Despite the noise, MaXabiere heard thundering footsteps. He couldn't help but listen to it. It's like a connection that had been pulling the boy's senses. Suddenly, the crowd all stopped and looked up at the sky as they heard echoing roars.

Flying down were none other than the terrifying dark dragons. The Ascentilian guards, Erik, Nisr from the roof, and Willy followed the gaze of the crowd. The red-capped guard held his spear tighter.

"Commander." His subordinate approached him. "The Flash Guardians are preoccupied with Devastrigon and the evacuation. And not just that, look." He pointed up. The commander waited till the dragons flew closer a bit for him to squint. It couldn't be. The winged reptiles were mounted by the Darken clan.

"They escaped from the Void?" The commander’s eyes widened.

“Archangels, protect us,” muttered his subordinate.

Erik cussed, “Shit.”

Nisr dropped his shoulder. “Oh, that’s just great.”

Willy quickly snapped out of it. “Everybody, keep going! Just follow the nature spirits’ lead!”

Erik immediately looked at the red-capped guard. "Commander Irvan,” he said. Who looked in another direction and then turned back to him. "Nisr saw him. He's here."

The Ascentilian commander nodded and started raising his order. "Good. Guards, on my mark, we push them back. If they fire, we push. If they even try to snatch anyone, we push. If the Darken clan wants to come to take us down, we push."

All of them gathered in a defensive formation.

“I must find him,” said Erik. “I’ll alert the Flash Guardians.”

Commander Irvan nodded, “You do that.”

Over the sky, the dark dragons were piercing their way through the wind. The mounted Darken clan sported their traditional black sleeveless tunic, leather boots, black shoulder pads, belt, and dragon helmet. Each rider carried a round shield with a spiral three-headed dragon symbol, a dragon horn graved with fire, a spear, an axe, or a sword.

One of them, an elder man, who wore a torn cape and a broken right-horned dragon helmet, was riding a huge black dragon. "Protect Devastrigon! Stop the Flash guardians, especially… him." He gritted his teeth just by mentioning the stranger.

A Darken clan rider blew his horn as a signal of their plan to split up. The first half flew to the troubled three-headed dragon followed by the elder while the other half dashed closer to the Marketplace.

Below, Erik interacted with his communicator as he began to run across the street. "Giuseppe, tell the Flash Guardians about the Darken clan. They're back."

"What?!" Giuseppe's voice almost defean the black-armored guardian as he winced. "Fuck me."

"But the Dragonslayer is here, and he’s heading towards Devastrigon."

"What?!" Erik winced again at Giuseppe's high-pitch voice. "Have you seen him?"

"No.” Erik shook his head. “Nisr saw him, though. This is the worst Code Crimson by far, Giuse."

"I'll do my best to alert the other Flash Guardians for more reinforcements. With the Dragonslayer there-"

"We'll hold them off as whatever it takes. Just alert them. Fast."

"Don't die." Giuseppe's words had stuck in Erik's mind.

"I'm not planning to," Erik muttered. He charged his way to the three-headed dragon.

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The dragons came down into the market with such force. From their opened snout shot out incredible flames of such long range. On the ground, Ascentilian guards readied their spears. "On three!" Commander Irvan said. "One. Two. Three!"

Their spears shot out a white force field to push away the dragons. Meanwhile, Erik contacted his comrade. "Nisr, I'm only encountering a few people left, what's the status?"

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"Most of them got evacuated." Nisr hid behind a chimney. Better to be invisible from the Darken clan. “Erik-"

"Dreyagon the Dragonslayer. I know, I know. I'm going after him. Am I near?"

Nisr looked at Erik as he ran past three buildings away and one more corner from the Dragonslayer. "Keep running," Nisr said. He went back to his cover as soon as he saw the silhouettes of the dragons. "Erik, watch out!"

Erik quickly glanced back to see six flying dragons were about to fire at him. But not before a strong force followed by a howling sound had saved him. The riders fell off, and the dragons were blown away like leaves. Erik looked back to see the Dragonslayer himself.

The seven-foot tall slayer provided his presence with a glare. "You look different," he said in a husky voice.

Erik sighed in relief. "Yeah, it's good to see you too, Dreyagon."

They both looked at the sky where Devastrigon was trapped by the storm. "Your storm summoner friend won't hold the three-headed dragon for long," said the Dragonslayer.

Erik crossed his arms. "We'll try to keep it away as much as possible, so the rest can escape. We got everything occupied."

"And the boy?"

Without time to respond, they heard the fallen Darken clan riders get up on their feet and ready their weapons. "I'm saving my shout.” The slayer looked at the young guardian. "I assume you got this."

Erik tossed his head with a smirk. He spun his black sword and pulled out his shield engraved with a griffin symbol from his back. "You don't have to worry about my ass anymore."

The Dragonslayer smirked back. “There’s enough time to be stronger, Erik Vortecse.” His attention then turned to the sky.

The Flash Guardians were dealing with the Darken clan riders, while Erik's team continued handling the Devastrigon- but not for long, though. The unknown Avenger suddenly leaped to the three-headed dragon in a single bound.

"He could've done that from the very beginning," Erik commented. The Darken clan people soon pointed their weapons at him. Erik scanned everyone; two were pointing their spears; another two were pointing their swords; one carried a battle-axe; and the other one had dual daggers. "So, are you going to attack me or try to look cool?"

The one with dual daggers dashed with such speed, she thought she had him, but Erik moved to the right and bashed her nape with the edge of his shield. Two Darken clans followed one with his sword and the other with his shield. Erik was almost impaled and quickly blocked their next attack.

Two spearmen began to charge. Erik pushed the shield warrior with a powerful kick. He deflected another attack from the swordsman before throwing his shield at him. He spun around to deliver a heavy slash to the chest after his shield came back to him like a boomerang.

Erik threw his shield again to the spear men, who accidentally impaled their fellow Darken. It bounced right at their heads. He ran and as soon as he grabbed his shield, he slashed the spearman on the left and the right.

And then there was the big guy with a battle axe. Erik raised his weapons ready, but just like that, an arrow pierced the big guy's neck, and was dropped to his knees. The shot came from Nisr from the roof, so the black-armored guardian gave a salute, which the eagle-eyed nodded back.

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In the sky, Hugo's hands were shaking from the pressure of his power. Yrlin contacted Nisr back via comms. "Is everyone finally gone?"

"Almost," responded Nisr.

The witch looked at her surroundings. The mounted Flash guardians were suddenly dealing against the Darken clan attack. She saw the elder man charging at him, which made Hugo look back warily "Oh, come on."

Abruptly, a strong force of the wind pushed each dragon one by one. The force was nothing more than a powerful roar of the Dragonslayer. He landed on a dark dragon where the elder man was and gave him a strong kick to his side. "No, I just got here!" shouted the elder Darken.

The Dragonslayer raised the winged reptile to meet with the team. "Sorry, I'm late," he said. " All I want is to buy me some chicken."

Yrlin's smile grew. Hugo even expressed relief. And Jorken the bronze griffin screamed. "You can let go now,” he tossed his head to the storm summoner.

With relief, Hugo released the tornadoes to see the silhouette of Devastrigon. Its flames were still fighting despite the smaller size and its breath, "Hmph, not bad," The Dragonslayer commented. His steel sword soon began to ignite. The golden, large lassos that tied each of the heads' snouts began to tear. “You’ve unleashed your flames long enough.” The slayer leaped straight to the three-headed dragon to aim at its heart at such speed.

Even I can’t kill it, he thought as he continued to increase his energy to the blade. I can still subdue it.

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Back at the Marketplace, most of the population had finally evacuated, while the Berrygrewd family and the remaining crowds were the last batches. Xabe looked back at the action. The Ascentilian guards were covering them with white force fields from the Darken clan.

Devastrigon, despite the very long distance, still had this terrifying presence from its size. The three heads started to burn up, but there was something that shone brightly in its chest.

Then, it exploded with a flash of light, followed by a strong shockwave. Above the crowd came more mounted Flash guardians from the portals above as they arrived to combat the remaining Darken clan surrounding the Capital Marketplace.

The Berrygrewd family was fortunate enough to make it out alive. Before the flash of light brought them to safety, MaXabiere's eyes only focused on the image of what looked like the end of the three-headed dragon.

It was as if he was a bystander inside an epic tale about a hero finally slaying the dragon… at least, it’s what he initially thought.