"Shit…" That turned out to be the collective thought shared between everyone as they watched Ignia land, his impact seeming to shake the world resting beneath his feet.

There's a rule to be followed by anyone who lives in this land. That rule in question; do not cross Ignia.

As the Apex of these he was the strongest beast these lands had ever seen.

A creature- a myth of blood and bone; it's said that the sight of his great wings were the last thing any would-be challenger would ever see; his talons the last thing they ever feel before their world went dark.

Respect and fear followed this great wyvern wherever he went.

And now, the great Drake had chosen to reveal himself.

With eyes narrowing, the Apex lowered his head to be level with the Deviljho. He growled, the ground seeming to reverberate with the noise that left him.

It was a warning.

The Deviljho responded with a bellow, the noise tearing across the landscape like violent gale.

It was a declaration of war.

"Well I guess we're seeing where this goes!" The masked individual stated the brute charged forward, carrying him towards the Apex, an act that was met in kind.

Ignia's talons slammed into the brutes jaws to keep them closed. He followed with a point blank fireball to the beast's face causing it to recoil. It pulled back, the talons tearing through its skin as it turned, swinging its tail around before smashing it into the wyvern's side and pushing it back. It completed the turn and tried biting down on the wyvern's foot, missed and found talons digging into his spine. The brute's head snapped out, grabbing the wyvern by the neck and proceeded to throw them towards the ground. Right after teeth descended on the downed wyvern, only for the wyvern to grab his jaws with his talons and belched a fireball in his face to get him to back up again. Getting to his feet Ignia released another fireball, causing the brute to get back before swinging its barbed wing at them. The second followed right after cutting into the brute's face before the King of the Sky backed away, inhaled and responded with a flamethrower that bathed the monster in flames.

Without warning, the brute charged through, even as the flames burned its skin it charged through before locking its teeth around the drakes throat for a second time before pushing forward and forced his flames towards the sky. With frightening ease the mass of muscle moved, slamming the Apex through a tree before rearing up and slammed him into the ground a second time.

The Apex howled, his eyes narrowing before steam started forming across his scales. The brute pulled back on reflex, the heat leaving the wyvern's scales being a bit too much for it to handle as it burned its tongue. Ignia responded by lunging at the brute, his wings carrying himself across the totaled forest sect before slamming into the wyvern with its talons digging into the brutes sides. His jaws snapped down on the Deviljho's throat and tried to rip a piece of it out.

When that didn't work it started to fly, carrying the brute off the ground and leaving it flailing before eventually dropping it onto the ground with a heavy thud. The brute responded with a roar before inhaling, releasing a bolt of Dragon element into the sky.

The Apex dodged, rolling in the sky before retaliating with his own straight down on the beast.

Or at least that was his intention.

A sharp pain erupted from the wyverns side as his aim went wide, his flame being sent elsewhere before exploding on the ground.

"Don't tell me you thought you'd be dealing with him alone." The masked individual backflipped off the kind of the sky, his glaive leaving a line of red that danced in the sky as he fell from the heavens. The Apex responded by releasing a fireball at the falling figure, only to miss as he suddenly changed directions and moved out the way.

"What the?"

The moment the figure hit the ground he started dancing across the grounds, moving here and there as he avoided the series of fireballs that were raining down on him. At one point he backflipped to avoid another flame before pointing his glaive at the Apex before bringing it back. Without warning he jumped, the dust being displaced as he crossed into the realm of the Apex and came right at him. It was with a twist of his neck that the Apex avoided being impaled, letting the figure fly past him and into the sky before turning and aiming another flare at him.

The brute returned to the fight however, biting down on the King's tail and pulled, slamming him into the dirt and across it before responding with a flamethrower full of Dragon Element. The Apex used one of his wings to protect himself, howling as he did and stepped back.

"Shit!" Karma picked himself up as he pointed at the Deviljho with his bowgun and started to move. Round after round slammed into the brute who paid them little mind to them. He whistled, getting the palico's attention as he made his way to Evelyn's bowgun and one handed it. "Crag rounds, now!"

The Palico obeyed the call as they rushed over and emptied both his bowguns and loaded the rounds into them.

Crag rounds were good; they didn't just pierce, they exploded as well.

Karma started firing away, a heavy bowgun in each hand as he fired at the Deviljho, these rounds causing the deviljho to recoil and aim his dragon 'flame' elsewhere as they spilled into the surrounding forest. Turning, the Deviljho howled as it tried stepping towards the Hunter only to repeatedly be pushed back by the fire it was under.

"Support the Apex!" Evelyn ordered as she reached for these three items on her waist and assembled them into a lighter Bowgun recognized as a 'Longshot'. It's more rifle than bowgun, but that didn't matter. Loading it Evelyn took a breath as she took aim before firing, the round she released ripping straight through the brutes leg and into a tree.

Ironically that kind of wound wasn't a crippling - let alone fatal; but it did knock the brute to his knees for a moment.

"Pierce?" Evelyn didn't respond to Karma's question, just lining up another shot before pulling the trigger.

"Come on, why you ganging up on the big guy?" The masked individual asked as he spun his glaive before jumping into the air.

He In the air he moved, flying across the sky before diving across the sky.

"Evelyn!" The Guild Knight looked up, seeing the figure dive before refocusing her aim at him.

"Too late!"

"Don't count on it!" A greatsword blocked the strike, though the figure's glaive did end up piercing through the metal of the weapon. "You didn't forget about the rest of did you" Glade muttered as the figure kicked off his greatsword as he extracted his weapon, avoiding the round that Evelyn had intended to plant between his eyes.

The figure landed, turned and swiped with his glaive as the weapon scraped against its counterpart. "Sorry." He began. "But I don't have any interest in you."

"So what?" The Hunter grumbled as he stood ready. "I still owe you for stabbing me."

"Glade correct?" Evelyn asked as she reloaded her bowgun before glancing at the Deviljho that Ignia had once again engaged. "Think you can hold him still?"

"I'll do more than that…" Glade grumbled as he charged the figure.

"I already told you… you don't -"

Shut up." Thorn drew her longsword as she nearly cut the figure in two. In the end though her blade only hit air as the masked one flipped over her and grabbed her shoulder. He followed it by throwing her into the air and made to throw her to the side. He would have succeeded if the girl hadn't grabbed his arm and forced him to come flying with her. She hit the ground feet first before turning to throw the figure towards a tree. He responded by landing on the tree before kicking off it. Shooting towards the girl he suddenly moved to the side as he avoided another bullet before pressing forward.

"Gotta say…" His weapon slammed into her longsword as he pushed against her. "You're more interesting than that Glade guy."

"I told you to shut up." Thorn broke away before swinging her blade again as she lunged forward. The figure dodged her strike by spinning to the side and spun his weapon before blocking her next strike. He flipped over Glade's swing before landing behind him and made to preform another strike, only to stop and change his mind as he deflected Evelyn's bullet. He ducked under Thorn's next swing and sidestepped the follow up,. His glaive slammed into Glade's greatsword as he deflected the weapon and raised a hand to his lips. He whistled and the Deviljho snapped at attention, suddenly belching a sphere of Dragon 'fire' in his direction before refocusing its attention on the Apex.

It lifted a tree, tearing it out of the soil before throwing it at the beast only for it to be dodged as the Apex flew higher into the air before roaring. A few ballista sized arrows slammed into the brute's tail as Sapphire loaded another pair. She fired, this time hitting the brute's leg before it bellowed in her direction, only for the Apex to suddenly slam into its side before knocking it on its side. It breathed flames on the monster's hide before its foot was locked between a set of jaws before it was swung around, and thrown across the grounds. The Deviljho responded with a burst of dragon flame before lunging forward to try and chomp down on the Apex.

Ignia responded by taking to the air, getting out of range and started raining fire on the brute. The Deviljho responded in kind, a volley of Dragon flying into the sky as the heavens responded with a rain of fire. Eventually the Brute stopped, letting fire rain down on him as its jaws started to seep more dragon power.

Out of nowhere it jerked its head towards the ground as it turned, and fired at the ground. Dragon burning the earth as it lifted the deviljho into the air and towards the Rathalos.

"WHAT."

"THE."

"FUCK!"

The Deviljho slammed into the Apex, knocking it out of the sky and dropping the two towards the floor. As they fell, teeth met talons, but in the end the Apex was the one to hit the ground first, a Deviljho's foot pinning its throat in place as the brute looked down before releasing a bellow.

Right after it inhaled, Dragon gathered between its lips as it aimed down. The dark flame-like light fell upon the Apex as a pained roar echoed across the grounds.

"Damn it…" Karma continued to fire upon the brute as his attacks went ignored as did all the other attacks that were being inflicted by the others. "Flash!"

Sonya nodded her head as she pulled at the flash bomb and threw it in the Deviljho's face.

It never went off.


All across the wilds, the light could be seen. A pillar-like flame that tore into the sky like an infernal beacon. The heat left in its wake was enough that it burned off the leaves hanging from trees and the grass. They didn't catch fire, they just burned away.


From the King's den, his queen turned her head. Her attention turning away from her young Rathlings. She stepped forward, reaching the entrance of her den to get a better look at the light that stabbed at the heavens like a massive fang or talon. She made a noise, one that sounded somewhere between concern and fright.


In the port town of Harribel Calista couldn't help turning her attention towards the sky. She wasn't the only one, as dozens upon dozens of others were turning as well, their attention turned to see the pillar-like flame that was off in the distance.

"Oh dear." Calista began.

"What the hell is that?"

"Hopefully… anything but a bad sign."


At their resting spot, Fafnir raised his head as Morgana turned her head in curiosity. "What is it? She asked, before her eyes caught sight of the light. "What is that?"


It's hot.

That's the collective thought that runs through everyone's mind.

It's so damn… hot all of a sudden.

'What the hell… just happened?' Gales questioned as he lowered his arm to look ahead. His attention turned to see a half burned Deviljho backing away from something.

What was it staring at; what the hell hurt it like that?

And…

"What the hell is that?" A heavy foot reduced the ground beneath it to pools of bubbling, soup-like slag. The next did the very same.

"So that's its true form…" The masked individual muttered as he stared ahead, his glaive lowered as he joined everyone in staring at the creature - at the monster that was not in front of them.

"True form?"

"I'm sure you've heard the old story." The masked individual stated. "When a rathalos' rage hits its peak it transforms." He fell silent for a moment. "It wretches itself in the frames of its hatred, wearing the fire-like armor." The individual mused as he put his glaive on his shoulder. "Look at it… it looks like something straight out of hell…"

It really did.

Cloaked in raging flames, the Rathalos looked less like a beast and more a fabled monster. Its scales are lost under a veil of raging red-orange flames, only appearing as some kind of flickering shadow hidden by fire.

Ignia - or whatever Ignia had become- reared his head before roaring, the act releasing a burst heat that charred the land before it. The Deviljho shook its head, ignoring its burns as it returned the gesture in kind, before seeming to pump itself up.

Its muscles swelled to an almost unnatural degree, its scars were stretched as blood was pumped through them to a degree that the scars turned a bright red. Dragon exploded from it's scales, the dark flame-like power spilling from the monster in the same manner as the flames did Ignia.

"Huh… you can do that…" The masked individual muttered. "Well, imitation is the highest form of flattery." He stated as he watched the deviljho charge forward. Ignia however was done with their exchange, spreading his flame clad wings as embers danced around him before taking to the air. "Oh that can't be good."

"Where's he going?"

For a brief moment Ignia seemed to disappear into the sky as the temperature suddenly dropped.

"Yep, had a feeling that wouldn't be good." The figure muttered as he and everyone just looked upward. Looked to see a ball of flame coming down from the heavens.

"Is that-?"

"It's Diving!" Tristan shouted as he turned to everyone. "Everyone get clear!"

The Deviljho roared at the sky, gathering its Dragonic power into its throat as before it released a Flare towards the sy. A Flare that missed as the Deviljho suddenly lost feeling in its leg and toppled over, its Flare going wide.

The Paralysis powder from Sapphire's arrows were finally kicking in…

It seemed to panic as it tried getting to its feet, before its gaze returned to the sky.

It was as if the sun itself had fallen down upon the world below.