Chapter 4
Dear Miss Summers,
I am currently writing this letter from my lodge in Dundorma.
The people back in the Old World would like to thank you for your data on the Alatreon and the Safi'Jiiva. I believe you have done more than enough on your mission to hunt them down and you definitely deserve some rest. Even as you lost some people to the mighty Blazing Black Dragon and the elusive Red Emperor, there is no need to force yourself to chase them all over the Guiding Lands. Once I return to Seliana, I'd like to speak with you and our friends in person.
Despite you failing three times to kill the Alatreon, the creature has been significantly weakened that, by the time you have mustered enough force to battle it for the fourth time, it may finally die for good and be at peace.
But don't get cocky; we still have to deal with Safi'Jiiva after this one.
I also wanted to thank you for bringing back pieces of the Alatreon's body that you have broken off, such as the teeth, scales, tail spikes, and the Alatreon's left horn. Our biologists had asked me to give you their most sincere gratitude. The same goes for the scientists of the Old World. They have never seen an Alatreon's horn or tooth up close, so they were greatly excited to study it.
Intermittently, whenever I go outside to enjoy fresh air, a shady person or two would approach me and offer cryptic warnings. "Be afraid of the unknown," says one person. "Stay ignorant of what true fear is," says the second. "Just light the flame and burn it all," says the third. If you are curious as to why these shady folks would utter such words, I can only speculate that they are some sort of dragon-worshipping cult, and they simply cannot fathom the idea of a Dangerous First-Class Monster like the Alatreon to actually exist. Perhaps they consider harming a Black Dragon as a blasphemy?
Just light the flame… and burn it all.
To be honest, I am feeling somewhat tempted to destroy all the documents I've procured for the scientists in Dundorma.
But then I began thinking; what's the point of burning them all to ashes? Is it better for me to remain ignorant, or would it be better to continue pursuing the unknown?
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Deep within the Secluded Valley, there was a beautiful cave lined with crystal spires and underground lakes. Waterfalls would sometimes provide a natural ambiance to the cave depending on the season. A place that was suitable as a sequestered getaway.
But today, the cave bore witness to a brawl and destruction.
Ellen Summers, bruised and battered, swung and spun her insect glaive in fervor and vengeance, determined to annihilate the two Elder Dragons before her which ended the life of so many of her fellow hunters.
Her targets, the Blazing Black Dragon and the Red Emperor, similarly clashed with sheer bloodlust to consume one another, treating Ellen as nothing more than a temporary diversion.
The Huntress fought with everything she had. The strikes her glaive made on the monsters' bodies chipped their scales, cracked their plates, and maybe once or twice broke their teeth. But no matter how many scales or plates she broke, no matter how many bombs and slinger pods she fired at them, the two monsters did not surrender at all, even as they lost some blood.
She then tried again, launching her kinsect at the Alatreon to distract it while she hacked its front claws away in a fury.
Soon, Ellen received her wish; the Black Dragon recoiled to the side, opening a chance where she could exploit its current weakness to the ice element by hitting it on the head once, twice, thrice. But minutes later, the creature's claws surged with sparks of Dragon element…
No, she thought in a panic, as Alatreon lashed out with its claws. She vividly recalled how one of her fellow hunters, some young man named Jensen, jumped at the attack to shield her, only to receive a full blast of Dragon energy from the Black Dragon's claws to the chest, killing him instantly.
The Red Emperor had the luxury to deflect the assault using its heavy tail, but Ellen wasn't as lucky. She dodged and jumped away as the kinsect intuitively flew to stun the Alatreon in the eye to protect its master, just enough to disorient it so Ellen could recover elsewhere. Safi'Jiiva took this opportunity to brawl against the Black Dragon again, uncaring if the huntress got caught in the crossfire as it wrestled its enemy to the ground. Lightning flashed all over the arena as the Alatreon smacked and jabbed its adversary away to regain its footing, only really getting away as they staggered next to a waterfall.
Ellen tapped at the Red Emperor's head to sidetrack it. Safi'Jiiva hissed irritably as Alatreon flew to the air and exploded in a burst of Dragon element, shifting from Fire Active mode to Dragon Active mode.
Flying next to the rushing waterfall, Alatreon opened its maw to swallow as much water as it possibly could from the waterfall before flying back at high speed. Bioenergy surged around Safi'Jiiva as it sniped at the Black Dragon with calculated bioenergy laser shots. The Alatreon evaded the attacks as it flew higher, aiming its watery blasts at the empty ground between the huntress and the red monster.
As the globs of water splashed around her, Ellen couldn't help but notice how the water smelled foul, just like raw oil…
No, wait! The creature wasn't spraying water globs; it was spitting oil-like liquid all over the place!
Ellen realized just what the Alatreon was planning to do and promptly jumped as far as she could from the oily puddles. Sure enough; a fire breath erupted and the entire arena became lit with fire, creating a dangerous hazard for her. Safi'Jiiva's attempt to put the fire out by flapping its huge wings only helped a little in clearing the ground. The place was then covered in a fire hazard.
Fear of dying alone coursed through her veins, but Ellen was feeling more angry than afraid, angry that no matter which hunters she took to bring down the Alatreon, it would always defeated them and left Ellen crying in despair at their deaths; angry that the Blazing Black Dragon would spare her life without a clear reason.
The huntress then picked up her insect glaive and downed a potion to heal her wounds, staying away as Alatreon and Safi'Jiiva started pounding at each other once more, claws clashing and teeth tearing at each other as the Red Emperor gradually gained more advantage. The curved claws of the Safi'Jiiva glowed faintly as it absorbed tiny amounts of bioenergy from its tiring opponent, subtle but unrelenting. Ellen noticed; whenever the red monster used its claws to draw bioenergy to heal itself, it would be forced to lower its defense for a short time.
The huntress dashed across the arena, her glaive raised high as she made a critical hit on Safi'Jiiva's front claws.
The creature flinched, its attention shifted, allowing Ellen to strike at its other claws, followed by four successive hits on the Red Emperor's chest and lastly a powerful upward thrust at its lower jaw.
The opponent stumbled backward, giving Alatreon a chance to steal back some bioenergy that was taken by the fallen enemy. The Black Dragon wasted no time to retaliate, pouncing on the fallen monster to douse it in searing flame. As it busied itself, Ellen dashed away from the creature's attention and swung her glaive hard at the Alatreon's tail to cut it, making sure to keep her kinsect nearby just in case the Black Dragon noticed her actions.
Then the Safi'Jiiva unexpectedly kicked its opponent away and blasted the Black Dragon with a potent bioenergy blast. The spikes on its tail were shaved clean by the huntress' glaive as the Black Dragon noted.
The little human was just too bothersome, the Alatreon thought bitterly, as it took flight and sprayed the cave's roof with a substantial amount of ice breath. As the cold mist saturated the stalactites on the roof, they'd eventually harden and came crashing down on its adversaries and explode when struck with lightning attacks. For Ellen, it brought back yet another painful reminder of her oldest pupil, a huntress named Vera, who perished when she was impaled by the falling icicles. And now the Alatreon planned to do the same to Ellen…
Red-tinted icicles fell from the roof in pairs. Safi'Jiiva couldn't get a clear shot at its opponent, being too busy fending off the huntress' attacks on its head and parrying the falling icicles away. It then got an idea; by carefully positioning itself directly to the Black Dragon, the red monster was able to deflect some icicles at the direction of the enemy using its spiky tail.
The first icicle was dodged by Alatreon, who then retaliated with its fireballs. The second one also missed, but it forced the Black Dragon to fly closer, just as the third icicle hit it on the head, dazing the Alatreon as it landed to recover.
With the Red Emperor grappling it into a chokehold, and the vengeful huntress assaulting it by alternating between striking the tail and the back legs, the Alatreon had no choice. If it wanted to see through this fight, then the Blazing Black Dragon had to unleash its greatest ability.
A great burst of Dragon element threw the Safi'Jiiva and Ellen off balance. Scrambling away from them both, the Black Dragon let forth an intense surge of energy as blue and red mist emanated from its body. Lightning danced across its damaged horns as dangerously as the rapidly-changing temperature of the battle arena. Ellen had never seen the Alatreon doing anything like this before… it was always an arrogant show of power as the dark-scaled creature smugly toyed with anyone who dared to hunt it, but none of them were as concentrated as this one…
Ellen quickly slid behind a fallen icicle, hoping that the ice was sturdy enough to protect her from whatever might come next, just like how the red monster was manipulating its bioenergy to try and create an ethereal shield for itself.
The Alatreon leaped to the air, elemental powers dancing all over its body, and with a strong flap from its wings, releasing the strongest detonation it had ever done in its life.
Fire, ice, lightning, and Dragon elements all flared brightly like the sun in every direction, reducing everything that wasn't itself to dust. A bright flash of light blinded all of them for a moment.
"So that's why…" A whisper escaped her mouth as Ellen landed hard on the edge of the arena, bleeding and dizzy, "…why they called it Blazing Black Dragon."
Her armor was badly scorched and her body was severely injured, possibly beyond any help. As she lay dying, she could make out the distant roaring of the two monsters, still alive but heavily injured, unable to keep fighting in their current state. From the sounds of flapping she heard as her mind slipped away, both Alatreon and Safi'Jiiva chose to call it quits, retreating to regain their strength to brawl another day. Ellen didn't know why, but she thought she heard faint shouting that could've originated from the Commander and the Seeker.
"Damn you, Alatreon… Damn you too, Safi'Jiiva…"