Chapter 3 Truth of His Crime


Three days after Phobos and Demios encounter with Anima and Ray, respectively, including knowing the upcoming expedition, both of them have been sparring together and gathering supplies for the long trip.

Right now, both of them are standing in an open field within Field of Wisdom. The area is a public training ground, which means anyone can use it. They are about to start their morning spar with both warriors prepares their weapons.

Phobos readies his sword, pointing the weapon to Demios, "Ready whenever you are, as always."

Demios brandishes his sword, taking a battle stance. He leaps ahead towards Phobos, preparing for attacking him. Phobos retaliates by swinging his sword at Demios with two hands. Their weapons clash as Demios tries to overpower Phobos. Phobos smirks as he let go of his left arm to wield his trident while the other hands holds the sword as he speaks an arcane sentence.

Knowing what is going to happen, Demios jumps back as Phobos leaps into the air, throwing his trident to Demios.

The weapon emits a white aura that becomes larger. The aura crushes Demios as he struggles against the pressure, gripping his weapon tightly. As the weapon strikes the ground beside Demios, it unleashes a huge blast, sending a powerful force that pulls Demios off the ground as the impact send him flying.

Landing roughly, Demios struggles to stand as the trident returns to its owner. Phobos waits as Demios recovers from the pressure. Both of them stare at each other for a moment when Demios suddenly disappears.

Phobos tenses up. Without moving from his position, he takes a look at his surroundings. A draft of wind behind him catches his attention. As he turns around, Demios quickly closes their distance between one another; his blade prepares to strike down Phobos.

Bracing for the assault, Phobos takes a defensive stance as Demios performs flurry of slashes at Phobos, ending it with a slash at his side, leaving several laceration wounds over his body.

Demios stands with his back towards Phobos, unaware that Phobos already leaps at him. He grunts as Phobos delivers a painful blow at his back. Phobos holds down Demios by the back neck tightly, "Give up?"

Demios tries to struggle against Phobos's grip, kicking his body. He doesn't flinch. Instead, he tightens his grip; Demios grunts in pain, "I give up."

Phobos releases Demios. He picks up to a first aid box nearby, treating his injuries. Demios himself has a white aura surrounds his body. The bruises on his neck alongside a few scratches are healing up quickly.

As effective as healing magic is, it sometimes leaves the caster with either harmless or problematic side effects, ranging from a simple migraine to accidental poisoning. The most common one is leaving the caster with scars. So far, green dragons are the only one who can effectively cast this spell without causing too much problems.

Phobos closes the box after treating himself, his arms have a few patches of bandages on it. "Good one," he begins, "You're getting faster, keep it up." Demios nods at him.

"But be gentle with my neck will you?" Demios rubs his neck a little.

"Sorry," Phobos apologizes.

Both of them part ways, with Phobos take a walk around Dravagan while Demios decides to visit Ray.


"He got me good," Phobos rubs his arm, "if he keeps this up and who knows how fast he will be?"

Despite this, another thing disturbs him. There has been no sight of the white dragon since their encounter a few days ago. The dragon must have gone into hiding, or left the city. But if he does leave Dravagan, then there should be at least a glimpse, but there is none. As of now, the outlaw has been officially given a title, 'Reaper'.

He ponders this as he walks the streets of Residential Area. Right now, many of its residents are taking a walk or heading to the nearby park. Phobos pass by Anima's house. A crashing sound came from inside, alerting Phobos.

When he enters the house, the first thing he sees is a fallen shelf, a long horn protruding from a pile of books below. Then Anima emerges from the pile of books, frustration evident in his face.

"You alright?" Phobos pulls Anima up.

"I'm fine," Anima wipes off the dust on his coat. He raises both hands towards the shelf and books. Both objects glows as the shelf stands straight and the books return themselves to the shelf, "I'm sorry for asking out of blue, but can I ask you for another favor? Can you accompany me for a while? I need to buy some stuff."

Phobos ponders about it for a few second, "I suppose I can, but why?"

"… less… conspicuous…," Phobos can barely hear his voice; those are the only words he could hear. He stands by the door, waiting for Anima to get ready.

Needless to say, walking with a legless dragon really makes them stand out. Many pairs of eye stare at them, those that give them weird look and some that back away from them. While Phobos doesn't show any emotions, Anima seems to be a little uneasy from his fidgeting hands. Both of them continue to walk at Anima's destination, a tool shop.

Phobos stands beside Anima as he buys stuff. Phobos himself ends up thinking about what to buy for the expedition. So far, he manages to get himself a tent, but he doesn't have any foods or water yet. The sounds of coin exchange signals the end of their transaction.

Fortunately for them, the walk back is relatively uneventful. They reach Anima's house without much problem or stares.

Setting down the items on his desk, he pulls out a small pouch, "Here," he throws the pouch which Phobos catch with ease, "a small thanks from me."

"Thanks," Phobos pockets the money, "I should be off, see you soon."

"Until next time," both dragons part ways. Phobos continues to wander the city, all while pondering about various things, mostly about the expedition.


Demios is standing in front of the big mansion. Needless to say, the Halberd's clan has a really big mansion. It seems that the entire members of the clan live in here.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

Two guards approach Demios. The signature Halberd's clan emblem is on their armors.

"Hold it!" All of them turn towards the voice's owner. Ray approaches the trio, still wearing the same outfit he wore yesterday. The two guards salute him as he returns the salute, turning his attention to Demios.

"This one is with me. Let us in."

Both guards step out of the way as they open the gate. Ray enters the mansion with Demios following behind him.

"It is a pleasure to see you come to visit," Ray smiles, "Why don't I take you on a tour around?" He leads Demios to a field where two dragons are sparring. One side is a red dragon fighting against a blue dragon. Both dragons wield a halberd and a shield in each hand.

The red dragon rushes towards the blue dragon, preparing to thrust his halberd. His opponent raises his shield, readying his halberd to counter.

The shield blocks the attack as the blue dragon counters with another blow of his own, scratching the red dragon's arm.

"Our little sparring field," Ray begin explaining as the two dragons continues their battle, "Usually we practice here, but there are also those who practice outside like the one who you saved back then."

"Speaking of that dragon, how is he?"

Ray closes his eyes, "A brave dragon that one. He is the one who told us about you. Right now, he is practicing over there," Ray points at a red dragon practicing alone using his halberd at a distance.

The battle is over with the red dragon's victory. Both fighters shake hands as they head their own ways.

Ray and Demios approach the dragon. Upon looking at them, the dragon stops at what he is doing and approached them with enthusiasm. He saluted them with Ray salutes back, "I trust that the training is going well, young one?"

"It is Sir Ray," he notices Demios standing beside Ray, "Y-You are…, the one who saved me earlier," he bows down, "Forgive me. I have yet to introduce myself," he stands up straight, holding the halberd, "My name is Hal; I am still learning to how become a great guardian."

Three of them make a quick chat before Hal returns to his training. Ray and Demios continue to walk around the mansion.

"He is an eager one," Demios comments.

"He is. You know, I am surprised though. Hal seems to idolize you."

"What?" Demios asks, he doesn't expect that.

"After the incident, he keeps saying how much he needs to become stronger. Maybe because it is us, white dragons."

Demios stays quiet. White dragons aren't really seen as fighters. This makes him and Phobos somewhat a rare sight.

"Us, white dragons may aren't as strong as them. But still, you are a white dragon too. Being a Halberd must have given you some respect from others," Demios notes.

Ray closes his eyes, "Only because they know how influential our clan are. No matter how respected I am, as a guardian I..." Ray doesn't finish the sentence, he remains silent. Instead, he takes a deep breath, "Perhaps things will change, now that you are here..."

Demios doesn't respond back. Ray already looks suspicious when talking about his own clan. Despite being part of Halberd's clan, Ray doesn't seem to have much respect as a fighter. Demios decides to see his abilities for himself.

"Ray, would you mind sparring with me?" The question surprises Ray as it came out of nowhere.

"Why?"

"I would like to see for myself, your power." Demios hopes this would be enough to convince him.

Ray actually smiles, "Very well. Let us head to the field then."

Demios hopes he didn't regret this choice; Ray seems to be a strong individual.


Out of all the impossible things he has in his mind that will never happen to him, one of them has come true. He is lost.

Phobos looks around at his surroundings, he doesn't understand as how he ends up in here. The last thing he remembers is pondering about the next few days. What's weirder is the fact that now he is inside some empty warehouse.

The place has dust everywhere. There are barely any lights for him to make out his surroundings. Phobos feels there is something at his feet. Bending down to pick it up, he could make out a drawing of two dragons.

Conjuring a small flame in his hand, he takes a look at the drawing. A really crude drawing of two dragons holding hands is the main content of the drawing. On the bottom right, the word '2C' is seen. Wondering what this is all about, he keeps the paper inside his pocket. At a distance can be seen what seems to be piles of newspaper.

Picking up the paper, he recognizes the headline. It is about a fire breakout that decimates an entire village. There are no known survivors, nor any cause of the fire. The news is 20 years old.

"Twenty years ago..., that is a really long time ago. The paper is in a readable condition too. Someone must have preserved this," Phobos notes.

As he flips more of these, Phobos finds out something surprising.

It appears that there has been an influx of fake reports since last six months in various location. Interestingly, more than half of those reports claimed that they are under attack by a white dragon. Although some of the claims have been proven true, the numbers of report that claims the same thing is too much for the span of six months.

'Something is off; there shouldn't be these much reports if it is only these long.'

Phobos reads the article again and something clicks in his mind.

'It can't be…, more half of these reports are lies! Is it possible that the reports are done to throw suspicion to him?'

Taking one of the papers, Phobos tries to illuminate his surroundings a little brighter. Below him is a makeshift bed with a rag. Someone probably sleeps here.

'Someone lives here?'

Suddenly, Phobos feels a blade on his neck. Without turning around, he knew who it is. He quickly dives below and grips the pole with his left hand, snapping it away from him. Throwing the scythe away, Phobos came face to face with him, the 'Reaper'.

Both of them didn't get any time to interact since an explosion catches their attention.

A blue dragon is visible from where the explosion is coming from. The dragon wears a heavy armor with a great sword on his right side. The dragon takes a look on Phobos and the Reaper before drawing his sword with one hand, rushing towards them.

Phobos steps away before the dragon could reach him, pushing the dragon against a wall. After that, Phobos smacks the body to the side.

The Reaper looks around and gathers his scythe. Around them is another 10 hunters. The dragon that Phobos seemingly knocks out disappears. He reappears again above them, standing atop of stacked crates, rubbing his head.

"So…, what is this all about?" Phobos asks the dragon, the leader it seems.

"It appears that we have got our prey here." The leader announces, ignoring Phobos, "Both of them will make a great bounty for the guild."

Phobos points his trident at the speaking dragon, "You, explain yourself before I decided to crush all of you right now."

"You!? Against all of us?" The leader laughs for a few seconds, "You know, I should have known. It is impossible for a dragon to commit so many attacks in a mere short span of time," he held the grip of his sword, "After all; it should be possible if the perpetrator is two dragons. Both of you have similar builds after all."

Phobos turns towards the Reaper. Their own body builds is quite similar, the only thing that differentiates them is that the Reaper's backside has spikes along them.

"It is a lot easier if the perpetrator is a hunter. It gives you a lot leeway to perform crime in various places easily, "the leader keeps his eyes on them, "Well, the only important thing is that we defeat you and take you in," the rest of the hunters readied their weapons at them.

"The only thing that will happen in here is you, and your lackeys all lay unconscious." Phobos lets out a dangerous tone. The Reaper has his scythe ready; he too will not fall in here.

The hunters begin their assault. Phobos cut down two of the incoming enemies. The Reaper strikes down another two of them in succession. A bolt of lightning pass between them, the caster is readying to cast another spell. Two hunters cover the caster in front of her.

Speaking an arcane sentence, Phobos launches his trident. The weapon unleashed a wave that crushes the vanguards. But the caster manages to finish the spell, before the trident got too close.

A barrier appeared between her and the weapon. The pressure of the weapon is strong, but she stands straight, defending from the attack with the barrier. Phobos's right hand is in flames; he launches the fire forward, engulfing the trident in flames. This time, the force proved to be too strong for her to resist. The barrier break, the impact knocks her out. The trident propels itself back to Phobos as the Reaper defeats the remaining three by smacking them with his fist.

Phobos and Reaper looks around their surroundings. The blue dragon is nowhere seen since the beginning of the battle. Both of them are spread out within the partly illuminated warehouse.

A drift of wind behind Reaper catches his attention. Turning around, the blue dragon is closing on him, his sword ready to strike. The blade slashed his right arm, drawing blood.

Reaper immediately makes a distance between them. The blue dragon throws a nearby wooden crate at him. It hit him at his right arm, injuring it further. Reaper growls in pain as he holds down his arm.

Hearing all the commotion, Phobos heads to where both dragons are. He stands between the Reaper and the blue dragon.

"As expected of you to protect him," the blue dragon readies his weapon.

Phobos pulls out his trident once again, "You will regret ever angering me, The White Terror," he throws the trident towards the dragon. But he sidestep, the trident missing him completely.

Yet the trident brought along its signature force. The air forcefully pushes the dragon as he is flying off the ground and hit the wall. Jumping and riding the flow, Phobos punches the dragon's abdomen. The punch ends up breaking the wall, leaving a big hole. The leader lies in defeat on the ground as the trident returns to Phobos.

Phobos stares at the defeated leader before turning his attention to the Reaper. He glares at him all while holding down his injured arm. Phobos attempts to approach him, but the Reaper growls in warning.

Ignoring the empty threat, Phobos takes out a clean rag as he cleans the wound before heals it.

Reaper stares at Phobos as he takes care of his left arm. Phobos mutters an arcane sentence as he holds his hand over the wound. The small cut closed up, not leaving any signs.

Phobos steps back, waiting for him to recover. "Why…?" his only reply towards Phobos.

Phobos pulls out a newspaper clipping, "This." It is the same one regarding the attack report, "I know that this report isn't true, but I won't claim that you are innocent. What I want to know is how all of this started."

Reaper nods. He began telling his story regarding the fake assault and his actions.


Demios and Ray stare at each other; both fighters pants as various bruises and cuts covers their bodies. Spectators around watches with interest as the two white dragons straighten themselves, readying their weapons at each other.

As expected of a Halberd's, it is almost impossible to break through Ray's defense easily. Demios had a hard time trying to find an opening. He only manages to fight back by creating a distraction with his speed and then assault him from his back.

To Ray, Demios proves to be a more capable dragon that he originally thought. His speed makes it impossible to attack him without knowing where he is. Ray's entire style revolves around guarding his opponent's attack, and then counters them. The only way he managed to attack Demios is by bashing the shield to where Demios seems to be.

Instead of performing a quick assault, Demios began chanting in arcane language. Ray raises his shield, bracing himself for whatever attack Demios about to unleash.

"Dragon Flame!" A red astral dragon appears above Demios. The being breathe a wave of fire towards its opponent. The shield deflects the incoming flames. Ray continues to stand as the flame engulfs his surroundings, heating it up and causing him to sweat.

The flame dies down. Moving his shield, Demios no longer stands there. Ray quickly turns around, only to see Demios already closing in. Without time to guard, Ray swings his halberd towards Demios.

Demios managed to slash Ray's right shoulder before the halberd hit his chest armor. The blow staggers Demios as Ray holds his injured shoulder. Yet he dash quickly, smashing his halberd at Demios, knocking him down. Ray pointing the weapon at Demios, waiting him to forfeit.

Demios raises his hands, signaling his defeat. Ray eases up as Demios regain his footing. Both fighters patch up their injuries with the help of a few members that brought out the healing kit.

"You're strong," Ray compliments Demios as they patched themselves up, "even stronger than any white dragon I know."

Demios smiles, "You too. That was a good fight." Both fighters shake hands as Demios prepares to leave.

After Demios departs from the Halberd's mansion, a paper catches Ray's eye. It is the recruitment poster regarding the expedition. Ray stares at it for a while before heading inside the mansion, bringing the paper with him.

Demios returns to where he and Phobos usually meet together, between Familiar and Hearth's Inn.


The Reaper's name, Cronus has been telling Phobos regarding his actions. It isn't much, yet the only thing he really is guilty of, is an assault, which is unfortunately, their first meeting.

"Needless to say, it is going to take a while to clear you of those false charges. Except the one from our first encounter. But still, what happened that day?"

Cronus looks away, "A disagreement."

"Really? There is definitely something you didn't tell me," Phobos remarks. Cronus still doesn't respond.

"Fine. Now listen, if you wanted your bounty to be removed, then you have to come with me."

Cronus takes a defensive stance, "Why? So that you can turn me in?"

"I won't. It will take a while, but-"

"But what? They will take it down and then put it up when you don't know? What makes you think they won't comply with your request?"

Phobos shows the newspaper, "I have this, the fake report. Look, I don't know who is behind this. But what I do know that you're simply a decoy for them," he holds out his hand, "All I ask you is you to trust me."

"What do you get out of all this?"

"A small compensation from them," Phobos grins.

Cronus's mind is in conflict. On one hand, he really wants to trust Phobos. On the other hand, the offer sounds too good to be true. But the stronger part of him really wants to take the offer. Maybe no one will chase him anymore. He takes Phobos's hand, sealing the deal.

"All right, let's go." Together, they walk to the Hunter's Guild. Cronus stays behind Phobos all the time. In order not to look suspicious should anyone see them, Phobos confiscates his scythe, much to his displeasure.

Hunter's Guild seems really quiet as the news of the expedition recruitment has spread among the city. Phobos quickly gets Cronus out of sight before anyone can see them. Together, they enter the headmaster room.

"So? What brings you here?" A white dragon presents himself before them, sitting in the headmaster's chair.

"I'll cut to the chase immediately."

And so, Phobos presents his own findings regarding a second group that has committing the assault, framing Cronus in the process. The small span time and locations proves that it is impossible for him to commit assault in two different places in mere minutes.

"I see," the headmaster had been listening intently at Phobos' explanation, "First, allow me to make a point. We will investigate what you have found. For now, I will take down the wanted poster, temporarily."

"Temporary?"

"Until we have conducted further investigations, the wanted poster will remain inactive for a while," the headmaster points to Cronus, "should that dragon proved to be innocent, we will remove him from the list. But should he be guilty, we will put him on top wanted list immediately, and you will be held responsible for his actions. Do you understand?" Both dragons nods, "also Phobos. That dragon will be under your care now."

"Wait, I though the guild takes care of these kind of stuff."

"No, it is your responsibility to look after the one you try to defend from false accusations. If we did, then there will be a lot of angry people at us for sheltering outlaws," the headmaster put all stuff that Phobos find in a bag, with the exception of a few stuff that Phobos doesn't reveal due to not being important, "Now, I believe it is time for us to adjourn. I will send people to investigate this matter, good day."

With that, both dragons are now outside Hunter's Guild, walking towards Hearth's Inn. It is evening now. Around this time, other people are usually still at the coliseum, watching the current match and betting for who they believe will be victorious.


Meanwhile, between Hearth's Inn and Familiar.

"Looks like he's already done for the day." Demios have been standing for an hour since they usually meet up together at this time. Shrugging, he returns to his own inn, resting for the day, unaware that Phobos is about to reach his location, bringing Cronus with him.


Phobos quickly gets Cronus to his room before anyone can see them together. After ensuring that no one is around, Phobos locks the door and relaxes after quite a day.

Cronus put down his scythe and sleeps on the couch immediately, leaving Phobos to do whatever he likes. Phobos takes the moment to pay attention what Cronus really is like from a closer perspective.

What he sees is a big white dragon wearing an armor which covers his upper body. A helmet covers his entire face; the only thing visible is his closed eyes. He also wears a jean for dragons. He wears a glove that covers his arm, only his fingers are visible. His entire attire is black in color. He shows a smiling face while sleeping, probably the first time he is able to sleep calmly, feeling safe.

Phobos let him sleep is as he lay on the bed, sleeping in the day as well, completely forgot about Demios.


Somewhere…,

Two figures are conversing in a dark room.

"Sir, it appears the 'The Reaper' bounty has been taken down," the small figure reports towards the bigger one.

"Is that so? Looks like we have no choice but to stop our operations for a while, tell all of them that."

"Understood, but what about-"

"Him? Oh, he will be fine. There is no need to worry about him. It's not like he will randomly spew out information. I knew him too long for him not to do something as stupid as that."

"Very well. I shall take my leave then." The small figure exits the room.

The figure is now pondering, "So, someone managed to find out," he grins, "It appears that things will get interesting soon…"

To be continued


An: This chapter is meant to finish the wanted poster subplot, so I'm sorry if you feel this is kind of rushed. Next chapter will start the desert expedition. Stay tuned.