Chapter 26: The battle against the beast
The first thing everyone within the chamber noticed was the sudden change in the atmospheric pressure. Their weight became heavier and heavier to the point that their legs started shaking, unable to support their bodies. Yllaner was the first to give in to the extra gravitational force and collapsed. Soon enough, one by one, from the veteran members from Thomas group, Floria, to Kibadios' two slaves, all were forced on the ground. Only two people were able to stand on their feet, Kibadios and Adela. The Astral seemed to be unaffected while the hybrid had to lean on the scythe he just conjured. He could see Adela slightly raised her eyebrows in amusement when she noticed the hybrid was able to stand upright.
「What's happening?」Amber shouted, although just like the others who bathed in the light beam, she and the rest seemed to have been paralyzed, unable to stop the ritual.
「Yllaner!」screamed out Kyles as he struggled to break free from the invisible restraints.
「Master!」Ryan called out.
「It's finally breaking」said Jayden softly.
「What did you say?」Thomas, who stood on a platform adjacent to the Prime Minister, demanded an answer.
「At last, the weakened seal has finally been broken!」declared Jayden loudly this time, his gaze still fixated on the eroding cube. Before anyone could question the Prime Minister any further, a loud shriek erupted, echoing throughout the air, causing everyone to desperately cover their ears. Yet, their attempts at reducing the noise was in vain, for it was no ordinary sound. Instead of traveling through the vibration of the molecules, the uninterrupted eerie shriek was directly registered in each person's brain via telepathy. It was indescribably loud, yet, deep down, there was a hint of anguish that only the hybrid could discern.「I can feel your presence, Ryujin. Come to me!」Jayden was visibly happy as he desperately screamed out, hoping his voice would reach the creature.
「ARGGHHHHH!!!!」From the small cube that acted as a portal, a ginormous serpent-like creature violently emerged, cracking open the large space in the process.
「What did you do?」Thomas, now broken free from the restraint of the light beam once it has faded away, rushed toward Jayden.
「We have finally freed Ryujin from the seal.」answered the Prime Minister calmly as he gazed up at its magnificence. The creature, who took the shape of an Eastern dragon, was of course wingless, saved for two large pectoral fins that emerged on its side. Its dorsal blue fin ran uninterruptedly from its slender neck down to its tail, glistened with a hint of silver. Although the creature was covered in scales, since they were as clear as a crystal, one could easily overlook such a feature. Its head, unlike many eastern dragons depicted in Chinese writing, was rather pointy, with many megalodon shark-like teeth menacingly protruding from its watery mouth. Once its eyes were opened, it was only pure darkness. Kibadios could not feel anything since staring into its eyes was like falling into the dark abyss itself. This creature was clearly not his "Ryujin," yet, somehow, he could feel a hint of familiarity coming from it.
「What do you mean free?」Thomas was pissed as he held Jayden by his shirt collars. 「Weren't we supposed to fix the seal?」
「NO!」Jayden answered coldly.「I'm sorry but that was never my goal. There was no way we could reverse the deterioration of the seal. Ryujin needed to be released… and defeated by us here. Once and for all! And by doing so, I will be able to obtain its blood.」
Obtaining its blood? Kibadios thought to himself.
「What? Are you crazy?」The exhausted Amber shouted from across the Prime Minister's platform. 「We can't defeat Ryujin! You need the Six for this!」
「The Six will not allow us to break the seal. After all, even though it's weakened, it'd take another thousand or two thousands years before the seal would be broken on its own.」
「You lied to us!」Kyles had now aimed the large sabre that he always carried on his back at Jayden. 「Why did we have to worry about the seal if it would not break for another thousand years or so? What do you mean you need its blood?」
「...」Jayden remained silent, yet Adela soon answered Kyles in his place. 「The blood of Ryuujin is needed for a resurrection ritual. Our Prime Minister is attempting to resurrect someone he holds dear, even if it means risking the lives of hundred thousands citizens.」Jayden frowned at Adela's apparent dig at him.
「Resurrection?」
「Nonsense! A dragon's blood is only blood… and a dead person will forever remain dead, no matter what ritual you want to perform!」The hybrid declared, before cursing himself for failing to control himself. Just as he was afraid, his out-of-character outburst has drawn the attention of Adela onto himself.
Luckily for Kibadios, though, once the Ryujin finally was fully awake after its deep slumber, the dragon began to splash around, cracking the space even further. Now that the seal, the heart of the dungeon has completely broken, the space around it was already fragile enough to begin crumbling on its own. Ryujin's violent outburst was the final straw. As the crack in space spread, the space began to warp again, just like how it did when they first entered. Yet, this time, knowing what would soon happen, Kibadios swiftly made his way toward the raging dragon while others were still in confusion, ensuring that once the dungeon collapsed and scattered them again, he would end up next to the giant creature. And so, as the hybrid's calculation, the fabric of space and time within the dungeon crumbled again, for the last time. Although he was hoping to be alone with the dragon so called Ryujin, once the space finally stabilized again, he found that it was not only him who was facing the menacing dragon. Standing next to him were Rowan and Maia, his two loyal slaves, who made sure to have followed their master once they saw the hybrid leaped toward the dragon. On the side was Jayden, the Prime Minister of the kingdom, who unbeknownst to the hybrid's group, possessed the power that was considered to be the closest to the great Six heroes. All four of them, along with the still confused Ryujin, were thrown away from the dungeon to a location much deeper within the mountain ranges compared to where the dungeon was situated, five leagues at least, Kibadios estimated. Fortunately, he could not feel Adela's presence, which worked out for him.
「Kibadios dono? Rowan dono and Maia dono」mumbled Jayden once he noticed the two. 「... Can I count you three helping me out in dealing with Ryujin? I know you would not have approved how I deceived you guys, but it is important for us to stop Ryujin. I was planning to ask for the assistance from other heroes in suppressing the primal dragon, but it's impossible now that we have all been scattered like this...」
「Even if you tricked us, of course we still have to...」Rowan was going to accept Jayden's request, albeit begrudgingly, but he was stopped short by his master.
「No.」Kibadios coldly gave Jayden a look. 「I'm sorry but I merely wanted to have a conversation with this creature. I have no intention of fighting it. After all, you were the one who deceived us first. We are under no obligation to help you in this situation.」
「... Who are you? What are you after, then?」asked Jayden. Although appeared to be relaxed, the Prime Minister, in fact, was ready to strike down the hybrid at any given moment. Of course, the bloodlust emitting from Jayden did not escape Kibadios' keen eyes.「A mysterious hybrid that is as strong as a veteran hero, who does not care about Ryujin's potential rampage across the world… If I did not know any better, I would assume you're a servant of one of the four demon lords. But then, from all the intelligence that I haven on file, no such servants fit your profile.」
「Intelligence? Hahaha!」the hybrid laughed. 「Even though I'm not anyone's servant, I still doubt the intelligence you have worths much since you wholeheartedly believe dragon blood could resurrect someone?」
「What?」Jayden was surprised at this strange hybrid, who spoke as if he knew everything he needed to know about the world.
「Let me guess, it was Adela who led you to believe in such fairy tales myth?」
「... How do you...」
「ARRRRGHHHHHH!!!!!」Ryujin, who has finally snapped out of its brief confusion, let out a deafening roar, which echoed throughout the mountain range. While hovering above in the sky, its attention was now on the three humanoid figures standing in front of it on the ground. Of course, it particularly focused on Jayden and Kibadios, whose power could easily eclipsed the other two.
「Hmm… Looks like my questions for you will have to wait, Kibadios dono.」The Prime Minister turned to Ryujin. Although he thought he had come prepared to face the threat that was Ryujin, confronting it in person was another story. He could feel his body shivered as the creature's dark gaze pierced his soul.「Even though I don't know why you would ever want to communicate with this creature, I doubt you can. After all, reason and logic does not exist in any creature that possesses
「... Seed of Chaos, huh? No wonder it seems to be acting strange.」 What is
What? Did he just say he can get rid of Seed of Chaos? How is that even possible?...Who is he really? The enigma that was Kibadios troubled Jayden. Yet, he knew this was no time to worry about the strange hybrid. His sole task now was to at least sufficiently injure the dragon in order to spill its blood and collect it. Will the blood work? What if it does not, just like the hybrid was claiming? The Prime Minister's confidence was slightly waning after having heard of the hybrid's declaration on how Ryujin's blood would never be able to resurrect anyone. But he had committed to this plan this far, he could never let it go now. Originally, he would have preferred to defeat the dragon once and for all by coercing the heroes to help him out, but ever since learning of Corey's death, such an outcome has become a mere distant prospect. With the arrogant hero's death, he had to fill in Corey's role during the unseal ritual, which greatly drained his own power. He knew the risk that his plan carried, yet he still decided to see to its completion. Such devotion was the testament of his love for Reena . For him, aside from getting to see his beloved Reena again, nothing else mattered anymore. This plan would work, he wholeheartedly believed, even if the price is the prosperity and lives of the citizens from the very kingdom that he had devoted his whole life serving.
「Such a pathetic existence.」Kibadios sighed while observing the Prime Minister struggling against Ryujin. Since the hybrid had decided to stay out of the fight between Jayden and Ryujin, he had already sat down on a rock under the cliff, a bit far away from the two. By his side were Maia and Rowan, his two loyal slaves, who have reluctantly kept their distance from Ryujin since their master had specifically commanded them to stay out of the fight.
「Who do you mean, master?」asked Maia.
「Who else? I was talking about our Prime Minister over there.」answered Kibadios as he pointed at the man.「I dont know what happened in his past but it seems like he is desperately trying to resurrect someone important to him. Such a fruitless endeavor.」
「... It's pitiful, though I think I understand how he feels.」Maia clenched her chest. 「If something ever happen to you, I'm sure we would do whatever it take to have you come back to us.」
「...」Kibadios stayed silent for a brief moment, then his hand patted and ruffled her silvery hair.「Don't worry, I dont intend to die anytime soon. You guys probably have to serve me for a long while, doesn't matter whether you like it or not!」
「「Of course we would, Master!」」Both of them eagerly replied.
By now, the battle between Jayden and Ryujin has been raging on for more than fifteen minutes. Clearly, there was no chance for the Prime Minister to come out on top, no matter how confident he was. Still, the hybrid had to commend Jayden's effort for despite being greatly weakened, he was able to survive fighting against a Catastrophe Level Disaster. The dragon, with its power amplified by the implanted Seed of Chaos, was a creature of pure madness. Each time it twisted its body, its excessive Haki reverberated the surrounding space, which could easily knock people off their feet. Each of its splashes would blow off an entire side of a mountain. The only reason Kibadios could still remain calm was because of
「Ha… Damn it!」Jayden cursed softly under his heavy breath. 「I never expect to defeat it, but not able to even scratch it is a bit ridiculous.」
Jayden has been exhausted even before the fight and now, his stamina has almost depleted. In a last desperate attempt, the man conjured up two large invisible air whips by invoking one of his
「He's running out of time. 」Kibadios was amused.「Watch, Rowan, Maia, our Prime Minister has readied his most lethal attack yet. Now, we shall know the outcome of this match in less than a few minutes.」
Just as Kibadios predicted, Jayden soon launched his last attempt at injuring the primal dragon Ryujin. Though, it was by no mean futile. The Prime Minister's attack was one of the most powerful unique skills Kibadios has witnessed ever since his third reincarnation, enough to probably have injured the hybrid during his prime. Once Jayden made his move, the invisible whips expanded and contracted at will. Soon enough, one of his whip would find itself wrapping around the mountain sized dragon, restricting its movements while the other began mercilessly slashing around, with Jayden hoping that he could at least break through Ryujin's crystal scales and scratch its bodies. Amazingly, against an opponent almost a thousand times his size, the tiny human was able to suppress the dragon's struggles to break free as he mustered an incredible strength into this arm to hold onto the whip. From the other airwhip, several of his strayed swings could easily chopped off the tips of several mountains nearby. One of such attacks was able to break through Rowan's absolute defense barrier, scattering it into pieces. The hybrid, though, quickly shielded his faithful slaves into his arms while invoking one of his spells, which instantly transported them to another spot.
「Wow, that was close!」commented Kibadios as he sighed in relief once they have dodged the strike.
「Haaa!」Rowan was heavily panting. 「I'm sorry, Kibadios! I could not maintain my barrier.」
「That's not your fault!」said Kibadios. The hybrid has now grimly assessed the situation. Within a mile radius, most of the mountains were cut clean off while thousands of large boulders were also split into pieces from Jayden's attack. The Prime Minister, though, was spent. As his skill dissipated after the use, the hybrid could see him resting on his knees, his Haki was almost exhausted. 「Jayden Stringer was truly in a league of his own. And to think, this much damage was after his power was previously drained into breaking the seal.」
Nonetheless, his desperate attack seemed to have worked, for the hybrid could see some of Ryujin's scales have started to fall off its body.
「Haa.. Finally!」Jayden exclaimed. His attack finally reached the Catastrophe Level Threat and injured the creature. Now, he only needed to collect some of its blood and get out of here… Before he could make such a move, his eyes widened as it focused on the small wound on Ryujin. 「... How come...」
「As you can see!」The hybrid screamed at Jayden. 「Ryujin has no such thing as blood! You were tricked by Adela. Unlike other dragons, the Primal Dragons Race absorbed magic molecules straight from the surrounding into their body so they don't need blood. You are trying to obtain something that does not exist, just like your so called "ressurection ritual!"」
「... What?...」Jayden's eyes, which were full of determination just a few seconds ago, have turned hazy with hopelessness. 「... You're lying… Why would she… There's no way...」
Before Jayden could regain his composure, the Prime Minister was hit directly by Ryujin's giant tail the moment it broke free from the man's restraints.
BAM! (and no, this is not a ToG reference!)
The distracted Jayden was sent flying and crashed hard into the vertical cliff, close to where the hybrid and his two slaves were standing. Enraged, Ryujin growled loudly again and shook mountains before it directed a large Haki blast from his mouth toward the defenseless Prime Minister. Barely even able to move a finger, Jayden seemed to have resigned to fate. He could only let out a faint regretful smile before the blast hit him. At least, this way, he would be able to reunite with Reena. Maybe, his plan has worked out in the end.