Prologue: The Beginning of a Dream

A great war was taking place.

The battlefield stretched out like a blood, drenched arena in the borderlands north of the scorched plains of Darama, right beneath the looming, ominous shadow of Mount Kaiser. It was a scene of absolute, unbridled chaos. Across the plains, the world's superpowers clashed in a devastating stalemate. On one side, the warriors of the Kageyoshi Empire fought fiercely with their heavy broadswords, towering shields, and thick plate armor, backed by crackling spells that illuminated the thick curtains of smoke. Against them stood the disciplined legions of the Drakon Shogunate, clad in crimson tōsei gusoku armor, their horned kabuto helmets gleaming beneath the burning sky as razor-sharp katanas sliced through the air with lethal precision.

Suddenly, from the northwest, a low, terrifying horn resounded across the battlefield. It was a primal, monstrous sound, like the guttural war-cry of a beast. Emerging over the horizon of the sun-baked sand dunes, the armies of the Mahoutsuki marched forward, determined to claim their share of Mount Kaiser.

One of the King's Titans yanked the reins of his horse. He spurred the beast into a full gallop toward the king’s war tent, threw himself out of the saddle, and burst through the tent flaps, breathless and wide-eyed with fear.

"My liege! My liege!" he gasped, sweat pouring down his face beneath his heavy armor. "Mahoutsuki has just joined the battlefield!"

The King, who was leaning over a tactical map-table, froze. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, my liege! They just blew their war-horn and are marching directly toward the centre of the battlefield!"

The King’s expression darkened. "We cannot take any chances on where their loyalties lie. March forward! Order the men to raise a magic shield wall!"

The general sprinted back out of the tent, leapt onto his horse, and galloped toward the front lines, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Shield wall! Shield wall!"

The soldiers rushed forward, forming a flawless, interlocking line. They slammed their heavy shields into the dirt and activated their shimmering defensive barriers, bracing for the Mahoutsuki advance. But the attack never came. Instead, the Mahoutsuki mages began chanting in perfect unison. Intricate circles of light spread beneath their feet as the very atmosphere hummed with magical energy.

On the opposite side of the field, this sudden shift did not escape the eyes of the Drakon Shogunate. The emperor watched the slaughter unfold from his grand, portable palanquin, which had been hauled directly into the war zone. Standing before him was his ultimate elite squad, The Golden Five, scanning the devastation.

One of the Emperor’s advisors stepped forward, his voice low but heavy with gravity. "My Emperor, we cannot allow any of them to seize control of Mount Kaiser. What are your orders?"

The emperor leaned back, a cold, calculating smile playing on his lips. "Let the Kageyoshi Empire bleed out. Let them lose most of their troops. Then, we swoop in, assassinate their generals and their King. After that, we will deal with the Mahoutsuki."

Minutes ticked by, two endless minutes of blood, sweat, and dismembered body parts. The slaughter dragged on without end, neither side showing fatigue nor the will to yield. Then, something happened that made time itself grind to a halt.

A huge shadow swept across the earth. Soldiers began to block the sun with their hands, squinting their eyes while being drawn upward to the sky in mounting dread.

It was a dragon.

As they squinted through the rolling smoke, they realized to their horror that a young boy was standing upright on the massive beast's back. Over at his command post, the Drakon Emperor surged to his feet. He took two staggered steps forward; his gaze locked onto the heavens.

"No way... How is he controlling the dragon?!" he whispered, completely shell-shocked.

Outside the Kageyoshi tent, the Titans screamed in a panic. "My liege! Come out and look! It's a dragon!"

The King ripped the tent curtain aside, stumbled out into the open, and looked up. His eyes widened in absolute disbelief at the sight of the primordial dragon and the boy balancing effortlessly on its spine.

"When did this happen? How are we too late?" one of the Titans roared desperately.

The King didn't answer. He turned pale as death, completely paralyzed by a sudden, crushing shock of recognition.

"That's... that's my son," he stammered.

Soaring high in the air above a battlefield where half the troops had frozen in terror and the other half still fought blindly in the mud, the boy looked down.

"This... this is the future my father chose," Ryuu whispered. Ryuu lowered his gaze to the battlefield below. "Ending each other's lives just to claim Mount Kaiser... But what you didn't know is that it was never yours to begin with. I have no choice."

Ryuu began to channel Grand Prime Magic. Ancient circles of impossible scale spread across the heavens, spinning faster and faster until they covered half the sky.

Below, the Kageyoshi Titans recoiled in dread. "My liege, I feel that spell is catastrophic! We need to retreat immediately!"

The King shook his head, unable to tear his eyes away from his child. "There is no way my son will kill us. Surely, he doesn’t want to harm his own people?"

Another Titan spoke up, her voice grim and hollow. "He became a hateful person because of what we have done to him."

The words pierced the King's heart. Reality finally caught up to him, and a crushing weight of guilt filled his voice. "It's all my fault... What have I done? I have doomed my people."

Across the battlefield, the panicked shouts of the Drakon Shogunate rose in equal terror. One of the Golden Five tightened his grip on his weapon, his voice trembling with rage and disbelief. "How did he beat us to the dragon's power? It's our legacy! How does that boy possess it?"

Beside him, another member of the Golden Five narrowed her eyes at the sky. "I reported to you years ago, Emperor, that there was a boy who was seen with a dragon tattoo... but nobody believed it."

The emperor stared up as his regal composure crumbled entirely. "Well, it seems the report was true. He carries the blood of our ancestors."

"He is the King’s forgotten son," Akane Seiryu corrected grimly. “The Scorched Prince”

Captain Juro turned to the emperor, panic bleeding into his tone. "Then he is not one of us if he was born to the Kageyoshi! Emperor, we must leave!"

The emperor didn't move. He simply looked at the sky, mesmerized and utterly defeated. "He is casting Grand Prime Magic. There is nowhere to hide. It seems... it is the end of us all."

The countdown was down to the final seconds. Ryuu had been channeling the spell for nearly a full thirty seconds, and the colossal arcane circle now dominated the sky like a second sun, crackling with apocalyptic power.

The view narrowed tightly onto his face. His eyes snapped open, burning with absolute, unforgiving fury, ready to unleash the final, cataclysmic spark…

With a violent gasp, Ryuu Kageyoshi shot up in his bed.

He sat panting against his pillow, his heart hammering against his ribs. He rubbed his eyes, trying desperately to shake off the lingering, terrifyingly real smell of ash and blood.

"Aah, the same dream again," he muttered to himself, his voice small, youthful, and trembling. "I don't understand what it means... I always wake up right before the end. And I've been having this dream for three years now."

But Ryuu was not a dragon rider. He was just a seven-year-old boy, alone in a quiet room.

A moment later, Yuna, his personal maiden, came into his room, walked to the window and gently pulled the heavy curtains open, letting the warm morning light flood the bedroom. "Good morning, my prince! It is a beautiful day today. I have a bath set up for you, and your training clothes are on the chair, fresh, washed, and ready."

As she spoke, she looked out toward the castle's inner courtyard, which offered a breathtaking view over the sprawling, peaceful city below.

Ryuu barely heard her. He was staring wide-eyed down at his own hand. There, right on his skin, the small, black birthmark was blinking faintly, a soft light pulsing a few times before fading back into a dark stain.

It must have to do with this birthmark, Ryuu thought, slowly clenching his small fist. This birthmark… What is it?