Looking at Tiamat transforming into a full-on materialized dragon, the aura surrounding her while she stagnated in the middle, finally made Damien realize how serious this was.
"I was hoping to get more out of you," Damien said, his voice calm despite the destruction around him. "But it seems you are hell-bent on killing me without explaining anything." He raised his blades. "If that is the case... then I suppose I shall go all out as well."
He held his two blades of night.
"Nyx. Nótt. You girls ready?"
"Always, Master!" Nótt cheered.
"Let us do it," Nyx said.
Damien drove both daggers into his own chest.
Heracles's eyes went wide with shock.
"Shadow Monarch Form."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the shadow energy exploded outward. It wrapped around Damien like a second skin—dark, living, pulsing with power. It formed armor. Not the crude protection of a soldier, but something regal. Something ancient. A crown of shadow materialized above his head. A cape of pure darkness flowed from his shoulders. His eyes turned black, depthless, endless.
His own fingers became the blades themselves—Nyx and Nótt.
He moved. Faster than sight. His claws raked across Tiamat's draconic form.
"NOW THAT IS A FORM I RECOGNIZE!" Tiamat screamed.
Flames erupted from her mouth, scorching Damien completely. He did not care. He took the flames head-on, his claws reaching all the way to her open mouth, slashing from it all the way down to her stomach. He sliced her open. Wide.
There was no blood. Her dragon form was merely a massive aura she was inhabiting. But when that wound reconnected, he could see the aura lessen in size. The more he slashed at it, the less it became. A battle of attrition.
Tiamat turned to where he landed. "Oh... ho... you have grown far too weak than I expected. The old you would have done me in by now."
Damien's eyes narrowed. "You keep saying 'old me this, old me that.' What do you mean by that?"
"THIS!"
Her mouth opened. This time, it was not a flame that emerged. It was a laser beam of extreme hot plasma. So fast that Damien barely had time to dodge. But what was shocking was that it followed him. It decimated the entire forest where they fought. The bright light of the beam could be seen even from Orario—even though it was daylight.
While Damien contemplated how to reverse the situation in his favor, a voice emerged from the side.
Heracles had been burned by Tiamat's flames, but it did not seem to affect her. She wore a weird-looking hide on her chest—the Nemean Lion's hide. Her expression shifted. The hide disappeared. Her hands turned black. She jumped onto Tiamat's dragon-like head and held it strong. Quite literally locking the mouth.
"Cretan Bull's Hold!"
Her hands held the head with sheer power. The force of her grab made Tiamat fall to the ground.
"YOU DAMN BASTARD!" Tiamat shouted from inside the aura dragon.
Finding his chance—the laser beam had stopped—Damien and his shadow Diana attacked from both sides. They slashed inward. Damien cut from the side of the belly all the way to the other. Diana slashed from the back, going all the way down. But in her descent, she was caught by Tiamat inside. The naked woman grabbed Diana by the neck and snapped it, killing the shadow instantly.
The dragon head of her aura finally overcame Heracles. It moved back, then slammed the head on the ground with Heracles still on it.
"Stay out of the way, you divine mutt!" Tiamat shouted.
The dragon head turned to Damien and tried to take a full bite of him. Damien placed his hands on the top of the dragon's mouth, holding it by its upper fangs. Tiamat smiled as a laser beam charged to slam into Damien, sending him flying and burning most of his shadow armor.
Before Tiamat could burn him further, Heracles's massive sword stabbed into the mouth of the dragon, blocking the laser.
"Ceryneian Hind's Antlers!"
The sword's dark body turned golden and reflected the laser beam onto the dragon itself.
Damien finally recovered. He called Diana back—the shadow already reforming. He had devised a plan.
"HERACLES! HOLD HER DOWN FOR JUST A MINUTE!" Damien shouted.
He turned to Diana. "Let us go."
"Yes, my lord."
Heracles smiled. "One minute... got it."
She turned to Tiamat and grinned.
"Erymanthian Boar CHARGE!"
Her entire body became engulfed in the aura of the great boar as she smashed into Tiamat, holding her down by her neck and head.
"YOU DAMN BITCH!" Tiamat screamed. Lasers emerged from her mouth, but due to Heracles holding her down, the beams shot upward.
Diana and Damien found their chance. They slashed into her again, both targeting the side guts. Diana went directly toward Tiamat to slash her. Tiamat grabbed her inside the aura.
"HAVE YOU NOT FUCKING LEARNED ANYTHING!"
As she was about to snap Diana's neck again, she heard two words that made her skin shiver.
"Shadow Exchange."
In a mere second, it was not Diana she was holding. It was Damien. His hand was already moving to stab her neck. He raised her head up. His left hand slashed across the same neck, ripping her head off her body.
The aura dragon disappeared. Tiamat fell to the ground. Dead.
Damien looked at her, sighing. He had been forced to kill her without gaining any information.
Heracles rushed toward him. "She is dead?!"
Damien nodded. "Yeah."
The head on the ground smiled. Eerily.
"Oh... I am not dead, kid. I am just dazzled." Tiamat's voice was amused. "Really. What a showdown. Even in this weak form, you still show the same tenacity as every other Shadow Monarch."
The body of Tiamat began to disappear into ashes. From the legs to the upper torso. The head noticed this.
"Shame. This avatar is already dying." Tiamat's grin widened. "See you soon, Ashborn."
Her head crumbled into ash.
Damien stared at the empty space where she had been.
"So..." Heracles blinked. "That entire thing was merely an avatar?"
Damien nodded. Then his eyes widened.
"SHIT! THE OTHERS!"
"Shadow Exchange."
His body sank into the ground. A shadow soldier rose in his place.
Heracles looked at the soldier and smiled. "Hey, little one."
...
Damien emerged back in the arena.
He scanned the scene, trying to understand what had happened. What he found shocked him.
The others were all on their knees. Tired. Battered. But not dead. Not heavily injured.
The one who was heavily injured was Qinglong.
The Green Eastern Dragon's body lay crumpled against the far wall. His green aura flickered weakly. His glasses were cracked. His arm hung at a wrong angle. And his head
His head was being held by someone in dark robes.
That someone turned to Damien.
"Shadow Monarch of this Era," she spoke. Her voice was feminine. Calm.
She threw the head away like it was nothing. Qinglong's body slumped fully to the ground.
She walked toward Damien. Her dark robes billowed. She reached up and removed the hood covering her head.
Long blonde hair spilled out. Golden eyes gleamed. Dark skin glowed under the arena lights. Strange lines ran under her eyes...markings, ancient and deliberate.
She looked at him.
Then she knelt.
"I am your servant." Her voice was steady. "The Black Dragon of Darkness and Catastrophe. Vritra."
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