction.
Medusa looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks, her body shaking.
"What are you waiting for now?" she whispered hoarsely. "Kill me too! Just finish it!"
Tom took a step closer, his shadow falling over her as he looked down with a twisted smile.
"No," he said softly. "Death is too kind. It would be mercy."
He leaned in slightly, voice like the whisper of a grave wind.
"And I don't give mercy to monsters like you."
Medusa's expression faltered. Her lips parted slightly, a new wave of despair flooding her heart.
Tom straightened, turning away from her as the winds around them began to die down. The night returned to silence, broken only by the quiet sobs of a fallen queen and the crackling ruin in the distance.
Her kingdom was gone. Her pride shattered. Her power broken.
And Tom… Tom was only just beginning.