Meanwhile, the Dragon Saints prayed fervently. The light side of the Dragon Zone was now complete. The Dark side had appeared partially. All that remained was the complete dark side, crystal and human elements to appear. The Dragon Saints continued to pray.
"All our meditation in the spirit realm was to build up our spiritual fortitude for this day. The time is almost upon us. We must hurry!" Molten communicated telepathically with the Dragon Saints.
"You don't need to say it" Ryu growled as his Ryuugan activated.
"Shekan hurt our friends and loved ones" Rokkan growled angrily as a Golden Ryuugan appeared in his eyes.
"And took my father from me, and my family" Nemesis growled as a Ryuugan shockingly appeared in his eyes.
"Your father tried to seal me when Nemesis took the gem. In the process, I killed him too" Shekan confessed with a laugh.
By that time, three moons of Tristran had aligned to form half a star.
"No, you couldn't have…YOU COULDN'T HAVE!!!" Ryu roared as a huge sudden release of fire engulfed him.
His hair slowly turned crimson and his Ryuugan became just like Shekan's making Shekan and him look exactly identical.
Rokkan was engulfed by lightning, crystal and earth and his hair turned completely silver.
Nemesis was engulfed by flame and darkness and the edges of his dark hair turned crimson.
"I am Ryukan!" Ryu declared.
"Call me Rokkaden" Rokkan said with a confident smile.
"And I…am your Archnemesis!" Nemesis declared.
Shekan frowned.
"So that is where the final part of my soul has been hidden for so long!" Shekan muttered.
"FIRE ELEMENT! DRAGON FIRE JUTSU!!!" Ryu roared as he released an intense stream of flames.
More intense than the jutsu usually contained.
"WATER ELEMENT! WATER DRAGON JUTSU!" Rokkan called as he released a stream of water.
Instead of quelling Ryu's flame, the water amplified it and headed towards Shekan.
"DARK ELEMENT! OFFENSIVE DARK DRAGON BLIZZARD!!!" Nemesis roared as he released a legion of spiritual dark dragons.
They united with Ryu and Rokkan's jutsu and crashed into Shekan. Shekan took in a deep breath and absorbed the elements.
"Excellent, you've added to my strength" Shekan said with a smirk.
At the final instant when Shekan's Soul Reaper Jutsu was about to clash into Atlanta and the others, a Behemoth had been summoned through Atlanta's Silent Jutsu. The Behemoth had taken the brunt of the attack and disappeared into the Spirit Realm but Atlanta and the others had also suffered some injuries, though not serious enough to kill any of them. Atlanta regained consciousness and found Ryu in the Chaos State. She could tell which one was Ryu because of the kind, yet determined and desperate look in his eyes.
"No" Atlanta muttered as tears came to her eyes.
"Rokkaden! Ninjutsu does not seem to affect Shekan so let's resort once more to taijutsu!(Hand to hand combat).
"Follow my lead!" Rokkaden roared as he charged with tremendous speed to attack Shekan but Shekan deflected his blow downwards with a chop and delivered an uppercut with his wrist to Rokkaden's chin.
Rokkaden was dazed but he attempted to punch Shekan again. Shekan dodged to the left and caught Rokkaden's right hand. Then he spun one hundred and eighty degrees and gave Rokkaden an elbow attack to his spine. The impact sent Rokkaden flying a distance. Rokkaden fell to the ground and rolled for a distance. He eventually lost consciousness at Tanya's feet.
Archnemesis attacked next. He performed quick successive attacks with his legs. Shekan blocked and evaded all his attacks, then he quickly stepped out of the range of Archnemesis' attacks. When Archnemesis' next attack missed, Shekan quickly stepped into his range before he could recover and stomped on his feet. Then, he delivered a quick flurry of body blows to Archnemesis and sent him flying.
Atlanta struggled to wake the others. Tanya regained consciousness and found Rokkan, now himself, lying at her feet, severely injured and bleeding from his mouth.
"ROKKAN!" she called desperately as she lifted his head unto her laps.
"Rokkan! Wake up! Please!" she called desperately.
Rokkan struggled to open his eyes and found Tanya looking down at him and weeping sorrowfully.
"Tanya, unnh…you're still alive…thank you Ryuujinn" Rokkan sighed in relief and lost consciousness again.
Ken rushed to Rokkan's side and began to heal him. By that time, the fourth moon of Tristran had aligned with the other three. The dragons kept praying fervently. The dark side of the Dragon Zone was almost complete.
The impact of Shekan's attack had forced Archnemesis out of the Chaos State.
"He fights, just like a dragon!" Archnemesis grunted in pain and collapsed to the ground.
Only Ryukan remained. Shekan slowly shut his eyes.
"What are you doing?" Ryukan asked.
"I see. So this is what it's all about. No wonder you fight so fiercely. You really believe you can defeat me and free Atlanta from her vow, don't you?" Shekan asked.
Ryukan opened his eyes in shock.
"H-How do you know about my vow?" Ryu asked as he trembled uncontrollably.
Shekan stretched out his hand and engulfed Ryu in dark flame. A dome slowly arose and surrounded the two combatants.
"RYU!" Atlanta called desperately and ran to the dome.
"A-Atlanta!" Ryu called to her in reply.
He felt his strength slowly drain out of his body and he reverted to his normal self.
"Over the centuries, I have heard that the final part of my soul was cloaked in Light and Fire. I never really imagined that it would be hidden within a human…much less…you Ryu" Shekan said with a cunning half smile.
"Me?! Im-Impossible!" Ryu muttered in shock.
Atlanta and the others stared in horror.
"Now join me Ryu! Be one with me!" Shekan ordered.
"RYU!" Atlanta screamed desperately.
Shekan frowned and his eyes began to glow with an eerie light.
"Incinerate all hope" he muttered under his breath.
"RYU! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Atlanta screamed.
But Ryu could not hear those words. Rather he heard her say, "Hmmph! You are weak Ryu!"
Ryu turned towards Atlanta in horror.
"It's just like my dream! At this rate…!" he thought fearfully.
"Ryu! You can beat him! You are strong!" Atlanta screamed but Ryu heard, "I never should have believed in your promise Ryu!"
Ryu began to weep in anguish.
"You are right Atlanta…I am weak" Ryu cried.
"NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID! WHY CAN'T YOU HEAR ME RYU?! WHY CAN'T MY WORDS REACH YOU?!" Atlanta screamed desperately.
Ryu looked up to the sky. All six moons of Tristran had aligned perfectly to form a star.
"I failed! I failed you Atlanta! I couldn't keep my promise!" Ryu cried.
Atlanta looked up to the sky and saw the moons of Tristran. She wept when she saw Ryu in so much pain.
"Yes Ryu! You have failed!" Shekan said as he retracted Tristran's soul from Ryu's body.
Dark smoke began to escape from Shekan's body.
"Ryu, listen to me" Atlanta said.
Ryu turned to face her. He could see the tears in her eyes and wondered why she was crying when she was accusing him. He activated his senses of intuition and perception on a whim.
"Ryu…when you first told the Dragon Lord that you would develop a technique surpassing Gaiden's and defeat Shekan before the alignment of the moons of Tristran…I didn't believe you, but back then…I didn't know you so well, even though I loved you even then, but I remembered. You were always doing the impossible for my sake. You fought a Dragon Saint to prove that I was a good person, you sacrificed your life twice to save mine, when you were taken over by evil and wanted to destroy us all…you hesitated when I called to you and spared our lives. When you found out that the spirit of your worst enemy dwelt within you…you resolved not to be defeated by him, you united me with my father even when I believed that was impossible…when Shroud attacked us and nearly killed us, you rescued me once again when I called to you. What are the moons of Tristran in the face of all this? So Shekan is six or seven times more powerful than you are. You knew that all along but you never quit. I never said this before so I'll say it now…even now that you can no longer keep your promise to me…I will still believe in you…BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" Atlanta declared.
Ryu heard her words and felt power flow from his heart. He squeezed his fist.
"Crystal! Earth! Fire!" he began to call silently as the elements enveloped his fist. "It's in the wrong order but I can still control it! WATER! WIND! DARK! LIGHT! SOUND! DRAGON AND HUMAN!" Ryu roared as he stood up and charged towards Shekan.
"What is this?!" Shekan exclaimed in shock.
"OMNI-ELEMENT! RAINBOW DRAGON PUNCH!!!" Ryu roared as he hit Shekan in the chest with the technique.
The elements imploded in Ryu's fist and suddenly exploded, throwing Shekan through the dome and shattering it in the process. Shekan fell to the ground and remained still.
"I-I did it!" Ryu exclaimed in joy.
Shekan stood up and laughed.
"You did…what exactly?" he asked as he shot a concentrated blast of dark fire towards Ryu.
Ryu had used so much chakra and was at his limit. He couldn't dodge the technique and therefore received its full brunt. He was thrown backwards and crashed into one of the pillars that used to support the Temple. He hit his head hard and was fatally injured.
"You are too late! I AM ONE AGAIN! I AM COMPLETE!" Shekan laughed maniacally as all the dark smoke escaped from his body and assembled to form intense darkness.
The darkness began to take form. It transformed into a fearful dragon with sharp spikes running along its back. This dragon had the most sinister eyes imaginable and terrible sabre-fangs stuck out of the sides of its mouth. It was far gigantic as compared to the evolved forms of Crystal and the other Dragon Saints. It roared and spread out its wings. Its wing span was wider than any of the other dragons and wherever the dragon breathed, fear filled the hearts of the people around. Shekan's body, now an empty shell, collapsed to the ground.
"Wh-Who in the world is that?!" Nadia exclaimed in horror.
The other human saints were equally shocked.
"I am Tristran! Lord Of All Dark Dragons, the Dragon Saint Of The Dark ryu and the ultimate incarnation of evil in this world!" the Dragon declared in a terrifying voice. "For many centuries, I have awaited the time for my revenge to come into execution! Finally, I will destroy the ryu, the world, all of Gaiden's and the legendary ninja's descendants and…all of Ryuujinn's creation!" Tristran, the Dark Dragon Lord declared.
"No! Our worst fear has come to pass! Tristran has finally…been revived!" Crystal exclaimed in horror.
"PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE GREAT BEYOND! ARMAGEDDON ELEMENT! FLAMES OF INDIGNATION!!!" Tristran roared as the sky suddenly turned fiery red.
Fire and flame began to rain on the earth. Ryu struggled to stand up. All over the world, in all the other ryu, fire and flame poured from the skies. The ninja all fled in search of cover.
"These are…the flames of indignation. That means…Tristran has been revived. All is lost" Atlanta's father said sorrowfully. "I am sorry my dear daughter Atlanta…I couldn't protect you" he said.
Ryu heard the king's voice in his final moments.
"I will protect her for you" he said as he struggled to steady himself.
His vision was blurred and his knees trembled. He struggled to steady himself on the Aurora Sabre.
"The Dragon Zone is almost complete! All that remains is the human element! Put in all your effort!" Molten ordered.
The dragons prayed ever fervently. Their prayers spread throughout the world and the humans began to recall, recall someone they had forgotten for millennia.
"Timeless, windless, wordless endless
Something from my past seems worthless,
Memories I can't define
Of things I just can't seem to find.
A Star, a Storm, a great Starship,
That blazes on an endless trip.
A Black Hole comes and wakes my fears,
The Silent Stars shed endless tears"
Humans began to pray the words of Ryuujinn's memoires.
"Bended, ended, winded worded,
Ryuujinn, let all evil disappear,
Let us awaken tomorrow from this dread
Oh Great Ryuujinn, let your fangs be bared!
Growing, rising, hiding, finding,
We won't fit in this evil setting,
Our past is lost but our future is near,
And the Stars will shed no more sad tears!
An Eternal Wind with words unspoken
Indestructible, something from my past appears to be.
Memories, I know, cannot define things.
Though I am simple, it's hard to seek me out.
A star, a tempest, a great vessel,
Riding on the winds on an unstoppable quest,
A Black Hole arises, my fears fly,
To the inanimate stars, shedding unending tears.
Bended, ended, reaped, then returned,
They that were handed the Staff Of Silence Hidden.
On The Day Of Resurrection, on the bed called the Grave.
To find them all, my memories died.
The immigrant prevails, I seek His Face.
Though I cannot find meaning to this strange Spirit.
Formerly, I was lost, yes astray but I'm here,
And the stars guard His tears eternally."
The humans prayed.
"Those words…that's not Ryuujinn's memoires…it's…" Crystal opened her eyes in shock as memories of creation filled her mind.
"I know…IT'S RYUUJINN'S GLORY!!!" Molten declared in awe.
"How do humans know those words?! They weren't created on the eve of creation! It's impossible for them to know those words!" Torpedo exclaimed in shock.
"The Dragon Zone is complete!" Crystal declared as the human element appeared at the centre of the Dragon Zone!
Suddenly, Tristran appeared in their midst and blew them all away with a single swing of his mighty tail. The dragons flew in all directions and crashed to the ground.
"I WILL NOT BE FOILED AGAIN!" he roared as he shattered the Dragon Zone with a swing of his tail.
Lightning illuminated the area!
"NO!!!" the other dragon saints and their human partners exclaimed in horror.
"No one can stop me now!" Tristran boasted.