Lakshman and Zen sat on the rough scaled body of the Spirit Dragon as it flew through the ait at high speed. It beat its wings from time to time to keep itself afloat while moving towards, what appeared to be, a deserted island. While they flew, the wind blew against them with strong force and caused a wild billowing sound to blow in their ears.

The Phoenix Titan was wearing a pleasant expression on his face as he sat firmly on his familiar. The Phoenix Emperor, on the other hand, was struggling to sit comfortably on the dragon’s scaled body. It was a bit uncomfortable due to its rough body and the speed at which it flew caused him to grip the body a little tightly.

After flying for some time, Zen finally opened his mouth to speak to Lakshman because he could no longer take the discomfort of the ride.

“Lakshman!” he bellowed and his friend turned around to look at him with a pleasant expression on his face. “Make this thing go slower! It’s too uncomfortable to fly at this speed!”

Lakshman did not clearly hear his words and he shouted back, “What did you say?”

Zen took a deep breath and bellowed at Lakshman, “Slow this dragon down!”

Lakshman looked surprised and he shouted, “Oh! Okay!” He, suddenly, smiled and said, “I didn’t know you cared so much about my friend! I’m so glad you’re also here!”

Zen was taken aback by Lakshman’s words as he said, “Huh?”

Lakshman turned back to the front and patted the Spirit Dragon as he telepathically said, “Draga, go faster! Zen seems to be more worried about Dominic than I am!”

Draga snorted and telepathically replied by saying, “Okay. Faster is it.”

Zen heard the telepathically voice in his mind and he looked shocked as he exclaimed, “What?!”

The Spirit Dragon raised its wings up and brought them down dramatically, creating a huge burst of speed. Zen, shocked by the sudden boost in speed, was lifted off his feet and he flew towards the end of the dragon. He, desperately, flailed his hands helplessly in the air before smacking against the large scaly spike that was rising out of the dragon’s body.

“No! I said to slow down; not speed up!” he bellowed loudly in a desperate voice, but his words got lost in the wind as the dragon flew towards the deserted island at incredible speed

After flying for several minutes, the Spirit Dragon reached the island while moving at incredible speed. As it reached the island, the Spirit Dragon opened its mouth and fired a powerful blast of red energy towards the island. The attack travelled for a few seconds before smashing against a barrier, which was the Dragon Sanctuary Barrier.

“A barrier, but it won’t stop me,” said the Spirit Dragon telepathically in a confident voice.

It soared straight towards the island and passed through what felt like an invisible barrier. In an instant, the deserted island changed to that of an island completed surrounded by forested trees.

Lakshman looked over the side of his familiar and saw that some of the trees were levelled as if a great battle had occurred there. It made sense to him since he believed that Dominic had engaged with the enemy, which led him to be weakened and then captured easily by the Dragon Clan.

“I hope, for their sake, they didn’t do anything to him!” thought Lakshman with a face that was slowly being covered with anger as he clenched his fists tightly.

The Spirit Dragon fly by several other smaller dragons and startled them in the process. They tried to give chase, but fell short of the speed at which the larger dragon was flying at. Draga snorted at their feeble attempts to catch up to his speed before flying towards the home of the Dragon Clan.

A few minutes later, they reached the home of the Dragon Clan and down below. The people, down below, were startled when a powerful wind began to blow in all directions. They, desperately, moved to different places to hold on as the large dragon slowly descended onto the centre of their home.

When the stopped beating its wings, the people were finally able to see what it was. Some were shocked, others were alarmed and most were disbelieving to see such a large dragon standing there. The children hung their mouths open and stared wide eyed at the dragon like everyone else.

Zen, slowly, lifted himself off the surface of the dragon’s body and groaned painfully. The speedy bumpy ride had left him feeling sore all over his body and it caused him to move around lazily.

“Ah!” he yelled in shock as he, by accident, slipped off the side of the Spirit Dragon’s body.

As he fell heavily on the ground, Lakshman floated down to land smoothly on the ground. After straightening his clothes, he stared down with an exasperated expression on his face at Zen, who was lying face up on the ground with.

“That’s no way to make a landing, Zen,” commented Lakshman in an exasperated voice.

“I… didn’t…” Zen said in a low voice before trying to get up.

He groaned as Lakshman assisted in helping him up to his feet. Meanwhile, the people had noticed the two of them and stared at them with furrowed eyebrows. They did not know who they were, but it made them feel a strange sense of anger towards them. The people were not aware that their ancestor’s blood flowing through them was making them feel angry towards them due to the great dislike the Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan shared in the ancient times.

One of the people of the Dragon Clan stepped towards them cautiously; nervous that they might attack them. The people could feel that the two of them were strong, but were uncertain of who they are and why they are there. It made it even more complicated by the fact that these two were riding upon a powerful looking dragon that they had never seen in their lives.

“Who are you stranger…? Why have you come here…?” the man asked in a nervous voice.

Lakshman smiled and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Zen started to introduce themselves.

“Hi. Nice to meet you. My name is Zen Phylon, also known as the Phoenix Emperor and this is—!”

“Phoenix?!” the people exclaimed together with alarmed looks on their faces as they cut across him. “Phoenix Emperor?!”

Zen nodded and said, “That’s right. I’m—!”

Several of the women began to scream in fear upon learning that the Phoenix Emperor was right in front of them. Most of the people stared at them in shock with wild looks on their faces as fear began to settle in their hearts. Multiple groups of people began scattering in all directions while others stood rooted to the spot with fear filled in their hearts.

“Uh…” Zen said slowly as he stared at their wild reaction in surprise.

He felt a pat on his left shoulder and he turned to see Lakshman staring at him with an exasperated expression on his face.

“Nice work, Zen. You scarred the heck out of them,” stated Lakshman in a half-hearted impressed voice.

Zen blinked at him in surprise and asked, “What did I do? I just introduced myself. Is that wrong?”

Lakshman shook his head and smiled slightly as he said, “Exactly. That’s the issue.”

“Huh?” Zen said and he blinked in surprise.

“Use your head, Zen. We’re in enemy territory and introducing ourselves to them is like ‘Hey! I’m your enemy and I’m in your turf! Do what you want with me!” Lakshman said and he chuckled slightly.

Zen was stunned by that revelation and it took him a moment before he asked, “So… I basically gave us away…?”

“You certainly did,” said Lakshman in affirmation and Zen looked horrified.

“I’m truly sorry, Phoenix Titan!” Zen said quickly in an apologetic voice. “I didn’t mean to do that, but I thought it was curtesy to introduce ourselves since we arrived without any invitation.”

Lakshman chuckled again and said, “I know why you did it and that’s why I’m not beating the pulp out of you.”

As Lakshman smiled sweetly at him, Zen’s expression darkened with horror and he said, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” said Lakshman and he waved his hand casually to set his apology aside. “Besides, they would’ve known who we were eventually, so it’s a good thing to know each other from the beginning.”

“Ah. You’re right,” said Zen and he nodded in understanding before breathing a sigh in relief.

Just then, they heard a strong voice say from nearby, “Hey! Don’t ignore us!”

Lakshman and Zen looked around and realised that they were surrounded by the Dragon Clan’s warriors. It seemed that the people had escaped as the dragon warriors quickly arrived at the scene to secure their enemies. All of them looked strong as they each held a spear in their hands while wearing the all-powerful Dragon Armour.

“I wasn’t ignoring you; I simply didn’t care about you,” said Lakshman smoothly as he flashed a smile at them.

“What?!” the speaker exclaimed in shock while the rest looked angrily at him. “How dare you talk to us like that?! Don’t you know you’re surrounded?!”

“Yeah, but what’re you going to do? Poke us with your little sticks?” Lakshman said and he spread his hands out before laughing loudly. “Big deal! I doubt you will even leave a scratch on us!”

As the numerous warriors looked very angrily at him, Zen moved slowly towards him and muttered, “I don’t think taunting them is the best thing to do right now.”

“They already know who we are, so there’s no need to play innocent,” said Lakshman smoothly as he smiled at the warriors that surrounded them.

“You do realise that you’re endangering yours and your partner’s lives!” the speaker said angrily through gritted teeth.

Lakshman mockingly looked surprised and said, “Really? I don’t feel like I’m in danger. Nope. None at all.”

Zen looked at him with a shocked expression on his face because he could not believe the taunts he was throwing at the dragon warrior. The dragon warrior speaker had enough of peaking as his anger reached a boiling point and he roared with rage, causing the wind to blow quickly around them.

“I’ve had enough of you punks and don’t say I wanted you because it’s time you say goodbye to your lives!” the dragon warrior speaker shouted and he stamped his spear into the ground. “Everyone! Attack!”

Together, they began roaring like wild beasts as they charged toward Lakshman and Zen at high speed. They began surging with power and charged their spears with power as they pointed them in their direction.

Zen clenched his teeth and took on a fighting form as he said, “We must defend ourselves!”

He was surprised when Lakshman calmly said, “It’s fine. Leave them to me.”

He looked at Lakshman and asked, “What’re you going to do?”

The Phoenix Titan smiled confidently and said, “Watch and learn as your senior give you a lesson in knocking someone out. After all, there’s more than one way to take someone down without using physical force and energy blasts.”

Lakshman saw them charging towards him and he smiled as he thought, “Perfect.”

He, quickly, moved his hands to form several different hand signs before setting his left and right hands away from each other. After folding the rest of the fingers, he kept his middle and forefinger extended outward. Applying energy to his technique, he sharply flicked those fingers upward.

In an instant, magic circles began to appear underneath each and every dragon warrior charging towards them. The next moment, blitz waves of lightning began to be released from the circles and they surround the warrior that stood over their respective magic circle. A moment later, blazing fire exploded out of the magic circle and engulfed the warrior, scorching them painfully with burning fury.

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The warriors, burning inside and flames, screamed their lungs out as the lightning blasts caused their bodies to go numb. The pain they were feeling was intense and knowing it, Lakshman around at them with a serious expression on his face with displeasure on his face.

A few seconds later, the magic circles disappeared along with the blitz lightning waves and blazing fire. The dragon warrior stood as smoke slowly rose out of their scorched clothes as burn marked appeared on their bodies. They breathed a slow sigh as they fell backwards to land on the ground, falling either on their faces or on their backs.

Zen was shocked at seeing them so easily defeated as he slowly asked, “What… just… happened…?”

“Elemental Torment,” said Lakshman and Zen turned to him in shock.

“You mean the Elemental Torment, an Attack Magic Type, that’s capable of turning one’s feelings into an attack that torments them with fire and lightning?” Zen asked with an alarmed look on his face.

Lakshman nodded and said, “Yes. It turns the victim’s own feelings into a weapon and fuels the fire and lightning that torments them.

Zen was startled by it and he said, “Are you serious? It’s an Emperor ranked lethal magic spell that could kill anyone with their own feelings! How come you used it here and more importantly, why are they still breathing after taking such a huge amount of damage?”

The Phoenix Titan turned to him and smiled sadly as he said, “I’m not a murderer and as such, I used the spell with the intent to knock them out with intense force. It would’ve killed any normal man and burned them into a crisp on the spot, but because they possess the Dragon Skin, I had to amply the attacking force to deal enough damage to knock them out.”

The Phoenix Emperor stared at him for a moment and thought, “I feel that he’s changed somehow… I don’t know how to put it, but he’s more aggressive than before, but still merciful as ever. In a sense, he became an extremely powerful being with no equal to challenge him.”

At that moment, they heard a voice shout, “What the heck is going on here?!”

Both of them turned in the direction the voice came from and saw four warriors walking towards them. These dragon warriors were also wearing the Dragon Armours and had four different skin colours between them. Lakshman and Zen sensed that they were very powerful and Zen felt that just one of them is as strong as him, which made him be cautious of their approach.

Lakshman, unperturbed by their presence, smiled widely and said, “Well, if it isn’t the Four Dragon Kings! It’s quite an honour for you come greeting me like this.”

The Fire Dragon King, Fizard, stopped short and stared in shock at Lakshman’s face. He immediately recognised the face of the man, whom they had attacked twelve-years-ago in order to try and recover the Sacred Spirit called the Demon Slayer, which was Silvera.

“You! You’re the Phoenix Titan!” Fizard said in recognition of Lakshman’s title with an alarmed expression on his face.

Lakshman looked at Fizard’s face and after instantly recognising him, he smiled and said, “Wow! You’re that numbskull that attacked me twelve-years-ago in an attempt to separate me and my wife. How are you? How’s life been for you these twelve years?”

Fizard gritted his teeth in anger and said, “Don’t talk to me so formerly as if I’m one of your friends!”

“You will be soon enough,” said Lakshman smoothly with a cool expression on his face.

“What?!” Fizars said sharply with an angry look on his face. “You expect me to be your friend after what you’ve done to our warriors? Besides, no Dragon Clan member will be friends with a member of the Phoenix Clan!”

Lakshman laughed and said, “That’s how you feel right now, but I’ll make a friend out of you. Believe it.”

Fizard became enraged by how confident Lakshman looked and he took a step forward as he began to say, “You—!”

“Enough!” The Water Dragon King, Waddit said sharply and caught their attention. “Fizard. Control yourself. Do not shame the name of out title or the emperor we serve.”

Fizard looked annoyed as he stared at Lakshman for a moment before breathing heavily and going silent without saying anything. He did not want to spoil the name of the Dragon Emperor, the master whom he serves. It was also to avoid getting a band name to his title if his people learn that he reacted childishly against the Phoenix Titan’s taunts.

The Air Dragon King, Aidek, stared Lakshman up and down thoroughly before thinking, “Mmm… So, this is the Phoenix Titan. I must say, he appears rather simple, but I can feel the power he’s masking. It is clear this man is aware of keeping things balanced.”

The Earth Dragon King, Gurret, looked at Lakshman with an impressed expression on his face as he thought, “Impressive… The young boy twelve-years-ago, who couldn’t defend against me and Fizard, is now standing confidently in front of us as he coolly taunts Fizard. Most impressive indeed.”

Waddit turned back to Lakshman and calmly said, “Anyway, we were expecting you, but you didn’t have to knock out the escort group we sent to greet you.”

“They attacked me out of anger and I reacted in self-defence,” stated Lakshman in a firm voice that showed no hint of lying. “Besides, I don’t have time to waste my energy on weaklings.”

Waddit sighed and said, “Anyway, what happened has happened. Please come this way; the Dragon Emperor is waiting.”

“I don’t care about the Dragon Emperor!” Lakshman said in a sharp voice with a serious expression on his face. “I want to know where my friend is! Tell me!”

“Why you—!” Fizard began, but Gurret held him back with a hand in front of him like a gate.

Waddit stared at Lakshman for a moment before he said, “I’m sorry, but the Dragon Emperor would know the whereabouts of your friend.”

Lakshman raised his hand in frustration and said, “Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Waddit nodded his head once and said, “This way, please.”

He began leading the Phoenix Titan and the Phoenix Emperor towards the castle with Fizard and Gurret following behind. Aidek stayed behind to heal the injured warriors while calling for medical assistance due to the extensive amount of damage they had taken from Lakshman’s attack.

***

They arrived at the castle shortly after seeing the Air Dragon King off with his healing duty to recover his unconscious warriors. Zen was looking all over at the castle with an amazed expression on his face because he did not believe anyone would build a castle like that. Lakshman, on the other hand, did not pay any attention to any of the castle structures, except one that caught his attention and made him stop.

Gurret noticed him staring up at the figure of the first Dragon Emperor in the ancient times, who was declared that after escaping from their collapsing world.

“That is the first Dragon Emperor, Laquzard Draigun,” said Gurret telepathically to Lakshman.

“Yeah. I know,” said Lakshman shortly without taking his eyes off the statue.

He knew of this statue because it was that exact Dragon Emperor that had been a fierce rival to Lakshman when he lived as Asura Rangavardan in the ancient times. Seeing the statue of his rival brought back the memories of their struggle and it made him smile at the difficulty Asura had faced to even the odds against the all-powerful Dragon Emperor.

After tearing his eyes away from the statue, they continued along the deserted corridor until they reached a large door. Opened it, Waddit, Gurret and Fizard walked in first before Lakshman and Zen entered into the king’s throne room. Awaiting their arrival were the other ministers and rulers of the Dragon Clan, who were seated on high class comfortable looking chairs.

Upon seeing them enter, they began to whisper to one another about Lakshman and Zen. It was not a positive muttering because they spoke of the dangers these two possess to their clan and their disbelief that the Dragon Emperor had invited them there in the first place.

“Silence!” shouted a voice from atop a platform that had stairs leading to it. “I expect silence!”

The surrounding people fell silent and remained observant of anything that the Phoenix Titan and the Phoenix Emperor did. They were not sure what those two would do to free their captured comrade, but they were ready to take them down with necessary force.

Once Lakshman and Zen reached the start of the stairs, the three Dragon Kings walk away to take seats on either sides of the stairs. Zen was looking around all the people present while Lakshman looked up at the man sitting atop the throne chair.

“Welcome!” the Dragon Emperor greeted them in a loud carrying voice. “It’s a pleasure to be in the presence of the Phoenix Emperor and, of course, the Phoenix Titan!”

Lakshman narrowed his eyes slightly as the Dragon Emperor continued speaking in a loud voice.

“You see! I’ve always wanted to meet you, Phoenix Titan, but my busy schedule couldn’t allow us to meet. Unfortunately, it seemed that I would never meet you because of your disappearance ten-years-ago, but you returned alive and safe after surviving a battle against the Calamity Titan! You were very lucky, otherwise, you would’ve become one of your previous incarnations.”

Lakshman was growing bored of the Dragon Emperor’s speech and his expression of displeasure clearly showed how he was feeling about his speech.

“I heard that you destroyed the Demon Continent out of rage and you were called to the Heaven Continent to prove your innocence. How do I know all this? Let’s just say I have eyes and ears in, almost, every place there is. As such, I—.”

“Where’s my friend!” Lakshman said as he had enough of listening to the useless words of the Dragon Emperor.

The Dragon Emperor blinked I surprise and the people there looked extremely shocked at the Phoenix Titan’s interruption. They grew angry by the fact that he had interrupted their ruler’s speech, causing them to dislike him very much.

The Dragon Emperor was momentarily surprised, but he quickly recovered his smile and said, “We’ll get to that shortly. As I was saying, I know what goes around outside of the continent without actually going out of it myself. It isn’t wise to be ignorant as the outside world changes over the years that we stayed safe and hidden from the eyes of the world. So you know, I—.”

“Where. Is. My. Friend?” asked Lakshman in a powerful voice that dug a strong impression on those seated in his presence.

One of them rose out of their seats and shouted angrily, “How dare you be so careless in his majesty’s presence?! Do you not care the slightest of what he’s saying?”

“Not in the slightest,” replied Lakshman and stunned everyone there into going silent. He turned back to face the Dragon Emperor sitting higher than him before he demanded in a strong voice, “Where is my friend?!”

The Dragon Emperor was surprised by the interruptions that the Phoenix Titan was doing to stop him speaking. It made him realise that dealing with the Phoenix Titan was a difficult task than he expected.

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Author's Note

Hello everyone and thanks for reading this chapter. I wrote this chapter in one day and rose up early to fix anything and add more that I felt was needed in this chapter earlier than I expected. Why? It's because I thoroughly enjoyed making Lucky as awesome as he can get with his behaviour towards the Dragon Clan members he had met in the past and his first meeting with the Dragon Emperor. So, I hope that you liked it as well and will look forward to the next chapter as the story continues!