41

Chapter 41: Dragonslayer Festival II

Notes:

Hey, how's it going? I really expected this to be out quicker... like I had planned to have this finished at the end of the weekend at the latest. I had to rewrite this chapter a few times to get it to where it was presentable. One thing that really pissed me off (and I have no idea how I didn't notice in the last chapter) is that four out of five of the Japanese representatives have names that start with S! WTF was I thinking? It's so damn weird to write a sentence with that many S names! Er... anyway, next chapter we'll be getting into better combat with dragons displaying proper power and cunning, these ones are just the opening salvo to set the scene so stay tuned!

Chapter Text

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with the people I met from the other factions, having expected a bunch of arrogant assholes.

When you have a meeting of who are supposedly the most promising young adults in any given discipline, hot tempers and overly prideful individuals are what the mind jumps to. Instead, I met an amiable crowd from the Chinese representatives, a nice goddess from Korea, a mixed introduction to my own peers from Japan, and a couple of horndog Vikings.

I'm not even upset with the remarks from the Norse representatives. I'm not interested in 'testing their prowess' in the way they implied but I wouldn't mind fighting them.

But most importantly - even more exciting than my new carnivore friend - is my autograph from Sun Wukong!

Byakko groans as I sigh in contentment. People say to never meet your heroes but Sun Wukong is definitely as cool as he is portrayed in the legends.

'Please stop.'

'Fine, but if we ever meet one of your idols expect me to call you out on your behaviour as well.'

My trip wasn't only about socializing of course. I did do what I came to do and scout out the competition, though my conclusions on their strengths were based on limited information.

I'll save any assumptions for when I see them in action but they all seem strong enough to get my attention. If I had to guess the strongest person here -other than me of course- would be Bikou. His combination of lineage, training and natural talent should put him above the rest.

Just the thought of having proper rivals that can not only match my strength but continue to grow along with me brings a smile to my face.

As I approach my group, I'm disappointed by the fact they've split apart again. I wasn't expecting anyone to be best friends, I know I'm not sociable enough for that either, but at the very least pretend to be friends to scope out the competition!

Suzaku and Seiryuu are talking by themselves but from the stiff atmosphere, that is more due to familiarity than actual interest. Meanwhile, Shinobu is being harassed by an overly excited Senzaemon who is explaining his horse's beauty regiment.

She sees me approaching and pleads with her eyes that I rescue her. Momentarily I debate ignoring her plea but I don't have anything to lose by helping her out.

"- and therefore you must always brush gently but firmly! Knots are the bane of a coat and diminish the splendour and beauty it exudes! Look at this radiant coat and try to dispute it!"

I chuckle as Senzaemon emphatically gestures at his preening horse. "A fine pelt! But behold this majestic beast!"

Byakko sighs as I force him to manifest and he turns to me with a stare of utter contempt. Shinobu looks between us and eagerly takes the opportunity to get some distance while Senzaemon is distracted.

"Hoh hoh, what is this? To think you are not only my rival in this coming battle but in the tender care of animal companions!"

His gauntleted hand rubs the chin of his helmet. "Such a magnificent pelt… I would say it almost rivals my steed, Hikaru Tsukige."

"Byakko is the most awe-inspiring tiger in all the lands." I nod in agreement.

Said tiger has already lost his displeasure and is eagerly soaking up the attention. His vanity is predictable as always.

"However!" The armoured man interjects suddenly. "This tiger is clearly spiritual in nature and therefore exudes an ethereal quality that cannot compare to the humble and delicate beauty that is Hikaru Tsukige!"

Senzaemon pulls a banner out of somewhere with the Kanji for victory painted on it and plants it into the sand. He then poses with his arms across his chest.

Byakko growls and the horse snorts aggressively, lightning bolts sparking between the two. I can't help it anymore and burst out into laughter.

"Let's agree that both our companions are magnificent specimens, hm?" Both animals in question glare at me but I don't pay them any mind.

"Your suggestion has merit… I will allow it! Yet this will not be the end of the discussion. A final victor must be found or the question will haunt the depths of my mind." The samurai nods to himself.

"We can figure that out later I think. The dragons aren't going to kill themselves and I have a feeling that settling this would take a while." The samurai nods and goes back to fawning over his horse.

Shinobu walks over, now that she's safe from being dragged into the discussion, and pokes me in the shoulder.

"How did you deal with that guy so easily?" She whispers, looking genuinely bewildered.

I think for a moment and tap a finger against my chin, "Well, most powerful people end up being fairly eccentric so you just play into their personalities a bit. If you don't loudly challenge someone like that you'll just get dragged into their flow. The worst thing you can do is ignore them."

Byakko snorts at my explanation and I send him a glare. "You speak as though you're less eccentric."

"I'm sorry? Who was genuinely mad at being thought of as less beautiful than a horse?'' I smile sweetly at Byakko who sulks.

"Oh, I see. My diplomacy training has mostly been centred around the Yokai and Imperial Courts. Things are… different there." I shrug not really knowing enough to comment.

Sure, I stood in front of some Yokai faction bigwigs once and met with Yasaka fairly frequently but that doesn't mean I've played at being nobility. I'd assume that nobles are more easily motivated by greed and pride than eccentricity like the people I deal with.

I definitely would be a poor choice as a diplomat so it isn't really something I need to think about.

"Hey, Shinobu, have you been told what exactly is happening here?" She blinks and tilts her head in response.

"We were given some preliminary information but there is supposed to be a brief by the host faction before things begin in earnest. Things like benefits and risks to joining this trial. Why, were you not?" I bite my tongue and stop myself from telling her exactly how little I've been told.

It doesn't matter in the long run and it makes me look incompetent for not getting more details before signing up for this. If the others knew that I didn't really have a choice it would look even worse.

"Just trying to see if your sponsor told you anything different. Extra information is never a bad thing." I shrug and play it off.

"The explanation was fairly basic as I said; enough to make an informed decision about my participation, at least." She bites her lip and gains a determined look.

"I know I'm the weakest one here but I'm not going to let that hold me back. I'm going to put on a good showing so make sure to watch me!" The way she says it is endearing if I'm being honest.

I want to say it's cute but that would be a disservice to her conviction, which is worthy of respect. The fact that she's willing to admit she's the weakest means she's abandoning her pride to make this declaration so I shouldn't undermine it like that.

"The first thing I noticed when I saw you here was how much stronger you've become not how that strength compared to everyone else. You've worked hard and I hope you continue to do so." I give her a soft smile and put my hand on her shoulder.

Shinobu grins back and I can see a light dusting of red on her cheeks.

"I'm going to head down to the water and see if I can sense the dragons. I'll see you later, Shinobu." I give her a wave as I walk away.

She'll make a good ally if she continues to grow stronger. Considering her clan already owes me for saving her it wouldn't even be hard to get her on my side.

The crush is a little annoying but it will probably mellow out pretty quickly with some time. Don't get me wrong, she's cute, I just can't see a relationship between us going anywhere.

I make it to the water's edge in short order; the end of the beach not being very far from my group in the first place. Once there I expand my senses outward searching for what should be reasonably powerful creatures.

Er....

Where the hell are the dragons? All I can sense are fish!

'Try searching deeper, kid.' I blush in embarrassment, not having considered depth. To be fair, I haven't had to sense very far beneath myself before.

I continue searching out into the sea and at the very edge of my range, both outwards and downwards, I can sense a massive pile of strong signatures. That's pretty deep. Maybe like a kilometre underwater? Actually, they may be beyond my range from a distance standpoint but I can still sense them due to the sheer number of powerful aura's concentrated in that area.

With every moment I remain focused on them I can feel their power growing as they come closer to hatching. I don't know what their peak will be when they do finally hatch but their potential brings a smile to my face.

"You can sense them from here?" I turn startled by the sudden question.

Surprisingly, Fujin is standing there looking at me expectantly a faint look of surprise on his face.

"Barely. Strong little beasts, aren't they?" I say, turning back to stare out over the sea. He hums and stands beside me mirroring my actions.

"That they are. I can't say I've been present for many of these but from what I hear they rarely disappoint."

With how powerful they are as eggs, I have no doubt about that. It's hard to differentiate them from this distance. Still, I can't imagine even the weakest ones are below high-class.

"Shouldn't you be mingling with the other deities?" I ask, not unkindly, just curious.

"Probably," He shrugs, "I wanted to greet my little cousin though. My brother wanted to come to see you too but if both of us left that would be a real insult."

"I can imagine the other gods wouldn't enjoy you both ignoring them to meet some mortal." I grin at the scene the thought evokes.

"Damn right." He smirks.

As he stares out over the water his expression gradually becomes serious. The look is so different from the carefree expression he and his brother usually wear that it shocks me.

"I know at the beginning of this battle you're about to be thrown into it may be tempting to hold back. Especially with your temperament I can see you being tempted."

"I'm warning you now, don't hold back too much. As much as this was presented as a game to you, those creatures down there are fighting to live, to exist."

He turns to me and pins me with a stare to punctuate his point. "They are the children of two ancient beasts that even the gods fear. In their desperation, they may become too dangerous for you to handle if you let your guard down."

"You get it don't you? You, and all the other kids here, this is your trial by fire. Let's see if you have what it takes to earn the attention of those who stand on top of the world."

After saying those ominous words his expression shifts back to the carefree one he usually wears, so quickly that what happened a second prior seems imagined.

He takes a glance toward where the gods have gathered and jerks his head that way, "Come on, little cousin, let's grab the other kids and head over. It's time for the bear lady to give a speech."

Fujin didn't waste any time rounding our group up and we took off to where the gods had assembled off in the distance. As we approached I could see the other factions bringing their participants as well and I nod to everyone I met as we are bunched together into one big crowd.

While the participants were grouped up, the gods gathered in loose groups with the others from their factions. Some had elected to use their powers to create elaborate thrones to sit upon, others stood looking impatient, and a few expressed themselves more uniquely.

Sun Wukong for example is currently lounging on a golden cloud which can only be Jindou-Yun and eating a peach.

Fujin ruffles my hair, causing me to scowl, "Remember what I said, little cousin."

I sigh as he walks to stand with the other gods because the others around me heard him. Sure enough, when I glance around they're all looking at me.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I raise a hand to forestall any questions. "He just let me know I need to take this seriously. No insider information was given."

Shinobu and the samurai are mollified by my explanation, one out of loyalty and the other due to their simple nature.

Seiryuu, however, looks unimpressed. "Yes, because you would be above such things, correct?"

"Careful. You're accusing the gods with that statement as well. I'd hate for you to offend someone." I state while yawning.

He scowls but wisely takes the hint that he should shut up. It isn't a good idea to be making accusations like that when in smiting range.

"I wouldn't need insider information to kick your ass anyway." His face reddens as I smirk.

"Alright brats, quiet down and listen because I'm not going through this twice!" My gaze snaps back toward where the gods are and I see Ungnyeo has taken centre stage.

"You aren't here to 'play around', 'make friends', 'test your limits' or any of that crap. What you're here for is to cull some problematic creatures. Nothing more, nothing less." She crosses her arms over her chest and sweeps her glare across all of us.

"These are dragons spawned from the union of Leviathan and Midgardsommar and you should treat them as valid threats unless you came here for an elaborate suicide."

"While it is unlikely they inherited either parent's affinities to an impressive degree, what they will inherit for certain is their parent's potential for growth. The more they eat and the longer they live, the bigger and stronger they will get."

Ah, I see why Fujin warned me now. Letting the dragons feast for a while and waiting until they were a worthy challenge sounds like something I would do.

"Now, some of you will have already sensed the eggs off under the water, and you may even have sensed how close they are to hatching. Due to their impending birth, I'll keep this brief."

"We gods are here to make sure none of these dragons escapes from you and unless one of them is absurdly strong, that's all the assistance you'll be getting from us." She nods decisively.

"What you get in exchange for culling these creatures is experience, the material rights to anything you kill, and the chance to prove yourself before the gods." She rolls her eyes at the last part.

"We're going to be maintaining a barrier around the spawning ground and gradually tightening the boundaries to funnel them to you. They should come to you anyways for the most part but some of them are less enthusiastic to run to their deaths. That brings me to my next point."

She flashes three fingers before squinting and adding a fourth, "There are three main categories of behaviour they generally take… with a fourth subcategory."

"First, we have the swarmers. These are the ones that immediately after hatching will flee for the surface as soon as possible. They're going to be the weakest and most numerous." A finger drops down.

"Second, we have the divers. These ones fall more in Leviathan's bloodline and seek the comfort of the deep sea. They'll try to hide in the depths but we," She gestures to herself and the gods around her, "Will gradually drag them up for you as the barrier shrinks."

"Third, are the gluttons. Their primary instinct will be to hover in the middle depths of the sea, eating as many creatures as they can to fuel their growth. These are the second most dangerous because they actively pursue power."

Down to one finger, she flips her hand around to emphasize the gesture. "The fourth and final category is the cannibals. These are dragons that deviate from the normal patterns and rather than seek food to grow more powerful, they hunt their siblings to test that power. These ones are more intelligent, grow stronger faster, and most importantly are far crueller."

"The others will fight like animals until they reach a certain size, but the cannibals will set ambushes, strike at weaknesses, and they won't just kill you if they overpower you." She shakes her head.

"They'll take you hostage and use you as bait to draw in your fellow competitors." I hear Shinobu gulp and I pat her on the shoulder reassuringly.

"That's your final warning so don't mess around here." She stares meaningfully at the kid she brought here and she sighs when he waves her off.

Sun Wukong clears his throat and gestures out toward the sea and I see Ungnyeo's shoulders dip in relief. "They're starting to hatch now so get ready."

A question I almost forgot to ask pops into my head and before I can think too hard about it, the question slips out, "Hey, can we keep one as a pet if we make it submit?"

There's dead silence from everyone as my question is processed. The silence is broken as Sun Wukong starts laughing and Susanoo facepalms.

Ungnyeo pinches the bridge of her nose and lets out an explosive sigh. "Really, kid? You were listening, right? This is a culling of dangerous creatures, ravenous beasts that only want to eat and grow so they can eat more. I'm fairly certain that was the first thing I said."

"So… is that a no?" I ask.

One of the gods I don't recognize from the Shinto Pantheon grits his teeth. "Are we to sit around and allow this nonsense?"

I see Raijin sigh as he passes a stack of bills to his brother who accepts the money with a grin.

A heavy blue aura wraps around him as he stands up, his robes billowing. He's stopped when Susanoo puts a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Suijin, I must be mistaken but it looked for a second there like you were going to smite my minion."

The scent of ozone fills the air as Susanoo gives him a closed eye smile with deadly intent behind it. I'm a little surprised he backed me on this…

The deity identified as Suijin glares back but obediently sits back down. His glare shifts from Susanoo back to me and I do my best not to stick my tongue out at him.

'Sometimes I wonder if you made me using all your common sense.' Me too, Byakko, me too.

"I say let the girl try." I beam at Sun Wukong as he says this. "If she fails to get the dragon to submit she can just kill it later."

Ungnyeo's eye is twitching as she glances between The Great Sage and me.

"Why did I have to host this thing again?" She mutters to herself. "Oh right, they wanted to use Jeju-do as a stage so they wouldn't have to argue for weeks about the location."

"I'll damn well let them bicker next time." She says, clenching her teeth and snapping the stem in her mouth.

One of the gods near Sun Wukong -A human-like deity wearing light blue robes with seafoam green trim- objects, "Even if it submits to her, how do we know she won't breed more of them?"

"I'll just sterilize it. Snip, snip," I say, miming a pair of scissors, only to catch glares from nearly all of them.

"Quiet. Do not speak out of turn again." Susanoo says, a serious look in his eyes. He technically stood up for me a minute ago so I'll follow his advice for now.

"My minion's suggestion has merit, however." He says, getting nods of agreement from the others surprisingly.

"If it isn't to breed more, why do you even want one?" The same god from Sun Wukong's group asks with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in keeping some lizard around. My little sister was watching an episode of Familiar Master and said she wanted a dragon." A stupid answer from the perspective of most but it's my reason all the same.

"I'm not going to get her some low-quality pet though so I figured this was a good opportunity!" I grin unrepentantly even as most of the gods stare at me like I'm an idiot.

I'm not sure what sells them on the idea but in a minute they come to a consensus.

"You will be allowed to bend one of the children born from the great serpents to your will, Ibaraki of the Oni, under the agreement that it shall never bear a child nor act against the interests of our Pantheons," Susanoo proclaims in a regal tone and there are no voices of discontent.

A god with whitish-blonde hair and a matching beard, dressed in a bespoke suit, speaks next.

"To be fair to other representatives, you all will also have the same opportunity if you wish. Barring those from my faction, of course." There are groans from the Viking brothers meaning that the man speaking is Vidar.

"Come on, Vidar! Why can't we bring some dragons back with us?" Rossweiss lets out a scandalized gasp as her fellow representatives dispute Vidar's decree.

"Who are you to question the wisdom of Lord Vidar?!" She grabs them both by the ears and tries to drag them away while apologizing.

"It's quite alright, Rossweiss." Vidar smiles indulgently.

He continues to smile as he answers their question, "It would be a bit pointless to bring back the children of Jormungandr. After all, my brother would see them as an insult and slaughter them. The people who brought the dragons back to Asgard may not even make it out unscathed."

The two pale dramatically and laugh nervously. "Ah, that is a good reason… Well, what are you waiting around for Rossweiss?"

The two slip out of Rossweiss' grasp and hightail it out of there. "Let's go kill some dragons!"

Ungnyeo clears her throat, "Any more interruptions or is everyone ready to go?"

Thankfully, everyone realizes from her tone that she was being polite rather than actually giving an opportunity for anyone to ask another question.

She grins and waves her hand, "Right, have at 'em then."

With that, we turn to the water, just in time to see dozens of massive draconic heads start to crest the surface and a giant barrier rise up out of the ocean.

I start to run towards the water when someone grabs onto my shoulder. I turn with a frown, annoyed at being stopped.

"What the hell was that back there?" Suzaku of all people says. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No? What I was trying to do is get a pet that my sister wanted." She doesn't seem to be happy with my response.

She shakes her head in disgust, "You're still the insane beast I met a while ago."

My eyebrows raise involuntarily. "Wow. Last time you were at least present. Turning into a monster yourself must have messed you up."

The bluish-white flames of the Vermillion Bird flare up and run wild around her body as my jab hits home.

She glares at me and speaks through gritted teeth, "I'm not like you."

"You're words and actions aren't matching up, Suzaku. Last I checked, you wiped out your clan elders in a fit of rage. That's exactly like me." I remove her hand from my shoulder as she takes that in.

"That isn't a bad thing either. It shows you have the conviction to remove your obstacles." She frowns but seems to be listening.

"You were taking revenge on your aunt and cousin right?" She blinks in shock, the reasoning behind why she slaughtered her clan elders being a secret.

"Now isn't the time or place to discuss this but meet me after this is over. It'll be a pleasant surprise, alright?" She clenches her fists and bites her lip.

"Fine but if I'm not satisfied with what you have to say, I'll kill you for speaking of them." She jabs her finger at me.

I give her a salacious smile, "Jeez, don't flirt with me like that before the battle. If your goal was to distract me you almost succeeded."

She snorts and walks away. I enjoy the view of her walking away a bit too much as Bikou sneaks up on me.

"So you're into girls who want to murder you?" He says with a smile. I sigh dreamily.

"She would only murder me a little," I say waggling my eyebrows at him, "la petite mort and all that fun stuff."

Frowning, I continue, "Don't get me wrong, I like all kinds of women! Still, that kind of passion and murderous intent really gets me going."

"You're interesting, Ibaraki." He gives me a mischievous grin, "Speaking of interesting, how about a wager?"

"Oho, now you're speaking my language!" I say, hearing Byakko groan.

"How about whoever kills the most dragons gets a favour from the other person?" He says, placing his staff on his shoulder.

"Limits on the favour?" I ask scrunching up my nose, "I don't want you asking me to take your virginity or something lame like that."

I smirk and duck under his arm as he swats at me, "Oi, the great Monkey King is not a virgin! Nothing sexual and nothing that would cause the other person to die."

"I'll definitely be taking that bet then! Get ready to lose, monkey boy!" He laughs happily at my agreement.

"I'm glad. Nobody else had the guts to take my bet! Those Norse guys were going to agree but that cute Valkyrie stopped them." I chuckle.

"It's better that way. They're not real competition anyway." I reach up and snap off both my horns, two clones popping into existence.

"Huh, not too shabby," Bikou says before reaching up to his head and flicking out a cluster of hairs.

A dozen clones pop into existence, all carrying staves, and wink at me in unison. "Ah… I may have made a minor error."

All the Bikou's laugh, "You sure did, Ibaraki. You better start killing fast or else you're guaranteed to lose!"

"Well, I'm not backing down from your challenge either way," I say drawing my sword and tossing my bow to one of my clones.

A few hundred dragons have surfaced and having calmed a bit from recently escaping their eggs, turn their heads to the shoreline as one. Each of them is the size of a bus at the moment and still growing.

The dragons are definitely sea serpents in appearance, with long serpentine bodies and colourations ranging from the grey and black of Jormungandr to green and blue like Leviathan. A few have dense scales and broad ridges on their body while others are more streamlined. Some of them have forelimbs with sharp claws, others have a broader torso and a full set of four legs, and some have no arms or legs.

The aura they exude, however, is the same across all of them in quality and can't be mistaken as anything but draconic. They have a primal presence of an apex predator that makes all other life want to freeze up at the sight of them.

Still, even all of them combined pale in comparison to Crom Cruach.

Apparently, they can sense the threat we pose to them -or at least the gods nearby- because as one they open their mouths fire off beams of concentrated dragon fire at the beachhead. The world turns white at the sheer brightness of the combined attack and it would be amazing if it weren't too weak.

I use enough Touki to make sure my clothes aren't burned away but other than that I let the attack wash over me. The attack stings and burns away some of my skin but the wounds are superficial at best. These dragons don't have the proper lineage for a powerful breath attack anyway so such a result was expected.

Taking a brief moment, I look around and see how everyone else faired.

Bikou and all his clones expanded their staves into pillars in front of them, blocking the breath attack easily.

Suzaku used flame manipulation to part the beam which is impressive. I assume dragon fire doesn't respond as well to outside control. Even though they're babies that's still an interesting level of skill she's developed.

Most of the others seemed to all create various shields from what I can see. A wooden bulwark from Seiryuu, a giant snowflake from Yu Wei, a sphere of compressed air mixed with Yojutsu barriers from Shinobu, and a large spell circle covered in Runes from Rossweiss.

Senzaemon did the same thing as me and simply withstood the beam with his armour, though he stood in front of his horse to protect it.

No, the impressive one was the Korean representative. I almost missed it due to the brightness of the dragon fire but he parted the attack with a single precise kick.

Not bad at all. Actually, wait… where's the Roc?

"Want some?" I jump, hearing Chongyun's voice beside me.

The Roc Demon King is holding out a chunk of dragon flesh to me while standing on the corpse of one of the dragons. He apparently had time to dodge the blast, kill one of the dragons, and bring it back in the time we blocked.

My god is he fast.

I laugh, "I think I should get my own. Thanks for the offer though."

He grins and shrugs, sinking his teeth into the flesh. Yeah, this is going to be fun.

'Byakko, drag back a live one for me. I'm going to be too busy having fun to worry about keeping one alive.' My Touki envelops me and I shoot out onto the surface of the water at full speed.

'Sure, leave the boring part to me.' He says but I pay him no mind.

My feet propel me lightly across the water's surface, skill with Senjutsu carrying me across the waves. This method is a lot more precise than the one I employed last time and the speed is a lot better as a result.

The dragons are still recovering from their opening salvo of dragon fire and the first one barely reacts as I reach it. It starts to open its mouth for a bite and I jump up, slamming my fist into its chin. "As if I'd let you."

It lets out a muffled screech as its mouth slams shut and I frown as I roll my wrist. It's tougher than I thought it would be. I had assumed its head would explode from that punch. Dragonhide is really thick huh?

I jump up to take another swing, this time intending to detonate my Ki with the blow when Bikou's staff extends out of nowhere and pierces through the dragon's head.

"Get bigger!" He yells and the staff expands creating a gaping wound. The dragon convulses for a moment then goes limp.

"No kill-stealing you bastard!" I whirl around and shout at the monkey. He's standing on his copy of Jindou-Yun looking far too pleased.

"Ah, I thought you were having trouble and rushed to save you," He says with a smirk. "I'm at eleven now by the way."

I grin back and point upwards. "Don't get too cocky yet~."

Thousands of my arrows fall down from the cloud cover and the shrieks of dozens of dragons ring out. My clone is making good use of my bow and my training from the last month. I take a quick count of the ones that died even as I rush over to one of the survivors.

"That's twenty!" I say, punctuating the statement with a slash of my sword that tears off the head of an injured dragon.

I dig my claws into the body so it doesn't sink down into the water and tear off a chunk of the flesh. I have to put my sword away for a moment because the sheer size of the corpse makes it difficult to do this with one hand.

There is a spray of blood that covers my arms as I rip into its body and I laugh giddily. Undead don't have the same warmth as living creatures when you tear them apart. Their flesh doesn't spring back and you can't sense their life fading away.

I let out a moan as I chew into the chunk of dragon meat. Finally! After a month of not having any meat, I get to savour prime dragon flesh.

It tastes so good.

The flesh has the right bounce and texture, the tang of the fresh blood, and the zing of the poison in its body all combine for a wonderful eating experience. The fact that it's a powerful and soon to be extinct creature makes the flavour even more intense.

'Focus, brat.' I stop cleaning the blood off my hand mid-lick.

I pout, reluctant to stop feasting, but I know that if I don't I'll lose the bet with Bikou. With a sigh, I toss the corpse back to the shoreline and search for my next victim.

I'll just have to sneak bites of each one I kill. That way I won't fall behind or miss out on eating the dragons while they're fresh. I'm a genius.

'On your left.'

I turn to my left and have to shove my arms out sideways to catch the closing jaws of a dragon as it sweeps parallel to the water surface. It roars as my arms stop its jaw from snapping close around me and I grimace at the moist breath that blows my hair back.

"I think you're misunderstanding something," I say, as I start to get angry. "I'm not the food here."

My Touki explodes along the length of my arms and the dragon's jaw hyperextends on both sides so quickly that its body splits down the middle. Heat flares across my body as I burn away the spit and blood that now covers my body.

"You're my food."

The dragons swarming around me all pause as my killing intent sweeps out across the water. I even see one of Bikou's clones stumble on its cloud, missing a swing with its staff and getting swallowed by a dragon.

My sword materializes again as I leap at the nearest one and decapitate it with a swift slash. Another dragon leaps out of the water and falls toward me, mouth agape bristling with sharp fangs, intent to swallow me whole.

My sword lights up in a familiar silver glow and I swing upward planning to cut it in half straight down the middle. I'm a bit disappointed when my sword only cuts halfway down the length of its body and I have to swing again to get through the rest.

They're growing stronger quickly.

My grip on my sword tightens as I crack my neck. I'll have to keep upping the amount of power I'm using as well.

Byakko stretches languidly from his position on the beach as he watches Ibaraki go wild.

'Really that cub is having too much fun right now.' He thinks to himself as she drives her sword through the roof of a dragons mouth.

One of her clones is still firing off arrows from the beachhead while the other is currently attempting to choke a dragon to death. The sheer size disparity means that the dragon already died a while ago but for some reason, she really wants to wrap her arms around its neck.

The archer clone is the only reason she's still keeping up with that Monkey King kid. That and the fact that he has the same kind of personality as Ibaraki and is enjoying this too much to take it seriously. Bikou hasn't even been replacing the clones that have been dispelled so he's down to a half dozen.

Their competition doesn't really concern Byakko much, however. He has his own task.

Ibaraki had told him to drag back a live one but actually choosing the right one to capture is more difficult than simply grabbing the first one he sees. If this monster is to be a pet, it needs to have a certain amount of intelligence.

Standing up, Byakko surveys the battlefield.

The samurai is using a spear from horseback as that damn horse prances across the waves. The horse is unnaturally fast and easily manoeuvres around any dragons that appear. It's slower than Byakko, of course! Still, the skill in which the rider guides its mount and dispatches its enemies is praiseworthy.

The Norse are riding a flying boat around the battlefield. The brothers periodically leap from their vessel onto the dragons. The blond hacks away at them with his axe, the weapon wreathed in lightning. The redhead screams, drunk on rage, as he tears the dragons apart with his bare hands. The Valkyrie pilots the boat and provides the two with support simultaneously, forgoing any attempt to kill the dragons herself.

The Tengu princess is slowly wearing down a dragon of her own at the moment. Her Yojutsu can't do enough damage to outright kill any of the dragons so she's grinding away at them with blasts of wind. That along with shallow slashes from her sword mean that she's only taken out one so far.

The two Onmyouji kids have two completely different approaches to each other. Seiryuu is binding dragons with his magic and slowly choking the life out of multiple of them. Suzaku, however, is simply burning through them with raw overwhelming power.

Byakko grins as he sees that raw anger of Suzaku's resurfacing. Her inheritance of the Vermillion Bird had definitely changed the girl and to no small degree. This approach of crushing her enemies with firepower is a stark change from the methodical way she fought Ibaraki when they first met.

Why it's almost predatory, bestial. Monstrous.

Glancing to the other two competitors still on the beachhead, Byakko finds himself confused.

The Roc has been darting out at phenomenal speeds, dragging a single dragon back, and simply enjoying his meal. He may have low stamina or simply not be interested in the competitive aspect of this event. Either way, his actions make a bit of sense.

The outlier that Byakko is struggling to understand is the Korean kid.

Haneul Park had removed his hood and his headphones, giving Byakko a chance to size the young man up. The fact he hadn't rushed in means he's either the analytical type or the arrogant type. That is the question Byakko is struggling with.

The sharp eyes that are scanning the battlefield make him lean toward analytical but the relaxed posture tells a different story. Haneul not having even glanced at any of the dragons, instead choosing to analyze the other competitors, makes Byakko think he's arrogant. Yet he could be the type to only pursue challenging fights with intelligent foes.

Time will tell which assessment is correct.

Byakko's eyes narrow as his gaze snaps to a lone dragon emerging in the distance. It's keeping itself low to the surface of the water and watching the competitors warily. It also isn't nearly as large as the other dragons who have begun to reach lengths of a half kilometre. It's one of the more reptilian dragons with thick scales and four legs.

Bounding across the water, Byakko circles around the lone dragon. Not wanting to scare the dragon away before he can grab it, Byakko stays as small as a regular tiger and stalks his prey.

The slow approach means Byakko can watch as the dragon slowly grows. The constant expansion of the rippling scales is incredibly to watch up close; the dragon evolving fast enough for the changes to be visible to the naked eye. What immense potential for growth.

To think all these creatures are to be culled here and now. It's almost a shame.

Byakko catches sight of Ibaraki diving into the mouth of another dragon, a feral smile on her face. Well, not enough of a shame if his cub is enjoying herself that much.

Byakko springs off the water's surface and expands to his full size as his teeth wrap around the dragon's throat. The giant reptile thrashes violently the instant it finds itself trapped but Byakko's hold is too strong. Still, the dragon continues to struggle as Byakko drags it back to the shoreline.

"Is that the one that gets to live today?" The Roc kid asks when Byakko makes it back.

Byakko grunts and tosses the dragon onto the sand. It tries in vain to escape back to the water and Byakko pins it under his mighty paws. "Most likely. It depends on how much it struggles."

The dragon doesn't take the hint and continues to try to escape. Sand begins to be flung everywhere as the thrashing reaches a fever pitch. Annoyed, Byakko, extends one of his claws and with a precise slash cuts into the base of its neck.

The dragon roars in pain and rage but its head is the only thing that continues to thrash. With its spinal cord severed the rest of its body goes limp.

"A little cruel don't you think?" Wang Chongyun asks from atop his pile of dragon corpses, a freshly cleaned dragon bone in his hand.

Byakko just stares back and tips his head toward the pile. The Roc Demon King has the decency to be embarrassed at the hypocrisy of the statement.

The dragon starts to loudly screech when it realizes it can't move which causes Byakko to grumble. This damn thing should at least play dead at this point. Shrinking back down he slowly moves to the dragon's snout.

"Shut up," Byakko says, channelling some of Ibaraki's immense killing intent at the reptile.

It takes the hint this time and its jaw shuts with a loud click. "You've been given an opportunity none of your siblings has had in millennia. Life in exchange for servitude."

There is an intelligent gleam in the creature's eyes as it listens to his words. It can't understand the language but it seems to instinctually get the intent behind them.

"Sadly, your master isn't as great as mine… To be honest she's kind of a brat… Where was I going with this?" Byakko frowns before shrugging.

"Whatever. You're going to be gifted to a child with too much power and a sister who is entirely blind to said child's faults. Your goal in life is to protect and entertain that child even at the cost of your life."

"If you fail, You will die. If Shuten grows bored of you, you'll probably die. If you attack my master's mother, you'll die. You can attack Ibaraki herself though, she'll just be amused by it."

"It's honestly a terrible deal for you, if not for the fact this is your only chance at life." That's pretty much it right?

"Take some time to think it over as you watch your siblings get slaughtered. Okay?" Byakko yawns and walks away, eager to find somewhere nice to curl up and nap.

The dragon remains, unmoving as it watches absurd beings tearing apart its siblings. The surface of the sea is stained red with their blood as they're slain in droves. It watches even as it listens to the sounds of other dragons being eaten a short distance away. It struggles to move, to escape from this horror, but is instead trapped in its own mind.

The young dragon learns something important that day.

Fear.