As Lakshman exited out of the house, he found everyone standing around and waiting for him. Smiling, he stepped down the stairs and arrived near where everyone stood before continuing to walk several meters away from them. He came to a stop when he thought they were at a safe distance away before clapping his hands and then touching the ground with them as he said a spell name out loud.

“Summoning Familiars!”

In an instant, two large magic circles appeared and within moments, two large and majestic creatures appeared out of nowhere. The two creatures reared their heads and stretched their bodies while roaring respectively before looking down at their summoners.

“Good morning, master,” greeted the Eternal Phoenix, Phylex, telepathically in a courteous voice. “What did you summon us for?”

“What did you summon me for this time?” the Spirit Dragon, Draga, asked telepathically in an irritated voice.

Phylex turns its large head towards Draga and reproachfully said telepathically, “Draga! Don’t be insolent to our master! The Elemental Lord will be very upset with your behaviour!”

Draga snorted loudly and shook its large head vigorously as if not caring about what Phylex said.

Lakshman looked at Draga momentarily before saying to the both of them, “Draga and Phylex, I want the two of you to stay here and be on guard in case anything bad happens in my absence.”

“Understood, master,” said Phylex obediently, but Draga did not even show any sign as it lowered itself on the ground and went to sleep. Seeding this, Draga got annoyed and said slowly, “Draga…”

“Never mind him. I’m sure he’s just tired,” said Lakshman while he glanced at Draga with a curious expression on his face. “Anyway, I’m leaving the protection of this house in your hands. Don’t let me down.”

At those words, Phylex lifted its head high up and said proudly, “As you wish, master!”

Lakshman nodded in assent before turning back and walking towards where everyone waited. Once he reached them, he extended his hand in front of him and activated a technique by saying the words out loud.

“Transverse Portal.”

In an instant, lightning like current began to emit from the portal as it opened a black hole in mid-air in front of him. He stepped back and gestured for everyone to enter it while he decided to end it last.

“Go on,” he encouraged them with a smile as they hesitated because of the lightning emitted from the portal. “It’s a long range portal and a powerful one that crosses continents, so it’s emits this kind of electricity.”

“Okay,” said Atem and he was the first to walk straight into it without hesitation.

Once he did, the rest followed behind and Lakshman turned around to glance at Draga and Pylex one final time. He was actually staring at Draga more fixedly because the behaviour of the Spirit Dragon concerned him.

“I need to do something about his attitude towards us,” thought Lakshman as he walked into the portal and it closed behind them.

***

Once they arrived at the Dragon Continent, they were surprised to find themselves in the middle of the Dragon Clan populated area. It looked like Lakshman had directly teleported them into the heart of the place the Dragon Clan people live in, which took them by surprise. So, when Lakshman walked out of the portal, they gave him reproachful looks that amused him.

“What?” he asked them with an amused look on his face. “Aren’t you happy we came directly to their living area?”

Sumara shook her head wearily and said, “No! There’s a common curtesy rule that clearly states we should ask for their entry instead of barging in like this.”

Atem turned to her and asked, “Do you think these people would’ve let us enter if we did as you suggested?”

Sumara remained quiet for a moment while Sona responded by saying, “Then, we’ll barge in.”

At those words, Atem made a gesture of “That’s what we’re doing right now.”

“Oh…” said Sonia as realisation dawned on her and she looked amazed. Turning to look around at the area, she asked, “Still, I wonder if we, angels, are okay being here?”

Tetra turned to look at her in surprise and asked, “You and Atem asked us relentlessly to come on this journey. So, why are you suddenly asking so apprehensively for?”

“Just wondering… That’s all…” said Sonia slowly while looking around in awe.

Sumara was also looking around in amazement as she said, “I’m amazed they live surrounded by forests and trees. Such a beautiful and pleasant place to live at.”

Lakshman looked at his wife’s pleasant expression and remembered the place her people used to live in before moving to a remote island. They did it in order to avoid the retaliation of the island dwellers of the Bazaraka Continent because of his actions to fight back against oppression. Despite it being his fault, Sumara did not say a word against him and even thanked him along with her clan in appreciation.

“I should remember to take her to visit her clan once this is over,” thought Lakshman as he made a mental note to make his wife happy.

Silvera was also looking everywhere, but she was not interested in the slightest by the nature’s wonder. She was observing to see where all the dwellers are currently because she could not feel their presence.

“Where’s everyone?” she asked finally out loud and caused her companions to turn towards her. “I don’t sense anyone for a 100 kilometres in all directions. Can you Lucky?”

Lakshman shook his head and said, “I’m guessing they left this portion of the continent and moved elsewhere to avoid receiving a surprise attack from people like us.”

“Is it to do with what happened with you and the Dragon Emperor?” Sumara asked and Lakshman nodded his head in assent. “It’s their fault for attacking Dominic and enraging you by talking about war.”

“Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” said Lakshman and he shrugged his shoulders in resignation as his expression became serious. “Besides, I’m sure they know we’re already here and knowing their sensing capabilities, they’ll be having a welcome party waiting for us with me here.”

“What do you—?” Sonia asked him in a puzzled voice before she stopped speaking while a serious expression formed on his face. She looked up along with everyone and shouted, “We’re under attack from above!”

True to her words, spears and lances of countless numbers began to appear in the sky and rain down on them at great speed. Sonia was the first to react as she extended her wings wide and aimed them up at the sky while raising her hand at the same time.

“Angel Wing Laser.”

In an instant, her wings began to glow before lasers began to fire from them and the attacks soared high into the air at high speed. The spears and lances collided with the lasers and shattered, which caused an explosion to occur in mid-air.

“I see…! Exploding weapons…!” Lakshman said slowly as her attacks destroyed all the weapons. “Good firing, Sonia.”

Over her serious expression, a slight blush appeared on her face from the pride of being complemented by her husband. At that moment, the ground began to shake a little bit before a wall of stone rose out of the ground in a circle, blocking them on all sides.

This time, it was Sumara’s turn to react as she gripped her staff firmly and waved it around before saying quietly, “Water Whirlpool Smash.”

In an instant, magic circles appeared on the ground from outside the circle they stood in. A moment later, water rose out of the ground and formed a defensive like water chain around them against the stone wall. The water swirled around for a few seconds before forcefully smashing itself against the wall and destroying it into pieces before the water scattered everywhere.

As the stone wall crumbled into dust, dragon warriors began to appear from everywhere and they started their assault against Lakshman’s group. The first to meet them head on was Atem as he pulled out his sword and charged at them with such force that startled the enemy warriors in front of him. With strong force, he swung his sword at them and sent the few flying back to land on their feet again.

Within a matter of seconds, their group got surrounded by dragon warriors that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Even in the sky, dragon warriors appeared riding on flying dragons that were a little smaller than the size of the Spirit Dragon, Draga. Lakshman and his group looked around seriously while standing back-to-back against one another.

“I’m guessing this is the welcoming party you’re talking about?” Sumara asked her husband with a small smile on her face.

“Similar,” replied Lakshman with a small smile on his face.

“There’s so many of them! Where’d the hell did they come from all of a sudden?!” Atem exclaimed in shock while looking around.

Lakshman looked around at the enemy warriors and said, “My guess is that their magic user cast an undetectable presence spell on them until they decided to launch their sudden attack on us.”

“No matter, we’ll still succeed!” Sonia said firmly with a determined expression on her face.

Lakshman nodded and said, “We will, but let’s give them a chance to give up. It’s only fair.” With them all agreeing with him, Lakshman used Amplification spell on his voice and said in a loud clear voice, “Listen, Dragon Clan warriors! We didn’t come here to pick a fight with you. We’re here for the Dragon Titan, so let us pass and we will not need to hurt you!”

His words were met with a roaring disdain from the crown of enemy warriors from the ground and in from the sky as they that did not care much for his words. This angered Tetra, Silvera, Sumara and Sonia very much and they instantly began to surge with power while radiating in their respective Elemental Glow as they readied for battle.

“Lucky, you stay back and let us handle these bastards,” said Sonia quietly with an angry look on her face as she stared at the warriors flying on dragons. “Atem, come with me!”

It was an order and not waiting for his response, Sonia roared into the air to battle the warriors. Surprised at her sudden order, Atem began to surge with power and rocketed after her as fast as he could to join in the battle. Meanwhile, Sumara, Tetra and Silvera stared around at the enemy warriors with anger being shown on their faces without restraint.

“Let’s get them!” Silvera said loudly. She aimed her hand at one group of the warrior before shouting, “Dark Burst!”

In an instant, a black sphere erupted from her hand and soared towards the warriors at high speed and exploded upon contact, causing a wild force of wind to blow in all directions. The warriors defend with their shields and were blown backwards, but they managed to land on their feet and charged towards them at high speed.

As the incoming enemies drew nearer, Tetra aimed her hand at them and shouted, “Hell Fire Ball!”

In an instant, a powerful fire ball was unleashed and it soared towards the warriors before exploding. As the wind blew wildly, the warriors continued to head towards them at high speed and drew nearer. They were roaring like the dragons that are raised in their clan.

This time, it was Sumara who stepped forward and said with her hand aimed at them, “Rock Wall.”

In an instant, magic circles appeared on the ground in front of where the warriors before walls rose out of the ground. The dragon warriors smashed through the walls and stumbled before falling to the ground while many more continued to jump over their comrades in a charge to attack their enemies.

“Dragon Sphere!”

“Dragon Strike!”

“Dragon Rush!”

“Dragon Smash!”

The charging dragon warriors shouted individual techniques and began to launch different kind of energy attacks at them. Sumara reacted instantly and used Reinforce to create a powerful barrier that blocked all of their attacks. The Dragon Rush techniques hastened the warriors’ speed and they reached the women within seconds.

Sumara tapped the ground and said, “Earth Mother Strike.”

In an instant, magic circles formed all around them and golems began to rise out of the ground and as soon as they appeared, the golems began to attack the dragon warriors. In the meanwhile, Tetra and Silvera summoned their blades out of thin air and began to attack the warriors at close range. Lakshman was the only one left who was doing absolutely nothing, but staring at what was happening before him.

“Um… You know that I can beat these guys in a matter of seconds… Right…?” he asked, but there was no one to listen to him and he sighed heavily. He looked at his fighting wives and muttered, “They don’t listen to me when they’re seriously angry… Oh well…”

He shrugged his shoulders in resignation and thought, “I hope Dominic is having better luck than me.”

He soon found out an hour later as his wives, getting battle worn, gathered around him while the largely decreased numbers of the enemies surrounded them. Both sides were tired from fighting for so long, but neither side was willing to step down or surrender, even if it cost them their lives.

“These guys sure are tough!” Atem exclaimed in a frustrated voice as he stared around at them in frustration. “Why won’t they just go down like any other enemy?”

“It’s because… they’re part of the Dragon Clan,” explained Sumara as she breathed quickly to recover her breath. “They… have this Dragon Blood that makes them tough as rocks and very difficult to defeat by regulars. You’d have to be King Ranked or higher to take them on by yourself.”

“Yeah, but even with our combined strength, they’re still difficult to go down! It doesn’t make sense!” Atem said in frustration.

Sonia looked around at the enemy warriors and said, “I think the armour they’re wearing has something to do with their durability and stamina. They’re probably the Dragon Armour we’ve been told about in classes up a few years back in the history lesson.”

“Anyone… have any ideas… on how to get out of this… situation…?” Silvera asked in a tired voice.

Lakshman was exasperated by them and he said sternly, “All of you rush off into battle without a plan of action! This is the result of your lack of planning! Emilia will be most disappointed to see you acting like little children to let your angry feelings control your sense of judgement.”

They all looked a little ashamed of themselves and Sumara said slowly, “I’m sorry…”

Lakshman sighed and shook his head when, all of a sudden, everyone felt a powerful surge of energy from somewhere far away. They all turned towards that direction with looks of surprise and amazement as none of them had ever felt such tremendous release of power before. None of them had yet to experience the hidden depth of power Lakshman had to release, so it was first time for all of them.

“Whoa! That’s a lot of power!” Atem said sharply with a look of amazement on his face. “I wonder whose it is.”

“Mmm… I get a distinct feeling it’s Dominic’s energy we sense,” said Sumara with a look of concern on her face.

“Dominic? Dominic Rutherford? You mean the Sword Titan?!” Atem exclaimed in disbelief.

As Sumara nodded her head, Tetra also confirmed by saying, “It’s him alright, but I never sensed this much power from him before.”

“I know right!” Silvera said in awe as she had trouble believing it was really him. “He’s a human and yet, he’s so powerful!”

“Why’s the surprise? HE’s one of the Nine Pillars of Power,” said Sonia as if that made all the doubts go away.

“Yeah,” said Lakshman simply as he looked in the direction his best friend’s energy was coming from with a proud smile on his face.

He smiled and said, “Well then, Dominic won his battle and it is time I win mine.” He turned around to face the Dragon Clan warriors and said, “You will tell me what I want to know.”

Lakshman finished with a small smile on his face while wearing a dangerous look on his face that made the warriors gulp in nervousness. His wives and Atem were also a little bit scared by the ominous power he was releasing and the danger signals going off in their minds. All of their instincts were screaming at them because of how fearful they felt towards the Phoenix Titan.

“W-We’re not telling you anything!” one of the enemy warriors shouted at him. “The Dragon Emperor ordered us to slay you and all your comrades on sight! It is our duty to protect ourselves and that means you—!”

“—go away!” finished Lakshman, who suddenly appeared standing right before the enemy warrior.

“Ah!”

The warrior cried out in surprise before it turned into shock as Lakshman delivered a powerful punch into the armour where the gut was. A powerful shock wave was released and the armour cracked several times before exploding into pieces. At the same time, the powerful force hit the warrior full in the gut and it sent him flying away for several meters smashing through trees before coming to a stop.

“I went easy on him so he doesn’t die on me,” said Lakshman quietly as he straightened up and turned to face the rest. “Want to talk or want to see my fist?”

The dragon warriors were stunned and rendered speechless because the strongest armour in the world could not handle his might. Even his wives and Atem were rendered speechless because of how easily he demolished the armour and sent the man flying away into the forest.

The warriors’ shock turned into a fit of rage at seeing one of them being smashed away with such ruthless force. They, immediately, began to focus their attacks on him and released energy attacks all at once, which created a large explosion that released wild blowing wind in all directions. As the smoke slowly cleared, they were surprised to see Lakshman standing still without a scratch on him, although, his clothes were a little burned.

He had his eyes closed, but he opened them and said, “My turn.”

In an instant, he disappeared and began to smash his hand on the side of each and every warrior he reached. His movement was so fast that no one could follow him while individuals became to fall to the ground due to the unconscious state they were put into by the blow he delivered. In a matter of seconds, all the warriors were dealt with and Lakshman landed on his feet before breathing a heavy sigh.

“Numbskulls. No matter the years; idiots will be idiots,” muttered Lakshman as he looked around at the horde of unconscious bodies. He suddenly sensed someone’s presence nearby and he instantly turned in that direction, formed a medium sized energy ball in his hand and shouted firmly, “Come out now or I’ll blow you away!”

There were a few seconds of silence before a man walked out of the forest and it turned out to one of the Dragon Kings. Gurret, the Earth Dragon King, stood before Lakshman with an air that clearly stated that he was not there to pick a fight with him.

“Sorry for this trouble, but the Dragon Emperor ordered the royal guard to attack you without the Dragon Kings’ knowledge,” stated Gurrent telepathically to him. “Please forgive them because it wasn’t their fault. If we had known of your arrival, we wouldn’t have let this happen.”

Lakshman remained silent and stared at him for a moment while Atem exclaimed, “You’re sorry? These people came to kill us and you’re simply brushing it all away with a simple ‘sorry’?!”

“Calm down, Atem,” said Lakshman and Atem looked surprised. “He truly means it.”

“Huh?” Atem said in surprise and his reaction was shared by Sonia. “How do you know that?”

“Elemental Sense,” said Lakshman quietly and they looked surprised. “Not only does it senses the presence of living creatures, but it also detects whether someone is lying or not.”

“Oh…” said Atem slowly in amazement. He immediately grew concerned and asked, “Couldn’t it be hoodwinked or fooled?”

Lakshman shook his head and said, “I was asked that numerous times a long time ago and I’ll repeat; it cannot be fooled. Elemental Sense tells no lies and cannot be fooled.”

Atem blinked at him in amazement while Sonia, impressed, said with a smile on her face, “Wow… That’s one handy technique you have, Lucky.”

Lakshman smiled and said, “Of course, it has its other uses, but there’s no point spilling all of its secrets in front of an enemy.”

“Please forgive us. We’re not your enemy,” said Gurrent telepathically in an apologetic voice. “To compensate, we’ll allow you to visit our capital area. In fact, I’ll transport you to an area hidden from plain sight where we’ve established our capital.”

“Thanks,” said Lakshman as he was grateful for the helpful hand. He glanced around at the unconscious bodies and asked, “What about them?”

“My men will take care of them,” replied Gurrent and he looked over his shoulders.

There were four people standing behind him wearing robe like clothing that clearly showed that they were magicians. They nodded at him and moved forward to begin using recovery magic on the fallen warriors. Meanwhile, Lakshman and his group gathered next to Gurrent and placed a hand on Lakshman’s shoulder, who in turn placed his on Gurrent’s shoulder.

They disappeared into thin air and the next second, they appeared standing in a large room with seats and a throne like structure at the front. The seats were occupied by the ministers of different areas of the Dragon Continent that each colony of the Dragon Clan members are separated into. Sitting atop the high throne chair was the Dragon Emperor, who the Phoenix Titan had a fierce encounter a while ago.

One of the men stood up and shouted, “Gurret! How dare you bring this man and his compatriots into this sacred place! Do you know what you’ve done?! Who gave you permission to bring him here and what happened to the army we sent to destroy them?!”

Gurrent looked at them seriously and telepathically said, “I, no, we should be the ones asking you the questions! How dare you perform actions without the approval of the Dragon Emperor and the Four Dragon Kings?! You better watch what you have to say from here onwards, old man!”

The minister looked shocked and he exclaimed, “How dare you?! I’m one of the Dragon Council that make the decisions in correspondence with the Dragon Emperor!”

“Yet, you’ve clearly forgotten about us Four Dragon Kings,” said a familiar voice from behind.

Lakshman and the others looked towards the entrance to see three other Dragon Kings have entered the room. The speaker was the Air Dragon King, Aidek and walking behind him was the Water Dragon King, Waddit and the Fire Dragon King, Fizard. They walked to the front of Lakshman’s group and stared fiercely at the group of people sitting on their chairs.

Aidek wore a serious expression on his face as he said, “The Dragon High Council does take into consideration of daily goings on in our community and stay in correspondence with the Dragon Emperor for his decisions. However, everyone seems to keep forgetting that we, the Four Dragon Kings, have the final say in things no matter the priority they have.”

Another minister shouted, “Are you saying the authority of four men is greater than the authority of the Dragon Emperor?!”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” replied Aidek firmly. “What I’m asking is why were we not informed about such a really powerful decision to attack the Phoenix Titan and his comrades upon their arrival on our continent?”

As the ministers were left wondering how to answer that question, the Dragon Emperor spoke himself and said, “I told them to not inform you four of this matter.”

“You did?” Waddit asked in surprise, which was a reaction shared by the other three Dragon Kings.

Lakshman nodded his head slightly and thought, “I thought as much. The Four Dragon Kings didn’t strike me as the kind of people to attack someone when they know that someone is unbelievably powerful. It had to be this bastard.”

The Dragon Emperor nodded and said, “In our last encounter with the Phoenix Titan, I became concerned that the four of you were working for him because of how favourably you spoke of him.”

Fizard reacted angrily and shouted, “That’s because he would’ve destroyed us if we treated him as aggressively as you did at that time! We still haven’t been able to repair the destroyed castle and the trees from the aftermath of his single punch and yet, you decided to move us out here!”

As the Dragon Emperor became engrossed in a sudden fit of coughing, Lakshman chuckled inwardly and thought, “Haha. So, that’s the reason… He’s so ashamed of his failure, he moved his entire area to here to clearly try and forget that incident.”

“Why don’t we return to the main topic at hand?” the Dragon Emperor asked as he diverted their topic back to its original course. “I became concerned about the four of you and suspected that you’re working for him while pretending to be allies of the Dragon Clan.”

The Four Dragon Kings were shocked as the ministers began to shout, “Traitors! Traitors!”

“I’m not a traitor, dammit!” Fizard yelled above them all and made them go quiet in an instant.

“That’s right! We’re part of the Dragon Clan and we serve this clan like so many did before us that attained our titles!” Waddit said firmly as he stared around at the ministers incredulously.

“That man you’re shielding is going to bring destruction to this world!” the Dragon Emperor said in a powerful voice that rang in the throne room. “You’re shielding the enemy of this world that caused it to quake for what he and his clan did in the ancient times!”

“Those were ancient stories and have nothing to do with the present time,” replied Aidek and surprised Lakshman quite a bit. “Besides, he didn’t come here to fight, he came to recruit a warrior belonging to a group he was positioned as the leader of; the Nine Pillars of Power.”

Those words shocked everyone and this included Lakshman and his group as well. The Phoenix Titan could not believe what he just heard and he stared at the Four Dragon Kings standing in front of him.

“H-How…?” he asked hesitantly in a surprised voice. “How did you know that I was…?”

Waddit turned to him and smiled before he said calmly, “The Spirits informed us.”

“The Spirits?” Lakshman asked and his eyes widened in surprise as he realised something. “Don’t tell me that you can…?”

Waddit nodded in agreement and said, “That’s right. Those, who have attained the title of the Dragon King, have the power to communicate with the Spirits, though we cannot actually see them.”

“That was how we four knew of your arrival,” said Gurrent telepathically to them. “The spirits informed of your arrival, the danger you were in and the purpose you were here for. So, I quickly gathered the other three and headed out to reach you before anything bad happened, but I should’ve known. You are truly strong compared to a time when you almost as strong as us a while back.”

Lakshman blinked at them in amazement and turned to look curiously at the Fire Dragon King, who was not looking at him. Sensing that someone was looking at him, Fizard turned around and noticing Lakshman, he grunted and spoke in a quiet voice.

“Look. I don’t like you, but I don’t have anything personal against you. If what the Spirits said is true about you helping the world, then I’m willing to help you out.”

Lakshman was overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of having four of the clan strongest dragon warriors as his allies. He always believed the Phoenix Clan and the Dragon Clan would never get along in the ancient times because of the power struggle between him and the Dragon Emperor at that time. So, seeing that four of the strongest warriors wishing to help made him feel very happy.

“Thank you, Dragon Kings,” thanked Lakshman from deep within his heart as he meant it. He looked at the flustered Dragon Emperor and formed a serious expression on his face as he said loudly, “I don’t have time to waste talking to you all day long! So, why don’t you tell me what I want to know and I’ll be on my way.”

The Dragon Emperor was shocked by his seriously powerful words and he said angrily, “How dare you speak so blatantly to me! This’ll mean—!”

“War...?” Lakshman had asked slowly as he cut across the Dragon Emperor while narrowing his eyes wearing a dangerous expression on his face. “Do you want try again and feel what war feels like…?”

He had asked it in a quiet voice, but the powerful depth of his words hit the ministers and the Dragon Emperor like an energy cannon that could destroy them. Fear began to erupt inside all of them and the ministers, along with everyone turned to look at the Dragon Emperor. With all eyes on him, the Dragon Emperor became agitated as he remained seated on his throne chair.

“W-What…?” the Dragon Emperor asked and Lakshman smiled triumphantly as he realised the manwas overcome with fear and will answer any of his questions.

So, Lakshman took a deep breath and asked, “Where is the Dragon Gate?”

The Dragon Emperor remained silent for a moment before he replied, “I don’t know.”

Author's Note

Hey everyone and thanks for reading the chapter! I released it as quickly as I could because I thought people would be waiting for another while for the next release. This is kind of pace at which I used to release until I got work, overcome with it and was too tired to get into the mood to write. So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter like me and will look forward to more as the story continues!