Aurora, Darak, Kyla, Erasa and Reis stood in The Saggeesian Royal Castle in Nӱansa. Erikkus Di Devilli's eyes were blazing in fury at their presence.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" he roared.
Reis looked at Aurora. She turned to look at him and their eyes met. Reis nodded. Aurora turned to face Erikkus Di Devilli and spoke.
"I Aurora Saggeese, the Dragon Ranger challenge you this day to one on one combat for the kingdom of Saggeese!" Aurora declared.
"I see, you challenge me as Dragon Ranger, not as Princess of Saggeese" Erikkus Di Devilli said with a frown.
"Whether or not I am the Princess of Saggeese is the choice of the people. However, my identity as Dragon Ranger is immutable" Aurora said.
"And why would I fight you in single combat…engage in this futile act, this naivety of yours when I am clearly at an advantage?" Erikkus Di Devilli challenged.
"That is because unlike me, you are not naïve. I know you have begun to realize it that your power over the people of Saggeese is weakening. That is the reason you caused the Severing; to buy yourself time to prepare to crush any traces of rebellion but you know as well as I do that this rebellion is not going to end so simply. You are also not foolish enough to ignore the fact that a ruler is only as powerful as those he rules so wiping the Saggeesians out is obviously out of the question. The only chance you have is to crush the source of their new hope and what better way to do that than the path of least resistance; in one on one combat" Aurora said.
"You underestimate me Princess of Saggeese or rather, Dragon Ranger Aurora Saggeese but fine. I will engage in this futile act of yours if only to prove to you the futility of your efforts" Erikkus Di Devilli said with an ominous glare.
THE PREVIOUS DAY…
Aurora woke up from sleep early that morning. She was anxious and excited all at the same time.
"Has Reis mastered the Final Forte by now?" she wondered and walked towards the room the boys were resting in.
She heard a sudden scream from the boys' room.
"WHO THE HECK IS THIS PERSON?!" she heard Darak exclaim.
"Calm down" she heard Reis say. "This man here is…" Reis was saying when Aurora opened the door.
She froze in surprise and shock all at the same time. Then tears slowly flowed down her eyes.
"…my father" Reis said as he stared at Aurora in surprise, then he smiled.
"Hello Aurora, it's been a while. You really have grown since the last time we were together" Sir Jinrai said as he waved to her.
Aurora wept and ran into his arms.
"Sir Jinrai! I'm sorry for everything you had to go through for my sake. For a long time I tried my best to believe you were still alive. I never lost faith that we'd meet again" she said.
"I get it Aurora but there's no need to be sorry about anything. Everything I did, I did out of my own choice" Sir Jinrai assured her.
Aurora wiped her tears.
"I see you finally met my son" Sir Jinrai said with a smile.
"He takes after you" Aurora said with a smile.
Sir Raphael walked in while they were talking.
"Jinrai" he seemed surprised.
"Raphael, it certainly has been a while" Sir Jinrai greeted.
"It certainly has. I'm sure you must be tired after your ordeal but I'm afraid to say we can't afford to rest just yet. I'm quite certain you are up to speed on everything that has happened recently?" Sir Raphael asked.
Sir Jinrai nodded with a serious expression on his face.
"I suppose there is one thing left to do now" Sir Jinrai said and turned to look at Reis.
Reis nodded and turned to Aurora.
"It's time Aurora" he said. "…time for you to learn the Final Forte of the Dragonhaӓrt Fencing Style" Reis said seriously.
Aurora nodded, then the two walked out.
There was silence in the room for a while. Then suddenly the sound of severe sword clashes broke outside.
"They've began" Sir Jinrai said.
"Then let us discuss our next course of action" Sir Raphael said.
Sir Jinrai nodded.
"Since you're up to speed on what has been happening of late, let me begin with the fact that there are numerous new guilds in Saggeese and though Dragon Rings have appeared on the hands of the members of all these guilds and they have begun to realize superhuman abilities, we still have seen no sign that the Dragons who have bonded with them have begun to awaken and we still do not know why. Whether the reason is due to inexperience or something else is still quite a mystery" Sir Raphael said.
"I guess the point you are trying to make is that none of them currently possesses the ability to battle Wyverns and because of the enemy's hunt, they're currently trapped in Saggeese. The only thing protecting them currently is their invisibility" Sir Jinrai said.
"Perceptive as always Jinrai" Sir Raphael nodded.
"But there are also the Dragon Knights assigned to them and a few other Rangers that arrived from the main guild" Sir Jinrai said.
Sir Raphael nodded.
"The ones in most danger now are the general population of Saggeese. You know we can't remain in hiding while the enemy hunts them down. Originally, we intended to avoid a war so we avoided direct confrontation but we still managed to provoke the enemy into starting a war. However now that the enemy has declared war on both Saggeese and Novatio, he can't be left to his own devices" Sir Raphael said.
Suddenly, Sir Jinrai perceived that someone was attempting to contact him.
"D-Dad?" Reia's voice sounded within his mind.
Sir Jinrai smiled.
"Dad? Is that you? I sensed your presence in Ryugaeia this morning and Omega told me you had emerged from Benedict's Ark" Reia said.
"I see you are safe as well. We have a lot to talk about. I'm sure you overheard everything that was just said" Sir Jinrai said.
"Yes, I did. Seeing how things were progressing, I resonated with the Kaignis King within Reis while everyone was trapped within the Severing and had the Kaisers build underground routes between all the guilds in Saggeese. Everyone is ready to move underground if things escalate" Reia said.
Sir Jinrai smiled.
"As expected of my daughter" he said.
"I'll send you a mental image of the map of the various routes. I have already informed the Dragon Knights and the main guild through Omega's resonance" Reia said.
"Impressive. Reis certainly could learn a few things from you. Don't tell him I said that" Sir Jinrai said with a laugh.
"I'll see you later dad" Reia said and communication ceased.
Sir Jinrai shut his eyes and saw the underground routes Reia had constructed with the Kaisers' help throughout Saggeese.
Sir Jinrai informed Sir Raphael about the routes.
"Commence evacuation now" he said.
Sir Raphael nodded and walked out.
While Reis passed on the Final Forte to Aurora, the Dragon Knights and the three teams evacuated the students via the underground routes.
"With this, instead of fighting a war on three fronts, we'll only be fighting one on two fronts. We can't afford to fight a defensive battle" Sir Jinrai thought. "And now, there are a few things left to do. That is something I don't need to say for the Dragon Knights know what must be done. What worries me most is the force sent to invade Novatio" Sir Jinrai thought.
From that moment, the Dragon Knights in Saggeese doubled their efforts to gather those the Dragons had bonded with.
Sir Jinrai called Shin privately while Reis and Aurora were duelling.
"Shin, I'm certain Reis has informed you by now…" Sir Jinrai said with a worried look on his face.
The words were hard to say.
"I know. I am a part of your family, a Dragonhaӓrt" Shin said.
"You were one of the people I intended to find. By the time I found you, you were already a part of the Maelstrom Zero Nine. I felt you'd be safer with them than with me. It might have been a selfish decision on my part but it was a hard one nonetheless" Sir Jinrai said.
"I understand. My family, they were killed by Galigaos" Shin said with a look of grief on his face.
"I don't think Galigaos is in any position to hurt anyone. Reis made sure of that" Sir Jinrai said.
Shin smiled.
"I know. So what do you want to talk about?" Shin asked.
"The main strength of the guild is in Novatio but I'm certain they cannot afford to send any more people to Saggeese. They have a lot more to worry about. In terms of quality, our comrades are far stronger than the Wyverns but the Wyvern army outnumber them. The King of Novatio will not sit idle at a time like this so I'm sure he has sent his army to protect the borders of Novatio. The rangers I'm certain by now have already met the Wyverns over the sea and hostilities have commenced. Reis and Aurora will certainly buy everyone more time by challenging Erikkus Di Devilli to one on one combat however…" Sir Jinrai paused.
"You think Aurora will lose?" Shin asked with a serious look on his face.
"It doesn't matter whether she wins or loses, the enemy will not honour his word. That is why Reis must be there tomorrow to observe the battle" Sir Jinrai said.
"Then what is the point of all this?" Shin asked.
"The enemy will certainly not honour his word but the battle will certainly buy us more time. I doubt he can fight Aurora seriously while coordinating the Wyverns which is why we will summon the Kaisers of the sea and air and head towards Novatio immediately. We will lock the Wyverns in a pincer attack with support from the king's army and the rangers over the sea and decimate the Wyvern army" Sir Jinrai said with an utterly serious look on his face.
Shin nodded.
"When do we leave?" Shin asked.
"Immediately and without distracting Reis and Aurora" Sir Jinrai said and he and Shin left the guild.
Sir Raphael noticed them.
"You're still as much of a handful as you were in the past" Sir Raphael said and then returned his attention to Reis and Aurora.
"I wish you success with whatever you intend to do" Sir Raphael said.
PRESENTLY…
Aurora and Erikkus Di Devilli stood facing each other. Erikkus Di Devilli was clothed in armour, dark armour without any crest. Aurora wore her guild armour with the crest of a dragon with a rainbow heart and a golden cross. The mark that was given to the rangers when the Golden Drakengaӓrd clashed with Darag-Arӧkna.
Erikkus Di Devilli held a reaper's scythe in his hands and Aurora held the Twin Saggeesian Sabres.
"How many times do you wish to lose to me before you know with certainty that you cannot win? Know my darkness and curse your own weakness" Erikkus Di Devilli said as he took on a variation of Irik the Devil's fighting stance centred on the use of scythes.
"I'm not the one who is going to lose" Aurora said as she assumed the Dragonhaӓrt Fencing Style.
Aurora took in a deep breath and sighed. Then slowly, her eyes assumed a determined gaze. Erikkus Di Devilli charged in first and slashed ferociously with his scythe. Aurora blocked his initial strikes with some measure of success.
"His blade is filled with malice but hollow like one with nothing to lose. It's not a blade with the power to protect. It's one that destroys" Aurora noted.
She leapt out of the way and glanced at her Saggeesian Blades.
"His blade is heavy but hollow. I can't sense anything behind it but if I keep taking direct hits to my blade, I might soon be left with no weapon" Aurora thought and leapt nimbly away from Erikkus Di Devilli.
"Running away already Aurora Saggeese? That is what you are well renowned for. You abandoned your kingdom once before. Will you do the same again?" Erikkus Di Devilli taunted.
There was a frown on Aurora's face.
"It must be frustrating isn't it? To have lost everything once because of your weakness and for history to repeat itself" Erikkus Di Devilli taunted as he let his intimidating killer intent permeate the area.
Reis frowned.
"He's resorting to provocations and psychological attacks now. The outcome of the battle will largely depend on how well Aurora can maintain her composure" Reis thought to himself.
"I have no intention of falling for your provocations so you'd better quit while you're still ahead" Aurora said with a smile. "I might have lost my kingdom once but that was only because we let the gap between royalty and the common widen so much that your ploy was undetectable. I can assure you it won't happen again" Aurora said seriously. "I need to buy as much time as possible. We need as much time as possible. I know. I know for a fact that Erikkus Di Devilli will not honour his word regardless of win or loss so the duration of the battle itself might be our greatest advantage now" Aurora thought to herself.
Erikkus Di Devilli smirked.
"You are so easy to read. Do you believe I haven't seen through your ploy?" he asked with a smirk.
Aurora smiled.
"If you are going to assume that I have some trick up my sleeve don't you think it would be rather foolish of me to confirm anything?" Aurora said with an unwavering smile.
Erikkus Di Devilli's eyes were fixed on her as though seeking out a moment of vulnerability to strike.
"You have grown surprisingly sly these past two years" Erikkus Di Devilli said and charged to attack her. "I will have you fall before me this day Princess of Saggeese" he declared and increased the rate of his strikes.
"You've forgotten, I'm not simply a princess who has lost her throne anymore. I'm a Dragon Ranger!" Aurora declared as she created whirls of water and sent them after Erikkus Di Devilli.
He deflected them quite easily. Aurora sent more waterwhirls after him and he had to focus on defence. He was so focused on defending that he didn't notice the sharp particles of ice Aurora had hidden within the waterwhirls. Some of the ice slipped past his defence and before he could recover from his loss of balance in his attempt to evade the ice, Aurora dealt two sharp strikes to his ribs with the blunt sides of the Twin Saggeesian Sabres and threw Erikkus Di Devilli to the ground. She leapt nimbly away from him. He stood up, quite dazed from the attack.
"Well executed Dragon Ranger" he said with a smirk on his face.
"That attack was splendidly executed Aurora" Reis silently congratulated her.
"However something's…" Reis began to say.
"…off" Aurora completed his sentence.
"For someone with the power to cause so much harm, the enemy is surprisingly…" Aurora was saying.
"…weak" Reis thought to himself.
"Could he be holding back?" Aurora wondered.
There was a momentary look of shock on Erikkus Di Devilli's face.
"What was that expression about? I will find out with this" Aurora thought as she clashed the Twin Saggeesian Blades together.
They fused to form a great sword. The sword known as The Heart Sabre.
"WHAT'S THIS?! WHAT IS GOING ON?! TELL ME! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE REIS DRAGONHAART?! HOW CAN THERE BE A DEFECTION AMONGST THE WYVERNS?!" Erikkus Di Devilli exclaimed in horror.
ROUGHLY TWO HOURS AGO…
Shin and Sir Jinrai arrived over the Novatian Sea atop the previous Kaignis King.
"Jinrai, I will leave the rest to you" the previous Kaignis King said as he disappeared.
Shin found himself falling towards the sea. He called to a Kaehum Dactyl and it caught him on its back. The two companions had summoned the Kaisers of the air, the Kaehum Dactyls and the Kaisers of the sea, the Kaiser-Pentias and Kagua-Serpentias. There were a vast number of Kaisers in their ranks. They had finally arrived on the scene of the battle. The army of Wyverns were locked in a tussle with the king's formidable army who had downed quite a number of them with a weapon called the Ballista. A great wheeled bow that shot great arrows. These were installed on the king's ships. The Dragon Rangers aided the king's ships from the air and so far not a single Wyvern could penetrate past them.
As Shin and Sir Jinrai approached, the two felt their hearts pulsate with power. A great stream of golden light began to flow out of Sir Jinrai and Silvery White light began to flow out of Shin.
"Wh-What is this?" Shin wondered.
He felt a feeling of power and warmth wash over him and in his mind's eye, he found himself standing before a gigantic figure clothed in silvery white armour, with long flowing silver hair, blue eyes and the strongest pair of six wings on its back.
Shin drew back in fear.
"You must be the Silver Drakengaӓrd" Shin said.
"It appears it is finally time for me to awaken. I sense Reihel's will strongly within three people in this world" the Silver Drakengaӓrd said in a mighty, yet kind voice.
"Three people? Oh yes, the third person must be Reis' gramps" Shin reasoned.
"I see, the Wise One Of The Unison Courts walks this world. Then it is time for the Hopeful Legend to eclipse the Tragic Legend. Will you be willing to walk Arӓlpheisl's path with him?" the Silver Drakengaӓrd asked.
"I don't know much about Arӓlpheisl but he defined most of the things I have come to believe in and I consider Reis my brother. If I can aid him, I will" Shin said.
"You are blunt even if doing otherwise would guarantee better results. I have been called such myself many times" the Silver Drakengaӓrd said.
"Really? Even you who governs the armies of Heaven are called blunt? Wow, that is something I never expected. I have another question though…are you really nameless?" Shin asked.
The Silver Drakengaӓrd laughed.
"What name do you call yourself by?" he asked Shin.
"Shin is my name. It was given to me by someone" Shin said.
"I am called Nameless but Truth is my domain so I am also called Truthful. Since our names mean the same thing, I suppose I will allow you to call me Shin" the Silver Drakengaӓrd said.
"Then Erasa's name, the name she gave me wasn't a coincidence?" Shin asked.
"Such things are seldom coincidences" the Silver Drakengaӓrd informed him.
"Let's bring the Hopeful Legend to birth" the Silver Drakengaӓrd said.
"And we will start by putting an end to this meaningless war!" Shin said and their wills resonated.
On the outside, the Silver Light encased Shin and he burst out of it assuming the form of the Silver Drakengaӓrd in the process. In his hands, he held a reaper's scythe.
He prepared to swing it.
"Are you going to attack the Wyverns?" Sir Jinrai asked him.
"Wyverns, you were initially created as weapons of war but you should be able to see past that, that you have a choice since you have life. I am offering you a chance to choose for yourselves how you wish to live" the Silver Drakengaӓrd said and swung his scythe.
A tidal wave of great force struck every Wyvern present. They stopped attacking the Rangers and the king's army. For a while, they just flew about aimlessly and then, they flew away from the battlefield going their own separate ways.
"Shin, what happened?" Sir Jinrai asked.
"The Wyverns chose to become a part of Ryugaeia's life" Shin explained.
"I guess the truth changed them. No one wishes to be used as a weapon of war against their will" Sir Jinrai said.
"And with that Novatio is safe for now. We need to head back to Saggeese and awaken as many Wyverns as possible to the truth" Shin said.
The Dragon Rangers and the king's army stayed at the borders of Novatio to defend against any more attempts at an invasion. Shin and Sir Jinrai hurried back to Saggeese in great haste and once they arrived, a great tug of war between the wills of Armageddon and The Heart would commence.
PRESENTLY…
"WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS GOING ON?! TELL ME! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE REIS DRAGONHAART?! HOW CAN THERE BE A DEFECTION AMONGST THE WYVERNS?!" Erikkus Di Devilli exclaimed in horror.
Reis smiled to himself.
"Well done Shin! You must have awakened the power of the Silver Drakengaӓrd whose domain is Truth. The Golden and Silver Drakengaӓrds are similar in nature to Alpha and Omega. While the Golden Drakengaӓrd's domain is Light, the Silver Drakengaӓrd's domain is the meaning behind the Light, truth itself. The Wyverns were created without an awareness of 'choice'. When it was revealed to them that as part of Ryugaeia's life, even if artificial, they do have a choice, they realized that they no longer needed to allow themselves to be used as weapons of war and chose to live freely" Reis thought to himself. "There is a chance though that some of them might choose to be used as weapons of warfare but the vast majority changed sides from what I can tell from the enemy's reaction" Reis thought.
Aurora held the Heart Sabre in her hand. She narrowed her eyes.
"I sense desperation from Erikkus Di Devilli. Now is my chance to attack!" she declared and charged towards him striking swiftly and heavily.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Erikkus Di Devilli roared and responded by attacking with fury.
"The Wyverns are created from the power of the Dragons. You isolated their wills in order to make them easier to control but you forgot one thing…that being born from the Dragons they have the nature of the Dragons inherently. You were unable to see their souls and that is where your plan began to crumble" Aurora said as she prepared to strike.
Just at that moment, the Silver Drakengaӓrd arrived in Saggeese and began to free the Wyverns from Erikkus Di Devilli's dominion. Erikkus Di Devilli felt a great loss of power when each Wyvern was freed. His confusion caused him to lose focus and Aurora's attack struck him on the ribs again.
"Liar! You liar! The Wyverns have no souls! I made sure of that!" Erikkus Di Devilli said.
"If you are going to continue to purposely blind yourself to the truth, that is entirely up to you but you should have noticed by now that each of the Wyverns bear a striking resemblance to one of the Dragons" Aurora said as she recalled the Wyverns the bandits had referred to as Saanyigre, Sum-Kebi and Suiryuudan.
Ironically, back then, the bandits had used a technique which's name was synonymous with what the enemy had been attempting to do, to eclipse the dawn. Erikkus Di Devilli's eyes opened wide as the sudden realization of all this dawned on him. Now he could see clearly that his plan had always been doomed to fail. The army he had been preparing for Armageddon had been infected by an oversight, an oversight called the soul. To him, this was the worst sort of disease possible.
In that instant of realization, Aurora found an opening, disarmed him, tossed him to the ground with the Dragon Parry and kicked his weapon aside.
"It's about time you gave up" she said.
"I give up" Erikkus Di Devilli sighed.
Aurora turned and began to walk away. Reis felt his heart begin to beat with an uneasy feeling.
"Aurora won this battle so why do I feel so uneasy? Shin by now has freed most of the Wyverns hovering over Saggeese so why do I feel so uneasy?" Reis thought.
"I am disappointed Aurora Saggeese…our identities have clashed for ages. You the Aurora Sabre, the accursed Stone Of Light and me…after all this time you failed to recognize your ancient archnemesis…the Dragon lurking within man" a sinister familiar voice spoke through Erikkus Di Devilli's lips.
Aurora froze in fear. So did Reis.
"I am honestly disappointed but on the day of my awakening, this day, I shall ensure that you perish with the rest of humanity! I did tell you…that you underestimated me" Erikkus Di Devilli roared.
"Armageddon!" Reis and Aurora exclaimed in shock as Reis instantly parried the fatal blow Erikkus Di Devilli was aiming at Aurora.
"Over the past centuries, I have walked this world in the guise of men such as Irik the Devil, Galigaos the Crimson Swordsman of Darkness and Erikkus Di Devilli. I am disappointed Aurora…once more you failed to recognize me" Erikkus Di Devilli said.
"It wasn't just an uneasy feeling. The fear I felt was the Golden Drakengaӓrd's response to supernatural evil" Reis declared in horror as a fierce golden light began to ooze from his body.
"FATE ELEMENT! FIRES OF INDIGNATION!!!" Armageddon called out.