A Caring Father  

Within the comforting glow of the jade cave, Raphael lay sprawled on his back with his belly bloated to comical proportions after the monstrous feast.

"Ah… that was some good eatin'!" He let out a contented sigh, savoring the unusual sense of contentment that wasn't entirely his own. Those fragments of Shao Jin's memories still lingered, and within them, was a deep primal satisfaction in consuming those powerful enough to stand in his path.

Around him, the Shadow Bat horde echoed their emperor's sentiments as they licked their Bronze Scaled Armor and patted their bloated stomachs with contented grunts.

"That snake! The meat, the fat… so succulent! Why didn't we devour her raw!"

"You fool! Raw flesh doesn't carry as much flavor! This roasting, it brought out her potency."

"Master is a wise and generous Emperor indeed!"

Only Lu Jade remained unaffected by the feast. His scales still quivered. That guilt of dining on his own kin was gnawing at him, even as Raphael patted his serpentine head with those giant golden hooves as reassurance.

It would take some time, he admitted to himself, to get used to this kind of kinship, this strange bond forming between predator and prey that defied logic and Yama Yaguai's pecking order of might makes right.

Feeling gaseous, Raphael unleashed a tremendous burp that reverberated through the chamber.

RUMBLE!

"Master's belch is powerful!" One of those bats closest to him quickly offered words of praises in an effort to get closer to their lord,

The entire cave started shaking!

"I am strong, it seems!" Raphael bragged and was about to release another thundering sound, but then… something felt off. The shaking continued long after the echo faded. Dust rained down from the ceiling, and small pebbles bounced on the ground in an intense rhythm.

"This is wrong. It's… this isn't me…" he finally noticed as fear clouded those previous thoughts of arrogance. His hooves tapped restlessly against the polished jade as cracks appeared around his feet.

CRASH! BOOM!

An even louder explosion sent tremors throughout their cave hideout.

"Oh God!"

The ceiling began to collapse. Dust and emerald shards rained down in a torrent that quickly overwhelmed those soft glows coming from within. Even the jade bed was trembling beneath that massive weight that descended.

Lu Jade shrieked and coiled himself around the bull's legs. Even the usually fearsome Shadow Bats panicked, flitting about in a confused frenzy before diving into their Emperor's wings with pitiful pleas for protection.

They weren't prepared for such power.

Suddenly, those rumbles stopped briefly before a sound unlike anything they'd ever experienced sent more terrors across that dimming, shattering, and jade shard-filled world. It echoed for almost a minute.

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

It wasn't anger, it wasn't even fury that was evident in those whispers. No. This was far deadlier! It sounded almost like the world was hissing in judgement against those that offended its sanctity.

In that moment of absolute terror as the ground quaked again, even those fears Raphael carried during those encounters with Calamities paled compared to what his serpentine buddy released from his jaws. It sounded hopeless.

"F-father..." He choked those pronouncements through his tiny trembling fangs with eyes wide in terror. "That's... That's father's bellow. We're doom now…"

But even before those dreaded words could end. It came roaring with explosive utterance!

"You… STINKING BRAT… GET OUT HERE! RIGHT NOW!!!"

A louder BOOM resonated through those fissures before Lu Jade shrieked yet again, but now with the calm tone of one speaking about reality with resignation, "I think he's calling for us. No… to be more specific. Calling… for ME!"

They both glanced towards those opening as more large chucks of jade were raining down. Their deaths, if they stayed a minute longer, were guaranteed.

Lu Jade didn't wait for Raphael to reply. He slithered with desperation into the shadows, hoping to find an opening or nook big enough to disappear into, but those wishes didn't reflect reality as his new friend bellowed a command,

"Little buddy! There's nowhere to hide in here. Follow me!"

Raphael began rushing towards the cave exit with Lu Jade in tow. He crashed outside and tumbled.

The devastation outside was more intense than he ever could have imagined.

Chaos reigned across those scorched lands before him as far as he could see. Massive upheaval of earth tore jagged furrows in those vibrant landscapes he'd admired moments ago. The sky above crackled with chaotic, unpredictable bursts of electrical and crimson energies.

He gazed in horror at creatures far greater than himself running in panic. Mammoth apes, with bones bigger than ancient trees lumbered frantically past those fleeing demon spiders as they darted away for safe zones that no longer existed in that ruined world. He realized with a fearful realization that he couldn't even grasp.

Molten rocks showered the heavens like rain from a blood moon.

Raphael had only heard about these kinds of natural destruction in ancient fairy tales when he still existed in that cage called 'Home', but those memories now had a taste of ash and his burnt hide.

This place was dying, he had witnessed those collapsing caves but this. This was death from above. This was Hell come to claim his life! He'd truly seen it all, or was this truly… it?

"Is this the apocalypse!?"

BOOM!

A sound louder than those he'd heard before, silenced his pitiful thought before he saw it, or rather, sensed it more keenly with that dreadful question floating like debris around him.

What or who was causing this destruction that felt even worse than Shao Jin's bloodthirsty aura?

Raphael's thoughts were ripped apart after Lu Jade directed his attention above. The source of the chaos was coming into view now.

Slowly, majestically, with such powerful, horrifying yet graceful intent that the clouds themselves parted in awe of its arrival. There was large magical eye conjured into the sky.

It peeked through those black, stormy curtains, blinking in irritation from smoke before gazing down upon the unfortunate witnesses of its immense rage. And those fears were justified.

That eye was an abomination in its pure chaotic beauty. And just before Raphael thought it couldn't possibly get worse. He saw his words faded, they disappeared from his memories along with those rocks falling upon his hooves.

"There... YOU ARE!" The voice resonated from the depths of Yama Yaguai and mirrored a deep chasm opening. The sky shuddered.

"OH, GOD!!!"

Raphael turned and saw it, the one who was hissing before with displeasure. The embodiment of those echoes earlier and those that terrified everything within sight.

A monstrous serpentine segment with an almost blinding bronze luster burst from the ground nearby. He attempted to gallop backward, but his legs wouldn't respond anymore. His anxieties couldn't help it.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

More horrifyingly large serpentine body parts erupted from the earth with immense tremor. They pulverized everything those creatures called 'Home'.

Rapahel still couldn't see the full size of this thing. It was ridiculous, illogical, insane, truly a wonder of ancient creation. He mumbled while clutching tightly onto the one thing above ground, for it seems there would be no hiding today, especially since they stood directly in the serpent's view.

Then after more rumbles. He finally understood why even those fleeing beasts paused mid-flight. There was no other logical response.

It happened slowly, majestic at first then the sounds were replaced by images of flames.

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted on a distant mountain, causing it to shatter and crumble as if struck by the wrath of the heavens. From amidst those fiery fragments and billowing smoke, a colossal serpentine head began to emerge. It was a terrifying sight, dwarfing even the tallest towers. This serpentine massive form continue to emerge. It seemed to go on forever, until even the storm clouds above were pierced by its massiveness.

Only then did its descent begin.

That head stared down towards the two below from high above those treacherous clouds.

Raphael waited and waited for more but there was nothing. Its head and neck alone could encompass the entirety of Ho Eastern!

This was terror they never experienced. Lu Jade's eyes couldn't take in that vast, undulating mass that seemed to consume their world. It gazed directly at him and the enormous bull.

Those eyes were terrifying!

Lu Jade's scaly back felt something moving, so he shifted his gaze upon the bull whose hooves trembled while sweat was falling like rain. Raphael's little buddy didn't wait. It clambered up his horns for a better view.

"F-Father! I almost forgot what he look like…" Lu Jade's tone wasn't adoration nor love but utter terror.

Lu Ignis, the Bronze Serpent Emperor, he'd arrived.

This truly was it for Raphael and perhaps the little Jade Serpent too. There were no other options. Those Shadow Bats trembled in their master's wings.