Yo, what's up, guys? How are things holding up on your ends? Hope you like this new chapter! (SenplaiBlaster, here are the fighting scenes I promised]).
"What did you say?! D-d-d-dragonslayers?!" Shouted the girl, as her whole figure started to tremble.
"Yes, we have come here to deal with the sea dragons. Sorry for the rude entrance, but time is of essence." Atlas explained as he looked over at the group.
"I apologize for my embarrassing reaction, it is quite shocking that there are still dragonslayers alive and kicking. My name is Terry Schmidt, the one beside me is Leroy Allison, and the girl shivering behind me is Aimee Graves. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Terry introduced himself and his two partners.
Appearance-wise, Terry was a young man, around 18 years old, with dark blue hair, and brown-colored eyes. He was wearing a modest gray t-shirt, with crimson baggy pants, and jet black leather boots. The most striking aspect about the young man was an old scar that covered the way from his right cheek to the chin.
Next to him stood a dark skinned teenager, shifting from on foot to the other. He had an interesting appearance, with curly green hair, droopy, deep brown eyes and a golden earring on his left ear. He was wearing a guards uniform, only in grey, completed by a black overcoat.
Moving his eyes from them, Subaru could finally see the female member between them, trembling softly, as her expression was one of pure fear. Aimee was a girl of short stature, with wavy brown hair, with her left eye being a deep blue, as the one on the right side was covered by a makeshift eye patch. She was wearing a red sweater, along with a long black skirt. With the addition of the black high boots she looked like the incarnation of cute but dangerous.
"Likewise. My name is Atlas, and this is my apprentice, Natsuki Subaru. Now that the formalities are done, could you inform us about the situation this city is in?" Atlas inquired, as he looked over to Terry.
"Of course! As you are well aware, Prime Barrier is being attacked by this hoard of dragons for around 6 months now. At first, the raids were at a smaller scale, not dealing much damage and there were zero casualties. They were few and took place around once a week, maybe less than that. But after around 2 months of this bickering, they began to slowly increase the number of attacks and their range. The mayor understood that things will certainly take a turn for the worst and ordered that the evacuation plans to be put in motion. What no one expected was for the dragons to start attacking the evacuation routes. Since then, all the mages in town struggle to move the citizens from the city, while hiding and in some cases fighting with those monsters. The situation is grimm, we still have a couple of thousands of people hidden in bunkers like this that need to get out of here. Our supplies are running low already, and we don't have a way to restock." The young man explained, looking at his feet.
"What about reinforcements? Has the Chancellor really not sent a convoy here?" Atlas asked, appalling.
"The capital did send a legion of soldiers here, but they were no match for them. After only a week of fighting, the remaining soldiers just up and left, defecting to save their lives." Explained the young man in a bitter tone.
Atlas did not say anything, as he clenched his fist.
"At the moment, there are very few capable magic users here. I'm specialized in Rune Magic as you probably saw earlier. Leroy is known as a pretty powerful shadow mage and Aimee is using a form of Arc of time magic. It's a watered down version of the original, but still incredibly strong." The blue haired teen began explaining, as he pointed at his two comrades.
"Ah, It was you who installed those traps and strengthen the doors! You have a very interesting type of magic, young man, just like your friends. User's of Shadow and Time magic have withered down in the recent years." Atlas commented, as he looked intrigued at the teens.
"Thank you for your kind words. So, are you sure you can help us? Now that we've told you everything, are you going to fight them?" Asked a skeptical Terry, looking over at the duo.
"Of course! We wouldn't have come all the way here just to get scared and go home. This only challenges us more, if anything! Right, Subaru?" Asked the dragon, as he grinned towards his protege.
"Absolutely, Teach! We'll show them who's a real dragon!" Shouted the young hellfire user, returning the grin with one of his own.
"That's what I want to hear! Let's not waste anymore time and head out to gather some clues to where these 'dragons' are hiding. But before that, are there any humans in this shelter?" Atlas asked, as he turned towards the teens.
"No, we managed to evacuate everyone from here yesterday. We were going to move to another one today, but you got here before we could do that." The teen explained as he laughed a little.
"Good. Now me and Subaru are going on patrol. We will meet later this day and see what we got." The dragon said as he and the mean eyed boy turned around and began to go out.
"But how are you gonna know where we are?" Terry asked as he looked at them skeptically.
"We'll track your scent."Was the curt response from the boy, as neither he nor his teacher turned their heads to them.
"Eh?" The trio looked dumbfounded at the retreating figures.
Location: Northern outskirts of Prime Barrier City.
After wandering trough the ruins of the city for quite some time, Atlas managed to pick up a trail that lead them in the northern forest of the city. He and Subaru were on guard, prepared for any kind of unpleasant surprises.
"Oi, Teach! The scent is getting stronger, and from the looks of it, we have to go closer to the coast line." The hellfire dragonslayer said, as he began walking towards the new trail.
"I picked that up too. We might found some 'friends' when we get there so stay at my side the whole time. You are strong brat, but you'll need help in your first fight." Atlas said, as he joined his student.
They sprinted towards the coast line, noticing that the trail only got stronger, making it easier to follow. Reaching their destination, they were greeted by the sight of the vast and calm sea, with clouds scattered across the sky. It was a beautiful scenery, but the duo could not enjoy it right now.
"Oi, Teach? I think my nose isn't working properly, cause the scent is going into the cliff." The boy said, looking skeptical at his teacher.
"That's because they are using the cave system as their nest. Subaru...I will leave the decision up to you. Do we go down there and continue our mission, or we head back, satisfied with our results?" Atlas said, staring right in the eyes of his pupil. He knew of his past, and the many adventures he embarked with those little friends of his, but he wanted the boy to gain more confidence in himself, and be able to make such decisions in the nick of time. He will need to relay on his own power, which was greater than the boy thought.
Subaru for his part just took on a thinking pose. Right now, they could turn around, inform the mages from the city and create a plan to go on the offensive. On the other hand, he didn't want those mages to trow their life away uselessly, as their magic won't be dealing much damage to these drakes. From the things his teacher said about them, he knew they were vicious creatures, with a great thirst for human blood. What he also knew, was that he wasn't a defenseless little kid, (or young man, if you will), he was a dragonslayer, and a pretty powerful one at that, if Atlas's words were to be believed.
"Let's head in, Teach. We need to know what we're dealing with, and the only way to find out is to go inside." The boy said, looking at his teacher, waiting for his reaction.
"Hmmm, aren't you quite brave? Alright, let's do this, brat!" The dragon said, satisfied with his student. It was about damn time the brat got some self-esteem and acknowledge the fact that he was now wielding a power that would make most beings in this world tremble in fear.
Without another word, they began to head towards one of the entrances to the cave system, which proven to be quite difficult, as the way to the entrance was shady at best. With a lot of caution, they managed to descend into the cave with Subaru in the lead. The slayer light up his forearm, trying to make some light for him and his teacher and once Atlas was behind him, they began to venture deeper into the nest, following the scent from earlier. They kept walking in silence, as the air grew colder, and tainted by a putrid odour, which sickened the young slayer.
"What is up with this smell?" Subaru muttered, a feeling of dread settling in his gut.
Atlas remained silent, as he kept following his student. Subaru was put off by his teacher attitude, and decided to let the matter be. He will discover soon enough anyway, even if he had a feeling that he won't like what he will see.
The duo did not had to wander too much longer trough the cave, as they came across an enormous room, which would be the nest they were looking for. Atlas quickly took hold of the slayer's forearm canceling the flames that were guiding them. Subaru did not say a thing, catching on what his teacher was doing. Atlas took the lead, walking slowly into the large nest, with Subaru following close behind.
"Subaru, stay behind me and follow my exact steps. Right now, we have the element of surprise on this little punks, and we should try to maximize this to the fullest." Atlas said, as he took a right turn before coming to a halt.
The mean eyed boy nodded at the dragon's words, seeing the sound logic behind them. However, he made the small mistake of letting his eyes wander trough the cave, a mistake that almost made him lose his meal. With his new enchanted eyesight he could see rather well in the dark, something that the slayer enjoyed from time to time. But today was not one of those time. At first, all he saw were a few oodles of something, but as he focused on those specifically, his face began to pale slightly. Those were human remains, piled up, emanating that strong, putrid odour.
"Gck-!" The slayer turned his head from the horrific sight, with a disgusted grunt.
Atlas saw the expression on his student face and sighed. Subaru has shared quite a lot of stories from his time back in 'Lugunica', both good and bad. He was surprised that he was still able to smile after all the hardships he had to go trough. But, even after all that, he still kept his humanity, showing what true strength was all about. He snapped back from his thoughts, as he stopped. He looked over at what they were searching for all this time, drakes, and a hell of a lot of them. They were around 15 drakes in this part of the cave, and he just knew there were more of these little bastards down the line.
"A little bit more than I expected to encounter here, but it shouldn't make the job more complicated that it already is. Subaru, I hope that you will keep up." The Dragon General thought to himself, as he brought the boy closer, to explain the next phase.
"Now, we attack. I'll take as many as I can in this form, but that will still leave you with 4 or 5 drakes to handle. Are you sure you can manage that?" He asked in a calm and serious voice.
"You don't need to worry, all that training will pay off today. Mark my words, Teach. I will not let one pass me." The slayer said, having a determined and serious look in his hazel eyes.
"Glad to hear that, brat. Now then, on my mark..1...2...3!" The dragon shouted, as his fist exploded with crimson flames. He then darted to the closest drake, that was just waking up, plunging his fiery fist in his chest. It was an instant kill from the start, the drake dying before waking up properly. Unfortunately that gave enough time for the rest of them to quickly understand what happened and get ready to fight.
Atlas grinned maliciously at them, setting his whole body ablaze. "Come at me, you fucking excuses of dragons!" He shouted on the top of his lungs, infuriating the scaly murderers, as they all lunged forward to the yellow haired man.
In the meantime, just as Atlas killed the first drake of the day, Subaru, not wanting to be outdone, sprinted towards one of the other enemy's, pulling his fist back and shouting: "Hellfire Dragon's Retribution Punch!"
The drake did not get enough time to realize the danger and took the punch headfirst, sending it in the cave's wall. While the creature was hissing in pain, two other companions came to it's aid, aiming to end the slayers life in one strike. Unfortunately for these prideful bastards, Subaru had a lot more from where that first attack came from. He ignited his feet in hellish flames, heading towards them in the air. Deciding to deal with the one on the right first, he exploded towards the enraged drake, letting his arms fall on the side of his body. As he came closer, the drake let out a roar attack made out of a pretty big torrent of water, forcing the boy to dodge, and sending him closer to the one in the left. Subaru saw that the other drake was ready to shred him to pieces and cursed internally.
"Damn! These shits know how to work together! Well, right, left? What does it matter! First come, first served!" He thought, as he let the flames from his feet go, and began sprinting towards the incoming drake.
"Well, you oversized lizard, want to go first? Fine by me!" Subaru shouted, as he dodged a taloon strike meant to loop his head off his shoulders. He grinned at the mistake that the creature made, letting him get so close to it's neck. He had just the right attack to pierce trough those tougher scales. "Hellfire Dragon's Agile Jaw Shot!" He said, as the hellish flames concentrated on his fingertips. What happened next, shocked the drake and made Subaru lose his confident grin. His attack made contact, and the tough scales of the drake broke immediately, letting Subaru's hand to continue it's trajectory, inside the neck of the beast. Blood began to pour out of the deadly wound, making the creature wallow in pain, for a few seconds. It began to move erratically while making those horrifying sound before collapsing on the ground, unmoving.
"Tsk!" Was the only reaction from the slayer, as he darted away before the other scaly enemy slashed at the place he once stood, wrecking quite a bit of that spot. He knew that if he freezes here in the middle of the fight he would die, uselessly at that. The guilt will come later, now they fight!
"Hellfire Dragon's Dynamic Inferno!" The slayer bellowed, as a great area of the cave was set ablaze. The crimson flames burned hotter than the sun itself, making the drakes that did not raise from the ground hiss in pain before flapping their wings to escape the almost melting floor.
"So you don't like that? Then what I'm about to do next will make your day worse!" Subaru said, his grin returning. The drake that he attacked first came back and looked quite vengeful, bearing it's fangs at him. The slayer just continued to grin towards the enraged creature, while his feet were once again ignited, along with his hands.
"I can't let Teach be disappointed by my performance, you know?" Subaru said, as he took a rather large breath of air and holding it in. "Hellfire Dragon's Roar!" What followed was an impressive amount of hellish magic being released in the form of a torrent of flames, towards the airborne drakes who barely dodged it. Being distracted by the sudden attack, the creatures lost their focus on the slayer for a few mere seconds, enough time for Subaru to propel twoards them, choosing to head for the left one this time, the one he attacked first.
"Hellfire Dragon's Claw Attack!" He bellowed, as the flames around his arms took the form of some enlarged dragon claws. He slashed the distracted drake, sending it crashing down into the raging inferno that Subaru created earlier.
The drake began to wallow in pain, as it tried to get off the melting floor. As it desperately tried to fly he realized that the slayer's attack striped him of this ability. One of the drake's wings has been cut off cleanly by Subaru's last move, keeping this one on the ground to burn alive. The drake began to trash around letting a water powerd roar to extinguish the flames, but it just wasn't enough. This one had a more painful and prolonged death than Subaru's first kill.
"Keep your mind on the battlefield! All I have to do is kill them as swiftly and quickly as possible, as it's better to avoid that." The mean eyed boy thought to himself, promising to try and end his enemys as merciful as he could.
But this train of thoughts was stopped by the two remaining partners, looking at Subaru with pure hatred in their yellow, slitted eyes. The slayer dodge the roar one of them released towards him and began to charge up another move to counter them. This time however, it was Subaru that was caught by surprise. The other drake used the attack his comrade unleashed on the slayer as a decoy, getting closer to the boy, but not too close. Grunting, the scaly creature then charged up a taloon strike filled with water magic towards the distracted slayer.
"Shit!" Subaru thought, as he tried to side step it, but fate, like always, wasn't on his side. The attack hit right in his left shoulder, leaving a large, bleeding gash that went all the way to the center of his chest.
"GAHHHHHH!!" The slayer shouted in agony, as he crashed into the dying inferno created by his magic. The large area of the cave that once resemble the depths of hell were now just smoldering embers, as Subaru lost his focus because of the pain caused by his wound.
The drakes, seeing that it was now safe to land on the cave floor, began to approach the fallen slayer, ready to devour him in retribution to their dead comrades.
"I experienced worst things than this..." Subaru muttered as he shakily stood up, glaring at his opponents. He ignited his right hand in crimson flames, and after taking a deep breath, he slowly brought it to his wound. He clenched his jaws, and began to close the deadly wound using his magic. As the smell of scorched flesh made it's way to the slayers nose, his expression has morphed into one of pure pain. Sweat began to form on his forehead, but he did not closed his eyes. He was looking straight at his enemies, his eyes showing more that the immeasurable pain that he was going through right now. That pain paled in comparison to the unadulterated rage that was present into those brown, and now slitted, orbs. And it was all aimed at those little bastards.
Said bastards looked in wonder at the slayer, taking pleasure in seeing his pained expression, his deadly wond, and the way he chose to deal with it. They were almost done with him, so why rush it?
"Big mistake, you fuckers." Subaru said in a low tone, as he finished closing the wound.
Hello there! It's been a while, huh? Well, I'm back and ready to write! Hope this chapter is going to meet your expectations, as I haven't ever written battle sequence before.
SenpaiBalster- Hey there, brother! Happy to see you still interested in the story! As for your question, Subaru lost his affinity for Yin magic, gaining one for fire in it's stead. As for authorities, yes, he will use them as extra firepower, but that will come later.
Server Lock- Thank you for taking time to read this story! I will keep in mind your advice and try to improve the quality of my work! Hope you will like it better!
Jjaramilo0910- Hello! Yes,.Subaru will have an exeed, but I will not spoil more than that.
Mosferah Mira-ato- Thank you for your time! No, I didn't abandon it!:)))