The day had not been as bad as today for the Emperor. The presence he felt in the morning was enough to give him nightmares and now even a deity had appeared out of thin air. Like all of this wasn't enough yet, a Bone Dragon decided to greet him.
"Your Majesty? Why are you spacing out?!"
Rose was looking at the horizon. His mind had gotten unstable after all that had happened today. He was paralyzed where he was standing. Like a statue, he wasn't moving.
Rose wasn't in a good mood today. Only the news of a deity appearing was enough to haunt his dreams but for it to be so near to the Capital, it was terrifying. He might be physically strong but he was mentally weak. His past had impacted his phycological health with no way of recovering.
"Your Majesty?! Your Majesty?!....ROSE!! WAKE UP!! FOCUS!!!"
'Eh? Oh! Dark is calling me. But why? Why is he calling me? For what? What is this?! I-I can't remember what is happening!'
He was busy diving in his own thoughts. His mind, slowly, got filled with darkness.
'Huh? Where is this?! Where am I?! Why is it so dark?! Help me! Dark! Dark? Dark....? Why is it so.....Dark....?'
He saw Dark's face popping out randomly in the dark space his mind created. Slowly, his mind engulfed him into the oblivion of his childhood.
'Why are you doing this? Please stop! I am scared! I am scared! I am scared! Please stop it!'
He begged himself to stop. His wounds got deeper and deeper as he dove deeper into the darkness. For a childhood, his could be considered a hell.
One by one, the memories went through him like they just happened. The old dark memories, felt like they were fresh. His life long wounds, felt fresh. His long done mistakes, felt like he did them just now. Over and over again, the same thing went through his mind. His mental state started crumbling.
"Rose?! Rose?! Why are you crying?! Rose?! Rose?!"
For Rose, it sounded like Dark was threatening him. His mind returned back to his childhood time when he was just a pathetic, useless and weak brat.
"Please, please don't hurt me! Please! I beg you, Dark! It isn't my fault! I will do as you say! But please don't hurt me!"
Dark was confused as to what Rose was saying. He knew everything about his friend but what was happening right now? Why was he acting like this? Was he suffering? And why was he suffering? All these questions filled Dark's mind.
"Someone! Hold the Emperor! I will fight the Dragon! Call the healers, immediately!"
The knights jumped into action. Five took Rose to a shade and made a formation to protect him. Five went to the adventurer guild to call some healers. And remaining stood behind their captain.
Dark was preparing to fight the Dragon that was visible on the horizon but on the other hand, Rose fell deeper into the abyss. He could hear people scolding him, cursing him.
'That child, why is he here? Just because he is the Emperor's son?!'
'Y-You monster! Why did you kill my son?! Why?! What did he do to you?!'
'Say, Rose, why did you scar my face?'
'I am sorry. It wasn't intentional. It wasn't my fault. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!'
"SORRY!"
Rose actually shouted. The knights protecting him were startled with no idea about what was happening. Just then it started raining. The knights didn't have the guts to ask their captain why the their ruler, dictator, ideal, Emperor was crying like this?
"Damn it! Did it have to rain now? The sky was clear till now. How? Why are you doing this to us? You are supposed to adore and protect us, damn it! We are not puppets to use for entertainment. Just how much do you want us to suffer. Those innocent friends of mine, you took them! And yet you are still unfulfilled! He is my only family remaining, stop it ... please!"
Just then the faces of his fallen friends popped up in front of his eyes, one by one. Those smiling faces, he remembered all of those funny things they did together.
"I am sure that all of you are suffering by just looking at him. He is pathetic, isn't he? I am crying. You are all crying too, right? Me too! Me too! I-I can't do anything even though my friend is going through all that. I am sorry to disappoint you all. But I can't think of anything to do for him.
Thank god it started raining. Now no one can see me crying. The knights would just feel embarrassed to have a cry baby like me as their captain. At last, you entertainment-crazy bastards did something good.
I am such a failure as a friend. Pathetic, isn't it? I shouldn't even call myself his friend if I can't even help him in this situation. So, I will join you bunch after I kill that ugly thing. Just watch me! I will put on the greatest show of all time! I want you all to cheer me from there!"
The Bone Dragon was flying it's way to the capital's gates. The gates, a structure that is 100 metres tall. The walls were 10 metres thick and made from different materials. Even the door was made up of tough Nokalite, one of the strongest metal.
It is to be noted that the Bone Dragon is not the remaining bone skeleton of a dead Dragon. In fact, it is actually made from bones. You can think of it as a normal Dragon but instead of scales and skin it has bones. It is not an Azure dragon though.
Rose was going through his memories one by one, again and again, in a loop. Not one time, not ten times and not hundred times as well, he went through them thousands of times, again and again and again. It reached the point where he noticed he was in a loop and was trying his best to escape from it. But it was too late, his body was numb and emotionless. Going through it again and again broke him completely.
His head was straight on the wall but it slipped. His eyes now gazed at Dark who was welding his sword to protect him.
'Huh? Isn't that Dark? Why? Why is he welding a sword? Why is he crying? What is happening?'
Rose was slowly snapping out of his thoughts. That paralyzed face of his was shedding endless tears. How pathetic can a ruler be? The answer might not be available yet but soon it may be.
Dark looked back at Rose and gave him a 'fret not' smile. He sharpened his gazes as he turned back to the Dragon.
"Look at me! Partner! I will finally be able to protect you!"
Even if the dragon possessed no threat to Rose, they didn't knew that this one was an exception. Even if Rose fought it, there was no guarantee that he would emerge victorious without any casualties.
So was this truly the final show that Dark was about to show? Only time will tell.
The Dragon flew higher and neared the gates. It stopped right in front of Dark. Just like a horse, it shook it's head and let out a big breath from it's nose that almost blew Dark.
"I AM KNIGHT DARK! THE ONE WHO PROTECTS, HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR! THE ONE WHO WILL SLAY YOU! THE ONE WHO WILL PROTECT THIS CITY'S PEACE FROM YOUR PRESENCE! YOU FILTHY CREATURE THAT BRING DISGRACE TO HIS MAJESTY'S HOLY LAND! GET OUT NOW OR ELSE DEATH AWAITS!!!"
Dark spoke too much going with the flow. Rose felt happy in his mind. The knights' hearts were touched. They began cheering him. All of them in shouted in chorus, the whole city heard it.
"CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN!! CAPTAIN!!! CAPTAIN!!! CAPTAIN!!! CAPTAIN!!! CAPTAIN!!! CAPTAIN!!!"
Dark felt a lot of his regrets crushing him. He let out a deep sigh and replied to the cheering by raising his sword.
"Come at me!!! Sir Dragon!!!"
With the tip of his sword pointing sharply at the Dragon, it felt provoked. It let out a big roar. Everyone had to cover their ears. With numerous strong flaps it went above the clouds.
"What?! Why is it flying?! This is bad."
The dragon flew about 10 km high and then attacked. It was still roaring.
"What?! What are those?!"
The cheering knights became silent as they saw hundreds of sharp bone pieces falling from the sky.
"Take cover! Take cover! Stay hidden!"
Dark shouted at the panicking knights. Rose was completely safe with his black cloth. But he was worried if Dark would be safe or not. He was confident that those bones wouldn't even scratch him but the worries didn't leave.
Soon the bone swords hit the ground and a large cloud of mud rose up. Thousands of bones, sharper than swords, injured few of the Knights.
The knights were crying in agony and everyone heard it as their cries reverberated throughout the city. The only question in Rose's mind was, Did Dark survive that? He was confident that Dark could handle that much.
Soon the mud settled down and there was Dark, covered in mud, standing unscathe. Rose knew that much. Even though he couldn't show it on his face nor say it, he was still cheering for his best friend.
"Hah, is that all you got? This armour is my best friend's gift to me. Look! Even though he isn't beside me here, he is still protecting me. How is that? Still underestimating me? If so, let me show you the power of friendship!"
As for why his armourless face was safe, the secret lied in the sword. The sword he carried was no ordinary sword. It was enchanted with world's best enchantments. It included, physical attack nullification as well.
The Dragon descended to the ground. With a large bang, it landed safely. The Dragon flapped it's wings and showed admiration towards Dark's strength. And then it started raining more heavily.
After staring at each other for a while,
"What happened? Scared? Or do you want me to attack you first?"
The dragon shook it's head once again as a sign of accordance.
"Then, check me out! I won't hold back! I have Nobility status, you know! I am a Marquis!"
Different class had their own advantages in case of peasants. However, in Nobility, a higher class meant stronger than lower classes.
"Here I come!"
Dark ran towards it with full speed. In response, the Dragon turned its back to use it's tail as a weapon. However, it was too slow.
"So that's how it is, huh?! Look at me, my years of training and practice. My very own sword techniques! Activate Enchantment: Sword Split."
The sword he carried suddenly split into two. Another feature of the sword, sword split, gave the user the power of two swords in one.
Dark slashed through the heavy rain and jumped with all his might. He landed below the Dragon's neck.
"Dark Sword Technique! Twin Fangs!"
The edges of the swords were pointed at the Dragon's back and then it pierced. Just piercing wasn't enough so Dark decided to do something.
"Drag!!!"
Dark dragged both of the swords to the very beginning of the tail, dealing a lot of damage to the Dragon. Immediately after, Dark jumped and tried to back out but it was too late,
Swiss Bang
The tail whip actually hit Dark and he went flying to the gate walls. With a strong impact, a large hole was left. Dark was like a T-Shaped poster pasted to the wall. He couldn't move his body.
The Dragon roared loudly. It wasn't in pain instead it was trying to show it's superior strength.
While coughing a lot of blood Dark said,
"C-Can't figure out.....why you are.....not re-regenerating? Well....it is also .....my sword..you know!"
Rose on the other hand could only see the dragon but not Dark. He was inside of the walls, clinged to a random house wall, how pathetic? His blood was boiling from anger. He wanted to kill that Dragon so badly.
This urge to kill, he had never felt it before. The aura he gave off did manage to startle the Dragon a little bit. Dark also felt it and said,
"Stop it.....Rose cough, he is my enemy. How long do you plan on protecting us? Let us protect you at least once. We can't always depend on you, you know."
Dark seemed to be completely healed up. He pushed himself out of the T hole and said,
"You have to learn to depend on others as well, you know! Good Job! My Knights!"
The other Knights were using long distance healing magic they learned. It is only useable to cure physical wounds so it is useless for Rose.
"Now now, Mister Dragon. How does your back feel? Isn't it healing~? Too bad~ I have the greatest sword, you know. How about we make this show even more fun?!"
Inside Rose's mind,
'T-That Dragon! H-How dare it?! Dark, is he alright?! I-I w-will kill you! You damn Dragon! Don't touch him!!!!'
He saw Dark getting slammed into the wall,
'Hmm! Hmm! HMM! HMM! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Why aren't you moving, damnit?! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! I have to!!! I have to kill it!!! Protect Dark!! Move! Move now!!'
The damage that Dark might have received could be estimated based on the massive bump on the other side. Rose was getting more angry by the minute.
'HMM... DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM AGAIN.'
Those red eyes of the devil gave everyone chills.
Rose subconsciously let his aura escape activating his skill, Wave of Aura, which can make anyone unconscious if they have weaker will than the user.
A few knights, near to Rose fainted but the Dragon was only startled a little. Then, Dark spoke and Rose felt assured. He calmed down a little.
'I will come to you, partner. Just wait a bit. Don't die on me!' he said as the battle continued.
The Dragon flapped it's wings continuously creating a strong gust of wind. Dark was almost blow away by the gust.
"Your strength is amazing! But unfortunately, you have to die in the hands of someone weaker than you. Too bad."
Dark bent down his hips and put his two swords on either side as if they were inside their sheaths.
Slowly he strengthened his leg muscles, and
Crack crack
He made holes on the land.
"This method took me years of practice. I will be running at supersonic speed now. The distance between you and me is 10 metres. Then, if my calculations are correct, I will be 40 metres behind you. Awesome, isn't it? I will finish you with this!"
Crack crack crack
The hole got deeper and deeper. In a second, he was exactly where he said he was. He travelled 50 metres in an instant. The shockwave that he generated, obliterated the surrounding area.
Behind Dark, the Dragon wasn't cut or anything but---
"Dark Sword Technique: Nine Unholy Slashes"
As soon as he said that, the Dragon roared loudly. Dark looked back at the Dragon covered in mud.
Slash slash slash
It got cut into nine chunks!! The knights were happy and cheering Dark.
(Note: travelling faster than speed of sound generates destructive shockwaves if you have seen in jet planes.)
"You have reached your end. You filthy beast pant pant pant. Running like that pushes my body to it's limits. Pant pant."
Dark fell to the ground, gasping like crazy. He couldn't move his body at all. If the Dragon regenerated after that, Dark wouldn't be able to do anything. But it looked like it wasn't regenerating---
Swoosh swoosh
With a gust of wind, the bones of the Dragon started gathering at one place. Forming into a structure, it slowly formed legs then tail and body then slowly the Dragon reformed.
"How?! How is that possible?! The Enchantment---.....!!! I forgot!! pant pant. How careless can I get?! Damn it!!"
To be continued.