When Strongarm visited Canaria Monastery, he was overheard having a conversation with the Versa Pietru about Elder Dragons that may have been capable of killing him; the four examples he listed were overheard by the monks, who came to refer to them as the Houndslayers.

When I was a child, Leon explained to me that Elder Dragons weren't one particular species; it was a catch all term for creatures that defy classification and exist outside the natural ecosystem, regardless of their resemblance to an actual dragon. The worst and most terrible of these creatures were known as the Black Dragons: two such monsters are within the ranks of the Houndslayers.

It was just Leon's luck that the first Houndslayer he would encounter was the most dangerous one.

At the very least, fate was merciful enough to put the very weakest of the Fatalis in his path. Leon would sing me songs about this creature when I was a child; he would tuck me into bed with my three sisters, and he would sing to me the Legend of the Black Dragon.

When the world is full of wyverns

The Legend is revived

Meat is eaten, Bone is crunched,

And blood is sucked up dry.

He burns the earth

And melts through iron

He boils the rivers

And mows down the trees

He awakens the winds

And lights an inferno

He is called Fatalis

The wyvern of destiny

He is called Fatalis

The wyvern of destruction

Call for help

Run for your lives

And don't forget

To pray to the skies

He is called Fatalis

The wyvern of destiny

He is called Fatalis

The wyvern of destruction

Fatalis, Fatalis,

Heaven and Earth are yours

Fatalis, Fatalis,

Heaven and Earth are yours

I always loved those stories. I always knew that the tales Leon told were of things he did in the past: logically, because he was here telling the story, it was safe to assume that he won. Not always in one piece, but he won.

Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale, by Lufas Maphaahl

Leon's body skipped like a stone across the surface of the swamp, the raw power of the Fatalis hitting him like a train. It swooped after him and crushed his back beneath its claws, its huge jaws snapping at his throat. He was able to sink his teeth into the dragon's neck, earning a roar of pain as it began to thrash.

As soon as his spine was done repairing itself, Leon flipped himself over so he could claw at its vulnerable belly; the Fatalis began to growl as its chest burned orange, immense heat transferring to the wolfdog beneath it. He yelped in terror as he scrambled away, barely avoiding the stream of hellfire that poured from its jaws.

He mentally compared it to the Makili Pietru's ultimate attack; instinctively, he knew that Fatalis was stronger. If it scored a direct hit then there would be nothing left of him to regenerate.

The Fatalis took to the sky, chasing him across the marsh as it peppered him with fireballs. "Why? Why am I being attacked by MONSTER HUNTER SATAN?"

On the other side of the glass trench, Earis and Guts were having a much easier time against the Makili Pietru. She was already exhausted from fighting Leon, and the loss of her wing had left her firmly landlocked. She attempted to create a purple barrier, but Guts was able to destroy it with ease using his new weapon.

"Ha!" He jumped back, narrowly avoiding being skewered by her horns. "I love this sword!" She paused to heal, using up even more of her dwindling reserves of energy. "I should deal the killing blow."

Earis did a massive double take; Pietru tried to drain his energy in long purple chains, only for him to easily cut them apart with his ancestral sword. "Why? I wanna do it!"

"It's in the name, Griffith!" Guts raised his massive sword and waggled it above his head. "Dragonslayer! What is this we're fighting? A dragon! Do the maths, jackass!"

The Black Dread's wings glowed with red and blue light as she robbed Guts of his speed, taking the opportunity to envelop him in a stream of purple flames; he simply planted the Dragonslayer in the ground and hid behind it, using it as a makeshift barricade.

"Well my sword is called Lionslayer!" Earis declared, cutting off the Elder Dragon's right forepaw; she hit the dirt as her support disappeared, seeing stars as her jaw slammed shut. "This thing looks a lot more like a lion than a dragon: that means I get dibs!"

"Dragons fuck lions sideways!"

"Then how come lions are the kings of the animal kingdom? Because dragons are bitches, that's why!"

"What the hell kind of logic is that?"

As Pietru forced herself upright on her remaining paw, she mustered the last last of her energy into a final breath attack; a stream of black energy erupted from her jaws, forcing the guards to jump apart. Earis was the more nimble of the two, ducking in beneath the blast with his sword held low.

Leon widened his eyes, the adrenaline pumping through his system causing the scene to play out in slow motion. "Earis!" he screamed. "Don't-" The Fatalis took advantage of the distraction, landing on his back and pinning him to the ground; it didn't kill him, as though understanding that watching would cause him more pain than death.

With a sickening noise that he would have heard from the other end of the continent, the Lionslayer separated her head from her body. The leonine face rolled away as the body slumped sadly to the ground, fading to its usual gold colour as the miasma drained from her corpse.

Leon remembered how he had met her: he remembered how they fought, how they had talked, and how they had become friends. He remembered how she had learned to alter her size, and her habit of snuggling into his fur. He remembered how she and Olivia had comforted him after he had learned of his fate, how she had come to help him in his hour of need against the poisonous lizard.

None of that mattered anymore. She was gone now.

Leon screamed in anguish as the two guards cheered, mistaking it for a roar of victory. "Finally!" Earis laughed. "Good riddance!"

The chest of the dead Elder Dragon exploded in a shower of gore, causing both bipeds to scream and back away. A creature resembling a silver lion cub tumbled out of the gaping wound; it was about the same size as Pietru when she shrank herself to ride on his back, and began frantically shaking the viscera from its fur as soon as it rose to its feet.

"Oh! Oh! Oh fuck!" The tiny creature began to have a panic attack, its voice sounding exactly like that of Pietru. "Oh fuck! Oh, that was so scary! Oh god I thought I was dead! Oh, I thought I was dead! Am I dead? Oh shit! Oh fuck!"

"Guy?" Guts said nervously. "Is that thing talking?"

Leon gave him an exasperated look, still struggling beneath the claws of the Fatalis. The Black Dragon seemed just as surprised by this development as everyone else. "Oh, so now you assholes can talk to animals?"

The cub seemed to recognise his voice. "Huan? Is that you?" She flapped her wings experimentally, but was too young and weak to make it off the ground. "What the hell?"

"Pietru?" Leon was fairly certain it was her, but felt like he needed to check. "Is that you?"

"Of course it's me!" She was becoming increasingly shrill as she panicked. "What the hell happened to me? Why is my fur a different colour?" She suddenly spotted him, as well as the Fatalis keeping him pinned. "Holy crap, a dragon!"

"Why did you turn into a Toa Tesukatora?"

She looked at him blankly. "A what?"

"What is it?" Earis was saying. "Is it dangerous?"

"It doesn't look happy to see that other guy," observed Guts. "It was covered in spooky miasma and whatnot: shot in the dark, maybe it was being controlled and we set it free."

"Guts!" Leon sobbed. "You glorious warrior poet you!"

He abruptly shrank himself, then grew back to maximum so quickly that the Fatalis was launched straight off his back. He leapt into the air and sank his teeth into its wing, viciously shaking his head in an attempt to cripple it.

The reborn Elder Dragon was stretching out her wings, examining her new form with curious eyes. "What am I?"

"Uh… Excuse me?" She looked up as Earis made himself known. "I don't speak dragon, but… are you Lord Leon's friend?"

"Shit yeah I am!" Pietru blurted, but then remembered they couldn't understand her. "Where's the fairy when you need her? Let's see… what did humans do…"

She nodded, earning massive, childlike grins from the two guards. "Great!" Guts grinned. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"You could help the dog."

"What?"

"You could help…" She nodded her head pointedly at the fighting behemoths. "…the dog!"

"I think it's trying to communicate!" Pietru rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Seriously! Guys! I was chasing this Warmother and it led me to Elodach, but then when I was chasing him the Fatalis appeared and it infected me with its gunge!"

Guts sighed and scratched his head. "Look, we really can't-"

"Huan told me about this! He said that, of all living things, that dragon had the best chance of killing him! That thing that possessed me? He called it the Black Blight. It's basically poison, and I don't know if you've noticed but POISON IS HIS BIGGEST WEAKNESS!"

Sure enough, the more they fought the more the wolfdog was infected by the Blight. The same black mist that had enveloped the Makili Pietru was soaked into his fur; his breath came in choked gasps, and a persistent, lancing pain would occasionally burst through his chest.

"The black stuff!" Earis shouted. "It's trying to tell us about that! He's been poisoned!"

"Fucking finally!"

"He can probably heal it on his own," grunted Guts. "We just need to cut off the source."

He ran swiftly but surely towards the clash of titans, leaping across the glass trench with his immense sword at the ready. Leon was coughing blood as he noticed him come close, the Fatalis rearing back to belch a stream of flames. In a desperate gamble he ducked away from his childhood hero; the dragon followed him with its eyes, leaving its back wide open.

With a roar, Guts swung the Dragonslayer at its neck; the Fatalis let out a gargled roar of surprise as its head was severed, creating a pinwheel of fire as the flaming breath discharged from the severed stump. "Yeah!" Guts laughed, landing on its corpse and brandishing his sword victoriously over his head. "Dragonslayer, bitch!"

"Whoa!" Pietru squealed. "Damn, Huan! Where did you find this guy?"

"In my dad's private collection," laughed Leon, his voice trailing into a weak cough. "Man had good tastes."

"Guys?" Earis interrupted. "It might be too early to celebrate!"

The stars were being blocked out by countless wings, the air filled with their slow beats. Dozens of black Fatalis flocked through the air, their glowing eyes focused on the terrified group below.

"Shrink to the size of a regular dog," said Guts seriously. "Now."

Leon did as he said, going limp as the guard slung him over his shoulder. Killing the first Fatalis hadn't made the Blight go away; he could feel it, writhing beneath his skin like a living thing. He was gently laid down beside the tiny Elder Dragon. "It was a Warspawn, Huan!" Pietru rasped. "All that power, and it was just a Spawn."

"Yeah," he rasped. "So where the hell is its Warmother?"

While this was going on, the main characters continued their boss fight with Gromaides. Chris launched a Fire Arrow from the Sword of Spirits; out of sheer luck, he hit the monster in the eye. "Now's your chance! Get it!"

Julius and Greg let out manly battlecries as they charged the Warmother; Gromaides blocked the attack with its forelimbs, but still screamed in agony as its tendons were severed. Although they were rendered useless it still had its tentacles, swiping them away with ease.

Both boys cried out as a second blow destroyed their weapons; the blade of Perseverance shattered, while the shaft of the Robber King snapped like a twig. The tips of both weapons remained embedded in its body. "Your Highness!" Jilk screamed. "Your sword!"

Julius smiled tightly. "It's just a sword, Jilk."

"Oh yeah?" Greg's face twisted into an angry scowl. "Well that's not just a spear." The knife he had received from Humbus was still in his belt; he pulled it out and charged with a howl of rage, leaping at the creature and jamming the Galadian Steel into its open wound.

Gromaides thrashed and screamed as it tried to dislodge him, but soon Greg had the severed tip of his spear in his hand; tearing it free in a shower of gore, the redhead looped his legs over the bleeding limb and dragged himself out of range of its writhing tentacles. He began using the knife and the spearhead as climbing picks, clawing his way up the Warmother's neck until he was perched atop its head.

With a roar he slammed the spearhead into the UnFae's forehead, tumbling to the ground and rolling back to the safety of his party. Cracks began to appear in the Warmother's carapace; the Robber King glowed as it drained the durability of the natural armour, its shaft reconstructing itself before their eyes. Eventually the entire shell crumbled, leaving Gromaides to flop uselessly in a pile of gooey pink flesh.

The spear clattered across the cave floor, rolling to Greg's feet like a faithful dog. He picked it up with a smug grin. "Man, I'm cool!"

Livia rolled her eyes. "Your pet monster is finished, Elodach. It's time-"

She was cut off as the ground shook, a horrific roar going off in the distance. "What was that?" Angie whispered. Everyone, even the sole remaining UnFae, looked at the semi-immortal with accusing eyes.

"How the hell would I know?"

Above ground, the flock of Fatalis suddenly scattered as the ungodly sound split the air. The ground in the distance exploded upward, creating a vast shower of earth and stone. A pair of massive, orange, glowing eyes peered out from the murk.

Guts gave the creature a flat, impassive look. "What. The fuck. Is that?"

The dragon sloped out of the cloud of mud, oozing a thick, tar like substance from every pore. It was many times bigger than the Fatalis, which they could see being constantly birthed from pods on its spiny back; like its offspring the monster had six limbs, with large hind legs, small forelimbs kept close to its chest like a T-Rex and large wings that it kept folded and used as forelegs. The fingers of these wings were long and boney, bringing to mind an exposed skeleton.

It had glowing orange patches on its chest and throat, and its enormous head had narrowed into a point like a great horn. Strands of the disgusting tar clung to it lips as opened its immense mouth, unleashing a deafening roar as its mighty tail thrashed the ground behind it.

"Oh my god," whispered Leon. Pietru heard this and shot him a look.

"Do you know what that is?"

"Gogmazios," he replied. "The Giant Halberd Dragon."

The parent of the Fatalis ignored them, if it even noticed their tiny forms at all. It lumbered over to the stagnant lake, leaning down and biting the ruined tree in its massive jaws; with an ungodly noise the entire island was lifted into the air, crushed between its teeth before falling as rubble to the stinking water. Then Leon smelt it, wafting out from the exposed Cullis Gate: the smell of his friends, who for some reason had appeared in the most dangerous place on the planet.

"No," he croaked. He tried to wobble to his feet, but the Black Blight had almost ruined his ability to walk. "Livia… Angie… Jules…"

The bipeds froze as Gogmazios glared down at them, taking in the limp, miserable shape of Gromaides. It knew, somehow, who was responsible. Its nightmarish eyes focused on Greg, who quietly soiled himself.

"Pietru!" Leon coughed. "Tell Livia to prepare a Full Pure!"

"What?" He didn't stop to explain, staggering out into the open so he could properly yell at the dripping dragon.

"Hey!" Leon shouted, using the last of his energy to release one of his special barks. This caught the dragon's attention, but he was so small in comparison that he had to once more grow in size to catch its gaze. "Why don't you… Why don't you…" He had to pause as his body was wracked with coughs. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Livia, Julius and Angie recognised the voice, while everyone else recognised the bark. "Leon?" Livia's eyes widened as she connected the dots. "Of course! The thing that drove the Lao-Shan Lung out of its habitat… it was one of your Warmothers!"

Elodach blinked slowly. This was actually his first time hearing what they had been calling his creations. "Warmothers," he repeated, his lips curling into a smile. "I like that name." He looked at the enormous dragon, instantly re-exerting his control. "Kill the dog."

Leon knew from its smell what the creature was; this was the poisonous lizard that had attacked him as he left the Blood Barrier, somehow warped and changed into a monstrous new form. That meant the Fatalis must be its new Spawn, replacing the raptors that had swarmed him in the blackness. "Could'a sworn we killed you," he said dryly.

The Fatalis watched as Gogmazios beat him black and blue. It didn't even need to use any special abilities, as by now the poor wolfdog was almost helpless under the effects of the Black Blight; in the presence of so many Black Dragons it had become overpowering, and the only reason it hadn't killed Earis and Guts is because all of it was being focused on Leon.

The wolfdog yelped in pain as he was thrown against a hill, his healing factor doing what it could to keep him alive. The tar-covered dragon glared down at him, almost seeming to sneer in sadistic glee. He huffed tiredly through his snout.

"Let me guess what it is you're thinking," he wheezed. "I did it. I did what no one else could. I beat the God Hound." He stared the monster down; honestly, Leon even surprised himself with how little he was afraid. "I already know who kills me," he snarled. "And it's not some punk lizard with bad hygiene."

Gogmazios took a deep breath, then spat out an endless stream of burning tar; Leon stood perfectly still as it washed over his body and stuck to him like napalm, burning his fur, his skin and his flesh. It didn't even hurt, his nerves burnt away faster than the pain could be felt. Even with an entire flock of Fatalis channelling Black Blight into his body, he was fully healed within minutes.

As soon as his face had grown back, Leon looked the creature in the eye. "Like I said," he spat. "You ain't shit."

Gogmazios glowered silently. Slowly - nervously - it took a step back.

"What are you doing?" Elodach demanded. "He's helpless! Why are you retreating?"

"Hey dragon." Gogmazios turned back to the wolfdog as he caught its attention. "I've been teaching a few things to those kids down there. Especially the ones that use magic." The Giant Halberd Dragon flinched as his lips twisted into a nightmarishly human grin. "Wanna guess what I taught Livia?"

By now he had bought enough time for Livia to clamber out of the cave, her body thrumming with holy magic. "By the grace of the stars: Full Pure!" A lance of white magic blazed from her palms, hitting Leon in the side and flushing the Black Blight from his system in one fell swoop. Elodach's jaw dropped; he could see through the eyes of Gogmazios as Leon casually shook himself. "What did she just do? What the hell did she just do?"

"A great spell," chuckled Leon. "The way that Full Pure cures you of all status ailments is pretty great, but my favourite part has to be the solid forty minutes of immunity before you can be affected again."

Elodach may not have understood, but he could see from their faces that the Fatalis certainly did.

Leon lunged forward and bit Gogmazios in the wing, shaking it back and forth like a rag doll. He remembered from his past life that it was surprisingly agile and fast; he had guessed correctly that this meant it was actually quite light, allowing him to manhandle it with ease. When the Fatalis tried to swarm him he used their parent as a bludgeoning weapon, slamming it into them and crushing them beneath its weight.

The Giant Halberd Dragon roared, its body smoking as the tar evaporated all over its body. "Gah!" Leon screamed, spitting it out as the vapour stung his eyes. "What the-"

Gogmazios beat its massive wings as it took to the skies, swooping around in an attempt to carpet bomb him with another rain of burning tar; the attempt was thwarted when Leon leapt into the air, his fangs fastening securely around the creature's throat. The dragon squawked as it was dragged out of the sky, the punctured glands in its throat flooding its insides with burning tar.

By this point too many of the Fatalis were mobbing him at once, forcing the wolfdog to let go; Gogmazios fled into the sky, desperate to escape the monstrous canine. He shrank to the size of a regular dog and ran into their midst, causing the larger dragons to clumsily crash into one another as they fought to catch him.

As the Fatalis began to fight amongst themselves he returned to maximum size, biting one of them by the tail and swinging it in a circle. The nearby dragons were clubbed away by its body; one of them lunged, only for him to let go of the tail and bite its wing off with ease.

As soon as he spit out the severed wing, Leon barked. The nearby Fatalis fell out of the sky as their eardrums exploded, ruining their balance forever. They made a circle around him, maintaining a cautious distance. By then, Gogmazios was long gone. "You know," he laughed. "I was so damn intimidated when the first one of you came flying in. He was bigger than me, stronger than me, faster than me… but then I remembered! Every time one of you assholes showed up in Monster Hunter, they got hunted down! Hunted by ordinary men and women!"

The wolfdog stepped forward; like their parent before them, the Fatalis nervously backed away.

"And I'm no mere man!" Leon snarled. "You guys have your own little chant, don't you? Fatalis, Fatalis, Heaven and Earth, blah blah blah! It's your very own Unlimited Blade Works, isn't it? Well here's my chant!"

Livia, Angie, Pietru and Julius listened in awe as he began to speak. The verse Leon recited then was called 'Invictus', and Leon would name his kingdom after it one day.

"Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole. I thank whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul."

Although he had long since reached his maximum size, Leon continued to grow to yet more incredible heights. It was as if his body were expanding to accommodate his immense fighting spirit.

"In the fell touch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed."

He was now bigger than Gogmazios, and could be seen by Mylene from the palace. "Could he always grow that big?" Brad asked shrilly.

"Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horrors of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid!"

Serbia listened, awestruck, from where she watched the confrontation from within the Sanctum. Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered someone she knew long ago.

"It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll!" Some of the Fatalis tried to flee, but by then it was far too late. "I am the master of my fate!" Leon roared. "I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL!"

He lunged, and tore the Living End of the World to shreds.

Boss: Gogmazios and the Fatalis

Summary: The Fatalis is the second of the three original Elder Dragons from Monster Hunter to appear in this story. Apparently the only member of its species, it is THE final boss of the Monster Hunter universe. The fact that it's the only one of its kind makes it the perfect candidate to be a Warspawn, as Leon would most certainly not be expecting to face an entire army of them. If there was ever a creature that could push him to his limits and let him discover new heights of his powers, it would be Fatalis. When this arc is done and Fatalis leaves the stage, take this promise with you: Fatalis WILL return.

A small disclaimer: despite what Leon claims at the start of this chapter, Fatalis is not Monster Hunter Satan. That would be Dire Miralis. Fatalis is more like the Monster Hunter Beast of the Apocalypse.

Gogmazios first appeared as the final boss of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and like Fatalis is the only one of its kind. This is because it spends most of its time hibernating, only venturing above ground to consume massive quantities of sulphur and gunpowder. It is one of the first instances of a Stage 2 Warmother in the story, alongside Gromaides.

It was always the plan for these creatures to evolve, with the Earth Dragon becoming Gogmazios after burying itself below ground and ASK becoming Gromaides after melding with the cave wall. It should be noted that this is less Pokemon and more William Birkin: transforming like this doesn't alway make them stronger, it just makes them into something different. Remember, Elodach's Talent isn't Evolution; it's just Transformation. It lets me be a little more flexible with my monsters.

Pietru has become a Toa Tesukatora, an Origin species (as in a genetic ancestor of an existing Elder Dragon) from Monster Hunter Frontier. Don't expect her to grow back to full size right away.

Warmothers Active: 2

Cocoons Gestating: 1

Remaining UnFae: 1