"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.

'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.

(One hour later.) = Time skip.

~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.

"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.

[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.

{Gate} = Spell name.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(At the [Great Rau River] on board the [Ol' Isles] to [Mismede].)

As the aftermath of the pirate ambush as well as the death of Benson became apparent. Repairs and tending to the wounded was top priority, Lyon grimaced as he knows that the rest of the Knights he had under his command to the brunt of the casualties, from the 16 that was with them and split to man the sloops, only a mere 6 remain - 7 if he didn't exclude himself, and 3 of them were wounded!

He berated himself for not acting sooner and easing the casualties, the only saving grace he could find solace in was that he was largely able to repel the attack with the help of the adventurers and Quinn's crewmates. Still, it left a bad taste in his mouth along with dishonoring his title as a Knight.

Garn wasn't doing much better either, under his leadership of the 14 Mismedian guards that came with him, only 5 came out alive while another 4 were gravely injured. He gave priority to the wounded and ordered his remaining men to tend to them.

Luckily, Linze was working around the clock, going from person to person and healing them, Touya was not too far off. Trailing behind her and healing the others as well.

Which brought to them the elephant of the room. The two people affected by the events the most. Yumina and Touya, but for different reasons.

For Touya, it was the fact that he had chosen to take his first human life, despite Benson's despicable attitude and his unjustifiable actions. Touya still took matters into his own hands and killed the disgraced noble, his mind scrambling to justify his actions as his morals made him regret his actions even if it was justifiable in the eyes of everyone there.

Even as he went around to heal anyone who needed it, people could see that his mind was elsewhere.

As for Yumina, she blamed herself for getting caught, she so stubbornly insisted to go out there and fight even when Kohaku told her not to, despite the divine beast's warnings, Yumina still went out and tried to help, only for her to get overwhelmed as the confined battlefield of a ship meant that he bow's range was neglected and that using magic spells was a no go for the same reasons.

Imagine her surprise and horror when she found out the one behind all of this was none other than Benson - She tried to fight back but even with how skilled she was in comparison, the overwhelming numbers of pirates meant that one way or another she would fall, and she did, she got captured and tried to scream for help. She prayed that Touya would come and rescue her.

And he did.

He did with absolute certainty.

She watched in awe as he ruthlessly cut through the number of pirates that tried to stand in his way, in that moment, Yumina couldn't look away as she saw Touya uncharacteristically sew his opponents. Uncaring for them as he kept going, wanting to save her and when he jumped onto the ship. His one liner even sent chills down her spine. She never saw… Never knew that Touya would hold this much hatred and anger.

Sure, that time when that Steel Fangs party tried to jump him, he was sadistic in punishing them and had no quarrels in doing the same to Poison Snakes, but compared to what he did now? It was like he was a whole different person altogether.

And then she saw him make a difficult decision - She saw him end a life in order to save hers.

Despite this, he wasted no time in comforting her - Holding her close even when she knew that the one who needed the most comfort was him, but in the state she was currently in at the time. She didn't think too much as she only wanted to be close to the person she loved but now with the situation having died down, Yumina found herself unable to figure out the best way to help Touya out of his thoughts.

Sadly, neither she nor anyone else could help Touya for now, even Lyon and Garn advised that he may need some time to be let alone - This was par course for anyone as a soldier who had their first kill would act like, brooding and distinct. Mauling over their thoughts and about the hard decision they made.

The party members reluctantly agreed to give him space, but they worried for him, the two older men insisted that this is the best course of action for now. Touya just needed some time to cool off and think about his decision.

So they did, leaving him to his own devices even as they reached the Port City of [Mismede].

The trip, thankfully, went without a hunch, a blessing after the ambush at land and at sea. Just as the convoy was departing from [Ol' Isles], Olga apologized to Captain Quinn. Saying that she didn't expect that such events would occur.

The older man shook his head and said that it was not her fault nor anyone from the convoy. If anything, he was sorry for not acting fast enough to avoid such an event in the first place and expressed his sorrows to the men and women that died on the three of the five sloops that were escorting [Ol' Isles].

Olga nodded, sharing the man's sorrows as he went back to his ship to oversee further repairs, grumbling about how the ship may need to be in drydocks if the patched up holes in the hull were any indication. Once they were done talking, Touya was one of the first to leave the ship, the others wanted to go after him but the words of Lyon and Garn echoed in their minds and reluctantly decided not to go after him.

Though he did say he would only go around town to take his mind off of the events that had transpired. They saw him leave without saying another word, while the girls wanted nothing more than to comfort him in his time of need. They decided to trust in Lyon and Garn's words. Hoping for the best.

Nobody noticed that Sally was nowhere to be seen.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(Within the streets of the Mismedian Port Town.)

Touya made his way through the busy streets of the Mismedian town, trying to avoid bumping into anyone while his mind raced - Still debating on whether killing Benson truly was the best decision he could make at that moment.

He turned around a corner and found a secluded alleyway. He entered it and slowly made his way through until he met a deadend. He turned, colliding his back against the wall and slid down as he could finally gather his thoughts alone and uninterrupted.

'Did I… Did I do the right thing…?' He asked himself, hands trembling as he hallucinated the blood appearing and disappearing on them. Clenched his hands and suddenly stood, striking the nearby wall he was leaning on and leaving a sizable crack on it.

He backed away from it, realizing he just damaged property and it fueled his frustration even more. He let out an exasperated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, trying to ease his scrambled thoughts but it did very little, the harsh headache he tried to suppress was now unbearable. He could hear the rapid beating of his heart.

His brow was sweating as he felt himself getting nauseous, his eyes twitching. Dizziness slowly creeped up on him. He felt his conscious fading, he stumbled backwards and was looking like he was gonna pass out in this alley.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind."

Then he felt something on his back, he snapped his head the moment he felt a slight touch from his backside, he saw Sally, hugging him, her chest pushing up against his back and if his mind wasn't such a mess at the moment he would've enjoyed the soft feel of her pressing on him. Unfortunately that was not the case here.

He stood still, breathing still heavy. He tried to calm his nerves but he couldn't, gritting his teeth, his eyes closed shut and was too preoccupied to recognize the feeling of Sally's chest pressing on him, even if they were comfortable.

"You're worrying the girls, Touya." She stated. He slowly opened his eyes and just now noticed the fact that she didn't address him as Master like she usually does, hell, he noticed that she wasn't even smiling nor was she grinning, "And you're worrying me."

At her words, at her tone, all thoughts inside of his mind ceased, the concern he heard from her voice, the look she gave him made him feel bad for even overthinking about his decision.

"I- I… I-" He choked, not knowing how to express himself.

She let go, the warmth he felt from her leaving and he slightly winced only to be reignited again as she guided him to turn around and face her, now Sally could have a clearer look at him. While he tried to keep a strong front, she could see the inner turmoil from within - the eyes were the windows to the soul after all.

She shook her head, she raised her arms and grasped the back of his head, guiding him towards her and hugging his head close to her chest.

"You don't need to act strong here, no one's looking, let it all out now." The moment she said those words. Touya broke down, all the willpower he used to hold onto his emotions finally gave way. Returning the hug as he cried uncontrollably into her chest. Sally gently caressed his head, patting him as he continued to empty his eyes out of tears.

"I- I- Don't know if I did the right thing!" He squeaked, the weight of his choice causing his knees to give out, collapsing yet Sally held onto him, kneeling with him, "He didn't give me a choice! That bastard was ready to kill Yumina! I- I didn't know what to do!-"

"Shhhh, let it all out." She cooed, planting a kiss on his head as she held him close, Touya choked again, sniffing as he tried to calm himself, helped by the warm hug Sally was giving him.

He whimpered as Sally continued to caress his head, whispering sweet words into his ears, he kept his head firmly within her chest and sobbed. He let out all of his bottled up emotions into the comfort of Sally's embrace. She continued to comfort him with no complaints, content in being the one he could hold onto.

"He threatened to kill Yumina, right?" Sally asked, stroking his head, "You didn't do anything wrong, in fact, I think what you did deserved praise."

"Wha- What do you mean-?" Touya wept, despite his voice being muffled, she could hear his words loud and clear.

A sigh left Sally's mouth as she shifted her position to have Touya's eyes popping out of her chest, she stared deeply into his eyes. They were red from all of the crying he had and she could see that he was about as mentally tired as he is physically. She sighed in her mind as she racked her brain on what words to use for the young man before her.

"Remember when Elze asked when you were worried that something might've happened to them because of that party, Poison Snakes?" Sally inquired, Touya nodded slowly, taking that as her que, she continued, "What was it that you said?"

"Th-That I would save them, no matter w-what…" Touya mumbled.

"And what would you do for Yumina and Yae?"

"I'd- I'd save them too."

Sally smiled, it wasn't her usual smile, but a sincere one, a warm and inviting smile that would brighten up one's day, and for Touya, it was the most beautiful smile he saw her give.

"Exactly, and you did." Sally emphasized, "You saved her, you saved Yumina, if you hadn't killed Benson right then and there, who knows what would happen? He might try again and even succeed! But you didn't let that happen. You saved her, Touya."

"B-but I killed-"

"You killed with reason." Sally interjected, silencing him, "You didn't kill because you want to, you killed because you had to."

"Taking a life is never easy, Touya. Especially if you never did it before, but compared to me, who killed for a maniac hellbent on controlling the world, you're a hero." Sally addressed, "You're Yumina's hero and thanks to you, Benson will never again harm the ones you love."

"Don't beat yourself up for taking out a piece of shit like him, he may wear the skin of a human, but he's anything but. What you did was like taking out the trash, quick and over with. So hold your head up high, Touya, you saved Yumina, you stopped Benson for further hurting anyone you care about, so please. Cheer up."

He took her words into consideration, not trusting himself to speak at the moment and just enjoyed the embrace she was giving him. Nonetheless, Touya let go and stood back up, Sally guiding him back up to his feet, dusting his shoulders as she gave him a smile.

Touya's mouth gave way and returned a smile of his own, he closed his eyes and took a long winded sigh to slowly calm his nerves, remembering the words the raven-haired female told him, they rang through his mind, combatting the doubt he had before and expelling them from the forefront of his mental scape.

After taking a few breaths, he finally calmed down, his scrambled mind now restoring itself and fixing any errors, he opened his eyes, Sally still standing in front of him with her trademark smile.

"Are you ready to face the others?"

"Yeah, I think I am."

He nodded and turned to leave the alleyway, Sally not too far behind, sinking into his shadow to save herself the trouble of walking all the way back. He muttered under his breath at how lazy she was and her response was to giggle. Nonetheless, with his newfound confidence, Touya made his way back to the docks, intent on clearing out the awkward and gloomy mood he left behind.

He checked his phone and was surprised to see how far he was from the docks, berating himself for not noticing how deep he was into the Mismedian Port Town, he sighed, his overthinking mind made him careless and now he has to walk all the way back, thankfully, from where he was it shouldn't take fewer than 10 minutes at most.

He sighed again and started walking back to the docks. The trek there didn't take too long - Mostly since he wasn't distracted anymore, and once he was at the docks, he spotted the rest of the convoy waiting for him.

When they saw him walking up to them, the first ones to greet him were his companions, Yumina was the first to throw herself into his embrace while the other girls followed suit. One by one, the singular hug turned into a group hug. Touya planted his feet into the ground to stop himself from falling backwards because of the impact the girls had when hugging him suddenly.

"Touya!"

"You big jerk!"

"We were so worried!"

"Touya-Dono!"

They all blurt out simultaneously, crying out their worried words as they scold him for leaving so suddenly, for his sake, Touya opted to not speak and let the ladies speak their hearts out. Once they finished, they all separated from the group hug and bombarded him with questions, he raised his hands up and told them to ask him one by one.

They asked him where he went and he answered he was just walking deeper into the town, satisfied by the answer they then asked him if he was alright now and he nodded, saying that Sally was a big help, said raven-haired female popped out behind him, hands at her back as she flashed her signature grin.

Soon enough they asked questions about what she did, and Touya awkwardly chuckled, scratching the back of his head, a faint blush on his face as he recalled the very intimate way Sally held him in her bosom.

Seeing how flustered Touya was after the comment, the girls frowned, a hint of jealousy as they turned and glared daggers at Sally who returned it with an amused smile and a sprinkle of glee in her eyes. If one were to take a little closer look you could even see them radiating red lightning.

Garn and Lyon, the two men who were watching the interaction unfold from the sidelines, wisely stayed out of their business lest they get caught in a crossfire and sent a silent prayer to their fellow comrade, he was gonna need it.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(On the road to the Mismedian Royal Capital, [Berge].)

After a lengthy conversation, the party was finally able to calm down and enter their carriage to continue the journey to the Mismedian Royal Capital, [Berge]. However, the way there would take another day so they decided to make a stop at a nearby village called [Eld Village] to rest before continuing.

And because of that information, Touya, who was running on fumes and neglected to sleep or rest after the battle prior - had finally succumbed to his fatigue and let the sweet embrace of sleep take over him and was currently napping.

"Muuu~"

On Yumina's lap that is.

Prior to him sleeping, the girls, sans Sally for obvious reasons, secretly played a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, and the deciding winner was Yumina, who took her victory and strides much to the disappointment and jealousy of the other girls.

Of course, Touya would've protested, however, thanks to him being too tired, he couldn't really find the energy to object nor did he find it worth to spend the remaining energy he had left and just let Yumina have her way as he slept peacefully in her lap. Which brought them to the present.

"He does seem very tired." Linze commented, watching his peaceful sleeping face.

"He is, isn't he?" Yumina nodded, stroking Touya's hair as he slept his worries away, "I'm still curious on how you were able to get him out of his funk, Sally."

Said raven-haired female was actually with them in physical form, sitting next to Yumina, Sally smiled, "Like I said, all it took was just someone to talk to."

Of course, each girl there wanted to talk to Touya when he was still erratic, but Sally opted out on telling the details of what she meant and let the girls figure it out by themselves, which in that case kind of frustrated them to some degree.

"Whatever the case. It Is a relief that Touya-Dono is back to his usual self." Yae remarked, while she had no quarrels when it came to killing, she did find it understandable that Touya's mind was occupied with that fact.

"Still, he had me- Us! He had us worried for a while…" Elze corrected herself.

The rest of the girls all nodded, it was an unspoken agreement between them. Yumina turned her attention to Olga and Arma, who never spoke a word during the whole exchange.

"How long till we reach [Eld Village]? Olga?" Yumina asked.

"From where we are now, it should take about an hour or two, after that we can stay there until the next sunrise and we'll head straight for the capital, [Berge]." Olga explained, happy that Yumina just used her name and didn't add any prefix to it, she wasn't that old enough to be called Ms. right?

"Have the two of you been there before?" Elze inquired, not noticing the internal monologue Olga had nor did she care.

"Yup! We have!" Arma nodded cheerfully.

"Can you tell us all about it?"

Excitedly, Arma began to recollect her stay at the village with Olga inputting some of her comments in as well, the conversation went on for about an hour and when it ended, the convoy was already at the village. One by one, the group began to leave the carriage with Yumina lagging behind as she had to wake Touya from his slumber.

While he was a little grumpy about being woken up, he understood why and got up from his lap pillow.

Taking a step outside, Touya let the cool breeze of the evening wind glaze his skin. He took a breather before he made his way to the village center along with Yumina, once there they met up with the village elder who went by the name of Solum.

He greeted the convoy and expressed his thanks for undergoing such a journey, Olga shook her head and told him it was part of her job and that she too strives to create an alliance that would bring the two Kingdoms together. Nonetheless, Solum invited them to a feast; they prepared it in advance when they received the letter Olga sent beforehand that they might stop at the village if all else were in line.

Seeing no reason to decline, they all accepted and walked with the elder to the designated area.

They were greeted with a warm welcome from the villagers, food and other party related things were laid out in the large space. It seems like they really did prepare in advance as the clearing looked like it was recently created, either way, the convoy all started to enjoy the small festival.

Laughter and joy filled the air, as the party came into full swing. From the corner of Touya's eyes, he saw Yae eating heaps of Mismedian delicacy, he let out a low chuckle as she enjoyed herself. Turning his head he could see Yumina, Linze, and Elze talking with some of the young female villagers, giggling and smiling as they continued their conversation that was out of his ear.

To his right he could see Lyon and Olga chatting with each other, the beastkin seemed to giggle at something he said as he rubbed the back of his head, Touya smiled as he saw just how much the Knight fell for the ambassador - Turning his head he saw Garn eating a freshly cooked chicken leg in his hand and was having a conversation with the people under his command.

"Mister! Mister!" Touya heard a bunch of voices behind him, Touya turned around and saw a couple of beastkin children all gathered up.

"Hello."

"Mister! Is it true you're adventurers!?"

"Yeah, why?" Touya asked, curious about why these kids were asking him about it.

"We were wondering if you could do magic!"

"Oh? Wanna see some magic?" The kids nodded furiously, Touya smiled and stretched out his hand, "Come forth, Light! Tiny illumination {Light Orb}!"

A small light orb appeared, the kids all let out amused and amazed gasps, they were all excited by the magic produced in front of their young eyes. A chuckle left Touya's mouth as he saw the stars in their eyes, he felt better knowing that he was able to put a smile on their faces.

One of the kids outstretched his arms, Touya raised an eyebrow before he realized that the boy probably wanted to touch it, he obliged and gently pushed the orb towards him, the kid let out a gasp as the orb hovered ever so slightly in his hands, mesmerized as it floated. He held it up high and ran around with it, the other kids following close by as they shouted for their turn.

Touya saw them playing around with the light spell he made, tossing it around like it was a ball, he saw how joyful and happy the children were and it put a smile on his face seeing how carefree and cheerful they were. He waved goodbye and left the light orb with them, it's not like the spell was dangerous anyways, just a simple spell to create light and it wasn't like it'd put a dent in his mana reserves anyways.

He looked around and saw everyone having a great time. Seeing that everyone seemed occupied with their endeavors, Touya thought it'd be nice to stroll around and explore the village a bit.

Just as he was about to leave he heard somebody call out to him.

"Sir Touya!" He turned his head towards the source of the voice and saw Lain calling him, he waited for her as she approached him.

"Heya, Lain, is there something wrong?"

"If you're to walk around, may I accompany you?" Lain offered, Touya hummed, mulling over her offer and thought, why not? Not like he was gonna go too far from the party anyways, just strolling around and reaching the edge of the village.

"Sure, not like I'm leaving anyways, just taking a stroll."

The beastkin nodded and fell in line, walking beside the young man as they made their way through the village, slipping away from the party as no one seemed to notice they left. The sounds of the small festival slowly faded until it was out of earshot. They kept going, until they were just outside of the village and near an entrance of a nearby forest.

The two said nothing to each other while they walked, only enjoying the silence between them and the sounds of the wind blowing through their ears was enough. The rustling of the leaves and the ambiance of the surroundings left a nice and quiet feeling to the two. Touya found a tree stump and figured it'd be a nice place to take a seat. He beckoned Lain to come closer and have a seat but the Beastkin shook her head and instead just stood near the stump.

Lain gazed deep into the forest, she seemed to be hyper focused on something, Touya raised an eyebrow though it was probably just nothing so he stopped himself from asking any questions.

Though the silence was getting to him.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Lain turned her attention to the young man, curious on why he was asking her something.

"Yes?"

"How…" Touya trailed off, mulling on whether or not it was a good question but decided to bite the bullet and ask her outright, "Did you think I made the right choice in killing Benson?"

"That is something I can't answer." Lain said, Touya slightly slumped in his seat, though the beastkin saw his dilemma and shook her head before continuing, "While I can't say the same for you, if it was up to me, I would've done the same thing."

"That man… Benson, he was responsible for the death of many of our fallen comrades." Lain clutched her hands before continuing, "Which is why I can't say whether or not you did the right thing, I can say you chose to do was the best course of action. Had you not, then many more would have died yesterday."

Taking her words into consideration, Touya nodded and thanked her, Lain shook her head and said that she was once in his position when she was a newbie, it was just about what any soldier had to go through if they were going to protect their country and people, then they would be ready to kill in the line of duty as well as for their loved ones. Touya let out a sigh as silence once more took over.

"Oh and one more thing-" Before Touya could continue his sentence, a loud roar broke through the silence, the once peaceful forest began to devolve into chaos as animals and smaller monsters seemed to run in panic.

"Something big is coming!" Lain yelled, she was tense as she drew her sword, her ears twitching as her eyes frantically searched for the origin of the disturbance, "There!"

When she pointed at the sky, Touya could see a giant black figure soaring through the air, upon taking a closer look, his eyes widened, it wasn't just any creature that was flying. It was a dragon!

But then his blood ran cold.

It wasn't just soaring through the air, it was headed to the village!

Touya broke into a sprint, trying to catch up with the dragon as it easily broke through miles worth of speed and was able to beat him to the village, Touya tried his best as he could hear Lain shouting behind him but he couldn't hear her as his mind was too preoccupied with the dragon.

However, just as he was running towards the party area, he spotted the kids from earlier, shouting and crying for help, Touya bit back a curse, he debated on whether or not to help them or leave. But the way the children cried for help made him discard the idea of abandoning them.

He went for the kids instead, as he approached them he asked what help they needed and they told him that one of their friends was stuck in the burning house, they pointed at which one it was and begged him to save their friend. Nodding, Touya chanted a water spell and flung it towards the burning house, when the water came into contact with the flame, it easily doused it out, Touya ran into the house and searched for the child.

He found him and healed any injuries the kid sustained using {Cure Heal}, with that, Touya ran out of the house with the kid in his arms, just as he was about to tell them to run away he saw Lain finally managing to catch up with him.

"Lain! I need you to take these kids to a safe place!" Touya instructed.

"What about you? What will you do?" Lain asked.

"I'm going to fight a dragon." Touya declared, handing the unconscious child to Lain, her eyes widened at such a bold claim before arguing.

"What!? Are you insane!?" She yelled.

"Maybe I am, but now's not the time to argue, just go!" Touya left immediately after, leaving Lain with a group of kids now under her protection, the beastkin tsk'd before facing the kids and telling them to follow her.

Meanwhile, Touya saw the massive damages the flames were doing, almost every house in the vicinity of the party was burning to the ground. He saw the dragon fly up and use its fire breath and burning houses in its wake. He could see some magic being flung towards it, the dragon avoiding the attacks as it continued to blast away with its fire breath.

Touya spotted Linze casting a water spell, her wand glowing a blue hue as she chanted the words of the spell, "Come forth, water! Ballistic bubbles: Bubble Bomb!"

The small water sphere flung out of her wand and went straight for the dragon, once it was close enough it exploded, knocking the dragon out of the sky as the wind created by the explosion was strong enough to knock it off its course and crashing into a nearby building, one that Touya hoped was empty.

Being given time to breathe, Touya continued his path towards Linze, once he was within earshot he called for her.

"Linze! Where are the others!" Linze turned to the sound of his voice. She saw Touya rapidly making his way to her.

"Big sis and Yae are trying to help the guards evacuate the villagers!"

"Where's Sally and Kohaku!?"

"I'm right here, Master." Sally appeared out of thin air, right beside Touya, her eyes fixated on the dragon as it roared and tried to get up from its downed position, "Kohaku was able to mitigate some of the damage and redirect the fire away from the party when the dragon first attacked, and she's busy protecting Yumina, Olga and her sister."

'Master! We were able to safely evacuate most of the villagers! What are your orders?'

Touya's mind raced as he was trying to come up with a plan, he cursed under his breath as he realized he didn't have any of his weapons on him. He needed a weapon to use and hearing how strong a dragon usually is. He wasn't gonna bet on just his magic to beat it.

'Try to get to the carriages! I have a mirror enchanted with {Gate}, you can use it to go to the Royal Capital back in Belfast, there Yumina and the rest can be safe while we handle the dragon over here! And grab my weapons while you're at it!'

'Understood! I will do as you ordered!'

Once the telepathic conversation ended, Touya saw the dragon finally getting up and staring at them with its large beady eyes, anger apparent in them as it immediately tried to burn them with its flames only to be surprised as a wall of white flames canceled each other out.

Turning to the side, Touya could see Sally with her scythe in hand as she had her right hand outstretched towards the dragon. Angered, the dragon stopped and swung its tail towards the group, Sally was easily able to jump high into the air to avoid it but failed to realize she wasn't the only one there.

Touya's eyes widened as he quickly chanted {Boost} and picked up Linze in a bridal carry and immediately jumped straight into the air to narrowly dodge the tail swing. The swing passed through their previous position and slammed into a house, destroying it.

Sally was the first one to land and almost immediately went for the dragon, her scythe at the ready. She swung her scythe and it was able to cut through the hardened skin of the dragon, it roared in pain as it never thought something as small as a human could harm it. It tried to retaliate by raising its leg and slamming down onto Sally, but she avoided it rather easily.

Angered, it tried to burn the little human with its fire breath only for it to turn its head to the right in order to avoid getting skewered by a {Light Javelin} from Touya. It turned its attention towards the young man and flipped its massive wings. The wind generated by them was immense enough that it was going to blow Linze away had Touya not grab ahold of her.

Once in the air, the dragon let out a mighty roar, one that could be heard from miles away, the sound was deafening to the three below as they tried to cover up their ears to at least muffle some of the noise out. When it finally stopped roaring, it tried to fully dive back to the ground, its claws reaching out to grab any of the humans below it.

Touya saw the attack and shouted for the two to dodge, he immediately grabbed Linze's hand and dove straight to the left while Sally went right, they narrowly dodged the dragon's attempt and it angered it even more. It tried again to use its fire breath, only this time it used it in bursts, spewing out flames in three quick sessions. The sudden change in tactics forced the trio to avoid the flames, as they dodge and weave while the surrounding houses and buildings burn to the ground.

Having had enough of this charade, the dragon did another full dive, aiming straight for Sally as revenge for harming it earlier, Sally smirked as she saw it heading for her, she crouched down a bit and waited for the dragon to come within a certain distance of her, when it did, Sally jumped into the air to both avoid the attack as well as do one of her own, she twisted herself in the air, positioning her scythe's blade and using the dragon's back as a makeshift way to slide, she dug the blade deep as the dragon roared in pain.

Sally hopped off, unlodging her scythe in the process and leaving a nasty scar on the back of the dragon. Just before it could even try to retaliate. Out came Yae from seemingly out of nowhere.

In truth, she was able to run along some of the burning buildings and jumped from building to building. She raised her katana in the air and sliced one of the dragon's eyes, it roared in pain as its left eye was now rendered blind and before it could even do anything else - a burst of wind slammed into its body, toppling it over and smashing into a nearby house.

It was Kohaku who did it, joining the fray along with Elze. The two fixed their attention to the recovering dragon, Yae, who was carrying Touya's weapons, tossed them to its owner - he caught both in his hands and hastily strapped his katana to its sheathe. With others, sans Yumina, now here, Touya can finally focus on defeating the dragon before them.

He brandished his spear and aimed it at the dragon, but then scanned his surroundings and realized the amount of damage the fight was causing. He frowned as he yelled for his party and told them what to do next.

"We'll destroy this place if this fight keeps on going!" He shouted, turning and telepathically talking with Sally and Kohaku, "We need to lure this thing somewhere away from the village! Elze! Yae! The rest of us will meet you there!"

Upon his orders, he opened a {Gate} in front of Elze and Yae, they nodded and wordlessly entered through the spell as it closed once they did. While that happened, Touya told Linze to climb onto Kohaku while Sally sank into the shadows. The dragon was able to recover and get back to its feet and saw the humans running away from it. It roared and flipped its wings to get it off the ground and in the air once more.

It gave chase to the adventurers, intent on ripping them apart with its claws. Angered, it let out a challenging roar.

"You dare!?" Kohaku snarled, she let out a low growl as she turned her head slightly to give the dragon following them a side death glare, "You impudent child! Know your place you worthless lizard!"

"Kohaku, can you understand it?" Touya asked, as he made sure his grip on Kohaku's back wouldn't loosen.

"Such tiny insects dares to disturb my enjoyment, I'll tear your body apart and eat you." Kohaku relayed, growling after she was finished, "The snot-nosed brat can't even speak the common tongue! This is why I despise the [Blue Monarch]'s retainers."

"What." Touya said, the hollow tone caught everyone who heard it to momentarily pause. 'So, it thinks all of this is a game? A mere way to entertain itself!? Fine, I'm not holding back anymore, I'm going to kill this thing.'

Touya suddenly jumped off of Kohaku, opening a {Gate} directly above the black dragon, he landed on its back and unsheathed his katana, he enchanted it with as much magic as it can take and swung the blade towards the wings of the dragon, cutting them and sending the dragon to barrel to the ground below.

But in doing so, the katana broke in his hands as it could not handle the amount of mana he poured into it and the blade snapped in half, making it useless for any further use. Scoffing, Touya threw away the broken weapon and chanted {Rock Crush} which slammed into the dragon and further sent it tumbling to the earth below, he hopped off the falling dragon, landing next to Linze and Kohaku.

The dragon slammed into the ground, the added weight and the speed at which it had before falling created a sizable hole in the ground, the earth being split apart by the massive size of the dragon. It groaned as it tried to shake off the dizziness from the impact as well as the blood loss from its severed wing.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Elze and Yae joining them once more, he signaled for the group to commence an all-out attack. He opened up with {Shining Javelin} backed by {Multiple}, a line up of yellow circles appeared behind him and a second later, out came the attack. Multiple javelins hit their mark, embedding deep into the dragon's flesh as it roared in pain.

"Come forth, Water! Feel my blade, both cold and clear {Aqua Cutter}!" Linze chanted, aiming for the remaining attached wing of the dragon, the magic spell sliced it clean off, the discarded limb falling to the ground in an unceremonial way. The dragon bit back a cry of agony and channeled its strength for another fire breath.

Unfortunately, its face was burned by the white flames of Sally, she came around and proceeded to hack and slash the dragon with no remorse, joining her in the bout was Yae as she vaulted over the raven-haired female and sliced open the skin of the dragon's hind leg.

Next came Elze, her {Boost} enchanted fist connected with the hardened skin of the dragon, it roared as the impact sent waves to its nerves, Elze backed off, waving the hand she used to punch the dragon as she winced from the pain.

"Ouch! That thing's skin is tough as hell!" Elze complained.

"It at least does not regenerate like those crystal beasts we fought last time. It would be troublesome if it did." Yae remarked as she avoided the leg of the dragon trying to slam into her.

"Ditto." Sally agreed as she summoned another wall of white flames to counter the fire breath that tried to burn her alive. She redirected the flames to slam into the dragon, cauterizing its wounds and the process was not pleasant.

Then came Kohaku, she let out a mighty roar which slammed into the dragon, hurting it, she came close to it and proceeded to slash away with her claws, the divine beast went around and stopped by the tail of the dragon, she quickly used her claws and sliced off the appendage. The dragon screamed in anguish. And then Kohaku spotted the hind leg Yae was attacking and thought of continuing it, she leapt for the leg and with one swipe - sliced the hind leg clean off.

With one of its legs tore off, the sense of balance threw the dragon off as it crash into the ground, roaring in pain all the while, taking this as the perfect opportunity, Touya brandished his spear and went straight for the downed dragon - he was going to end this thing once and for all.

Knowing that it was dead at any minute because of the amount of wounds it had along with the blood loss becoming too severe even for a dragon like itself. It roared for one final time, it gathered up its remaining strength in an act of desperation, in an act of defiance. It shot its strongest fire breath ever, intent on burning the human charging at it to a crisp, if it were to die here it will take him with it.

Touya's eyes widened as he realized that the attack was coming to fast for him to dodge and even if he used {Gate} chances are he wouldn't make it in time to enter it before he gets burnt to ashes, cursing, Touya stopped himself and poured mana into his yari the same way he did with his katana, knowing that even though the yari was more durable in comparison to the katana, it was still made by normal means and that it will break once he throws it. Deciding that it would be worth it, Touya poured all of his body weight into his throw, focusing on aiming it through the flames and out of the dragon's skull.

"Eat this!"

With a mighty shout, Touya flung the weapon, it meet the fire breath ahead on and if it were not enchanted considerably by his mana, it would've melted upon first contact thankfully due to how potent his mana was it easily cleaved through the flames, splitting it in two and straight into the head of the dragon, the moment it made contact with the inner flesh of the dragon's mouth, the yari cut through it like knife through butter, it kept going uninterrupted until it finally made its way out of the dragon's mouth via the back of the skull.

Silence took over as the towering dragon stood still for a few seconds until it finally fell for the final time, the sound of its body slamming to the ground echoed throughout the battlefield. The once high and mighty dragon that thought of terrorizing the [Eld Village] prior was slain by the humans it thought of as insignificant insects, only to pay dearly with its life. The yari Touya threw was stuck inside of the dragon's head, the blade tip was bent and chipped while the handle bent to the left. Just like with the katana, Touya's yari was now largely unusable but the last use he did get out of it far outweighed the way he discarded it.

'Good riddance.' Touya spat mentally, he took one last glance at the dead dragon before turning around and walking away from it.

The young man let out a long winded sigh, the feeling of adrenaline leaving his body after defeating and slaying the dreaded black dragon before him. The anger he felt for the dragon subsided as he heard his party members celebrate their victory and triumph over the great beast of legends.

"You did it! Touya-Dono!"

"That was amazing, Touya!"

"Touya! That was awesome!"

"As expected of my Master."

"Great job, Master."

He was greeted by the praises of his party, Touya smiled as he was just about to greet them back and say that they did their part perfectly for him to make the last strike, only for him to immediately snap his head around as he heard the flapping of wings. In the distance was a red dragon, it appeared to have seen the fight happen as it ended and made its way towards the group. The party immediately tensed again as they tried to go into a combat stance.

As it approached closer, it stopped just a few feet away, hovering. He gazed at the fallen dragon before it and let out what seemed to be a disappointed sigh.

"I have no intention to fight." It disclosed, "It seems this young child had become a nuisance, my sincere apologies."

"You can speak?" Touya asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I am the Red Dragon who oversees the [Sanctuary Grounds]." He announced, his voice loud and mighty, yet humble, "I came to retrieve this reckless child, however, it seems I was too late."

"Hey, Red Dragon." Kohaku's voice caught the elder dragon's attention, his eyes widened as he realized who was talking to him, she walked closer until she stood by Touya's side, "Tell this to the [Blue Monarch], 'You better educate your retainers better' remember these words well."

"T-the [White Monarch]!? How can this be!? Why are you here in such a place!?" The Red Dragon shrieked, before she recomposed himself, "I-I see… the one who fought that black dragon was none other than the [White Monarch], without a doubt, that child stood no chance."

"Don't misunderstand, that brat's defeat was by my master's hand, Touya Mochizuki." Kohaku attested, turning her head to Touya briefly before continuing, "That imprudent brat thought of himself as above anyone, showing no respect for my Master and even dared to insult him, its death was but a mercy."

"Wh-what!? The Master of the [White Monarch] is a human!?" The Red Dragon shuddered, before he stopped hovering from the ground and landed, almost immediately he bowed his head in respect, "I humbly request you pardon my insolent manner! A-and also about the matter of the Black Dragon you've slain- I-I wish you show me your mercy-"

"Are there more of them that act like this?" Touya asked, his voice monotone. The Red Dragon thought for a second and nodded.

"Y-yes, I promise after this event I'll make sure none shall be foolish enough to try again-"

"Your words mean nothing to me." Touya interrupted, the Red Dragon shut his mouth as he realized that the young man before him was angry, gulping, he listened, "I want you to return with a message for the other dragons, tell them that if I hear anyone of their kind act out of line, I will kill them. And if they keep acting this way, I will make sure your species becomes extinct."

"I-is- Is that a threat-?"

"No." Touya simply said, his mana flaring even as his eyes shined dangerously, the moonlight reflecting off them, "It's a promise."

The Red Dragon gulped, if this human was strong enough to become the master of [White Monarch], then if he said that he'd make his kind extinct, that meant he was not joking, and the mana he just flared right now expressed that he was more than strong enough to back his claims. With the looming threat of extinction over his head, the Red Dragon nodded, "Ye-yes, as you wish… I shall return back and relay your message to the [Sanctuary Grounds]."

With that, the dragon flapped his wings and took off, returning from whence he came.

"This is why I detest the [Blue Monarch], I have to deal with their troublesome kin." Kohaku scoffed. Touya stopped the mana he was leaking out and sucked it back in and calmed himself, he turned and saw the rest of the girls, sans Sally, on the ground.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Touya asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"What's wrong… Is that we couldn't move the entire time you threatened the Red Dragon." Elze remarked, huffing slightly as she didn't realize she held her breath the entire time.

"How were you able to stand up to that!?" Linze shrieked, the aura of the elder dragon was completely different from the Black Dragon they just fought, so much so that Linze felt weak in the knees and Touya not only wasn't affected by it, he even threatened the dragon!

"Heh, you should've been there when he summoned Kohaku and finished the contract. Compared to that, the power he expressed here was like a candlelit fire." Sally giggled as she dissummoned her scythe and placed her hands on her hips, "Trust me, that shit was wild."

"Just- Just how strong are you, Touya-Dono? It feels somewhat unfair." Yae whimpered.

Touya just shrugged at their questions and began to walk away, despite the battle being finished there was still the problem of the village burning in the distance and he was determined to stop it from spreading to the rest and engulfing the village in flames.

Soon enough, his party members joined him and they proceeded to head straight for the village.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

And that wraps up chapter 10.

Now, I feel like yes, this may be OOC of Touya to threaten the Red Dragon of doing an extinction on the entire species of dragons, but you have to understand that this Touya just killed a man and his mind still trying to process that, now he hears that a dragon thought of killing innocent people to be entertainment, wouldn't you be pissed off as well? Thankfully, Touya can back up this fact but he's too nice in canon to actually do it, here? He's definitely less kind to these types of things.

Next chapter should be a relaxing chapter before the whole duel with the Beastking. I'm honestly excited for it because I have plans for the fight and a way to give Touya a chance to relieve all of his worries in a good ol' fashion fight amongst men.

Until next time, this is V_KJ, signing out.