Thetrueazure: Wow, long update for a long chapter. We finally get to see Krad's sealed memories.

Ritsu: Will I be able to save him. Read and find out.

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.54 Wounds of the Past.

Ritsu was falling through the deepest darkness he has ever known he couldn't even see his hand right in front of his face.

"Is this the darkness which lived inside of Krad for this long? It feels so…heavy and yet… so "He muttered as suddenly a bright light blinded him.

When he opened his eyes again he found himself in the middle of the Shopping center, people were all around him, walking in a hurry past him. He looked a bit closer and saw a Christmas tree behind him with a giant Santa Claus Robot giving out presents to small children, screaming in joy. He even heard Christmas songs and smelled the cinnamon coming from the shops, their faceless owners presented them.

"Whoa, why am I in the middle of the Christmas market? Why is something like this in Krad's memory?" Ritsu wondered as in the same moment, a small boy with a bright red hat and winter coat ran right through him. Ritsu almost fell onto his knees his hands were placed at the same spot where the boy ran through.

"Oh man, this place is getting weirder and weirder" He thought, looking up to the boy, who ran cheerfully through the crowd.

"Daddy wait for me!" A small boy cried out, grabbing the sleeve of an adult with black hair and a small mustache, carrying a bag in his other hand while smoking a cigarette in his mouth. When Ritsu looked closer, he looked exactly like Krad, except for that silly looking beard and his pitch black hair.

"Sheesh, lil' man, don't wander off all the time! Your mother and big sis are going to be worried again!" He ruffled his head revealing black hair beneath his hat which confused Ritsu.

"Black hair? Why does Krad have black hair now? Well, I am going to find out eventually"Ritsu though, following the two, people just walked through him, not even noticing him at all, trying to find out, where they are going.

He followed the two through the whole market; they stopped at every second window to look in. Ritsu giggled a bit, seeing Krad wanting to go into every bakery and eat some cake, that attribute of his hasn't changed one bit. After a while, they arrived at a small car, where two people were waiting, one was a girl his age with ebony black hair reaching down to her hips, with some pink Hair strands hanging into her face, brown eyes just as Krad and wearing the old Neo Domino Duel Academy Uniform. She turned around, revealing violet eyes and pink lips, which formed a smile as she saw Krad jumping towards her, hugging her tightly. The other woman was about the same age as his mother right now; she had the same eye color as the girl, only she had very long snow-white hair with a black coat and boots, combined with a white hat.

"You two are late! You should've called telling us you were going to be late. And Dad…" the girl freed herself from Krad and snatched the cigarette from the man's mouth. "…quit smoking in front of my little brother, that's a bad role model!" she scolded him, making him groan.

"You are just like your mother Selena, always setting your brother at top priority, cut me some slack OK." he answered back when Krad pulled on his jacket, looking at him with big puppy eyes.

"I'm hungry. When are we going to eat?" Krad's stomach was growling out loud, making the two sigh. Krad was suddenly hugged by the woman behind him. Her loving eyes looked down to him.

"Just have patience, we are going home soon and then we will have dinner there, okay?" she said in a soft voice, Krad cheerfully held onto her arms as his father just opened the car door lighting another cigarette.

"Alright everyone, let's get going, its getting late!" he said, while opening the door for his wife. Krad crawled into the back of the car, followed by his sister. The doors closed and the car started to drive off leaving Ritsu in his thoughts.

"Uhm, how am I supposed to follow them? I can't run after a car, I should have taken my Runner with me."he grumbled while walking down the road.

"Ah, if it isn't Inazuma's Familiar… Pleased to meet you, 'Leader'" Kage's mocking voice appeared behind Ritsu who turned around quickly seeing the evolved Form of Belial sitting on building not far from him, looking at him with his vicious eyes and his tail was waving around like an animal preparing to attack. Ritsu wanted to activate his duel disk when he noticed that he neither had his disk or his cards with him.

"You! What are you doing here! What have you done to Krad!" Ritsu yelled towards the dragon who looked at him with amusement. He got up and stretched his arms, yawning at Ritsu, showing a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

"What did I do? Simple, I just opened the one part of his mind which he had sealed. It took me a while, but now I was able to enter all of his memories, including those he forgotten. His nightmares will be very delicious when I get to them"Kage answered while licking his mouth in excitement.

"Krad is not food for you! Fix this mess which you caused and give him back!" Ritsu demanded, but all Kage did was sit down and look at the approaching shadows.

"Hmph, time to leave, don't want to get caught in that"Kage grumbled as he spread his wings and flew into the air flying over Ritsu's head away

"Hey, get back here! We aren't finished!" Ritsu yelled as he chased him, running through immaterial people and cars. Kage turned his head towards him and stuck his big tongue out enraging Ritsu even more.

"Damn you! Don't think you can get away from me Kage!" Ritsu was dashing after Kage, not paying attention, what happens behind him.

Every step he took to catch up with Kage a part of the world disappeared behind him, dissolving into nothing only to get engulfed in shadows. Inside of the shadows, Shinken watched him, his sword was sheeted and he was holding Krad's necklace in his hand.

"Succeed, young Dragon User, if you can't save him, then no one can"Shinken thought before he disappeared into the shadows.

After a long hunt, Kage started to fly lower and landed onto an apartment, close to a river. Ritsu arrived shortly, completely out of breath, but his eyes were filled with the same anger as before.

"Just wait up there. I am going to be up there in a second!" Ritsu yelled at him, but Kage only snorted a black flame from his nostrils to that.

"I thought you were looking for Krad. He is inside this building at this floor" Kage answered, pointing with his tail into a lightened window in the third floor.

"How can I trust you?" Ritsu asked as Kage looked at him.

"Are you deaf! Shut up and get up there! This place will collapse in less than 20 minutes! Look behind you!"Kage barked loudly looking at the sky behind Ritsu. When Ritsu turned around he saw the buildings behind him getting devoured by shadows, disappearing into them. The shadows were closing in slowly, but surely. Ritsu didn't know why, but he felt, that something was inside that black fog. Without letting the shadows out of his sight, Ritsu ran through the door and up the stairs to the destined floor.

Ritsu looked at the names on the doors in order to find Kenshin. At the end of the corridor he was lucky and walked through the door, entering the apartment of the Kenshins. As he passed through the door, a photo caught his attention right on a shelf, a picture with Krad and his entire family, the happiness was visible in his face as he was grinning like Ritsu has never seen. He remembers that Krad actually never smiled truthfully only to not worry the others.

"Yay! I got presents!" Ritsu heard the cheerful voice of Krad behind the corner. As he slowly walked into the living room, a big Christmas tree was standing in the corner of the room and next to it Krad was sitting, humming while he was unpacking another present with his sister. His eyes glowed with excitement when he pulled a funny hat out of it and put it on even though it was too big for him as it slides over his eyes. Selena gave her Dad a quite fearful glare as Krad was stumbling around, unable to see anything with his hat. Selena then lifted the hat and put it aside while Krad walked to the tree and grabbed a small packet which he carried back to her and held it towards her.

"What, for me? That's nice of you Credo." She said touched and opened the package in front of Krad. Her beautiful face was quite surprised when she pulled out a pair of golden earrings with an emerald in it. Without any warning she wrapped her arms around Krad and plunged his head into her chest. Her Parents looked quite surprised at the scene even Ritsu felt somehow envious.

"Lucky punk." He muttered, as he saw Krad struggling inside her chest for air.

"Mph! Nee-Chan, I… can't… breath!" Krad whimpered, waking his sister out of her pleasure moment and she looked quite surprised down to him, as he was still trying to escape.

"Oops, sorry about that lil' bro!" She said surprised and released her little brother from her clutches who needed to take a big breath which caused everyone else to laugh.

"Selena, if you don't quit that habit of yours Credo might end up with a sister complex" Krad's mother scolded kindly without looking up from her book.

"Credo? I thought his actual name was Krad?" Ritsu thought.

"Or you could suffocate Credo by accident" Selena's father joked but she gave him an evil glare instead. A loud beeping noise interrupted the family's activities and a very fine smell filled the room.

"Food is ready!" Krad jumped quickly up and dashed towards a room followed by Selena and her mother.

"He surely is like his father, only food is inside his little mind" Selena jested as her mother patted her head.

"Well, let's hope he won't become like his dad, he only has food, dueling and his cigarettes on mind." she said quietly to her as her husband just came in with a big pot in his hands.

"I heard that, darling! And if I may remind you, it was youwho introduced me to dueling, since your entire family likes to duel. Geez, before we could get married, I needed to duel you and win" he remarked before he placed the pot onto the table where a very hungry Krad was sitting.

"Lets eat!" Krad said cheerfully as the rest of the family sat down and started to eat from the pot. What Ritsu could see was rice and big pieces of meat which they enjoyed eating.

"So Krad knew what it meant, to have a family? He looks so happy"Ritsu thought, when all of the sudden the door bell rang. Krad's dad turned around surprised and stood up.

"Who shows up around this time? Perhaps the neighbors who need some salt again." He grumbled, not very pleased about the fact that his dinner was interrupted. He went out of the room followed by a curious Krad and Ritsu. The doorbell didn't cease, but it was a lot faster, annoying Krad's father.

"Yeah, yeah, I am coming!" his hand was already at the knob, when he suddenly froze up and looked through the door spy, a shocked expression filled his eyes. In an instant, he pushed Krad quickly out of the way, making him land onto the floor.

"Get aw-" Krad's father yelled before the door was engulfed in a white flame and he got slammed by the force of the explosion against the wall. Krad quickly rolled himself up and was unharmed by the explosion. When he looked up he saw seven red hooded figures walking in, one of them was holding a card. Krad's father was trying to recover from the blast when another figure pulled out a long sword out of his robe and walked slowly towards him.

"At last, we have found the final survivor of this wretched clan! Kill them all and leave no witnesses!" the first figure hissed, his eyes found Krad on the ground looking at him in terror.

"They have a child, what about him?" the one with the sword asked standing in front of Krad's father who couldn't move a limb because of the pain.

"First we deal with the adults, then the kids come next!" he said coldly as his comrade raised his sword intending to finish his defenseless father off.

"Get away from my family!" Krad's mother roared as a pitch-black aura filled the room making the figures back off. She was completely engulfed in the aura, the same one Ritsu and the others have seen at Krad's duel when he was possessed by Shinken. Selena quickly ran to Krad and pulled him towards the window.

"Selena, go to safety with Credo! I will try and hold them off!" Their mother yelled, standing between the children and the hooded figures.

"Ah, we finally meet again Ryukai Kenshin. Did you really think you could outrun us and start a new life? You must pay for your crimes" the first hooded figure hissed again somehow Ritsu could see his eyes and was shocked when he saw red dragon-like eyes like his own. He turned towards Krad who just saw the same thing and was shivering in fear.

"My family here has no sins! Leave them be and take it out on me! I'm the one you really desire!" she said walking slowly towards the hooded figures, but without any warning, the hooded figure with the blade charged towards her.

"Everyone who associates themselves with a Kenshin is an enemy to the Order and is dealt with the same punishment! Death!" he hissed loud and slashed at her. In that same moment, Krad's Father recovered and pushed her aside, receiving the deadly blade.

"Dad!" Selena screamed out, but the blade already pushed through his chest and blood flew through the air. It splashed onto Krad's face. Ritsu saw the even more shocked face of his mother, when she saw her loved one getting killed.

"NOOO! KAIKEN!" she screamed out, tears ran down her face as her husband's body landed with a hollow sound onto the charred ground. Every chance of saving him was gone, as the life left his eyes. Ritsu only gasped at the sight, but he got a huge scare when he saw the aura of Krad's mother exploding, the edges of it were like tentacles, as it rampages through the room. Her beautiful brown eyes were totally filled with negative energy as it charged towards the person with the sword, smashing him into the wall. Before the others could react, a wall of black flames shrouded the room, separating them from the Kenshin family.

"Don't let them get away! We have come too far to fail now!" Ritsu heard the enraged voices of the unknown enemy. Suddenly, Krad's mother started to cough roughly and blood came out of her eyes, nose and mouth. Even cracks appeared around her face, the same ones, like he has seen on Krad's face, when he entered his mind.

"Mommy? What happened to Daddy?" Krad whimpered with wet eyes, tightly embraced by his sister who tried to cover his eyes so he could not see his father.

Her hatred-filled face clamed itself and she turned around, a beautifully smile was on her face, as she walked slowly towards Krad and Selena.

"Daddy went to sleep dear, for a very long time. Mommy will also go to sleep soon." She said in a soft voice, but Ritsu knew she said this in despair, knowing she couldn't escape her pursuers. Selena's eyes widened in shock, but she also began to realize what was more important.

"Will we see you again? I don't wanna go" Krad asked knowing that something was about to happen. Selena let him go so he could give a final farewell to her parent.

She kneeled down to him and gave him a very passionate hug with a long kiss on his forehead, before she let him go, tears were running down her face. She untied something attached to her neck and when she had is in her hands, Ritsu saw the same necklace which Krad has been wearing.

"This is the greatest treasure of our bloodline Credo. You carry the same name as our founder so you are its true successor. Guard it with your very life Credo. Now only you can carry out the final task the Kenshin have been trying to achieve…" she said to him, before she wrapped the necklace around his neck and then she looked at Selena who was in tears.

"Selena, I ask you as a mother, please look after Credo for me. My time has come" she pleads, as she hugs her daughter tightly and remained so.

"No, don't tell me she's-"Ritsu said out loud as the black flames intensified.

She finally let go and opened the window behind them, looking towards the black fire wall, which was torn down by their pursuers. She stood up and the black aura surrounded her again, but this time, countless cracks opened around her body and from each one of them, negative energy was steaming out, making the cracks grow larger. The air around her got sucked into the cracks as her body was filled by cracks

"Take cover!" One of the hooded men screamed as the rest of the other tried to get cover. She turned her head around and smiled towards their children. Ritsu watched in shock how her arm started to flake away, only pure black mass was below her skin pulling itself together.

"Live on, my children…." She whispered before the cracks in her body broke open and the shadows entered her body, forming a black sphere in the center of her body.

"MOOMMM!"

Selena quickly grabbed the screaming Krad and jumped throughout the window, before her mother collapsed into a black sphere and emitted such a powerful shockwave that it pushed her children back so they couldn't get caught in the blast radius.

The moment Krad was tossed through the window, the entire room blackened, and started to vanish in ominous shadows which were grabbing after Ritsu's body. The mere touch was like acid, as it touched his clothes.

"OK, that's not a part of these memories. Time to go now!" Ritsu ran towards the window.

The moment he was outside the building it started to shake violently, gigantic cracks formed in the walls and the room was totally clouded in shadows. Ritsu watched as the entire building was starting disintegrating and was followed by a massive explosion which tore through sky.

Ritsu was barely outside the blast-radius, when he got slammed by the explosion and flew with a dangerous speed towards the ground, head-on! With nothing to hold on, he fell helplessly, until a very strong grip grabbed his legs and abruptly stopped his falling. When Ritsu looked up he couldn't believe who he saw.

"Geez, saving you is one pain in the butt. What's Inazuma doing? Sleeping?"he groaned while he was holding one of Ritsu's legs and flying over the building.

"I don't need your help Kage! You are the main reason why Krad is in this state! Let me…." Ritsu shouted, but before he could end his sentence, Kage just tossed him into a trash can, crashing into it with a loud bang.

"How very impolite to talk that way to the being that saved your pathetic hide. If you would have landed on the ground your head would have looked like a smashed pumpkin and your body would have been dead!" Kage remarked before he landed onto another roof looking towards Ritsu with an amused look on his face as Ritsu was crawling out of the container a rotten banana was in his hair.

Ritsu could hear the mocking laugher of Kage. His attention to him was instantly gone as the two siblings rushed through him, running from the pursuers. They quickly ran around a corner, in order to catch their breath, while Selena was peeked around the corner to see if their pursuers were still after them. Krad and Selena had merely few bruises, but she couldn't look at Krad's blood-drenched face.

"That suicidal woman! She almost killed us! Find those brats and dispose of them! They can't escape!" The leader's voice came around the corner; Ritsu saw the torn robed people one of them was missing an arm, while the others had merely burned scratches.

"Mother, it didn't work, why? They were so close by" Selena hissed, hot tears ran down her cheek, as she was holding her left arm, it was more damaged then it looked. She looked down to Krad, who was tightly holding her hand, his eyes were totally red of tears and he was shivering, since he was only walking in his socks and they were totally torn in glass shards.

"Big-sis, are we going to be alright? Where are mom and dad?" he asked very scared, holding her hand even tighter. She kneeled down to him, trying to brush the blood away from his wet cheeks.

"Credo, I am going to be honest, but you have to understand: Mom and Dad aren't here anymore and now we have to look out for ourselves" she tried to explain to him, but her voice was caught up in her tears, the more she tried, the more the tears came out

"I can't imagine how that feels, watching both of your parents die right in front of you and not being able to do anything." Ritsu thought

"They're close! I can feel their presence, spread out and find them! Leave no one alive!" The leader yelled out, getting a laugher of the group.

Ritsu was burning with anger towards those bastards and the fact that he can only watch.

"Credo, you must escape on your own. I will try and hold them off as long as possible. When I go, you need to run as far and as fast as you can! You are the only Kenshin left, you mustn't let our bloodline die" she tried to explain, her messed hair was hanging into her face, as she slowly let his tiny hand go, but he grabbed it with both hands and just refused to let go.

"Nee-Chan is mean! I don't want to be alone! Please don't leave me! I promise I will be good, PLEASE don't leave me!" he begged her, not letting her hand go.

"Credo, be strong, I thought you wanted to be a strong man who could protect me like you said? What would dad say if he would be here?" she tried to comfort him, but she couldn't get free from his grip. Knowing that the danger was closing in, she grabbed his cheek and pressed her lips towards his little mouth. His eyes widened in surprise.

"What the hell!" Ritsu yelled

She pulled away, blushing herself a bit, and stood up, her fingers were brushing over her lips.

"Did that feel better little Credo? I was actually saving that for a boyfriend, but that does not matter anymore" she brushed her tears with her arm away and gave him her best smile. Ritsu saw though, it was a fake smile. But it was more then enough to fool little Krad.

"Sort…of" he replied, he was still red while he was staggering around.

"Tell you what; be a good boy and go to a safe place and wait for me. When I come, I will give you another one, okay?" she asked him while he was still confused.

"Will you promise?"

"I will" she replied, holding her small finger out "Pinky promise" Credo also held his small finger out and they both entwined them around each other.

"I love you nee-Chan, please come back." Krad said before he gave her one final hug and stayed in that position for a while.

"I will come back, don't you worry" she assured him.

After that long hug, Krad let go of her and started to run for it leaving her back. Again, shadows started to engulf the area where Krad left and Ritsu needed to make a run for it in order to not get devoured by them.

He followed the Krad through the snowy alleys, until he reached an old bridge where there was no soul at all. Ritsu recognized that bridge, it was torn down years ago, so why was it here? Suddenly Ritsu heard something was moving behind them, something big and it moved very fast with a pair of flapping wings towards their location. He thought first that it was Kage, but then he saw that Krad was hearing it as well. A long and loud roar echoed through the alley as Krad started to run like crazy, as the roaring noise came closer. Ritsu looked up and saw Kage flying above him a very serious look was on his face as he saw the creature before.

"Of all the wicked monsters, I never thought, he was here!"Kage hissed angry, a hint of fear was inside his voice.

When he uttered those words Ritsu turned around and saw the monster charging out of the alley. It had a white serpent-like body, a pair of violet wings and two thin arms with razor-sharp claws. Its red eyes were glowing towards Krad, who didn't cease to run, but he was in shock as he saw the creature.

"Finally, the last Dragon Slayer lies before me and it's a young brat. You should give me less trouble then the girl"the wyvern-like dragon snickered. Those words were enough to stop Krad from running and he turned around in disbelief. He balled his little hands to fist as anger was flowing through his eyes.

"Nee-Chan? What have you done to nee-Chan?" He yelled towards the beast, his legs were shaking as he was slowly walking backwards.

"Ooh, that girl was your sister? Then maybe I should give this to you"It picked something from its mouth and spat the earring of Selena in front of Krad's feet.

"That bastard!" Ritsu gritted his teeth

Krad sunk onto his knees and reached out for the earring, but it turned into dust before he could even touch it. Hot tears ran down his cheeks, as he realized, that everything he had and loved was gone forever. He didn't even notice the dragon coiling his tail around his body and lifted him into the air.

"Caught in total despair are we? Well, that won't satisfy me, you shall die in agony and the knowledge that you couldn't save anyone, not even yourself Kenshin brat!"the dragon hissed and then he started to squeeze the life out of little Krad while he was screaming in pain.

"Bastard! Leave him alone!" Ritsu ran towards the dragon and tried to attack it, but he phased through the dragon as if it wasn't really there.

Kage only watched Ritsu's futile actions and shook his head. His eyes wandered to Krad again who didn't have the strength to scream any more. The dragon released him from his coiling grip and let him fall onto the ground. Ritsu quickly ran over to him, only to see to his horror that Krad's body was limp.

"Time to end the job! Farewell!"the dragon started to gather grey energy particles into his mouth, as it formed into a gigantic sphere. Krad's eyes slowly closed, as so did the world around him, Ritsu was in a complete realm of darkness, the only thing he saw was Krad on the floor.

"Do you want power?" a voice asked out of nowhere. Krad didn't respond while Ritsu was looking around worried. Kage on the other hand knew what was going on. "Do you not want power, Kenshin-heir? They have taken everything from you and you just let it happen?" the voice asked again, this time it had a sense of anger inside it.

"Yes…I…want…" Little Krad was trying to utter those words, but he only coughed up more blood.

"Will you give your soul and body for the will of the Kenshins? Your whole existence will be only there for the extermination of these wretched magical creatures, dragons and spirits alike will be your enemy! Will you accept this pact?"The voice asked again.

"…yes…" Krad answered will the last of his strength as he saw the dragon released its flame attack towards him. Ritsu got blinded by the flash and covered his eyes.

"Then the pact is complete, Credo Kenshin. You shall be reborn as Krad, the Dark Genocide of magical creatures!"

Krad's necklace started to glow in an ominous red aura, which deflected the flame blast of the dragon, like water against a wall. Young Krad got levitated into the air and he was surrounded by the same aura which Ritsu knew.

"Shinken is coming"Ritsu thought, but his gut was saying otherwise. This aura felt much older, and almost as sinister as Apollyon himself.

Suddenly, the necklace broke open and countless black orbs shot right out of it. When Ritsu looked closer, he saw glowing skulls inside the orbs as they floated around young Krad. Then in one instant, they charged towards his body, entering it as he suddenly starts to scream in agony, the next orb entered his body the shadows were pulsing throughout his body.

One of the orbs barely touched his arm, but that was enough for it, to almost rip his mind apart. Visions shot through his head, seeing a massive battlefield, drenched in a blood red color, as he saw the Dark Knights charging towards Duel Spirits. He tried to cover his eyes and ears, but he felt the screams of pain on both sides and he saw how they fought each other with both sides filled with only one thing. Hatred. Pure hatred was on this battlefield, the Dark Knights were slaughtering the Duel Spirits without mercy. The mere thought made his head scream out in pain as he wished desperately that those visions would stop.

In the Order

Everyone looked in shock as Ritsu started to bleed from his nose and eyes. Yuzuki was freaking out and tried her best to wipe the blood from him.

"What's happening? Why is he bleeding?" Yuzuki asked frantically

"Something is reacting with him." Yuki said

A strong hand grabbed him at his jacket, as his body got lifted into the air. Almost blinded by the pain inside his head, he looked up and saw Kage carrying him onto a roof and dropped him there.

"Close one, a second later and you would have gone insane"Kage said without letting Krad or the serpent-like dragon out of his sight.

Ritsu coughed hard as he slowly stood up again, his vision was blurry and he could barely see something, but he certainly heard the agonized screams of Krad, as the dark orbs continually entered his body.

"What's going on down there? What is happening to Krad, Kage?" he asked him while the screams of his young friend were torturing him, making him feel useless.

"All Kenshins have sealed their hatred and negative emotions into an artifact, which is passed down to generation to generation. What you see now is the hatred of 1300 years flowing through Krad's vein, making him the most fearsome hunter ever. He will not rest, until he has rid the entire world of magical creatures, dragons and all other creatures"Kage said worried, but it didn't make sense for Ritsu.

"If Krad was such a person, what brought this change? He wouldn't even harm a fly, even in his sleep"

As the last orb entered Krad's body, his entire body changed. His black hair was the snow-white Ritsu knew and his wounds were even healed. Black markings were covering half of his face, giving him an even eviler look. But the thing, which worried him the most, was his eyes.
Krad's eyes were filled with such deep hatred, that even the dragon and Kage felt it. It was like staring into a pit without a ground. The changed Krad flexed his hands and looked then towards the dragon, who watched every move of his. The air around him started to boil as pieces of the bridge started to levitate into the air.

"I, Krad Kenshin swear an oath to my ancestors: until the day I breathe my last breath, I will not stop, until I have rid the entire planet of you scum! Along with your human familiar! Neither old or young will stand before my mercy and I will kill all of you!"Krad yelled out, as he was surrounded in a blood red light, which consumed the entire bridge, blinding Ritsu and Kage.

When they opened their eyes again, they didn't believe it at first until they really saw what happened. The entire bridge was decimated, there was no trace left of it at all, only Krad was in its center on a platform which was hovering above the river, a wicked smile was across his face.

"Oh? You actually survived that? Not bad for an over-grown lizard"he said arrogantly, as he looked towards his opponent, whose body was completely torn up.

"Curse you Dragon Slayer! Mark my words, on my honor as a dragon lord, I, Avaritia, I WILL GET YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!"The dragon roared in anger, before he retreated into the sky, vanishing through a portal.

When he was gone, Krad's body started to stagger and then he fell head on into the river, disappearing into it. And again the world started to be engulfed into shadows.

"Come, Ritsu Himuro. You don't have much time, or things will turn ugly very soon."Kage said and grabbed him at his jacket before he launched himself into the air, following the body of Krad.

"Krad, what happened to you?" Ritsu thought

Outside

Krad's pulse started to grow weaker as Keira tried her best to stay calm.

"Ritsu please hurry, Krad won't last much longer like this." Keira said as she shed a tear "I'm begging you."

Then out of nowhere, multiple cracks formed around Krad's head and body, a black mass was coming out of them.

"What's happening!" Kurogasa asked in shock as Kuraki gripped his arm tightly.

"His darkness is beginning to leak out." Raikou explained "If this keeps up, then we're all goners."

Kage and Ritsu made it to the end of the river where they saw Krad in his teen form laying face down as a large mass of darkness was behind him.

"Krad!" Ritsu yelled as he ran over to him, only to be attacked by a dragon tail from the shadows "What!" Ritsu looked at the shadows as they began to for a massive black dragon that made Apollyon look like a kitten compared to this creature.

"Get ready, that is the combined malice of all of the slain dragons that were killed over the years." Kage said as he summoned a massive doubled edge sword and readied it.

"Alright Kage. Attack that thing with Nightmare Flame!" Kage sent out a shock wave of black flames towards the massive dragon who didn't even flinch at the opposition. "What! There's not even a scratch on him!"

"Pathetic." The black dragon growled and created a large black fireball "A dragon of shadows has no hope of defeating me!" The dragon fired the massive fireball at the two, who dodged the attack.

"Kage, what are we suppose to do? None of your attacks are working!" Ritsu asked

"You have to call Inazuma if we have any hope of defeating this thing!" Kage told Ritsu

"If didn't notice already, I don't have my duel disk or my cards with me!" Ritsu yelled as the dragon fired another fireball.

"You don't need those things." Kage said "Just call his name, and hurry!"

Ritsu noticed the fireball closing the distance; Ritsu closed his eyes and focused his elemental attribute "Come forth! Inazuma!" Ritsu screamed at the top of his lungs as a golden aura shot out of him and the evolved form of Raikou deflected the attack.

"You called?" Inazuma asked as Ritsu fell to his rear.

"Oh my god. There goes 20 years off of my life." Ritsu said as he saw Krad get on his knees "Krad!" Ritsu ran towards Krad and saw that he didn't have any light in his eyes; it's as if he didn't have a soul anymore

"Why?" Krad asked without any emotion "Why did they have to die? Why didn't they take me instead?"

Ritsu clenched his fist "Krad! Time for you to grit those teeth!" Krad looked at Ritsu and that a fist connected to his face with vicious power that sent him rolling on the ground, Ritsu held up his fist "Have you finally snapped out of it?"

Krad held the place Ritsu hit with his hand as light began to fill his eyes "Why are you doing this? You're better off without me, I'm a dragon slayer. Sooner or later, you're going to die by may hands so why delay the inevitable?" Krad received another punch, this time in the nose.

"Do you have any idea what the hell you're saying!" Ritsu said as he saw Kage and Inazuma battle the massive dragon. Ritsu pointed at the dragon "That thing will cause a mini Zero Reverse, killing all of our friends! You have to accept your darkness or we're all goners!"

"But I can't." Krad said as his head bowed in shame "I've hurt too many people."

"Yeah, you did." Ritsu said as he knelt down towards him "But the ones who stuck with you even when you hurt them. Those are your true friends." Ritsu pointed at Krad's chest "Your family may be dead, but they will always live on in your heart."

Krad gave a small smirk which made the massive dragon angry.

"What are you doing!" The massive dragon was about to prepare another attack, only to be intercepted by Kage and Inazuma.

"You know pal, we work well together." Kage said with a smirk.

"We're always in sync, so I'm not surprised." Inazuma smirked towards Kage.

Ritsu held out his hand "What do you say Krad, how about we give that darkness a warm welcome and fight the good fight?"

"Heh, you always know how to fix a problem." Krad took Ritsu's hand and stood beside him. The massive dragon looked furious.

"You bastards! Who the hell do you think you are!"

Ritsu smirked "Who are we? Isn't it obvious?" Inazuma floated above Ritsu "I am Ritsu Himuro! Wielder of light and the leader of the Elemental Dragons!"

Kage floated above Krad and nodded "I am Krad Kenshin! Heir to the Kenshin bloodline and wielder of shadows!"

"It doesn't matter! You are almost out of time before this world collapses and your pathetic lives come to an end!" The dragon growled causing Inazuma to smirk.

"Then I guess we should end it quickly. Ready Kage, we're doing 'that'" Inazuma said, making Ritsu and Krad look at him.

"What do you mean?" Krad asked

"It's time we combined!" Kage said as his sword vanished in black flames

"Element fuse! Light!" Inazuma yelled

"Darkness!" Kage said as a bright light filled the area, blinding Krad, Ritsu and the massive dragon

"What the hell is going on?" The dragon asked as the light dispersed, revealing a two legged dragon with two white wings and two black wings with grey scales, wielding two black double edged swords and started at the dragon with one eye being blue and the other, red. "Who the hell are you!"

"We are the Chaos Dragon, Twilight!" A mix between Kage and Inazuma's voice said "Prepare yourself because your time is up!" Twilight raised both of his blades in the air as they glowed with white and black flames.

"Ready Krad." Ritsu asked as Krad nodded "Go! Twilight!"

"Attack it with Chaos Flame Slash!" Twilight slashed the dragon as it disappeared in a mass of shadows; Krad walked over to the cloud of darkness and held out his hand "In the name of the Kenshin bloodline, I, Krad Kenshin, accept the darkness!" The darkness disappeared in a flash of light as Krad turned to Ritsu "We should go now."

Ritsu nodded

Outside

The dark coloring in Krad's veins began to disappear as his pulse returned to normal as everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"Is it over?" Satoshi asked

"Looks like it." Shiko replied as they saw Ritsu's eyes open and sit up

"Ritsu!" Yuzuki gave Ritsu a crushing hug, not intending to let go anytime soon.

"Need….air." Ritsu muttered as Yuzuki loosened her grip, letting Ritsu breath.

"Is Krad coming?" Keira asked as Ritsu smiled.

"Why don't you ask him?" Ritsu motioned towards Krad, who was sitting up with a tired look on his face.

"Hey Keira." Krad said as he saw tears flowing down her face.

"Krad." Keira wrapped her arms around him and began to cry "Thank goodness you're OK."

Krad ran his fingers through her hair "Yeah and I'm here to stay."

"I can vouch for that." Shinken appeared in front of Krad, causing everyone to get ready

"Wait guys. He won't hurt you anymore." Krad said as Shinken got on one knee and bowed his head.

"I will follow you into battle, my master. And I will protect you from now on." Shinken said and disappeared into the necklace. Awaiting for an order.

"Mom." Yuki looked at Ritsu. "I need to talk to dad. It's important."

Ch.54 End

Thetrueazure: Sorry for the long update. Anyways, Krad has accepted his darkness and in return obtained his abilities.

Ritsu: Agion was the one who sent the idea to us, so credit to him and we hope he gets well soon.

Akira: Hey guys, Looks like me and Nami will be tag dueling against Crow and Luna. Only it won't be Crow dueling and we find out something that you won't believe.

Next Time: Yugioh 5D's Power of the Six Elements; Water's Current and Changing Winds

"Ready Nami?"