Chapter 53: Shatterpoint

Two giant dragons the size of a mobile city were flying in the sky at breakneck speeds. They headed to Ursus with furrowed brows and it deepened even more when they saw what was happening outside.

"This is..." Nian reached out her hand and saw the black droplets hitting it. "Ominous! We have to get there as fast as we can!" Kjera shouted, sounding like a roar.

With their speed, they quickly arrived at Chernobog. At the middle of the city, they were surprised at what they saw.

There was a black cocoon right in the middle of a clearing and some people with white uniforms were staring at it dumbly.

"Mortals, what is happening here!?" Kjera demanded and her booming voice was heard all over Chernobog.

"W-we don't know... The black rain covered his body and it turned solid." Eno explained and the two raised a brow.

"Isn't it beautiful Talulah? You'll be delighted at what would come next." The Draco talked to herself.

The cocoon was pulsing and Nian tried to open it up to stop whatever was happening inside.

Violet flames erupted from it and burned her arm. And it wasn't getting put out. Not until Kjera used her divine ice. But it was still a difficult task.

"He's acting subconsciously, we have to wait." Nian hissed as she cradled her arm. The two changed to their human forms.

"You, what's your name and tell me what happened?" Kjera locked on to Eno's comrade, the redheaded Lupo.

"I... I'm Crownslayer... And we are Neo-Reunion." She didn't want to tell them more, but Kjera snapped her fingers and she was encased in ice.

"You didn't answer the question. Speak or turn to diamond dust forever." Kjera threatened and she gulped.

"We were attacking Chernobog. Her orders, she knows what's the real purpose. But we were tasked by her to fight the Rhodes island operators." Crownslayer frowned at the two's obvious superiority.

Nian gasped and she looked at the kid because he was more receptive in talking. "Did they fight? What happened?"

"Talulah fought a brown haired caprinae... She turned to originium right at his very eyes." Eno closed his eyes and shook his head.

Nian and Kjera looked at each other and we're getting really nervous.

"This won't end well Kjera..." Nian glared at Talulah and Kjera nodded with a grave face.

"Something's happening!" A Reunion soldier cried out. Everybody focused at the black sphere and it pulsed much stronger than before.

It released a burst of energy and they instantly felt dread. It was power, and it wasn't happy at all.

A violet hand broke through the black sphere and it slowly parted it like a curtain.

Ash dropped down on the ground as he kneeled. He looked really different though. His skin turned into a darker shade. His horns glowed a dull violet with black parts covering it.

His right arm was burning with violet flames extending right to the side of his torso. He then released a breath of ultra heated steam, burning the ground below him. (pic)

"A-Ash? You alright buddy?" Nian was anxious and she slowly went near him.

Black lightning began to drop down from the skies and he stared right at Nian's eyes.

Disappearing in a burst of speed Kjera could see that he backhanded Nian and the dragon plowed through entire city blocks as she flew outside Chernobog into no man's land.

"Hah..." Ash's eyes were hollow. And Kjera saw it clearly. "Run if you don't want to die!" She ran towards him and their forearms crashed onto each other.

Like a bomb went off, a massive shockwave washed over everyone. Shaking their organs and rupturing eardrums.

Ash gave a front kick and Kjera also flew like a bullet, crashing outside the city in a crater, dazed.

They heard an inhuman roar and Nian shook her head, spitting out some blood. "I didn't sign up for this." She willed her powers to life and Chernobog creaked.

A portion of the city formed into a giant made of metal. It picked up Ash and threw him into no man's land.

Nian's construct jumped and stomped right at Ash's location. A giant violet hand appeared and it gripped the metal construct, throwing it to the side like a crumpled aluminum can.

"He's not going to make this easy..." Kjera arrived near Nian and they prepared for a battle of their lifetime. Not that the two of them have any extensive experience.

They were battling their kin, so the two immediately transformed to their dragon form.

Two eastern dragons loomed over nearby Chernobog. One colored white with red highlights. And the other a royal blue.

With a roar, Kjera released a breath attack. The lands turned into frost and Nian concentrated her powers like never before.

Iron and all kinds of metal got unearthed. Slowly morphing into a metal dragon that looked like her and was the same size as well.

The ground shook and earthquakes rumbled as millions of tons of metal formed into Nian's familiars.

She then went back to her humanoid form. Except her scales were left behind as her natural armor. A sword formed in her hand and Nian floated lightly in the air.

Soon after Kjera's attacks, they saw Ash raise his right arm and slam it on to the ground. Violet flames erupted and hellfire burned for miles on end.

Nian smothered it with thick slabs of metal and she charged. "Wake up you bastard!" She swung her sword right at him but Ash caught it with his bare hand.

The ground under him cratered and he just stared right at her. Pointing his palm right at her, it released a torrent of violet flames. Forcing Nian to fly backwards.

Her dragons came flying down and went against the stream of flames. And one almost instantly melted into the ground due to the heat.

Another one hit him on the side and dragged him on it. Plowing through earth and originium for kilometers.

Kjera formed massive chunks of ice and her tail flicked it towards him.

Icebergs that can only be seen in the far north dropped down like a meteor. Causing the earth to shake at every drop.

Until a large spectral hand gripped one of them and threw it right back at her.

Nian hissed as she put out the flames sticking to her like glue. She clapped her hands and large metal rods formed out of the ground.

Raising her hands, they flew to the skies and she shouted as she brought her hands down. Willing them to fly as fast as they could.

The rods signifying her divine might, it crashed down with immense force, fracturing the ground.

She didn't get to see what happened next though, when black lightning dropped down on the top of her head exactly.

"Argh!" Her body seized from the electricity and right under her, molten glass and earth turned into a puddle from the amount of energy she received.

Using her blue stones, Kjera used them as a conduit. She formed a dome of ice that trapped him inside and icicles were automatically created by the stones.

Millions of sharp shards of ice rained down upon him. But Kjera frowned when she saw it just bounce from his skin like they were hitting solid metal.

Ash breathed in and his chest expanded. With a roar that shaked the earth, an oscillatory pressure wave shattered the dome and it hit Kjera who was flying in the sky.

She felt her organs vibrate. Receiving internal damage from the attack.

He wasn't done though, like he was annoyed to the maximum by getting pelted with ice. He jumped right at her and he caught her tail.

Swinging the dragon the size of a city. He slammed her right at Nian. "Fuck." Nian saw only blue scales as she got flattened by Kjera's body.

Nian's remaining two metal dragons kept him busy and they catched their breaths. "He's too damned strong! And he isn't even focusing on attacking us yet!" Nian shook her head, dizzy from the impact.

"He's unreal, we need support. Send one of your constructs to Rhodes island, they're nearby. We need Paradiso's hardest hitters." Kjera instructed and Nian made a little metal wyvern.

It was streamlined and it flew right at Rhodes island's direction which they saw earlier.

And just in time too, as they saw Ash crushing Nian's metal dragons like tin cans with his spectral hand.

"We're so going to get fucked." Nian's face hardened and Kjera had to agree. "Focus Nian!" They roared, firing their breaths at him.

At Rhodes island their battle wasn't exactly small scale, so Closure and the other members in the landship can see everything they did.

Closure was already calling Paradiso and Margaret was the one who was able to answer the phone.

"What's the matter Closure?" Margaret was confused and the vampire fired off like a machine gun.

"Ash is fighting two dragons! You need to send your best operators to stop them! Their attacks can destroy major mobile cities instantly!" Closure told her with urgency.

Margaret frowned and Paradiso already saw the two earlier. They just thought that Kjera and Nian were going out on a mission Ash gave them. But that wasn't the case.

"I want you to bring Degenbrecher, Shining, and Narcissa here right now! Prepare a chopper for departure! We need to go and I want you all prepared yesterday!" Margaret's voice boomed.

"Something's terribly wrong..." Margaret glared at the direction of Chernobog and she also wore her armor. She then picked up her swordspear and frowned.

Without further questions, the requested operators boarded the chopper and then they asked.

"What's the matter Margaret?" Shining squinted her eyes. The pegasus has never been that antsy before.

"It's Ash. He's fighting Nian and Kjera... In their dragon forms right now. This isn't normal at all." Margaret frowned and everybody else was shocked.

"That's... Going to be terrible." Degenbrecher held her longsword tighter.

"Narcissa, any news with your range?" Margaret looked at the feline and she shook her head.

"Not close enough." Margaret nodded and she rushed the pilot so they can arrive sooner.

Nian was throwing hands against Ash, but he could see her every move and she was at a massive disadvantage.

She tried to give a combination, throwing a jab and a hook, finishing it with a swing of her tail.

He just took it in stride though, even with her earth shattering strength. And she suddenly saw stars as he hit her chin with an uppercut that sent her flying to the sky.

Kjera froze him right inside a mountain of ice and she fortified it with her energy constantly.

"Come on, give us some time at least..." Kjera winced when it formed a massive crack and she was almost thrown backwards.

She put her hands back in the ice and repaired it. But the next attack was a concentrated blade of flame and it swiped upwards, slicing it like butter.

Nian was prepared though, she was flying towards him with a massive hammer of pure metal. With a roar, she slammed it to the ground and the earth trembled at the extreme weight of it.

Huffing, Nian wiped some blood off her lips. "Kjera we might need to take this up a notch." Nian frowned and Kjera nodded gravely.

Nian's makeshift hammer melted into a lake of molten metal and he stood right at the middle.

Ash's horns were glowing brighter and the two Feranmuts frowned. "Get ready!"

He breathed in deeply and roared to the heavens. Massive storm clouds formed and lightning fell like rain.

He stomped on the ground and earthquakes ravaged the lands. Long fractures appeared and lava bursted out of the seams.

"Is he trying to destroy the world!?" Kjera flew to the skies and froze the ground. Using her ice like glue to keep it together.

Nian raised her hands and thousands of metal soldiers rose to do her bidding.

They launched themselves at Ash and stalled him. Mere annoyances for him as every swing of his arm, the spectral hand appeared and flattened hundreds of them at a time.

Ash then zeroed in at Nian who was controlling the army. He stomped on the ground and launched himself like a bullet.

The metal soldiers all flied or toppled to the ground like a set of dominoes and every step he took shattered the earth.

He was glaring right at her and Nian didn't have the time to dodge. Seeing his massive hand reaching for her head.

She closed her eyes and was ready for a world of hurt, but she felt a gust of wind and Nian slowly opened her eyes.

Ash wasn't anywhere near her and she felt people drop to the ground from a chopper.

"Sorry we're late. Everyone, engage him!" Margaret ordered and her swordspear glowed with pure gold light.

"This is going to suck." Degenbrecher squinted her eyes and she crouched, preparing to launch.

They saw Narcissa's invisible hands struggle to keep him down on the ground. Shining was already on him and tried to manipulate his soul with her arts in order to make him unconscious.

He reacted violently and he spat out a tsunami of flames. Which thankfully didn't hit Shining as she is more of a speed type.

"That's insane!" Degenbrecher shouted as the violet flames engulfed Nian's metal army and they boiled almost instantly from the immense heat.

Narcissa hissed and she was forced to let go from the ambient heat. Though she didn't forget to smash him on the ground to keep him busy.

She squinted her eyes and Margaret knew she was missing her weapons.

"Nian, make her large weapons. As big as you can make them." Margaret ordered and Nian produced another large mace made of pure steel.

Narcissa took a hold of it and swung it at Ash with all her might. Earthquakes shaking the ground after every swing.

Kjera circled the skies and she breathed in deeply. And while Narcissa was pounding him to the ground, she released her breath attack that turned the soil into a hundreds of meters of glacier.

Nian jumped to the skies and transformed into her dragon form as well. She was the one keeping him busy earlier, but now they have ground support.

Forming a fireball as large as a city block, she compressed it and swung her neck like Nian was tossing it to him.

Narcissa picked everyone up and used her extra hands as legs to propel themselves out of the way. A wall of ice and metal appeared in front of them and Margaret raised a shield of light for the incoming impact.

And when the seemingly small ball of flame hit the ground, a flash of white was all that could be seen for a split second.

The compressed energy exploded like a nuclear bomb and the fireball resulting from it vaporized everything on the way for miles.

Compressed air then arrived like a super typhoon and eviscerated anything on its wake.

A heat wave travelled and made anything flammable ignite. Degenbrecher and Margaret then took off the large chunks of metal and ice on them. Seeing destruction right in front of them.

"This is out of our paygrade." Degenbrecher frowned.

And right at the middle of the catastrophic attack, he was there. His arms in a cross, burns were seen on his body here and there. But the wounds steamed and it quickly closed up like it wasn't even there.

He looked at the sky and glared at Nian. Ash started to jog and he put his hand behind him. Quickly turning into a full blown sprint, black lightning formed in his hands like a miniature bolt.

Ash then stomped on the ground violently and threw it like a javelin, immediately arriving. Spearing Nian right at her torso that made her howl in pain.

The little bolt then travelled far and it hit a nearby mountain. It suddenly exploded, enveloping the terrain in a sphere of energy that vaporized everything it hit.

Kjera broke into a cold sweat seeing it and Ash was preparing to throw another one.

She swooped right down at him and coated her tail with a layer of frost. Like a whip, her tail smashed right onto him and a line of ice formed that almost hit Chernobog.

A storm of hail and sharp blades of ice then raged. The frost creeping outwards due to the massive decrease in temperature.

Nian recovered and she brought Narcissa to the skies with her. Producing massive metal spears, the feline nodded at her and began throwing them right in the eye of the storm.

Kinetic bombardments kept on dropping and it continued for a few moments.

"D-did he finally stop?" Kjera stopped her deadly storm and Nian face palmed.

Not a second later, one of the metal spears they threw went coming at them like it was a rocket.

Narcissa stopped it in its tracks and collected it for further use.

The gust of wind from his throws showed his injured form, but he was quickly regenerating. His horns and arm glowing a bright violet.

Everything started shaking and they knew he was about to do something.

Degenbrecher, Margaret, and Shining nodded at each other immediately. Throwing theirselves towards him.

A large sword of light formed right above him and tried to stab Ash to pin him to the ground.

He swatted it away and Degenbrecher gave a shout as she hit him with her sword.

His skin only gave for a centimeter and Degenbrecher's arms went numb. Feeling like she tried to strike solid steel.

Shining littered his back with cuts and he growled. He slammed his hand on the ground. The trio were vigilant, and a shadow formed above them.

Getting the hell out of dodge, his spectral hand almost squashed them.

"We need more firepower..." Kjera looked at Nian and the dragon nodded. She gave Narcissa to Kjera and Nian flew as high as she could before reaching the boundary.

Concentrating, scrap metal from the ground flew to the skies and they started forming into massive spears the size of mountains.

"Everyone, leave him to do his thing! We'll counter!" Kjera shouted and the trio of sword users leapt backwards to start running.

Ash growled and he formed a dense sphere of flames on his hand.

It began to crackle with lightning that arced all over the place. Glassing the surroundings with superheated plasma.

Kjera could feel the amount of energy inside of it and she formed her own.

Their actions caused opposite effects as the ground boiled. The skies went deathly cold and snow started to fall down.

Energy attacks don't seem to phase him so Kjera was betting on Nian and Narcissa.

Concentrating all of her left over energy in a pure white sphere. She swallowed it and her cheeks ballooned.

Ash kicked his attack like a soccer ball and Kjera released hers as a dense ball that made the air stagnate due to the freezing cold.

The blackish violet energy clashed with Kjera's white and they collapsed in a split second.

Chernobog's residence felt like the world was ending as the condensed energy tore everything apart.

A thunderclap cut through the air and a blinding white flash seemed to envelope the world.

Lightning fell from the heavens like divine judgement. Violet flames poured all over from the clash like God was trying to purge humans.

Ice and frost quickly spread, flash freezing the massive originium crystals. The ground rippled from the resulting explosion as if a rock hit the middle of a lake.

Chernobog's residents screamed in fear. The very city trembling even if they were hundreds of miles away.

Kjera returned to her human form and landed nearby a dome of golden light. Huffing and puffing from the loss of too much energy.

"Nian!" Kjera transformed her arm to a large draconic one and loaded Narcissa into it like a bullet.

She threw her into the skies with all her might and Narcissa supplemented her acceleration by propelling herself with her arts.

The feline quickly arrived at low earth orbit where Nian was holding her creations right there.

Narcissa held her breath and she used her arts at full power.

She threw the spear which was heavy even for her arts with as much as force she could give.

Nian caught her and they returned to the ground. The cards parted as a giant metal spear travelled for dozens of kilometers a second.

The tip was red hot from friction and it loomed over the battlefield like a meteor.

Ash who was recovering from his destructive attack earlier looked at the sky and growled.

With his energy, his own spear made of flames and lightning.

Roaring, his shoulder got dislocated from the immense force he threw it and everyone's breath hitched.

They watched the two slowly arrive against each other and when they did, the skies cleared instantly.

Ash's javelin made of pure energy exploded upon impact and started melting Nian's metal spear.

But it was quick enough and it passed through with just considerable damage. Chunks of it falling from the skies as a meteor of molten metal.

Margaret quickly shielded themselves as a hail of half solid metal rained on everything. Travelling faster than bullets.

"Dig! Quick!" Margaret frowned heavily as the barrage of metal hit her shield.

Degenbrecher slashed the earth below and she quickly tunneled through with her sword. Branching to the side, they took shelter there while Margaret prevented them from being turned into swiss cheese.

The mountain sizes spear then hit his position and the four women had to support the hole they hid in. Being buried underground due to a violent tremor, accompanied by the massive weight right above.

Nian was clearly exhausted and Narcissa strained her arts for the boost earlier. Not to mention throwing the massive spear of metal weighing millions of tons.

In the crater that formed, they dropped down to the lowest level and saw he was pinned by it. Thankfully unconscious.

Narcissa looked at Nian and gestured with her lips towards Ash. "What, why me?" Narcissa just pointed at her claws that were long.

So Nian carefully poked at him and was about to book it if he was still going to go on a rampage.

"Fuck... Whew, I seriously thought I was gonna die." Nian transformed back to her human form and bent the metal so they could take him out of there.

After the last earthquake was done. Margaret got a boost from Degenbrecher and Shining. Using her as a drill with her arts formed above.

They crawled out of the hole and saw Nian carrying Ash with an exhausted expression.

"What could possibly happen that would send him to a rampage like that?" Margaret frowned and Degenbrecher took him to see if he was fine.

Kjera and Nian looked at the ground with sad expressions and the others waited for them to speak.

"Adele died in battle." Kjera gritted her teeth as the young woman is such a great person. She was also good friends with her ward, Enya because the leopard was curious about their childhood.

Degenbrecher's eyes widened and Margaret's pupils dilated. She was their sister in law.

Shining knew the cause and she set her sights on Chernobog. She drew her sword and threw her scabbard to the side. Running to the city with a sonic boom.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.