Chapter 62
The pure flames of Gaia
Groans
-Quiniu, can’t you be any faster than this-
Chaofeng, The Red Yong, groans and complains while his eyes drift downward toward the Golden Yong.
-shut up, do you think it’s easy to connect your body back together, you are lucky his weapon was plasma based, the extreme heat cauterized the wound otherwise, you would have already bled out and died-
Quiniu, The golden yong, explains as she slowly tries to connect Chaofeng’s body fiber by fiber and nerve by nerve.
A ring around one of her talons carries an artificial gemstone that faintly glows with green and blue hues as it activates the organic magic stored inside it.
THUD.
Quiniu hears a thud behind her and turns to see the red true dragon landing behind her and looking at her with apologetic eyes.
The red true dragon holds her severed arm in her mouth and carries one half of the passed out Egitian Seraf in her other arm and carries his other half with her tail.
The red dragon drops her severed arm and looks at Quiniu.
-I am sorry, Quiniu, but can you batch us up as well -
The golden yong looks at the red true dragon in shock and rushes to her.
-no, no, no, we don’t have time for this, I am not even halfway done with Chaofeng we don’t have enough time at this rate ….-
The Golden Yong pauses, unable to finish her own sentence.
She shakes her head.
-we need to retreat, I need to take them to a hospital-
THUNDER.
Suddenly, a blinding white light covers the entire forest, forcing the golden yong to groan from its brightness.
The Golden Yong turns to look at the source of the light and sees a massive ball of white flames covering the sky like a curtain of flames, illuminating the forest with blinding white light.
~TIME OUT~
She shifts her gaze downward to look at the source of the voice and notices a small black dot falling from the sky, a black dot that she instantly recognizes, for it is the human who was the cause of all the injuries that her brethren have suffered.
‘what kind of nonsense is he spouting now?’
she is honestly flabbergasted, how could he ask for something so absurd right now?
‘but, well, we could definitely use it’
She glances at the Red Yong and Eigitian Seraf, who are on the brink of death.
The Golden Yong’s eyes grow wide and she quickly turns to look back at Ken.
-was that his plan from the start?-
********************
Ken lands on the ground between Saiko and the White Yong and then walks toward the Yong.
The remaining dragons land one by one in a circle around the tiny human and watch him cautiously.
~ oh, great dragons, I propose a cease fire, I do not know how your fire breath works, but I know it’s an organic process and not magic, and I know organic processes have their limits.
I believe a copra can spit its venom between 20 to 40 times before it completely runs out of venom, and it takes them hours to replenish it.~
Noticing the dragons gathering around Ken, Celine and Daxia decide to walk over to see what’s happening.
~I don’t imagine your fire is much different, so if I had to guess, each of you only has a few fire breathes left, you were not exactly using it sparingly~
The dragons look at each other and then at the White Yong, their eyes all but confirm what Ken has said.
~ Additionally, two of you need immediate medical attention if you Keep fighting, your healer will likely be able to save one, but the other will surely die ~
Ken says while pointing the demon sword at the spot where Quiniu is treating the injured dragons.
The White Yong shifts his gaze to where Ken is pointing, but his attention is quickly pulled back by Ken’s voice.
~finally, I promise you, you don’t want to deal with what she has prepared back there ~
He says while pointing at Saiko behind him.
The dragons’ gazes shift to Saiko, and they look puzzled.
They can see Saiko standing in front of a massive water sphere, and they know she has been reading from the book of knowledge for a while, but to them, it still just looks like a normal sphere of water.
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Sure, the water looks unnaturally clear and sparkles a lot, but it doesn’t look like anything they need to be scared of.
If anything, they need to be scared of something else entirely.
The dragons’ gazes shift back to the demon sword, seemingly ignoring Saiko while the White Yong remains fixated on the sphere of water.
Ken observes the White Yong’s gaze as his lips curl up into a confident smile.
He knows he cornered the dragons, and he knows the White Yong is wise enough to see it all he needs now is to wait for the White Yong’s response.
_ What are you doing? _
But a question came before the White Yong could respond.
Ken turns around and looks at Saiko.
~ what do you mean? I am ending the fight ~
_ oh, I am going to end the fight alright, but certainly not like this _
~ you can’t be serious right now? ~
_ I am serious, I am going to kill them, all of them _
Saiko says while crossing her arms.
-ha, you must be delusional if you thin-
~SHUT UP, I am trying to save your lives right now.~
The Golden True dragon sneers at Saiko but immediately gets cut off by Ken shouting at him, causing him to flinch.
-what the?-
Ken ignores the confused dragon and continues to plead with Saiko, looking agitated.
~I don’t get it, why? You sacrifice your own life span to help complete strangers, almost every enemy we meet who tries to kill you, mind you, you try to save them and make sure they are never harmed, and yet now you are suddenly bloodthirsty?~
_haaa _
Saiko lets out a sigh and then looks at Ken.
_those are different in all of those times we were criminals, and they were cops chasing thieves, they were the soldiers standing guard, and they were the bounty hunters hunting down criminals, they were doing their jobs, and we were in the wrong, but what about them? _
Saiko gestures to the dragons around them.
Her eyes flash with an eerie red glow as she glares at them before shifting her gaze back to Ken.
_why do you think they are here? They know they are in on it, If I let them go, they will Kidnap other children, they will torture other children, and they will turn them into weapons_
‘into me’
She keeps the last part to herself. It echoes but only in her mind as she takes in a deep breath to calm down her emotions.
The red glow slowly fades from her eyes.
Ken observes the silver cat and takes in a deep breath, then slowly walks toward her.
~but Saiko, we could use them, you just finished telling us about the incoming war, don’t you think we could use nine dragons on our side?~
-huh? What war?-
The Green Yong asks, but Saiko and Ken ignore him.
_ We don’t need them for the war, I already have a plan for it _
~ but it’s definitely better if we have them ~
_UGH _
Saiko raises both arms in frustration.
_ You want to tell me you wouldn’t hesitate for a second before trying to Kill Daxia, a friend and colleague you have known for years, and now you are trying to save these vile monsters _
~yeah, I wanted to kill Daxia, and I was wrong, look how useful she has been, see? I learned, and weren’t you the one who taught me that? ~
Daxia blinks repeatedly while looking at Ken.
- I am not sure how I should feel about that, but I guess I am not surprised –
Saiko glances at Daxia, then looks back at Ken.
_You have learned nothing, you were selfish then, and you are selfish now, why you are doing something is more important_
~hey, I am trying to save the world right now, How is that selfish? ~
_ You don’t care about the world or anyone in it, you are trying to save yourself _
Ken pauses and looks at Saiko silently for a moment.
~… that may be true, but I am also trying to save you~
The silver cat flinches and stares at Ken.
.
.
.
-may I suggest a compromise –
~Huh?! _
The silver cat and bounty hunter Jump backward, startled, as Naoi appears between them.
Naoi looks at Saiko.
- is your goal revenge or to prevent them from harming any more victims-
Saiko blinks repeatedly.
_ it’s to prevent them from harming any more victims, of course _
-then, there are other ways to prevent them from causing any more harm besides killing them-
_ Like what? _
The silver cat looks at Naoi with a puzzled look.
-I believe you already discovered one recently-
_Huh?_
~ Mind control ~
Ken shouts energetically as he realizes what Naoi is referring to.
~you can use Argus to control their bodies ~
_... but, ahh, I think that’s a lot worse than death though _
Naoi smiles benignly.
-well, you are in luck because I don’t think death alone is enough to atone for what they have done -
_haaa _
Saiko lets out a long sigh and then looks at the dragons.
_ I still don’t feel right about this, I will inject you with Argus, but I will let you keep your free will so long as you are obedient and help with the war and with stopping the living weapon program, if, however, you cross the line and try anything, well let’s just say you will wish they allowed me to kill you _
Ken grins and turns to look at the White Yong.
~ so, what’s your choice? ~
The White Yong, who has been calmly observing everything so far, tilts his head down towards Ken as he contemplates everything he just witnessed.
His gaze shifts to the mysterious sphere of water and then to Ken and Saiko before it finally lingers for a long time at the area where Ken and Saiko were staring during the last portion of their conversation.
It seemed that both Ken and Saiko were certain that this ball of water could kill them the only question wasn’t if she could but if she should.
‘and more importantly’
During the last part of their conversation, they were clearly speaking with someone, someone he couldn’t see and couldn’t sense, neither with his sharp draconic sense nor with his magic. Also, the effect of Chaofeng’s plasma pulse should still be in effect, so it’s not technology either but an actual living being.
There is only one being he can think of who can do that.
‘The Guardian of the book’
Although it hurts his pride, it is better to surrender if for no other reason than to gather more information about the war they mentioned, and so long as they are alive, the Dragon Lord will find a way out of this.
The White Yong looks at Ken.
- I suppose we have no choice –
Ken’s smile grows wider.
~ I knew you were a reasonable person ~
_well, I suppose I don’t need this anymore _
Saiko swipes her arm through the air and then clenches her fist.
The water sphere immediately compresses and collects all the air bubbles in one spot before creating a small, narrow passage for the collected gases to escape through.
The dragons quickly shift their gazes to the water sphere and watch it with anticipation as they finally get to see what it is.
Celine and Daxia watch the water ball with interest, equally curious about what it is that Saiko was preparing all this time.
The animals of the forest, led by the lyrebird, observe from the edges of the tree line while transmitting what they see to the followers of nature now, they will see a fragment of what the Book of Knowledge hides.
Ken turns with a proud smile and looks above the ball of water.
.
.
.
SPARK.
With a final electric spark, Saiko ignites the gases.
-What the?!-
-what is going on?! –
-How?!-
The eyes of the dragons grow wide in disbelief while the animals of the forest cower in fear, and some of them escape deeper into the forest.
The rain and hail above the sphere of water disappear, no, they instantly evaporate.
The onlookers can’t see what’s making it evaporate, but they can tell, they can tell from the sound of hissing water as it evaporates and from the sound of crackling fire, but there is nothing there.
Daxia rubs her eyes before opening them to take another look even she is questioning her own eyes.
Thanks to her eyes, she can see the immense energy above the water sphere, but she can’t see the flames.
~ a fire so pure it’s invisible, it has no smoke, no smell, and when it burns, it turns back into water ~
The eyes of all the onlookers turn to look at Ken as he watches the invisible flames with a proud smile.
Ken nudges the Golden True dragon’s ankle.
~ aren’t you glad I saved your lives ~
-I have to admit it’s impressive looking, but we are dragons we are resistant to flames, and I can’t feel any heat from this fire-
~ you are correct, this fire doesn’t radiate heat you won’t feel anything until you are inside the flames, but make no mistake, it’s hot enough to melt steel ~
-Oh, Holy sh-