City of Fire

by Blax

In a dark century, a group of young men use powerful creatures called Cree to battle the evil forces of the N00b Armies. They are the last line of defense that protects the great City of Janime. Using their powers, they wage duels of darkess against the

45. Counterattack

Episode 45: Counterattack of the Legendary Dragons

Wave Dragon opened his mouth and shot three blasts. Aristeros deflects each attack, destroying Wave Dragon and the rest of Zakei's life. Zakei dropped to his knees as the Seal ripped out his soul. Zakei fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Well, it's just you and me now. Let's make this duel interesting," Darsus laughed. "Since it was just Zakei's turn, I believe it is my turn again."

The three parts of Shinoras began to glow with the same eerie light again. The light collected into an orb, which Darsus absorbed, increasing his life again.

"Ha ha ha ha… mu ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"What's so funny, Darsus?"

Darsus looked down at his hands. "I have more life than you now," he responded. "Shinoras, attack with Dexia!"

Dexia lifted up again and shot at the set monster on Bann's side of the field. The monster appeared, revealing itself as Command Knight.

"Interesting to note, Darsus. Command Knight's Defense is much higher than its attack. That makes Dexia's attack less than my Knight's Defense so you take damage. If I continue to whittle your life with strong defensive monsters, you won't stand much of a chance."

"Too bad, you dealt no damage. Activate Orichalcos Life Force Wave!"

A green laser shot out from Dexia, hitting Darsus, but what should have damaged him, instead gave him even more life.

"What just happened?"

The power of the Life Force Wave changes all damage I suffer from creatures of the Orichalcos to life energy that feeds me.

"Damn."

"Damn is right. You can't even touch me now. Each turn I will continue to gain life as I attack you with the invincible Shinoras!"

'He has even more life energy than when he started. This isn't good.' "I summon Steed of the Fierce Knight, allowing me to Special Summon Gaia the Lone Knight." 'If I use the power of the Knight Seal in combination with Gaia, I can take out Aristeros. With that arm gone, he won't have his shield to protect him and I should be able to take out Dexia and then Shinoras.' "I cast three Spells and end my turn."

"You should feel honored, Bann."

"What's that?"

"I have never used this level of the Seal before. You should be honored to be the first to ever see it."

"Now that Zakei's soul is in my possession, I can activate the third level of the Seal of Orichalcos."

"No!"

"Orichalcos Tritos!"

Another green ring appeared in the sky, spinning rapidly. It lowered over the Seal, surrounding the other two rings. Finally, it slowed down and came to a stop, locking in place to form the third level of the Seal of Orichalcos.

Bann looked around. The Seal was even stronger now. 'What kind of powers could the Seal have now?'

"Now, I will show you the power of Vision!"

A bright spark of green light appeared in the center of the circle. The light spread out in a flash. Bann covered his eyes from the flash. When he opened them again, he and Darsus were no longer in the cavern. In fact, they were hundreds of feet in the air above a large, ancient city.

"What is this place?"

"Please. Don't tell me you don't recognize your own home."

"The City of Janime? That can't be it. That looks nothing like it."

"Janime? Oh yes, they renamed it shortly after my intrusion."

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell me, have you ever heard of La Crusadia del Arigosa?"

"No, what of it?"

"Do they teach you anything in the history books nowadays? La Crusadia del Arigosa is an ancient term for the War of Arigos. Seven hundred years ago, the Reckah and the Anims lived together in peace, or really, the Anims' grand idea of peace. They oppressed us, made us lower class citizens, and took away our rights. They were afraid of us.

"Queen Janime IV, the 'Great Queen of the Anims' refused to share power with the Reckah's blood king, Darnia. Darnia sent his only son on a mission to find an item for which he could bargain with Janime. During his journey, he found a peculiar glowing green gemstone, which he thought would make a perfect gift for the queen. He bent over and touched it, but he never got up."

"What happened to him?"

"We are about to watch and see."

The world around them soared past, finally stopping at a point in grasslands of the northeast. The Seal lowered them to the ground. Bann walked to the edge where he saw a boy with golden hair and blue-green eyes walking along. A stone fell from the sky and landed near the boy, creating a large crater. As the boy moved, the Seal followed.

"Can't he see us?"

"Of course he can't. This is only a vision of the past."

The boy slid into the crater, seeing the glowing green rock. He bent down to look at it, examining the beauty with his eyes. Darsus' eyes glimmered with the same intensity and Bann knew now where he had seen the boy's eager face.

"Don't touch it!" he screamed out.

"Too late Bann. If I hadn't picked up that rock, I wouldn't be here right now, dueling you."

The green light wrapped around the boy, sucking out his soul. He fell forward, into the dirt. Bann turned around in shock of hearing Darsus' words.

"What do you mean? That boy… that can't be you. This took place over seven hundred years ago!"

Darsus laughed. "The power of the Orichalcos isn't limited by time. Its power comes from the immortal god Aether!"

"You are the wicked king who led the Reckah to war over seven hundred years ago?"

"Yes and no. You see, it is true that I have the body of Darnia's son, Darsus, but I am not truly Darsus anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"When Darsus touched the Orichalcos Stone, Aether, who had been trapped inside, awaiting the perfect host, pulled Darsus' soul into the stone. Together, the two souls merged into one and returned to Darsus' body. That is when I was truly born, neither Darsus nor Aether, but a product of the two as one. I am the King of the Reckah and the Prophet of Aether.

"With Darsus' body, I took his name and life, and from there, returned to the City of Arigos. I waited twenty long years, keeping the stone hidden and developing my powers. When I was old enough, I used the Orichalcos to slay my father and take his soul. He became my first victim to feed the reawakening of the Beast King Aether. With my father out of the way, I took the title of the Reckah's King and led a mass revolt on Arigos. Of course, there were difficulties. The Reckah were quick the follow behind me as I promised them both power and freedom. With the Orichalcos at my disposal, the revolution was quick. All that stood between me and what I desired were four knights and the queen herself."

"Four knights?"

"Yes, the Knights of Legend, protectors of the Queen and keepers of the four Universals. However, the Orichalcos is a powerful persuasive. I used its power to turn one of the knights against the other three. As they fought, I battle Janime and reawakened Aether for the first time."

The scene switched back to Arigos. Above the city's limits, Bann could see a great battle ensuing below.

"It is here that the city derives its nickname, the City of Fire. So quickly did my followers set the streets ablaze. The citizens panicked."

Bann saw the people running below. A man in iron armor ran down the streets, throwing water on the flames. A young woman did her part, picking up a sword and battling the Reckah in the streets. The man in the iron armor aided her in her fight. He took off his iron casings and lifted a sword. In a flash, three Reckah were downed. In other parts of the city, a magician and his apprentice were fighting the Reckah using their spells. A man lifted his sword and summoned a large dragon Cree. All over the streets, mass chaos and fighting was waged.

Finally, Bann saw the four knights. Each wore a different colored armor, teal, blue, red, and silver. The three in the teal, blue, and red armors attacked the one in the silver armor. Before their attacks met, a green light surrounded the silver armored knight, throwing off the attacks. The light spread out. Bann could now make out the picture that the light made. It was the Seal of Orichalcos.

Then he saw it. On the tallest tower of the castle, two people were having a duel. It was Darsus and a woman. In front of Darsus, Shinoras and its arms faced off against the woman's Cree.

"What's going on, Darsus?"

"This is the duel that ended my life. This was my duel with Janime IV"

Queen Janime summoned a large, red dragon. Its large, red wings opened above the tower. Its body seemed infinite in length as it coiled around the turret. In the middle of its forehead was a blue gem. It opened its mouth and launched a ball of lightning at Aristeros.

'Janime, she'll just destroy her own dragon if she uses that.' Bann thought.

The lighting struck Aristeros. The arm shattered and crumbled. Even from far off, he could see the younger Darsus' face coil into an expression of horror.

"What happened?"

"This is the power of the Queen. That evil wench was the only person who ever defeated Shinoras."

Dexia flew at the dragon and destroyed it. From the ashes of the dragon, a phoenix rose up. Its flames wrapped around the field, destroying both Shinoras and Dexia.

"As you can see, Janime was very powerful…"

Bann looked back at the knights. The three were on the ground, unmoving. The last knight was grabbing his helmet, shaking violently. He broke out of his armor and began to transform into a large, silvery dragon. The dragon flew up toward the tower. As it passed through the barrier of the Seal of Orichalcos, the dragon transformed again, turning into a large, serpent-like dragon with purple, blue, and green skin. It attacked the phoenix, swallowing it in one gulp. The dragon wrapped itself around the tower, just as Janime's dragon had done before.

The scene went black. Darsus and Bann returned to the cavern.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean? Of course you know what happened."

"You lost? Then the power of the Orichalcos isn't as powerful as you claim, Darsus."

"Of course it is. Only I could have the power to survive a dark duel, and no less, one with the Queen of the Anims herself. But that was not all that couldn't kill me. My soul, was totally bonded with Aether's that day. I had gained his immortality. Janime sentenced my people to banishment into the mountains and had myself imprisoned for eternity in a block of ice."

"Imprisoned? Then how did you get out?"

"Dismay…"

"Dismay!"

"Tribal law from that day forward was to never unleash me from my slumber. My name was forgotten to all. All they could remember was the 'last wicked king'. Dismay, hoping to use the power of the Orichalcos to further his plans, awakened me to learn its secrets. The Reckah came to trust me quickly, thinking I was from another part of the mountains. I promised them both power and freedom. The Reckah are very stupid people. They believe anything, as long as they gain power. It was a simple thing to take them under my command again. I sent them to the swamps of Foreckids to lend this power to the N00bs. The N00bs quickly adapted and evolved. Dismay led them into the city and the rest is history."

"So, you're responsible for the attack on my home!"

"In a matter of speaking, yes, I am."

"Darsus, you're going to pay!"

"And I suppose you're going to make me? Look at you. You can't even protect yourself. You've let your friends down. They are all gone and it's all your fault."

"Bann, don't listen to him. I'm still here."

'Kia, he's right. If I had done more, I could have saved Tiamat and Zakei. I pushed Migome away from me. She ran off and as a result, lost her soul. Morgen was consumed by the darkness. Recks, he was my brother and I couldn't help him. I took my own brother's soul.'

'Good, feel the anguish, the pain of losing all that you love. Feel the pain of knowing that you caused all of it. Feed the Orichalcos. Then, when your pain has reached its limit, attack me with everything you've got! Let your wrath be your own undoing!' "Dexia, attack Gaia the Lone Knight!"

"Reveal trap, Knight Seal!"

The seal appeared at Shinoras' feet.

"Tritos!" Darsus yelled.

The Seal glowed a bright green, as if in response to Darsus' command. The Knight Seal shattered.

"The Seal of Orichalcos, the power of wrath, Orichalcos Deuteros, the power of helplessness, and finally, Orichalcos Tritos, the power of sorrow. You cannot harm me anymore. Your spells and traps are useless. Your monsters are too weak. You've lost."

'He's right… this is a lost cause. If I give up now, I can join the others.'

"Bann, don't think like that. Think of all that you have accomplished. Believe in yourself. You have the power to stop him. Believe!"

'You're right.' "No, I will never give up!"

'What's this? He should have given in by now. His soul is much stronger than I expected. Why aren't my words getting to him?'

"I activate Gather the Round Table!" Bann yelled. "This lets me Special Summon Giltia the Dark Knight and Brave Knight. Then, I activate Mid-Knight Polymer, fusing Giltia the Dark Knight with Gearfried the Iron Knight in my Graveyard."

Gearfried and Giltia fused together. The result was a monster in dark gray armor, lined with green. Red gems surrounded the armor. A blue cape ran down his back and blue cloth ran from his hips down. His helm was a green color, lined with red gems. On his right arm was a steel shield and in his right hand, a large battleaxe with a pointed spear end.

"Giltigear the Dark Steel Knight, attack Aristeros!"

Aristeros attack increased to just more than Giltigear's.

"Reveal traps, Shining Armor and Duos Saber!"

"Traps won't work. Orichalcos Tritos will negate them!"

"My traps aren't targeting your monsters, so the Seal cannot negate their power."

In place of his axe, a sword appeared in Giltigear's hand. His armor illuminated with a brilliant shine.

"Giltigear, attack Aristeros!"

"Aristeros effect will still make him stronger than your knight!"

"Wrong! I use the power of Duos Saber to copy the effect of Aristeros and give it to Giltigear!"

Giltigear's attack increased to just above Aristeros'. He slashed straight through the left arm. Then Giltigear leapt over to Dexia and destroyed it as well.

"With the arms gone, that leaves only Shinoras' main body!"

Darsus jaw dropped. Bann had managed to destroy both arms. "The arms may be gone, but the deadliest power of Shinoras is now unleashed!"

Shinoras began to glow a bright green.

"What's happening?"

"Shinoras was born of your own desires, hatred, and anger, remember? It is time to unleash that power!"

Shinoras attack increased.

"Where is that power coming from!"

"All the damage that was absorbed by Kyutora has been laying dormant in Shinoras. With his arms gone, there is nothing holding back this power. Shinoras, attack Giltigear! Photon Ring!"

A ring of light appeared above Shinoras and flew at Giltigear. The ring floated around Giltigear and shrunk inwards, slicing him in half. Bann flew backwards, hitting the edge of the Seal and landing, face down, on the ground below.

"That is it. Shinoras is too powerful for you. Give up. This will all be easier if you do."

"Ne… never…"

Bann slowly rose to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"I will never give up. My turn!"

Darsus laughed. "You are quite something. Instead of giving into your fate, you keep trying to go against it. You would rather fight and injure yourself. Either path leads to the same end."

"That's what you think. I activate the Spell, Monster Reborn! I use its power to revive Timaeus!"

Timaeus reappeared on the field.

"Then I activate his Special Ability. When he is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, I can Special Summon another monster from the Graveyard."

"Fine, choose your monster. Not even a fusion of Timaeus could help you now."

"I choose Critias!"

The second Legendary Dragon appeared next to the first.

"What!"

"And now, I activate Critias special ability. You remember it, don't you? I can add one monster, Spell, or Trap in my Graveyard to my mind. I choose Hermos! When Hermos is returned from the grave to my mind, I gain back one eighth of my original life and I can Special Summon him to the field!"

The third Legendary Dragon appeared next to the other two.

"What… what is the meaning of this!"

"I think I've managed to summon all three Legendary Dragons. That's the meaning of this. Prepare for the counterattack!"

"Very good, Bann. Together, the Legendary Dragons are strong, but sadly, I fear that they aren't strong enough to take on Darsus."

'Then I think I might just need a little help from the past. The Knight's Title can turn any monster into a knight. Maybe it will do the same for the Dragons. Odd, the power of the Knight's Title seems to be changing.' Bann pulled out the blue crest. It was certainly different. It was now teal, blue, and red. Instead of the B, three swords lined the crest. He lifted it into the air. 'It's true then. You must be them.' "I activate the Knight's Title – Legend of Heart!"

Light shot down from the cave ceiling. Bann gave up some of his life and offered Brave Knight as a Tribute. The three Legendary Dragons vanished.

"What's going on? What have you done!"

A bright light shot down. Bann and Darsus shielded their eyes.

"At last, after seven hundred years, we are free once again!"

"It is time for you to pay your dues, Darsus."

"You turned our own against us. You sealed us in the forms of these dragons. Imprisoning you within that block of ice wasn't enough."

"No, not you!"

"We have returned, Darsus. As dragons, you limited our power, but as knights, you are terrified of what we can do."

Three knights stepped out of the light. One wore teal armor with a blue, flowing cape. In his hand, he held a long saber. His right eye was scarred and shut. The next wore blue armor with a blue cape, lined with yellow. He had golden hair and also held a long sword. The final knight wore red armor with purple cape. He had red hair and, like the other two, he held a sword.

The teal armored knight spoke, "I am Timaeus of Arigos, Knight of Time and protector of the Queen."

"And I," said the blue armored knight, "am Critias, Knight of Wisdom and wielder of the Holy Blaze."

The red armored knight spoke last, "I am Hermos, Knight of Miracles and champion of the people."

They all lifted their swords in the air and crossed them. "We are the Legendary Knights!" The slashed their swords into the ground. Beams of light shot from them and struck the Seal of Orichalcos. The crossed the Seal and struck the edges, traveling up the invisible domed walls, meeting in the center. The Seal of Orichalcos shattered.

"No!"

"You… you guys destroyed the Seal."

"Ah, young master Bann, I give you my deepest gratitude for releasing us."

"I should thank you. You've save me more times than I can count."

Timaeus put his arm on Bann's shoulder. "And you have done the same for me. Thank you."

Timaeus turned back to face Darsus. Bann understood. "It's time to take out Shinoras! I summon the Knight of Twin Swords. Using the power of Warp Fusion, I can fuse him with Timaeus to form Legendary Knight of Twin Swords – Timaeus!"

Timaeus' armor turned a purple color and changed shape slightly. A second sword appeared in his left hand.

"I use the power of Critias' Holy Blaze. This allows me to activate a Spell or Trap in my Grave. This didn't work before, but now that Orichalcos Tritos is gone, I can use the power of Knight Seal to seal away the effects of Shinoras, including his effect to increase his attack!"

Shinoras' attack began to decrease.

"Timaeus, attack!" 'Once this attack connects, Timaeus will be able to attack again. Then Hermos and Critias and attack directly with Timaeus for the win.'

Before Timaeus' sword could connect, Shinoras began to crack.

"What's going on?"

"You've activated a Special Ability of Shinoras, one that cannot be negated. When his attack power is decreased to zero…"

Shinoras shattered like glass. Where he stood, a large hole in space began to open up. A large serpent-like dragon slithered out. It had purple, blue, and green skin with a large golden horn on its head.

Bann remembered seeing this creature before. Darsus summoned it when facing Queen Janime. It had destroyed that large phoenix and wrapped itself around the tower.

"Oh no," Critias said.

"Our battle with him will never end," Hermos added.

"Brother," Timaeus said, "Darsus has destroyed and remade you in his image. Even if it takes another seven hundred years, I will save you from this torment."

Bann turned to Timaeus. "Did you say that thing is your brother?"

"My twin brother, tainted by the Orichalcos. Darsus forced me to battle him. After our fight, Darsus turned him into that thing before us."

The serpent dragon roared.

Bann remembered just before Darsus had summoned it, the silver knight and Timaeus had fought. Then, the silver knight turned into a dragon, and then it became that thing.

"You remember, Timaeus?"

"Of course I do! I will never forget what you did, and my bother has left me a scar to forever remember it." He pointed to his scarred right eye.

"You never got a chance to face the wrath of your brother in this form. Let me bare you witness to a small demonstration of his power. Divine God of Serpents Ge, attack the Legendary Knights!"

Ge wrapped around the knights, and with the speed of a snake, he swallowed all three in a single bite.

"Now, take the power of the Legendary Knights and make it your own!"

Ge's power increased with the strength of his meal. He rose up into the air and stared down at Bann. He opened his mouth and roared again. Bann stood defenseless against the power of the Divine God of Serpents.

Next time on City of Fire: Snake God