The Great Rampage

(A few thousand years in the past....)

[???'s POV]

When I came to, the first thing that I saw was fire.... A burning city, and I am standing in the middle of it all, watching the chaos unfold before my eyes.

'Boom!!!' A projectile flew from the sky, and blasted somewhere to my side. It missed me but.... I'm in pain?

"Argh!..." I screamed in pain from the damage taken.

"Come back to your senses, Tiamat!"

Said a single flying devil with two horns and a pair of wings who attacked fired the spell just now.... One of his arm is missing, bleeding out.

It seems that I've been fighting this demon.... and it must have taken damage from me.

Wait, me?... Fighting a demon?

I looked down and finally noticed that something was off.... I looked down on my feet and saw that it was a dragon's talon, with a house that is the same size of my feet.

"Grah!!!" 'Bwuom!!!'

Another sound was heard to the sides, and when I looked over I saw a dragon's head. This head fired out a breath of ice, trying to hit the flying demon in front. It dodged to the sides, avoiding the frost breath attack from that dragon.

There's three more dragon heads besides me, and open neck who was blasted by the explosion just now.... In total, five heads.

That's right, I am Tiamat, the five headed dragon goddess.... I took a deep breath and....

"Grah!!!" I breathed out a blue colored stream of fire towards the flying demon. This is a God ranked magic attack, Star Collapsing Cannon, Supernova. It can completely decimates a city should it hit one....

Baal strafed to the sides and dodged my fire breath that was aimed to the sky. And then with a single flick of his arm...

"Hmpt!"

'Boom!' He fired out another spell at me, this time it was the head on my left who was blew up.

"Urgh!!!..." It hurts! It hurts like my arm has been chopped off!

"Futile attempt.... Come back to your senses before I have to completely destroy you."

Hearing the demon's distorted voice, immense anger wells up within me. But coming along with it is a sense of emotional pain as well.... Like my heart has been split into two.

"Shut up! After what you mortals did to Bahamut, I will destroy every single one of you myself! Other Worlders or not, all of you shall pay for your sins! Dragonic Burst!"

'Boom!!!' I covered my entire dragon body in mana, and blasted the entire area around me with flames. This explosion is large enough to completely demolish the city.

Red aura comes out from the severed heads, and formed the shape of new dragon heads.... Soon, I had completely regenerated the two heads, returning to my five headed form.

Countless humans beneath me was caught in the blast, and this is exactly what I wanted....

"Ahaha, your attacks are useless! Feel my power, burn and suffer for your existence!"

"It seems that you have truly lost your mind, Tiamat.... I have no choice but to destroy you. Prepare to face the true power of the Magic Pioneer!"

Magic Pioneer?... Isn't that Lynn? Why is this demon claiming to be the Magic Pioneer?

A large amount of mana gathered around that devil, forming a stack of magic crest that floats above him.

1... 2... 3.... Twenty Magic Crest in total.

Lynn can only do eight Chants at the same time, but this demon can do Twenty?!

(AN : Kyrielle and Red's memory is merging together, that's why she knows about Lynn even though Red doesn't know about her. At the time of this incident, it was thousand of years before Lynn's birth.)

"Impossible.... A mere demon capable of such sophisticated and advanced magic manipulation?"

"Unlike you who holds such an immense quantity of mana, I have to resort to careful channeling of my mana to match your power.... Through my countless experimentations, I have come together with a spell that can rival and even surpass a primordial dragon's breath."

"Baal.... Baal!!!" Immense hatred rises up within me....

Baal.... That's right, he's the supreme demon king that Lynn killed in the past....

As hatred fills up within me, I started to stopped thinking. I want it all to just happen before my eyes, I don't want to process this information anymore.

I want to just tear this demon in front of me into pieces.... I want to destroy him, and everything in front of me.... I want to bring down the very world itself.

"Urgh...." Wait.... This isn't right....

This isn't me, I am not Tiamat.... What the hell is happening to my mind?!

"I considered you a friend, and I still do.... but I can't let you destroy the humans. Be annilated across time and space itself, Tiamat. Chronos Ignis."

Chronos Ignis.... It's that God ranked magic.... The only spell that Lynn couldn't replicate, and the one that she has no defense against other than her own God ranked magic, Reversal.

"I'm sorry.... Farewell." Said the demon with a somewhat melancholic tone before he bring down his arm.

All twenty crests lighted up brightly blue in color.... Until the spells all fired out a purple colored thunder and converged at one point, concentrating all of it's fire power at me.

So this is what death looks like? I had a feeling that I saw this exact sight somewhere before....

'Boom!!!'

The lights blinded my sight, and before I knew it, I am floating in a void.... A void that is filled with nothing but darkness.

"This is...." Something tells me that this void is metaphysical.... A place that transcends our understanding of the world itself. A place beyond Space and Time.

"Is this what happens when you get killed by an attack that tears a hole in space time itself?...."

But as I was thinking of that, a light shines through to my eyes. Suddenly, I am now above the skies, looking down at a modern highway, with countless cars driving by.

"This is.... Japan?"

A familiar looking bus passes through the highway. I looked closely at the bus's window, and saw a group of friends playing cards.... A black haired boy look through the window, directly at me.

It's her.... Or rather it's me, Fujiwara Taki.

'Boom!!!' The purple color lightning fired out onto the highway, subsequently hitting the bus on it and killing everyone inside. A large explosion happened, and the bus itself was caught right into it.

The effect of the spell was small.... really small compared to the one that Baal used on me. It is likely that this thunder that hit the highway was a side effect, a collateral damage of Chronos Ignis aimed at Tiamat, and it punched a hole through reality itself, ending up in another world.

And I guess amongst the countless soul that was hit by the spell, one of the souls got merged with one of five Tiamat's soul, and ended up in the same body of an infant.... Resulting in Kyrielle Buffet, a young girl with the heart of a dragon.

______________

(14 years and 6 months after reincarnation)

[Kyrielle's POV]

"Zzz.... Urgh...."

Once again, I woke up with my head in terrible pain.... "Urgh...."

I went through such an incredibly vivid dream just now it's like I was actually there.... I really saw myself as Tiamat, and fought against Baal himself, the supreme demon king....

Is that a dream?... Or was it a memory? Either way, I don't know.... I'm just incredibly confused right now....

"Urgh.... Where the hell am I?...." I said as I look around the room....

I am resting on a hospital bed, and a dark blue haired girl lied her head besides the bed while she sat on the floor, sleeping as well.

"Gerdur?...."

"Zzz...."

I look around the room.... It seems that I am not in a room, but in a section of a hall covered only by a canvas. It's the sickbay of the church.

"....Thank you, Gerdur...." Even though she was scared of me when she saw my dragonic form, she is still here right now. That speaks a lot about her trust in me....

I quietly got out of my bed, and exited the little canvas room. A ray of orange colored light shines through the sickbay's window, illuminating the room. It is now dusk.

"Damn, it's that late already?...."

(6:41 p.m.)

"Kyrielle Buffet." Said a familiar old man's voice from the entrance to the sickbay. I looked over and saw an old man dressed in a white colored priest robe.

"....Archbishop Gabriel."

"Is your friend asleep?"

"Mmm... Let's take this outside."

I grabbed the blanket from the bed and covered Gerdur in it. Then I quietly exited the empty sickbay, not waking her up in the process.

We arrived at one of the bench in the chapel, and sat down next to each other.

"So, what do you need?"

"Your friends told me everything.... Youngsters these days wouldn't keep a secret."

"....I see...."

"And truth to be told, I did something rude. I used my magic eye on you while you were asleep. Imagine the surprise I had when I found out that you are an other worlder...."

"Ahaha...." Deja Vu.... The last bishop of the church also found out I was an other worlder through this way.

"But did you tell them? About my origins?"

"No. I don't tell everyone or anyone about secrets as big as this."

"I see.... Thank you very much."

"It's my responsibility to shut up, you don't have to thank me."

A period of silence hits us in the calming chapel.

"....What's the bad news?" I bluntly asked him.

"I'll put it simply, your soul and your mind is starting to merge with the dragon that you call Red.... You two are slowly but surely becoming one."

"What....?"

"It's true."

"I... see... That must be the reason I am having so many hallucinations...."

"Because your mind couldn't comprehend the information that comes with Red's memories?"

"Possibly.... I don't know.... I don't know!" I yelled out in frustration.

"All this time I was always branded as "the strongest" or "the genius" but.... If I was, I wouldn't be so confused now would I?"

"Perhaps..."

The dream that I had just now.... was that Red's memory after all? Red was one of the five heads of Tiamat, and did she really fought with Baal....? Did I really died because I was shot by Baal's lightning?

"....I.... I am just a random girl stuck with a dragon inside.... I am not somebody special...."

"I understand this is a lot of information to take in at once.... But do you realize the gravity of your circumstances?"

"What is it?..."

"You will go insane if your soul was merged with Tiamat's soul. She is after all the cause of the Great Rampage thousands of years ago that killed millions of lives.... A dragon that is feared by even the demons."

"I... I know...."

"I trust that you may have already see signs of this as well.... Intense hatred, and a lust for power. Legends told of a dragon overwhelmed by those two emotions, and succumbed to insanity."

"I.... see...."

"I'll let you rest for now, come speak to me again once you've calmed down." Said Gabriel as he stood up and headed back into his office.

....He was right, I am turning insane.... Whenever I turn into my Dragon form it's almost like I stopped being myself entirely. I get this intense urge to test out my powers and to destroy, it makes me feel strong and in control of myself.

Come to think of it, what was the reason I participated in so many fights, and killed so many demons and monsters?.... I don't have any reason to in the first place..... Nor do I feel bad for it.

That assassin who tried to assassinate King Hal... Gemory of the blood.... And countless other orc bandits that I could've negotiated with... Even if they are demons, they still have the soul of a person....

That's right.... I've killed so much people already that I failed to realize the gravity of my actions.... When have I started to stopped feeling anything when killing creatures? Is this a result of Red's soul merging with me?

Just what kind of monster have I become?

_____________

[Third Person POV]

"Zzz.... Mmm...."

The girl who slept soundly next to the bed awakens, and the first thing she was concerned about was her unconscious friend, who is gone.

"....Kyrie...!"

The girl got up from the floor and hastily headed out of the room. Barging out of the sickbay, she searched around the chapel and found her friend sitting on a bench.

"Phew...."

She slowly approached Kyrielle, and when she's close to her, she noticed something.

"....Sobs.... Huh!... Sobs...."

"....."

The Kyrielle that Gerdur knows of is a energetic but calm person. Even when fighting in a dangerous situation, she had never cried even once.

And yet here she is... sobbing uncontrollably in the chapel alone.

Part of Gerdur wants to walk up to Kyrielle, and comfort her, but she knew that what Kyrielle needed now is not company, rather some time to get her emotions sorted out.

And so she decided to head out of the cathedral for the moment. Upon going out of the exit, she saw Michael approaching the cathedral with food in hand. He had went out and bought some snacks.

"Mike!"

"Gerd! How is Kyrie?"

"She woke up but... I think we should leave her alone for now."

"I see... I bought us some chicken mushroom skewer, have one."

"Oh, thanks."

The two walked up to the fountain in front of the cathedral and sat there, eating their freshly cooked afternoon snack.

"....So, what do you think?" Asked Gerdur.

"It's tasty."

"That's not it, idiot.... I'm talking about Kyrie."

"Oh.... I don't know what I should say to her."

"Part of me is angry at her because she never told us that she has anything like that but... she seems to be hiding it for a reason." Said Gerdur as she subconsciously played with the skewer in her hand while thinking.

"Maybe she doesn't want to make us worry?"

"Maybe...."

The two continued eating the skewer in hand, until Gerdur talked again.

"She looked like a dragon...."

"She does."

"Maybe she was the offspring of a dragon? Maybe her parents picked up a dragon's egg and then raised the egg themselves which resulted in Kyrielle?"

"That is stupid! Besides, if she was the child of a dragon then why does she have a human body?"

"Yeah.... You're right."

"Sigh.... We can only speculate so much, we should just ask her directly."

"....Do you still trust her?"

"I do.... The Kyrielle that we know has watched over us ever since we were 7. We should feel grateful to her as well."

"Mmm...." Gerdur gently leaned her head onto Michael's shoulder as she groaned out.

"H-hey...!"

"Are you getting embarrassed? Hehe, you are cute."

"Yeah but... we are out in the public you know?"

"Just let me enjoy this moment.... It's calming especially with you by my side."

"....It can't be helped then."

The two sat in front of the fountain in silence, enjoying the peace together as a couple.

"....Well, I think it's time that we headed back inside. Kyrielle should've calmed down by now."

"What happened to her just now?"

"She was crying alone on the chapel's bench, I decided to let her have her moment."

"I see.... Let's go then."

_______________

[Kyrielle's POV]

(6:52 p.m.)

After I cried out for about 10 minutes, I calmed down.

"...I need to find Gabriel."

I got up from my seat, and headed deeper into the church's office area. Arriving at the archbishop's room, I knocked on the door.

'Knock knock.'

"Come in."

"It's me...." I said as I entered the door, and approached the chair in front of the desk where Gabriel is sitting on.

"Are you alright now?"

"Yeah."

"Good.... I trust that you have many questions. Go ahead, ask to your heart's content."

"....What will happen if I got fully merge with Red?"

"You will lose yourself, and become an entirely different person. One that is an amalgamation of Red's insanity and your darkest desire.... In other words-"

"I'll become a monster.... How can I stop it?"

"....It is extremely difficult, but not impossible to seperate Red's soul from yours. I did some research while you we're sleeping."

"So what is it?"

"What you'll need is a spell by the name of 'Severance'. Many tales spoke of this magic, a spell that can divide the very reality itself. It was said that Baal's Chronos Ignis, the time thunder was made on the foundation of that spell..."

"But you can't find any concrete information from fairy tales, and not even Lynn knows of Baal's lightning.... What is your point?"

"That's why I said it is extremely difficult. I will have to locate a source on that magic...."

"Its like searching for a needle in a haystack.... Or more like searching for a grain of rice in the middle of a desert."

"But I believe we may have a solid clue.... Do you know where Lynn is right now?"

"Lynn? She's at the United States of Monproximus, probably dealing with the Other Worlders that invaded Creimland."

"Then you are in luck. Try asking her, she knows all there is about magic."

"Lynn huh?... That's right, if it's her then maybe she'll know. I'll have to send a letter to her."

"I see. As for the mergence of your soul, while we look for 'Severance' we'll have to prevent it from worsening."

"Is there a way to do that?"

"Even without sophisticated magic, I can still control the symptoms.... But for that to happen I must seal your soul away."

"Are you trying to force me into a coma?"

"I don't mean literally sealing your soul up with a barrier, that barrier is one that is directed inwards. It's meant to seal away the objects caught inside.... But this one would be an outward seal, polar opposite of a Binding Vow."

"So it is directed outward, rejecting anything outside from entering.... Will this really stop Red's soul?"

"Without dispelling the seal, it is impossible for anything other than Mana to come in contact with your soul. I believe this will work."

"I see.... But it wouldn't come without a drawback right?"

From school, I learned about the very existence of mana itself. It was said that mana is tied to the soul, and when the soul is shut off, one's control over the mana will also be lost even if they still retains their Mana Aura. In a sense....

"You'll lose your ability to channel mana. You won't be able to cast any magic at all."

"I had a feeling that'd happen...."

If I seal my soul shut, that'd mean I don't get to use any magic at all.... All my training and practises with magic will be locked away, never being able to be used again by me.

Blaze Edge, Forbidden Sun, Thrusters.... Anything magic will be shut away for good until the seal is undone. All my training, practices and painful research would've been done for nothing if I can't use them.

"It is your call whether or not you want that.... Magic is after all what makes you so powerful in the first place-"

But... I don't want to die. I don't want to feel this intense hatred again because it feels so disgusting.... It's like I'm becoming something that I despises.

"....Do it."

"So easily?"

"Yes.... I'd hate to lose all of my practices and skills but.... I don't want to go insane."

I had sworn to fully live out my life since I was a kid.... Besides, what's losing a little bit of magic gonna do to me? I can still use my katana.

"Then I will prepare the sealing ritual, come see me tomorrow." Said the old man as he writes down on a piece of paper.

"Gabriel, why are you helping me so much?"

"Why can't I? When I became the archbishop I had promised to the very divines themself that I'd help whoever in need.... And you seem to require exactly the miracles that I provide."

"Is there a reason why you did all this?"

"A reason huh?.... I guess I want to preach and bring the blessings of the divines toward others in need."

I have never been a religious person.... but there's no way I'm not thankful towards this priest in front of me.

"Thank you.... I really mean it."

He looked at me in the eye, and then smiled a little. "Do not thank me, thank instead the divines."

"I see.... Maybe from now on I'll start worshipping for real."

"That'd be for the best."

"....Father, do you do confessions?"

"Yes. What would you like to confess?"

"I want to confess for I have sinned.... I killed countless lives in the past, and I have only just realized the weight of my actions...."

"The sin of murdering another.... but was it really murder?"

"....What do you mean?"

"From what I've heard from the soldiers that I healed during the attack of the Hundred-Slime, I don't think you are one to commit murder."

"But.... I did.... I was never what people imagined anyway! So what do you mean when you say all that?...."

"Did you kill with a good intention in mind?"

"A good intention?..."

"Yes.... Was it in self defense, or was it for food? Was it to protect others, or was it to prevent harm from being done to people in the future?"

"I see...?"

"Killing for the sake of it is a sin. However, it is often times a necessary evil to commit because circumstances determines action more than ideologies does."

"I... don't get it...."

"Alright, here's an example then. A killer is caught by you, and he is spared from death because you didn't want to kill him. Is it your sin then when that person kills another victim? You could've prevented the death of the victim, but your sense of self-righteousness made you spare him. At that moment, will you be in the wrong?"

"....I'd be in the wrong...."

"That's the point. Answer me now with honesty.... Do you think you are you a killer?"

"....No."

I killed those people not because I wanted something from them or out of ill will... It was because I wanted to protect myself or someone else.

"Good. It is alright to be retrospective, but since you are dealing with Red's insanity, you shouldn't doubt yourself. Remember who you are, and what you stands for, don't lose yourself because you are confused with Red's emotions."

"I... I think I understand now...."

"Good. If you have no business here I suggest you head home and take an early rest. You should come here tomorrow morning, and by then we will conduct the sealing ritual on you."

"Understood.... Thank you for your advice and farewell, father Gabriel."

'Cha chank.' I opened the door and headed back out to the chapel.... It was there, I saw Michael and Gerdur sitting on a bench waiting for me.

Their eyes met with mine, and a look of concern hits their face.

"....." This is going to be awkward....

"Kyrie, are you okay now?" Said Gerd when I walked up and sat down right next to her.

"Mmm."

"What did the priest say?"

"....Its complicated."

And it was then, Michael said out to me in a stern voice. "Kyrie, that is enough."

"What?"

"Stop hiding your secrets! Don't treat us like strangers!"

"Michael that's too much...."

"I never once considered you two to be strangers...."

"Then please... stop hiding and tell us what is going on with your body."

".....It'll take a long time."

"We have plenty of time."

"I guess that's true huh.... I am not a human."

"I see...." (2x)

"I am a dragonkin... inside my body is the heart of a dragon. And within my body resides two souls, one that is myself and one that is of the dragon. The monstrous form that you saw me in earlier today, that was..."

"Your dragon form...."

"That's right... And currently the dragon's soul is merging with me.... I am losing my mind over it's insanity.... I don't even know what's me and what's her anymore...."

"Is that the reason why you've been having those hallucinations that you told us about?"

"Yeah.... Do you hate me for keeping such a major secret on you?" I said as I looked at Michael in the eye.

"Somewhat. But back there, we would've died if you hadn't transformed and slained that monster in a single hit.... And all this time you've been watching over us. We are grateful to you."

"I see...."

"....And you looked so cool in your dragon form using your katana like that! You killed that big bad wolf in just a single slash afterall!"

Sensing the down mood, Gerdur tries to brighten up the atmosphere with a joke.

"Is that so? It was my dragon form's physical strength that's doing all the work there.... Anyway, I had something more to say. I am going to lose my ability to cast magic."

"What?" (2x)

(Chapter end)