"If you can talk, tell us why it is you choose to destroy your own land. We worship you as a deity, yet you mercilessly slaughter us for it?" One of the white dragons asked.
"My land isn't my own. You have forsaken the oath of protection. It is but a husk of a dream. But enough of your squandering. You wouldn't explain to a cow its fate."
With that last word, a rising pillar of flames erupted right under the dragon's jaw. It was Toga with his greatsword, delivering a massive blow to the god-like creature. With no warning, the move took him off guard and caused his head to bounce back.
Toga hit him and caused it to focus on him.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR REASONS!!! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER YOU BASTARD!" Toga yelled.
{Damn it Toga. Jumping in by yourself is suicide.}
Though Ryuma had to admit that this was a side of Toga he's never seen before. Bouts of anger, or madness was never in him, but this Toga looked like he was beginning to snap if he hasn't already.
His flames burned a darker red than he previously ever lit them before.
The dragon recovered by twisting its body so that it went right back to facing him. "A young mongrel dares to reprimand me. Does not a child eventually grow up? Evil begins at roots. I merely plucked the seed,"
With so much as a basic tail wag, it slammed into Toga and sent him plummeting back towards the ground. Ryuma ran towards his trajectory and placed a wind current just to keep him from crashing towards his death.
With that hit alone, Toga looked so battered and beaten. They were not a match for this thing.
The remaining members of the order reengaged into fighting the dragon. Ryuma just ignored everything that was going on in the background and started trying to lay him down in the best possible position.
"Toga, we're going to have to retreat. We're way out of our league here," Ryuma said.
"Retreat? RETREAT?" Toga was panting, but his anger didn't subside in the least. "Did you forget what that thing did to my brother?"
"I understand that, but we're not ready for this,"
Toga pushed him away causing him to fall. "If you want to run Ryuma go ahead. I'm not going to stop you… but this thing is dying today,"
Toga limped forward. Ryuma could feel the heat emanating off him. Something wasn't right. Sure he recognized that Toga was mad. That was affecting his powers. What was odd, was that his power was increasing far beyond what was reasonable. He wasn't even using fire Artes, but it looked like flames was coming out of his body.
Honestly speaking, if he ever fought Toga like this, even at full health he probably couldn't beat him.
While the dragon was still busy with more people coming. Toga dropped his weapon, jumped high into the air, and boosted himself using his fire powers.
He flew even higher than the dragon. After turning off the heat, the weapon he left on the ground flew up to him, magnetizing itself to his hands.
"This energy…" The dragon said, looking at Toga falling from above, with weapon poised behind him.
Toga slammed it on the top of its head. The fire emanating off him raged so wildly and so much, it was forcing the dragon down.
Ryuma's eyes widened. From the distance he was at, the shape of the fire burning behind Toga, looked like the shape of a giant dog, in almost comparable size to the dragon he hit.
"No way…" The dragon actually looked like it was struggling to hold that energy back.
Even so… this was nothing more than a power struggle from the dragon's perspective, but from Toga's perspective, this was all the power he was using.
With one final push, the dragon knocked him back with his head, this time sending him crashing back into the destroyed stalls.
Toga was finally knocked out.
Even the dragon took a moment to comprehend what happened let alone everybody else. "Interesting. So you hold the shining spirit of that dog. Destiny has smiled upon me this time. If I kill you now, I won't have to worry about the dog getting in my way,"
Reality hit Ryuma. If he just stayed there and watched, Toga was going to die. He was passed out and vulnerable to anything.
He brandished his duel katana's ran towards Toga's direction. The dragon started sucking in air. {He's about to shoot another wind current.}
"Wind Artes: wind walker,"
He boosted himself faster towards Toga until he was standing between him and the dragon. All the Order members were trying to stop the dragon from shooting but none of their attacks were having an effect.
Ryuma held up his swords and braced for the attack. He thought what he was about to do was crazy but blocking wind with wind was his only bet. It was already too late to do anything else at this point.
The Dragon shot the wind current out, and instead of hitting them directly, it missed everybody, and flew completely above their heads.
There was a long pause. Ryuma and everyone else were in shock and awe. It had the perfect chance to kill them… and it just missed the shot.
What was going on?
Ryuma looked at the dragon, and it was staring directly at him. That's when Ryuma remembered. The dragon told him that it was his shining spirit. Was that it?
Was it trying to avoid killing him?
If so, then his life was the perfect opportunity he could use to save Toga. The dragon wouldn't do anything that was going to get him killed. For some reason or another, his life was important to it.
In other words, behind himself was the safest place Toga could be at this point.
"I see… fate is a pesky and peculiar thing. It's why I chose you to begin with young one. It seems we are almost out of time. I'll have to spare the boy for now, however…"
The dragon circled the sky before swooping down. He was charging directly at Ryuma. He stuck his blade up under Toga and lifted him up by the back end of it.
"Wind Artes: wind burst!"
Toga's unconscious body was launched swiftly and recklessly at an available priest. Ryuma turned back towards the dragon and supplanted his feet firmly into the ground.
"Ok Ryuma… stop it here!" He said to himself.
Its snout crashed itself into his swords, simultaneously pushing him backwards without much resistance. The dragon was dragging him backwards. His feet skidded, kicking up dust and dirt along the way. Even crashing through buildings, he kept going. It was like he didn't make even a dent in the dragon's momentum.
After having been pushed even further down the island. Ryuma finally lost his grip and fell. The rest of the dragon soared past him, until he got caught by one of its claws.
His arms were trapped, and he couldn't get out if it now. He struggled to at least free an arm but was only met with constriction. The dragon had a complete hold of him.
He grunted as the wind sailed past his face. The dragon soared upwards, towards heights Ryuma never even thought was possible.
It was getting harder to breathe, and looking downwards, the world of Streisand looked rounder, and the sky started darkening.
Was this what above the sky looked like? They were far outside the range of any of the priest in the Skylands.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TAKING ME!?" Ryuma shouted. He couldn't even tell if the dragon heard him or not.
"If I'm to merge with you, it will not be on the island. You'll be killed immediately. No… it is better for you to see the world for what it is,"
"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE WORLD IS! THAT DOESN'T JUSTIFY THE SLAUGHTERING OF INNOCENTS!"
"It is a fact of life, that in changing the world, there will be casualties,"
"THAT'S BULLSHIT! YOU BETRAYED THOSE THAT BELIEVED IN YOU! THOSE THAT PRAYED TO YOU AS THEIR GUARDIAN! WE WEAR YOU AS OUR INSIGNIA FOR GODS' SAKE! ONLY FOR YOU TO TURN AROUND AND DO THIS!?"
"Enough with this bickering child! It was I who was betrayed. My blessings were promised, so long as you all will keep up your end of the bargain! I'm disgusted with my own followers,"
"Bickering… bickering? NYLO IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! HE WAS ONLY TEN, AND YOU CALL THAT BICKERING!" he could hardly breathe, but his blood boiled so hard speaking to this monster. "WHY DO I HAVE TO HAVE A SHINING SPIRIT LIKE YOU!?"
The dragon let out what seemed like a sigh. "It seems as though mere words will never reach you. If that is the case, you will see for yourself, the world your precious priest has created with your own eyes. I will not place my opinion on the matter. If you are indeed as righteous as you believe, than you will come to understand my actions,"
As the dragon kept flying, its body started to fade in and out. "WAIT! WHAT'S GOING ON!? WHAT'S HAPPENING!?"
"It is like I said. The merging has begun. Soon we will be one. Once it's complete, you will see the world through my eyes. When the time comes, I hope you are prepared to become the enemy of the world, should you be able to stomach it,"
As he said this, his body was becoming more transparent. Not only were they not above any Skyland now, but they were also even higher than that to begin with. A drop like this would certainly kill him. Even he didn't possess the wind power to slow his descent.
"WAIT A MINUTE! WE'LL DIE BEFORE EVEN THAT HAPPENS!"
It was too late. The dragon finally disappeared, and Ryuma began to plummet.