“Huh?” Lakshman said while looking surprised. “You’re the Sword Titan?”
“That’s right, Phoenix Titan,” Dominic Rutherford, the Sword Titan, said as he extended his hand towards Lakshman.
Lakshman looked at his extended hand and realised the Sword Titan wanted to help him up. He gently shook his head to reject his kind offer.
“I’m sorry, but I’m in no shape to stand properly,” Lakshman said in a slightly weak voice.
“I see,” Dominic said and he withdrew his hand back to rest it by his side.
In his mind, he sensed the power of Dominic Rutherford and realised the man was telling the truth. Additionally, he sensed an intense power radiating from the sword that the Sword Titan had sheathed. It matched the sensation that the knowledge he had, which he obtained from the Decisive Player.
This was confirmed by Tetra as she said in his mind, “Master, I know it is unbelievable, but he is the Sword Titan. He is in possession of the Destiny Sword to prove that.”
“I see…” he thought and accepted her words of confidence without question.
Lakshman sighed and looked up at the Sword Titan before asking, “More importantly, where did you spring from? Also, why couldn’t I sense you at all?”
Dominic smiled and said, “I flew here. As for you not being able to sense my presence, it is most likely that you lost concentration in sensing things during the heat of the battle.”
“Ah? You flew here?”
Dominic nodded and said, “That’s right. Several days ago, I had heard the news of how troublesome the new king of Mardana Kingdom was. So, I set out immediately from my home to reign justice down on him. However, I saw a great battle taking place upon my arrival; you, the Phoenix Titan, was fighting against the two Dragon Kings.”
“I see. I take it you recognised me to be the Phoenix Titan from identifying the Phoenix Blade,” Lakshman said as he nodded in understanding.
Then, he suddenly thought of something and he asked, “That reminds me, you say you arrived just as I and the two Dragon Kings began out fight. Does that mean? You had been watching the battle this whole time?”
When Dominic nodded once, Lakshman raised an eyebrow in exasperation and asked, “And you, the so called Allay of Justice and Sword Titan, didn’t think of maybe lending me a hand in a two on one battle?”
Dominic shook his head and said, “I did not wish to interfere in a battle between the Dragon Kings and the Phoenix Titan.”
“Why? Did you not realise that I might have lost?”
“No because you are the Phoenix Titan. You stand above the rest of the Nine Pillars of Power and as such, you shouldn’t need assistance in taking out two Dragon Kings of the Dragon Clan.”
“Ah…” Lakshman said in realisation and nodded in understand. “You do have a point there.”
“Yes, but I did wonder why you were fighting with only your swords, energy and strength? Why didn’t you consider wearing your Phoenix Armour to become the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan? Did you, perhaps, forget about it?” Dominic asked curiously.
“Oh, that…” Lakshman said slowly. “Actually, I did thought of donning the armour when I remembered the twenty-four hour trail time of the Contract Seal. It certainly would have boosted my greatly depleted energy and I might’ve had the chance to defeat them.”
“Then…?”
Lakshman shook his head and said, “I didn’t want to have a power boost against opponents that were not using their own power boost. Along those lines, I was already in Power Mode when I fought them and I believed a fair and square battle with no holding back was the way to go.”
This time, it was the Sword Titan’s turn to raise an eyebrow in exasperation as he said, “That is an honourable decision, but do you not realise that you would have lost if it weren’t for my decision to assist you?”
Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said, “Possibly, but I was already prepared to use a technique that would’ve given me enough time to use Healing Harmony of myself.”
“What would that technique be?”
“Electron Driver.”
Dominic’s eye widened in surprise and he said, “Really? You are referring to the Emperor ranked technique that paralysis all life forms for thirty seconds within fifty meters?”
When Lakshman nodded, Dominic narrowed his eyes and suspiciously asked, “In the state you are in, were you seriously capable of using that spell when they got within fifty meters?
“Since I came out of Power Mode, I had enough to use it before I collapse from utter drainage. That’s when, I would borrow the energy from my two Sacred Spirit swords and activate Healing Harmony. Within thirty seconds, I would have regained the enough energy to defeat them for good.”
“Ah. That is indeed a good plan. It seems that I unnecessarily interfered,” Dominic said and he looked unhappy, “Bummer… It seems I have thwarted your plan to recover and defeat them.”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “Oh well. At least, you came in time to save my life. Now, is it possible for you to assist in my healing, Dominic?”
Dominic smiled and said, “Please call me Dom. Everyone does, actually.”
Lakshman smiled slightly and said, “Alright… Dom. Perhaps, you can help me with my healing?”
“I would like to assist, but I do not know any magic techniques. In fact, I don’t even know how to use magic except the sword techniques I learnt and the magical techniques that my Destiny Sword possesses. On the other hand, there is one technique that I could possibly use to heal—!”
At that moment, there was a heavy smashing sound as something solid made impact against the wall of swords surrounding them. The wall of swords were bent out of shape for a moment and attempted to return back to a circular shape, but were immediately smashed as another something smashed into them.
The sword went flying everywhere from the impact and they vaporised in thin air. Lakshman and Dominic quickly looked around to see the two Dragon Kings standing on either side. Fizard, the Fire Dragon King was smiling while Gurret, the Earth Dragon King, wore an expressionless face as the two of them looked down at them.
“I was surprised when Storm Blades was suddenly used. Little did we know that we’d be visited by the Sword Titan in the flesh,” Fizard said with a smiling face.
“Yeah,” Gurrent said with a single nod of the head.
Dominic looked from one to the other before he said, “I see. Fire Dragon King, Fizard and the Earth Dragon King, Gurret. So, you were the opponents of the Phoenix Titan.”
“You are right, but let me ask you one thing: Were you here the whole time?” Fizard asked curiously.
Dominic nodded and his eyes were filled with anger as he said, “I have been here for a while and I have witnessed the destruction you have wrought to this place. Do you not have any shame, calling yourselves the Dragon Kings of the Dragon Clan? What happened to the so called Honour of the Dragons?”
Fizard spread his arms out and looked innocent as he said, “Dominic Rutherford, we did not cause this out of liking for destruction. It was the Phoenix Titan’s fault for dragging our simple request into creating this messy outcome.”
Dominic narrowed his eyes suspiciously and said, “Explain.”
“Well, you see, I and Gurret were sent on a mission to capture the Demon Slayer. Our intentions were honest as he wanted to seal away that instrument of destruction that had been the cause of much calamity in the past. However, the Phoenix Titan disregarded our intentions and went to the length of obtaining the Demon Slayer for himself. Since there was still the chance of undoing the contract, we requested that he peacefully hand her over, but he refused and it led to this us battling each other.”
As Dominic nodded his head in understanding, Fizard said, “You should know about the Demon Slayer and must also be aware of what it is capable of doing.”
Dominic did not respond because he was thinking about what Fizard had said. He had learnt about the historical past and learnt many great things that included the great wars between races and the power struggles to keep balance together. During this time, the Demon Slayer was always used to cause great destruction that swept through the land and wiped out an entire populace.
“The Fire Dragon King is not lying,” he suddenly heard the voice of his Sacred Spirit, the Destiny Sword speak in his mind. “A very long time ago, that sword had caused a great wave of destruction that left the land baked in fire and blood until it suddenly disappeared.”
“I know about that old tale, Seta. You told me when I was learning about the past and I am aware of what that sword is capable of doing. Yet, the Phoenix Titan fought this desperately to obtain and keep her…”
“The Phoenix Titan is young and inexperienced. He may be just out looking for tools to make himself stronger like the so many Phoenix Titans before him,” Seta told him scornfully.
Dominic was not sure and he slowly turned to look intently at Lakshman. Realising what the Sword Titan was thinking, Lakshman nodded and spoke firmly to him.
“It’s none of your or their business as to why I want the Demon Sword, but rest assured that I have no schemes of using her for destruction. The past is the past that can only be used as a reference to make the necessary changes that affect today and tomorrow.”
Lakshman knew he was at the mercy of the Sword Titan, but he was well aware of his personality. All holders of the Sword Titan rank and title were all those were seekers of justice. They fought to their fullest in preserving peace and balance throughout the world while fighting alongside the Phoenix Titan. If Lakshman managed to convince Dominic of his honesty, the two Dragon Kings will immediately give up their mission.
He heard Tetra say in his mind, “Master, I don’t know if that’s a good enough reason to make him believe you.”
“I know, but I have to try. All Sword Titans were honest and courageous people that gave more value to reason than to feelings. If I can make him believe this is for the greater good, then it’ll be fine for us.”
He heard Silvera say in his mind, “I hope he believes in your honesty master, because I don’t want to leave and get sealed away. I don’t know how I was in the past, but I want to make a difference that lets me be of use to you and the world in a good way.”
“That’s good, Silvera. I believe fate and justice will be on our side,” Tetra told her in a reassuring voice.
Looking firmly into Dominic’s eyes, Lakshman said, “Please believe me, Dom. I do not gain anything by lying to you.”
They looked into each other’s eyes intently for a few seconds. Then Dominic closed his eyes and nodded as he made a decision.
“I understand, Phoenix Titan,” he said finally. Then, he turned to the two Dragon Kings and declared, “I believe in the Phoenix Titan and since he does not have intentions of handing the Demon Slayer over, I deem your mission to be impossible to succeed. Besides, he is the head of the Nine Pillars of Power and I do not believe the Phoenix Titan will ever do evil when the rest of us fight for good.”
Gurret sighed in resignation, but Fizard looked shocked by the Sword Titan’s decision. He believed the
Sword Titan was being fooled by the clever acting of the Phoenix Titan.
“Sword Titan, please reconsider your decision. He could be lying to you for a different reason!” Fizard told him in a firm voice.
At his words, Dominic turned and started intently at Lakshman, who stared resolutely back. Then, he smiled and shook his head much to the surprise of Fizard.
“I do not feel the dishonesty in those eyes and I can sense the strength of justice as it’s siding by his side. With such undeniable proof, I don’t believe there is any doubt the Phoenix Titan’s intentions of using the Demon Slayer for a negative purpose.”
“B-But he could be.
“Are you doubting my sense of judgement?” Dominic thundered in a frightening voice and he looked sharply at Fizard.
Fizard was startled to see such an expression on the Sword Titan’s face. Unable to say anything back, looked down at his feet in a silent disbelief. He still continued to believe that the Sword Titan was being fooled. At that moment, he heard the voice of his partner speaking in his mind.
“I also feel the Phoenix Titan is not lying about his desire to not use the Demon Slayer for evil.”
Fizard inwardly sighed and thought, “I see, but does that mean the battle that we just fought and all our efforts were wasted?”
“No. Rather, we learnt something valuable from our encounter with the Phoenix Titan. We learnt the way he fights and that can come in handy to use to take him out quickly if we ever have to deal with him again.”
“Ha…” Fizard sighed heavily and instantly became worried as he was struck by a question. He looked up at the Earth Dragon King and asked, “What about our mission?”
“Ah. Your mission,” Dominic said and two of them looked towards him. He smiled slightly and said, “Tell your Dragon Emperor that I, Dominic Rutherford, have issued that the Fire Dragon King and the Earth Dragon King to withdraw from this area immediately. The reason to this is my full trust in the Phoenix Titan.”
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Fizard and Gurret were surprised to see the confidence in the Sword Titan as he told them this. Even though he was a Titan ranked warrior, they never truly saw him in battle. Yet, his demeanour and his innate ability to stay on guard while being casual was most impressive. They realised, while Sword Titan is at the bottom of the Nine Pillars of Power, he was a warrior that should not be underestimated.
With the decision made, the two Dragon Kings stood at attention and bowed down to both the Phoenix Titan and the Sword Titan.
“We understand and will carry your message to the Dragon Emperor,” Fizard said in a firm voice.
“Good,” Dominic said and he nodded once in satisfaction.
“Phew,” Lakshman said as he closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad that’s taken care of.”
He suddenly flashed his eyes open in surprise because he felt something strange. It was a surging power level and it was on the rise from above. At the same time, Sword Titan and the two Dragon Kings also sensed the power level and they all looked up at the sky.
“What is that?” Lakshman asked slowly. Then he muttered, “Phoenix Eyes.”
In an instant, his eyes gleamed brightly and he was able to zoom his vision forward. After zooming several times, he was startled when he saw what the black shape. As he focused more on it, the black thing quickly took on the shape of a very large hand.
“What the hell? Is that a giant hand in the sky?” he asked in a disbelieving voice. Then, in a worried voice, he asked, “Don’t tell me this is some sort of religious outbreak?”
Dominic quickly looked in his direction and asked, “Do you believe in religion, Phoenix Titan?”
Lakshman instantly reacted by waving his hands while saying, “Ah! That was just a joke, just now. I didn’t mean any offense to any believers or nonbelievers.”
“That’s fine, but I also see a giant hand up above, but I believe it’s descending though at a fast rate,” Dominic told him and Lakshman nodded in agreement with him.
They watched as the giant shaped hand descended rapidly to the ground. It eventually became clear, to the two Dragon Kings that it was a hand, but all of them noticed that it was not getting any larger than before. Instead, it just seemed like a hand that was several times bigger and larger than a normal hand.
Lakshman’s eyes widened slightly as he realised the hand was not heading towards him, Dominic or Gurret. Instead, it soared straight down and headed straight towards where Fizard stood.
“It’s not heading towards us. It’s heading towards you, Fizard!” Lakshman informed him in an alarmed voice.
“Huh? Towards me? What do you…?” Fizard asked slowly.
He looked up and squinted to avoid the sunlight from blinding him. Then, his eyes widened in surprise as the hand quickened and roared through the air as it descended towards him.
“Oh crap!” he shouted and he quickly managed to raise both of his hands over his head to defend himself.
With a crushing force, the giant hand slammed down, exactly Fizard was standing a moment ago. It appeared the hand had crushed the killed the Dragon King with a mighty slam. Lakshman was shocked by seeing it happen and that was when he noticed the strange dark swirling and the pulsation of the large hand.
“That’s not a hand… It’s a Shadow Hand! Then, the user must be…?”
Just as he was about to finish the sentence, a man came down from the sky and heavily landed with his feet on the ground. He straightened up and looked at where his Shadow Hand had crushed the Fire Dragon King.
The Demon Dragon King, Razzel, snorted and said, “Seriously? With all your boastings of being powerful, you go down with a single crush of my hand? How lame…!”
“Demon Dragon King, Razzel…” Dominic said slowly in a surprised voice.
Razzel looked towards Dominic and said, “Ah. Greeting, Sword Titan Dominic Rutherford, but would you wait for a bit? I have a dragon hunt to perform and you’re also in the list, Gurret.”
Razzel finished speaking as he turned and looked menacingly towards the Earth Dragon King. Gurret sharpened his eyes and quickly took on a fighting stance as he sheathed his sword. He realised a battle against Razzel would mean a battle that would not involve weapons due to the energy and magic attacks Razzel can perform.
There was a sudden eruption of flames from beneath the shadow hand, causing Razzel to withdraw his shadow hand. As it retracted, it quickly became normal sized and appeared to be his right hand, where the arm was cut off from his earlier battle with Lakshman.
“You’re using the shadow hand as your right hand?” Lakshman asked him curiously.
“Naturally since you ripped my original arm off,” Razzel told him as he flexed his shadow hand.
The ground suddenly exploded from beneath as a fiery ball of energy made an opening. From out of the opening, a furious Fire Dragon King emerged as he radiated with red flames that surrounded his body. He looked towards Razzel and let out a roar like that of a real dragon, making Lakshman cover his left ear to stop his ear drum from exploding.
“Well, well, well…! The Fire Dragon King’s finally decided to crawl out of his underground slumber,” Razzel said sarcastically.
Fizard became extremely furious and shouted, “Damn you, Razzel!”
“Ah. Come now. I didn’t say anything bad, did I? I mean, I did think you were a fragile dragon king and I wondered if I should start calling you that. Well? Should I?” Razzel asked him curiously with an innocent expression on his face.
Fizard looked as if he was going to explode with rage. He looked towards his partner and asked, “Gurret! Is our mission to kill this bastard still active?”
“Yeah,” Gurret replied with a firm voice as he stared sharply at Razzel.
“Great! Then let’s kill this—!”
Before he could finish speaking, his face was suddenly grabbed by a large shadow hand. As he struggled to break free, Razzel smirked before he spoke to them.
“Now, hold you’re flaming breathe, silly dragon. This is my dragon hunt and all you have to do is just sit back and enjoy getting beaten by me while I enjoy myself, alright?”
As he finished, he grabbed Fizard tightly by the face with his shadow hand. Then, with a strong force, he lifted Fizard and swung him into the distance like a whip. Razzel quickly kicked off the ground with great force and chased after him through the air. Gurret, quickly activated Stone Edge and it propelled him high into the air before he soared after them.”
“Damn! We need to stop them from their senseless battle!” Lakshman said before he groaned from how weak he felt when he tried to get up.
“Well then. I think your recover is the number one priority right now,” Dominic told him firmly. “Just wait because I’m going to heal you.”
Lakshman looked up at him with a perplexed expression on his face.
“Heal me? How? Like all the typical Sword Titans, you don’t know how to use magic.”
“That is true, but my Destiny Sword has the means of healing me and the people I choose to heal,” Dominic said with a single nod of the head. Then, he smiled and said, “Rest assured, it will only take fifteen seconds to heal you completely.”
“Wait, Dom… You don’t mean…?” Lakshman slowly asked apprehensively.
Dominic nodded wordlessly and pulled out his sword. It was a well-shaped sword with strange letters engraved on the blade’s surface. He then proceeded to hold it vertically like a knight and close his eyes to activate the technique. As the blade of the Destiny Sword began to glow with green light, Dominic opened his eyes.
“Ready.”
Realising what he was about to do, Lakshman quickly raised his hand and said, “Hold on! Wait! We can just use my method of healing. Seriously!”
“It’s fine. Trust me, my friend. It won’t harm you,” Dominic said with a smiling face.
Before Lakshman could do anything, Dominic quickly stabbed his chest with the green glowing blade of the Destiny Sword. Lakshman instantly closed his eyes and waited for pain as his chest was pierced. Then, to his surprise, he opened his eyes and found that his entire body was covered in a green glow of light. What was more surprising was that his wounds began to quickly be healed and his vitality was being restored.
“So… This is the so called Healing Blade?” Lakshman asked curiously as he looked at the green glowing sword that was sticking out of his chest.
“That’s right,” Dominic said and he nodded his head at him. “I can make multiple swords and activate Healing Blade so they heal people upon going into them.”
Lakshman shook his head in exasperation and said, “Dom… This is an unhealthy way of healing anyone. Seriously.”
Dominic chuckled and said, “Its safe, doesn’t hurt you one bit and acts like an object that cannot touch physical objects. Plus, this is the quickest way of healing someone since it doesn’t take too long like those magic spells that you magicians constantly use.”
“Yeah, but what if the Healing Blade deactivates during the healing process? Wouldn’t it get lodged into that person’s chest for good?” Lakshman asked nervously. Then he sighed and said, “At least, from what I know, there’s a safety mechanism that immediately removes the sword from the person’s body as the technique deactivates. I think it was something of a safety measure the Destiny Sword developed for that technique from past experience.”
As Lakshman looked shrewdly at the Sword Titan, Dominic chuckled in embracement and said, “I can’t say no to that.”
At that moment, there was a violent blast of energy, which was following by a large explosion in the distance. The two of them turned to look in that direction where the battle between Razzel, Fizard and Gurret was taking place. That was when Dominic began speaking about Razzel.
“I hear that Razzel was more of an experimentalist than a real warrior, but he was good with his energy and magic skills. Sadly, he wasted his talent by mixing up with the dark forces and ended up becoming who he is today. Originally, Razzel held the title of Shadow Dragon King as the one of the five Dragon Kings, but soon became known as the Demon Dragon King due to him walking out on his clan.”
Lakshman nodded and said, “Yes. I know of that story as well and I am certain now as to why he is waging war on the two of them.”
Once the fifteen second time was up, Dominic pulled the Destiny Sword out and deactivated the Healing Blade technique. Lakshman breathed a sigh of relief and finally got to his feet. He felt fine without any strange sensations or disorientation to make him feel unsteady. He walked over to his sword pieced into the ground and pulled them out before sheathing them into the side of his belt.
In his mind, he heard Tetra and Silvera speak to him in worried voices.
“Are you alright, master?”
“You’re not hurt, master?”
“Did that sword stab hurt you just now?”
“Was it painful to be healed by a sword like that?”
“Should we attack Sword Titan for his recklessness?”
“Maybe if we beat some sense into him, he’ll start doing the sensible thing by learning some magic techniques.”
Lakshman sighed and thought, “Girls, stop that. I’m perfectly fine and that was a Healing Blade and it’s supposed to be stabbed into someone’s chest to work. I’m back in full health and in full power!”
“Thank goodness,” Silvera said with a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, but it looked as if the Sword Titan stabbed you to death, master,” Tetra said nervously.
Hearing that made Lakshman chuckle and made Dominic curious about why he chuckled. Seeing this, Lakshman smiled and explained about what his Sacred Spirits told him.
Dominic understood their concern for their master and apologetically said, “Yes. Unfortunately, with my lack of ability with magic, this was the only way to heal you. I’m sorry.”
Lakshman waved his apology away and said, “Never mind. It’s not like you were to be blamed for not being capable of using magic skills. Even I struggled to use much of magic skills and I mostly relied on using energy attacks until I recently discovered it was actually not my fault that I wasn’t good at using magic.”
“Right. Now, shall we go and stop their battle?” Dominic asked for confirmation.
Lakshman nodded firmly with a seriously expression on his face as he said, “Yes. Let’s stop them before it gets out of hand.”
He and Dominic began to surge with power; Lakshman’s Elemental Glow was golden-red while Dominic’s Elemental Glow was pure gold. They began charging up their energies and simultaneously kicked off the ground before they flew towards where the battle between Razzel, Fizard and Gurret was taking place.