Ch-21 Dance Of Blood, Fire And Steel

Rex could feel the ominous, suffocating aura, which resembled the hydra he killed five years ago.

He could instantly tell that whatever this aura was, it was drawn by his son's flaw and was most definitely aiming for him.

Ever since the incident, Williams flaw hasn't caused much trouble aside from some petty bad luck, so Rex stopped thinking about ways to neutralise it.

However, now sensing the presence approaching him, he knew that he needed to do something to protect his son from his flaw.

But that's something for the future; right now, he needed to neutralise the being releasing blood lust towards his son.

With that thought in mind, Rex transformed into his strongest form with his white hair, reaching all the way to his back, and replacing his clothes with a blue armour made up of aura with tendrils of lightning surrounding him.

Both his hands held two swords with two magestic white wings on his back.

However, instead of flying off, he summoned his aspect beast.

Instantly, a tall brown griffin standing on its four legs with two majestic brown wings materialised.

"Williams, get on Stormswill; I'm going to show you something fun," Rex said as he looked at William.

"What?" William asked, looking confused.

"Rex, what are you trying to do?" Myra asked worried by her husband's demand.

"Don't worry, just get on. I just saw where the presence was coming from, and it's not a threat for us," Rex muttered in a playful tone. "And besides, I'm the strongest, so instead of being scared, I want you to come take a good look at the beings you'll be fighting in the future, William.".

"Wow!" William exclaimed, amazed by his father's confidence, as he quickly got on the Griffin.

William was a bit afraid of the creature at first, but it quickly bowed down to him, letting him easily climb up as if recognising him as its master.

William was a bit surprised because, as he got on, he was able to feel the soft texture of the bird's fur, contrary to how it looked.

"William, keep your eyes peeled, as what I'm about to show you isn't something you can see anywhere else," Rex said.

After saying that, Rex started flying towards the presence at breakneck speed alongside Stormswill, who was carrying William.

Rex and Stormswill quickly passed the village as they both flew towards the gigantic walls surrounding Karka Kingdom.

'Phew, I'm glad I didn't end up implicating an innocent village in my fight again,' Rex thought with a relieved expression on his face.

After a few minutes, Rex and William atop Stormswill quickly bypassed the walls, and the sight before them shook William to the core.

A whole army of approximately 100 gigantic dragons was brutally massacring the wall guards, trying to breach the walls.

The whole area around the walls was surrounded by blood, dead bodies mangled in grotesque ways, and fire burning the whole ground.

Mangled human limbs were spread on the ground, and the walls had sustained serious injuries as some guards were burning alive, causing inhumane screams of agony to be heard constantly.

This was the first time William had ever witnessed such brutality; no, this was the first time he had ever witnessed brutality and death.

The scene horrified William; he wanted to puke. He needed to close his eyes to try and forget about what he just saw.

However, just when he was about to listen to his body instincts and let out everything he ate, he felt a hand on his shoulder as he heard.

[Cleanse], almost instantly William felt relaxed, no longer wanting to puke and almost forgetting about the horrors he just witnessed.

Unfortunately for him, just as he was about to let his body relax, he heard a gut-wrenching scream.

"Ahahahahahahahahaha"

As William looked down, he saw a man engulfed in flames, screaming in agony.

William almost fell down in panic; however, he was quickly held back by a sturdy hand.

"Relax yourself, William Verhein," Rex said in a sturdy tone with conviction in his tone as he started at William.

This was the first time William had ever heard his father speak in such a tone or say his full name.

"Look at the battlefield; observe it; no, engrave it inside your mind," Rex said in an almost commanding tone.

Hearing his father's voice somehow managed to overcome his natural repulsion for the horrors and made him stare at the scene before him.

Seeing all the bloodshed and horror scared him; however, he overcame the natural repulsion he felt and, instead of reverting his eyes, stared even more intensely at the sight before him.

"Do you see all these dying men before you?" Rex asked the obvious, despite already knowing the answer.

"All of them have families just like you, me, and Myra," Rex said. "However, most of these men will never be able to see their family before them due to their own weakness."

William was a bit weirded out by why his father was insulting these dying guards, but he continued to listen.

"And yet here they are fighting on the front lines, risking it all; most, if not all, of them want to run away inside back to their families."

"But they all ignore that instinct because of one simple thing: responsibility."

"Many would consider them stupid, thinking it would be better for the men to run away, but they're all wrong."

"Because if they ran away, then these overgrown lizards would slaughter thousands of innocent souls; among them would potentially be their own family, for that simple reason they continue to fight."

"Now you might not understand why I'm giving you a speech right now instead of going to help save these men. But that's because life isn't fair."

"I'm sure you've seen countless fools preaching to you about the fairness of life, but in reality, those fools just want to cope with their own circumstances."

"For example, just look at yourself as the son of the sword saint, with an aspect far greater than everyone else as well as an affinity for mana surpassing even dragons."

"The truth is, you were born with a golden spoon, a clean road to success; all you need to do is walk on it."

"The reason why I'm telling you all this is because I need you to understand that people like me and you have a responsibility far greater than everyone else."

"Our responsibility is towards everyone weaker than ourselves who was born less fortunate than us; we need to protect them from forces that they can't fight against."

"Right now, it is my responsibility to protect my territory and even this whole kingdom to repay it for everything it has given to me."

"However, in the future, that responsibility will fall on you, and once it does, I want you to do a job even better than mine."

"Cause remember, someone who uses their own strength just to abuse the less fortunate is a scum."

"And if you become a scum, I won't hesitate to drive a blade up your throat, even if you're my own son."

William was stunned by everything Rex said to him; this was the first time his father ever talked like that to him, and it deeply affected him, making him forget about the tragedy around him.

One might think that Rex was just wasting time bragging about his own fortune while people were dying around him.

However, Rex knew that what he was doing right now was more important than even protecting the kingdom.

His son in the future would have the power to end or save the world, and it was Rex's duty to make sure that William was never led astray in life and didn't take his own powers for granted.

"Well, with all that said, just watch me," Rex said as he cast [Safe Haven], encasing William and all the guards.

Seeing the golden dome, William and all the guards stared at Rex as they finally noticed his presence.

What followed next was a massacre, just like before; however, there was one main difference: humans weren't the victims anymore.

With each swing of his blade, countless dragon heads flew into the sky as purple blood sprayed the sky and filled the ground.

Each swing of Rex's blade was elegant, with not a single wasted moment.

It looked like he was dancing on the battlefield with his elegant movements.

It was a dance of blood, fire, and steel.

The dragons tried to fight back; however, they were too helpless and outmatched against the beings before them.

On the battlefield, he looked like their apex predator, so, with a natural desire for survival, they all ran away in fear.

Unfortunately for them, Rex had no plans of letting them go as he flew towards them, not even letting a single one escape after claiming so many innocent lives and trying to kill his son.

William, strangely unlike before, wasn't repulsed by the sight before him; instead, he was mesmerised by the dance-like movements of his father with the blade.

Rex didn't use any fancy spells or abilities; all he used was a simple blade and technique honed to perfection.

William couldn't look away from the sight before him; he was amazed. He was obsessed with the blade and the burning desire to stand up to the responsibility that his father talked about.

****

Present day

Now sleeping peacefully on his bed was William as he dreamed about the day he came to make his father his role model.

Clueless to Williams dreams, Rex entered his room.