**Crimson Dragon's castle. The front gate**
Two beasts had emerged from out of nowhere in the Kingdom. To those who did not know or who did not see them prior, it seemed like these beasts had somehow breached the walls or even gotten teleported here in front of the Crimson Dragon's main front gate.
The massive Leomantoise shot a thin blue beam along the ground that emitted a trail of explosions, chasing after the large Behemoth, running amok on all fours around the front courts at a high speed. This place was now their battlefield.
Teams of Crimson Dragon Knights fled into the castle and away from the scene, while Blue Phoenix Knights followed them there, leaving the two monsters to battle.
The Leomantoise, Ulrich, had yet to move at all since transforming. He was so massive that even moving a little bit would take a bit of time. Though, because of his Primal typing, Leomantoises were apex predators along with Behemoths in the beast world. Thing was, they often avoided each other. Four out of five times, they could even defeat a Behemoth, which was Havoc's typing. They also had an interesting magic ability.
Primal magic users were often sought out among Guilds. The ones who had them were often first pick from the top Guilds to strengthen their ranks. The main reason is that Primal magic users also came with the magic ability of the beast they can transform into. So, it's like having a Graded monster within the party along with a mage. The only drawback was that usually Primal magic users could only transform fully once a day. So they often used their magic in increments so as not to waste too much of their mana.
This battle here between Ulrich and Havoc had an unspoken time limit on it that they were both aware of. Essentially—the one who bests the other in their form first wins. If they transform back to their original forms, it's over—and they lost. Because they would not be able to transform again.
The beams that Ulrich kept shooting were also splitting apart and decimating different areas of the court. Because of Havoc's big body in his form, he was mostly in range for a lot of it.
Shit, he thought to himself as the beams hit his sides, burning through his rough hide.
"What's the matter, dog? Can't take the heat?" Ulrich echoed. His voice was like thunder as he spoke, matching his monstrous form.
Havoc said nothing as he continued to dodge the beams.
Right then, Ulrich lifted one of his massive front hooves and stomped onto the ground. The stomp caused an earthquake and traveled in a focused direction to where Havoc was, knocking him off balance a little bit. He did it again, but with the other hoof now, and another focused earthquake traveled to where Havoc had stumbled. But once it got to him, the earth trail took a right and maneuvered just to his left, protruding a large earth pillar out from the ground right to his ribs, sending him to a nearby wall.
"Pitiful," Ulrich's voice echoed astrally. "All you've been doing is dodging my attacks since we started. You must know that Leomantoises are predators of Behemoths in the wild. At least those put up a decent fight…" he taunted, "But you never see Behemoths hunt those creatures. Unlike you, they know it's because they'll just end up being the ones who are hunted."
Havoc crawled out of the cratered wall he was in, responding finally, "And yet, you never see Leomantoise hunt Behemoths either. Why do you think that is?"
"Leomantoise do not have to hunt for their prey."
"Or perhaps it's because they can't move much to begin with? How many steps forward have you taken since this battle started?" Havoc echoed back to him. His voice was as ethereal as Ulrich's. Like two beasts arguing.
Enraged, Ulrich had begun charging another beam from his mouth, shooting it directly at Havoc, but he dodged it swiftly as he ran alongside it as it trailed and followed him. Running underneath the beam, Havoc juked it and ended up right in front of Ulrich now.
Ulrich's eyes winced, and just then, Havoc let out a huge flamethrower from his mouth, engulfing Ulrich whole. The beam stopped, and all that was left now was smoke at his wake.
Havoc jumped back and watched in anticipation. And then he heard Ulrich's voice once more. "You didn't think that was actually going to work, did you? I'm a fucking armored tank, you fool!"
Ulrich's silhouette began to form behind the smoke. His eyes beamed a deep yellow, piercing through it as he stood massively with his head high, twice Havoc's size.
"Now you will see just how powerful a Leomantoise can really be," Ulrich said in a dark tone. His golden cuffs on his hooves began to glow.
The smoke now swirled around Ulrich, causing a tornado around him, and picked up large debris from the rubble in the court. Havoc dodged a few large pillars that flew out from behind and toward Ulrich, who was now engulfed in this massive collection of wind and rock.
Those same splitting beams shot out from Ulrich's mouth again, but this time, they shot out from random parts of the massive tornado, combining the elements.
Running again to dodge the beams, Havoc used his momentum to run on the walls and part of the building of the Crimson Dragon's castle; all the while, the devastating tornado ran rampant in the court.
Right then, a large piece of concrete shot out at Havoc with no time for him to dodge. He jumped from the wall directly at it and, with his sharp claws, slashed it into pieces as they flew past him simultaneously.
In the middle of the court again, Havoc grounded himself with all four claws so as to not get sucked in. The beams stopped their rampage, but something odd was happening to the tornado now. The top seemed to be bending, and the large swirl atop it could now be seen. Havoc watched as he could do nothing except hold himself in place due to the strong winds. His long, white ribbons of a mane fluttered crazily behind him all the while.
"What is he planning?" He said to himself as the tornado continued to bend wildly in different directions.
The weather had changed, and the sky had become gray. The tornado whipped around once and then back into the court, right where Havoc was after he landed. It was larger than his Behemoth form as the top of this massive tornado gaped just above him now. And it was too late for him to do anything else at this moment, besides take it…
"Fuck."
CRASH!!
The massive tornado had crash-landed onto Havoc, and it was a direct hit…
After the crash, the storm subsided. Large debris rained from the sky, falling all over the rummaged court. Ulrich, from the entrance, was still in the same spot from the beginning of the battle. The once beautiful and pristine court of the Crimson Dragon's castle now lay devastated due to the two beasts.
Ulrich's additional ability as a Leomantoise was Elemental Manipulation magic. He could control any element he made contact with, but only one element at a time. Though he could combine elements like the beam he created from the combination of air and heat from his mouth and treat it as a single element. This innate ability of Leomantoise creatures typically had the edge over a normal Behemoth in the wild. But this was not just an average battle between beasts…
From the spot where the tornado crashed, Havoc lay in his human form within a large crater. Both his eyes were closed as his terrible scar displayed across his face, seemingly unconscious.
Ulrich let out a hideous laugh and said, "Who's weak now, you poor fool? You reverted back to your human form, which means…" he said, a rhetorical brag.
At this time, Havoc's hand twitched.
"It seems, in the end, the one that thought too highly of themselves was you… Oh, how irony stings, doesn't it?" Ulrich went on.
Havoc's eye twitched.
"Well, no matter. I've made you suffer enough. Let me do you the favor of putting you out of your misery now…" Ulrich said lastly. However…
The ring of a comm sounded all throughout the empty, wrecked court.
Ulrich made an annoyed click of his tongue at the sound of it. It was as if the ringing had ruined the moment of his grand win. He looked everywhere trying to find where it had been coming from as the ringtone replayed continuously. It sounded like a victory theme song from a fantasy game of some sort…
When he finally found where the sound was coming from, he glanced his monstrous eyes over Havoc. Without opening his eyes or lifting his head, Havoc grabbed it from his pocket and answered, putting it on speaker.
"Yeah," he answered, tired.
A strong male voice answered him back, Yo. It's done, but we won't be leaving until it's fully booted up. Which is gonna take another thirty minutes or so.
"Took you long enough, Nash," Havoc responded to him.
A little 'thanks' would be nice… I had some trouble here. There was some guy with Bonding magic trying to take over the Den. He gave Star and Brand some trouble, but I took care of him.
"Huh? A guy with Bonding—" Havoc interrupted himself, remembering, "Oh shit, you mean Henza?"
Is that his name? I don't even know who anyone is anymore. I am so out of the loop… But yeah, that guy, I guess. I beat him, and we'll be moving. That's all.
"Funny coming from a guy who's so in touch with his followers on social," Havoc teased tiredly.
Shut it… the male, Nash, said lastly.
Listening in to the conversation, Ulrich, if he could twitch an eyebrow, became irritated at what he had witnessed.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Ulrich shouted in his monstrous voice.
"Sorry, I gotta go. Need to take care of something," Havoc said, ending the communication with Nash on the other end and began to sit up.
"Was that some kind of bluff? How could any of you beat our Vice Captain? And how are you treating the situation you're in so lightly?" Ulrich roared in disbelief over what he heard.
Havoc smirked, sitting with his legs crisscrossed on the ground.
"Let's just say a rising tide raises all ships… But never mind that… I take back what I said. Gotta commend you for being able to push me up against a wall like this. Though it would have been more impressive if you did it without those," Havoc said, pointing at the golden cuffs on Ulrich's large hooves. "Magic items are quite handy, aren't they…" he said, winking an eye to Ulrich like he was mocking him.
His eye flickered, and Ulrich's forehead tightened. "How can you still talk like that? You've lost! I am the victor!" he responded angrily, hesitating a bit at the end—not enough for a normal person to notice but just enough for Havoc and his heightened senses to pick up.
Havoc scoffed and bore a half smile.
"Says who? You? Nah…" Havoc replied calmly, slowly getting up from his crisscrossed sitting position on the ground, pushing his hands onto his knees as he got up in a long, drawn-out manner. Resilience, if it had become an aura, was what he began to emit at this moment, "The only one that decides my limits is me—not you, not your crew, not your warrants… not anyone. Me, bitch."
As if hitting second wind, Havoc transformed yet again back to his full Behemoth form. Ulrich could not believe his eyes—Primals could only transform fully once a day…
"How?" he said, shaken.
But Havoc was not done. He began to transform even more.
His Behemoth form that ended on all fours had now begun to stand on two legs, and his frontal monster paws had grown opposable thumbs on each enlarged hand.
"How are you—" Ulrich spat out, witnessing Havoc transform into a higher state.
Completing his new form, Havoc's white ribbon-like hair was fluttering even longer as it resembled a large cape even more now. It went all the way down to his clawed Behemoth feet, and the color of him seemed to change as well. What used to be the color gray on his skin was now that of a bright white all over his body. Black wings grew on his back, though they seemed too small to take flight with. And finally, his long tail had changed to white as well like his body. At the end, emitting a high temperature, there seemed to be what looked like a blade or claymore etched into the ends of his tail. It glowed a scalding yellow-red as the heat from it seemed to wobble the air around it. A faint halo even formed from above his head. He resembled a holy creature from myths.
Ulrich was purely confounded as he watched Havoc, not only transform again, but transform into what seemed like a higher being.
Adjusting the way he said his phrase, he repeated the words, but with different intention behind them, "What are you?" he uttered. Pure fear could be found in his eyes.
In this moment, Havoc had completed his full transformation. He was now a Great Behemoth, Higher Grade 1 monster.
Havoc's true secondary ability in his Primal form was Revival magic. An ability shared only by Behemoths and one that only activated when it had a near-death experience and survived. Because Behemoths were already overpowered, could breathe flamethrowers, and shoot beams from their mouths, many believed that power in itself was their magic ability. But that was not the case. In the studies where the Leomantoise had lost to the Behemoth, one out of five encounters, it was because the Behemoth had finally used its magic ability—turning it into a Higher Grade 1 anomaly and taking control of its fate.
"Primal Magic: Great Behemoth's Revenge."
His astral voice echoed like it was from the heavens itself.
Havoc now resembled a godlike creature in Ulrich's eyes. "It can't be… I—I've only heard it through myths, but here you are… a true Great Behemoth right in front of me! N—No matter. I am the predator. I should still—"
Swinging his heated claymore of a tail from around and in front of him, Havoc whipped a flaming wave in the air directly toward Ulrich, in his proud form. Even though he could probably withstand this attack, Ulrich still flinched from the sheer power behind it. He had grown quite a bit larger and was almost the size of Ulrich himself as he stood on both his hind legs. But his Elemental Manipulation magic activated just then, and the flames had formed into fireballs all around Ulrich. He shot them back to Havoc as he crouched down, readying a dash, claw-like hands to the ground. He bolted, shooting past the fireballs, putting them out as if they were mere candles. He was in front of Ulrich now in slow motion, his mouth opened, large jagged teeth baring, and a huge white claw opened from his right.
N—No! I have nothing to fear! I can withstand this! Ulrich thought.
Right then, Havoc's claw made impact.
SLASH!!
He tore a nasty claw slash onto Ulrich's impenetrable armored shell, shredding it entirely from the front. Ulrich, dumbfounded, had his lion-like head that stuck out from the top of the shell open its mouth, finally, as if he had never been struck like that before. Up until this point, Ulrich had not moved an inch since transforming, but now he had been pushed back a few feet, closer to the entrance of the courts where he had come from.
There's no way… How is this possible? My armor shattered? HOW THE HELL IS THIS POSSIBLE!?
Using the momentum of his powerful slash, Havoc spun intensely up in the air in a violent, swift motion. Revealing his burning claymore tail from above, he crashed it down onto Ulrich's statue-like head on the top of his shell.
SLAM!!
Ulrich grunted as he smashed into the ground, his large mammoth legs shooting outward from all sides, spraining each one.
The head, which was fused with his armored shell, was the hardest part of the shell itself. But the impact could not stop the damage that coursed throughout the rest of his body. He even received internal damage from that attack, even though the slam from the claymore was inflicted from the outer layer. The burning blade sparked as it trailed over Ulrich's armor, and Havoc raised his head as he stood with his chin high above Ulrich now.
He's—He's not real! How does this kind of power exist? How are you just a measly member of the Black Wolves!?
"I can tell," Havoc said ferociously as if somehow reading Ulrich's thoughts, "that you've never fought a real Behemoth before. Not one in the wild."
The shadow of Havoc's heavenly beast form struck sheer terror into Ulrich as his ego had been shot, and he had lost his confidence completely. He could do nothing but cower beneath the vicious, ethereal creature above him.
"The wild… That's where I was raised. Where imminent death lurked around each corner." From Havoc's mouth, a bright light peeked through his large, monstrous teeth. The light, becoming more intense as it continued to glow from within his body. His astral voice still echoed through, sounding off from the ethers, "The way you're feeling now…"
No… Stop… Ulrich thought to himself, but could not speak his words.
The bright light became a beacon now as it shined there just above his gaping mouth, upon the court. He was like a second sun. "I know that feeling well."
I give up! Please! he tried again to speak, but it was futile. He was frozen in fear.
"Primal Magic: Ecliptic Heaven's Shatter."
The bright light became a condensed ball, and Havoc faced below onto Ulrich in front of him.
FEEUUUUMMM!!
The beam was so huge that it blasted open the front gate of the Crimson Dragon's castle. The castle itself was on an elevated hill, so the beam shot over the city that was inhabited below. If one were in the Kingdom, one could have seen this beam from wherever they were within the city. The light from the beam was so bright that it replaced the shine of the sun that entered through the clouds from above temporarily.
The heaven-like beam lasted for twelve seconds.
From where the beam protruded, Havoc stood there with Ulrich still intact right in front of him. He had purposely missed and shot the beam just over Ulrich's head. Because of this, Ulrich had completely passed out in his Primal form. It only took a few seconds for him to revert to his human form shortly afterward.
Havoc then took a few steps back and disengaged his Primal form as well. When he did, he stood there for a second staring at the sky. "Man… I'm tired… I wanna go… home…"
His vision blurred a bit as he closed and opened his eyes a few times before falling to the ground. He had fallen on his back where he had passed out on the spot. Snoring as he laid there.
At this time, on the decimated front court of the Crimson Dragon's castle, the winner of the battle between the two beasts—was Havoc of the Black Wolf Knights.
***
**Atop Ryo's decimated and scorching quarters**
A shadowy figure had appeared behind the girl named Kiki of the Blue Phoenix Knights. It whipped a sinister smile across its face with no other facial features shown from it—no eyes, no nose, nothing but that eerie smile. Its aura, however, was so intense that it was eating away at Kiki's own aura and engulfed the cindered area whole. The aura itself was even more than Ryo's, as it stood above on this giant toon oni wall along with Kiki.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce you to my friend, Ree-Ree!" Kiki said hauntingly, sitting atop the oni wall that was still wailing in agony.
To which Ryo removed his firebolt fist from the part of the demon wall he dented, relaxing his arms back, facing upward at them now. He looked past Kiki and right at the hostile, shadowy figure behind her, not taking his eyes away from it for one second. His Burn Bright Meteor was still active on his fist, flashing red lightning in his surrounding area, cracking and whipping small lightning flames in his wake.
"This is Demi. He's my demon companion. Hehe. Isn't he just the handsomest?" Kiki gestured to the shadow standing behind her. She looked like a psychopath now more than ever.
Ryo, almost disappointed, breathed a heavy sigh. He still didn't remove his eyes from that shadowy figure up there as he did.
"To think that there are mages like yourself who would revert to demon possession for power is quite saddening."
Kiki tilted her head to the side after Ryo said this and wore a slightly confused look on her face. "Hmm? Oh, I didn't do this myself, silly. It was done for me." She had said so casually that it surprised him.
He clicked his tongue, "Who did this? And why would they do this? You poor girl…" A combination of calm and irritation—his feelings contradicting.
"Who do you think, Ree-Ree? Geez, you're asking all the silly questions today, aren't ya?" Kiki gave him those wild and crazed eyes like spirals once more as she said, "It was Syemore, of course."
At this time, Ryo had formed shadows over his eyes; his orange, flame-like hair swayed as he finally looked downward from the shadowy figure he had watched like an eaglehawk. Then, just as swiftly—if a breeze could blink, the shadow, without a hint of notice, hopped right next to him in what seemed like a warp from where it had once been. It placed a gentle hand on Ryo's right shoulder, facing the opposite direction from him. That same wicked smile ran across its lone and hollow face.
"Aw, don't be like that, Ryoku… You're making me feel bad about myself—being here with you all. That's no way to treat a guest in your own home, now is it?" The shadowy figure said, speaking finally. Its voice was familiar…
Ryo fell silent. He didn't even acknowledge the demon there, just centimeters away to his left. Its arm remained crossed over his chest like it could obliterate him at any moment—a display of power.
His eyes were still shadow as it spoke to him. The dark aura was drowning him now; it even put out his Burn Bright Meteor that was still active until just recently. He clenched his fists.
At this moment, his aura that seemed like it was being eaten away started to burn brightly yet again. It burned, and it was like a beacon in the darkness, resembling a blue flame sparking electricity.
"What's this? So you can do it too, huh?" The shadow, Demi, said intriguingly.
The aura had fully meshed with Ryo's physical form. It turned his red and white attire into a glowing blue and white. Like he had become the aura itself as he wore its blue flames on his shoulders and throughout his body. His hair even changed colors from orange to white with blue flame-like tips. His skin hued with the flaming blue color as well, and his yellow fire eyes faded into that same burning blue, completing his new form.
Clouds gathered just around his quarters, entering from the outside; covering this area alone in dark thunderclouds. Their auras clashing, each refusing to let the other overpower it.
Demi hopped away from him a few feet as Ryo completed his transformation.
"Firebolt Magic: Mana Fusion: Zeus and Hades Tempest."
Right then, a blue lightning claymore bolted onto his left hand through the dark thunderclouds. The blade was thick and had Olympus features on it. The hilt of the large sword resembled a pillar from Olympus itself. The blade glowed white and sparked blue lightning from the outer layers of itself, shrouded in blue electricity as it coursed through the blade.
Then Ryo lifted his right hand and the claymore he had left behind, sticking out of the ground toward the center of the room, flew at him at a blazing speed. It crashed into his hand perfectly as its flames burned hot, and it turned his right arm into a flaming red, contrasting the blue aura he was engulfed in.
With a blade of lightning on his left hand and a blade of fire on his right, Ryo glowed in a high-voltage blaze of armor, blessed by the Keeper himself to be the peacekeeper for both elements of fire and lightning. His aura now matched that of the shadowy figure, Demi, who stood before him. Their auras continued to clash atop his once pristine quarters. And in this moment, light and dark now faced each other in battle.