“Ugh… That was a powerful barrier he constructed,” the Fire Dragon King, Fizard said with a slight moan.

“Yeah,” the Earth Dragon King, Gurret said with a single nod of the head.

“Damn… I think we probably should’ve attacked before talking with him. Feels like a waste of my energy and effort.”

Gurrent looked at Fizard and slowly shook his head. Then, in their mind, he telepathically began speaking to him.

“You did the right thing in speaking to him first. At least, this way we know the Phoenix Titan was also after the Demon Slayer, but it did not appear to be for destruction.”

“You’re right. Seems like he’s determined to acquire her for something in the future. Still, it’s a bummer because we have our orders to carry out.”

“Indeed and the Dragon Emperor will not be pleased if we return in failure. On the other hand, we could leave her here and return with a false story? Wouldn’t that benefit both of us?”

Fizard looked exasperated and said, “Oh, hell no! The Dragon Emperor will most likely use his mind reading ability on us and you know we suck at concealing our thoughts.”

“Mmm… You’re right. It really doesn’t leave us with any choice, but to acquire her.”

“Yes. That’s why, we must succeed!” Fizard said firmly.

With that, the two of them nodded at each other. Just then, the Spirit Dome began to glow breather than before and it surprised them into looking at it. For a moment, the brightness just increased steadily until they were forced to squint to look without losing focus.

There was a loud sound of something cracking from the top of the dome. The cracking sounds quickly grew louder as the entire Spirit Dome began to make large cracks in its structure like a giant egg. The next moment, there was a brilliant flash of light that blinded their eyesight and forced them to cover their eyes.

“Ah! Finally, out of that total darkness!” said a familiar voice from somewhere nearby.

The two Dragon Kings uncovered their eyes and looked to see the brilliant flash to have disappeared. Instead, they saw the shadows of several people standing where the Spirit Dome was a moment ago. They soon began to take the shape of Lakshman, Ondine, Tetra, Silvera, Emilia, Venezuela, Cantia and Erza.

“Really, master? I think you’re forgetting that we were in a well light space,” said Tetra in a stern voice.

Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said, “Yeah, but everything on the outside was pretty dark. In fact, it makes me wonder why the Spirit Plane and Border Plane look so similar.”

“Wait-nyaa! Border Plane-nyaa? Are you saying you died and came back as a ghost-nyaa?” asked Cantia with a shocked expression on her face.

Lakshman contemplated for a moment before saying, “Well… I suppose I did die, but I’m now alive. Anyway, all of this can wait since those two are here.”

He meant the two Dragon Kings as he gestured in their direction. The Fire Dragon King and Earth Dragon King were quite confused with how happily they were talking. They were surprised when the Spirit Dome suddenly disappeared in a flash of light and then brought them back to the Physical Plane. The other thing that surprised them was the presence of the Demon Slayer among them.

Fizard held his hand up in the air and asked, “Hold on… Why is the Demon Slayer with you?”

“Hey! Who’re you calling a Demon Slayer! I now have a name I can proudly go by! It’s Silvera!” the Demon Slayer, now being known as Silvera, said to them in a proud voice.

Fizard blinked in confusion as his quickly began to think in one direction. It turned out Gurret was also thinking along the same lines as he telepathically communicated his thoughts to his partner.

“Hey… Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think so,” Fizard told him quietly. Then, in a loud voice, asked, “Hey! Seeing Dem– uh… Silvera with you, does this mean you’ve made a contract?”

Lakshman nodded and revealed the back of his left hand. Using the extra focusing ability of their dragon powers, Fizard and Gurret zoomed their vision to see the contract seal. It was a contract seal that glowed in dark light with a similarly drawn design as that of the Phoenix Blade’s contract.

“This, here, is the proof that Silvera, also known as the Demon Slayer, is now my Contracted Spirit and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Lakshman told them firmly.

“Mmm…”

Fizard looked slightly confused for a moment and he looked towards his partner for some help.  Gurret nodded at him, which Fizard took to mean he was referring to what they talked about earlier. They were aware of the conditions of a Contract Seal and they knew the time limit before the seal becomes permanent.

Fizard breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed his shoulders. Easing his muscles and releasing the tension from his shoulders eased his mind. He began to think of the alternative, which he was not happy about, but their mission and order called for it.

“I see that you’ve formed the Contract Seal with the Demon Slayer, but I think you forgot something very crucial about it,” Fizard told them confidently.

“What? I forgot something?” Lakshman asked and he looked confused.

As far as he knew, the Contract Seal was a bound connection between the caster and the Sacred Spirit. There was no way of breaking it except for the unfortunate death of either of the contracted members. He knew the Dragon Kings would not go to the length of killing him, which confused him because he did not understand why Fizard looked so confident.

“Still don’t get it?” Fizard asked before laughing slightly. “It’s the simplest things that most people often forget due to their eagerness in making contracts. You see, after the establishment of a Contract Seal with a Sacred Spirit, twenty-four hours must be passed before that seal becomes permanent. Until then, the seal is like a trial contract where anyone can break it using the Contract Canceller.”

Lakshman appeared to be frozen in surprise from what the Fire Dragon King had just said. Then, he thought, “Crap! That’s what I was forgetting! The original use of the Contract Seal was to give the Sacred Spirit to see if their master was their desirable one or not. The cause of this was due to an ancient event where the Sacred Spirit was tormented by its master, but was unable to break free of the contract Dammit it! How could I forget something so simple?!”

Beside him, the girls suddenly looked worried as they also realised by what Fizard had told them. This proved to be a problem because the two Dragon Kings would definitely use this as an opportunity to forcibly cancel the Contract Seal and take the Demon Slayer away.

Outwardly, Lakshman kept his normal expression, but he was worried deep down as he continued thinking about it.

“Twenty-four hours is a long time and it hasn’t even been an hour yet! Goddammit!”

Just then, Tetra grabbed his right hand and telepathically said, “Master, relax. If you worry like that, you’ll make obvious blunders and that’s no acceptable.”

“Mmm! You’re right!” Lakshman thought in agreement. Then, aloud, he said, “I may have forgotten that small detail, but I’m not going to let you break this seal or the bond we’ve just forged with each other!”

“We shall see about that!” Fizard said with him and Gurret beginning to surge with power.

“Tetra. Silvera,” Lakshman said and he extended his right hand to Tetra while he extended his left hand to Silvera.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment and nodded with firm expressions on their faces. The next moment, there was a flash of light and the two of them transformed into their respective weapon and Lakshman grabbed the two of them before beginning to dual wield. To him, it was a strange sensation to hold the Demon Slayer sword with his left hand and the shape of the sword was quite interesting with a curved blade. Meanwhile, the two Dragon Kings also pulled out their swords and prepared for battle.

Before the battle could start, Lakshman quietly said, “Ladies, don’t interfere in this battle. Get to safety first.”

“Huh?!” Venezuela exclaimed incredulously.

“Are you underestimating us-nyaa?” Cantia asked angrily.

“It’s nothing to do with that!” he told them firmly. “Think about it. These guys are above king ranked and they both are so strong, I don’t believe you girl will stand a chance against them. I would’ve happily taken your assistance, but this is where you need to keep yourself safe before worrying about me.”

“Lakshman, I won’t accept this!” Ondine said stubbornly.

Lakshman looked at her seriously and said, “Please understand! They will focus all their energies on me and will most likely knock me out to take Silvera from me. If that isn’t possible, they’ll probably try to use the Contract Canceller in mid-battle, which I have to be very careful on. While doing that, I won’t have the chance to protect you from the dangerous attacks they will throw at you! Seriously! It’s better for you girls to stay out of this for now.”

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Ondine looked really angry and went to argue, but Emilia placed a firm hand on her shoulder. Ondine turned and looked incredulously at Emilia, but she simply shook her head without saying anything. These two had become really friendly over the years of knowing each other and can easily pass messages to one another without having to speak them aloud.

“Although I feel you’re babying us, I can understand the reason behind us needing to stay out of your way. Ondine, this is the only logical choice to make considering what’s at stake,” Erza said in support of his choice. Then she added, “Unless… You want to suggest that we run away?”

“No!” Ondine said firmly and glared at her for a moment. Then, she looked at Lakshman and said, “Okay, I’ll withdraw for now, but don’t you dare lose!”

Lakshman made a small smile and said, “Losing is not an option for me right now. Don’t worry; I won’t lose!”

With a nod at him, Ondine, Emilia, Venezuela, Erza and Cantia quickly moved away from them. They moved to a safe location that would put them away from where the battle was going to take place.

“The wise decision would be to surrender peacefully and hand the Demon Slayer over to us,” Fizard said in a firm confident voice.

“Yeah,” Gurret said firmly with a single nod of his head at them.

Lakshman smiled and smoothly said, “Wise decisions aren’t always correct, but so is rash decisions. Mmm… That’s contradicting, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but let’s see whether your rash decision to fight instead of wisely surrounding was a good idea or not!” Fizard said in a firm voice as he and his partner made their move.

Both Dragon Kings kicked off the ground and disappeared from visible sight. This startled Lakshman because he could not see them. He began looking around, but there was no sign of the two Dragon Kings. However, he could hear the small sounds of movement the two Dragon Kings were making to get near him.

There was a sudden burst of energy from near him and Lakshman noticed the two Dragon Kings materialise out of the dust, which was swirling around each of them. In a slow motion, Lakshman saw that the Fire Dragon King was on his right side while the Earth Dragon King was on his left, making this a two versus one battle.

Lakshman smiled slightly and quickly reacted by moving his swords to intercept their blades. He raised the Phoenix Blade in his right hand and intercepted the sword strike from the Fire Dragon King. At the same time, he moved the Demon Slayer in his left hand and intercepted the Earth Dragon King’s sword strike.

The impact of sword on sword by two of them sent a powerful force towards Lakshman. The impact force was so strong that it threatened to push Lakshman down for good, but he kept on his feet while gritting his teeth tightly.

“I feel like you should give up before you get seriously hurt!” Fizard said loudly.

Lakshman glared at him and said, “Watch what you’re saying to whom!”

With astonishing speed, he moved by swinging his body around. As he did, he shifted his body around and moved his arms until he slammed the sword against the other.

The two Dragon Kings were taken by surprise by the sudden change in his position and the force of impact. Unable to push forward, they were blasted backward and they sailed through the air and landed a few meters away.

“Wow! Strong!” Fizard said as he straightened up.

He was suddenly surprised when he saw Lakshman rushing towards him with a serious expression on his face. Instantly reacting, Fizard pointed his bladed sword in his direction and used a technique to attack him.

“Dragon Fire Blast!”

As the energy gathered at the tip of his sword, it quickly formed into a ball of fire that began to burn fiercely as it rotated around. Then, he unleashed it into a fiery beam of energy that travelled towards him at high speed.

Seeing the attacking soaring towards him, Lakshman came to a dragging stop and said, “Spiral Blade!”

He began rotating his right arm, which held the Phoenix Blade, and he eventually made the beam of fire to vaporise into thin air. The next moment, he sensed the presence from behind and he whipped around with his sword at the ready.

Looking up, he saw the Earth Dragon King soaring down really fast with a clear attack technique in mind. The moment he landed a few meters away, Lakshman felt the ground shake violently from the impact for a moment before the ground suddenly rose up and took him high into the air.

“Earth Slam?!” Lakshman exclaimed out loud in a shocked voice.

“No, master. I believe this is a diversion!” Tetra told him in his mind.

“Master! Down below!” Silvera suddenly said in a sharp voice in his mind.

He looked down and saw that Fire Dragon King held his sword high in the air. At the tip, he saw a large burning ball of energy gathering and quickly realised what it was.

“Oh, dear me...! That’s the Fire Dragon Ball and can back a wallop if I don’t return fire quickly!”

“What will you do, master?” Tetra asked curiously.

Before he could respond, the Fire Dragon King had finished preparing his magic attack. With it ready to be launched, he screamed out its technique as he released it.

“Fire Dragon Ball!”

The large ball of fire hurtled into the air with incredible force and travelled at great speed. In less than a few seconds, it covered the distance separating it from him as he floating in mid-air. Lakshman saw the ball of fire hurtling towards him and saw how hot it was without having to feel it up close.

“Yup! It’s quite unhealthy for me to be near that thing, even if I’m the Phoenix Titan! I’ll end up with scratches and burns if I dare to use my bare fist on it without protective gloves or something to protect me.”

Instead, he pulled his arms back and held his sword at the ready. He channelled Weapon Force through them and gathered a large quantity of energy and swung the sword towards him. As he swung, he released a powerful cutting wave of energy that had both the powers of light and darkness. The cutting wave of energy hurtled down and made contact with the large burning ball of energy.

There was a momentary explosion that sent a wild blowing wind and energy in all directions. The force of the wind pushed Lakshman through the air and forced him into landing several meters away from where the explosion occurred. Once the explosion was over and everything began to settle down as the view cleared.

“Phew. Diverted one big attack,” Lakshman thought in relief.

“Compared to the massive attacks we’ve endured, I think that’s one’s puny, master,” Tetra said in an unimpressed voice.

“Oh, geez.”

“Um… I don’t mean to butt in, but I believe they are attacking us again,” Silvera informed them nervously.

Lakshman saw the two Dragon Kings charging towards them while surging with power and radiating in red aura. He noticed the expressions on their faces, which was very determined, and he realised this was going to be a difficult fight.

“Heh! They don’t learn from simple demonstrations. I’ve going to have to knock them a bunch!” Lakshman thought fiercely.

“Yes, but please be careful because you’re not alone,” Silvera said with concern.

“Don’t worry because I’m well aware. After all, we’re connected! Now, let’s go and get ourselves a dragon blast!”

To that, both Tetra and Silvera replied in his mind by saying, “Yes!”

Without a further ado, Lakshman charged up his energy and rocketed towards the incoming two Dragon Kings. The earlier fight was nothing more than a warm up because the real battle was about begin between them.

Meanwhile, watching them from afar, were golden rimmed eyes and the youthful face of a young man. He was smiling as he used Phantom Eyes to see the battle between the two Dragon Kings and the Phoenix Titan without being caught for observing.

“Looks like my ally is engaged in battle, but his energy levels aren’t high enough. Seems like he will need my help soon enough,” he said softly before widening the smile on his face. “Do not fear, my friend, because I, the Allay of Justice, will be there to help you.”

With that, he went quiet and watched the three warriors charge towards each other with their energies blazing and powers surging.