A crimson streak of light arrived at the scene, and the girl it belonged to immediately froze in shock at what she witnessed. Her mouth dropped open in dismay as she saw her most hateful enemy frozen in Ice in the middle of the barren land.
The gigantic dragon was frozen in place whilst he was running away, in the very posture, and from his expression, he had not even realised what hit him.
Mito heard Raizel laugh as he looked up at the sky, and she inadvertently glanced at Freya when the latter sighed at the scene.
"She can be very moody. And she also likes reminding Raizel about how strong she is." She informed their Peerage, who were just as stunned at the scene as Mito was.
"This is ridiculous!" Ban could tell at a glance that Yofune-Nushi was not some weak Evil Drgaon. His massive size made it clear that he was quite strong. And yet, here he was, frozen up in a matter of seconds, having been completely oblivious and helpless against the one who had attacked him.
It was a testament to how strong Velzard truly was, and now he wholeheartedly believed that she was indeed stronger than Old Baha.
"Hey, Mito, do you want to fight him? Or shall we just kill him?" Raizel suddenly looked their way and asked, and the girl in question still dumbfoundedly stared at the statue.
All this time, it was this easy? She asked herself, and then her heart ached.
Her eyes immediately turned misty as the memories hit her, and then she remembered the face of her mother the last time she saw her.
"Just kill him." She wiped off her tears and glared at the frozen Evil Dragon.
She did not want to take any risks and miss the opportunity to get rid of her hateful enemy. And right now, she was not in the mood for battle. She was quite tired.
"Very well." Raizel nodded to her, and then she watched him fly up in the air.
The Darcaedes Prince took a few rounds around the Dragon's body, inspecting it, and then he finally reached higher up in the sky, channelling the powers of dark lightning that he had copied from Freya.
They watched him create a bolt of lightning in his hand, and though they had never seen it in person, they could still tell that he was imitating Zeus' famous weapon. And when he was ready, he simply threw it at the Dragon.
Perhaps they were all expecting some explosion that they just stood there still waiting even after the Bolt cleanly pierced through the dragon's body, and only when they saw a river of blood start flowing out of the Frozen Statue, did they realise that that was it.
The Dragon was dead, and Moka could smell that the blood was pouring straight out of his two hearts.
"She spoiled your fun again." Freya playfully commented when Raizel descended from the sky, and the Prince sinisterly smiled back at her.
"I will set things even one day." He promised, and though his words might have sounded vindictive to anyone who did not know him, Freya knew that it was just their sibling rivalry.
"I never heard of a Dragon called Velzard before." Guts could not help but say, and Raizel simply shrugged at his words.
"She's relatively young, only a few centuries old. Besides, she, along with her three siblings, are meant to be a secret. Their existence is special, after all." He informed them, piquing all of their interest.
"My blood felt suppressed when she revealed her presence in the sky." Erza narrowed her eyes.
Raizel smiled at his Peerage and then looked at the young Kitsune, who was silently shedding her tears, not paying attention to them.
Everyone thought that he would not reveal the details to them, but when they heard his next words, they all perked up their ears.
"If I find out that any one of you has told this secret to someone who can not be trusted, I will kill you." He coldly said, and not for a moment did they doubt his words.
Even Ban and Moka knew that he would do as he said, and if not him, they would be killed by someone else.
Then again, the two of them were born to serve him and the House of Darcaedes, and they always knew what the punishment of betrayal and grave negligence was.
"We understand." All of them, except for Freya and Mito replied in unison.
"So, you want to know why your Blood felt suppressed?" He asked Erza, and she immediately nodded her head.
"It's because they are the Blood of Drgaon Gods." He said, and his words froze them all. "And She, together with her siblings, are the reason why we might never be able to equal the strength of my Mother's Peerage."
"Blood of Dragon Gods?" Moka frowned, her heart palpitating in an unknown fear.
"Ophis and the Great Red." He nodded, and their expressions were hilarious to him.
He suppressed his laugh when they all comically looked at him, and even Guts was wearing a comical expression of sheer disbelief.
"Ophis and Great Red have children together?" Erza was the first one to recover and immediately asked, and what confused them more was when Raizel shook his head.
"Velzard, Velgrynd, Veldora, my mother's pawns, and Veldanava, my mother's second Rook, are the Four True Dragons that my mother created after she stole the Blood of Ophis and Great Red from the Dimensional Gap." He told them. "And she raised them as her children. They are like siblings to me, and I receive all the perks of being the youngest." He smirked.
"Lady Pandora created them?" Moka reverently asked but followed with a very curious question. "How? Is that even possible?"
"Not for me, not yet." He shook his head. "But remember that the first Darcaedes created some of the most Powerful Demons, and my mother has already surpassed all the Darcaedes who ever existed. Even to me, her powers are unfathomable." He lightly said, but there was a grave seriousness in his voice as well.
"She's stronger than the Satans, isn't she?" Moka smirked, feeling very proud and already aware of the answer.
"Of course." He chuckled.
"Is Velzard the strongest?" Ezra had her mind still focused on the True Dragons, and she excitedly looked at her Master.
"That would be Veldanava, but Velzard is the second strongest, followed by Velgrynd and Veldora. Veldora is the youngest of the four and is also the weakest of them, however, to put things into context, he's still stronger than all the current or past Dragon Kings, including Tiamet, but has yet to reach Old Baha's level."
"He will surpass him, won't he?" Ban frowned.
"He has the potential, yes." Raizel nodded his head. "True Dragons are special existences, after all. I don't know where their limits lie."
"And that means we have no chance of ever reaching their level." The Demon of Greed frowned, clenching his fist, behaving as if he were a Demon of Pride.
And Moka was feeling the same as Ban.
However, neither of them would give up without reaching the limits of their own potential. They did not want to let their Master down and be counted as the weak links in his peerage.
"I see. So this is why the Gods fear Lady Pandora. She has a force under her command that can destroy worlds." Guts finally made sense of the things, but curiously raised his brow when he heard Raizel laugh.
However, their Lord did not say anything to correct him or agree with him, and he simply turned to look at the Crimson Fox, who was now listening and paying attention to their conversation.
"I fulfilled my part of the deal, dear Kitsune. Now it's your turn." He mischievously leaned in, quite close to her face, and Mito kept looking into his eyes before she eventually nodded her head.
"I will keep my promise." She said and watched Raizel summon a small ornate chest.
When he opened it, his free Evil Pieces started flying out, and soon they were circling her as he whispered some spell.
The day had been full of shock and surprises for them, and it did not seem to have ended.
And the result depressed Ban and Moka a little more.
When Raizel's Evil Pieces returned to the chest, a lone Muated Evil Piece blinked as it stayed behind, and it was his Mutated Rook.
Raizel was not surprised at the outcome, but he was a little surprised at the Mutated Rook that chose Mito.
It was the one with the Bishop attributes, and he had been half-expecting her to have been chosen by the one with the Knight attributes. After all, her speed was one of her biggest strengths.
Then again, this result was even better, and he could not hide his smile.
"You are special, my dear Mito. And I will make you strong, immensely strong." He promised her and himself before he raised his hand and completed the ceremony.
"I, Raizel Darcaedes, hereby...."
...
Away from the young Prince, inside the Darcaedes Castle, a girl, around the age of sixteen, with silver hair and blue eyes, entered the Throne Room.
"Mother!" She excitedly called out to the lady who was sitting on the throne, and when Pandora opened her eyes, she smiled as she watched the girl rushing over to her.
She stood up to hug her and planted a kiss on her head.
"Velgrynd wanted to explore the world some more, so she won't be back for a while." The girl separated and informed her, and then she finally bowed to her.
"And Veldora?" Pandora asked and smiled as she watched her adopted daughter grin at the mention of your younger brother.
"We fought, and he's recuperating in an isolated dimension."
Of course, Pandora already knew about it, as she had been keeping an eye on all of them, and Velzard was aware of it as well.
"You never go easy on him." She pointed out, and Velzard simply shrugged at her words.
"He's just too weak." And then a bright smile bloomed on her face. "I saw Raizel on my way back. He was with a very special Kitsune." She happily informed her mother about what she saw and then laughed as she informed her about how she spoiled the fun for her youngest brother.