Is This The End? Pt. 2: The Dragonborn is No More

“It’s time I show you what happens when you try to mess with my Darling,” said Aika. She swung her chain at Yukari. Yukari quickly dodged the attack with her right stiletto. The clink of metal on metal resounded across the entire rooftop. Aika quickly unleashed attack upon attack on the Okami, swinging above, below, left, right, diagonally, vertically, horizontally. She was attacking with full power, but each of the attacks was far from being wasteful and random; they were fueled by her rage but they were still focused and efficient.

Yukari elegantly fought back with her stilettos and dodged and parried the attacks. Although she managed to protect herself from harm, save for a few scrapes here and there that she suffered from the Draco princess’ chains, Yukari acknowledged her enemy’s strength and knew that the Draco princess was indeed more powerful than her. “I can’t let the boss down,” said Yukari confidently.

“I bet your boss is being beaten to a pulp right now,” said Aika with a smirk. “How about you focus on this fight instead of worrying about your boss?” she added, swinging her blade and striking the enemy right on the side of her neck. The attack sent Yukari stumbling back a few steps. Aika took advantage of this and dashed over to the other side of her enemy in a circle. This forced Yukari to turn around in order to keep her focus on the Dracon princess. “Try worrying about yourself first,” said Aika in a foreboding tone. She rushed forward with her chain ready to strike from the right.

Yukari anticipated this attack and brought her stilettos together in a guarding position. Aika’s chain struck the two knives and recoiled back. However, Aika wasn’t the least bit fazed by this unsuccessful attack. Instead, she appeared to be smiling. Yukari was a little unsettled by the smile. Suddenly, something pierced her back and sent a shocking pain throughout her body. She fell to her knees. “H-How?” she questioned aloud painfully.

“Never turn your back on me,” said Arashi. Throughout the entire battle, Arashi had her arrow nocked and ready to be released. However, she was too close in range, so if she were to release just any time her enemy would for sure see it coming despite being caught up in a battle against someone else. So when Aika shifted positions and forced Yukari to turn around, Arashi took the chance to release her arrow and strike the enemy straight in the back. Yukari’s singular focus on Aika helped Arashi to attack without being noticed.

Yukari turned around on her knees and couldn’t believe that she had totally forgotten about the Quetzalcoatl princess. “I had completely forgotten…,” she muttered ashamedly to herself. This feeling of shame quickly turned to anger. Her eyebrows furrowed into a slight frown and she rose back up on her feet. Using her power, she froze the arrow stuck in her body and it completely shattered into a million icy pieces. She then reached into her top and pulled out a vial of blue liquid.

“Dracolax!” exclaimed Aika.

Yukari opened the bottle and downed the drug. She could feel it travelling through her veins and empowering her entire being with refined energy. Her muscles were filled with renewed vigor and her power rose to new levels. By now, the drug had circulated throughout her entire body; she was ready to put her new empowered body to use. Gripping her stilettos, Yukari dashed forward and slashed Arashi in the stomach.

Arashi didn’t see the attack coming—it was too quick for her eyes to track. The blade left a nasty wound across her stomach. Luckily it wasn’t a deep cut, but the pain was still a very unpleasant feeling and left Arashi clutching her stomach.

Aika quickly swung her chain and grabbed Yukari by the arm. She then attempted to reign her in but the Okami got the better of her and instead used her own newly empowered strength to send Aika flying back with a swing of her own hand. Aika crashed onto the floor with her chain still in her hand.

Arashi took this moment to nock three arrows, despite her pain, and unleashed the volley at the enemy. One of the arrows successfully struck Yukari in the center of her chest. It elicited a small groan out of her, but she was nonetheless unfazed by the attack. Yukari snapped the arrow in half and threw one of her stilettos at Arashi. Arashi knocked the stiletto away with her bow. “Getting desperate now, aren’t you?” taunted Arashi smugly with a small, pained smile.

“Don’t get cocky now, princess, while you’re on the brink of death,” said Yukari in a dark tone.

“Bite me,” spat back Arashi. “I think it’s time you learn respect,” added the Quetzalcoatl princess. She raised one of her hands and began to chant: “Hear it on the winds, the call of his highness Quetzalcoatl! I pray for your blessing to defeat my enemy in your name! Bless me with the power to bend my foe to your might! Tempestuous Storm!” A giant gust of wind suddenly blew across the rooftop at Yukari and gradually built up and up until it became a wild storm of violent winds. The storm moved in a circular motion around the Okami and trapped her at its center while simultaneously attacking her with its ferocity and speed. “Stay like that for a while,” said Arashi with a grin.

Aika had by now recovered and noticed the giant storm in front of her with Yukari in the center. She got back up and brushed off the dust from her shoulders. “Geez, do you always have to take all of the credit?” said Aika with a smile.

“She was getting on my nerves, that was all,” said Arashi. She walked over to Aika and caressed her cheek. “Don’t count me out just yet,” she said with a wink.

“I have had enough of this!” shouted Yukari from inside the tempest. Aika and Arashi quickly turned back to their enemy. Yukari’s body began to transform and metamorphose into her dragon form. As she did, the tempest found it hard to contain the enemy any longer and started to slowly dissipate. The spell completely vanished once Yukari finished her transformation. Now in her dragon form and infused with Dracolax, Yukari unleashed a terrifying roar into the skies. “Prepare to die an icy death, princesses,” she declared coldly.

“This bitch still wants to fight,” said Aika with a terrible scowl. She jumped up into the air and swung her chain at the dragon.

Yukari simply turned her body slightly and swung her own tail at the Draco princess. Her tail struck Aika square in the chest and sent her flying backwards through the air for the edge of the building. Yukari unleashed a triumphant roar over this small victory.

“Aika!” screamed Arashi as the Draco princess came crashing back down. Aika fell onto the rooftop with a loud thud and laid right near the edge. “I won’t forgive you for breaking my toy,” Arashi said to Yukari harshly with a grimace. She nocked another arrow and attempted to shoot it but Yukari quickly interrupted her attack with cold winds blown from her mouth. Arashi’s arrow was carried away by the wind, leaving her with nothing to arm her bow with. ‘Crap!’ exclaimed Arashi angrily.

“Ring out thunder and let the world know of Druk’s might! I request your divine aid and blessing and pray you hear my voice! Bring down your judgement onto the allies of darkness who dare to oppose your rule! Lightning Strike!” came Shurai’s voice brightly and clearly. Suddenly, the clouds above them darkened into an eerie gray-black hue and thunder rumbled. A bright and powerful bolt of lightning discharged from the clouds and struck the ground between Yukari and Arashi. A loud explosion and the crumbling away of destroyed roofing forced Yukari to take a step back and stop her assault. Arashi had also jumped away to a safe distance.

“Shurai!” called Arashi.

Shurai looked up from her position, still sitting and leaning against the rooftop door, and simply held up a thumbs up. She had used all of the energy she had regained from the food Tatsuya had given her on the way here and was now completely drained. Her eyes closed and her head slumped to the side. It was all worth it, using whatever little energy she had to protect her friends.

“We can’t…let…Shurai’s help be in vain,” said Aika, getting back up on her feet. She had witnessed the spell being used and silently thanked Shurai for her aid. Not entirely recovered from her injuries but still functioning enough to continue fighting, Aika walked up to join Arashi. “Say, Arashi, why don’t we put this scourge in its place?” suggested Aika. “She’s starting to really get on my nerves too.”

“Are you really sure you want to work with me?” asked Arashi sarcastically.

“You may be a devil woman, but the quicker we take her down the quicker we can go and help Darling,” Aika told her with a battle-ready smile.

“For once, I actually agree,” said Arashi with a nod of her head. She held out her hand and began to chant: “Hear it on the winds, the call of his highness Quetzalcoatl! I pray for your blessing to defeat my enemy in your name! Bless me with the power to bend my foe to your might! Tempestuous Storm!” Once again, a wild storm of violent winds blew in and formed a cyclone around Yukari, imprisoning her in the center.

Once their enemy was contained, Aika held out her hands and chanted a spell too. “I call upon the great dragon god of fire, Draco! Unleash your wrath upon my enemy and purify their soul with your crimson flames! I pray for your divine fire to burn away the darkness of their hearts! Crimson Inferno!” A giant stream of fire erupted from the ground around Yukari and completely encased her in its burning flames. The stream of fire mixed with tempestuous cyclone and combined to create a hellish prison for its prisoner. Aika and Arashi’s combined effort created a terrifying firestorm that blazed with the intensity of a wildfire and the ferocity of a storm. Yukari roared painfully and angrily; she couldn't escape at all from this torturous hell.

“I hope this makes her realize just who she's up against,” said Aika.

“My, I think she’ll never forget this lesson for the rest of her life,” agreed Arashi.

The hellish prison dissipated and Yukari fell unconsciously to the floor. Her eyes were closed and her entire body was scarred and scalded. She was still alive, just comatose and heavily injured.

“I guess we work pretty well together,” said Aika, turning her head away from Arashi. Arashi simply laughed at the comment. Aika wasn’t appreciative of the laughter and said, “Geez, do you ever take anything seriously?”

Their attention immediately turned in the direction of a horrible announcement. The voice that pierced the sky and reached their ears was filled with madness and evil. And the words they spoke carried an atmosphere of terror that penetrated the bones of all who heard them. This announcement, given by the Yellow Terror, shook the entire universe: “Owatatsumi Tatsuya has surrendered! The Dragonborn is no more!”

Nekoyashi swung her weapon and struck Jao with the surface of her blade, sending him crashing into a nearby classroom. She and Manami entered the classroom with their weapons ready to attack. “Say, that’s a pretty impressive weapon,” complimented Manami.

“This here is the legendary weapon of Guan Yu, nyan, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade,” informed Nekoyashi. “It is made from the body of a dragon slayed by the weapon’s creator, nyan.”

“Nevermind then,” said Manami awkwardly with a terrified chuckle. He quickly took a step to his left to put as much distance as he can between himself and that terrifying weapon.

“Allegedly,” added Nekoyashi with a sly smile.

Jao rose up from the ground and ran forward with his butterfly swords drawn. Nekoyashi gripped her guandao and thrusted it forward. Before her weapon connected with him, Jao suddenly disappeared into the darkness. He miraculously reappeared behind Nekoyashi and struck her back with the surface of his blade. Nekoyashi fell forward and used her guandao to regain and stabilize her balance.

Manami took this chance to swing his kusarigama and aimed for the Amaru’s neck. Jao deflected the weapon with his butterfly swords and disappeared again into the darkness. He reappeared behind Manami and was about to stab him in the back when Nekoyashi used her guandao to guard Manami from the attack. The blades clashed. Jao jumped back into the classroom and dropped his hands to his side.

“Watch your back,” Nekoyashi told Manami.

“Thanks for that,” said Manami.

Jao willed his Dragon Regalia to disappear. He then reached inside his jacket and produced a vial of blue liquid. Manami automatically knew what the vial of blue liquid was and swung his kusarigama forward. Jao had uncapped the vial and was about to consume it when Manami’s kusarigama wrapped around the hand with the vial and prevented him from bringing it to his lips.

“We can’t let him drink that,” Manami told Nekoyashi. “Otherwise, things are going to be super messy.” He forcefully thrusted the wrapped hand down, but Jao continued to fight and struggled to bring the vial up to his lips. Both dragons were locked in a battle of endurance.

Nekoyashi took this opportunity to swing her guandao at the Amaru and smashed the vial of Dracolax into a million pieces. The drug covered Jao’s hand and was already dripping onto the floor. “I did it, nyan,” she told Manami.

Manami nodded and tugged on his kusarigama to pull the enemy towards him. Jao, surprised by the immediate destruction of his only vial of Dracolax, had his guard down and was dragged towards Manami. Once he was within range, Manami slugged Jao in the face. He then released the Amaru from his weapon’s grip and swung the kusarigama around the enemy’s neck instead. Manami then hopped onto a desk and back onto the ground behind Jao. He tugged tightly on his kusarigama.

Jao clutched his neck and struggled to pulled it off. It was futile for him to try and get out of this situation. The restricted access of air made all of the strength in his body slowly disappear.

“Say, Nekoyashi, how many dragons have you slayed so far?” asked Manami, tightly holding the Amaru in place.

“Last time I checked, it was thirty-two I believe,” answered Nekoyashi. “Why do you ask, nyan?”

“How would like to add one more to your record?” offered Manami.

Nekoyashi was surprised by what she was hearing. “Are you sure?” she asked him with a confused frown.

“To be honest, I’m not a big fan of dragon slayers,” began Manami, “but I absolutely hate Ouroboros. And this guy here is a member.” Manami gave the kusarigama a tighter tug and elicited a painful stifled groan from Jao. “Would you do the honors please?” Manami told her. Nekoyashi gave him a nod. “Don’t worry, Mr. Ouroboros Amaru man,” Manami told Jao, “you’re just going to get what you deserve.”

Nekoyashi gripped her guandao and thrusted it straight through Jao’s chest, right for his heart. Her weapon glowed a dangerous green color and the Amaru unleashed a terrible bloodcurdling scream. In a bright purple flash, Jao immediately ceased to exist—his body imploded like a bomb and disintegrated into nothingness. Jao was successfully slayed by Toki Nekoyashi.

All the while, Manami had his face turned away and his eyes closed. Once everything was calm again, he put his Dragon Regalia away and stood up. “Thanks for your help,” he told Nekoyashi with his hand rubbing the back of his head.

“Nyan!” said Nekoyashi with a smile.

Meanwhile, in the other classroom on the other side, Sasuke and Daiki faced off against Eron. Eron had his Dragon Regalia in hand: a double-headed meteor hammer with a long bronze chain and a heavy golden yellow metal weight the size of a barrel on each end. With the technical prowess of a master, Eron swung one end of the weapon very easily like a lasso.

Sasuke thrusted forward with his spear and Eron quickly responded by wrapping one end of his weapon around it. He then sidestepped and struck Sasuke in the ribs with a punch. Sasuke was pushed to the side, letting go of his spear. His spear clattered on the ground.

Daiki decided to avenge his friend and swung his hard whip at his enemy. Eron replied by swinging the other end of his meteor hammer to clash with Daiki’s weapon. Their weapons came into contact with each other and created a raucous clang that reverberated through the room. Daiki was pushed back by his enemy. “Why are you doing this?” he asked Eron.

“What do you mean?” responded Eron.

“You are a proud member of the Bakunawa Tribe,” began Daiki, “Why are you joining forces with an evil organization like Ouroboros?”

“Why does it matter?” said Eron rudely.

“We Bakunawas pride ourselves on acquiring knowledge and learning the truth of the universe,” said Daiki. “We are scholars and philosophers, not advocators for injustice and prejudice!”

“Ouroboros is the truth!” countered Eron. “That is the answer I have found. Ouroboros is the ultimate truth and the only truth that matters. What do you mean by prejudice and injustice? Ouroboros is above all of that! We only preach the truth!”

“I see,” said Daiki, pushing in his glasses. “Looks like we have a heretic in our midst,” he concluded, glaring dangerously at his enemy. He raised his weapon and swung it hard for Eron’s head.

Eron ducked down and swung his meteor hammer at Daiki from below, striking his enemy with one of the weights. Daiki was sent into the air and he crashed into one of the desks. “Call me a heretic all you want,” spat Eron, “But I always do everything in honor of our Mother.”

“You…have no right…to speak of her,” groaned Daiki. The impact had forced blood to form at the corner of his lips in response to the damage his internal organs had taken.

“Are you a sorcerer, or a psychic?” asked Eron curiously.

“Take your pick,” answered Daiki impudently.

Eron reached into his pants and brought out three slips of paper. He placed them each on a table and the paper slips began to glow a brilliant blue color. “Audi vocem meam, vitam tibi do! Verbum meum lex est! Servite domino vestro!” he chanted. The slips of paper sunk into the tables. The tables began to shake violently as they started to change and transform into literal monsters. Their back legs grew to become giant stumpy limbs and their front legs changed into wooden arms with splintered fingers. Their bodies also transformed into that of muscular wooden ogres; it was like they went through alchemical transmutation. Bald wooden heads with hollow eyes and giant mouths rose out of their bodies and completed their new monster look. “How do you like my Wood Ogres?” said Eron with a smug smile.

“So you’re a summoner,” concluded Daiki. “Am I supposed to be impressed?” he added rudely.

Eron simply scowled at that comment. “Destroy him,” he ordered his monsters.

The monsters obeyed their master’s order and stomped up to Daiki with disgusting snarling faces. Daiki got back up on his feet and gripped the handle of his hard whip. He swung at the ogres, forcing them to step back to dodge the attack. “I got to find their seals,” Daiki told himself. The only way to destroy these Wood Ogres is to find the location of their seals and destroy it. While he was planning a way of attack, one of the ogres threw a punch straight for Daiki’s face. The blow would’ve been a deadly one if only it hadn’t been intercepted.

Sasuke, recovered from the pain of his injuries, had his spear back in his hands and intercepted the punch with a thrust of his weapon, protecting Daiki from certain death. The ogre was confused by the sudden save and frowned. “Sorry, but I can’t have you go killing off my friends,” said Sasuke with a small and dry laugh. The ogre didn’t take kindly to that comment and swung it’s other fist at Sasuke. Sasuke shifted his spear and ducked under the monster’s punch. He then used his spear to sweep the monster off his feet. The ogre fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Daiki noticed the seal on the monster’s side and said, “Sasuke, the monster’s left side! Strike it with your spear!”

Sasuke nodded and thrusted his spear into the ogre’s left side. His spear struck the monster’s seal and the magic that brought it to life quickly disappeared. Now, in its place was a pile of wood. The other two ogres saw their friend’s demise and focused their attention on Sasuke. Their faces were scrunched up in disgusting scowls filled with rage.

By this time, Daiki had also joined the battle. Both friends engaged the two monsters together. Throughout the battle, Daiki managed to find the other two seals. He told Sasuke about the seal on the back right thigh of his opponent, and he himself proceeded to attack the seal on the upper back of his own opponent. Sasuke used his spear to strike his enemy from behind and pierce its seal, reducing it to a pile of wood. Daiki fought defensively and planned to draw his opponent forward. The ogre continuously threw downward punches at Daiki in attempt to smash him into the ground. With each attempt, Daiki stepped backward a step, increasing the length of each step after each punch. Finally, the ogre let out a furious roar and raised its fist up above its head. Daiki smiled—it was just as he had planned. The ogre threw the fist down and leaned forward to increase its reach. Daiki sidestepped in a circular motion and escaped the monster’s path of attack; now standing behind the monster, he swung his hard whip from overhead and struck the seal on its back. The monster was quickly reduced to a pile of wood.

“Your minions are done for,” Sasuke told Eron.

Eron scowled at his enemies. “It appears that I miscalculated the strength of my opponents,” he said.

“Shame on you,” said Daiki with a shake of his head. “As a fellow tribesmen, I pity you for your ignorance.”

Eron reached into his pants and brought out a vial of blue liquid.

Sasuke and Daiki automatically knew what it was. “What do you plan on doing?!” asked Daiki furiously.

“You leave me no choice,” said Eron. However, before he had a chance to uncap the vial and consume the drug, Sasuke used his spear to knock the drug out of the Bakunawa’s hand. The vial fell onto the floor and shattered into a million pieces; the drug created a pool on the ground. Sasuke then positioned the spear for Eron’s throat with the tip just millimeters away from the skin.

“It’s not a good idea to take that drug in front of me,” said Sasuke darkly. “Now, I have a few questions for you,” he told the Bakunawa. “Where is Ino Nash?” he asked.

“I am under no obligation to answer,” said Eron.

“I would advise you to answer,” said Sasuke, bringing the tip close to the Bakunawa’s skin. “If you don’t, then I can just end you right here and now.”

“Sasuke,” said Daiki.

“Just give me a few minutes with him,” said Sasuke. His voice was serious and devoid of his usual warmth and friendliness. Daiki understood and stepped back. “Now answer the question. Where is Ino Nash?”

“May I ask you a question first?” asked Eron. “I promise I will answer your question once you answer mine.”

“Why?” came Sasuke.

“At this point, I have nothing else to lose,” said Eron with a chuckle. “If I don’t answer, I’ll be killed. If I do answer, I’ll probably just be imprisoned by the United Front. To be honest with you, I don’t prefer either option. However, if worse comes to worse, I will gladly choose death over imprisonment.”

“Alright,” relented Sasuke. “Ino Nash is someone important,” he told the Bakunawa. “That’s all.”

‘Ino Nash?’ wondered Daiki. This was the first time had ever heard that name before.

“Thank you for your answer,” said Eron with a smug smile. Sasuke didn’t like that smile and put a little pressure on his spear. Eron felt the pressure and gulped, erasing the smile off his face. “To be honest with you, I don’t know anyone named Ino Nash.”

“What are you talking about?” questioned Sasuke with suspicious eyes.

“I’m saying that I don’t know anything about the person you just named,” elucidated Eron.

“Don’t give me that crap,” threatened Sasuke, pushing the tip further against the Bakunawa’s skin just enough to where it was still intact but heavily pressured. “The Yellow Emperor,” said Sasuke. “I believe that’s what he’s known as now.”

“Oh? The Yellow Emperor?” said Eron with an intrigued chuckle. “What’s your relationship to him?” he asked curiously.

“It doesn’t matter what my relationship to him is,” retorted Sasuke. “Tell me where I can find him!”

“And why should I?” asked Eron impudently.

Sasuke simply dragged the spear lightly down the skin of Eron’s neck, breaking through the skin barrier and creating a small and slender cut. Eron flinched from the pain and could feel his blood slowly dripping out of the wound. “Do you understand now?” said Sasuke threateningly.

“The one thing you have to understand is that the heads of Ouroboros never appear publicly before the organization. Everyone that is lower than Pearl-class, namely the chiefs of the various divisions, don’t know who they are or what they look like. Their missions are only given to us through messengers and we only know them by their titles. There is no way for us to know where they are at any time,” explained Eron.

Sasuke didn’t like that answer but he couldn’t deny that it might as well be the truth. He lowered his spear. “Well if you ever have the chance to pass on a message, tell him this,” said Sasuke, “Samson is looking for you. And he won't stop until he finds you.” He had on a dark expression and his eyes were facing the ground below him.

Eron rubbed his throat and simply replied with a grunt. He noticed that Sasuke wasn’t paying attention and quickly unleashed a heavy punch to his stomach, sending him back with a pained groan. Daiki saw the attack happen and was ready to respond with one of his own when the unthinkable happened. After the attack, Eron jumped through the glass windows behind him and disappeared from view.

“Sasuke!” exclaimed Daiki, rushing over to his friend’s side. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” reassured Sasuke with a small smile.

A terrible announcement quickly caught the attention of Sasuke, Daiki, Manami, and Nekoyashi. It reverberated through the atmosphere like an eerie and horrifying revelation that gripped their ears and filled them with dread. The dreadful truth terrorized their souls and shook them to the core. This announcement, given by the Yellow Terror, shattered their world: “Owatatsumi Tatsuya has surrendered! The Dragonborn is no more!”

After making his blasphemous announcement, Aris walked up to Tatsuya, who was lying helpless and lifeless on the floor, and pulled his swords out of him. He then bent down and grabbed Tatsuya by the hair. “Thank you for your surrender,” he said with a childish grin. “You know what”?” he continued innocently, “Maybe your princesses would like to see how you’re doing. I mean, after surrendering, they must be quite worried about you, am I right? Perhaps they’re wondering right now how you exactly lost to me and surrendered. Shall we show them this pathetic state you’re in?” Tatsuya of course didn’t reply. “I’ll take that as a yes!” said Aris with a nod of his head. He then roughly picked up Tatsuya by the head and threw him through the air for the roof of the school’s main building. Accompanied by uncontrollable maniacal laughter, he jumped through the air and followed the Dragonborn’s body to its destination.

Tatsuya’s body landed on the rooftop with a hard thud; his face was buried into the floor. Aika and Kanjomizu heard the thud and turned to see a body lying lifeless on the floor. Upon closer inspection, they realized that it was Tatsuya and immediately rushed up to him. “Darling/Tatsuya!” they cried in unison. They had arrived a meter away from him when they saw that his body was covered in bruises, scars, and blood. Aika brought her hands to her mouth and her body shook—this was just too surreal for her to accept. Arashi couldn’t bare to look at this terrible scene and averted her gaze from her childhood friend’s body.

“How do you like my gift, princesses?” came Aris’ voice. He landed on his own two feet and had on a demented and crazed grin.

“You,” snarled Arashi.

“What did you do to my Darling?” said Aika in a shaky voice.

“Don’t worry, princess, he isn’t dead,” informed Aris, rolling his eyes. “I can’t kill him even if I tried. And I so wanted to kill him too. But that damned Mark of Marduk prevented me from doing so. So then I decided to just go for the next best thing and break him.” A cruel smile tugged at his lips as he said in quiet voice, “And guess what?” He paused for dramatic effect before concluding in a grand voice, “It worked! I broke him!” He pointed at Tatsuya’s body and laughed hysterically to himself. “You should’ve seen the look on his face! He thought that he could take me on without a weapon, but boy wasn’t that a stupid idea! I broke him and forced him to surrender, and he quickly surrendered to me without a second thought! And as proof of my victory, the Dragonborn is no more! He has already lost! Even if I can’t kill him, I’ve already broken him!”

Aika brought out her Dragon Regalia and swung the whip to strike her enemy—her attack was filled with all of her rage and despair at seeing her Darling reduced to this terrible state. Aris sensed that this would happened and had also brought his Dragon Regalia to knock the whip away. “I’ll make you pay with your life!” threatened Aika murderously.

“I think this is a fair exchange,” said Aris, gesturing to Yukari’s unconscious dragon body with his chin. He calmly walked over to his fallen subordinate. Yukari was already slowly dying as a result of the Dracolax in her veins. It was a very disgusting sight. Aris placed a hand on her body and could feel the energy building up inside of her. He estimated that she would have only a half-hour left to live.

Yukari had by now regained a little bit of consciousness back, but she was completely depleted of energy and couldn’t move at all. “Lord Aris,” she uttered with a groan.

“Quiet, Karella,” said Aris in a soothing tone. “You shouldn’t suffer any more than you need to,” he told her with a smile.

“Thank…you…,” she said, closing her eyes contently.

“You don’t deserve to suffer any more,” he said, rubbing her body. And then, without warning or hesitation, Aris thrusted his hand into her chest and brutally tore through her skin and tissues. All the while he had on a disinterested expression devoid of emotion. His hand came upon the treasure he was looking for inside her body and quickly pulled it out. A cruel smile tugged his lips as he immersed himself in the treasure in his hands: her beating heart. It was the size of a large rock and a light icy blue color like a beautiful frozen lake. With his treasure in his hand, he left Yukari’s lifeless body to rot and implode. “I wonder how much I can sell this for,” he mused to himself. “What do you think, princesses? I’ve heard that dragon heart sells for a lot in the black market. It’s good for black magic and illegal medicine.” He had on a very terrifying smile befitting his title.

Aika and Arashi had their eyes averted the entire time once they saw him brutally punch through the Okami’s chest. The squelching sound that accompanied the Yellow Terror’s cruel and brutal violation of a fellow dragon made the princesses sick to their stomachs. They didn’t dare to look at the obscene object in his hand. The beating sound from the heart sent chills down their spines and their lunch up to their throats.

“That’s enough!” commanded a strong and terrifying voice. Aris quickly turned around to face the voice’s source and the princess’ looked up to see a familiar face approaching them. Ryujin walked up to Aris with a calm yet serious expression and air.

“Who do you think you are, old man?” asked Aris rudely.

Ryujin’s eyes glowed brightly and suddenly the air around him changed. Aris could feel power and authority emanating from him. Fear and terror, then unknown emotions to Aris, coursed through his body and made him shake in awe. Ryujin’s presence commanded Aris to respect and acknowledge the former’s power and perfection. Aris felt compelled to worship Ryujin and came to understand just how powerful he really is. But it wasn’t just his change in presence that affected Aris. Actually, the cause of this change in presence was a new indescribable and divine scent that pervaded the air around him and drew an instinctive response from Aris. It was this scent that made Aris bend to the will of his enemy. He immediately fell on his knees and bowed his head. “W-Who are you?” he asked fearfully.

“Leave now,” ordered Ryujin in a stern tone.

Aris didn’t know why but words were escaping from his head. He couldn’t speak or say what’s on his mind. Ryujin's presence was just too great for him to oppose. A crippling feeling at the back of his head told him that if even he tried the slightest of wrong moves…he will die. He wasn’t afraid of death, so why was he so afraid of this enemy? Could it be that death at the hands of a being such as Ryujin is something to actually be afraid of? Death?…or complete annihilation? If he dare to oppose this divine presence, Aris somehow knew that he would not just die but cease to exist completely. “Yes sir,” complied Aris involuntarily. He got back up on his feet and walked over to the edge, leaving the roof in a single leap.

“Lord Ryujin!” exclaimed Aika once the enemy had left.

“Help me take Tatsuya to the infirmary,” Ryujin told the princesses. They nodded and quickly rushed to his side. Ryujin glanced back at the slowly deteriorating corpse behind him. He had seen dragons die before in war, from diseases, from injuries, and from old age. But the worst of it was seeing them die from a drug. ‘May Ammit have mercy on your judgement and may Ouroboros guide you to a fulfilling rebirth,’ he silently prayed. He then turned his focus back on his son and picked him up on his back. Aika stood next to him to help with balance. Meanwhile, Arashi picked up Shurai on her back too. Aika opened the door and the group descended down the steps for the infirmary. “You can’t let it end this way, Tatsuya,” said Ryujin in a quiet voice. “I know that you’ll get back up soon enough and become the hero you are meant to be.”