22 Kurou no Tatsu

The flames burst from the blade, covering it completely. Now Ryouma was holding a blade of raging, dark flame. It's power was overbearing and seemed to even burn the darkness around it. It produced so much heat that even Arata was affected by it. The snake eyed the sword viciously. Of course it would be mad at the sword that was stuck in it's back.

The snake charged at Ryouma. Ryouma also leapt forward. As they neared each other, the snake spun around, sending its tail flying towards Ryouma. Ryouma brought his blade up and allowed it to clash with the snake's tail. Black flames burst out behind him and pushed him forward. The flames helped him push against the force of the snake. He wasn't familiar with fighting with a blade, so his movements were very crude and simple. However, the strength and the power within the sword was able to push the Spirit of Ruin back, deflecting the tail as he moved forward.

Arata's Shadow Awareness was in full use as he analyzed and observed every detail of the battle that he could. It was clear that Ryouma didn't know how to use the sword, as his movements had many weak points and unnecessary movements, but his natural ability and battle instincts made up for that as he maneuvered his way around the Spirit of Ruin. Arata could see that the energy in Ryouma's sword seemed to be feeding off of the Shadow Realm itself. It was drawing in the Dark Energy and, essentially, setting it on fire.

Arata was intrigued by this occurrence but could tell that this was extremely beneficial for Ryouma's power to not only have found this sword but also to have found it in the Shadow Realm. Arata doubted whether he could supply it with enough Energy to sustain the flames. But Ryouma seemed to be having no trouble with it.

Ryouma weaved in and out, dodging the Dark Energy that the snake was spitting at him. Ryouma leaped forward landing on the snake. He slashed down at the snake. His blade seemed to not only burn through the snake, but the Darkness also lingered on the Spirit of Ruin. The snake hissed angrily as it shook Ryouma off of it. Ryouma landed safely as he watched the Spirit of Ruin retreat.

Hyosuke raised his fist.

"He hurt it. And he hurt it bad. The Spirit of Ruin is clearly scared."

Masahiro turned to Azrail.

"Master, is that not the Kurou no Tatsu?"

A large grin grew on Azrail's face as he kept his eyes fixated on the orb. Masahiro understood. This was it. The Kurou no Tatsu. Akari and Oishi turned to Masahiro with questioning gazes.

"The Kurou no Tatsu is a powerful blade that belonged to one of the original Shadowguards of the Sato Clan's founder. Legend says that it was made from the claw of the Dragon of Apocalypse, one of the Great Guardians of the Shadow Realm. It broke off in an exchange the great Dragon had with the founder of the Sato Clan. Although the battle ended in a draw, the Dragon of Apocalypse allowed the Master to keep the claw. He then gave it to his most trusted Shadowguard who forged the Kurou no Tatsu with it. The sword was thought to have been lost in the Shadow Realm centuries ago. I can't believe it would turn up now."

Azrail cut in.

"The blade is said to contain a piece of the Dragon's will. It chooses who can wield it and who can not. And it seems to have chosen young Ryouma."

Oishi and Akari looked at each other stunned. They didn't expect they would learn so much about the Sato Clan today. Nor did they think that their fellow students were so powerful. They both looked at the orb excited, anticipating to see how powerful this sword was. Masahiro, however, had a look of concern on his face.

"Master, if that truly is the Legendary Blade, Kurou no Tatsu, then you should know what will happen once he leaves the Shadow Realm with it. He won't survive the backlash."

Akari looked horrified.

"He won't survive? What backlash?"

Azrail grinned. He stuck his hand out as a violent wind rushed by them all again. Suddenly, in Azrail's hand, there appeared what looked like an empty sheath for a sword. Azrail gestured for Masahiro to take it.

"I would say the young boy has roughly 1.5, maybe 1.6 seconds before the energy consumes him and he dies. That's enough time for you to get this on the sword before it completely devours his life force."

Oishi and Akari looked at Azrail stunned. This man talks about Ryouma potentially dying like he was choosing what flavour ice cream he wanted to eat. He really deserves his Angel of Death moniker. Masahiro had regained his composure and politely took the sheath.

"As you wish, Master."

Ryouma could see the Darkness emitting of the place where he had stabbed the Spirit of Ruin. It was clearly hurting the giant snake. Then he saw the wound slowly close up, it was trying to heal itself. He knew he needed to make a deeper cut to really cause some damage.

He charged forward as the snake retreated to heal. He wouldn't be one of the top students if he didn't know when to take every advantage in a battle. He wouldn't let this opportunity pass. He slashed recklessly at the snake. Due to it's large body, it was hard for the Spirit of Ruin to dodge. But it's skin was extremely tough, which prevented Ryouma from doing more damage. But the sword was strong enough to still deal a lot of pain to the serpent.

Arata, who had been observing this whole time, had been analyzing the Spirit of Ruin and noticed some gaps in the snake's scales around it's head. He shouted out to Ryouma.

"It's head! There are soft points around its head! Strike there!"

Ryouma quickly acknowledged the advice as he changed tact and rushed to the head of the snake. The Spirit of Ruin sensed danger and began firing its Dark Energy at Ryouma. But he was too fast and easily dodged past the beams of energy. As he neared, the Spirit of Ruin opened its mouth and went to bite Ryouma, or just swallow him whole.

Ryouma utilized on the snake's movements, rushing low to go under the serpents attack and he slid under its jaw. He spotted a place where the scales seemed to part as the snake stretched forward and he pointed his blade at the spot. He then sent flames underneath him as it exploded from under him pushing him upwards.

Arata watched in awe as the Spirit of Ruin, with its mouth open in the air, mid leap, had dark flames explode from underneath it's jaws, and in the next moment, a blade pierced out the top of the snake's skull, followed by a bloody Ryouma, who flew out of the top of the serpent's head like a rocket into the air.

The Spirit of Ruin hissed loudly in pain as landed with a loud thud on the ground. Ryouma came flying down and landed with a loud thud. Due to the blade that he wasn't completely use to yet, he lost balance when he landed and fell over. He turned over on the ground and looked over at the Spirit of Ruin. It made a few more hisses and growls before shaking and twitching. Then it went still.

Ryouma waited silently for a few seconds before he turned and Arata was standing next to him with a huge grin.

"You won. It's dead, ya know?"

Ryouma slowly smiled and spread out on the ground in relief.

"Oh man that was close. If I didn't pierce it, I thought I was going to be crushed."

Arata laughed loudly.

"Why did you take it down with such a reckless method? When I said to go for it's head, I meant that you should get on top of it, not attack it from below, ya know? That was crazy!"

The two boys laughed happily as the release of tension from the battle was gone. Arata stretched out his hand to Ryouma, who happily took it. As Arata pulled him up he instantly pulled his hand back and scrunched up his face.

"Seriously, you stink. You are covered in blood, man. That's just gross, ya know?"

Ryouma chuckled and opened his arms.

"Don't you want to give your savior a thank you hug?"

As Ryouma stepped forward, Arata stepped back and pointed at Ryouma.

"Don't you dare! I will seriously kill you!"

Ryouma ran at Arata who turned around and sped off. They laughed as Ryouma chased Arata out of the cave and back to the large chasm. They nimbly jumped over the rocks and made their way closer to the crystal. As they neared it, they slowly stopped laughing as they turned serious. They had reached the crystal.

Ryouma stopped chasing Arata and was instead eagerly rushing towards the crystal. The crystal was shining within a large transparent rock, floating within it. As they reached the ledge where the Black Crystal was, they came to a stop in front of it. The two boys stared at the crystal. It was extremely beautiful and mesmerizing. Ryouma looked over to Arata who nodded. Ryouma slashed at the rock with his blade and the rock exploded. The boys shielded themselves from the debris.

As they looked up, the crystal slowly floated down to them. The crystal stopped in front of Ryouma who's eyes were shining brightly. He had gotten the Black Crystal. He grabbed at and looked at it in his hand.

Akari and Oishi leaped with joy as they saw Ryouma have the crystal.

"He did it!"

"He got the Black Crystal!"

But as they were celebrating, they noticed that Hyosuke and Masahiro had gone silent and their faces had gone cold. Akari turned to Azrail who was no longer smiling but had a blank stare instead.

"Lord Azrail? What is wrong?"

Ryouma was happily holding the crystal as he turned around and smiled over to Arata, but the smile quickly went away as he saw Arata's face.

"Captain? What's wrong?"

Arata looked seriously into Ryouma's eyes.

"You must remember all that I told you. Stay true to your path. Don't let the Shadow Realm tempt you."

Ryouma looked confused.

"What are you talking about? We got the crystal. We just need to get back now and..."

Ryouma stopped talking as he saw that Arata seemed to be disappearing. Piece by piece, parts of Arata seemed to be dissolving into the air. Ryouma panicked.

"Captain? What's happening?"

Arata smiled at Ryouma.

"Just remember what I told you. Trust your instincts. But don't let the Realm fool you. Don't be tempted."

Although Arata was smiling, Ryouma could tell that he was just trying to be reassuring to him as he could see the fear in his eyes. He had the manner of a confident and powerful warrior, but those were the fearful eyes of a young boy.

Ryouma rushed to Arata but it was too late, Arata had disappeared. He then saw the energy around enter the crystal. Ryouma could feel Arata's energy and aura in the crystal. The cave suddenly began to shake. Ryouma looked around, completely terrified. He had no idea what was going on. The crystal began to burn hot in Ryouma's hand. It began to shine brighter and brighter. Ryouma couldn't let go of the crystal as it continued to send pain through his arm. Ryouma screamed as the crystal enveloped the entire room in light.

Oishi and Akari watched in shock as the light blocked off their view of anything. When the light disappeared, there was nothing there. The orb was no longer showing what was happening in the Shadow Realm. Oishi and Akari turned to see that Azrail was already sitting down with Hyosuke and Masahiro standing on his sides. They were completely disinterested in the orb now. Hyosuke spoke to the two young students.

"There is no point in looking at the orb. We can't see what happens next. Now we must wait."

Oishi looked confused.

"Wait? But what just happened? Why did Arata disappear? What was that weird light?"

Akari looked at Azrail.

"Uncle Azrail. Will they be OK?"

Azrail looked at Akari and sighed.

"We don't know. It all comes down to Ryouma now. Reaching the crystal is just the starting line. Now he shall be tested. The Shadow Trials have officially begun."