Shen Feilong was delighted when he turned back to see a familiar boy with a delicate face, short hair, a leather jacket, and jeans. He had zippers on all his pockets and a band-aid on his cheek. There was a sick mask over his mouth as he coughed occasionally.
"Red Phoenix! Why are you here! Aren't you sick!" All of them knew he had a cold, and had stayed home that day.
"To save your sorry butts. That's why." Red Phoenix snorted and snapped his fingers. A bird wreathed in 4 colors of fire with an elegant crest descended. It was only a meter tall, still bigger than the Demon Lord, but smaller than Qinglong. Shen Feilong recognized it instantly.
"Is that Zhuque?!" He shouted in excitement.
"Nonsense, don't call my sister's contract beast by your made up names! Her name is Feixue!" Someone finally addressed the topic of those nonsensical names.
"How'd you know to come?!" He ignored his retort and instead wondered how he knew to come here.
"I called her." White Tiger walked up at this time, taking out a box and pulling out a candy cigarette and putting it in his mouth.
"My Pa always said, "If you can't do it alone, then don't. It's not a bad thing to ask for help." So I called." He tilted up his sunglasses and said with a grin. Though he was facing the wrong direction because it was getting rather dark and he couldn't see with the sunglasses on.
Shen Feilong remembered how White Tiger and Black Tortoise stepped up to help.
"You're right. With the four of us together, nothing can stop us." He said with a glow in his eyes.
"Now that I'm here, what's the trouble?" Shen Feilong remembered now that they never let Red Phoenix in on the plan since he was sick the past few days.
"We encountered a Demon Lord! It defeated Xuanwu, Baihu, and Qinglong! It almost got me too!" Shen Feilong said with gritted teeth. He did not mention Chen Ling, as she was at the back of his mind upon facing the fearsome Demon Lord Of Ruin.
"C-can you save Xuanwu? He's been badly injured!" Black Tortoise spoke up now, still worried about Xuanwu.
"He's there, with the Demon Lord. He sacrificed himself so we could land an attack, but the Demon Lord survived!"
Everyone turned to the scene of the wreckage. They trembled as the Demon Lord Of Ruin stumbled out with unsteady steps, but it's eyes were filled with an unspeakable fury. It's fur was still smoking from the lightning.
At its side was a similarly fried Tortoise, covered in bloody wounds. Though heavily injured, it was still breathing, though roughly.
"You idiots! That's just a cat! Even then, why didn't you attack while it was injured?!" Red Phoenix smacked their heads.
"W-when we saw it was alive, we kind-of panicked, and then you showed up!" Shen Feilong fumbled out excuses for their cowardice.
"Never mind, let Feixue take care of the turtle." He watched Zhuque fly over Xuanwu, and let out a shower of light, and the breathing slowly evened our, and it's eyes began to flicker.
"Thanks Zhuque!" Black Tortoise thanked sincerely. Zhuque didn't answer him though.
"I told you her name isn't Zhuque! It's Feixue! You al watch too many cartoons!" But Shen Feilong and the boys ignored his frustration.
It was at this time the audience finally reacted. As usual, the first to speak up was glasses girl, who took out her tablet again.
"That's a rare Rainbow Flame Dawn Phoenix! A real Phoenix with the bloodline of the ancestral divine beasts! They have more colors as it grows, with nine at its peak strength! They have fire and light affinities, so their flames are said to be sacred! What it just used was Phoenix Down! A powerful recovery ability used by light element spirit beasts! It's said they only follow those with hearts pure as precious stones! They are incredibly hard to find, and are said to roost on trees on the highest of mountain peaks! To see one in the flesh is our luck! Where did his sister get one!" Her explanation explained lots of information, and helped get the rest of the students to understand how amazing the Phoenix was.
"Incredible!"
"It's so beautiful!"
"It has four colors of flame, so it must be in the hollow core realm!"
"Then it must be stronger than the others before!"
"Xiaohei's in trouble now!"
Shen Feilong watched as Xuanwu regrouped with them as Zhuque used Phoenix Down on Baihu, healing the gashes sealed previously suppressed in seals of ice.
At this time the four spirit beasts now stood together along with the four students.
"We are the Four Kings! Together, there's nothing we can't do! The four symbol beasts unite to form an invincible strength! Before the four of us, the Demon Lord Of Ruin will fall to the power of our friendship!" Shen Feilong rose proudly, struck a pose with his fist in the air, and said a bunch of nonsense. Black Tortoise and White Tiger also joined him.
Red Phoenix though, did not join them, only sighing at their antics while they all gestures with their eyes at him. Finally he got into formation with them.
"""Yeah!""" They were all enthusiastic aside from Red Phoenix, when a furious roar echoed in their ears.
They turned their heads to see the Demon Lord Of Ruin standing intimidatingly, scarlet aura flowing as if it was on fire. Red eyes that seemed to hold soul searing rage made sweat cold as the harshest tundras form on their backs, and they suddenly couldn't move anymore.
They watched as The Demon Lord Of Ruin unhinge it's jaws in a hideous snarl, revealing fangs so sharp that they felt like their skin prickle just looking at it. Then claws, each looking like individual daggers, scraped on the ground, sharp enough to shred iron like paper. All of them audibly gulped.
Then, leathery wings abruptly spread out on its back, eliciting a cry of shock from the crowd.
It didn't end there, they saw the tail extending visibly, dragging along the ground, before lashing up in a flash of silver.
They heard a thump, they turned to see a nearby ladder from a slide, be severed from its bars.
They looked back to see a silver blade on the end of long tail. Glinting sharply in the moonlight.
"The second phase..."