Eternal
The Pawns resumed their attack against Asia, now coordinating their moves to catch her with her guard down in order to take her down. Yet this would be no easy task, as without control, the power of the Eternal Dragon was still one of the most destructive forces in all of reality.
Asia fired a giant fireball towards them, with Issei using his Dragon Shot to counter and destroy it mid-air as Yukio jumped towards her, grabbing her and trying to force her down onto the earth, but soon Asia began to win the struggle. That was, until Issei joined and together both pushed her down, pinning her to the ground.
Yukio stepped aside as Issei unloaded a Dragon Shot straight onto Asia at point black. He and Ddraig both knew one would not do the trick, so they continued to fire shot after shot with the hopes it would knock her out, but all it did was anger the girl further.
In the middle of the barrage of attacks, she filled her right arm with the power of the Eternal Dragon and held Issei's hand before he could fire again. The shot came, but Asia's flames engulfed the attack before unleashing a massive explosion which caught everyone's attention.
Seeing this, Yukio used Trickster's Fantasy to play the melody he used before to try and calm Asia down, only this time it was in a more aggressive tune. As soon as she heard it, the Bishop dropped down to the ground while holding her head in pain. It was working, but not enough just yet.
"Keep going Yukio! Increase the intensity, I know you can do this" -
Following Dreams' advice, the boy kept the intensity of his melody going up and up, reaching a point where Asia couldn't even crawl, simply laying on the ground as her body slowly lost strength, and she slowly lost consciousness.
In a last-ditch attempt to stop him, Asia unleashed a devastating roar which drowned out the melody of Trickster's Fantasy and allowed her to get back up and rush Yukio to stop him from playing his song again. Enveloped in purple flames, she struck the boy with the strength of a comet, sending him flying to the edges of the barrier created by Volibear.
Just as she walked up to him, prepared to finish him off, Issei got her attention again with a Dragon Shot. He was wounded after the explosion, but he would still stand against her.
The purple flames erupted around them, surrounding the two and preventing others from interfering in the fight. Issei wondered if Asia had done it on purpose, or if it was merely how the fire extended itself. Nevertheless, at least for the moment, he would have to take her on i 1.
Both rushed at the same time and clashed, with Issei using as many Boosts as he could to match Asia's level of strength for as long as he could. The fighters traded punches and kicks with none willing to give the other even the slightest advantage, but Issei knew that he couldn't keep this up forever, thus he had to finish this as fast as he could.
After blocking one of Asia's attacks, the boy answered with an uppercut followed by a Dragon Shot at point blank, a kick in the chest and then another punch, stunning the girl for a few seconds. Using this window of opportunity, Issei channeled all of his power into his Boosted Gear and aimed it straight at the girl, preparing to unleash an overcharged Dragon Shot straight at her.
Asia recovered from his stun and saw what Issei was planning. She tried to set up a fire barrier to block the hit, but something felt strange. She began to feel tired, she could barely lift her arms or even take a step. She didn't understand what was going on… Until she heard a melody.
Turning to see behind her, she noticed Yukio playing Trickster's Fantasy despite the wounds that she caused him. With the song playing, her movements became slow and clunky, and made it impossible for her to get away, as Issei fired against her…
A few minutes have passed, and everyone reunited again on the site of the fight between the 3 of them. Both Issei and Yukio were heavily wounded, but still standing despite everything. Asia, on the other hand, was unconscious after that last attack from Issei, now returned to normal, the power of the Eternal Dragon slumbering once more.
"To think it would take that much strength just to put her down…" - Rias said with worry and sadness in her voice - "Asia…" -
"This is exactly why I decided to bring her to this world with Issei and Yukio in the first place" - Kai'Sa interjected - "Now that you've seen what the power of the Eternal Dragon can do in untrained hands, you might allow Asia to remain here until she can properly control her powers" -
Rias remained silent. She didn't want to give Asia away just like that, but if it was to ensure the safety of others, then…
"Why don't you come with us instead?" -
Everyone turned to look at Yukio, surprised that he would say something like that so suddenly.
"Are you serious about this? It will be better if she remains here in the Realm of the Ancient Dragons" -
"Think about it for a second Kai'Sa, don't you think it would be better for her if she was surrounded by those she trusts, instead of a completely unknown environment to her?" -
Kai'Sa couldn't exactly disagree on that. It would be much better for Asia, and they could help her subdue her in case the power of the Eternal Dragon got out of control once more, like it did a few minutes ago.
"So, is that a yes?" -
Kai'Sa let out a small sigh before speaking again - "Very well, I'll accept the deal, but only for as long as Asia is on her training. Besides, we will need to make regular trips to the Realm with her anyways" -
"Why is that?" - Sona asked afterwards.
"This is the birthplace of the dragons, and for Dragonmancers like myself, Yukio and Asia, being here can help us strengthen our draconic abilities, as well as unlock new ones easier than in the outside" -
"You know that coming and going out of the Realm could put the entire existence of our home in danger Kai'Sa" - Volibear interrupted them, catching everyone off guard as he had been rather quiet ever since the battle started - "If you and the others are going to do that, then keeping it safe falls on your shoulders" -
"I'm not worried about outsiders at this point, Volibear. I'm more worried about… The others…" -
"What do you mean by that?" -
Before Kai'Sa could answer, Asia slowly opened her eyes and looked at the others. She grunted as she tried to stand up, the pain of her battle still very much present. While they were happy to see her awake, something caught their attention soon after.
Asia's eyes were no longer green, but rather a deep purple, just like her flames.
Kai'Sa and Volibear knew what this meant. Asia's powers would fully manifest sooner rather than later, and they needed to teach her to control herself before that.
"May Ophis help us…" -