Lord Bane hovered above the dojo while the forces of Order battled against Hleandros. He was invisible to all mortals below, including me. He had been content to watch the fight from a distance at his home in the Plane of Fire when the demigod saw that Kalistro had inflicted a ridiculous 500 points of damage against the dragon. At that moment, Bane knew that the young rascal will most likely die if the fight continued its course.

The demon lord took a moment to ponder his response. Should he intervene to save the dragon? Or should he allow a powerful minion of Chaos to be defeated? Furthermore, Bane was certain that the Gamemaster himself was watching this fight. After all, there were no other dragons on the continent of Britannia currently. And very few mortals were brave or foolish enough to fight a dragon. Surely, the enigmatic overlord wouldn't miss this show!

As Bane considered this dilemma of personal intervention or not, his attention was abruptly drawn to another part of Britannia. To be specific, Chester. There, an intense battle was raging between a human fighter and a clan of ogres! The demigod was perplexed by this turn of event. How foolish for one swordsman to take on a dozen ogres by himself!

With his divine vision, Bane stared at the human for a moment to read his caption. The man's name was "Arthur William de Vere." The demon lord immediately recognized the man as the other Player Character roaming Britannia, along with me. The demon lord was flabberghasted as to why Arthur had wandered north, to a more dangerous part of the continent.

Arthur was currently in a berserk state, which permitted him to ignore pain while doing extra damage to his enemies. But turning berserk was a double-edged sword; taking too many hits from the remaining ogres, Arthur was in danger of dying! Although the man was as strong as a bull and healthy as the proverbial ox, he was still just one man. His piecemeal armor was being battered and crushed with every hit from his enemies. Even worse, the berserker made zero attempts to evade those hits!

"Why aren't the other Chaotic Gods doing anything?" Bane muttered. While the gods were forbidden by the Gamemaster from interfering directly with mortals in general, the overlord granted some flexibility for the Gods to guide mortals of similar alignment to their own. At that moment, Lord Bane decided to make a gambit and push this rule to its limit. His rationale of acting to save Arthur was legitimate and perfectly defensible to the Gamemaster should the overlord make an inquiry of Bane's actions.

Bane focused his attention back to the fight below, where the red dragon's health was rapidly dropping to zero. He waited patiently for the inevitable.

When Kalistra killed Hleandros, the dragon's malevolent soul departed from its mortal shell.

At that exact moment in time, Bane snatched the soul with his hand and then teleported to the Chamber of Eternity, where the Gamemaster held court. Upon his arrival, the demigod knelt before the overlord and waited patiently until he was acknowledged.

"Yes?" the Gamemaster said after a few moments had passed. As usual, he was sitting at a small table and hunched over his favorite chessboard.

"Gamemaster, I'm sure you are aware that the Player Character and candidate for Champion of Chaos, Arthur William de Vere, is dying. I seek your permission to intervene in this matter," the demigod said.

"How?"

Bane held out his hand. The soul of Hleandros hovered in the air. "By fusing the soul of this red dragon with the soul of Arthur, who is also known as the Pendragon Reborn. It will be an apt title after his rebirth."

The Gamemaster stroked his white beard as he considered the request. The proposed fusion of souls was a Forbidden Art even to the gods. Hence, the decision by Bane to seek the overlord's special permission. The Gamemaster surveyed the continent for other candidates for the prestigious title of 'Champion of Chaos' but found none. Thus, the overlord had no choice but to grant this request in order to permit the Player Character to survive. Otherwise, the one candidate acknowledged becoming the Champion of Order will be unchallenged for kingship over Britannia. Frankly, that would be a most unpleasant outcome for the bored Gamemaster. "Granted."

Lord Bane jumped to his feet. He was extremely excited that his gambit had worked! "Thank you, Gamemaster." He bowed again and left the chamber as quickly as his little legs could carry him. When the demon lord exited the chamber, he nearly slammed, face first, into the ample bosom of another goddess. Bane took a step back and looked up. His mind filled with dread as his eyes registered the deranged madness swirling in the eyes of one known as Khoa, the Greater Goddess of the Void!

Khoa wore a black robe with a white sash tied around her narrow waist, accentuating her womanly figure. Her skin was albino and it contrasted greatly with the color of her robe. She reached out with her right hand and patted Bane gently on his head as if the demon lord was a child. Considering the tremendous difference in power between the two, maybe he was one in her eyes. "What are you holding?" she asked demurely.

Perspiration started dripping down the demon lord's horns as his black heart filled with dread. Khoa was the one goddess that Bane feared in the divine pantheon. She was powerful and unpredictable. She was mercurial and moody. As such he had a hot-and-cold relationship with her.

But somehow, Bane was lucky to encounter Khoa in a good mood. He grabbed her hand, which was still touching his head, and pulled her away from the entrance of the Gamemaster's chamber. He opened a portal leading to his castle in the Plane of Fire and dragged her through the portal. When the two returned to his throne room, Bane held up his hand and showed Khoa the soul of Hleandros.

"What are you going to do with it?" the goddess asked with a conspiratorial glee. She could feel the power of the dead dragon's soul. It could be used to fuel a powerful magic spell or create a legendary-class magic item. Khoa had no desire to take the soul away from Bane but nonetheless, she was curious to know what mischief he had in mind. The young rascal was her favorite god in the pantheon known for his creativity in creating Chaos and thereby, maintaining the Balance between Order and Chaos. And the more Chaos he created in the mortal realm below, the less work Khoa had to do to fulfill her own role to maintain the Balance.

The demigod decided to be honest with her. Otherwise, she would pester him endlessly and even worse, create trouble for his minions until Bane fessed up. He snapped a finger; an image appeared in the air depicting Arthur fighting ogres--and losing badly. The man's right arm was dangling at an odd angle at the elbow. His jaw was crooked and tilted to the right. A huge gash on top of his head allowed blood to drip freely down his right ear. Bane concentrated his divine vision and saw that the Player Character was down to his last 10% Health. Furthermore, the various wounds were causing a bleeding status! Arthur's fate was sealed unless Bane's plan came to fruition. Bane pointed at the fighter and said, "I'm going to fuse the dragon's soul with this man's."

Khoa clapped her hands in delight. It was brilliant! She could never imagine that Bane would seek to use a Forbidden Art. Suddenly, she understood the purpose of his audience with the Gamemaster: to seek the overlord's permission for the fusion of souls.

The Deity of Chaos used her divine sight to examine the Player Character more closely. She discovered that Arthur was touched by her Madness and thus, she very much wanted the human to survive, too. "I shall assist you," she decided at once. Invoking her magic, Khoa teleported herself and her divine co-conspirator to the site of the battle. The fort in Chester was visible and the guards were standing on top of the wall watching this fight; however, no one left the compound to assist in the fight or rescue Arthur. Without warning, Khoa snatched Hleandros' soul from Bane's hand and threw it at the dying human.

Arthur was immediately engulfed in fire! He screamed as the flames burned away his remaining health. Yet, he retained awareness despite his apparent death.

The ogres quickly backed away as the intense fire and heat continued to expand outward. However, they could not outrun the raging inferno and all of Artur's enemies were burned alive.

The flames spread out of control and soon reached the fort in Chester. Alarms could be heard inside the fort as residents tried to mobilize and carry buckets of water to douse the flames. However, the effort was in vain as the flames danced and spread along the gates, trapping the people inside. The unnatural flames burned stone and metal alike. Soon, the entire fort was engulfed in the uncontrollable inferno.

The souls of the denizens of Chester gathered above the dying fort and began to fly in one direction--toward the remains of Arthur. These souls fed the needed energy for the soul of Hleandros to merge with that of Arthur. When the recombination of souls was completed, an explosion erupted! Standing in the mile-wide crater was the reborn entity formerly known as Arthur William de Vere. While taking the form of a man, his skin was covered with red dragon scales. His eyes were reptilian, with yellow pupils and a tiny sliver of a black iris.

The reborn man looked at his surroundings. He saw that the fort of Chester had been completely destroyed. He couldn't help but laugh. "HAHAHAHAHA!" He held up his hand and turned to examine it. The back was covered with red scales. The memory of his death and its aftermath played in an endless loop inside his head. The pain, the suffering, and the scorching flames scarred his very soul. The small touch of Madness in his old soul infected his new soul and grew like mold.

Suddenly, his mind was filled with the knowledge and memories of Hleandros and Arthur understood that the Gods of Chaos had intervened to save his life. He tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. "I thank you for saving my life. I am Arthur the Pendragon Reborn. I dedicate my life to Chaos!" he declared and then gave a deep bow to Bane and Khoa. After a moment, he pulled his head back up and started walking away, the destruction of Chester and its people already forgotten.

***

Her face buried in the charred chest of her papa, Kalistra cried openly and loudly until she ran out of tears. Finally, she released her embrace of her beloved father. Kalistra stood on her hind legs and looked around. The pupils, who had been forced to leave the courtyard due to the dragon aura, had returned. And they bore silent witness to her moment of weakness. No, that wasn't quite right. The cat girl was proud to express her pain and heartache openly. The Butterfly School of Swordsmanship was her family and it was okay for her to weep openly in their presence.

In unison, the members of the dojo bowed from the waist toward her. No, they were bowing to the remains of the former Grandmaster, Kalistro.

Master Gurgne quietly approached her. "It has been a long night, young Headmaster. You must rest now." He tried to pull her gently by the arm but she refused to move.

"No. My place is here, by papa's side, until he is given a hero's funeral," Kalistra replied.

The dog man looked at her for a moment and sighed. He knew how stubborn the cat girl could be. It was useless to try to convince her otherwise. Besides, Kalistra was still in shock over her father's death. And Gurgne did not wish to antagonize her and risk her misdirected anger at him. The new Headmaster needed him more than ever, even if she didn't realize it. Thus, Gurgne bowed respectfully and left her alone. However, he started barking orders at the gathered pupils. "I need a squad of volunteers to stand guard while the rest of us get some sleep. The body of a red dragon is very valuable and people may invade our dojo to steal it," he explained.

Every hand went up to volunteer for this duty.

Gurgne grinned at the display of loyalty. He pointed his paw at six of his students. "You will take the first watch." Then he picked six more students. "The next hour, you will take over." He repeated thrice more. "Okay, this will cover the watch rotation until daybreak." He clapped his hands. "Let's go!"

Once the rotation was set up, Master Gurgne turned around. He walked along the right side of the dojo and entered the meditation chamber via the secret entrance. Fortunately, only the front half of the building had been destroyed during the battle with Hleandros. Thus, the dog man was able to retrieve a blanket from a storage closet. When he returned to the courtyard, Gurgne discovered that Kalistra was fast asleep. Her head was placed on her papa's chest. The dog man placed a blanket over her. Then, he turned his attention to me.

During this time, I had been standing quietly with Bila next to the front door. I didn't want to intrude while the leadership of the dojo tried to regain control of the situation. I was only a low ranking student in the dojo and thus, it was not my place to intervene. Additionally, while I considered the idea of going over to The Noble Lady to rent a room and also to see Amelica, I realized that it was already past curfew and the inn would be closed for the night. Therefore, I had no place to go anyway until daybreak. I noticed Master Gurgne's approach and I bowed respectfully to him.

The dog man nodded back in acknowledgment. "I thank you both for fighting Hleandros." He turned slightly to face Bila directly. "I am Master Gurgne of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship. Who are you?"

Bila bowed respectfully. "I am Bila of the Rising Sun School of Swordsmanship. I am a follower of Lord Mulligan."

Gurgne placed a paw on Bila's sword arm. "From today forward, you are a Friend of the dojo."

The cat girl bowed deeply. "I thank you for the Honor."

"The Honor is ours." The dog man reciprocated the bow. "You two should get some rest. Tomorrow will be a very busy day." With that, he left.

The two of us took his advice. We sat down, leaned against the wall and soon fell asleep.