The other Dragon Saints stared in shock as well.
"How is this possible?! Am I dreaming?! How is Ryuujinn here with us now and how is it that…Ryu transformed into Ryuujinn?!" Crystal exclaimed in shock.
The human saints were even more shocked.
"It is all thanks to Molten that I am here with you now" Ryuujinn said.
The other dragons turned to look at Molten.
"Molten, explain" Crystal demanded an answer.
"I will explain" Ryuujinn offered. "Long ago, when I lived as a human, Tristran hunted me down by manipulating humans and killed everything I valued about my human life. On the verge of giving up, Molten appeared to me and encouraged me. He came up with a plan. No human body could hold my immense powers so Molten decided to absorb my soul within himself. We talked frequently and Molten told me that, the only way for me to regain my godhood was to allow the Dragon Zone to be born as a human. That Dragon Zone was Ryu. At Ryu's outdooring ceremony and initiation into the Fire ryu, Molten transferred my soul into Ryu when he blessed him. Ryu was still an infant, though he was the Dragon Zone, so my power could kill him. Therefore, I suppressed my power and went into a deep slumber. Ryu's memories of his divinity were erased to allow him to develop his powers slowly thus preventing his own untimely destruction. I would only awaken, when Ryu had gained all the experiences he needed to choose his path and only if…he willed it. Ryu was my eye to the physical realm. He taught me how humans were always struggling, how hard they struggled to have faith in me and how they yearned for peace. I saw a bit of their ugly side but…Ryu's love for humanity would not allow me to judge humanity so harshly and now…I finally see that you were wrong about humanity Tristran, we all were. Humanity is not such a fragile creature to bend to the darkness just because they wish to survive. Three times, humanity resisted you Tristran in spite of all odds" Ryuujinn said calmly.
"I will not allow even you to stop me Ryuujinn! Dark Dragons, assemble before your lord now!" Tristran commanded.
Countless Dark mongerers appeared in the sky and hovered over Ryuujinn. They groaned painfully.
Ryuujinn shed tears.
"How, sad, so this is what Tristran did to his own comrades" Ryuujinn said.
"Forgive us…Ryuujinn" the voices of the Dark mongerers sounded.
Ryuujinn smiled.
"It is alright my brothers, my sons and daughters…I forgive you" Ryuujinn said.
At that moment, the Dark mongerers were instantly transformed into celestial dragons. Stars streaked across the sky as countless Light Dragons descended to the earth to witness Ryuujinn pass judgement on Tristran.
"Tristran, you are agonizingly evil! Before Ryu awakened me, I had thought that perhaps, there was a chance you could earn my forgiveness. If you had broken the second and third laws that I instituted, I would have forgiven you Tristran however…you broke even the first. You destroyed your creation and stole the souls of your comrades, then you destroyed the ryu you were sworn to protect and made mankind's life unbearable! I find you without question, without all reasonable doubt, guilty of all evil including the evil of attempting to usurp me" Ryuujinn passed judgement.
"Perhaps, you have forgotten all the conditions of our bet Ryuujinn, well let me remind you. One of the conditions was for you not to be infected with human emotions but you fell in love with humanity, cried with them, joked with them. Without all reasonable doubt, I find you guilty of being infected by human emotions. The condition attached to that was that you will surrender all your power to me and honourable Ryuujinn never breaks his laws!" Tristran sneered.
"You are right Tristran. You won that part of the bet and as promised, I will surrender all my power to you. I never break my promises" Ryuujinn swore.
"Don't do it Ryuujinn!" Crystal warned.
"Just what limit is there to your naivety Ryuujinn?! Haven't you learnt your lesson already?!" Hurricane roared.
"Go ahead Ryuujinn, show Tristran" Molten encouraged.
Ryuujinn breathed over Tristran and Tristran felt his power grow. He grew in size and strength till he was the size of Ryuujinn. The Dragons could no longer tell which of the two was more powerful.
"You are foolish Ryuujinn, just like you have always been! Your kindness is your weakness! You always look at the good within your creatures…even when there is no good within them. Now I will be the one judging you!" Tristran roared as he charged to attack Ryuujinn.
Ryuujinn shut his eyes, sighed and took in a deep breath. When Tristran was close enough to attack, he attempted to pierce through Ryuujinn's heart but before he could do so, Ryuujinn gave him a terrible blow to the back of his neck, shattering the scales at the back of his neck.
"NAÏVE! YOU ARE STILL AN ETERNITY TOO EARLY TO CHALLENGE ME!" Ryuujinn roared.
Tristran found his face below the ground.
The other dragons stared in awe at Ryuujinn's strength.
Tristran stood up and backed away from Ryuujinn in fear.
"Impossible! You handed all your power to me! You shouldn't be stronger than me!" Tristran roared.
"Yes, I did, I handed all of my elemental power to you but my power isn't something as trivial as that. I finally understand Molten's words. My creation has faith in me…and I have faith in them. I have suffered for them, as they have for me! Our faith in one another is an endless supply of strength. The only power you possess now Tristran is your blind faith in yourself, your hatred for creation and the powers of darkness but I am done playing games with you! Humanity is not a toy whose fate should be toyed with just because we have the power to do so. I'm sorry it had to end this way Tristran. Forgive me for failing you...for not saving you from your bitterness and vanity earlier. I will pass your judgement now!" Ryuujinn declared.
Tristran flew into the sky and took in a deep breath.
"I will end your life here Ryuujinn!" Tristran roared as he blew a stream of black flames towards Ryuujinn.
Ryuujinn raised his eyes to the sky.
"Tristran, I will say this once more, you have betrayed the ways of the Dragons and destroyed countless lives. I judge you guilty! It's all over for you Tristran! DRAGON ZONE ELEMENT! RYU NO KOKORO(Heart Of The Dragon)!!!" Ryuujinn roared as he blew a stream of all the elements towards Tristran.
Ryuujinn's power eclipsed Tristran's and hit him with full force. Ryuujinn's technique was filled with all the loving experiences humanity and dragons had shared since the beginning of creation. It was crowned with the feelings of the Dragon Zone…Ryu.
The pain Tristran felt was unimaginable. All that goodness was poison for him.
"RYUUJINN! MERCY!!!" he pleaded.
"I'm sorry Tristran but all your chances to obtain mercy have been lost and this was supposed to be your last chance too" Ryuujinn said as tears flowed down his eyes.
He had to judge his creation but that didn't mean he enjoyed declaring them guilty and punishing them. In fact, it made him very sorrowful. Ryuujinn shut his eyes and recalled all the times he had shared with Tristran, teaching Tristran the balance of the elements and the uniqueness of light and shadow, of humanity and dragons.
"I curse you Molten! I despise you more than I have ever detested humanity! For you, a dark dragon to have foiled my plans not once…but three times!" Tristran roared as Ryuujinn's power consumed him.
"Are you retarded? I learnt from you after all. I was your second in command and you taught me a very important principle. The first step in defeating your enemy is making your enemy believe that…he has defeated you…or at least is more powerful than you are. I learnt from you Tristran but that doesn't mean…I have to become you!" Molten declared just as Tristran faded from existence…forever. The moons of Tristran shrivelled to dust and faded away and Tristran's fires of indignation stopped raining. Ryu's dome of protection disappeared as well.
Ryuujinn walked to Molten and bowed before him.
"Allow me to show you this respect, my faithful friend. You have guided me in more than one lifetime and maintained great faith in me even when I began to lose faith in myself" Ryuujinn said.
"Don't embarrass me Ryuujinn, I am a creature you gave life to and purpose. You are my Lord. Do not embarrass me by making little of yourself. You are regal, mighty and all-powerful!" Molten praised.
Ryuujinn arose.
"Unbelievable! We defeated Tristran! It's finally over!" Nadia exclaimed in joy as she leapt into Michael's arms and kissed him.
Rokkan and Tanya also held hands and kissed.