The Abandoned Child, Invincible Dragon King

During the Heil clan's dragon-power awakening ceremony, eldest son Ellis displays astonishing talent and is hailed as a genius. When second son Owen takes his turn, he produces nothing—not even a spark—and is publicly humiliated. Afterward, he is sent to Dragon's Hollow by Tosh with an ultimatum: awaken or die.

The Heil clan head learns that Owen survived Dragon's Hollow, gained a master, and is now ordered to compete in the Moonlight City selection battle. Meanwhile, Silas, who bears six dragon marks, is seen as the next lord of the sanctuary, a talent that unsettles the current lord. Owen receives a golden egg and is told to use it only when near death.

The Moonlight City selection battle begins, with Owen and Ellis competing. Ellis is summoned directly by a dragon knight, and the Heil clan head sees the younger brother's return as good fortune, hoping the family will become first in Moonlight City.

The Heil patriarch humiliates Owen, calling him filthy and unfit to be heir, fit only to serve Ellis. When Owen asks to enter the selection battle, his father dismisses it as delusion and threatens to disown him if he brings further shame. He also orders Owen to hide his dragon so it won't embarrass the family when Ellis bonds with a real one.

The first round of the selection battle takes place under the dragon's pressure unleashed by Lord Ferris. Those who fall are eliminated, while those who stand pass. The crowd gossips that Ellis is already chosen, while Owen also appears in the trial, enduring the immense force.

Ellis wears an expensive enchanted armor and withstands Blaze's full dragon pressure, earning praise as the future heir. Owen stands in a corner and feels nothing, but the crowd accuses him of hiding where the pressure cannot reach and shames the Heil name.

The combat round uses a random draw, and Ellis is matched against Owen in the third bout. The crowd declares Ellis the certain winner and mocks Owen as mere fodder for his brother. Ellis vows to show no mercy, setting up a lopsided brother-against-brother duel.

Owen receives a secret order from the clan head to forfeit immediately and spare his brother Ellis. He refuses, insisting on a fair fight. Ellis mocks Owen as the family's discarded pawn and warns that his blade will not spare kin.

Owen is stopped mid-duel by his father Heil, who berates him as a cursed child who killed his mother and now threatens his father. Heil declares Ellis the true genius of the family and threatens to have Owen subdued by force. Humiliated, Owen insists he only wants to prove he can defeat anyone.

Owen accuses his father Heil of never caring for him, and Heil publicly declares Owen is not his son but a stray picked up in the woods. Ellis feigns mercy while humiliating Owen and demanding he kneel. Owen casts off the Heil name, and Ellis summons the dragon granted by Ferris to show him true despair.