Thetrueazure: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait.
Ritsu: You should be.
Kazuma: Leave him be. He had a rough week with Finals. We own nothing.
"This is my ability, Dark Soul! I tune my level 8 Belial with my level 2 Necro Lord!" Necro Lord turned into two black synchro gates and surrounded Belial, turning him into eight stars
The true nightmare has yet to begun. Watch as the shadows truly spread their wings! Synchro Summon! The Great Nightmare, Kage - the Dragon of Nightmares (10/3100/2300)
Belial's evolved form appeared on the field, he stood on two legs, he had pitch black armor and had four wings.
"So that's Kage?" Leo looked at Kage
"Nerco Lord's effect activates upon synchro summon, the monster that was synchro summoned gains the combined attack strength of the dark synchro monster that were used to summon Necro Lord."
"Shinken has 2800 attack points and Skycth had 2200 attack points." Shiko said
"So Kage gains 5000 attack points!" Shinken and Skycth were absorbed by Kage as his power skyrocketed (3100-8100)
"8100 attack points!" Leo said in shock
"This is the end, Kage! Attack with Nightmare Flame!" Leo braced himself for the attack, but it never came, he looked and saw Kage just standing there with his arms crossed. "Kage? What are you doing? Attack!"
Kage didn't even budge "No."
"Why?" Krad asked "I obtained my ability!"
"Yes you did."Kage said "But you did not accept your nightmares."
"What!" Krad asked
"Don't play dumb, your nightmares of the past."Kage turned towards Krad and looked at his with his blood red eyes "Allow me to enlighten you."Krad looked into Kage's eyes and saw the boy in his nightmares running from the dragon again, only this time Krad saw a clear picture of who the boy was, it was him.
Then Krad's memories started to overload his thought process as he passed out from the strain
"Krad!" Everyone ran to him as Leo canceled the duel.
Duel canceled
Krad: 2500
Leo: 1400
Keira shook Krad "Krad! Krad! Wake up! KRAD!"
Ch.53 Accepting the Nightmares
At the Order
Krad was in a medical bed breathing heavily as his heartbeat started to slow down.
"What's happening to him?" Kurogasa asked Yuki who was looking at Krad
"His darkness is going into overload." Yuki said "A soul can only take so much darkness. If that limit is reached or even succeeded, the darkness will slowly spread throughout his body. Eventually, it will take his life."
"No way." Yuzuki muttered as Keira turned her head from Krad
Ritsu noticed this as Akira came back with a warm towel, Keira stood up and began to walk away until Ritsu brought his arm out, stopping her.
Keira looked at Ritsu "What is it?"
"You know something, don't you?" The entire room looked at the two
"What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything." Keira told Ritsu who wasn't buying it.
"Keira, tell the truth." Ritsu said "You want to save him, don't you."
"Ritsu!" Yuzuki yelled at him
"No, I should come clean anyways." Keira said as everyone began to listen "I met Krad at the orphanage I was in, I was the only friend he had because of other kids in the orphangage."
"Why, what happened?" Shiko asked
"The kids at the orphanage weren't exactly the nicest." Keira walked over to Krad and lifted his hair. Everyone gasped as they saw scars on his head "Most of them threw stones at him because of his white hair and red eyes."
"That's horrible." Kuraki said
"That's not the beginning of it. One day, after Krad received the Dark Knight deck and the necklace, he finally snapped and that's when his darkness finally surfaced."
"Wait a minute." Yuki said "That orphanage you mentioned, that was the orphanage that had that gas explosion."
Keira smiled "I wouldn't be surprise if it was written off as a gas explosion. But the real reason was that Krad's darkness went on a rampage and destroyed the orphanage. I tried to stop him-" Keira lifted her shirt and revealed a giant scar on her back "This is what happened when I did."
"Oh my goodness." Yuki gasped
"It may look bad, but I barely feel it." Keira brought her shirt down and walked towards Ritsu "Ritsu, promise me you'll save him."
Ritsu placed a hand on her shoulder "I promise."
"Then you're going to need some help!" Raikou said as he, Apollo, Kazeryu, Golem, and Leviathan appeared
"Raikou? What are you guys doing?" Ritsu asked
"This may get a little bumpy!" A bright light engulfed Ritsu as he collapse
"What happened!" Yuzuki asked
"His soul has been transported inside of Krad." Yuki said "He's going to get Krad back. Let's just hope, he's not too late."
Inside Krad's Mind
Ritsu slowly opened his eyes, he sat up and groaned
"OK, next time. Little more warning." Ritsu got up "I'm going to feel that in the morning."
"I don't blame you." Belial's voice chuckled behind him. Ritsu turned towards Belial who was sitting down.
"Belial, what's going on? Where's Krad?" Ritsu asked
"I have no idea, but I have a pretty good hunch." Belial hunched over "Get on." Ritsu got onto Belial's back as they flew towards a dark mass. Ritsu seemed uneasy.
"W-we need to find Krad in there? What is that?" Ritsu asked a bit nervous, as Belial flew straight towards the growing darkness
"That's the only place where Krad can be. And we must hurry, so suck it up and hold on!" Belial said harshly as he dashed towards the dark fog
The moment where Ritsu entered the fog he almost fell of Belials back and he was struggling for air while holding his throat with his left hand.
"What the hell? I-I cant breathe properly…it feels so heavy." Ritsu coughed while they were flying through the dark fog. He couldn't tell how far they have flew.
"It's his grief, regrets and hate, I have seen this kind of darkness in a few people, but I never saw something so intense like here" Belial answered back, when suddenly they both heard the flapping of four pairs of wings around them. Ritsu could tell that they were dragons as they were circling around them.
"We're not alone Ritsu, brace yourself! This may get a bit rough!" Belial warned as Ritsu tightened his grip on Belial. Belial halted and peered with his red eyes through the fog. The noise ceased and there was dead silence. Then out of nowhere, dozens of black arrows flew towards Ritsu and Belial
"That's doesn't look friendly!" Ritsu yelled as the arrows were closing the gap.
Thanks to Belial's inhuman reaction he dodged the incoming arrow barrage with an air roll, but then Ritsu heard another pair of rapid wings behind them and he instantly pulled his arm up to block the attack. He soon saw that was a huge mistake when he saw the incoming dragon with his rider wielding a giant mace. Unable to react, the mace broke his arm on contact as he screamed in pain. He tried to support his broken arm but to his huge surprise the arm was completely fine. Belial roared in pain when a barrage of arrows struck his chest, but after a few seconds the pain disappeared.
"What's going on? I feel the pain, but there's no wound!" Ritsu asked, as the club-wielding rider attacked him again repeatedly while Belial avoided him.
"These aren't physical, but mental! They try to destroy our mind, that's the reason why we feel the pain! Don't try to react towards their actions, no matter what!" Belial ordered
"Not react! Easier said than done!" Ritsu felt an arrow pierce his shoulder as he screamed
Outside Krads Mind
Ritsu's body was sweating hard as he was grinding his teeth. Kazuma tried his best to keep Ritsu on the station bed as they watched his heartrate rise rapidly while Krad's went down. Krad's veins started to darken.
"What's going on? Why are Krad's veins darkening?" Kuraki asked as she gripped Kurogasa's arm.
"Krad's darkness is slowly spreading through his body." Yuki explained as she looked at Ritsu "We don't have much time. If his darkness spreads even more, there is no hope for saving him."
"Ritsu, hurry!" Keira thought as she gripped Krad's hand
Inside Krad's Mind
Ritsu recovered from the assault from the dragon rider while Belial kept dodging the arrows.
"Belial! Next time, we take the scenic route!" Ritsu yelled as an arrow hit his back
"Dully noted." Belial said
The dragon knights didn't seem to cease their attacks, Belial was losing strength fast the fog seemed endless. In one final attempt he screamed into the fog
"Krad! Where are you! It's me, Ritsu! Belial, me and everyone are trying to save you!" Ritsu yelled into the fog, after that he saw a blade coming towards him, he closed his eyes and waited for the blade to strike him.
Ritsu opened his eyes and saw the dragon knight frozen, not moving an inch. The other dragon knights froze in place and started to vanish. He then felt a dark presence behind him, he slowly turned around and saw a skeleton knight sitting down on Belial, checking his sword.
"It's been a while dragon user. I never believed I would meet you face to face, but here you are with an overgrown lizard inside my territory!" Shinken hissed at him sending a cold chill down his spine like never before.
"So this is the so called Darkness of Krad's Power?" Ritsu thought, when Belial noticed the unwelcomed guest on his back.
"Long time no see bone head!" Belial growled towards the skeleton knight who ignored his presence and focused on Ritsu.
"So you want to help Krad? Do you even got the guts for it? Even if your own life could depend on it? If not, I would recommend you and your friends outside to get to a safe location so you don't get engulfed in the radius" Shinken said mockingly, shocking Ritsu.
"What do you mean, in the radius! What is going on here!" Ritsu demanded, but Shinken only calmly stared into his eyes.
"What you see here is negative energy flowing normally through Krad's soul. However, since that stupid overgrown lizard Kage showed up. He forcefully removed the seal I placed on to Krad's memories, the negative energy is going on a rampage through his body. When Krad ceases to exist, the negative energy will have no place to be contained and it will turn into a small version of the zero reverse, strong enough to devastate the building." Shinken calmly explains, enjoying the shocked faces of Ritsu and Belial.
"No way! Another zero reverse? Here? How can we stop it? What happens to Krad?" Belial roared in surprise, but getting only a chuckle from Shinken.
"What do you think? Take a wild guess! If I only had enough time to slay one more dragon, but I guess it's for the better." Shinken turned slowly around and started to walk away, but Ritsu grabs him at his armor and holds him back.
"What do you mean its for the better! Aren't you afraid of dying! Krad is your family and that's how you treat him! Answer me damn it!" Ritsu yelled at him, but Shinken didn't respond to his question. He then stopped and drew his sword and pointed it towards Ritsu.
"You are telling me that you're ready to get Krad back from this chaos, even if your own life is one the line? Are you that foolish? To go to a place where your life could be devoured just because you want to help a person who you've know since a few months and is even your sworn blood enemy! Are you really ready to try and save his life!" Shinken roared back at Ritsu.
"I will bring Krad back, I promised that to Keira"
Shinken stared at him for a few seconds, then he sighed relieving sigh as a white path opened itself through the fog beneath his feet and sheathed his sword.
"Very well, dragon-user. Follow me, I will guide you to where Krad is. However, you will not like the sight of it." Shinken warned as he walked ahead, Ritsu was still hesitating.
"How can we even trust you? You tried to kill me and my friends so many times!" Ritsu demanded, but Shinken didn't turn around, he just continued to walk on.
"If you don't believe me that's your choice, but if you want to search forever inside this fog go ahead, I wont stop you. If you want to follow me, then that's your choice as well, but keep in mind your time limit is less than 30 minutes, so decide quickly before Krad's mind collapses." Shinken answered back.
"I'm afraid we don't have any choice. What if he is right about the time limit? We cannot risk another zero-reverse, even if it's a small version" Belial said looking at Ritsu, who was putting his thoughts together. Then he jumped from Belials back onto the path, following Shinken.
"Lead the way, Shinken, but no tricks!" Ritsu warned ready for a assault, but Shinken didn't respond, he just quietly walked on.
Outside again
"His heart-rate has calmed down, but what was that?" Satoshi asked as Akira came running with new wet towels to Ritsu as Yuki washed the blood from his lips, looking towards the heart-rate of Krad with an worried look.
"This is not good, Krad's heart-rate is going down, we are losing him. Whatever your doing in there Ritsu, do it fast" she prayed, while Yuzuki was holding Ritsu's hand, she yelped when his body twitched
"Ritsu, be safe." Yuzuki thought
Inside Krad's Mind
The three have left the fog behind them as they walked through a space filled with glowing screens, Ritsu noticed a screen showing him and Krad dueling.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you looks can be deceiving? I activate Raikou's Ability, by discarding one dragon-type monster from my hand, Raikou gains attack equal to the attack of the discarded monster when he battles!"
"Say what!" Ritsu watched as his recorded Raikou was about to unleash his attack until the screen just broke apart, one of the shards just fell next to his feet.
"What the hell? What just happened Shinken?" Ritsu asked watching the shard disappearing next to his feet.
"This part of his mind is already on the verge of collapsing, his memories of short events will fade away, but I think we must worry now about that. Look!" Shinken yelled, pointing towards a figure slowly walking like a dead man. When Ritsu looked closer, he recognized who it was.
"Krad! Finally we've found you! Come on, let's go back!" Ritsu called out to him, but Krad didn't even budged or stop.
"Krad, it's us! Wait for us!" Belial roared, dashing towards him. But when Krad turned his head around, Ritsu gasped in shock.
Krad's skin was totally grey, there were even some cracks in his face, around his eyes, they looked totally empty towards him. A barrier materialized around him and repelled Belial.
"Krad, what's going on! Don't you recognize us?" Ritsu yelled to him, as the entire space started to shake, a giant fissure opened behind Krad's feet containing complete darkness. Krad was on the verge of the fissure as he looked towards Ritsu
"Help me." Krad whispered as he fell head on into the shadows, disappearing into them. Ritsu's eyes widened in shock as he dashed right towards the fissure, but before he reached the edge something inside of him held him back. His hands were shaking as he stared down towards the fissure. He looked back seeing Belial unleashing furious attacks against the barrier.
"Give it up you overgrown lizard! That barrier cannot be destroyed by a dragon like you, you're wasting your energy!" Shinken spat out as he walked through the barrier towards Ritsu who was staring down the endless darkness.
"What is down there? It's like a hungry beast is staring towards me…" Ritsu said with an uneasy feeling as the skeleton knight moved closer, he could feel his presence behind him.
"Ritsu, watch out!" Belial roared as Shinken quickly kicked Ritsu in the back not giving him time to react, making him stumble over the edge. Without anything to hold on to, Ritsu fell into the endless abyss of shadows. He saw Shinken at the corner of his eyes disappearing into thin air
"You will find out"
Ch.53 End
Thetrueazure: Sorry for the long wait guys, Finals can really hate a person.
Ritsu: You barely passed them.
Thetrueazure: Guess what? I don't care. Updates will be less frequent because of school, but I will update. Stay tuned.
Ritsu: Well because of Shinken, I was kicked into a abyss of shadows, and there I find Kage, and let me tell you. I don't get the warmest of welcomes.
Next Time: Wounds of the Past
"I will save Krad! And you won't stop me!"