1492 The Wind Dragon's Resolve
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"Tch!"
Pandemonium was greatly weakened while being covered on these flames, which instantly froze him and weakened his stats and soul!
"T-This feeble… power…! How dare you combine my demonic energies with the powers of Oblivion?!"
Crack, crack…!
CRAASH!
However, to Drake and Benladann's surprise, Pandemonium freed himself from the frozen tomb that Drake had created using the Heavenly Demon Flames, his hands directed to Drake's face!
"If I can't kill your physical body, I'll crush your soul!"
His hands pierced through Drake's body, attempting to grasp his soul and tear it apart!
"I would say the same, fucker!"
Drake opened his jaws and bit through Pandemonium's incredibly hard neck, tearing it apart as his fangs fell apart and regrew, and reaching towards where his lungs were!
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Benladann appeared right behind Pandemonium, her giant axe hacking through his arms and cutting them apart!
SLAASH! SLAASH! SLAASH!
"BEGONE!"
Pandemonium materialized a spear of purple crystals from his back, piercing Benladann's chest with it!
CRAAASH!
"U-URRGGH…?!"
"BENLADANN!"
Drake grew restless as he saw his wife being impaled, however, she smiled viciously, grasping the spear with her hands as mold started seeping from the terrible wound.
"Just like him, I'm not normal either!"
"What?!"
The Mold quickly flew towards Pandemonium's wounds, beginning to infect and parasitize them. Drake led the way towards his soul as well, as Pandemonium found his soul suddenly infested with Mold and Chaos!
"AARRRGGHH…!"
Agony quickly engulfed his entire existence, as his whole body started shifting between forms in the agony he was experiencing! He grew wings and flew away from his attackers!
"Dammit! Don't run away you fucker- URGH!"
Drake tried to chase after him, but his soul was in pain, it had taken a lot of damage when Pandemonium grabbed it.
And above all, Benladann was looking deathly pale, her wound was slowly regenerating, but blood was coming out of it rapidly.
"Benladann…! Miranda!"
He quickly prioritized their safety, holding her on his arms as he poured the blood from his wounds into her mouth.
"Drink it, quickly!"
"Ugh, gulp…"
She slowly drake his blood, regenerating her wounds faster, and feeling better…
"Drake… Pandemonium is…!"
"It's fine, are you okay?"
"I'm fine…"
"I wasn't that affected but she's okay!"
RUMBLE!
The two glanced into the distance, seeing the skies of the Dream Dungeon beginning to shift and turn darker, black lightning surging from within!
All of that wasted time benefited Pandemonium, as Benladra and Kate were attacking him from afar, he evaded their attacks and destroyed Kate's mechs, flying into the skies to absorb more nightmare energy.
"Your feeble attacks won't be anything once I absorb this source of power…!"
With a wicked smile, Pandemonium started devouring more of the Dream Dungeon while his Shadow Demonic Nightmare Aura began to give birth to beasts.
They had simple shapes, black wolves, umbral snakes, ferocious lions, all made of darkness and crimson energies twisting together.
Demonic Nightmare Beasts!
They constantly clashed against Kate's mechanical beasts, while Benladra was doing her best to fend them off, as they were attempting to also devour the Dream Realm's foundations.
"{Spirit Creation}: {Divine Elemental Dragon Spirit Summon}!"
Drake waved his hands as his Spiritual Powers surged from his hands, almost a hundred dragons made of bright and colorful lights emerged. He used his own Divinity Aura as the material for their creation, making theme exceptionally strong allies!
"ROOARR!"
The Dragon Spirits clashed against the Demonic Nightmare Beasts, tearing each other to shreds. The battle between both armies was raging as Pandemonium simply smiled, his half-destroyed body beginning to absorb more of the Dream Dungeon.
"Stop!"
Drake roared furiously as he controlled the dreams, suppressing him even if slightly. The demonic energy that infected the dream dungeon's pillars was like a parasite, slowly trying to take away his control over the Dream Dungeon he created.
"AHAHAHA…!"
Pandemonium's maddening laughter echoed across the entire Dream Dungeon, the skies began to distort and grow black and crimson in color.
Demonic eyes started popping out of the skies, with gigantic tentacles surging from within… He could go this far not only due to his parasitic and corrosive powers, but also because his vessel was made using the fragments of the original Dungeon Core.
"This element didn't exist back then… It is good! Very compatible with my powers! I'll take over this Dream, it will become my eternal Nightmare World! And I will trap all of you bastards inside!"
Giant black tentacles surged from within the skies, clashing against everyone. Drake, Benladann, and their daughters were on a constant battle against this endlessly growing foe!
Emerald and Tyrannus could see what was happening while they were within an adjacent Dream Realm, sensing everything turning darker, even the place where they were was becoming insecure.
"This is…! They're struggling?! We need to go help them out!" Said Emerald.
"B-But Sacred Beast, we can't!" Said Tyrannus. "As painful as it was, Lord Drake wasn't wrong, we were useless, we are too weak to join that fight…"
"That's…!" Emerald gritted his teeth, feeling frustrated. "I'm not weak, I'm Rank 9! I'm supposed to be strong yet… I haven't grasped all my power yet, I…!"
Within his frustration, Emerald started to recall memories of his childhood.
It was a memory he had tried to not remember, sealed within his psyche because of how much trauma it brought to him.
It was when he was merely five years of age, a young pup.
That day, he had grown overly excited because he played with his older siblings.
"Wait for me, big bro! Big sis!"
"Come on little Emerald, hurry!"
"For being the wielder of the Heaven's Winds, you're quite the slug!"
They were teaching him how to fly and use wind magic, and he was having a really good time.
The two of them played with gusts of winds, slowly lifting him up into the cloudy skies.
He could still remember how much he laughed and enjoyed this time.
"Hehehe, I'm not a slug!"
Little Emerald tried to imitate his siblings in the manipulation of the wind element, but not much came out of his tiny hands.
He constantly chased after him as they playfully pranked him, hiding inside the clouds, or shaping them into intimidating forms.
"Hey, that's not fair!"
"If it's not fair, then let out more of your winds!"
"Come on, mother said you're very talented!"
"Hmm!"
Emerald was slightly frustrated back then because his magic didn't obey him as he wished.
"T-Then…!"
He gathered all the Mana and Divine Power he had into his hand and raised them.
"Take this!"
FLUOOOOSH!
A strong gust of winds surged from his hands.
"Wow! That wasn't so bad!"
"Well done!"
"I-I did it?!"
Emerald was happy for a second… before his true power manifested.
The skies gained a bright green luster, sparkles of golden light taking over the clouds…
RUMBLE!
An enormous storm of lightning and emerald winds engulfed him and his siblings.
"Huh?!"
"Wha…?!"
And Emerald saw in horror as they disappeared.
TRUUUUMMM…!
"E-Eh?"
His eyes couldn't believe what he saw. He still couldn't process it…
From one second to another, the storms engulfed him, sending him flying far away.
When he woke up the next morning, he found out he had been rescued by one of his oldest siblings…
And that they had yet to find the other two that were with him.
"W-What happened to them?! What happened to big bro and big sis?!"
"We don't know…" Sighed his oldest sibling. "They… disappeared."
"W-What…?!"
Since then, they were never found. And the only thing they were able to recover several meters below the floating island they lived on were a few green feathers, scales, and blood.
The horrifying memory that he had been suppressing this entire time, the reason he feared his powers so much, the reason he never practiced them.
And the very reason he had such a timid nature…
"I killed them… I killed… them…!"
He became afraid of himself, and of what he could do.
Tears fell from his eyes, as Tyrannus noticed Emerald's presence was beginning to change.
His True Divine Aura was beginning to surge, as he accepted this old, suppressed memory.
And decided once more to wield this dangerous power, which had once killed his own siblings.
"This time… I'm going to use it to protect others!"
With a furious roar, he pointed his hands into the dream barrier.
FLUOOOOOSSSHHH!!!
And an endless stream of lightning and emerald-colored winds was released, opening an enormous path forward.
"I have to do it, even if I die. Because if I don't...!"
He glanced back at Tyrannus.
"I'll never be able to forgive myself…"
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