The Attack of the Nian Beast (V)

At that time, I have powers,

I became the Last Healer,

I was the one who will be there by his side,

No matter what happened.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

Qing Long felt his ankles were transforming into the scaly, azure feet of the dragon of his curse. His robes torn apart as Nina rotated her heels around and turned into a Nian beast in an instant. The Jian sword tumbled out of the lawn, safely and securely, and the blue flame had been entrusted on his physique as a dragon.

The spiky horns reveal how it was curved down his back, Qing Long growled as the headdress and his robes had been torn apart. The sharp claws were coming out of his feet, and the azure scales of his body could be seen under the moonlight. The blue flame was circling him while the Nian beast ran backward first, before lunging itself to the dragon creature.

Qing Long felt that he flapped his indigo wings, and roared. His lips transformed into a snout, his eyes narrowed a little and the pupils dilated. He went away on the sky first, flying in the air, before he circled down on that cold sky and releasing a sapphire flame on his mouth. The Nian beast clawed the side of him and Qing Long tumbled on the ground.

At the same time, Althea stopped sobbing as she heard those words on his mind. She opened it up and an azure flame came out from her eyes. Althea was surprised to see it and thought that it would burn her skin. She jumped from her place and she was turning her back from where Qing Long was. She saw the azure flame extinguished on the grass, making the tips of the grass froze for about a minute.

She swallowed as she huffed some air and looked at the sky.

The rain had gone.

And when she turned around, something unexpected was there to witness. She stunned at her place as she saw the Nian beast, the one she could hear earlier, and when she turned to its opponent, she swallowed. She doesn't know what to do as the fear succumbed through her. She opened her mouth wide as she felt the rock on her back, and she knew it was a dead end.

The azure dragon that was on the Legend of the Cursed Dragon, and the Nian beast, who was responsible for the curse of Wang Qing Long, was right in front of her eyes.

Althea was witnessing it right with her two eyes, and she felt that she will faint. But the fight was still evident, and she doesn't know what to do.

Wang Qing Long received several blows from the Nian beast, and it was now on the ground. Wang Qing Long was still inside the dragon, conscious of what he was doing, but it seemed like the Nian beast had garnered a lot of power from its rest a hundred years ago.

Althea didn't know what to do as she was surprised by what was happening. It was only a day after she had been drowned on that waters from the present time, and it's only a matter of minutes after she had resurfaced and got back on the time. She clasped her hands through her mouth as Qing Long tried to unclawed the teeth from his neck and the dragon was now trying itself to exude a lot of energy.

It opened his mouth again, the blue flame came out from its huge tongue, and the Nian beast felt the breeze on its fur. It was taken aback as it tumbled on the ground, its back first, slamming its head on the lawn. Qing Long took this time to fly up in the sky, closed its eyes, and whispered something through his subconscious.

The azure dragon was flapping its wings, not noticing that the people on the hall had seen his entity. Wang Qing Long totally lost his mind about the folklore that every Lunar New Year, the azure dragon and the Nian beast would come out, spreading a pessimist behavior through the people that will bring bad luck to the entire Empire.

But that was not true. It was just because of the Legend that had been written from Wang Qing Long's Kingdom, Zhaochong Empire.

Wang Qing Long was there to secure the safety of the people, but he doesn't get why the people loathed him. Wang Qing Long, like a dragon, opened its eyes once again, the cerulean flame was now in its surroundings.

The people saw the silhouette of the dragon flapping its wings, and they screamed. They were all scrambling around, ordering the knights to ready the canons, and the hall inside, where the Emperor and the Empress were confined, suddenly burst into chaos.

"King Wang Qing Long is there! We need to fend off the cursed dragon!"

"The cursed dragon will bring bad luck this year!"

"We need to ready the cannons and make a noise!"

All of the people were united to make a noise. From that peaceful ceremony, the whole area turned into a wildfire. Everyone was readying their own weapons to kill the cursed dragon from the legend that they had read. But they didn't know that it was protecting them from the real traitor, the Nian beast.

"Stay focus. Exude the sapphire flame from your eyes once again."

Althea heard it and closed her eyes once again. Wang Qing Long watched as the Nian beast recovered from the lawn. Althea opened her eyes and a weak light in sapphire color had protruded out of her pupils. Althea was still surprised, but she knew it was the only way she could save Qing Long. She pursed her lips and tried once again.

Qing Long and Nina turned into human once again and continue the fight. Nina's skin was glowing so much that Qing Long didn't know how he could not shield his eyes with his hands. Qing Long picked up the Jian sword and swiped it, but it had no effect.

"Open your eyes, Althea! I need you!" Qing Long bellowed that made Althea opened up her eyes and a sapphire flame burst out from her pupils.