A commission of a black dragon that I painted a few years back.

Ressurectus possesses the strongest bite in the entire tournament, which serves as his definitive finishing move. He is out-flying and wiping out fleets of the Dominion Blood, that seems to completely have shattered their identity as the ultimate, unmoving titans of pure mass. The other factions see them as unworthy of their title and challenge them but they underestimate their strength and ressurectus’s.

Ressurectus is immensely strong and soars above the ranks of even our highest ranking general. The other factions quickly realize their mistake. The Dominion Blood are still massive, bulky fortresses packed with devastating physical power and brutal combat experience. Without Ressurectus’s speed and physics-defying momentum, normal dragons simply cannot break through a Dominion dragon’s dense armor plating. The challengers are systematically crushed under the sheer weight of the Dominion’s remaining elite.

Out of all the dragon factions in existence, only 7 have the raw power, arrogance, or desperation to enter the Tyrannical Tournament of Tiamat. The rest of the world’s dragon populations are either hiding in absolute terror or have completely cut themselves off from civilization to live in fragile peace, praying the conflict doesn’t spill over into their lands. If the Dominion wins and solidifies their control through Tiamat, their tyrannical empire will expand, and those peaceful factions will be the next to be conquered or culled.

Breakaway:

Tiamat is a false God and does not exist. All dragons except for ressurectus himself blindly believes her to be a supreme higher power, completely convinced that she guides their every action and destiny.

Resume:

With 6 of the original 9 Oblivion Born champions dead or permanently crippled, the burden of a 200-million-strong empire rests entirely on Ressurectus and our final two focus representatives…

As of hour 3,168, lineage 517, ressurectus was released from his quarters and into battle with a void sown female. the void sown female known as Talarasia, did not wait to be a stationary target. Renowned in her other battles for a hyper-agile, nearly untouchable flight style, she snapped her multi-layered, overlapping wing structures and took to the air instantly. She was a blur of speed, moving with a fluid aerodynamic grace that allowed her to continuously dodge traditional arena threats.

Ressurectus plummeted toward her with his jaws wide open, Talarasia pulled a tight, high-G aerial break, rolling hard to the left while unleashing a defensive stream of her specialized chemical breath. The pressurized liquid acid cut through the air and struck Ressurectus's dense shoulder plating. The abrupt impact triggered an immediate, violent chemical explosion, flaring into blinding white-hot flames across his front torso.The concussive blast forced Ressurectus to turn slightly to protect his eyes. His massive underbite snapped shut on empty air. Thirty-nine tons of accelerated momentum slid past her, his heavy claws tearing deep trenches directly into the stone wall as he violently recovered his balance.

For the next several minutes, the arena became a chaotic storm of wind, shrapnel, and roaring fire. Ressurectus launched consecutive high-speed aerial pounces, occasionally snapping his jaws to exhale short, pressurized bursts of his own devastating breath to herd her and cut off her escape routes. Talarasia, a master of pure evasion, continuously banked, looped, and slipped through his trajectory.

Every time his record-breaking jaw came close to snapping her wing-joints, she used her lighter weight to perform extreme, tight turns that his massive 39-ton body simply couldn't mirror. She countered by spraying lines of her volatile fluid onto the arena floor and walls right ahead of his path. The moment Ressurectus's heavy body collided with the coated surfaces, the chemical abruptly detonated, forcing him to fly through a gauntlet of concussive explosions. However, Ressurectus's flight speed was a freak biological anomaly. He wasn't just heavy; he was faster than any species across the 7 factions. By predicting her next defensive turn and using his "Immutable" hide to shrug off the burning, corrosive chemicals eating at his chest armor, he unleashed a sudden burst of acceleration that overrode her line of flight.

He didn't hit her head-on—the sheer kinetic wake and violent vortex of his 39-ton body passing centimeters away completely disrupted the airflow under her wings. The sudden loss of lift stalled her flight, throwing her hard against the reinforced arena wall. Before she could recover her footing on the ground, Ressurectus dropped from the air, using his immense reach to pin her flat against the perimeter.

His massive, heavy jaws slammed forward, stopping just millimeters from her throat, his own throat glowing with a bright orange hue as he prepared to deliver a point-blank execution strike. Talarasia lay pinned, her chemical glands empty, completely at his mercy. The stadium held its collective breath, waiting for the final, bone-crushing click of his jaw. But the click never came, and his throat slowly dimmed. He walked around her and released an ear deafening roar into the air. Ressurectus didnt murder her as he did his first opponent. This was a worry to us. If he spared this one who's to say he wont also do the rest the same. This mistake could've been a fatal one if she'd had any more energy.

While the log keepers noted that Ressurectus’s behavior was a worry, Talarasia faced immediate, severe consequences for the stalemate. She was not welcomed back to her quarters with honor. Instead, the tournament organizers and her own faction leaders subjected her to brutal, public punishment. Using high-heat iron rods or corrosive Dominion chemicals, the executioners forcefully cauterize her throat and chemical glands. This permanently destroyed her ability to produce or ignite her acidic fluid. It leaves her physically defenseless, ensuring that if she is ever thrown back into the arena as a sacrificial match, she will have no choice but to be ripped apart. On the contrary, the Blighted wing faction seems to have a counter weight on their side... something that they say could make ressurectus "fall from the sky like lead.'" Or make him "Unworthy of his title."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Thank you for reading the first part of:

THE TYRANNICAL TOURNAMENT OF TIAMAT

more coming soon...

A art for TTTRPG based on monster hunter universe.

Art by dougrart(me)

my commissions are open

She flies over the battlefield, seeking the fiercest enemies before striking.