Chapter 146: The Grand Operation Part 2
Purgatory Knight Drum pointed his sword at the other dragon and said, "I am ready to fight you."
"Looks good with the mask," Troubadour replied as he grabbed his instrument, "Even if we are friends, don't hold back."
"I won't. You are friends with Gao, not me," the red dragon replied with a small grin behind his mask. He activated his thrusters and quickly charged at the other dragon, using everything he had from the start.
Troubadour blocked the sword with his instrument and the other attacks with ease. He was taking his time to judge the other dragon and waited for the right moment to counter attack. He saw this opportunity and strike back, but his weapon hit the handle of the sword.
"Take this!" the red dragon created an arc with his leg and struck right in the jaw of the dark dragon.
Troubadour landed on his hands and jumped backward, landing on his feet and blocking the next attack.
"You're good," the dark dragon admitted, "Looks like I have to change strategy," he slid under Drum and aimed for the legs with his guitar like instrument, breaking the red dragon balance and made him fall on the ground.
He spun around and aimed for the face, but the other dragon rolled on the ground at the last second and turned his sword into a whip and threw it at the other dragon. The red dragon managed to grab the dark dragon and pulled him towards him and licked the lyrical dragon in the gut, sending him away. Drum turned back his whip into the sword and charged. He dodged the strike by jumping on the wall and propelling himself against the dark dragon and aimed for the chest, but his attack was blocked.
The two took some distance and panted.
Troubadour had a small smile on his face and thought, not bad. You are a powerful dragon Drum. No wonder you are Gao's buddy, he clenched his hands on his guitar and took a step forward, "Not bad," he put his hand over his stomach, "That blow really hurt me and you don't forget that we are fighting inside."
"I know, but don't try to win time. We have to fight Azi Dahaka," the red dragon countered.
"You're right," he spun his instrument and charged.
The two dragons collided and attacked many times, trying to pass each other's guards.
Drum's buddy could only watch the fight and waiting for his buddy to win the battle. With everything on the stake, he decided to refuse to believe they could lose against anyone, including Azi Dahaka. That part was harder to completely believe after they'd witness the duel between The Punisher and the ruler of Darkness Dragon World. He clenched his hands and forced himself to remain on the side, watching the fight. It was difficult for him to see his buddy fighting against a friend, but they weren't on the same side, so that battle had to happen. Despite that, Gao didn't see Troubadour as a bad dragon, but a dragon loyal to his master and a proud Purgatory Knight. He was only a spectator in this fight.
Eventually, Troubadour managed to make Drum trip with his tail and smashed his instrument on the face of the red dragon. The impact was loud, but the mask of the dragon resisted the impact, but it still caused pain to its owner.
Drum rolled on the ground and avoided the next one, while painfully grunting. He jumped back on his feet while avoiding a third attack and turned his sword into a whip. He spun the weapon and hit the ground, leaving a mark on it. The dragon lightly grinned, "I am only starting Troubadour. I will not fall, for my friends and my buddy!"
He activated his thrusters and charged again. When he was close, he saw the dark dragon creating an arc with his guitar like weapon and aimed for the head again. The red dragon grinned as he grabbed the blade of the whip with one hand and blocked the attack with it. He ignored the pain on his wounded palm and spun the blade around the instrument, trapping it with his weapon. He pulled and tried to disarm the lyrical dragon, but the grip was strong on it.
The two dragons tried to disarm the others, as they were stuck in this situation. They both tried to kick or used their tail to hit the enemy but failed to hit the others. The duo continued struggling that way for a while, trying to get out of their position. They couldn't do anything until one of them managed to disarm the other, and that would only give a huge advantage for the one who was still armed.
The red dragon used everything he had and managed to kick the gut of the other dragon at the same spot than before, forcing him to weaken his grasp and disarmed the dark dragon.
Drum immediately released the grip his whip had on the instrument and was ready to attack, but the dark dragon tackled him on the ground and punched the throat of the red dragon brutally.
Drum let got of his weapon and blocked the next one, turned on the ground and being on top of the dark dragon, head-butting the snout with everything he had. The red dragon had some blood on his forehead and jumped away when they weren't holding each other's anymore. He grabbed his whip and turned it back into his sword and attacked.
Troubadour frowned, knowing he was in a dangerous situation and focused on evading the attacks. He didn't try to hit the other dragon and simply dodged everything and keep his distance until he figured out a way to disarm the red dragon or managing to hit the other one hard. He also thought that he could wait for Drum to exhaust himself but didn't count on it.
The red dragon slowed down and diminished his aggressivity in the fight. He had to save some energy to defeat that dragon and for his next fight against Azi Dahaka. He couldn't fight that leader exhausted or it wouldn't be a long fight, even with his buddie's support.
Troubadour was aware that the assault slowed down and thought of a strategy to disarm Drum or try to claim back his weapon. He was about to have one when Drum dropped his weapon and pined him on the ground.
The red dragon punched the snout of the dark dragon and tried another one, but the darkness dragon grabbed his fist. Troubadour tried to follow up with his own punch, but Drum grabbed the other. They struggled once again to gain the upper hands over the others and rolled on the ground, until they hit the wall. Drum grunted furiously as he used everything had to achieve victory, but it wasn't easy. No matter what he tried, the other dragon managed to quickly counter and to prevent him from taking an advantage.
"This is the end," the dark dragon said as he managed to push his adversity away with his foot.
Drum gasped when he was sent in the air and rolled on the ground. He saw the lyrical dragon running to grab his instrument, but Drum breath fire and sent the instrument farther away. He went and grabbed his sword and turned it into a whip, the moment the lyrical dragon grabbed his instrument. He threw his weapon and the blade trapped the darkness dragon while causing some wounds on the chest, "It's over Troubadour! Give up now or my weapon will hurt you even more! I don't want to do this!"
The lyrical dragon looked in the eyes of the red dragon and saw sincerity in his words. He knew he couldn't win the fight. He could fake giving up, but it would be dishonorable and an insult to the Purgatory Knights. He wasn't like that and would never be. He sighed loudly and replied, "You win Drum Bunker Dragon. This is a dead point for me anyway," he lightly smiled, "Nice fight."
The red dragon released the lyrical dragon and panted. Gao rushed by the side of his buddy and asked, "Are you okay Drum?"
"I'm fine. A little exhausted, but that's okay," he looked at the other dragon, "He got worse than me," he turned back into his previous form and held the drill on his back, "Why did you stood in our way? I know you explain it a little but-"
"I thought it was Demios who almost killed Jackknife, but he never did such a thing," the dark dragon sighed, "And standing in your way in the name of the Purgatory Knights was one way to make it up," he searched in his pocket and showed a bottle to Drum. The bottle was small and contained an orange liquid in it, looking like some juice or something close to that, "I think you might need this little bottle."
"What is it?" the red dragon suspiciously asked.
"This is a little drink made for warriors like us Drum. Dragons can handle this mixture, but no one else. It helps recover from exhaustion and wounds. Since I intended to fight you, I got one just for this occasion," he gave it to Drum and added, "You are going to need this. I don't want to think that any of you would die against my ruler," he sat down and covered his wounds, "I don't mind if you foiled his plan to conquer this world…" he grabbed his chin, "I find it too beautiful to conquer a world so unique," he lightly chuckled.
Drum looked at the drink and took the risk. He drank everything and quickly felt the effect. He felt refresh and reinvigorated. He looked at the darkness dragon and said, "Thank you."
"Are you okay?" Gao asked as he took out a spellcard, but the lyrical dragon quickly prevented him from using it.
"Keep your strength Gao, you are going to need everything you have against Azi Dahaka," he replied as he put his hands on his wounds, "I am a dragon and I can take much more than that," he gave a confident and reassuring smile. He sat down and asked, "Want me to tell you a few things? I can answer three questions for you, since you've beat me."
"You want to help us?" Gao asked surprised.
Troubadour winked and replied, "Don't be silly. I am just being fair for standing in your way," he chuckled, "Azi Dahaka likes exciting fight too you know, and I bet my tail you are going to give a good fight."
Drum asked, "Who's Azi Dahaka buddy?"
"Kyoya of course and he's incredibly powerful, so I suggest being careful."
"Why is Azi Dahaka interested in our world?" Gao asked this time.
"Simple. Food Gao. As one of your kind once said, and I'm going to butcher it: 'Soldiers could only go as far as their stomach allows them too.' It's true for us too. Your world offered the tastiest food you know," the dark dragon replied.
"So, he creates a line of supplies by using the Earth… probably to invade other worlds later on," the red dragon thought, remembering his father's teaching about the importance of supplies during wars. He asked, "Why is he interested in Gao?"
"Because he has great powers inside of him. A great potential when using spellcards. More importantly, is that dormant power that if awaken, is extremely impressive. My ruler believes that with that potential, an impact card can easily be used without hurting the human casting it."
"Using… and impact card," Drum slowly said. He remembered Axia telling him that if a human used an impact card, it would kill them. This changed everything, if it was true. He knew that using an impact card, outside of Earth, greatly weakened the user. It was a spell to be used as a last chance. With a human, it would be completely different, since the monster could still fight. He looked at the Lyrical dragon and said, "That is dangerous to think off. If he is wrong-"
"He isn't Drum," Troubadour seriously replied. He pointed behind him and said, "You really should keep going now. My ruler is waiting for you. Fight hard."
Gao replied to his friend, "We will."
They left the darkness dragon behind. Troubadour grabbed his instrument and started playing it, "I am rooting for the both of you," he whispered as he played.
AC: This is the end of this chapter. See you later in the next part.