After about twelve hours, the faint glow from the turtle's heart faded completely. Like the rest of the creature's body, it had turned to stone. The terrifying pressure that once radiated from the turtle slowly vanished into nothing.
Draven opened his eyes and let out a long breath. Little Su emerged from his body in her small dragon form, flapping her wings to float before his face.
"Papa, let's go fight that arrogant monkey first. If not for that bastard, we wouldn't have lost so miserably back then," the little dragon said.
Draven calmly used his essence energy to retrieve the three hundred and sixty needles back into his pouch before getting to his feet. He picked up Little Su by the soft skin of her neck and placed her on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. If I survived fighting them all at once, killing one now is not a problem. I am far stronger than before," Draven said. He walked out of the turtle's body and over to the side of the cave.
There, on a stone platform, lay three weapons, their surfaces still marked with bloodstains that gave off a cold glow.
The first was a red sword with a black handle. A split ran down the center of the blade, which pulsed with a red light. The blade was sixty centimeters long and six centimeters wide.
The second was a large war hammer with a slender handle. One side of the head was a massive hammer, the other an axe blade. The handle was black, its edges glowing a ruby red.
The third was a long black stick, about one hundred and fifty centimeters in length, with ten-centimeter ruby-red grips at both ends and in the middle.
"It's been four years since I touched them. Now it seems the time has finally come," Draven said to Little Su with a smile.
He took the sword in his hand and swung it a few times. With a sudden flick, the sword split into two identical sabers. In his hands, the two blades danced like red butterflies. After a few practice swings, he tossed them into the air and extended his palm toward the long stick. It flew into his grip as if pulled by an invisible hand.
"Spear," he said steadily. The two sabers he had tossed into the air flew back and attached to either end of the long stick, forming a double-bladed spear. He spun it like a windmill, practicing his spear arts.
"Bow," Draven commanded mid-swing. The two blades vanished from the spear and reappeared on his left thumb as a black ring. With a flick of his wrist, the spear shifted into the form of a bow, a red string of essence energy materializing as the bowstring. Having no arrows, he simply drew the string to a full moon and released it. "Return."
The stick vanished and reappeared as a second ring on his left index finger.
Next, Draven reached for the hammer, and it flew to his hand. "Split," he said. Two identical, slightly smaller hammer appeared in both of his hands, now a size suitable for dual wielding. After swinging them through the air, he smashed the two hammerheads together, and they merged back into the original, larger weapon.
"Shield," Draven commanded. The hammer broke apart and reassembled into four sixty-centimeter shields that floated before him. He nodded in approval. "Return."
The shields vanished, forming a third ring on the thumb finger of his left hand.
"It's a pity I lost my quiver during our final battle. Otherwise, all my weapons would be with me," Draven said with a sigh.
Little Su rubbed her eyes, looking bored. "It might still be somewhere. Now that we're going to face those bastards, we can look for it."
Draven nodded. "Yeah, let's head to the city. We can also get some fruits on the way. I'm starving."
Little Su rubbed her stomach with a dragon paw and nodded in agreement.
They walked out of the cave in a relaxed manner. Usually, Draven would conceal his aura to avoid alerting his enemies, but this time he made no effort to hide his presence.
Though his steps were casual, a wave of killing intent rolled off him, even more potent than the aura that had once surrounded the turtle. The beasts in the vicinity sensed his overwhelming pressure and fled in fear.
Stroking his white beard, he walked down the mountain toward the ruined city in the distance like a wise old man on a stroll.
After half an hour, Draven reached the half-collapsed city gate. The buildings beyond were all smashed and blanketed in moss and wild plants. In the distance, he could see many beasts moving about. Most were seven-foot-tall, slender monkeys with orange fur and long tails tipped with flames. Among them were regular-sized monkeys and huge apes the size of elephants.
As he neared the city, Draven's mouth curled into a wide grin, but his purple eyes began to turn red.
Deep within him, one of the heads of the three-headed lion statue slowly opened its eyes, which flickered like ruby with red lightning pulsing in it.
"Stupid monkey, come out! Your grandma Little Su is back to settle our old scores!" Little Su jumped down from Draven's shoulder, transformed into her little girl form, and shouted into the city.
Her voice pierced through the cries of the other beasts and echoed across the ruins. The city fell silent for a moment before erupting into chaos. The beasts bared their fangs and charged toward Draven like mad bulls.
"Sword," Draven called out. Two blades appeared in his hands the next second. Cracking his neck, he ran toward the incoming horde like a gust of wind.
As he met the slender monkeys, he rushed past them, his blades dancing. Wherever he went, beasts fell to the ground, cut into two or three pieces. Some flame-tailed monkeys tried to strike him with their fiery fists, but Draven was always gone before their blows could land.
"Spear," Draven shouted as the beasts surrounding him increased in number. Following his command, the long blade in his hand transformed back into the double-bladed spear. He spun the weapon around him like a wind mill, cutting down every beast that dared to get close to him.
Suddenly, a brown ape the size of an elephant raised its fists above its head and smashed down with a thunderous howl.
"Shield," Draven commanded and the ring on his right thump transformed into Four shields which appeared above his head, blocking the massive strike.
He hurled his spear toward another brown ape charging from a distance, then raised his hand. The shields flew back to him, merging into the form of the huge war hammer.