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Bestial Conflict

Prologue

A Dragon Laid Dormant

Gaea/Year 965/Orzana, Aelehica

"CLEAR THE VILLAGE IMMEDIATELY!"

'ALL SOLIDERS FORM A PERIMETER AROUND THE LAKE!"

"Oh Yao, what the hell's happening?!"

"Move! I need to find my family!"

The young army officer jumped back as a stream of citizens rushed through the village gate. Many men desperately hounded their scared families as they evacuated. Soldiers poured in, guns and cannons at the ready. The officer gulped down his fear, struggling to unsheathe his spear. He had been told that the Teigu reinforcements would be here soon so the beast wouldn't be able to attack Vreathia. Even so, the man still had doubts that they could be of any use.

"Jurani! We need you by the tree enclosure in case we can't contain it!"

The army officer started, shaken from this thoughts, and quickly answered his commanding officer back with a confidence he wished he really had, "Yes, sir!"

The brisk night air fell quiet with thousands of soldiers taking their positions. Jurani recalled the description of the Wrath Beast he heard back at Vreathia. Colossal, malevolent, and possessing enough power to destroy the entire Empire easily. He shook off his worry as the sky suddenly became darker than usual. The beast's warning card was sudden darkness over the area it intended to attack, and Jurani cocked his automatic crossbow, preparing for the worst. The army whispered uncertainly as the barely visible clouds in the night sky slowly began to shift their position. Jurani watched with a confused expression on his face.

And then a gust of wind with power equal to a level 12 Meyen tornado blew the clouds and the army away. Jurani yelled in surprise as he was blown back hundreds of feet into a tree. He hit the tree rather hard, and he could tell his arm would have a moderate bruise in the morning. He quickly collected himself and turned his attention to the sky again-and wished to Yao that he could be anywhere else doing anything else, because what he saw made him completely speechless. His entire body went whiter than a sheet of paper, and he could feel the piss and shit running down his pants. He never thought a creature like this could exist in the universe he lived in, and yet there it was. The beast blocked out the entire night sky, moon and all, with its sheer size, which Jurani likened to Mt. Rakiri, the biggest and tallest mountain on Gaea. Mt. Rakiri was reported to be kilometers high and wide, and the beast seemed to eclipse even that. As the beast came lower to the ground, Jurani's worst fears were confirmed.

The Wrath Beast was a dragon.

The dragon had four limbs with wicked looking claws on the ends. Its wings were gigantic and made the dragon look like a wraith from Jurani's worst nightmare. It had a tail that seemed to extend into the horizon and looked like a knife straight out of hell. The dragon's body was lined with monstrous scales that gleamed like the newest armor from Uaroxos. It had an evil looking neck that led up to a head that could have belonged to the devil himself. Its head had horns that could impale the largest bird on the planet. It seemed to have some sort of mane that gave way to a sharp spinal scale chain that stretched all the way down to its tail end. But the most horrifying part of the dragon was its face. Its eyes were unlike anything Jurani had ever seen. They were pure red with a white hot pupil in the center. They seemed to illuminate the dragon's blue-hued body with a red temperament. It bared its teeth, and Jurani thought they were swords, so large and sharp were they. The dragon landed with a resounding THUD, shaking the ground like an earthquake and causing the army to lose their footing. The dragon looked at the army, and Jurani could practically catch the anger, disgust and hatred dripping from the dragon's eyes. The army was stunned with fear, no one making a move. The dragon glanced from one portion of soldiers to another, and it broke out a wicked grin that would terrify the most emotionless warrior on Gaea. And then, Jurani took cover as a white-hot blast of fire exploded out of the dragon's mouth, incinerating the entire lake and the soldiers still in it. As the bloodcurdling screams echoed across the land, Jurani thought to himself in desperation, "How the hell do we fight that monster?!"

The dragon unleashed electrical blasts from its eyes as it mauled the army viciously, its claws and teeth becoming stained with the blood and organs of soldiers. He marveled at his handiwork, remembering how long it had taken him to accumulate this level of power. Centuries ago, the dragon had been nothing more than a small lizard trying desperately to survive. Over time, however, the creature learned to use its magic force to adapt to any situation it might encounter, until the lizard had grown from a rather unappealing reptile to a draconic weapon of mass destruction. He bitterly recalled how various cultures from all across Gaea had tried to take advantage of his growing power, whether it be as a weapon or a power supplier. Each conqueror had treated the dragon as an object, a toy not worth talking to or trying to appeal to its better nature. Everyone had tried to use force to subjugate the dragon, and he had in turn obliterated his oppressors. Every. Time. The dragon had experienced the cruelty of humans, and his hatred and resentment of them grew until he decided to kill them all and rule a beast-dominated Gaea. As the last Wrath Beast remaining, he knew the humans would do everything in their power to stop him. Not that it mattered. He was too strong for any of them, and he knew it. The dragon continued to wreak havoc on the army by sweeping its ice-protected tail at them, destroying cannons and freezing an entire battalion in one strike.

Jurani fired his crossbow pathetically. Not one of the army's advanced weapons had even scratched the dragon. He felt helpless as the dragon moved closer to his position. Jurani remembered his family wishing him well and his girlfriend forcing him to promise to return to Vreathia in one piece. "Looks like that promise couldn't be kept.", he thought to himself dejectedly as the dragon stalked over to the tree enclosure. The beast aimed his head, and Jurani could see a mass of magic forming in its throat. Jurani braced himself for death as the dragon fired, hoping that the afterlife would be a better experience.

Suddenly, an object struck the bolt of energy into the sky, where it exploded in a blinding light. Jurani gasped in surprise. Who could have been fast and strong enough to deflect a blast from that beast? He turned and saw a man standing behind him. The man looked to be about his twenties. He had a white uniform with a mysterious emblem on his chest. He carried a stave-like weapon with blades sprouting from it. Bull-like horns extended out of his head, adorned with blue hair. He had dark blue eyes and a serious expression on his face.

"Um, thank you for saving my life!" Jurani stammered. "Who are you?"

The man looked at him and said in a serious but tender voice, "I am someone who helps by all means. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. How did you-" Jurani was cut off by several figures dashing past him. As he turned to look at them, he recognized their weapons. The Teigu backup had arrived at last.

"Batro!", one of them called. "See if you can web up his tail!" "Say no more!" the other man responded eagerly, and a mysterious thread shot out of a gauntlet-like weapon on his hand. The beast growled in surprise as the surprisingly strong thread webbed around his tail and pulled it onto his body, preventing the beast from using it. "Good job, Batro! I'll try to stun 'im with Pumpkin!"

"There's no way in hell this situation doesn't count as a pinch, Umbara!" said a woman who seemed to be flying with angel-like wings. "You better aim like you were blasting the fraggin' devil apart!"

"I always do, Sivern!" Umbara replied as his weapon charged up with magic. "Take it, you reptilian bastard!" he roared as an orange laser shot out of his giant gun. The laser struck the dragon right on the head and the energy rained onto his body. The dragon hissed angrily as its entire body was immobilized by the blast.

Jurani exclaimed excitedly, "Fuck, that was awesome!" The blue-haired man turned to him and said, "You should return to Vreathia. We'll take care of this."

"Are you sure?" Jurani asked uncertainly. He wasn't sure that even these guys could take down that dragon, and he wanted to help in any way we can.

"Yes. Tell your chief that the dragon was subdued and the Empire can call off the crimson alert.", the horned man replied. Jurani could tell from the look in his eyes that he was confident in his ability.

"All right then. I'll try to give you guys credit!", the young soldier stated as he gathered his weapons and ran towards the capital, his experience burned into his mind forever.

The horned man watched him go before approaching the dragon, the other Teigu users gathering behind him as he took out a unique scabbard that had a mysterious pattern on it. He had been warned when to use it, and the Teigu team had already helped him round up the other beasts for him. Now, he had to fulfill his old master's wishes and protect Gaea.

The dragon growled angrily. It had seen the other Teigu in battle before, and they were nowhere near as strong as they were now. The only way their power could have increased was if he had come, but the monster doubted that it would last long. He saw the horned man take out his scabbard, and he instantly recognized it with a snort of disbelief.

It was the Teigu of the only human who ever treated him like a fellow being and not a thing. The only human who called the dragon by its real name.

The dragon remembered the face of his old master, with that eager grin and love for battle. It had joined with him in that civil war that should have ended quickly, but quickly escalated thanks to the aspirations of a madman that still haunted the dragon to the present day. It, along with the other Wrath Beasts, had helped his master to defeat the madman and his power from hell. After the war ended, his master had set it and the other beasts free, so that they could live peaceful lives. Unfortunately, humans weren't as nice as his master had been. Slowly, the dragon had begun to notice the other Wrath Beasts disappearing. He had heard of the champion Wrath Beast of Ioshuin, whose dominion over ice echoed great stories over Gaea, being subdued and vanishing from the continent. The dragon had heard something about a blood-like liquid related to the ice beast, but the dragon didn't have enough information to make a conclusion. Even the dragon's most prominent and powerful rival, being the great aquatic monstrosity it was, had vanished. The dragon suspected the horned man to have something to do with the mystery, but he couldn't confirm it until now. The dragon stared menacingly at the blue-haired man as he held out the scabbard.

"It is time for you to be neutered so Gaea can live in peace!" The horned man shouted as the scabbard glowed and hit the dragon with a blinding ray of light. The dragon roared a terrible, bone-chilling cry of rage as it tried to fly away, but to no avail. The dragon distorted as it was being absorbed into the scabbard. With one final scream of hatred, the dragon disappeared into the scabbard in a flash of blue.

"It's finally done." The horned man sighed as the other Teigu users cheered, their battle finally over. "You can all go back to your homes. Thank you for helping me seal the Wrath Beasts.", the blue-haired man said.

"No prob! Call us if you have any other beast problems!" Sivern exclaimed happily as she took her friends and flew off into the distance. The horned man looked on as he stood alone in the ruined village, the sudden quietness broken by the stench of roasted bodies. He remembered his master telling him to seal the beasts in case they were ever in mortal danger. He hadn't expected to seal the beast to put Gaea out of mortal danger. Satisfied, he put the scabbard under his coat and ran off to the west. He would hide himself and his master's teigu somewhere, and then he would go back into dormancy until a warrior worthy of the teigu would claim it. The horned man hoped that the man would have the mental fortitude to stand against all odds, as he feared that the dragon, as powerful as it was, wouldn't take being sealed lying down…

The dragon awoke with a shout as it took in its surroundings. It was surrounded by a special, comforting magic that he identified as the magic of his master's teigu. He raised one claw to the magic and was instantly pushed back. The dragon realized that it had been sealed, and it growled with pure anger and hatred, furious that its plan had been foiled. Then, the dragon's rage-filled hiss turned into a gratified purr as it lay down. He knew that eventually, some asshole would pick up the Teigu, and when that happened, the dragon would break out and continue its human extermination as if nothing had changed. Besides, it wasn't like any human would have the heart his old master had. The dragon slipped into a nap as it lay inside the Teigu.

Waiting.