She was an odd looking mamono. She didn't fly with the use of her silky white wings, she simply hovered, as if she were reclining in midair. She smirked at him with her red eyes that reminded him so much of the Dragon within. The fact that the whites of her eyes were black only deepened the comparison. Pointed ears like the wyvernians, and markings with ancient meaning that lined her body, but Pluck knew nothing of the Royal Makai. So, they were little more than scribbles painting her porcelain white skin.

Pluck's gaze was drawn to the many eyes that covered her form. The tips of her wings, her tail, her horns, the very clothing on her body were adorned with dark orange eyes that seemed to stare down at him. They followed his gaze as if they were staring back at him, despite the fact that they were clearly ornamental decorations. He was tempted to reach out and touch one with his talons, but his instincts told him he would come to regret that act of curiosity. She smiled a beautiful smile, "Did these little trinkets catch your eye, dragon?"

Lowen pulled on his head's crest and shouted over the heavy rain, "We need to leave now Pluck! Druella's taking the city!"

Pluck half turned to look at her, before turning his eyes to the human city around them. Mamono, of various shapes and sizes were plundering the once immaculate human kingdom. Human men and women were openly molested in the streets, where then the women would transform into a copy of the mamono that defiled them. While the men were forced to the ground, and raped by one or several other mamono who had yet to have their fill.

The columns of soldiers that had once been stalwart and defiant of the Elder's might crumbled beneath their overwhelming presence, and were pulled kicking and screaming into the mass orgy forming in the middle of the streets. It was only when the Demonic Corruption took hold did their screams turn to moans. But of course, Pluck knew none of this, and the only thing that came to the mind of the young Elder was, "Why are they mating?"

Druella lowered herself to his level. Gently touching the ground as she came to stand before him, "They're making love… Pluck, was it?", she cupped his beak as his caution gave way to his curiosity, "You can join them. I'll help you."

"Pluck?!", Lowen tugged on his crest in one last attempt to warn him before being suddenly bucked off. Falling between his back spines and down his tail.

"What the hell?!", She kicked him in his back leg as he shook off Druella's hands, "Stupid dragon!"

The Valstrax didn't react to her, he didn't react to the lilim trying to pour more Demonic Energy into him either, he simply stood there, his eyes glazing over, and then he roared. His once purple demonic exhaust returned to its scarlet red, as his mind was wracked with confusion, rage, and fear. His mind swam with thoughts he never had before, and then he thought of nothing but of mind shattering rage.

Both, mamono fell to their knees as their eardrums were ruptured. Druella stared up at the Elder as he began to convulse with each suction of air. His chest glowing an ominous red as his vents flared with Dragon rather than Demonic Energy. His head crest, his spines, and his wings radiated with his internal power as he unleashed the maddening element within.

He flipped his wings and brought them together as exhaust gathered at their center. They could only watch in horror as the energy surged forth in a pillar of draconic light. Shearing through buildings, mamono, and humans alike as it burned through stone and flesh. His wings grew heavy with the sudden surge in Dragon, so he lowered his wings, and then brought them high. Causing residual Dragon clouds to attach to the scorched ground, and eventually erupt in explosions of red lightning.

The few mamono that managed to survive, were left burned and on the verge of death. Black clouds ushered from their mouth and red lightning ran across their still form. Druella and Lowen could only gape at the sudden act of violence, and were unable to react as Pluck let loosed another roar as he lunged for the crowd of mamono and Order soldiers. Wings flared with the Dragon element poised to cleave into the crowd as his madness consumed his every thought.

"What the hell did you do to her!", Lowen tackled the shell-shocked lilim.

"I just… just," Druella blanked as she saw the dragon get pushed back by the demons firing off demon magic only for the red energy surging from the dragon's body to absorb it, "I tried turning him into a mamono, and he… What have I done?"

"Him?", Lowen's eyes widened, "You can't mean…"

"Yes, that is a male monster," Druella pushed the griffon off of her, "he came from the other world."

-0-

Kushala sent forth another tornado as the palico flung himself at him. It was an infuriating little creature, but the minor annoyance he caused was of little concern to the Elder. It was the promise that a hunter was nearby, that truly bothered him. The fact that these mamono, as Lowen called them, happened to carry hunter and palico weapons only made it more obvious that he was only fighting the hunter's companions.

'There's a hunter in the city.', He thought to himself as he gathered more of the winds into his barrier. Causing the charging horned mamono to be blown back from the wind pressure alone. He huffed from the strain as his still recovering body, had yet to heal the wounds within, 'They're strong… too strong to let them get any closer… But I can't afford to keep up the barrier for long… Decisions, decisions.'

Another mamono, this one with a long serpent like tail with fluffy fur swung her Hunting Horn through his wind aura and into his side. Grumbling to himself, Kushala took to the air even as his wings began flaring up in audible pain to make distance from her. He landed as an arrow plinked off of his horn, which drew his gaze to the local wyvernian archer currently notching another arrow.

He grumbled before sending a flurry her way, knocking her from the roof tops, as another pang resounded from the halberd bouncing off of his neck. The human hero, as Lowen referred to them as, bared her teeth as she did her best to push through the wind barrier, and was inevitably sent flying as he willed the wind to spin faster. Though his chest was beginning to throb from the constant flow, as the rust began digging into his softer inner layer.

His breath grew heavy, his body was broken, and he needs to shed it now. If only he could get away, and take a moment to shed, just a single moment away from the fight would change the tides in his favor. He felt another minor strike hit him in his tail. He turned to see a palico, or a mamono as far as he was aware, bouncing off of his tail with her Bone Wedge. She gave him a nervous smile and began to back away as his single eye fell on her.

He snarled and sent her flying with a gust, she landed without much injury, as palicos tend too. He turned back to the other combatants as they began circling him. The non-mamono were breathing heavier than he was, and could barely make their side of the formation, while the mamono and palicos were already in preparation to strike.

Kushala chuckled, "I always thought… that I would die from old age, but this," he grimaced, "this is just embarrassing!"

The palicos and the mamonos' eyes widened in awe. The male among them stepped forward, "You can talk?!"

"Of course, I can talk Felyne!", Kushala began catching his breath, with the thankful effect of lessening the pain, "Why wouldn't I?"

The palico's shoulders slumped as he dropped his weapon, "Nyouh got to be kidding me!", He wildly gestured at the Elder, "Monsters can just talk now! Mewther Fucker! Gog fucking DAMN IT!"

Kushala and the females could only stare at the palico as he began to wildly flail in a fury that none of them could truly understand. As he seemed to come down, Kushala edged away from the group as he summoned more wind into their newly created arena. He smirked, "Quite the foul mouth on you, little Felyne, but I would like to leave now… you can say you repelled me, or…"

"No!", The palico roared, "We're capturing you one way, or another! You are too important to just let go!"

"Ah," Kushala utter a mock gasp, "I wouldn't be so sure about that.", As the twister began to descend, his concentration was broken with an ear-splitting screech as Pluck tore through the air; He impacted the ground with the force of a Demolisher explosion. The younger Elder's body erupted with Dragon as he dragged his talon wings along the ground causing him to come to a screeching halt.

"Why the fuck is the Valstrax here, now!", The palico uncovered his ears, before looking back in the direction Pluck came from. His shoulders slumped as he finally took notice of the horde of mamono literally raping and pillaging the streets of Lescatie, as well as the smaller but sizeable party of tribal beastmen with lustful gazes focused solely on him and him alone.

"Pluck!", Kushala called out as he reoriented the twister, only to receive a frenzied look of madness from the young Elder, "I will return to help you… try to calm down by the time I get back!"

"NO! HELLLP MEE!", Pluck screeched out, a look of fear in his eyes, as the rage took hold once more.

But Kushala, for the first time in days, had already taken to the sky. His wings, though painful in use, carried him to the peak of the castle. He landed and began the arduous process of shedding his rusted body. The view of the city only made it harder to focus as the streets were filled with mamono, and Pluck was left alone against what looked like an arriving hunter and his companions.

"Don't die on me," Kushala gave a strained whisper, "I'll join you in… but a moment… don't let the madness take you."

-0-

"What in all that is holy is that thing?!", Wilmarina yelled over the screams as she and Dawn came to the scene of a silver scaled dragon destroying the city.

"It's a Valstrax.", Dawn calmly took hold of his Great Sword, "I'll take care of it… Shizuka! Estrid!"

The two mamono turned to him as he entered the battleground, "Go with Wilmarina and help her evacuate the city!"

"Evacuate the city?!", The hero came up beside him, "We need to beat back Druella's horde, and slay these beasts! We don't have time to…"

"The city is GONE!", Dawn roared as the Elder let loose another volley of Dragon fire in the direction of the other heroes. He pointed to the raging dragon, "You saw those soldiers! And I'm the only one that's hunted a Valstrax before! You will get as many people out of the city as possible, or there will be nothing left of Lescatie but ruins and corpses! Shizuka where's Ace and Mia?!"

Taken aback by Dawn yelling at her, the bunyip froze up on the spot. She gulped down her fear, "They-they ran off after a war party of ocelomeh took notice of Ace."

"Where's Tatsuo?", Dawn asked in a much calmer tone after seeing Shizuka reaction.

"He's in the castle," Shizuka pointed to the church, "he said he was going to warn the guards of the Elder's attack on the city."

"Alright," the hunter turned to Wilmarina, "Shizuka and Estrid will be helping you in case Druella's horde goes after the civilians. I'll be distracting the Valstrax."

"I am a hero!", Wilmarina stomped, "I can slay this beast… I'm going to slay the Demon Lor…"

"You are a child!", Dawn reprimanded, "A child given far too much responsibility for her own good. Go! Save your people, before Druella comes for them!", He turned to Estrid, "I need you to find Sasha, and keep her and the children safe. I need to speak with her after all of this."

Estrid's grip on her hammer tightened as the Valstrax let loose another thunderous roar as more of that red energy surged from it's being. The lustful sensations clouded her mind long enough to worry the hunter. She shook herself at Dawn's touch, "Don't worry… I'll get them out of here if it's the last thing I do."

As she took off towards the castle's church, the hunter turned to the bunyip, "Shizuka, I need you to find Ace and Mia, and get them out of the city. I believe Ace and Tatsuo are being hunted by Druella's mamono. If you can't find them… get yourself out of the city, and reconvene with the refugees to protect them."

Shizuka covered her ears as the Elder tore through another wall in its assault on the Order heroes. She shallowed her fear, but there was still a pit in her stomach. She turned back to the hunter, "I'll find Ace and Mia, but you need to promise me that you won't get hurt!"

"Shizuka, I can't…", The hunter was pulled into her embrace. She didn't even care that she had dropped her Hunting Horn as she did so. The hunter's well being was the only thing keeping her from breaking down, and fleeing back to Wicker.

"Promise!", She said with a look of defiance sparked in her eyes that told him that there was no room for argument.

Dawn stared back up into her bright golden eyes, and for brief time he was stuck there. Unsure if he should tell her how hunting Elder Dragons actually went for most hunters. He nodded, "I promise."

"Good," she released him, before advancing in the direction she believed Ace and Mia were. Slipping the Hunting Horn onto her back, the way Dawn had shown her before. She looked back, "you better not break it, or I swear you won't leaving my side for a week!"

With the bunyip's departure Dawn, Wilmarina, and the Shakalaka children, who only now managed to catch up to the hunter that freed them, were left. They came to halt, practically grinding their heels into the stone, and gave the hunter a salute; telling him that they were ready for duty. Dawn nodded to them before turning to the shocked hero, and spoke softly, "Wilmarina… you need to go."

"I'm a hero… I can do this.", She pleaded.

"You are a young woman, who's way over her head.", Dawn clasped a hand on her shoulder, "Go… save your people. You can prove yourself later when lives aren't on the line."

A rebuttal formed in her throat, but she found herself choking on it as the dragon took to the sky in all of its horrific beauty. Before it shot back into the earth with a tremor. Sweat began forming at the back of her neck as the beast tore into the stonework roads. Forcing the other heroes, her friends, from their hiding spots. She swallowed her pride and nodded as she began backing up, "I will… I will go.", Before turning fully, "Please save Mersé and Primera!"

Dawn nodded, before turning to face the Elder Dragon leering over the heroes in the distance. He took a deep breath, "Cha-cha… Kayamba. Have you two ever hunted a Valstrax before?"

The two children looked to each other and nodded. Cha-cha answered, "Cha-cha and Kayamba hunt today as thanks! Then Cha-cha and Kayamba go home to tribe?"

"Yes, then Cha-cha and Kayamba go home to tribe.", Dawn smiled beneath his helmet before breaking into a sprint, "Try to keep up you two!"

-0-

"Alpha!", Chloe leapt into the arms of her oldest sister as she, Rachel, and Bonnie made it to the front-line camp. The youngest of the Hellhounds was just relieved that she would reunite with her pack, though she would miss Cha-cha and his silly ramblings.

"Chloe! Rachel! Bonnie!", Alpha's shock was evident even, while embracing her youngest sister. She blinked, "How did you…"

"Druella got us out of the dungeon, when those monsters started attacking the city.", Bonnie pointed to the distant chaos.

"Good thing too.", Rachel rubbed at her aching arms, "The hunter was about to find out about the invasion if he kept asking questions… Damn it I need something for these cuts."

"Alpha!", Elizabeth, the second youngest, came sprinting in from their right, "Mir's being awful, and we need… oh."

Chloe leapt from her Alpha to her closest sister, and brought her into another embrace. Chloe squeezed, "I missed you, Liz."

The second youngest could only squeeze back as she too missed her sister, "It's good to see you again too, Chloe, but we need to get back to our post. Miranda's not a good leader; we need you back there, Alpha."

"Miranda," Rachel growled, "I'll go and take leadership from her. Which way is it to our post?"

Elizabeth pointed to the north gate of Lescatie, "It's about a mile north of the back gate. You'll know when you're close."

Rachel ruffles their two youngest's hair before making her way to their post. Bonnie idly cracked her back as she asked their Alpha, "Are we all heading back, or is there a reason for to be here?"

"Yeah," Alpha thumbed a claw at their sylph commander, "Ala is going to be leading another charge into Lescatie. We should do just fine with the four of us."

"Okay," Bonnie popped her neck before turning to her subordinate sisters, "you two ready to catch yourselves a hunter?!"

"Yeah, we are!", Their youngest said in unison.

-0-

Ace and Mia ran for dear life as the ocelomeh who, by all practical measurements were nearly twice their size, hounded their every step. Switching to all fours Ace took off down the neighboring alley with Mia in tow. The wild mamono used their spiked mallets to change the direction of their momentum by dragging them along the walls of the building leading into the narrow alleyway.

Coming upon a dead end, Ace skidded to a halt turned to the frightened Mia, before grabbing ahold of her and tossing her over the makeshift wall. He clung to it, and slowly began climbing as one their pursuers snatched at his tail. Hopping over the wall, missing a couple strands of fur and, and adrenaline fueling his next action. He ran to the next build across the street, and began climbing it as well.

He turned to look over to see that the ocelomeh had already busted down the wooden boards. Excited grins and lustful eyes tracking his every movement. Their felyne like tails and their felyne like ears made it very clear why they in particular had sought him out. He grimaced at the sight, despite the fact that he was already a quarter of the way up. He could practically feel their claws pulling down, and carrying him off to who knows where.

Ace's claws dug into brick, wood, stone, practically anything that he had to, so that he could make at least some distance from the mamono rampaging after him. The building wasn't tall, but it would give him time to escape while they were busy trying to follow him up. Mia wasn't far off and was fortunate that none of the other mamono seemed to take offense to her presence.

"You can't run forever, little MAN!"

"Don't worry! It won't hurt!"

Ace looked over the edge of the house to see the felyne like women circling the single-story home he found himself stranded on. He could see Mia off to the side, looking for a way to help him, and pointing to the building next to him. It was taller and looked like it had a better overall structure, but the jump was significantly longer and higher than what he was comfortable with.

He felt the small home beneath him shake as the mamono hammered away at the support structures beneath him. One had even managed to claw her way to the top, as a claw ripped through the wooden roof with ease. She peaked a yellow eye out the hole she made, to see Ace carefully balancing on the slanted ceiling as her fellow mamono hammered away at the walls below. She smirked and beckoned him closer, thinking that it would be enough to end the chase altogether.

Ace swung his halberd at the offending claw, but was too slow to actually hit her. He was rewarded with a giggle and another claw tearing through the ceiling beneath him. The girl's claws snatched onto his ankle, her hooks digging into his flesh as she tried pulling him down and into the building proper. Ace felt a cry of pain boil up in his throat, but he decided to instead vent his agony into clawing off the offending limb with his own hooks.

Based on the sudden spasm it must have hurt more than he thought it would have. Regardless he was free as the mamono released him to probably treat her wound. He looked at his own claw to see that there was thin strips of flesh and fur clinging to them. He wiped them off on the side of the building in disgust, before preparing himself for the jump.

"The little shit cut me!", He heard the mamono wail. The palico smirked in self-satisfaction, and leapt from the slowly crumbling building to the next. Using his halberd to grapple himself onto the other rooftop, which gave him an impressive view of the mamono pursuing him.

"The male's moving to the other building!"

'Well… that's not good.', Ace felt his skin crawl at the sight of so many mamono clammer after him. Some were even clawing at his tail from beneath him, which only made it worse. He pulled himself up, and failed to see any other buildings near enough for him to escape too. He looked to Mia, who was prepping a Meowlotov Cocktail.

'Wait a second!', Ace ran over to the edge of the roof, and yelled, "No, don't throw it! I can't go anywhere!"

"What?!", Mia yelled back.

"Good idea let's burn it down! He can't go anywhere, right?!"

Seething in anger, Ace kicked the roof beneath him, "Why are you even after me in the first place?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

A mamono popped her head out the window beneath him, and smiled, "We want to capture you, then we'll have a tournament on who gets to marry you. And then you will become the proud farther of as many children that lucky girl pops out! Doesn't that sound great?!"

"Gah," Ace pushed himself off the edge and turned to Mia, "just throw it! I'll find another way down!"

"What?!", Mia asked as she picked up the ceramic casing in her paws. He gave her a thumbs up, earning him a smile, and a burning building full of sex crazed ocelomeh.

"Good throw!", Ace yelled out to his First Stinger. Earning him another, "What?!", as the building slowly began to crumble beneath him. It didn't help that all of the ocelomeh had managed to flee from it, despite the multiple scorch marks on their fur. He sighed as they readied for his eventual fall, some were even beckoning him into their arms with big lustful grins plastered on their faces.

A flicker of flame licked at his heels leaving Ace with few options. He sighed as he weighed the pros and cons, "I could jump, and be taken to Gog knows where, by horny mamono… or I can be burned alive, because I was too much of an idiot to tell Mia to not start a fire.", He looked down at the mamonos' 'welcoming' embrace, and at the slowly growing fire. He sat down, "Heh, I've survived worse."

He scooted closer the center of the roof as the flames began flickering out the windows close to the top. There were no jeers or hollering for him to come down and 'join' them at first, but there was what seemed to be worried whispers coming from below. He peeked over the edge to see the ocelomehs' panicked expressions as they watch the building burn with their unwilling prize at the center of it.

"Please come down!"

"We promise that we'll be gentle! Just come down!"

"We want to love you! Please come down!"

"The fire's rising! Jump! I'll catch you!"

"Why the fuck are these bimbos so worried about me?", Ace asked himself. His gaze fell on Mia, who happened to avoid the potential wrath of the ocelomeh below him. She was simply staring up at him, silently pleading for him to escape the warrior mamono, and hoping that we would return to her safe and sound. That same annoying feeling came over him as his gaze fell over the war party. He asked, "Why me?! Go find some other sap! If you haven't noticed I'm really short compared to my competition, and you know that means that I'm not exactly big where it counts!"

"You're like us! You are an equal!"

"Humans are weak! We mamono are above them in every way! You're perfect for us!"

"You are not prey!"

"We don't care about size! Once we've had our way with you! You'll be massive!"

"How big are you?!"

The cacophony of voices only grew louder when their worry was exchanged for their curiosity. Though most kept their arms outstretched in hope that he would just fall into their arms, and let them whisk him away, back to their tribe. However, his size down-under kept coming up, so he decided to throw them a bone and hoped that his lower bone was too small for their taste.

He peeked at his crotch to look at it, but was confused when he didn't see anything. He blinked in surprise, 'Where is it? I saw it when I was taking a leak earlier, but… do I need to get horny?', leaning over the 'not as much' burning side of the building. He said, "I don't know where it is, so I can't really tell you guys!"

A collective "Ah" ran across the crowd, but they then almost immediately returned to pleading for him to jump from the slowly crumbling building. He brushed them off and went back to defiantly waiting to be swallowed by the flames. That was until he saw Shizuka crest the hill overlooking the burning building.

He waved to her in hope that she was here to rescue him, but she was already scooping up Mia and heading for him. The ocelomeh beneath him turned to see the bunyip charging their way, but were too slow as they were already being batted away by her Hunting Horn.

"Ace get down here!", Shizuka exclaimed as she batted another mamono aside.

Humming to himself, Ace took as step back before leaping off the burning building, just as the roof gave way to fiery depths below. He landed on his feet almost stumbling off of Shizuka tail in the process, but Mia had thankfully grabbed ahold of him before he fell off. Stradling the bunyip's tail in relief he and Mia were carried away, faster than the ocelomeh could ever hope of moving.

"Were you really just going to stay inside a burning building?!", Mia slapped the palico.

"Eh," He rubbed his cheek, "a little fire never hurt anyone… too bad."

Ace received another slap and an embrace from Mia as they left through the main gate. Even as mamono piled through, they were simply moving too fast for any of them to actually follow. Ace leaned forward against Shizuka's soft tail fur, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Hoping that some actual rest would preparing him for whatever came next.

Though Mia was making it difficult to sleep with how hard she was squeezing him. It was like she expected him to not get hurt. He sighed as exhaustion took him, 'That's not how the world works.'

-0-

Lowen landed beside Kushala with Druella hovering up to his spot on top of the castle. As she approached, Kushala began to visibly struggle as his body refused to heed his will. She quickly made her way over to him, "Kushala, we need you to stop Pluck! He's gone insane!"

"I can… see that," Kushala paused as he took in desperate breaths of air, "but I am… in no condition to fight… let alone stop him."

"What's wrong?", Druella asked as she peeked down at the battle between Hunter and Elder. She scowled, 'I was supposed to have corrupted the heroes by now! Years of preparation for nothing!'

"I cannot molt my body," Kushala craned his head back. A vibration reverberated along his spine, but his rusted body refused the call to separate. He gasped, "It is too warm here. I need cold air to… shed."

Lowen nodded before turning to the lilim, "Alright Druella, work your witchcraft. You caused this mess, now you're going to fix it!"

Nodding the lilim summoned forth freezing winds, while adding more and more Demonic Energy to the air in hopes that what happen to Pluck was a fluke. She smiled in satisfaction as the griffon began to shiver, and the Elder began to relax. Smugly she flicked the griffon's suddenly perking nipples, "Is that cold enough for you?"

Rearing back a claw to swipe the Demon Lord's daughter's head from her body, Kushala let loose an agonized roar as his torment finally came to an end. Both Lowen and Druella turned to the old dragon to see his head settle at the edge of the roof. He let out one last breath, before the light behind his eye died and his wings fell to his side.

And then his back cracked open; a shearing line of rusted carapace fell aside as the Elder's new form slowly inched out of his old body. They moved closer in awe, as Kushala's new shining white body pushed through the opening. He reared back his head to reveal the rest of his form to the world as the storm he summoned parted for the light of day to shine down upon him.

He was far more human than he was before, but unlike any mamono they had ever seen in either of their long lives. His horns and scales were just as prevalent as they were on his old body, but he was different from other dragons, such as the fact that his body was completely covered in the soft gleaming carapace of his own creation.

He stretched out his brilliant wings in triumph, to their shock, his wings were just as wide as they were before. His horns ran along where his scalp should have been and down his neck like they had originally; unlike normal mamono, he was without human skin, without hair, and without any of the usual human features that define mamono but their general shape.

He stared down at them with his single blue eye, while making sure to carry himself with a sense of newly returned nobility and power. He other eye socket remained vacant; despite the drastic transformation he just went through, much too Kushala's chagrin. He turned skyward, letting his skin harden into Demon Silver and Blessed Steel. His scales took on a far more colorful appearance than they had in his rusted state. The mixture of the pink, black silver and the shining white steel meshed together until they merged into an ethereal violet.

He folded his now purple wings across his back, and let his white tipped tail swing to the side as he stood to his full height; only about a head taller than both the lilim and the griffon. Lowen moved to get a better look at his new features to see that he did indeed have a human face. Complete with eyebrows, a pair of pointed ears, and a bronze tipped nose beside his sharp cheekbones due to the connection his skin had with his bones beneath. She could even see his ribcage, and his structure beneath the layers upon layers of folded metal that made up his wings.

"You're beautiful.", Druella gawked at the form of the first male dragon in over a millennium.

"Beautiful?", He began to inspect his new form, "I don't know about that, but it feels… good. It feels good to finally move my talons without that dreadful creak."

Lowen could hardly believe her eyes, "You really are male. I don't know what to say."

"Whatever you have to say can come later.", Kushala glared down at the battlefield below, "If the hunter slays me… make sure to get Pluck out of here."

And with that being said Kushala jumped from the rooftop and dived into the battle below. Though neither the lilim, nor the griffon knew who he planned to help. Lowen did as she was told, and continued to watch the conflict from on high. While Druella sneaked back into the castle in search of her secondary target.

With a wave of her hand, she had put the guards waiting for her into an orgasmic stupor. Corrupting the women with a simple flick of her wrist, and arousing the men with a swish of her tail. It was refreshing to have her power work on someone for a change. She thought back to the night before, 'Why did the hunter and those werecats resist me? My other forms don't give off much energy, but… Could it be that they and the dragons are alike?'

The thought of humans and dragons being equivalent in this other world excited her. She could already tell that the other world had powerful, and not to mention, desirable men from her time manipulating the hunter. But the fact that they resisted her charms. The fact that they remained male despite their changes told her that these monsters and their hunters were of another breed entirely.

She couldn't wait to get hands on a single hunter, and now that she thought about it. She could probably get Dawn to fall for her, and start her experiments from there. She just had to make sure the bunyip and the minotaur didn't mind her too much. Despite how horrific the invasion has been so far; she was feeling pretty optimistic about her plans moving forward.

She came to the door, where one of her kunoichi was posted, and found two men collapsed beside her feet as she stroked the younger of the two's cock. She saluted but refused to stop servicing the young man. Druella smirked and tentatively opened the door to the fourth princess of Lescatie's chamber.

If was exactly how she expected it to be: beautifully tiled floor, immaculate balcony with an impressive view of the city, and a warm bed at the center of it all. A warm bed that was missing a princess. Druella began searching the room, as fury began to overtake her once cool and collected persona.

She tore at the drapes to find nothing; she tore the closet door off it's hinges to find a room filled with clothes befitting royalty that wasn't there; she flipped the bed thinking that the princess may have hid underneath only to find faint traces of dust bunnies. Furious the lilim slowly calmed herself down, so that she could form proper sentences, and exited the room to greet her agent.

Druella beamed, "Sakura, have you seen Princess Francesca? She doesn't seem to be in her room."

The kunoichi lovingly riding the young soldier looked up see the barely contained rage of her liege, and subtly moved to cover her new husband. She shook her head, "No, my lady."

"Would you happen to know where I could find her?", Druella crept closer, her smile becoming more strained with every step.

"I do not know.", The kunoichi felt her heartbeat rise with as the lilim loomed over her.

"She's a sickly girl," Druella ran a finger along the kunoichi's chin, "she couldn't have gone far. Can you use some of your magic to find her?"

"But I'm…"

"Now!", Druella clutched the mamono's chin in her hand. The threatening nails grinding against her throat told her that there was little room for argument.

Quickly taking out her map and kunai, she placed a prayer on the blades, and threw them at the map. They struck the area far outside of Lescatie. Druella released her, and scanned the map to find that Francesca was already well out of 'harms' way for her. She sighed, "I guess I'll be making another princess into a Roper Queen… When did you get here?"

"Just a moment ago.", Her agent went back to riding.

"Why didn't you check if she was still here?"

"These two were going to, oh gods that's good. I mean… they were going to check on her, and try to get her out of the city."

"I suppose, everyone was a tad late then, hmm.", Druella sighed before returning to the balcony to behold the battle below. She smirked, "Nothing so far has gone to plan, but… I can make this work."

-0-

Dawn slid beneath the first lance, but the second caught him off guard. He landed with a thud beside Mersé and Primera, both of which were didn't look much better. He pulled himself to his feet before helping them up as Cha-cha and Kayamba distracted the Elder.

"Good another human," the archer moaned, "have you come to die with us as well?"

"No, but I will be taking it from here.", Dawn pulled Mersé unbroken arm over his shoulder, "Can you walk?"

She coughed out Dragon blight, but was otherwise fine, if you didn't look at her bruising arm anyways. She nodded, "I can walk… can you kill it?"

"I'm trying not to.", He carried her off to the other side of the battlefield with the half-elf drawing the raging Elder's attention, "You should stay here… recover and leave the city before Druella's mamono get here."

"I am a warrior, Hunter.", She groaned, "I'm supposed to die on the battlefield! Not away from it like some useless woman."

"Well, you'll have to die on some other battlefield then.", Dawn laid her down against some vaguely comfortable rubble.

She mumbles a "fine" in defeat as Dawn left her to return to the fight. He ducked beneath a sweep, and blocked the next glancing blow with the flat of his Great Sword. Using the momentum to his advantage, he twisted his body to get closer to the archer.

"You're reckless, human!", Primera notched another arrow, "Mersé may have been useless against this beast, but you're fighting like you want to die!"

"I'm not suicidal.", He pushed her to the ground as the Valstrax took to the air, and shot towards them in a kamikaze attack. He chuckled, "In truth, I hunt this way because it's fun."

"Get your filthy hands off of me!", She squirmed beneath him.

He rolled off of her and to his feet, "Get out of Lescatie!", He began sprinting up to the dragon with a hand on his hilt, "Wilmarina's evacuating the civilians! Keep your strength to protect them!"

Scowling at the petulant human, she slowly got to her feet, as she realized just how badly she was hurt. The half-elf weakly touched the red splotch on her waist. She looked down at her hand to see red static and fuzzy clouds mixed with blood cover her hand. She felt faint and the pain was beginning to numb, but she didn't know why. It was like she was dying, but she wasn't decaying, she wasn't going cold, and the rest of her body felt fine. She would interrogate the hunter at another time.

Dawn's Wyvernator struck true for the first time. The blade burying itself into the Elder's arm causing the beast to let loose a pained roar, and retaliated by slamming it's folded wing into the hunter. Dawn was knocked back and into a wall as the Valstrax charged another blast of Dragon Element in its wings. The hunter was given little time, but managed to dodge the incoming Elder Dragon as it shot through the wall. And the wall after that wall, and the walls after that wall.

He was starting to lose count until the Valstrax shot into the sky, and began circling their dragon made arena. Running back to the center, Dawn prepared himself and turned to face the sky as the Valstrax broke the sound barrier midflight. The red light from the exhaust made a circle, before shooting back towards the earth below.

"Alright," Dawn unsheathed his weapon and took up the Valor-Stance, "let's hope this works."

The Valstrax struck the earth with the force of a dozen cannons. Dawn, despite the Dragon surging through the air, was left unharmed. Even as the Elder swept passed him, and the air seemed to burn his armor with the heat from the explosion. He came out of the attack with Dragon Blight, but was otherwise unharmed and out of breath.

"Okay," he huffed, "come at me!"

The Elder obliged and charged once more, only for the hunter to Valor through that attack as well. Dawn ducked beneath a sweeping lance, and struck the Valstrax's crest. The blade dug into the carapace, but did not pierce through the dragon's body. Ducking out the way of another attack, Cha-cha and Kayamba rejoined the fray.

Cha-cha smacked the Elder across the snout with his club, earning him a smack from the dragon's claw, while Kayamba chopped at its tail. The Valstrax glared at him from beneath his wing before rearing back, and spinning to smash the Shakalaka into the ground with its right wing. Both, Shakalaka were knocked out of the fight, leaving Dawn the last combatant.

"Cha-cha sleepy…"

"Kayamba bacon needs saving, Kayamba will pay you back with bacon later…"

Dawn sighed but nodded as he took up the Valor-Stance once more in preparation to dodge the next flyby. And as he expected the Valstrax tore through the air and where he once stood. It came to a stop mere feet away, and stumbled as it began desperately sucking in air through its vents.

Taking advantage of the Elder's momentary vulnerability, he took up a charging stance right beside the Elder's breathing vents. Letting his strength store until he felt his body ripple with his inner power, and he swung with the force that brought even dragons to their knees. The Valstrax toppled onto its side with a blast of smoke and Dragon from its vents, before shrinking down into another shape entirely.

Taken aback the hunter was unable to resist the sudden feeling of being lifted up. Dragged from his feet and into the open sky as a claw pulled him higher and higher by his belt. He struggled to look up at his captor, and was greeted with the most peculiar sight he had ever seen.

"Hello hunter," the Kushala made mamono said, "I would say I don't take pleasure in killing you… but that would be a lie!"

And then they plummeted back to the earth. The last thing Dawn felt was the pressure of talons on his chest. And the last thing he heard was the cry of a woman he did not know. He tasted copper and felt his body grow numb, 'That was unexpected.'

AN: Whelp, Crimson Glow Valstrax is a thing, and I was curious on whether or not the madness that comes from Dragon affected Elders. And then Crimson Glow comes out and just states that yes, Elder will go insane from Dragon Blight. Which is bad, but also great for world building!

Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The break will be postponed to after the next chapter, because I thought this one would end the Lescatie arc.