The moment when the mini Katsurou that was accompanying the quartet of Li Qiu and Co. was instantly squashed into a puddle of blood, Katsurou, who had been in the midst of a conversation with Hikari instantly tensed up.
"T-they developed to such an extent already? They only had a few Practitioners among them a few days back when I had travelled over their location a few days back" Katsurou couldn't help but mutter aloud as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as his complexion became exceedingly pale.
The final image that was transmitted to him by the mini Katsurou that had been seated atop the head of the Black Dragon was a sky filled with hundreds of inflammatory birds that were of the Adept stage who were led by an even more powerful Adept stage inflammatory bird that had a wingspan of 12 metres.
"Li Qiu is the only one among them who could even put up some form of resistance, the others…Slime Demon my ass. If they bite the dust here then everything would have been for naught. Right, I'll go there myself. Vermillion bird should be capable of quick flight" As the flustered Katsurou came to an abrupt decision, a slender hand slowly embraced upon Katsurou's face.
"You should have some faith in their battle prowess," Said Hikari in a gentle whisper.
"B-but, they are currently face-to-face with a hundred Adept Stage inflammatory birds and they have one shitty suicidal innate ability," Replied Katsurou, guilty over the fact that he dispatched them on a suicide mission.
"If it ever comes down to it, your Black Dragon would ensure their survival by using THAT" Said Hikari as she slowly gazed into the eyes of Katsurou.
The entire body of Katsurou suddenly stiffened as he was overcome by shock due to the fact that Hikari knew about his closely guarded secret.
"H-how did you…." Katsurou couldn't help but gaze at Hikari with guilty eyes.
"You don't need to gaze at me in that manner" Replied Hikari.
"T-then do you…."
"I was there that day when you created your so-called Black Dragon, Abyss Turtle, Vermillion Bird, and White Tiger. I witnessed the entire process" Said Hikari.
The moment Katsurou heard her mention about witnessing the creation of his Black Dragon and Co. tears started to well up within his eyes as he fell on his knees.
"I-I am sorry, sorry, really am sorry…" As Hikari witnessed the breakdown of the usually confident Katsurou and how he kept apologizing like a broken tape-recorder, anger welled up from within her.
'Slap'
Katsurou's unceasing mutters instantly came to an abrupt stop when his cheeks felt a crisp sounding slap upon it and left behind a reddish palm mark.
"I don't resent you. None of us resent you. They voluntarily gave up their lives just so that their family can survive. If you display such a pathetic side of yourself then what you're doing now is insulting everyone who voluntarily gave up their lives to you. And, my own parents were among them too, so, stop acting weak and show me the resolve that you had displayed on that day dammit!" Hikari couldn't help but shrill at the end of her statement as tears streamed out of her eyes at the mention of her parents.
"Is that all that your resolve amounted to? Then, give me back my father and mother who put their faith into you, give them back…" Hikari fell on her knees as her hands clenched onto Katsurou's shirt.
As her words slowly echoed within his mind, Katsurou was once again reminded about the incidents that transpired during the day of the apocalypse, the sacrifices made to him by the people and the prime cause for all of their sufferings.
"Hachiro, and Junichiro, I'll make sure to erase the two of you from the face of this Earth" Katsurou's eyes regained their vigour once again as he remembered about his oath to protect the families of those who sacrificed their lives to him and his unquenchable hatred towards Hachiro, the one nicknamed as the Slime Demon and Junichiro, his elder brother, the sleazy bastard who called himself as the Doll Demon as he tortured other humans.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that I'll uphold my oath until not a single shred of life remains within my body" Said Katsurou as he slowly made Hikari release her hold over his shirt as he got up, his eyes filled with determination and fighting spirit.
"Uh-huh," Hikari nodded her head as she slowly wiped her tears and got up with a faint smile on her face.
"And, you seem to hide most of your abilities from Akiko. I will neither ask you why nor will I try to pry into them. Just know that Akiko is ignorant about everything that had happened on that day" Said Hikari, in order to bring a small sense of relief to Katsurou's weary mind.
"Thank you" Katsurou gave his heartfelt thanks to Hikari as he sighed in relief.
"Vermillion Bird" Upon his call, a silver coloured gate formed in front of him as the Vermillion Bird flew out and slowly landed on the ground before them.
"I'll give you a full boost myself since the Abyss Turtle is currently out of commission" Said Katsurou as he placed his hands above the head of the Vermillion Bird.
The next moment, an intense stench of blood reverberated from Katsurou's body as the thick blood mist that was released by him seeped into the body of the Vermillion Bird.
"Aargh, doing it myself is hella painful" Wailed Katsurou due to the pain resulting from transferring his strength without using the Abyss Turtle as a medium, but still gritted his teeth as he held on.
After a few minutes had passed, an exhausted Katsurou fell down onto the ground.
"Huff… puff. Finally done, phew"
"Chirp" The Vermillion Bird chirped in response to the amount of power that welled up from within its body as it flapped its mighty wings in excitement.
"Before I forget, take this" Said Katsurou as he gave two bloody pearls to the Vermillion Bird which held them within its beak.
"Just soak them in some blood and they would form into my miniature recon types. They wouldn't be destroyed as easily when they are in that condensed state" Said Katsurou.
"Let me pitch in too," Said Hikari as she used her innate ability 'Effect over Time' and transferred the entirety of her Aria towards the claws of the Vermillion Bird.
"All you have to do is scratch you enemies with your claws and my innate ability would significantly damage them. Also, make sure to remember the amount of Aria still left within your claws because the damage done over time depends on the amount of my Aria that has been infused into that respective attack" Hikari reminded the Vermillion Bird.
The Vermillion Bird looked at Hikari with its seemingly intelligent eyes as it lifted its right wing and slowly gave a pat onto Hikari's head and immediately took off into the air and disappeared from their sight within a few seconds.
"What was that for?" Hikari couldn't help but wonder as to the human-like behaviour that was exhibited by the Vermillion Bird just before its take off.
"I feel tired," Said Hikari as she sat on the ground beside Katsurou who lay there sprawled like a dead fish.
"My entire body feels like a truck just ran over it. Miss Hikari, please bless me with a healing session" Katsurou could only request Hikari in the most formal manner known to him after everything that had happened till then. His cheeks still stung after all.
"Nope," Hikari responded with an instant denial.
"Eeh? That's not fair" Pleaded Katsurou with titanium puppy dog eyes.
"Let the moon come up first. My healing abilities are useless without moonlight" Retorted Hikari.
"Ahaha" Katsurou awkwardly laughed as he tried to rest his injured body.
"Hey Hikari, tell me frankly. Do they stand a chance against the Slime Demon and the Doll Demon? I'm having second thoughts. Li Qiu has powerful flames but his battle experience is severely lacking while his enemies are well versed in the art of combat" Said Katsurou.
"We did everything we could for them. It's up to them to reign victorious. Don't forget, we would also be facing powerful experts of the races of Plantia, Machina and the other powerful races during the Great Migration that is scheduled to occur next week" Reminded Hikari.
"All we can do is to hope for the best huh?" Said Katsurou.
"On another note, Enbi Arin and Myra have been gone for quite awhile. Do you think something happened to them?" Questioned Hikari.
"Nah, they're fine. I'm monitoring them with my cuties after all. But seriously, the two of them are quite the monsters" Said Katsurou, amazed at the growth and combat prowess displayed by the duo of Enbi Arin and Myra.
"Then, I guess I'll train Stella in the art of the sword and teach her better fighting techniques using her innate ability," Said Hikari as she got up from her spot.
"It's the other two that are troublesome. One has zero interest in anything not involving playing with mud while the other…oh gawd is just a dead statue. I seriously wonder if that lazy ant Gabriella is even an ant" Complained Katsurou.
"Speak of the devil" Exclaimed Katsurou as he saw Gabriella slowly dragged his feet with droopy eyes until he found a sufficiently large boulder with a shade above it.
He then climbed atop the boulder and curled into a ball as he instantly drifted into the land of his dreams.
"Well….Good luck?" Teased Hikari, and began to search for the whereabouts of Stella.
Meanwhile, Vermillion Bird who had travelled at supersonic speeds for quite some time gazed upon a blanket of different coloured feathers that covered the entire view of the ground surface.
Making use of its powerful eyesight it suddenly saw at the other end of the blanket of feathers a massive giant ball of fire that engulfed everything in its surroundings.
It was followed by a limbless human silhouette that slowly began to fall from near the edges of the giant ball of fire through the clouds amidst countless other chirpings and fiery explosions.