Chapter 26: Three Dragons in the Night Sky

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Rogue bellowed.

The black breath tore through the air towards Cobra, but Cuberos twisted and dodged it effortlessly. The huge snake flew at the two airborne Dragon Slayers, hissing a challenge. As they approached, Cobra leaped off of Cuberos and dove towards Rogue, while the purple snake opened it's jaws and snapped at Wendy.

Rogue wrapped his hands in shadows and swung at the falling dark mage with a shout, "Shadow Dragon's Slash!"

Cobra caught the blow and punched at the Dragon Slayer with his own fist, but Rogue caught his as well. They struggled in the air for a moment before Cobra kicked him away and started falling again.

Wendy dodged Cuberos' attack thanks to Charle's quick reflexes, and now the huge snake flew under Cobra so he could land on it. The dark mage tch'd and growled. "We'll get nowhere like this. Those little brats might not be as powerful as the Wizard Saint, but they're still strong enough to be annoying."

Rogue smirked at him. "If you think that, then we must be doing something right."

Cobra glared at the Shadow Dragon with irritation. "You've got a big mouth for someone who needed a little girl to help him when he was getting his ass kicked. That's it! Let's get serious Cuberos." The winged serpent hissed in agreement.

Rogue's guard was up immediately. "Happy, be ready to move fast. You too, Charle."

Happy replied, "Aye, sir!" and Charle nodded.

Wendy looked nervous. "What's he going to do?" she asked.

Rogue shook his head. "I don't know, but I think he's about to use his magic. He's only fought with close combat this entire time, so be ready for anything." The little girl nodded in response.

Cobra held one arm out towards the Dragon Slayers and the cats. He laughed. "Remember what I said about you two being, 'original'? Well, I'll tell you something interesting: You people are known as First Generation Dragon Slayers, or people who were 'taught by dragons' to learn you're magic. That's a bunch of crap since dragons don't exist, but whatever. Now, people like me…"

Cobra's hand suddenly grew claws and scales appeared on his arms. Rogue's eyes widened and Wendy gasped in shock. "Wh-what is that?!"

Charle stuttered. "N-no way…"

"Dragon scales…" Rogue hissed.

Happy's already big eyes were huge and his mouth was open in disbelief. "This guy's like Laxus!" he exclaimed.

Cobra grinned at them. "People like me are known as Second Generation Dragon Slayers. My power was gained by implanting a lacrima in my body. Now then…" The dark mage took a deep breath.

Rogue braced himself and shouted. "It's a breath attack!"

Happy and Charle recovered from their shock and got ready to move.

Cobra let loose his attack with a yell. "Poison Dragon's Roar!" A twister of poisonous air flew towards the group, who flew away in opposite directions to avoid it. Cobra followed up by holding both arms out and creating a Magic Seal.

"Let's see you dodge this! Poison Dragon's Scales!" he roared and the Magic Seal generated a huge number of poison darts in the shape of dragon scales, which flew in all directions. Despite Happy and Charle's quick movements, Rogue and Wendy were still hit by a few of the scales.

Rouge coughed from the force of the attacks. What's with this magic?! Those attacks did almost nothing damage related, but the pain is unbelievable…

He tried to wrap his head around the magic, but Cobra beat him to it. "Remember what I said? This is Poison Dragon Slayer Magic. That poison in my attacks will continuously weaken your bodies over the course of the battle, until you can't move at all. And that was just a small dosage. Let's see you take one of my bigger attacks that well."

Rogue tch'd and looked back at Wendy. The little girl was breathing heavy from the effects of the poison. At the very least, I can't let Wendy get hit by more of his attacks. She can't withstand much more of that poison.

The Shadow Dragon called her over. "Alright, here's the plan. I want you and Charle to stay back and avoid his attacks. Try and keep your Support Magic active for as long as you can. I'm going to try and overwhelm him fast, but I need your magic if I'm going to manage it."

Wendy nodded at him and flew back a good distance with Charle. Rogue looked over his shoulder at Happy. "Do you think you can dodge his attacks?"

Happy thought about it for a moment before he said. "I think so, but he's really fast. I'll have to go at Max Speed most of the time, so try and do this quick if you can. If I get hit with the poison, it's just going to make your window smaller."

The Shadow Dragon nodded at him and turned back to Cobra. Happy flew in at high speeds towards the Poison Dragon, and Rogue yelled as he went. "Wendy! Now!"

Wendy held her arms out in front of her and started chanting. "I'll increase your attack, defense and speed in one go! Arms, Armour, Vernier!"

Rogue felt his body get lighter and tougher, and Happy's speed almost doubled. The Shadow Dragon lashed out at Cobra with his hand, roaring. "Shadow Dragon's Claw!"

He almost reached him, but Cuberos flicked it's tail and blocked the attack, before tossing them aside. Rogue took a deep breath as they were sent back, and Cobra mirrored him.

"Shadow Dragon's…"

"Poison Dragon's…"

"ROAR!"

The breath attacks collided, but the Shadow Dragon's roar tore through the poison breath like it was paper. Cuberos twisted around it and dodged. Happy flew in quickly for Rogue to follow up.

The Dragon Slayer buried his foot in shadow and caught a surprised Cobra in the gut, yelling. "Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

The Poison Dragon was flung off of Cuberos and into midair, but he recovered swiftly, bellowing. "Poison Dragon's Scales!"

Happy weaved and dodged the majority of them, but Rogue was still hit with one of the scales. He hissed in pain.

That poison's starting to wear on me, but as long as I avoid getting hit with a lot of it, I can still fight him on even terms, he thought.

Cuberos flew down and caught the falling Poison Dragon, who raised an eyebrow at his opponent. "Even terms? I haven't even used my strongest attacks yet, and you think we're even?" Cobra smirked and shook his head. "Sorry buddy, but I can't take an insult like that. This is gonna hurt a LOT."

Rogue settled back into a fighting stance, murmuring. "Get ready, Happy."

The little cat nodded. "Aye, sir!"

Wendy watched the fight from a distance, still boosting Rogue and Happy's magic power. She was watching Rogue's fight carefully, trying to figure out how he utilized his magic during battle, and she was learning a surprising amount for just observing. It helped that the enemy was a Dragon Slayer as well-maybe that had something to do with how she was understanding their attacks so quickly. Wendy was still breathing heavy from the effects of the poison that had hit her, and it was getting tougher to keep her Support Magic up.

Just to be safe, she tried to estimate the amount of magic power she had left.

I think I can keep this up for a few more minutes, but after that, Rogue might have to win on his own. This poison hurts…and I don't have a lot of magic power left. If I eat the air, maybe I can keep it up for a little longer, but I don't think I can push it past five more minutes.

It was a grim assessment. Cobra hadn't taken much damage, and the poison was starting to visibly wear the Shadow Dragon down. Wendy thought a little more about it and decided to try something out.

Charle frowned as Wendy started focusing some of her magic power in the core of her body. "Wendy, what are you doing?"

The little girl answered her quietly, trying to concentrate at the same time. "I'm going to help out some more. Just be ready." Charle watched her carefully for a moment before she nodded.

Cobra went on the offensive. Cuberos lunged at the enemy Dragon Slayer with surprising speed, snapping at him with huge fangs. Cobra pulled his arms back, before he brought them forward in a cross formation, yelling. "Poison Dragon's Twin Fang!"

Two blades of poison ripped through the air towards Rogue and Happy. The little cat dodged the first, but the second blade caught Rouge in the chest. The Shadow Dragon gasped in pain at the force of the blow, all thoughts of a counterattack gone.

Happy flew back a ways. "I'm sorry, Rogue! Are you okay?!"

The Dragon Slayer nodded. "It's okay, I'm alright."

He was, in fact, definitely not alright, but he didn't say it out loud. Cuberos lunged at them again, and Cobra laughed as they went, "What's wrong? You're slowing down! Are you waiting for something, or are you already at your limit?"

Rogue glared at him, "Don't count on it! Here I come! Happy!"

The little cat charged in, yelling, "Aye, Sir!"

Rogue bunched his fist up and swung at the Poison Dragon with a roar, "Shadow Dragon's Slash!"

Cobra smirked and held an arm out, shouting, "Poison Dragon's Guard!"

Rogue's attack bounced off a shield of poison harmlessly. Cobra quickly followed up, and in a big way. He jumped up so he was right in front of the Shadow Dragon, holding both palms out towards him.

"Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust!" he roared and sent a burst of poison in the shape of a serpent's head at them. The huge mass of poison engulfed Rogue and Happy, flinging them away from Cobra with incredible force.

Wendy screamed as she saw Cobra's last attack deal a huge amount of damage to Rogue and Happy. The Shadow Dragon was barely conscious, and Happy was having trouble flying.

Charle flew towards them without a second thought, but Cobra beat them to it. He jumped off of Cuberos and dove towards the falling Dragon Slayer.

The Poison Dragon grinned and yelled, "Poison Dragon's Spiral Jaw!"

The dark mage gathered poison on his legs and kicked Rogue in the chest, forcing the Shadow Dragon and Happy to fall even further. Rogue coughed from the force of the impact, and his eyes started to close.

Cobra grabbed him by the throat so he was hovering over the Dragon Slayer as they fell, preparing to finish the job when they hit the ground. He laughed darkly at his victim, "Too bad for you! Go see your dragons in the afterlife!"

Suddenly Cobra heard the flapping of wings. He turned to the side, thinking it was Cuberos, but his eyes widened when he realized it was Wendy. The little girl charged all of her Dragon Slayer Magic into the core of her body, as she had seen the other Dragon Slayers do, and said a quick prayer.

Help me, Grandine!

Wendy took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Sky Dragon's Roar!"

The little girl let loose a tornado of air at Cobra, who was sent flying off of Rogue and smashed him into a nearby building. With Cobra's grip released, Happy recovered and got back into his normal flying pattern.

Wendy cheered, "I did it!"

But Cobra wasn't done. He jumped up into the air towards the little girl with a growl, "That really hurt, you brat! I wasn't gonna hurt you earlier, but I just changed my mind! Sayonara!"

He brought his fist back to punch her, but at that moment, Happy flew up behind him with Rogue. The Shadow Dragon had regained consciousness, and now put all of his power into one last attack.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art…"

Rogue brought his arm back and charged spiraling black magic around it. He brought it down on Cobra's head with a roar, "Darkness Wave: Spiral Night Fang!"

Cobra screeched as the force of the attacked barreled him into the ground at blinding speed. The Poison Dragon attempted to stand, but fell over with a hiss of frustration. Happy and Charle brought Rogue and Wendy down to earth.

He growled at them from where he lay. "You win this time, kid. Next time, I won't go easy on you."

The Shadow Dragon shook his head, "Assuming there is a next time."

Cobra tch'd and looked away as Cuberos flew over and settled down next to him.

Happy jumped up in jubilation, yelling, "We did it!"

Charle smirked and crossed her arms in satisfaction, while Rogue just smiled. Wendy was excited, but also very curious.

So that's a Secret Dragon Slayer Art? It's so powerful…

She looked up at Rogue, who was trying to regain his breath from the fight. Maybe, when this mission is over, he can teach me a little more about my magic…

While Wendy thought about it, Rogue placed his hand on her shoulder, "Thanks a lot. You were a great help."

The little girl smiled at him, "You're welcome! But really, you did most of the fighting, so I should be thanking you."

The Shadow Dragon laughed a little before he turned around to stare at the platform at the top of the city. "The others are probably over there. We're not done, yet. There's still Brain, so let's hurry up."

Wendy nodded, along with Happy and Charle. The four mages then sped off towards the highest point in the city to finish the battle with Oracion Seis.