Dragna City, Dragna Empire.

“Aeon.”

Aeon was walking down the halls of the royal palace when he was called out by someone.

“Lady Kimiko.”

“I told you to call me, Grandma.”

“Sorry, it slips my mind every now and again. I thought that you would be watching Miko and the others fight, Grandma.”

“I was but then I realized that you were unaccounted for so I came to check on you.”

“In other words, I can’t be left alone for too long so you came to make sure that I’m not up to something.”

“No, I was checking on you.”

“So checking on me mattered more than watching your flesh and blood doing battle against opponents can easily kill them if they aren’t careful? Oddly, I don’t buy that.”

Aeon smiled.

“It’s fine, really. Considering who I was raised by it’s obvious that I would be monitored.”

“….Why aren’t you watching the battle?”

“Because I already know how it will go. Dragon Storm will be completely destroyed, Klaus and Zora will lose, and it will be Miko’s complete victory.”

“How do you know that they will be destroyed? Only Tang and Fang Xian are taking part in the battle. The other three executives aren’t. So even if those two are killed Dragon Storm can live on.”

“Like I said, Dragon Storm will be completely destroyed. No exception.”

Kimiko became silent for a bit.

“Did you do something?”

“I don’t need to. Someone else will deal with it and it isn’t a member of your family so don’t bother trying to guess.”

Kimiko frowned at Aeon’s words but he continued regardlessly.

“But If Gramps didn’t interfere, I would’ve to step in and destroy Dragon Storm myself since the battle was getting out of hand.”

“Your duty as Mamushi’s head huh?”

Aeon nodded.

“But I have to admit, I kinda do want to see some of the battles despite knowing the results.”

“I doubt you’re interested in Miko’s battle, so it must be those three.”

Aeon nodded.

“I must give Miko’s props. Recruiting those three was a smart move. They’re three monsters in the making.”

Aeon shook his head.

“One of them can be already classified as a monster through and through. It’s just the other two who needs that final push to defy common sense.”

A grin appeared on his face.

“I kinda wish I could witness the moment they transcend, in the flesh.”

********

*Bam!*

At the west end of the city, an intense and chaotic battle was underway.

*Bam!*

A wall of ice suddenly burst out of the ground and destroyed several old buildings while chasing its prey.

“That was close.”

Sora landed on top of a building after avoiding being hit by the ice attack.

“?!”

He accelerated and moved away from where he was.

*Bam!*

Something fell from the sky and destroyed the building he was on. He looked at the dust cloud created by the buildings destruction. He saw a silhouette in the cloud approaching him. It didn’t take long for the silhouette to come out the dust cloud and make their identity clear.

“Your incredibly sharp reflexes are surprising no matter how many times I see it.”

The one who said that was the Dragonman from the Black Bone Tribe and Zora’s #1 Apostle, Laz.

*Bam!*

While he was walking towards Sora, he was hit by a truck-sized chunk of ice.

“It looks like your reflexes aren’t that great.”

It was a young woman who had a cold aura around her and with brown hair and fierce feline-like blue eyes. This was Tang’s Apostle, Xue Yu.

“I saw no need to block something that couldn’t even hurt me.”

Laz said as he stood there unmoved despite being attacked.

“You damn Lizard!”

Xue Yu created a giant iceberg above her head and threw it towards Laz, who jumped in the air and smashed it with his fist. After destroying the iceberg he saw a dozen giant ice arrows coming at him.

“?!”

He was about to destroy them when he felt danger coming from behind. He didn’t need to turn around to know that Sora was coming. He released his wings and flew higher in the air to avoid being sandwiched. He looked down and saw Sora with darkness flowing from his body. He didn’t change his path despite missing Laz.

“Black Sound Mode: Black Sound Barrier plus Dark Tempo!”

A black barrier formed around Sora, that barrier blocked the ice arrows as he made his way to Xue Yu.

“Black Beat!”

Black waves rushed out of Sora’s palm and charged towards Xue Yu, who suddenly felt like her body being crushed.

“Ahh!”

She screamed and started retreating with all she had. The buildings around her started crumbling one after the other.

“Hm?”

Sora looked up and saw Laz descending towards him while throwing a punch.

“Black Resound!”

He thrust his palm upwards and his attack clashed with Laz’s.

*Bam!*

Laz was shocked to see his attack stopped by Sora.

“Your attack is heavy, but after fighting Kaido it’s nothing special.”

“Encasement!”

Sora was suddenly trapped in a block of ice. Seeing his chance, Laz slammed his fist on the ice and hit Sora out of it. He then chased after him and followed up with a kick to the side.

“Ugh?!”

Sora’s body bounced off the ground a few times before he was crushed under a giant iceberg.

“………”

“………”

Laz and Xue Yu looked at each other with strange looks. Despite being enemies they just teamed up to defeat someone. It would feel awkward to try and kill each other….If they were actually that naïve.

“Encasement!”

Laz moved out of the way to avoid being trapped in a block ice. He shot towards Xue Yu like a bullet. Xue Yu erected dozens of ice walls to stop his charge.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

Laz broke through them one after the other and quickly made his way to Xue Yu. He threw a kick at her head, but she ducked under it and grabbed his leg and slammed him on the ground so hard it broke.

“Just because I prefer fighting long range battles doesn’t mean that I’m no good in hand to hand combat.”

*Bam!*

Laz twisted his body and slammed his leg against her head.

“I never thought you were.”

Xue Yu’s body was forced to the ground, while Laz stood back up and lifted her off the ground with a kick.

“Ugh!”

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked and saw that his leg was filled with ice spikes.

(She created spikes around her in the last second every time I attacked her and used them to cushioned the blow!)

His leg became numbed. He could see his leg being covered by frost.

“!”

His eyes started glowing red and flames appeared around his leg and got rid of the frost. He looked up and saw Xue Yu standing in front of him with a wicked smile on her face.

“Die!”

“You took the words out of my mouth.”

Sora appeared between the two of them and placed his palms on their chests.

“Black Medley!”

*BAM!*

“Cough?!”

The two were blown into the distance after get hit by powerful sound waves. Blood gushed out of their mouths like hoses. Their organs were a mess and were all on the verge of failing. With their lives in sudden peril their survival instincts kicked in. Their bodies suddenly transformed to take their true forms.

Laz turned into a red-scaled Dragonman, while Xue Yu’s body became more muscular, and was covered by white and black fur. She grew a tail, fangs, and claws. She was a Catwoman model: Snow Leopard Beastman.

The two landed on their feet breathing heavily.

“Tsk. The fact that Beastmen can instantly recover from even severe injuries just by transforming is practically cheating.”

Sora clicked his tongue and pulled out something out of his pocket. It was a metal cylinder object. He squeezed it and it extended and turned into a spear.

“Since you’ve both taken your beast forms I won’t be holding back any longer.”

Darkness started emitting from the spear along a buzzing sound.

“I almost died just now…”

Xue Yu looked shaken up by her close death experience.

“I have a proposal.”

Laz spoke to her.

“Currently I think it’s fair to assume that he’s hard to handle on our own. One clean attack is all he needs to kill us. So I propose a temporary alliance. We’ll return to being enemies the moment we kill him. Agreed?”

“…..Agreed.”

The two locked their eyes on Sora like he was their prey. In response, he smiled and spun his spear.

“Two beasts against one human? Interesting.”

Laz and Xue Yu ignored him and rushed at him together.

“It’s time for the hunt. Dark Tempo!”

He shot forward and charged into the path of the beasts coming for his head. He thrust his spear and dark waves shot out of it and caused a rumbling sound. Xue Yu blocked the waves with a thick wall of ice which were immediately destroyed when they came in contact with it. Lax rushed out from behind the huge chunks of ice and attacked Sora with a swing of his claws.

*Bam!*

Despite blocking his attack with his spear, Sora was forced to retreat to lessen the blow. Laz chased after him and spit red hot flames out of his mouth. The flames were like a fiery storm rushing towards Sora.

“Black Thrust!”

A black beam fired out of spear and bore through the flames, preventing them from hitting Sora. He leaped into the air and thrust his spear in the air. Suddenly Xue Yu appeared out of nowhere with a cut on her face. It looked like she barely avoided getting hit.

“Trying to sneak up on a sound magic user is useless. We’re practically human sonar radars.”

“We’ll take note of that.”

Laz flew towards him with his body covered in flames. Sora thrust his spear towards his head. However, his spear was blocked by the flames around him.

“The flames are hard?”

It felt like he hit a rock.

“Ugh!”

Laz didn’t stop his charge and kept pushing. Sora couldn’t stop him with his spear so he was being forced back. His feet dig into the earth in an attempt to stop himself but he couldn’t.

“Resound!”

He used his feet to create a blast of sound to blow himself back and gain breathing space.

*Spark!*

That’s when he saw a spark of lightning flashed in front of him. To his surprise, Xue Yu was in front of him.

(She can use lightning techniques?!)

Sora didn’t have time to react. Xue Yu grabbed him by the face and agonizing static ran through his body.

“Ahhh!”

He screamed out in pain. Xue Yu flung him over her shoulder and into the path of a burning Laz.

*Bam!*

Lax slammed his fist in his stomach.

“Ignition Burst!”

*BOOM!*

Sora was devoured by an explosion of flames.

*Crackling!*

The sky suddenly became overcast and a giant bolt of lightning fell upon Sora causing an explosion of flames and thunder.

“S-Sonar Cannon!”

*Bam!*

Laz was suddenly hit by a blast of compressed sound, in the midsection.

“Guah!”

He fell on his knees.

“He’s still not dead!”

The sky opened up and a gigantic ball of hail emerged from behind the cloud.

“Ice Meteor!”

The gigantic ice accelerated towards the city and fell on top the area where Laz and Sora was.

*BOOM!*

The impact caused hundreds of buildings to be blown to pieces and the place was leveled with the exception of a huge crater in the ground.

“We got him.”

Xue Yu said while holding Laz who she saved from the impact. She saw Sora laying in the center of the gigantic crater.

“…….”

He was still conscious but his body was in terribly shape.

(One moment of carelessness and I end up in this situation…..So this is war?)

Every part of his body was aching yet he was a bit intrigued. Even he found it strange.

“I must’ve gone crazy from being in the Ruined World too long. Or maybe it’s Miko that’s rubbing off on me.”

He tried to get up.

*Bam!*

But he was forced back down by Laz who fell from the sky and hit him with all of his weight behind it.

“You pretty tough despite how you look.”

He looked down on Sora who was showing a bloody smile.

“Maybe you guys just suck at killing people.”

*Bam!*

Laz punched him across the face.

“…..Yup. It’s definitely Miko that’s rubbing off on me.”

He regretted talking back even in his situation. Even so, he spoke.

“Say, I’m curious. Why are you in this battle?”

He said to Laz.

“What?”

“I’ve met Zora, even tried to kill him. I know of his wish to become the strongest dragon, but there’s other ways to do it. He didn’t need to join this battle since this was originally between us and Dragon Storm. I can only think that he was dragged into this by Klaus, and you guys were dragged in by extension. So what’s there for you to put your life on the line for?”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to make you doubt this battle. If you the #1 Apostle gives up then Zora will be disqualified.”

Xue Yu said. She didn’t think she can take Sora on her own, so she needed Laz for the time being.

“Well, if you did give up that’ll make things easier on us so I won’t deny her words. However, I merely am curious about your resolve in all this. I’ll ask again. What are you putting your life on the line for?”

Laz saw a strange look in Sora’s eyes. It was like he was looking deep into his soul. It creeped him out really.

“Encasement!”

Sora was suddenly trapped in a block of ice.

“We have to kill him now.”

Xue Yu walked towards the two of them with lightning sparks coming off her.

“Let’s kill-”

*Bam!*

The ice trapping Sora shattered, interrupting Xue Yu.

“It’s rude to interrupt someone.”

Sora said.

*Bam!*

Laz was blown off him by a blast of sound. However, he didn’t suffer much damage.

“The fact that you hesitated means that you have your doubts about this whole thing.”

Sora stood up with his body trembling from either the cold or pain.

“Miko gave only me and Ace instructions when it came to this battle. Everyone else was given the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Do you know what his instructions were?”

Neither Laz or Xue Yu answered. So Sora answered his own question.

“Do what you believe will be the most beneficial to Renacido. That’s his instructions. After thinking it over, if we were to kill off Klaus and Zora, the Black Bone Tribe and the Vritra Empire who we have no previous relations with will be our enemy. Miko is fine with taking on the whole world but I’m not. I think that the smart thing to do is to avoid making more enemies when it’s possible. This battle is one of those times.”

Sora looked Laz.

“Zora cannot defeat Miko. You cannot defeat me, so since I’m trying to keep the chaos under control, it will be great if you guys pull out.”

He looked at Xue Yu.

“Dragon Storm on the other hand must be eradicated in this battle. This isn’t an option.”

To Xue Yu, his gaze and tone was colder than the ice she used.

“W-What are you talking about? You’re on the verge of collapsing as we speak.”

“Stupid Cat, is that how I look to you? Trust me, I can still kill you both in my current condition. Why? Because I’m stronger than both of you put together.”

“I refuse.”

Laz suddenly said.

“Why?”

“You’re underestimating Zora. He will emerge victorious. I will not tolerate such disrespect.”

“Blinded by loyalty huh?”

“Not loyalty, familial love. I know what my little brother is capable of.”

“Tang won’t lose either. He was trained by my grandfather and a little brother I’m proud off!”

“Oh? So we’re all convinced that our little brothers will win.”

Sora chuckled a bit.

“If our positions were different I think we could’ve gotten along as fellow elder siblings.”

The smile dropped from his face.

“Unfortunately, only death awaits you two. It might be tough, but as long as Zora is alive we can avoid making the Black Bone Tribe our enemies even if I accidentally kill you.”

Laz and Xue Yu suddenly noticed a change in Sora’s aura.

“But it’s pretty sad regardlessly. Which is why this form is the most fitting.”

As he finished saying those words, tears stared flowing from his eyes. Laz and Xue Yu were shocked when they saw that. But it wasn't the tears that shocked them.What shocked them was the color of the tears.

They were black. Streams of black liquid flowed down Sora's cheeks.

“Say, Do you two know the story of Orpheus?”

They didn't answer, they just dumbfoundedly stared at Sora, who looked like he was dimming.

“He was the son of the Olympian Sun God, Apollo, who was also the God of music and poetry. His mother was Calliope, the muse of epic poetry. Oh, the muses were nine goddess that resided over songs, science, and liberal arts by the way.”

His skin paled and turn ash white.

“As one would expect, Orpheus was born with a heavenly talent for music and storytelling; and could move the hearts of man, beasts, spirits, and even gods.”

His bright blue eyes dulled, as if it was a sky that suddenly became overcast.

“He was loved and praised by all, and lived a happy life filled with adventure. He even married a beautiful wife.”

His hair lost its vibrant blonde color, and almost looked gray.

“However, his life was soon filled with sorrow. You see, his wife was bitten by a snake and died when fleeing from an admirer. Orpheus joyful songs that moved the hearts of all living things, soon became so depressing that even the heavens wept for his lost.”

His body started oozing a dark gloomy aura , which made anyone who look at him feel unimaginable sorrow.

“The gods, unable to bear seeing him like that gave him a chance to regain his beloved wife. Orpheus went down to the underworld where he sung songs of sorrow that made the gloomy underworld even gloomier. His tune caused everyone to weep; he even Hades himself, he couldn't bear it anymore and gave him back his wife. However, Hades gave her back with the condition that Orpheus mustn't look back at her on their journey back to world of the living. Unfortunately, on their way back, Orpheus became impatient and forgot the deal with Hades, and turned back to check if his wife was still following him.”

The black tears flowed twice as hard from his eyes until a puddle formed under his feet.

“When his eyes met with his beloved, she instantly vanished like smoke and died a second time. He tried to reclaim her again but failed. The heartbroken Orpheus, then lived an unhappy life singing sorrowful tones that made all who heard them weep.”

The blood all over his body also turned black and increased his dreadful appearance.

“In the end, he was ripped to pieces by a group of drunken women who failed in their attempt to receive his love.”

Sora slowly walked towards the two of them and said-

“Sad isn't it?”

The current Sora didn't resemble the living at all; he looked like a mourning soul that desperately escaped from Hades’ grasp.

He looked up at Laz and Xue Yu and showed a handsome yet sorrowful smile, with his arm spread wide.

“This is my ultimate technique inspired by the life of that pitiful musician.”

The howling of the dead resounded through the area.

“I call it…”

Fear filled the two’s heart as they looked at the personification of sorrow in front of them.

“Requiem De Orpheus.”