When 10 Becomes 6

Hooligan's eyes were closed shut in deep thought. Up until recently, he was still messing around with his 10 Dragons despite the Potato Wars coming up. Perhaps the surprise was a little too recent still when Ezrah came to him to ask about participating. If he was to be blunt, Ezrah was a diamond in the rough, lacking the motivation and ruthlessness for such an event. However, the Ezrah Enkay that presented himself felt foreign and filled with a malice of which he couldn't identify the source. At least the conversation was nice:

"I am well aware I haven't shown great prospects to partipate in the Potato Wars," Ezrah admitted with a heavy sigh. "So what would it take for me to participate alongside Segato?"

"You are basically implying you can beat the 10 Dragons. Speedrun has experience and strength over you... amongst 'other things.' So... might as well make it fun by giving you an unreasonable standard to uphold for yourself. I personally believe Segato can take on half the Dragons by himself. Can you take on 5, too?" Hooligan removed his cloak to reveal his crazed expression on his pale-yet-tanned skin. His yellow, cat-like eyes were carefully analyzing the potential enemy in front of him.

Ezrah confidently grumbled in a low voice, "Without fail. I'll even become the new 6th Dragon. Not without an equal price of the work you're using me for, of course." Hooligan held his chin while thinking about the request.

I know something is off. At the same time, that malice doesn't seem to be directed at me specifically, sooooo... I believe I can look past it. For now. He decided to nod in agreement. It's not like Ezrah would ask for something ridiculous--

"You gave each of the 10 Dragons a unique inherited role and power based on something from a forgotten era. I want Segato to have access to these 10 inheritances. Shouldn't be unreasonable, right?" Ezrah and Hooligan locked eyes. The sincerity and aggression of Ezrah's eyes bore weight on the curiosity and playfulness in Hooligan's eyes. Hooligan clapped his hands in glee, before he rubbed his mop-like silver hair as if to shake something out of it.

"I don't know why you've changed so much, and if I'm being honest, I don't care. You got straight to the point for something in which we all win. Why the hell would I turn it down, haha?" Hooligan truthfully spoke with a growing smile on his face. Ezrah maintained a stoic face, but Hooligan could tell the boy-- no, the man in front of him was smiling internally. It's clear Ezrah is awakening a path of lunacy, but it also feels like he is still a Sacred Wielder? The only possibility is... He changed who he believes in. I can sense it... It's a monster not of this world, possibility not even of this timeline. So... Should I stoke the perfectly fine flames?

"When I return, it'll be Layla, Rei, Talenhutt, Speedrun, and Jackie left, alongside myself. Look forward to it." Ezrah then teleported out of the space on his own, which surprised Hooligan.

Dimensional manipulation? When did he learn to use it on that level?

"Why... why are you doing this... ugh..." spoke Kilnmaster Kaito as he clutched his chest in agony. It happened so fast. Five of the 10 Dragons met together at sunrise today to discuss overthrowing Hooligan so they could control who entered the Potato Wars. The reasoning was simple: Kikai was too powerful to continously be benched, and they hated Speedrun. What was unexpected is when Ezrah showed up with a peculiar-looking sword. It was oddly long, but very thin with ominous-looking holes throughout it. Kaito and the others felt drawn to those holes for a reason unbeknownst to them, but they snapped out of it when Ezrah quickly swung it with ease. The sword quickly shot out homing energy shells from each of its holes that crashed into all 5 Dragons with a loud Boom! The only reason why Kaito survived was his Ceramic armor, and even that still was mostly shattered.

"You already know why. You were planning to betray Hooligan and looked down on him. Your own Deity gave you everything in exchange for your loyalty and service. And yet..." As Ezrah paused, he stabbed Kaito in the chest and twisted the blade, which caused him to howl. "Hooligan has grown so sick of you that he would rather rely on an unknown factor in this game like myself. That speaks volumes of your treachery."

Kaito took one last menacing glare with his bloodstained eyes at Ezrah, and with the last of his dying strength, he managed to speak, "Fuck you and your family, Ezrah. Why don't you ask that arrogant Faelength about how he lost your father and Kate in a bet during the Potato Wars--" Ezrah quickly lobbed off Kaito's head and sent it flying.

"I already know about it, you dumbass," Ezrah quietly muttered under his breath.

"You took care of that way faster than I expected you to," Hooligan spoke with glee. Ezrah stared him in the eyes once more, this time with the malice directed in his direction.

"I suppose I earned enough of your trust that you should be able to answer why you gambled Kate and my father's lives in a bet?" Ezrah spat out. Hooligan's smile slowly turned into a frown.

"Kate and your father, Solo, went undercover for me, actually. They confronted me for the task. I am guessing Kaito left that part out," Hooligan confirmed with a grunt. "The operation was to intentionally fail the bet, so they could infiltrate the Slash family that serves a Deity known as Dippity Doo. Yes, that's his real name. See, the Slash family is made up of his greatest warriors. The goal is simple: find out how many of them there are, and leak who would enter the next Potato Wars. They did succeed." Hooligan pulled out a strip of paper and his eyes widened in shock.

"Did something happen to them?" Ezrah asked in a worried tone. If his father and Kikai's mother were in danger--

"Calm down. They're fine. What isn't is who is participating in the Potato Wars for D.D. I got 2 names, and I unfortunately heard of both. You wanted Segato to have the inheritance of the 10 Dragons so badly? He's gonna need it now." Hooligan snapped his fingers, which then had a screen reveal a tall teenage boy with white hair and sharp red eyes, and next to him on the monitor was what looked like a little blond-haired girl with similar red eyes. The screen showed 2 titles: Project War and Project Sky.

"Projects? What does this mean?" Ezrah warily asked.

"D.D. was suspected to be doing illegal experiments long ago regarding undocumented citizens. The research subject was... soul combinations. If these 2 are the finished product, then..." Hooligan's voice trailed off as if waiting for Ezrah to finish his thought.

"... how strong do you think they are?" Ezrah bluntly responded. Hooligan shrugged.

"I guess you and Segato will find out. We need to win. No matter the cost!" Hooligan yelled at the top of his lungs. Ezrah rolled his eyes. Even now, he could tell Hooligan is having fun at everyone else's expense.