Issei rushed at Ddraig with the help of his four wings to increase his speed and opened his jaws ready to bite, but as Issei was about to bite his brother's neck, he was knocked to the side, about fifty meters away, by a powerful red beam.
"Even if you hold a greater power mine included, brother, but I hold years of experience under my belt" Said Ddraig proudly.
Issei stood up and just snorted before launching four powerful black and red fireballs at Ddraig, but as the fireballs got close, Ddraig just shot four aura bullets and easily overpowered the fireballs sent at him.
Aura bullets approached Issei, but he decided to tank them.
Ddraig was not surprised after seeing Issei unscratched, he knew that attack wouldn't do anything knowing his defense level.
Issei roared and glared at Ddraig before rushing once again and this time Issei was able to dodge a few aura bullets before reaching Ddraig.
Seeing this Ddraig just smirked and quickly took off into the air right above Issei.
"Welsh Dragon Flare!" Roared Ddraig and released a large fire breath and covered the lands in a huge inferno.
"I guess that's it for the warm-up" Said Ddraig before finally starting to boost his power.
Meanwhile, Issei just stood in the inferno and watched Ddraig's every move.
*AI system overwhelmed by information, Claire is inactive, host's life is in danger, switching to auto support system*
"C'mon brother, I know you're not done for yet" Said Ddraig as he stared down at the inferno until he spotted dark red orbs staring right back at him.
Before Ddraig could attack him Issei released his black aura and the inferno turned completely black with his red eyes remaining.
Ddraig felt chills go down his spine as he saw two red orbs starting from the abyss.
*Auto support system is ready for combat, preparing for a counter-attack... Ȃ͕҉̶c̰͇̙ͣc̟̓̄̀ẻ̹͛͗̀͠s͚̮̣͐̕ṡ̘҉ D̈́̈́̌͏e̶͍̭̿̾n̨͖̯͔̤͗͞ĩ̜̤͇͔̀҉e͎̱̿ͫď̲̉̕͏ Unable to access host's skills, unstable mentality blocking skill access... proceeding to knock out the host and take temporary control*
"What's taking him down there?" Spoke Ddraig as he continued to stare at the red orbs, but for a moment those orbs disappeared and reappeared but they didn't show any rage or hatred... Those red orbs no longer showed any emotion.
*Temporary control sͧ͆͘͠u̓͐̓c̸̢̞̭c̜̟̄͛e͖̗ͥͬ̀s̷ͬ̈́͗́s̥ͮ̋f̥͕͔̈́̒͟u͉̤̬̞ͯ͌͝ĺ͍̰, skills - ạ̢̙̪̟ͩ͠c͒͂͡͝c̢ͥ͡e͈̪̭͎ͮͬ͞s̔s̰͍̽ͫ͞i̸̙̙͕̖͂b̻̥̩̋ͥͨ͏͠l͎̝̦͒̈̽e̴̜ͥ́, preparing for counter-attack*
'Issei' wasted no more time and launched at Ddraig and fired a few black aura bullets at Ddraig as a distraction but Ddraig saw right through his intentions and dived under 'Issei' and fired another aura bullet combined with penetrate skill and hit 'Issei' right in the stomach but 'Issei' showed no signs of pain nor any kind of reaction as some blood started to gush out of the injury.
"He's at least seventy percent evil dragon now, I guess her feels less pain but still, he didn't even flinch" Thought Ddraig out loud as he kept boosting his power.
*Skill Activation- B̴͕̺̩̪̂͘o̡҉o͉͉̻͛͊̌s̩̤̫̼t̶̿,*
*B̴͕̺̩̪̂͘o̡҉o͉͉̻͛͊̌s̩̤̫̼t̶̿ X 100*
'Issei's' power grew, and his aura became denser and darker which unserved Ddraig a little.
Both Dragons flew at each other at incredible speeds.
As they got close to each other Issei tried to sink his fangs into Ddraig's neck but Ddraig hit him in the head with his tail and followed up with a powerful punch to his already damaged guts with his penetrating skill.
*W̶̳̣͇ͬ͟a̡͔͇͎r͏͟ṅ̦̱̹ͤ͝ĭn̬͈̲ͭ́g̰̪̥̓ͅ!̞͉̣̼ͤ ̶̛̱͇̘̜̃̈ too much damage! Preparing for transformation!*
'Issei' quickly backed away but Ddraig didn't want to give 'Issei' a chance to attack again as he wanted to finish the fight quickly, so Ddraig followed Issei and launched an enormous aura bullet.
*J̒ͭ͜͞u̡͑̈́͐͞ģ͖͎̋̐ͦ͡g̰ͣ͐͆́́ê̝̘͚̞͐r̰n̨̦̻̣͙ͪ̂̕ȁ͕͓͎͚̔̃͟ṵ̵t̾̊̀̕͜ ̓͗͘S̍͟͟h͙̖̘̟͌̅́i̸͖͚͎͒e͖̱̱̬ͯ͗͛͝͡l̨͚d̿̔!͍̄̆͐͞*
A giant black shield appeared in front of Issei and blocked the attack but the shield was being pushed back by the force of the attack.
*B̴͕̺̩̪̂͘o̡҉o͉͉̻͛͊̌s̩̤̫̼t̶̿ X 100*
But 'Issei' boosted again and the shield managed to block the attack.
As Ddraig got close, the shield disappeared and revealed Issei in his human form but he held no emotions, none at all.
"Brother, wake up from this madness already! Don't forget that you have people who are waiting for your return!" Roared Ddraig as he launched five aura bullets at 'Issei' but 'Issei' didn't move from the attack.
As the attack hit the target it disappeared moments later and revealed nothing in sight.
Suddenly Ddraig's instincts went overdrive.
He looked above and just in time moved away from an axe kick to the head.
'Issei' turned around and started blankly at Ddraig.
"Brother, come to your senses! You don't actually believe that your mates,
strongest female warriors could be killed by that worm!? What a joke!" Roared Ddraig.
Issei only answered by shooting a few aura bullets but Ddraig dodged them easily.
"Then I don't see any other choice" Said Ddraig and prepared a finishing move as he boosted his power repeatedly.
He opened his jaws and a red and green energy ball started to grow in front of his jaws and more and more sparks started to surround it.
it didn't take him a lot of time to charge up the attack.
'Just go down Issei, don't fight it' Thought Ddraig before firing an enormous energy beam at Issei.
"Heavenly dragon strike!" Roared Ddraig before releasing his most exhausting attack.
The power and the heat were so great that the ground below started to melt and burn.
The attack was about to reach 'Issei' but he didn't wait for his end.
"F̫̰̭͍o̶̿̅͟r̈́ͮ͐͂͞b̴̝̯̠͌į͇̟̺d̑̅ͫ̐d̵̝̦̤̎̈́͋̂͜e̷͇͇̖̥̐̾̇ͤ͟n̛͍͚͕̲͝ ̢̨͖͍͈̬̊̃̽T̥̓͘̕e̹̖̦̞͡͞c͙͡h̶̀́ͩ͜n̰̲͚̽́̿̔i̸͑̑ͦ̈́q̝̥͑ͫ̌̕͝ų̹͎̌̾̈́ͩͨe̟͔ͯ̂̿͟͠:̩͉̬ͫ ̺̹̖̩̊ͯ̑͂̕͘S̨̮͐͒́h͈̋̾ͪ̓ͦ͜͟i̘͙̣̜ͯ̔͂͊̉͞e̢̯̖ͤ̿́͂͡l͂ͪ̊̓̈́̚d̤̬ͤͬ̔̽̓ ̝̏ͧ̋͏̀F̨̹̠o̰̟͍̾̍̌̂͗ͨr̹̠͏m̸̗͌ạ̭̩̦ͭͭ̋ͬͯ҉͘ṱ̩̪̜ͩ͐̅i̲̮ͦ̀o̸͈̦ͯ͡n̝͓̗̪̊̔ͨͩ!̴̷͔̼̼̆ͣͨͦ͛!*
Thousands of shields that Issei has acquired over time started to appear in front of him and connected each other by black chains with the juggernaut shield being in the middle and accompanied by Wrath shield, Dragon's will shield on the side.
The shields formed a wall-like barrier and blocked the powerful attack but started to push the shields rapidly and even melt some.
*B̴͕̺̩̪̂͘o̡҉o͉͉̻͛͊̌s̩̤̫̼t̶̿ X100*
But with the help of boost 'Issei' Was able to block the enormous attack of the welsh dragon.
"Penetrate!" Roared Ddraig and the attack went right through the shields but Issei didn't waste any time and shot his attack.
*Skill Activation! - Ȩ̤̥̥̬̃̉̇͑v̗̾̋ͧ̍̀ī̙͎̲̩l̫͙̥̦̀ ͆̏̄ͨf̵̡͈̺̩l̮͈̦ͩ̀ͧ͢a̫̫̘̰r̨̟̓̈͂̓ͤͩ͏e͉̗̦̜ͪ͢!̥͈̉*
Dark black energy collided with Ddraig's attack but Ddraig's attack was still superior and just pushed the evil flare back.
*Skill Activation! - P̈̓e̘̖̐̊ͣ̏́n̬̭̗̙ͩ̀͊ͦe̸ͫ̏͡t̡͚̑̍ͯ́̚r̶̨̻͒à̵͎͇̪ṯ̞̹̌͢͝e̱̦̤͇̿̉̀͠!*
Even with the penetrate skill Issei's evil flare couldn't overpower Ddraig's attack, it did slow down but it was not enough and the attack was too close for Issei to form a powerful enough counter-attack so the only option that Issei had was to boost but the problem was his opponent had the same abilities of boost and penetrate.
As both warriors boosted their attack powers continuously Ddraig still managed to overwhelm Issei.
The Heavenly dragon strike was getting closer and closer to Issei and Issei had no other option but to tank the attack.
Ddraig's attack finally made contact with Issei followed by a loud explosion.
As all of the smoke disappeared Issei was revealed to be heavenly damaged and exhausted, his skin and flesh were burned his body barely held together after such a powerful attack.
But to Ddraig's dismay, Dragon's will shield appeared on Issei's arm and he regained his stamina but his body was still damaged and bleeding.
"What a cheat..." Mumbled Ddraig annoyed by the outcome but 'Issei' wasn't finished yet as all of the shields regenerated and started to surround Issei in a ball-like cacoon.
The shields started to fuse as a dark red glow illuminated the sky.
And after the fusion was complete Issei was revealed to be standing in black armor with red gems and red eyes staring at Ddraig.
*Skill Activation - C̗͔̓̀̐ŏm̴̭̄ͮ́p̊͌ͧ͏a̝͎̟n͖͈͙̐ḯ̸̲̫͉̲́o̊ṋ̢̺̫̤ ̤͒̅R̛̳ͩi͞ǵ̬ͭ̇͟͢gͅi̙͗͋n̝̝ͮ̄g̢̰͚̭͑͡:̌͗͋̀͞ ̵̺̤͍̟͝D͔͒̓̀͢r͎̿̔ḁģ̋̀ő̔̅n̛̗ ͈̤̤ͯ̃b͎̼̓̒l̵̺ͨ̂̊̕a̢̢̠̘̺̤̾s̵͔͚̫ͫͭ̀̚t̢̋e̽͛r̴̹͓͖͒͡s̴̟̤͍!*
If that wasn't enough, around Issei four black metallic dragon heads appeared, the same ones when he underwent the master cube's absorption.
The Dragon blasters opened their jaws and launched black beam attacks at Ddraig who just dodged their every attack.
As Ddraig was distracted 'Issei' disappeared out of sight once again and re-appeared above Ddraig while dragon blasters surrounded Ddraig all four of the blasters shot powerful beams at Ddraig once more but this time with the help of boost and 'Issei' shot an aura bullet downwards at Ddraig.
All of the beams were about to hit Ddraig but he did something unexpected.
"Shield Prison!" Roared Ddraig and a large red ball trapped him inside and blocked the attacks.
*E͍͙͜ř̇ͭr̦̞̘̈̕҉o̙͙̝̾ͯ͝͞r̫̆͟ ͇̜̩̐͝Ê̸̑̚͝r̮̜̎̌͏r̨̔ȯ̴̧̝̮ͤ̑r̳ ͧ̃̇͏͏E̯rͧ̈́̒͟r͟o̺͚̐r̭̦͓̊̉͒, unauthorized skill usage, checking for anomalies... Nͬ̔̈̕ȍ̢͎̬͈͎n̢̫̥̲e̗͆͜ ̯ͯf̨̢̰̫̓͑ö̥҉̵uͤn̍̊̎͠͝ḑ̵̛̤̠̦͓̱͇ͦͨ͗͗ͪ*
"Hahaha, confused? Yeah, I was too at first when I found out I can use your skills but after some thinking, I discovered that maybe the system or the shield thought of us of our souls as one so I have the access to your otherworldly skills!" Said Ddraig as he slowly transformed into his human form.
"Ready for round two?" Asked Ddraig as a shield formed on his right arm but it was different from Issei's first default shield, instead of being silver it was red and had golden lines, and an emerald green gem in the middle, it resembled the boosted gear.
'Issei' once again showed no reaction and just sent dragon blasters at Ddraig but Ddraig blocked the attacks with a few red airstrike shields.
Issei followed up by attacking Ddraig with his fists.
Issei sent a sucker punch but Ddraig blocked it with the shield but 'Issei' wasn't done as he proceeded to knee him in the guts and headbutted him.
As Ddraig backed off a little he punched Issei in the guts with his fist infused with his aura sending Issei to the ground Ddraig wasn't done and quickly followed Issei and tried to axe kick him but he forgot about the dragon blaster which got in the way and blocked his kick and two of them fired beams front the sides at Ddraig but he managed to back off in time.
As they both landed on the ground 'Issei' summoned dragon blasters back to his side
"I told you brother, even if you are more powerful you can't defeat me easily"
*Skill Activation - D͙͓ͮr̐҉̶a̖͙̾͌g̪͆͘o̸̘̕n̨͗ ̤̘̖̤̾b̤̹̖̰̽ͥl̡̐̓͟ͅa̵̫͙ͣ́ś̭̦̀̽t͓ͫͯ̓͡ê̥͕͈͋̚͟r͓͎̠̼͌ͩs̤̥̜̺͞:̿͘ ͓̖̼͌́ͅj̢̙̯̳͂̉ṷ̴̯̂ͪ̂̀gͅğ̠̏e͕̗r͌̽̍ń̷̛͖̹̜̮̓̓a̪͊̏́̀̕u̮̖͛͠t̸͊ ̥m͉̪̒̆̐͠o̷͉ͭ̐͢deͯ͢!̡̻͙̲ ͉̝̲͎ͨ̒̚͟*
Suddenly dragon blasters started to glow slightly with a deep red glow before disintegrating into thousands of tiny black cubes that swirled around behind Issei and slowly started to take shape.
moments later Ddraig saw Issei do something crazy once again.
A large black head of a dragon was floating behind Issei and to its sides were two independent giant claws.
"Brother you keep amazing me but... Why am I on the receiving end?" Questioned Ddraig as he watched the giant dragon blaster prepare an enormous attack.
"Fuck, no shield can block that!" Roared Ddraig as he attempted to get to a safe distance but...
*Skill Activation - G̤̻ͥ͏͡oͨͪl̒ḑ͕̻̭ͪ̏̐͠e̵̴̬͈̳̓̌n͇̹̺̎ͧ̀͞ͅ ̠̗̼ͧ̑T͎҉̨i̝̮̥͈ͤ̔m̦ͩe̷̝͂̋ͫ͏*
Issei's left eye changed to a ticking golden clock and as the skill was activated the ticking stopped and sent a golden energy wave and froze everything in time in a matter of milliseconds.
As the time froze the giant claws moved forward and grabbed the frozen form of Ddraig who tried to escape the blast.
*Annihilation Bullet charged- 80%*
The time unfroze and Ddraig widened his eyes as he realized what happened after noticing Issei's left eye.
"Damn it, not good" Said Ddraig as he struggled to get out of the hold of the claws but the hold was too strong.
"Damn it Issei! Get ahold of yourself! Do you want my death so much!?" Roared Ddraig in desperation but Issei just stared at Ddraig and waited for the attack to finish charging.
"Brother! Listen to my voice! Please!... Please return to me! You were my best host, best friend, and now my brother!"
*Annihilation Bullet charged- 100%*
Slowly 'Issei' lifted his hand above his head.
Death... Death was what Ddraig saw not just death but his death.
His heart rate increased and everything slowed down, he felt chills running down his whole being he was scared but at the same time... He was happy.
"Alright... If this is what it takes to bring you back... Then so be it, but know this... I'm glad that fate brought us together" Said Ddraig as he smiled at the end and closed his eyes awaiting his end by his brother.
As 'Issei' was about to lower his hand and launch the attack...
*Ai System- Claire rebooting... Ai System- Active*
*Issei?* Asked Claire and then noticed Ddraig who was being held by two giant claws.
"Deactivating Juggernaut mode* Spoke Claire quickly and the attack that was about to be launched dimmed out and disappeared from the jaws of the giant dragon blaster before the blaster and the claws returned to the four normal-sized blasters.
"Wha- Issei? Are you in control?" Asked Ddraig who was released.
He walked up to Issei but before he could say anything Issei's armor disappeared revealing an extremely injured man who suddenly collapsed.
Ddraig quickly ran up to him and picked him up.
"Oh, brother... What a day this was... I deserve a good rest" Said Ddraig as he finally could relax.
He took out three Dragon essences and made Issei drink two of them while he drank one.
*Deactivating territory creation*
The battlefield disappeared and the duo appeared beside the damaged castle.
The sky was covered by dark grey clouds as a cool breeze grazed their skin, it was peaceful but... The sorrowful cries echoed through the capital and a strong smell of blood invaded Ddraig's nostrils.
Ddraig looked around before walking away to find Musashi and Eclair.
As Ddraig was walking through the remains of the capital he watched as women and children were crying while men and the remaining knights tried to help everyone by offering food or rescuing from the ruble of once proudly standing buildings.
A lot of blood was spilled that night two kingdoms left without a ruler, a lot of brave men were killed who protected their families and capital, a lot of children lost their parents, and a lot of parents lost their children.
This was truly a sad day for the people, a day which no people of Melromarc will forget.
As Ddraig was falling further he saw a lot of corpses and some of the corpses had swords which angered him.
"Dragon-slaying swords" Growled Ddraig angrily.
Finally, Ddraig heard a familiar voice in the distance which belonged to Eclair.
"Here take this and drink this medicine, it will help you" Said Claire.
After Walking a little more Ddraig found Eclair and two clones of Musashi helping people with food, medicine, and other things.
"Yo!" Shouted Ddraig.
The women looked around to see Ddraig walking with Issei in his arms.
"Ddraig! Is he okay?" Asked Eclair who quickly rushed towards the brothers.
"Yes he's fine, he's just exhausted from the fight with me" Said Ddraig.
A sigh of relief left Eclair's lips as she finished inspecting Issei.
"I'm glad you two are alright" Said one of Musashi's clones.
"Yeah, I'm glad you two are fine too" Said Ddraig.
"Yeah it was not that hard to defeat them but if only we arrived here earlier... Then could've avoided this tragedy" Said Musashi with a sad look as she covered her head.
"Maybe so but what happened, there's no point dwelling on the past mistakes rather let's look forward into the future and learn from these mistakes to prevent future tragedies" Said Ddraig.
"Yeah... I guess you're right" Said Musashi.
"Where are the rest of your clones?" Asked Ddraig.
"The rest of the clones are helping people in different parts of the capital and some are outside the walls helping with setting up tents" Replied Musashi.
"I see then I'll bring Issei there and let him rest after three hours or so I'll come and help but in the meantime I'm gonna rest... I'm exhausted after that insane fight" Said Ddraig.
"We understand, take your time, you deserve it" Said Eclair.
"You two, don't overwork yourselves" Said Ddraig before leaving the women.
"Will do" Replied Musashi and Eclair in unison.
As Ddraig walked through the gates he saw a bunch of tents outside the walls lined up.
" 'Sigh' Let's get some rest" Said Ddraig as he walked into one of the tents.
Inside was an elderly couple in one of the two small beds.
"Excuse me, can we stay here for a bit?" Asked Ddraig.
"Oh yeah, no problem young ones, please come in" Said the elderly woman with a smile.
Ddraig smiled back and walked in with Issei in his arms.
He slowly put him down on the bed and was about to lie on the ground but heard a small commotion outside.
"The first hero is here!"
"What? He finally arrived?
"Wait are those!?"
"I'll go check what's up outside" Said Ddraig.
The elderly couple nodded and Ddraig walked outside of the tent.
He looked around and noticed a small group of people surrounding someone.
He decided to investigate what was going on and as he reached the group he was surprised to see Motoyasu, his party, and five more people.
The five were L'arc, Raphtalia, Kiyomi, Itsuki, and Ren.
"Ddraig!" Shouted Raphtalia and Kiyomi after noticing the welsh dragon.
"What happened here? Asked L'arc.
" 'Sigh' I'm too tired to explain, got into the capital and search for two women called Eclair or Musashi and ask them" Said Ddraig as he turned around and started to walk back to the tent where he left Issei in but was stopped by Kiyomi.
"Where Is Issei? Is he okay?" Asked a worried Kiyomi.
"Yes, he's fine, no need to worry" Replied Ddraig with a warm smile.
"Ddraig do you... Do you know where Therese is?" Asked L'arc with a straight face but Ddraig saw fear behind his eyes.
Ddraig looked around the tents and spotted one with two guards outside.
"Look there, see those guards there? She's probably there with the princess" Replied Ddraig.
L'arc nodded and rushed towards the tent where the guards stood.
"Ddraig, bring us to Issei" Said Raphtalia.
"No, he needs to rest right now, you better go and help the people inside the walls" Said Ddraig before walking away.
'Brother, didn't I tell you? Could a worm kill the two strongest female warriors?" Asked Ddraig in his mind as he walked inside the tent with a small smirk.
This day was truly full of surprises for Ddraig but a sad and dark one for the people...