“Did you hear that?”

“Does it matter; probably just another elder waking up.”

Two drakes were walking down the cave system with a yawn - dragons were known for sleeping centuries as they got older and both of them were on the upper end of elder dragoness. Dragons were actually separated into several tiers based on their age. Those different tiers being as well as the average length of time taken to reach them:

-Hatchling = Broken Out of Egg Themself

-Young = 250 years

-Adult = 1,000 years

-Elder = 10,000 years

-Ancient = 100,000 years

-Divine = 1,000,000 years

-Divine Elder = 1 uni

-Divine Ancient = 5 uni

The older a dragon was the stronger to the point where the difference in quality, however, was also combined with a very clear deviation in the tiers. For example; even a young titan dragon (largest and strongest of their subspecies) would be about five foot high when a hatchling. That was also why there was some serious surprise when Alice popped out her egg with the size below a house cat.

A height short for even regular dragons hence why she was believed to be a weakling.

Now that was clearly shown to be a misnomer, she was merely affected by dwarfism, yet Alice was still a very big outlier. Albeit she was rarely not an outlier in whatever she did. Her power being far beyond what could ever be expected of even a Titan Youngling like her despite having severe height issues.

It actually caused some to think that her egg was actually broken by external forces - an act that causes the dragon to basically have stunted growth.

Meanwhile the last two stages were filled with mystery as only Leviathan & Gaia had ever managed to reach that tier yet they were also both Primordials & Titans. A combination that made them both essentially uncontested when it comes to straight up power.

Although dragons were not the only beast race to have such a power scale; every “divine beast” had such.

“Do you see that li-”

Neither of the drakes even got the chance to reach the golden light before they found their limbs scattered around the tunnel. Their bloody corpses practically exploded due to the momentum of the object that flew through them. That object obviously being the lion who was pondering the powers that his enemies had in their possession - even if he was confident it didn’t hurt to consider backup plans other than rushing in.

Photon left a lot to be cleaned up.

One had to keep in mind that he was moving at light speed within a group of tunnels that, although certainly large when being compared to a human’s height, was filled with massive lizards. To top it all off was the fact that he was not only a full armoured figure but using the heaviest metal that his genius older sister could create. Mix light speed with possibly max feasible weight… Well it wasn’t hard for anyone with a minor understanding of physics.

Simply put; it didn’t matter how confident those dragons were in their defences as there was only one being in reality who could completely block this attack. To make things worse for the earth dragons. The only person who could block it was the person doing the attack!

But blocking was not the only recourse.

| A/N Panic! At The Disco - House of Memories (Official Audio) or BELIEVER (@ImagineDragons ROCK Cover by NO RESOLVE & @STATEOFMINE) (Official Music Video)

Unsurprisingly, it took him little time to reach the “holdering quarters” of the cow-kin slaves. The halls were even wider than previously, reaching several dozens of metres, with there actually being torches (made from the scales of fire drakes) lining the walls. There was a large set of orichalcum doors yet they were already cut diagonally twice - creating a diamond shaped hole after the centre was kicked in.

The only reason Photon assumed it was kicked in was due to the indentation of a set of sandals being quite clear in the supposedly toughest metal. It also wasn’t as if those doors were thin - they were thicker than the lion's biceps and they were very large!

Within the area there was already the thick scent of blood as Photon quickly made note of the unmoving bodies of a couple dragon-kin. Having been carelessly kicked to the side as if whoever was responsible just wanted them out of the way and found killing them to be the easiest method. Just beyond the body was a relatively tall figure, if nowhere near the mighty knight, of 6 foot 6 with long flowing bi-coloured hair.

Upon their back were several weapons in a multitude of different sheaths upon a robe that was billowing due to how much of a loose fit it was. The figures' hands weren’t even visible but they were thrusting some kind of pole-arm into the awaiting skull of a horrified youngling who had their tendons already sliced with no signs of even margin of error. Revealing not only a level of skill but cruelty that reminded him of his sister on a really bad day.

What was surprising was that this new individual actually reacted to the approaching Photon, catching the tip of the golden lance between the blades of the bident he wretched from the drakes head. More impressive was that he didn’t even turn his body to look at the lion - thrusting his weapon over his shoulder yet he didn’t merely deflect it. Instead he bent forward while raising his bident.

The result of this was that he actually managed to take advantage of the hero's prior unstoppable momentum by throwing him over his shoulder. A massive impact, shaking the massive mountain to the point where debris began to fall, while letting Photon look up at his opponent. Bicoloured eyes with a light smile combined with some weird face paint that split his peerless face in half; black tearful frown on one side and a bright white smile on the other side of his face.

“Didn’t expect the lizards to have someone like you - how about we see what sins you’ve committed in your life big guy~♪”

Speaking with a sing-song voice that somehow managed to be both irritating & alluring.

His right hand, not holding his pole-arm, reached out toward the stunned Photon. Navy coloured flames began to burst out his pours as he grabbed the lion-mask plate. In no time at all that flame exploded out to consume the entirety of the knight resulting in the newcomer letting out a chuckle.

“Karma doesn’t care about how heavy your armour is; better luck in hell~♪”

That colourful figure didn’t even bother to check his work - unusual considering the amount of care he took in dismantling the dragons - as he held absolute confidence in his flames. Proceeding to step over Photon’s body while humming to himself. Tapping his shoulder with the pole of his weapon.

“We built this city on-~♪”

“What’s hell?”

Pausing for a moment… Or rather being stopped as he looked back over his shoulder to see a golden gauntlet holding his leg so tightly that he couldn’t break away.

“What…?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Complete confusion replaced that confident & jovial smile as Photon wasted no time in throwing the man up towards the ceiling causing him to fly into the rock. More fissures appeared around the pair as the knight quickly rose from the ground and jumped so his back pointed towards where he assumed the mortals would be located. Just in time for a bastard sword to fly through the air to stab into the earth up to its cross guard.

Although he was a bit dirty, that colourful figure landed on the ground with his baggy clothes billowing in the non-existent wind, a smile formed back on his face. His hands were hidden under his sleeves yet Photon could only imagine them fidgeting. Not shockling as Photon was the same.

“You didn’t expect that to keep this cat down did you? Bwahahaha!”

His laugh alone was enough to cause the caverns to shake once again but the person in front of him showed no trepidation. Instead he titled his head as if trying to figure something out - either way they both felt some sort of attraction that pulled them together. Like discovering a hidden string connected to the core of their being that began to grow taught as they took one another in.

“How have you never collected sin…?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about but I know that you’re more dangerous than even that little girl that big sister took in so I’ll take you down here!”

Summoning his towering shield before slamming it down in front of himself, being so large that it actually hid his entire body behind itself, as he charged forward. Completely uncaring of the flames that engulfed him as he pointed his lance right toward the head of this strange person. Either he’d skewer them or flatten them like a pancake!

But-

“If only it was so easy~♪”

That person actually hopped up to land right on the spears outstretched blade while swinging their arm outwards as if trying to catch something. The mystery of this action quickly passed as a rope-dart flew out from their sleeve to fly past Photon’s shield and wrap around his neck. Next he twirled it so it wrapped around his wrist before grabbing it tightly.

Throwing his other hand out towards the already torn apart roof - just as the mighty lion attempted to hit him with his shield - to cause another dart to fly out of his hand while he jumped. This caused Photon’s attempted counter to only result in him stumbling a little as that person swung from the roof while moving his other hand toward the rope around Photon’s neck. Just as the roof broke sending him toward the ground, he pulled that rope as tight as he could, causing Photon to stumble backward.

Thankfully his armour covered his neck however the force still caught him off guard; he wasn’t trained by any random person though!

Focusing his energy on the tip of his lance he whipped it back to send a flying saucer of sunlight toward this tricky customer. The attack was powerful enough to cleave through the mountain (bringing light to the eternally dark prison) however its intended target stepped aside at just the right moment. His rope darts somehow retreated back into his sleeves as he reached both his hands up to pull a titan of a sword from his back.

Made from a pearl-like stone with green humming engraving across its stone surface, even shaped like a literal cross with its long guard and flat tip, it practically screamed danger. Photon couldn’t see the mystery man but he could certainly feel the prickling of his instincts. The knight couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.

Sadly he didn’t feel like he had the time to consider all that as his opponent threw their weight forward while jumping. The result of this being him spinning toward the knight’s back like a guillotine waiting to take off a criminal's neck. Without hesitation (even if he couldn’t turn his head to see the attack) Photon swung his shield backwards just in time to catch the attack.

Sparks exploded out as the impact caused a boom that carried with it enough force to destroy the cavern they were in. No longer where they were underground as, perpendicular to where they hit each other, a long fissure bisected the mountain causing an unknowable number of casualties. The hero instantly felt his heart fall but the man in front of his actually let out a cackle.

“I was thinking of pretending that’s a technique and calling that move [Chevalier]; what do you think about that big guy?”

It also had to be mentioned that Photon did not purposefully stop his shield just in time to not send this unknown assailant back… They were just that evenly matched. Something that caused his bestial blood to boil with excitement while his heroic mind worried about the damage to come.

“What about those who died from that - this fight will cause countless deaths of both dragon & mortal alike so we should-”

He quickly tried to get the person to move the fight through bringing up the casualties but that was a fruitless endeavour.

“Billions die without knowing the cause every second - today will be no different jehehe~♪”

That strange laugh was met with him beginning to lick the black frown on his face, like a wild dog hungrily licking his chops, as the opposite hand came to cover the white smiling side of his face. His eye radiated navy flame between his fingers as the lion found himself shivering. On the back of his hand was actually a tattoo of a skull; making him look like the flesh from the navy side had been stripped of all but his eye.

“Then today is the day you join them!”

Photon took advantage of his mad cackling to grab the freak by his loose clothing - throwing away his spear as it wouldn’t aid him this close - to once again throw him up. This time holding nothing back as he utilised every muscle in his body. That figure managed to resist some but not even to stop themselves from flying through the roof again. This time it didn’t end at just a few inches into the rock.

The mountain itself began to collapse into a mountain range as the person out of the side with Photon soon utilised his light-based unique skill to appear in behind of him.

This didn’t even startle that person for a second as he swung his sword backwards to meet Photon’s shield bash but this time he didn’t have the momentum advantage. Sending that still laughing person backwards towards the already falling mountain top where a very angry giant drake was. That being the mighty matriarch Shanta who had a stone hide covered in countless gems; almost as if she was adorned in some royal armour with a natural crown forming with her mighty metallic horns & prior mentioned gems.

Her size alone was enough to swallow a city whole and that very maw opened to unleash a rage-filled roar that soon was joined with a geyser of molten metal that flew toward the pair. Photon didn’t even get a chance to raise his shield before that unknown monster developed a bleeding halo adorned in a crown of thorns that floated above his scalp.

“You’re getting in the way you scaly bitch!”

That monster swung that massive sword of his, letting its weight turn him around, as a cloak of white aura formed around him. For mere moments the sight of pained faces appeared in the energy yet nobody had the time to consider what it meant as that power flew out of his sword in a similar move to what he used on Photon earlier. He even went as far as to scream “Chevalier~!” as a spinning moon of tortured souls cleaved through the powerful dragon breath.

All the mighty matriarch of all earth dragons - who claimed herself successor to Gaia - could do was do the dragon's version of a donkey roll. Even then a fierce wound was left across her face as she barely avoided injuring her eye. Her crown was not as lucky as she tumbled down into the rumble below.

In moments Photon’s reason for being there was buried under the earth by someone he didn’t even know the name of.

“My name is Navy… What is yours handsome~?”

Stopping himself midair as 6 featherless wings of navy or indigo flame exploded out his back.