Chapter 90 - The Last Straw

It seemed as if the tables had turned once more. Urusla's new form was even more terrifying than her first transformation, sparking another onslaught of worry.

She now stood at a towering height, with her back slightly hunched. The insane increase in muscle mass had managed to add a few new tears in her outfit, exposing the intricate markings in her skin. With fangs that bordered on becoming tusks, and jade spikes protruding from different areas; Urusla showed that she still had a lot left in the tank.

"Pesky Dragon Hosts." Her voice was ominously deeper, "Your deaths will not be peaceful!"

With a booming roar, Urusla dug her brand new pair of arms into the ground. Two large trenches seemed to dig themselves in the direction of Takumi and Misao.

"Woah!"

They jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the eruption of jade energy beneath them. But turning their attention back to Urusla, they saw her charging at them.

A punch was launched at Takumi, aimed for his stomach. The hole left in his armor from the previous fatal attack had greatly decreased it's durability, but there was no time to think of a countermeasure.

As soon as the first connected, the suit of armor shattered, and a crack was left in the gemstone. Takumi was flung backwards but still retained his footing, digging more trenches as he slid all the way back to the rest of the group.

"Takumi! Let me heal you!" Aiko ran out immediately, holding her lover who had collapsed to one knee.

Takumi smiled, "I can manage without it. Lo- Ghg!"

Takumi's words were interrupted by the sudden regurgitation of blood. It was obvious he had suffered internal damage, Aiko refused to let him leave before casting her sixth scale.

Meanwhile, Misao was barely hanging on. Urusla jumped all over the battlefield, forcing Misao to stay on the defensive... or the evasive, rather, seeing that she couldn't even take one of these powerful attacks.

"Dammit!! I'm sorry, Mum. I know you said I shouldn't use this...."

Hearing Misao's monologue, Urusla saw this as a chance to end one annoying life. She was done toying around with them, one could say she had finally acknowledged their strength.

Urusla jumped, prepared to pummel Misao with a devastating ground pound. The height of the jump gave Misao some time to react, and she chose to use it doing nothing.

Or so it seemed, Misao had her hands clasped, she did a hand sign of two movements before speaking.

"Seal... Break!"

Misao's armor shattered. Her body began to shiver as her ki levels rose, but this energy release was drastically different from the previous ones. The killing intent was a lot more sinister, but the clearest indicator of the change was the color of her berserk ki... it was black.

"Gosh... this hurts..." Misao barely opened her eyes, revealing eyes of nothing but darkness.

Urusla took notice of this change, she decided to add more power to the pound upon landing. But as she neared Misao, who had prepared an attack, a surprise arose.

"Dragon whips Tail."

A new voice sounded before the silhouette of a woman appeared, bending her body in a whip kick which countered Urusla's attack, sending her flying.

The group gasped at the appearance of this woman, with the exception of two people. Takumi and Misao easily recognized the grey hair, red eyes and bulky figure.

"Mum..."

It was Shi. She walked over to Misao with a slightly annoyed expression. Huffed with a smile before giving Misao four strikes in her torso, the technique changed Misao's aura back to normal, relieving her pain.

"Another insect has joined the fray. Where do you all emerge from. Insolent!" Urusla got up, completely unharmed.

By now Takumi had rejoined the fight. The three looked at Urusla, sending their brains into overdrive to find a way to win. But that was when two voices appeared in the minds of Takumi and Misao.

"This isn't working." said the voices of Kage and Haruka.

Takumi and Misao groaned. That fact was already rubbed into their faces many times.

"So let's try a different approach. We have a plan, but it might be risky. We are able to feel strong amounts of dragon force in Urusla's attacks, most likely from absorbing Aegis' scarib."

Urusla jumped from her position, smashing a crater in the area where the trio narrowly avoided. Takumi screamed mentally, they were running out of time.

"Ah, yes. Well our plan is rather simple: use her dragon force to bring her and you into the Dragon Realm. I'm sure the six of us giving our aid will allow you to come out victorious."

Takumi and Misao may have argued against this but seeing that there was really no other option, they accepted in a heartbeat.

"Mum! Create an opening for us!" Misao shouted at Shi, who had just delivered a punch to Urusla's face.

Shi, who knew from Misao's tone that there must be a good reason for such a request, promptly obliged. Takumi and Misao nodded at each other, if there was anytime they needed coordination, it was now.

"Okay kids! Get in here!" Shi shouted.

A strong uppercut was launched at Urusla, briefly incapacitating her in midair. Takumi and Misao drew on all the speed they could muster, almost blinking behind Urusla. They now had a clear opportunity to put the plan in motion.

With a perfectly timed touch, their dragon force was linked and their bodies went limp.

***