Crimson Meadow

"Azure Dragon, hand over the scroll of rebirth and I shall make your death a painless one".

Stood in front of a towering figure masked behind a veil of shadow, Azure Dragon shuffled half a step back. His deep blue hair bouncing with each gust of wind that blew past him, his yellow horns slowly dispersing his power. His slit yellow eyes narrowed on the figure before him.

"Supreme deity, I had no idea you would be such a coward as to entrap me in your own domain".

He looked around, taking note of his surroundings. To the naked eye, there wasn't anything special about where he currently resided. It was a long meadow as far as the eye could see, but as a 10,000-year-old dragon he could sense it, the abundance of Qi in the atmosphere that was supporting a spatial isolation technique.

A cut ran across his right cheek, blood slowly started to trickle down his pale white clothing. He ran his finger across the cut, tauntingly wiping it into his mouth with his thumb.

"Wow! You are even going so far as to resort to attacking me when I can't even fight back, talk about a prideful ruler!".

The looming figure reached out towards him, his palm spread the width of 20 meters, "Last warning Azure Dragon, hand over the scroll of rebirth".

"Fuck off".

Bang! Within an instant, a crashing weight plagued Azure Dragon's body. His figure dropped to his knees, bleeding from his nose and mouth, his arms and legs were shattered beyond repair, and he lost his sight in one eye. His matted hair and broken core began to lose their vigour.

His cloudy gaze settled on the supreme deity, plotting one final attack. Even in this state, his defiant gaze only served to make the supreme deity enraged. He stretched out his palm again, a black and purple portal shimmering to life above Azure Dragon's shattered body.

Despite not being able to move his head to look up, the vibrations in the air told him all he needed to know. He internally let out a defeated sigh, accepting that his life was certainly going to end today.

'He called the entire court for one dragon, what a joke of a decision'.

One by one, dozens of angel like creatures filled the sky. The bright white and deep black wings stretched out from their backs, and their clouded expressions hidden behind a mask looked down towards him.

'Seriously! he didn't just call his main court; he summoned the demonic court as well!'.

In the face of the two courts, all the Azure Dragon could do was muster a sentence meekly, "For the demonic court to join hands with the celestial court, I must have been really hated, huh?".

They each pointed their spears towards Azure Dragon.

"Is it any surprise Azure Dragon, not only did you dabble in countless forbidden arts receiving countless warnings for doing so. You also utilised dozens of life and death arts, sacrificing members of our courts for your own curiosity".

"Yeah, the only reason we haven't been able to make a move on you sooner is the fact that each time you cowardly go into hiding after one of your little experiments. I can't wait to see how much Qi your pathetic body will conjure when your life burns out, you monster!".

Each of the court members Qi flared, simultaneously, they stabbed towards Azure Dragon's body.

'No!'.

With the last of his strength, he forced his Qi from his channels out of his body. Bang! The space surrounding his body shattered, catching even the supreme deity off guard.

The supremely talented Azure Dragon, who's appearance had somehow managed to shake even the 12 courts, had breathed his last. In that brief moment before his body exploded, memories of how he reached that point began to resurface, some which he had forgotten.

His entire life had been nothing but bloodshed, something he didn't regret. He took from others, killed others, tortured others, all for the sake of reaching the peak of the world. All of it came crashing down the moment the supreme deity recognised him as a threat, exterminating him the moment he had the chance.

It was an end which was predictable to him, but it stung all the same.

...

In a dimly lit room, a woman was surrounded by countless midwives, desperately trying to give birth. The child's umbilical cord was tied around it's throat, preventing him from being able to fully leave his mother's body.

Each push, the mothers thick, greasy white hair dropped across her pure blue eyes. Perched in the corner, the man who was the father was on his knees, his hands cupped together in a prayer. Compared to the mother, he was of average appearance, standard brown hair and eyes, he possessed nothing noteworthy.

"QUICKLY! FETCH ME A CLAMP!", The midwife roared, finally managing to untangle the umbilical cord. The baby's pale blue face regained the pristine white. Another midwife rushed into the room with a clamp in her hand. Stumbling forward, she passed it off to the senior midwife.

'Well then … this is certainly, HEY WAIT!', The child thought to himself watching as the midwife clamped the blood flow. She raised her finger, at the tip a golden light shimmered forming the image of a small knife. She swung down towards the cord.

'I SAID WAIT!'.

"Gah!".

'WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS HAPPENING!', he was taken by surprise at the fact he could not muster a word.

The child let out a sigh of relief as he watched the umbilical cord sever.

'Thank the heavens, I thought I was about to become a female!'.

The midwife lifted the child, wrapping him in a clean cloth. She handed him off to the mother who peered down at him with loving eyes. At this moment, the cogs in the child's head began to churn.

'Now then, I don't exactly know whether to believe it or not, but judging from the situation I must have been reborn'.

He tilted his head ever so slightly, his gaze landing on the woman holding him.

'Common sense dictates this must be my mother'.

"Ha-Ha, it's a boy!", a male voice exclaimed.

He was handed off to the brown-haired man. He held him in front of his face, spinning him around in the air with joy. Behind him, a few midwives scampered, worried that the sudden spinning might startle the child. The child looked from the corner of his eye, taking in his surroundings.

It was a large bedroom, not lavish but also not on the level of poverty. A small, sheathed sword hung on the far wall as well as pictures of his father and mother. What really caught his attention was a small wooden wand hanging next to the sword. He reached out, well, attempted to reach out. His arms fell flat onto his father's bicep.

'Damn infant body, what the hell is this!'.

"Well dear, have you decided on a name?", His mother – Sheila Van Belched, pushed herself to sit upright despite her lacking strength. The midwives continued bustling around her, ensuring that she didn't succumb to an infection.

His father – Sion Van Belched, thought for a moment before a light visibly flickered behind his deep eyes, "Milo! Milo Van Belched will be his name!".

'M-Milo! Me! The great Azure Dragon, destroyer of courts and murderer of countless men, am called Milo! You must be joking!'.

A strong scent started to emanate from Milo's bottom. His face flushed in embarrassment as he felt something squish.

"Uh-oh! Looks like someone needed the toilet!", The midwife exclaimed as she retrieved Milo from his fathers arms and passed him off to a younger midwife. He couldn't muster the strength to resist as she flipped him over and began to clean him.

'This is the most humiliating moment of my two lives!'.

A pale blue light formed at the tip of the midwifes finger, startling Milo. Water began to sprout, carefully tracing along Milo's body until he was completely clean of faeces. After this, she wrapped him in another clean cloth and placed him back in his mother's arms.

'W-What was that!?'.

Sheila held him in her warm arms, cradling him softly. She lightly swayed side to side, causing Milo to become sleepy. He opened his mouth attempting to speak, but could only let out a surprised noise, "Gah!".

She tickled his nose using the tip of her finger, "Is my little boy tired, yes you are!".

'What am I? Some kind of dog? Put me down blasted woman?'.

Despite his resistance, Milo couldn't help but feel a strange connection to the woman. It was as if his body and mind had been coded, each opportunity he had he reached out towards her unwillingly.

Despite his hesitancy to accept her love, he was left with no choice. Choosing to ignore it, his mind began tracing back to the pale blue light the midwife conjured. He wasn't sure what it was, but for some reason it felt strangely familiar to the Qi he used in his previous life.

Back then, a person could draw upon types of essence that floated in the atmosphere, Qi, Yu, Shi and Ta. Each essence was specialised for one ability and a person could typically wield one. Milo, or the Azure Dragon, was one of the few that could wield all types of essence simultaneously.

Qi was used to strengthen the body and soul. Yu was used to conjure the elements, such as fire, water, wind and earth. Shi was used to call upon the spirits of the deceased or gods, even the nature spirits like lake spirits. Ta was used to alter the fabric of the world, things like teleportation, spatial isolation …

'Ugh Spatial isolation!'.

His infant face twisted into a grimace when he thought back to his final moments. He didn't want to recall it but to him his death felt like it was only mere moments ago. His place in the heavens and 12 courts had been stripped and he was left completely alone in some place he didn't even understand, as an infant no less.

Sheila began to become worried watching her son, "He isn't crying? Isn't that a bad sign?".

Sion gently placed his hand on her shoulder, "Hahahaha he's already showing signs of being tough, I'd expect no less of the heir to the Van Belched house!".

Sion signalled for her to turn Milo over. He traced his rough finger down the soft skin and settled halfway down his back, his eyes lit up as he watched, "See! His emblem has already appeared …", his face dropped as he inspected it further, "Although, it's not like an emblem I've ever seen before …".

On Milo's back, a deep black and red emblem displaying the image of a horned creature had begun to swirl. He tried looking over his shoulder, but barely being able to life his head, he was forced to settle for trying to make out its shape by his father's finger imprints.

"Is it bad!?", his mother desperately called out, sinking deeper into the bed as she was regaining her strength.

Sion's gaze flicked towards Sheila, then back to Milo, "It looks powerful, but I can't quite make out what it specialises in. I mean what even is the creature?".

"Creature!?", a younger girl, barely 7 years-old bundled through the door, her appearance was eerily similar to Sheila's. Her eyes traced the room, finally settling on Milo, "Kya! Is that my baby brother!".

"Melissa!", Sion called out, "Keep your voice down, your mother is trying to recuperate over there". Melissa shuffled towards Milo, extending her arms towards Sion asking to hold him.

'Wait! I wanted to hear more about the emblem!'.

Milo cried internally, begging for them to stop changing the subject. He looked up towards her, taken back by how similar she looked up close to Sheila. He could only see from a distance to begin with, but from where he currently was it was uncanny!

She flipped him over, taking a closer look at his back. Melissa, despite her young age was fiercely intelligent, spending the vast majority of her days in the library. Her eyes widened as more of Milo's emblem began to appear, "This … This is!".

She traced her finger across it, revealing two horns and a pierced snout, "It's the Minotaur emblem!".

"H-hold on …", Sheila pushed herself back up with the help of Sion, "Isn't that only a mythical emblem?".

"I'm not sure mother, but I can say for sure this isn't like any emblem I've seen in the books. The closest thing I have seen to this description would be the Minotaur!", she exclaimed ecstatically, waving Milo in front of her face.

'Yeah … so, nobody is going to actually explain the emblem to me?'.

He sighed internally. He wasn't able to paint a complete picture of what his power, or the strange power he saw might be. Judging from the reactions of the people around him, he figured that it must be powerful or at least special in some way. The problem he had was that he was an infant, and in no way was he able to fully grasp what it meant.