Monolavir and Ruminona glared at what originally was one of them.

Their opponent was far too different, yet, had familiar physical characteristics they recognized in it.

The first to try to dialogue with it was Monolavir.

"What happened to you, brother?"

Conflicted, and saddened, his eyes relaxed.

"..."

The brown dragon's eyes met his gaze for a split instant, alternating from red to brown. Though, no voice answered his question.

"Brother, did they corrupt your heart? Are you unable to recognize us?"

Hoping to get even a slight reaction from their old friend, Ruminona growled.

"It's no use, Rumi. His heart has left us. He is not the same anymore."

They glanced at it, and noticed the changes.

"Judging by the size alone... You've eaten humans."

"Mono! This is impossible. This is strictly forbidden for us dragons!"

Ruminona exclaimed, doubting her mate's words.

"There's no doubt about it. He was forced to eat humans. The sheer aura around him shows that he no longer possesses the pride of the dragons."

"..."

Monolavir and Ruminona recalled one similar event, but opposite to the actual situation.

Of a woman killing a flamboyant red dragon, albeit from its own volition.

"Three dragons died since our creation."

"Diramoi, Rumi's brother."

"Velridar, Father of the Dragons and Lamias."

Monolavir's eyes glowed a chilling deep blue, before his four wings spread violently at his sides, releasing a wave of cold air.

"And you, Argoss. My little brother."

Without giving it a second thought, Monolavir lunged at his brother, and slammed his head against his.

Their horn clashed, while they tumbled down the sky while scratching one another with their claws.

"Amelia, hold on tight."

Ruminona's aura formed around her. Wind gathered around her after each flaps of her wings, before a protective shell covered both of them.

"Are you alright with the idea of... temporarily putting a leash on you?"

"Do what you want. I have trust in you."

Amelia nodded, before Leima formed in her hand. Her body, covered in white lightning, flashed briefly as chains dropped from her wrists.

"It shouldn't hurt."

The sound of metal chains continuously falling down echoed in the air while Monolavir and Argoss broke away.

When the length of the chain satisfied her, Amelia threw one of her dagger chains down. As if it had a mind of its own, the dagger turned back, and returned to Amelia while the chain wrapped itself around Ruminona's neck.

"..."

Ruminona moved her neck to see if the chain hindered her movement whatsoever, and glanced at Amelia.

"I don't feel a thing. Let's go."

With a nod, Amelia clenched her dagger enough to maintain a stable position on Ruminona's back.

The two dived toward the two brothers. One was following orders from Miasma, his heart corrupted by power, while the other fought to liberate his brother from turning against other dragons.

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'I had no idea this dragon was Monolavir's brother. I'm pretty sure Orion is unaware as well.'

Rapidly moving down on a dragon's back, Amelia thought.

'There's no time to think about this. I have to think of a way to get rid of it.'

She looked at the brown dragon, and at the wounds she had caused so far. The ice around the cuts was thawing at a very slow pace, telling her that it wouldn't be able to heal its injuries.

While Monolavir and Ruminona were on the largest size of the whole dragon faction, they were less than a fourth the size of Argoss.

Monolavir glanced behind him, and noticed Ruminona glide in his direction, without showing any signs of stopping.

He moved away, baiting the enemy's attention.

"Hang tight, Amelia!"

As Argoss turned to look at his brother, Rumi entered his vision. Covered by her wind protective shell, she slammed it straight in the dragon's stomach.

*Crack*

The shell exploded in shards, before turning into dust of wind magic.

'Now!'

Leima in hand, Amelia spun the free chain dagger a few times, before unleashing a flurry of strikes at the brown dragon.

Spinning the chain wildly around her, the sound of lightning echoed each time the blade touched its target.

As its underbelly was soft, she had no need to worry about its tough scales. Deep cuts formed on its soft skin, gouging large pieces of flesh and burning the area it struck.

But the enemy wasn't going to let this continue. As it recovered from the dizziness of the shock, it grabbed Ruminona's neck, and threw her away.

"Aaaah!"

Suddenly being thrown, Amelia managed to keep herself steady thanks to the chain acting as a leash.

"Grrrrr!"

A long growl escaped Ruminona as she stabilized herself with her wings.

"I'm not like Mono... My body isn't made for battle."

Blood flowed between her green scales where Argoss had grabbed her. The power it had was enough to break through a dragon's natural defense with ease.

During their clash earlier, Monolavir also sustained some injuries. He lost a few scales on its back and front legs, and had a bite mark on his neck.

That was how powerful the being in front of them was.

But that was without the use of magic.

"Rumi. Stay behind me."

Monolavir was ready to unleash a dangerous strike. The same could be said from Argoss, who began to arch its back while gathering air in its lungs.

Without losing a single second, Ruminona flew past Monolavir, and distanced herself.

Wind gathered under him as he stopped flapping his majestic wings, holding him in place instead of plummeting toward the ground.

Large amount of ice particles, emitted by his natural magic ability, floated around him. As his long neck stretched upward as if he were trying to swallow the sun itself, Monolavir opened his mouth.

The frigid shards and particles of ice gathered in between his jaws, as a raucous howl escaped his mouth.

A sphere of the purest ice quality grew. The air itself froze around the sphere, forming a snowflake-like pattern around it, until Monolavir moved suddenly.

The branches of ice broke off as Monolavir aimed the frozen orb at Argoss.

In return, Argoss prepared to unleash an even more powerful spinning earth needle, larger, faster, thinner, and most of all, deadlier.

With the icy sphere in his mouth, Monolavir suddenly closed his mouth on it.

*Swallow*

Swallowing the orb in his stomach, his body changed. A frozen layer of ice formed around his body, covered his scales, and his horns.

From his shoulder blades, large protruding spikes of ice sprouted. His crown-like horns became antler-like instead, and his color turned from azure to pale blue.

His tail also displayed a new row of spikes on top of the tail, which went up along the spine, creating a spine structure made of ice.

"I've shown this form once. When I fought Velridar to get Ruminona. I am sure you remember!"

"Even thought I pitifully lost the battle, I obtained the right to act as our faction's leader ever since."

Monolavir opened his mouth, releasing a cloud of freezing air.

"That is why, as the one in charge of our members..."

Straightening his body upward, his wings stretched fully. Monolavir howled into the sky, releasing a mind splitting sound that echoed up to the three human cities in the region.

Argoss glared at his brother, before releasing his most powerful attack.

Inhaling air in a spiral pattern, Monolavir dropped his head and opened his mouth.

'Goodbye, brother.'

A blast of frozen particles traveled up his throat, leaving his mouth in the direction of Argoss. The beam turned into a cone-shaped attack that traveled downward.

In a fraction of a second, the projectile froze solid, Argoss became an ice statue, and a part of the land below became a snowfield.

The layer of ice around Monolavir exploded into shards, before melting into water.

Amelia had her eyes and mouth wide open. The shock on her face was quite obvious.

"Dragons... are incredible."

She muttered mindlessly, as Ruminona flew toward her partner.

*Crack*

The projectile fired by Argoss shattered into thousands of pieces while crumbling toward the altered land below.

And, finally, Argoss's body also followed. Cracks formed on the frozen casing, before exploding.

"Mono!"

Ruminona suddenly rushed in front of Monolavir.

"!"

Amelia noticed a massive dark mass lunge from the shattering ice toward Monolavir, and stop in front of him.

It swiped its tail, hitting Ruminona with a tremendous force toward the ground. The chain around her neck broke, as Amelia found herself free-floating in front of the dark being.

Her Elemental Mastery form vanished, leaving her in her human form, vulnerable to its attack.

"Amelia!"

Monolavir flew as fast as possible to get in the way of the mass, but he was too late.

The large claws of Argoss's shadows ripped Amelia into shreds. No words formed in his mind, as he watched the poor woman being reduced into a gory mess.

"I'm here."

The voice of the young woman echoed close to his ear. Monolavir glanced slowly toward the source of the voice, and noticed Amelia holding on one of his horns.

"Close, right?"

"H-How?"

"Shh! Let it savor its victory for a few more seconds."

With a smile on her face, she glanced at the dark mass continuing to attack another Amelia.

'Void magic sure is useful.'

Argoss's second form, which Amelia had been aware of from the beginning, still needed to be dealt with.

A scale in her soul shone brightly, as the time of its awakening was upon her.