"You're just too nice." Sorath facepalmed.
"He was the same as me." Asher cried as he gazed at the blood on his hand, "Neither of us had any friends. We both just wanted attention and to be remembered after death, so we both devoted our lives to becoming archetypes. The only difference is that he became the villain and I became the hero."
"It's true." Sorath began to tell Asher something that he knew he would want to hear, "Water and fire don't just symbolize life and death. They symbolize empathy and willpower, respectively. He had no empathy to get in the way of his willpower to destroy, but you have a heart that resonates with a gentle willpower hidden deep within your overflowing sea of empathy. Your elements are so strong, you were able to awaken tears of empathy in the man who had declared himself the adversary of all."
"Really?" Asher squealed with happiness, "That's so awesome!"
"Don't forget about me." Apophis growled as his claws and tail blade glistened in the moonlight.
"Oh." Asher's tone went back to worried. "Well, I'll do my best."
"Oh, and here's a prophecy for you." Sorath smiled mysteriously, "The risen savior shall slay the beast."
"Yay!" Asher was instantly happy again, "I'm going to win!"
The hero and the beast launched their beys.
"Do this quick before he can make a move!" Asher panicked, "Special Move: Flood Of Enki!"
Water sprayed out of the sides of Deluge Pisces. Its viscosity greatly raised the speed of the bey. The sea serpent spirit charged as its bey charged rapidly towards Caldera Draconis. Asher, whose sixth sense had become entirely lost in the madness that surrounded him, expected Apophis to lose confidence, but the Dragon Lich's inhuman expression didn't change. When Pisces hit Draconis, the bey that broke apart was the one with the smaller duller blades. Asher lost the battle.
"Very well." Asher's voice was a whine with a tone of confidence, "Sorath's prophecy was wrong, I will die to save the world, and I will be remembered beyond death."
"How are you going to save the world by dying?" Apophis laughed, "If you're saying that the world will be a better place without you, I agree."
Asher couldn't think of a comeback before Apophis snapped his arm out of its socket and began gnawing on it like a turkey leg as blood spurted from the martyr's corpse.
"Now." Apophis looked away from his meal and towards Sorath, "Tell me who you are!"
"Tell me who you are first." Sorath ordered Apophis.
"Or else what!?" Apophis roared.
"I am what mankind is not meant to know." Sorath smiled mysteriously, "That being said, there are no longer any members of the human race around here, so I guess it will be ok if I do this."
Sorath laughed insanely as bones bursted through his skin, forming horns, spikes, claws, and wings as his pale flesh peeled off to reveal bood-soaked muscles. Only his blood-stained hair remained.
"Tell me." His voice was distorted, "Or perish excruciatingly."
"I was born in Okinawa." Apophis wanted to cry, but he no longer had tear ducts or eyelids for that matter, "My name was Seiji, but my parents died when I was a toddler, and I was taken away and raised by a cult called the Order Of The Dragon. Like all members of the cult, I was injected with a mutagen that changed my hair color to white and red. We also all had to have names with the syllable "ryu" in them. I changed my name to Ryuga, which is Japanese for Dragon Fire. I chose it because it was the name of a character in a poem that I liked. The poem was called Obsidian Dragon, and it was written by Sekiryu, the leader of the Order Of The Dragon. I became best friends with a boy named Ryuto. We treated each other like brothers, and in a way, we were brothers because we were in the same cult. But then, I found out that it was the Order Of The Dragon who killed my parents and had turned me into a corrupt warrior. My only choice was to betray them and become a lone misanthropic dragon warrior. Doji tried to get me to join his corporation for evil corrupt bladers, but I was far too evil, corrupt, and powerful for him to even comprehend, let alone control. I continued to train on my own as a lone blader able to destroy several beys at once. I became feared by many cultures worldwide as an evil dragon god, and I loved the feeling when they would all submit before me and worship me in fear. Then, I turned out to be part of some prophecy. I didn't mind it because it made my bey stronger, but eventually, I was forced to help the good guys. I would rather have died than helped them, but at least I died to help them. As for Kenta, his bey is now possessed by the evil spirit of the bey that was once mine, and the possession is extending to his very body. Gradually, he will become a warrior of evil just like me. He is my chosen successor. He wanted power. Let's see if he can handle it. But, back to me. I was resurrected by a necromancer named Asclepius. Although he went by the name of a Greek demigod, he was of South Japanese descent like me. I was reborn with an altered body stitched together by Asclepius, but I loved it because it made me even more powerful. I was so powerful, I could kill anyone who stood in my way. I declared myself the new Emperor of Okinawa. I made it its own nation separate from Japan named Ryukyu just like it once was. I killed all who opposed me because I am now able to kill anyone who I want to!"
"Anyone?" Sorath didn't think Apophis had what it took to kill him.
"Maybe not anyone." Apophis didn't want to anger whatever demon Sorath had become.
"I know how the rest of the story goes." Sorath said, "Or, at least I know how it goes in an alternate universe where this tournament never took place."
"What are you talking about!?" Apophis roared.
"After becoming the Emperor, you defeated Rago, making Nemesis rightfully yours." So began Sorath's final revelation, "You gained all of its dark powers and used it to take over the world, but you didn't stop there. You viewed the entire universe as a battlefield for you to conquer. Over billions of years, under many names and appearances since you had gained the power to shapeshift, you eventually destroyed the entire universe. There was nothing left, and you realized your mistake. You should have just let yourself die. There was only one thing left to do. Thankfully, you had the power to travel through time, so you went back in time and arranged this tournament to amuse yourself. You were very bored, and you thought it would be fun to watch the greatest warrior to ever live (none other than yourself) kill people. But, your true goal beyond that was to kill yourself so that you can finally die."
"You are... ME!?" Apophis roared and let out an inhuman screech as he lost his mind at the realization. "What have I become!?"
"I was once Seiji." Sorath explained, "I was once Ryuga, Apophis, and have gone by many other names including Nyarlathotep. If you've ever met anyone, regardless of gender or appearance, who encouraged both sides to fight during a war and seemed to know more than they should, they were probably me, the one who starts wars for his own amusement, the War Master. But now, I would like to be called Belial! My prophecy was not wrong. I am the risen savior here to slay the beast."
"I won't let you kill me!" Apophis roared.
"You fool!" Belial roared back, "If you kill me, you'll still be alive, and you'll still have to live for billions of years!"
Belial grabbed Apophis by the throat and carried him up into the air.
"I will never let you kill me!" Apophis cut Belial in half down the center with his tail.
The Dragon Emperor landed on the ground with the blood and guts that rained upon him. He searched through Belial's bisected corpse and found the Nemesis bey in the pocket of his coat.
"His prophecy was not wrong." Apohis said, "I am the risen savior, and I have slain the beast. Every evil person who ever lived was really only a disguised copy of my future self. And now, I will sacrifice myself to save the world. I will be the one to die for everyone's sins. For most people, it is impossible to save the world just by dying, but I will save the world by dying, and this is how I will extirpate the root of all evil."
With the power of Nemesis, Apophis traveled back to the time and place when the assassins came to kill his parents. He appeared before young Seiji, who was terrified by the blood-soaked undead blade-tailed subhuman who he would never know was actually him. The assassins came, and Apophis ripped them open with his claws and tail. Seiji was deeply desensitized but thankful. Apophis then went to kill the entire Order Of The Dragon to ensure that Seiji would never become Ryuga or any of the entities that would follow. He killed them all until only Sekiryu remained cowering in a corner. And then, with his tail, he impaled Sekiryu in the heart. Having destroyed everything that would have corrupted him into what he was now, Apophis disappeared.