Somewhere far away, a portal opened up in a middle of nowhere and a group of six people walked out of it. They were Atem, Sonia, Silvera, Tetra, Sumara and Lakshman. These six people arrived here, in the Dragon World, on a mission to bring back with them the Dragon Titan to fight the Phoenix Calamity War two years from then.

After stepping into the Dragon World, the group were a little surprised to find little greenery in the place. Everything around them was covered in dried up lava with destroyed grounds that had deep holes as if they were created by meteoroids. Even those that looked like structures showed their age by the rotting substance attacked to them along with the pieces lying everywhere.

“Wow… This place is so destroyed…” muttered Atem slowly in an awed voice.

“More like ruined,” clarified Sonia while looking around at the place.

Sumara looked around with a sad expression on her face as she asked, “How could this… happen to a world…?”

Lakshman glanced at her sad face and understood why she was feeling that way. Sumara and her clan never had a place to call as home until a while ago when they, with the help from the Magic Titan, escaped to a remote island to be safe from others. So, for a world ruled by a single race to face such destruction just made her very upset.

“From what I was told, the Dragon Titan went mad and ruined their world with destruction,” said Lakshman as he recalled what the first Dragon Emperor of his world told him.

“Eh?!” Sumara exclaimed as she glanced at him in shock. “The Dragon Titan did all this… to his own world… to his own people…? Why..?”

Lakshman shook his head and said, “No clue. I was never told why and I never really cared to find out.”

“Oh…” said Sumara slowly and she looked sad once again before turning away.

Atem, on the other hand, turned to look at him suspiciously and asked, “How did you come by this information in the first place? It would’ve been a Dragon Clan member who told you about this. Am I right?”

Lakshman nodded with a smile as he replied, “Correct. It’s my long lasting rival and friend, the first Dragon Emperor. Well, he was called the First Dragon Emperor after they arrived in our world.”

Atem looked puzzled as he asked, “You told me he was your rival and that you fought on many occasions, so explain to me how the heck he could’ve told you about this?”

To that question, Lakshman merely smiled while Silvera responded on his behalf.

“Simple: Banquets,” replied Silvera firmly.

“Huh?” Atem asked while looking surprised. “Banquets?”

Silvera nodded and said, “Yes. The Phoenix Clan and the Dragon Clan may have been fierce enemies, but they ended up fighting together and aiding each other on many occasions. So, we often held parties which both sides attended many times and during that time, Lakshman and we, his wives, came to know a bit about the Dragon Clan history.”

“Of course, we didn’t know about the Dragon Titan being responsible for ruining this world,” said Tetra with a half-smile on his face.

“He told me when he got extremely drunk,” explained Lakshman with an exasperated look on his face. “Seriously, he has low tolerance level, but I don’t drink so I’m safe. Anyway, he said something about his world ruined because of the Dragon Titan’s failure and also added something about his father going mad or something.”

Atem listened intently and when Lakshman finished, he paused for a moment while thinking before asking, “Mmm… He told you the Dragon Titan was responsible for this happening to this world, but what were those contradictory words then? Don’t they mean…?”

 Lakshman nodded and said, “Yes. The truth might be that the Dragon Emperor was actually the Dragon Titan and his father was the Dragon Emperor ruling over their world. My guess is that something happened to the Dragon Emperor and he went mad, running their world in the process. The Dragon Titan was unable to stop it, so he led his surviving people to our world and threw his title away while taking up the title of First Dragon Emperor.

“Mmm… Something major happened…” said Sonia slowly in a surprised voice while Atem nodded in agreement.

Lakshman nodded at them as well, but he turned away to face the front as he said, “Besides, that’s ancient history, so let’s focus on the present and plan for the future instead.”

“Okay… but where should we start looking…?” Atem asked slowly while turning to look around him at the ruined world.

“Zooming Force,” said Lakshman and instantly, his vision’s sight distance improved and he began to see far away. As he continued to look, something loomed in his vision and he said to them, “There’s a high tower… Dragon Tower from what I can tell since it’s the only thing standing.”

Atem clapped his hands and said, “Great. That makes things easy.”

Lakshman nodded with a smile as he said, “Right. Let’s go!”

A moment later, he kicked off the ground and rocketed into the air at high speed while being followed behind by his companions. They flew after him and continued to follow his trail as he soared ahead of them while moving at a very fast speed.

As he neared the Dragon Tower, Lakshman shouted, “Elemental Sight!”

In an instant, his vision changed and he began to see specific colours with everything else filtered out. He vision spotted a thin line of barrier circling around the tower like a dome and seemed to be responsive once someone enters the barrier zone.

He came to a halt in mid- air and caused everyone else to stop to hover behind him with perplexed expressions on their faces.

“Is something wrong, Lucky?” Tetra asked him curiously.

“Yeah. There’s a barrier surrounding the tower,” said Lakshman as he informed them.

“What?!” Atem exclaimed in shock. “Can’t we break through it?”

“Mmm… Maybe, but let’s descend first so we can think this through,” said Lakshman thoughtfully.

Understanding, they began to descend towards the ground and landed several seconds later on their feet. Lakshman continued to look around the area to see if the barrier had a border or something to allow for them to enter, which was surprisingly created in front of where they stood.

He deactivated his magic and sighed before he said, “Looks like we’re going to be walking from here on.”

“Walking?” Atem asked and he looked up at the tower that was massively tall. “I think I’ll lose my legs if I walk all the way to the top.”

Tetra turned to him and severely said, “Your angel friends made a fool out of us by telling us we cannot fly and must walk all the way to reach your floating continent. Tell me how we felt at that time.”

Atem looked guilty at her and said sadly, “Okay… Let’s walk…”

Tetra got irritated and said, “You’re a man, so stop crying like a cry baby.”

“I’m not!” Atem said irritably as he looked at her seriously before turning to Lakshman. “Let’s go, Lakshman! You’re wife’s underestimating my capability!”

“Okay,” said Lakshman with a shrug of his shoulders.

He turned around and smiled a little at the comedy that had occurred between ATem and Tetra while he led the way. They came behind him and everyone were staring at Atem, who wore a serious expression on his face. Tetra came behind him and smiled at his silly behaviour for taking her words too seriously.

As Lakshman reared the entrance, his eyes widened in shock as an electric like sensation ran through his body. He instantly extended both his arms to either sides in order to stop his companions to going any further. They came to a stop and looked at him curiously as he remained standing with widened eyes.

“What’s wrong, Lucky? You look so shocked!” Sumara said and she became anxious.

“Did something happen or is there a problem up ahead?” Sonia asked him curiously.

Lakshman did not respond because he couldn’t due to his mind going through a lot of pressure. His senses were triggering wildly and screaming at him that danger awaits at the end of their journey. It had been a long time since he felt such sense of overwhelming danger, so he was momentarily rendered speechless.

Silvera walked up to him and shook his body a little while asking, “What’s wrong, Lucky? Answer us.”

Lakshman finally snapped out of his reverie and breathed a huge sigh that surprised them.

“What’s wrong, Lakshman?” Atem asked him in a concerned voice.

Lakshman merely shook his head and took a few seconds before he said, “It’s… better you all wait here.”

It took a moment for his group to understand what he said before they exclaimed together, “Huh?!”

“You’re telling us to wait here and allow you to go all alone?!” Sumara exclaimed while looking alarmed. “I’m not agreeing to this!”

“Yeah! I won’t either!” Sonia replied sharply while the others voiced their disapproving of his suggestion.

Lakshman shook his head and said firmly, “I’m not asking for your suggestion; I’m ordering you all to stay here!”

His sharp words struck them like lightning and they all appeared to be lost for words. He looked at them seriously and spoke more to convince them.

“Look. My senses went off like a time bomb ready to explode and that is a serious warning for me to be extremely cautious. It means that having you with me will be dangerous for both you and I. So, I’ve decided for you all to stay here and wait for my return. Until then, pray that my efforts will go successfully.”

There was a moment’s pause in which no one said a thing before Silvera asked, “What if you were unsuccessful?”

Lakshman turned to look at her and made a sad smile as he said, “If it comes to that, I’ll end up engaged. Don’t try to come to my aide because you’ll only end up getting in my way.” When he saw their hurt faces, he shook his head and said, ‘It hurts, but there’s no choice. This has to be concluded between titans.”

He turned around to face the entrance and said, “Besides, don’t sound as if I’m going to die. That’s far too negative for the purpose I’m head for.”

His words made his wives smile a little and he looked at them with a confident look on his face.

Atem looked at him firmly and said, “Do your best.”

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

Lakshman glanced at him briefly and replied with a smile, “Yeah… Thanks.”

With that, he walked into the tower through the entrance while waving a hand to them to say goodbye. Unable to do anything, they remained standing outside without exchanging words with one another. They simply stood there and waited for his triumphant return, which his wives were hoping greatly.

Almost half-an-hour passed with nothing happening, which began to get on their nerves. Sonia began to pace back and forth, Tetra and Silvera constantly glanced at the entrance hopefully while Sumara merely closed her eyes without saying a word. Atem was the only one who appeared to be relaxed because he had blind belief in Lakshman’s capability to succeeded no matter the difficulty.

Atme found the atmosphere around them to be depressing and wanted to lift their mood. So, he mustered as energy as he could to speak excitedly to them.

“Relax, ladies. He’s probably on his way back right now!”

They all nodded their heads in understanding without turning to glance once at him. This left him feeling depressed once more and he slumped his shoulders in defeat. Everyone was tense because they were concerned for the one man that had left them to go alone to the top of the tower.

At that moment, they heard a loud boom from the top of the tower followed by an enormous explosion that destroyed top of the tower. They quickly moved from there as the shower of destroyed fragments of the tower rained down and smashed onto the ground. As they came into the clear, they all looked up while squinting to see what was happening high above.

High in the sky was Lakshman as he appeared to be in a position of defence and facing against him was a completely stranger who seemed to be reading his fist to punch his opponent. All, but Atem, recognised who it was and they were shocked as the clash of fist against palm released a powerful shock that soared down and buffeted them while making the ground vibrate.

“Dragon Titan…” they thought in unison with astonished expressions on their faces.

“What the hell?!” Atem shouted in alarm as he watched the two warriors battling it out fiercely in the sky. “What the hell’s going on up there?!”

“The Dragon Titan’s battling it out with Lucky!” Tetra said with a concerned look on her face.

Alarmed by her words, Atem looked up at the two warriors fighting and yelled, “Why?!”

***

It took Lakshman several minutes to climb up the stairs to read the top floor where the Dragon Titan was to be found. It would have taken him longer, but he used his Emperor ranked Transport Magic Spell, Instancity, to rocket up the stairs as with each leap. Thus, he soon reached the top to find a closed door.

As he stopped to stand a few meters from the door, Lakshman sensed an ominous pressure emanating from the other side of the door. Lakshman gulped nervously because he was not sure what he would find and courageously turned the door knob and walked in.

The light from the sun light of that world streamed through the windows and lit the room in a soft glow. Lakshman could only make out what was in front of him and his surroundings by a meagre few meters.

“Elemental Sight,” he whispered and his vision changed instantly.

Suddenly, he heard a vague, but a familiar powerful voice said, “You don’t need that.”

Taken by surprised, Lakshman instantly went on guard and prepared his defences as he readied for a sudden assault. As he waited for a few seconds, nothing happened and he turned back to the front with his Elemental Sight still active. There, several meters in front of him, a person seemed to be sitting on, what appeared to be in his vision, as a chair.

He slowly walked forward cautiously as he was not sure if it was the Dragon Titan or not because the person was coloured in the neutral colour. So, not wishing to jump to conclusions, Lakshman advanced carefully while ready to defend as soon as his constantly active Elemental Sense sensed danger.

Stopping within few meters of the person, Lakshman deactivated Elemental Sight to see the person. From the light that was visible enough to make out that person, it was clear he was sitting on a simple like chair constructed a very long time ago by its aged look. A moment later, a light suddenly appeared overhead where the person sat and threw the entire room into relief, making it easy for Lakshman to see.

Sitting in front of him was a man that he remembered all too well from a very long time; during the days he was crowned as the first Phoenix Titan. This man’s frame was strong and firm as his body was powerfully built with chiselled muscles and abs that could be seen through the ragged clothing he was wearing.

The Dragon Titan had his eyes closed and not until did the light fall of them did he finally open them to see who it was. It took him a moment, but sure enough, a wide smile began to form on his face upon recognising the man standing before him.

“Welcome… idiot,” he said slowly in a hoarse voice that did not seem to have been used for a long time.

“Heh,” said Lakshman comically with a smile appearing on his face. “It’s been a long time, Lagron.”

The Dragon Titan called Lagron, grinned widely before he said, “It thrills me to know that you remember my name after all this time.”

“Well, of course,” replied Lakshman firmly with a funny smile on his face. “It’s natural to remember your one and only rival.”

Lagron nodded in understanding before he said, “Easy for you. As for me, I could never forget your because you’re the only one I ever failed to succeed in defeating! RRRAAAAAAOOOOOOOORRRRR!!!”

With those words, Lagron began to roar like a dragon and he began to surge with an unbelievable amount of power while radiating red aura that surrounded him. He glared fiercely as the floor, the ceiling and the walls began to vibrate and crack from feeling his sheer force of power. Even his chair slowly started to crumble as cracks appeared everywhere on its surface.

“Wow now! Calm down, knucklehead! I didn’t come here to pick a fight with you!” Lakshman shouted over the howling wind ringing in his ears as he forced himself to remain where he stood without budging.

Lagron grinned broadly and said loudly, “Clearly, otherwise, I’d beat the crap out of you, idiot!”

Shaking his head while letting out a sigh, Lakshman glared at his rival and said fiercely, “Just because you can power up doesn’t mean I can’t! AAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Clenching his fists tightly and yelling at the top of his lungs, Lakshman instantly powered up and created his own force that fought against the force of the Dragon Titan. The wind blew extremely wild within the room as the windowed walls struggled to keep all of it inside. The room shook even more violently than before as the pressure between the two titans collided with brute relentless force.

Lakshman became aggressive and pointed a finger at him as he replied loudly, “Don’t think I’m holding back anything just because you’re putting up a show by powering up, knucklehead! It’s just that I’m not here to fight you, so stop powering up and listen to what I have to say!”

“Oh… I think it’s important to beat you up instead of listening to you ramble!” Lagron replied firmly with a wide grin on his face.

“Knucklehead!” Lakshman yelled so loud that it caused Lagron’s smile to falter. “We’ve met after so long and you already want to fight me?! Fine! If it’s a fight you want, I’ll get it, but first; power down and listen to me!”

Lagron and Lakshman glared at each other fiercely while the wind within the room blew wildly as cracks formed on the walls, floor and ceiling of the tower room. A second later, Lagron powered down and the wind slowly stopped blowing and the trembling of the room stopped as well. As the pressure in the room lifted, Lagron folded his arms and grinned smugly at his rival.

“You know… The reason I’m bothering to listen to you is simply because it’s pleasing to my ears by hearing you beg for my attention,” said Lagron proudly with an arrogant smile on his face. “The mighty Phoenix Titan bows down before the Dragon Titan…! Ah…! It has such an amazing ring to it, doesn’t it…?”

Lakshman snorted and said, “Keep dreaming.”

“Heh!” Lagron said and the two of them powered down instantly and everything returned to normal.

As Lakshman let out a sigh, Lagron leaned forward with a curious expression on his face as he asked, “So, what really brings you all the way out to my exiled grounds?”

Those words caused Lakshman to snort as he said, “Exiled… You were exiled… I find it amusing to think you, of all people, were exiled because of reasons.”

The Dragon Titan furrowed his eyebrows and became serious as he replied, “Yeah… There are reasons, so don’t put your finger where it doesn’t belong! Now, tell me why you’re here before you test my patience!”

As Lagron glared at him, Lakshman’s smile widened as he raised both of his hands towards his rival as he said, “Okay. Okay. Chill.” He looked at the window for a moment before he turned back to face Lagron as he said, “I came to bring you back with me because there’s a war brewing between me and the Calamity Titan.”

For a moment, Lagron looked puzzled by that name as he asked, “Calamity Titan? Who…?” He thought for a moment while Lakshman remained silent before remembering who it was, which made him roar with laughter. “Calamity Titan?! Your younger brother!”

“Yeah…” replied Lakshman quietly as he narrowed his eyes with unhappiness.

Lagron laughed again while he said with a grinning face, “So, the two brothers have been reborn to battle it out again like they did so long ago! How… romantic…”

“You’re making it sound creepy,” muttered Lakshman and Lagron’s grin broadened.

“So, you’re basically telling me to come with you and help defeat your brother like a good Samaritan?” Lagron asked and when Lakshman nodded his head, the Dragon Titan sighed deeply. “Well… Go screw yourself!”

Taken aback, Lakshman exclaimed, “What?!”

“Don’t ‘what’ me as if you didn’t hear!” Lagron retorted furiously. “Go fight your own battles, idiot! Don’t ever come asking for my help like a wimp because I’ll seriously beat you up! Besides, I’ll never fight alongside a guy despise as much as my own clan!”

“We’ve fought together in the past and we’ve tried so hard to protect and save this world!” Lakshman said seriously with a firm look on his face.

“Everything’s been reset!” Lagron bellowed and Lakshman’s eyes widened in shock. “We’re right back at the beginning from where we started so long ago, but countless years went by since then. I’m not interested in returning to that world as I want to spend my days here in solitude without disturbance!”

Lakshman could not believe what he was hearing and he gritted his teeth in anger as he asked, “What happened to you…? Where’s the rush you always felt when you thought there’s a battle waiting for you!”

“Mmm!” Lagron exclaimed sharply as he looked at Lakshman fiercely. “Says the guy who came here asking for my help to defeat his own brother! Why would I be interested to help a guy like that? Ha?!” He waved his hand at Lakshman and said finally, “Go away and win your own battles, idiot, but I’m not returning to that world again.”

Lakshman widened his eyes in shock before clenching his fists tightly and retorting, “It’s not just about my brother… It’s about the Eight Disasters as well!”

That name caused Lagron to flinch a little as his eyes narrowed sharply with as a serious look formed on his face.

“Do you remember that name…? The fear it installed, the terror it created and the destruction that came with it…?” Lakshman asked slowly and Lagron did not say anything. “It’s a group of eight members seeking to destroy all worlds as we know it. Back then, much of the land was decimated and no amount of force from the world’s warriors worked. It took the combined powers of you and I to bring them down, but it proved to be difficult to destroy them, so we sealed them in the Demon World!”

“I remember,” replied Lagron quietly with a serious look on his face as he stared at his rival. “So, to summarise, you’ve been gathering all the Nine Pillars of Power so that we’ll be ready to take on your brother and them once he releases them.”

“Exactly,” replied Lakshman with a nod of his head in agreement. “Now do you see why I’m seeking you out? It’s not because I can’t handle my brother, but it’s because I cannot handle the nine of them by myself! Besides, he told me himself to gather the Nine Pillars of Power specifically, so it’s obvious what he has in mind!”

“I see…” said Lagron slowly and he nodded his head in understanding. “If I remember correctly, your younger brother was there when we defeated the sight of them and also knows their sealed locations. Obviously, he will use their powers to fight against the Nine Pillars of Power created by the Emperor of the World. I guess it’s your brother’s idea to crush the, so called, strongest warriors in the world.”

“Yeah. I’m glad you—!” Lakshman began, but he was cut off by something Lagron said.

“Still, I’m still interested.”

Lakshman was momentarily stunned by those words and it took him a few seconds to recover. Once he did, he gritted his teeth tightly as his face filled with anger at the man that refused to under reason. In the past as well, Lagron never lifted his finger to help in normal matters, except when he thought his rival might lose to someone other than him.

Lakshman looked seriously at Lagron’s lazy frame before he said, “So… You’re fine to let me go home with my companions to battle all those enemies and lose royally?You’re okay knowing that your rival will lose to someone else other than you?!”

His words struck a nerve in Lagron’s mind and the Dragon Titan no longer became lazy as he turned to look seriously at his rival. For a moment, nothing happened before the Dragon Titan suddenly surged with power and destroyed the chair he was sitting on as he rushed towards Lakshman at high speed.

As Lagron reached him, Lakshman extended his hands out and caught both fists, which released a powerful shock waves and wild blowing wind in all directions. The room shook momentarily at the sudden force unleashed within the room as Lagron tried his best to push his fist forward while Lakshman held it back as hard as he could.

“So, the problem here is that I can’t let you return to face your enemies without me, right?” Lagron asked and a glint appeared in his eyes. “Alright! I’ll defeat you here and now so that I’ll never be plagued by your very existence every again!”

Lakshman smiled a little as he said, “Suit yourself.”

They leaped away from each and began to surge with power that shook the tower room tremendously, which did not seem to get carried to the bottom floors to where Lakshamn’s companions waited. The two powerful warriors surged with incredible power and stared at each other with only a few meters of space separating them.

“I have a feeling he’s a lot stronger than he was back then, so I’ll have to be on guard at all times!” Lakshman thought firmly as he stared at his rival with a serious look on his face.

Lagron was grinning broadly as he asked, “sWhat’s wrong? You looked worried. I know…! You’re probably thinking it wasn’t a great idea to goad an awesome man like me into fighting you!”

Lakshman snorted and gestuered with his hand at his rival to come at him while he said, “Prove with actions, knucklehead.”

“Sure!” Lagron bellowed as he roared with power.

In an instant, he kicked off the floor and rocketed towards Lakshman with his fist pulled back. Lakshman did the same and as the Dragon Titan reached him, Lakshman and Lagron unleashed their fists at each other and the two forces collided with immense force. The shock of the clash caused a boom to occur as the whole room and the tower shook from the force before a flash of light occurred resulting in a mighty explosion that destroyed the tower room and expelled the two warriors onto the outside.

Lakshman flew out of the smoke and raised his hands in defence while Lagron chased after him with his fist pulled back once more.

“Get back here!” Lagron yelled as he went after his rival.

As his rival drew nearer, Lakshman gritted his teeth in frustration and thought, “As I thought, he is stronger than we last met. This just got a lot harder, but I’ll do my best and beat him like I always did before!”

With a resounding determined thoughts in his mind, Lakshman chased after Lagron to begin their battle.