Adventurer Guild VS Dragon God

The throng of adventurers bellowed a defiant war cry and charged Karou with weapons held high. Magic surged from them as Karou rose from the ground, shaking herself to clear her head of Kenta’s last jaw shattering attack. Magic rained down across Karou’s hide, but most attacks merely fizzled against her scales as she surveyed her new opponents, unconcerned. Then her void black eyes found Sumire amongst the crowd, and her demeanor changed in an instant.

She unleashed a savage roar, and wind whipped around her like a hurricane, throwing uprooted trees, rubble, and adventurers through the air. Karou made to advance toward Sumire, nearly trampling the adventurers closest to her, but Nanako reacted first. Powerful magic surrounded her like a green mist and surged into the ground. Vines thick as trees erupted all around Karou, lashing her to the earth and binding her in place. She roared angrily and struggled to get free, but the vines held.

“Rank C and below keep ya distance and focus on support!” Aidachi ordered. “Nanako, Kenta, Sumire, Takao! With me! The town guard can’t handle this, so it’s up to us! If we die, the town will be destroyed! Work together! Fight with everything ya got!”

Karou strained against her bindings as the lower rank adventurers retreated to a safe distance. Within seconds, only five adventurers remained to face the monolithic dragon god. Takao stood side by side with Sumire, Nanako, Kenta, and Aidachi. The five stood tall, resolve evident in their demeanor and faces.

With Karou’s enormous dragon form before him, Takao was briefly reminded of when he’d first met Sumire. He’d been terrified then, and could do nothing to stop her when she’d claimed she would destroy the town, except beg and plead. Now things were different. He’d found his magic. He’d found people he could rely on, and who relied on him. But most importantly, he’d found Sumire and found his love for her. Yes, now things were different, because now he was different, and he would prove it by doing everything he could to protect the people he loved.

With an ear-splitting cry, Karou burst the vines holding her, and threw herself headlong at the five adventurers. Kenta and Nanako dodged to either side while Takao and Sumire took to the air, but Aidachi stood firm. He knocked his fists together and ice crystals exploded across his skin. At the last moment before being pulverized into dust, he vaulted Karou like a horse, and rammed his fist into her skull.

Ice erupted across her head, freezing her to the ground, and causing her whole body to momentarily stop completely, before she flailed back and freed herself. Aidachi was sent flying. Karou reared back like a snake and struck at him with jaw open wide. Just in time, a vine from Nanako snared itself around Aidachi and snapped him out of the way, leaving behind a mountain of ice that lodged itself in Karou’s mouth.

As she struggled to dislodge the ice, Takao and Sumire conjured their own pillar of ice from above, and propelled it toward Karou like a meteor. It rammed into her head from above, as a stone pillar from Kenta punched her in the jaw from below. The ice in her mouth shattered as her jaw was forced closed by the impact. She staggered and swayed as if dazed.

Takao felt the air crackle with power as Sumire tapped into the energy of the storm overhead. He copied her magic and felt overwhelming power surge through him. Electricity buzzed and jumped between them as it built to a crescendo. Together, he and Sumire pointed their weapons toward Karou and unleashed the storm's might. The air ignited as countless lightning bolts rained down, channeled directly to Karou by thin vines that Nanako made to coil around her body and reach skyward.

Karou cried out in pain as electricity coursed through her, then fell dead silent. Smoke wafted from her skin as she stood stock still like an enormous stone statue, eyes closed and mouth gaping as if frozen mid-cry.

The five adventurers waited, hardly daring to move lest they somehow awaken the dragon god to start fighting again. After several nerve racking minutes of nothing, Takao and Sumire descended to the ground to gather with the other three adventurers.

“Is it dead?” Kenta asked, voicing the question in Takao’s mind.

“No. She’s not dead.” Sumire answered.

“She?” Kenta questioned.

“Explanations later.” Aidachi cut in. “Takao. Sumire. The two of ya are involved somehow, but we’ll save that for later. What do ya recommend we do with her?”

Sumire looked up at the immobile dragon god.

“We can’t kill her. She’s—” Sumire trailed off, looking uncertain if she should share that the rampaging dragon is actually her sister. “She’s um— using shape-shifting to take this form, but the transformation is unstable. If she takes too much damage, she shouldn’t be able to sustain it. Then we can capture her.”

“Hmmm?” Aidachi grumbled contemplatively. “So be it. Let’s see—”

It happened all at once. A dragon claw appeared without sound or warning. A wave of ice crashed into Takao, Sumire, Kenta, and Nanako, knocking them away. Aidachi alone remained beneath the claw. Takao’s eyes grew wide, and he could've sworn in the last instant before the claw fell, he saw the guild master smile.

The earth shook from the impact, and Karou roared wild and fierce. The adventurers were knocked prone, but avoided the attack thanks to Aidachi. Dust obscured his vision, but Takao could still see the crater that now filled the space where they’d just been. As the windstorm around Karou picked up again, the air cleared, revealing nothing but an empty crater. Not even a trace of their guild master remained.

“No—” Whispered Kenta.

“Guild master?” Nanako sobbed.

Sumire’s hands covered her mouth, eyes full of shock and disbelief.

Takao fell to his knees, and stared into the empty crater, despair nipped at his heart.

Sumire’s Exposé!
Aidachi is said to be one of, if not, the strongest guild master in all of Teien. To his irritation, it recently came to light that his old nickname was the Giant Slayer. This was apparently not because he himself is extra huge, but because during his prime, he in fact defeated an actual giant.