(POV: Third)

Ripples shook the skies with each clash. The two Demonic Dragons were not letting up. When one appeared to have the advantage, the other was able to come back with a new inner strength. Dahaka could not help but become impressed with how far Zahhak has progressed in so little time. In all his years of existence, he never imagined that such a beast could rival him in strength. A creation straight from him, no less; a creation devised from a power that was once his own. The cursed dragon almost wished that he didn't have to destroy this beast for betraying him. After Zahhak had displayed such a high level of free will, Azi Dahaka believed there was no other choice; he had to destroy it.

As each side exchanged blows, Azi Dahaka became fixated on the image he once imagined as the future. With each collision, he imagined his claws striking down every building, enemy, or God that would dare to stand before him. With the true Dragon of the Sun asleep, waiting for the next battle in the next thousand years, Dahaka was going to make use of the opportunity. Eirik brought him back; the mere sign of such intriguing power brought him back. It was why he hated the fact that he would be destroying it; such power would've been useful against the true Dragon of the Sun.

Zahhak cared little about such trivial matters; to him, such a grudge only appeared to reveal the small scope that Azi Dahaka appeared to have. What is a true God when one's only matters is to confront one single opposing enemy that isn't even a deity! Why should a God fear mere mortals. Zahhak grinned abnormally. The current of his moving scales appeared to make his smile stretch unnaturally. The few bystanders that watched this battle from afar were trembling with the unholy creature before them. "You must be tired, Azi Dahaka!"

The Black Sun dragon groaned back, angrily scowling at the seemingly impulsive newborn. "Far from it! I will not be bested by some insolent whelp! You came from me! You will not best me! I will not let it!"

"You were bested by a mere mortal," Zahhak coldly returned. "A mortal given the very few abilities of a God! That Balle Soleil wasn't even a deity and you fell to him!"

"I will not tolerate your words!" The elder dragon's jaws began to shake. Zahhak watched as the Black Sun dragon began to emanate an ominous aura. However, he couldn't help but stare deeply at the crimson-violet hue. "My name is Azi Dahaka! Long have I waited for this moment! Those who know the truth have summoned me here!" Zahhak felt the tenseness of his voice. Yes; Alvis and Eirik knew their presupposed truth, but Alvis was no longer of this world. No matter how confident Dahaka became, he was ignorant that the new Alvis Boden had witnessed a new truth. "None can stand before me, and none will come after me! Fear me! Dread me!" The aura began to shake, crackling from red volts of compiled energy. The attack itself was becoming unstable, but Zahhak continued to watch the attack take form. Finally, Dahaka was moments away from unleashing his monstrous attack. "There is no escape! Erasure of History!"

Three rays of raw energy came downward, striking where Zahhak once remained. He weaved right by them, but the rays continued downward. They began to bleach the barren countryside, scarring the land as the bolts followed Zahhak's every attack at moving. He weaved throughout the air, just barely avoiding Dahaka's ultimate attack. The energy continued to expel itself in their monstrous rays of corrupted light. Earthquakes shook the land as the rays bleached the world's crust! Everything around them began to burn. The scorching air drained Zahhak, exhausting him as he grew even wearier with each passing moment. No matter where the demon could go, the attack continued to follow. The rays traced Zahhak's movements until any little sign of life was permanently erased from the crust below.

Dahaka's attack finally ceased, leaving an exhausted demon disciple weakly flying before him. The Black Sun dragon merely chuckled at the sight of such weariness. "Impressive, but I'm still leagues ahead of you. I have the power to bring every world to its knees in mere moments. You're doing nothing but slowly draining a power that rivals Gods!" Zahhak panted wearily, watching the Black Sky dragon closely. However, something far behind him caught the disciple's eye. There was a small shine, a flicker of sorts. What little light this world had, it must have reflected off a piece of metal. Zahhak squinted his eyes, noticing a humanoid pale dragon with familiar, brown and golden armor. The armor of the Purgatory Knights; someone was watching them, but why. Upon sighting, the thin armordragon immediately started off, rushing away as fast as his legs could carry. Zahhak's mind froze as a sudden thought came to his mind; a recon squad, they must have sent someone to check where we were. He knew that there was a possibility that they would disrupt this battle of dominance. He had to act quickly; he rushed forward, but Azi Dahaka blindsided the young disciple, subduing him with a strong slash. Dahaka grinned as Zahhak fell to the ground. "You dare take your eyes off me?! Don't underestimate my power, whelp!"

Fine, Zahhak thought to himself. As soon as they come, I will leave you for dead!

(POV: Third)

The trek of the Fifth Omni Cavalry started off strong. They didn't know which direction was the best, but they knew that the two dragons must have originated from one source in particular. Because of that, it was in their best interest to start their search there. This 'castle' referred to as The Void needed to be found, and they assumed that this would be their best chance of locating CJ and Arkaid. Even with this plan in mind, their resolve was waning as they continued their quest across these barren wastelands. The odds of survival for an average creature appeared slim when they noticed the lack of any necessity for living. It left a pit in Alliot's stomach; he felt deeply anguished being in such a vulnerable position. Angrily, he swung his spear at the ground, letting the drills clang into the dry fruitless soil beneath him. Everyone hastily turned to him, watching the dragon angrily stare at his weapon. As he looked at it, he couldn't help but feel like such a weapon was useless to him. "… Sorry… it's getting to me."

Melanie rushed to his side. The young girl placed her arm over the defeated armordragon's shoulder, stroking it. Alliot sighed before turning his sorrowful eyes to the girl. "Alliot… we'll find them. We need to keep going."

"I… I don't know if I can." Alliot shook his head. "They're gone because I was too weak. I couldn't do anything."

Rikka gritted her teeth. "We were both useless then," she began. "But that only makes me want to punch that Eirik brat in the face for what he did. Using an old buddy as bait; who the hell does that to someone?"

Meglax nodded. "We're certainly dealing with a conniving individual."

Mizaru returned to Melanie's side, petting her head. "Melly, it's good that you're supporting him, but you shouldn't worry about him. This is difficult for you as well."

Alliot sneered. "Mizaru, don't start," he snarled. "CJ's my buddy."

Merak shook his head. "You're not."

Alliot roared back. "What did ya say?!"

"The same way I'm not Melanie's buddy," Meglax continued. Alliot, understanding the situation, weakly turned away. "Or Meglax with Rikka. Us three were paired up because we were finding it difficult to find buddies of our own in a short time. We would've been more free to find others if The Will wasn't so active."

"… Yeah… you're right."

"Arkaid is CJ's buddy. Doble is Rikka's. Mizaru is Melanie's," Merak continued. "The way I see it, each person can only have one true buddy at a time. One would watch the other's back. A third individual is nothing more than that; a third."

"What's your point?"

"Excluding Meglax, who transcended because his brotherhood with Doble, none of us have been able to access our Super Forms."

"But what about Arkaid?"

"Alliot, we all know the one thing that's holding her back," Merak returned lowly. "In due time, she will find her potential. It may be difficult, but I see it coming. However, the rest of us can't truly reach the next level without finding a buddy of our own. That's what happened with Doble, and the same with Mizaru."

"So, what's your point?"

"… We are going to find them, there's no question about that. No barren wasteland is going to stop them," Merak sighed. "But, I feel like you're more saddened at them not being around more than anything, and I want you to know that, once this is over, we're going to need to go off on our own."

"You mean…."

"You'll need to leave CJ, just like the rest of us extras."

Melanie yelled back. "What?! But I don't want you to go either?!"

"There's no stopping that," Merak returned. "Besides, it's bad for this world to have all of us stationed in Japan. What if something happens in the United States? Or in South America? Or Russia? Or anywhere else that's too far away? We need to be spread out so we can respond effectively."

"But…."

"That was what Tenbu informed us all when we left," Merak continued. "Alliot has merely forgotten, wishing to forget another dreadful truth. We're brothers, but we cannot forget our duty as members of the Cavalry."

Alliot shook at such a thought. Doble emerged from the group, kneeling down to Alliot's side. Alliot gasped, seeing his rival before him with such a genuine expression on his face. The red dragon extended his right hand, staring at his comrade in the eye. "Get up, brother," Doble returned with a solemn look. "I want you to find him with us. I want you to at least be there to say your goodbye."

(POV: Arkaid-First)

I was slowly beginning to regain my ability to speak. I was truly thankful for this, but now I am only slightly more valuable than that of a log. My precious partner was growing wearier by the day, so my voice was something of a sign of progress to him; it was a sign that he was doing something right. When he first told me this, my initial thought was to withhold my ability to speak; I wanted him to think that the only correct action was to leave me behind. Even with that thought in mind, I could not bear to bring myself to make him go through that level of hardship. Because of that, I refrained from going that far.

Never in my life would I have put this sort of punishment on my mortal enemy. Such a fate is worse than death; I am bound to an unmoving body, leaving my precious partner to take care of me alone. He has to fight to keep us both alive, and that was a fact that I had a terrible time coming to terms with. Even with my ability to speak, albeit a bit feeble, I kept most of my darkened thoughts to myself. Every morose thought I had was kept within my mind, for I knew that CJ would worry about me further. In cases such as this one, I knew that making him worry about me would only exhaust him more.

Wearily, I watched him return from another hunt. He had found shelter below a cavern, hidden behind several unique rock formations. It was safe enough for him to leave me there, but he made sure to scout the area first. All that effort, as well as him making treks for resources, was becoming a drain on him. His usually darker-toned face began to appear sickly with the odd pale color, and he looked scrawnier than before. He was losing himself to this world, I just knew it. He wasn't saying anything about it then and, when he finally brought back some supplies necessary for our survival, he wasn't saying anything about it now.

He scuffled around some of the overturned rocks as he approached my still-motionless body. With a cloth tied like a small sack, he revealed to me a small assortment of dried berries and small fruits. Behind him was a reasonably sized urn, enough water to hydrate the two of us. With the large amount of rainfall from before, it didn't surprise us that there was plenty of water to spare. However, we needed nutrition, and this barren wasteland barely gave us much, especially when neither of us knew where we should look. With that in mind, I expected CJ to speak with a low drop of confidence, but from his smile alone I could tell that he was happy to see me still here. I couldn't help but smile softly back at him, but I quickly found my behavior to be too embarrassing.

Untying the sack completely, he revealed the small assortment in its entirety. He spoke plainly about his findings, but he was far from hopeless in tone. "I think these are shriveled grapes and strawberries? I don't know how any of these grow in this world." He began. His tone was that of a carefree person cracking some jokes. My only assumption was that he was trying to lighten the mood. We've barely been eaten over this lonely trek so it has gotten to a point where we'll eat anything just to survive. "I'll test them both. You see anyone, by the way?"

I shook my head as he took one of each dried fruit. He shoved them in his mouth, chewing recklessly. "No one for miles." He finished chewing in a few seconds. After swallowing, he carefully observed his body, watching and paying mindful attention to any bodily reactions that could occur. He clicked his tongue, so he was probably thirsty. "I hope your hunts have been without conflict?"

"I'm doing well in them. I just wish we had more food to find." As he took a drink from the urn, I couldn't help but feel confused as to why he avoided the question. At first, I thought it was something that I was over-thinking about, so I ceased my seemingly irrational thoughts. However, I felt compelled to think about it no matter how hard I tried. There was a wording issue when it came to how he answered. I didn't ask if he was doing well in the hunts; I said, with hopeful intention, that he has been able to avoid conflict. However, he refrained from replying back to that. It was like he intentionally heard something else.

"Darkness Dragon World is a treacherous one at that," I weakly replied. "It is truly a desolate and unforgiving world, so I can't imagine that resources could be easy to find." I attempted to fish out a weakening response out of him.

"Then I guess I'm lucky to have found anything." His response left me concerned. Luck? In my short time of being with him, this was the first time he has stated that he admired the mere idea of him accomplishing something out of luck. The few times he brought up luck was when he morosely stated that it was by fortune or misfortune, that the Omni Lords lost the reputation that they did, for it was only for that reason that I was able to meet him. Every shortcoming after that he blamed his own lack of strength, which was something that I fought intensely to deny. CJ is not the sort of person to highly appreciate luck. At most, he appears to be the type of guy to laugh at it in the moment, but he doesn't want to get far by luck; him thinking that luck was the reason why I was partnered with him made him doubt his own capabilities of earning a partner. It wasn't making much sense to me, but I decided to let him keep going as he continued drinking. "Do you know of anything we can go on?"

"… A part of me thinks that, if we keep moving the way we're going, we'll find a settlement," I began. "However, I suggest you get some rest."

"I think it'd be better if I stayed on lookout," CJ retorted. He noticed my immediate frown. "I can't afford anyone getting the jump on us again."

"What good is scouting when you're exhausted?"

"I can't afford to sit around."

"You're being foolish," I scolded. "Get some rest; I'll wake you if I hear someone coming."

"Let me scout for at least a little bit," he pleaded. His unyielding protests made me roll my eyes. In reality, I was growing furious with him; not only could I tell that he was hiding something from me, but he was refusing to do the smart thing and rest. After carrying me around, after foraging for supplies, and after fighting others off, there was no doubt in my mind that he was exhausted. However, instead of resting, he adamantly stood against me. I could feel my head shaking from my rising anger, but I soon realized how futile my endeavor became. Defeated, I diverted my eyes away. "I'll still take the time to rest now; I need to feed you after all. Just let me put my stuff down first."

I refused to look at him. With a sigh, I heard him take some steps away from me. I heard a thump, which attracted my attention for a moment. I watched him place down the sword he scavenged from before, placing it next to my staff. My eyes were drawn to my partner as he knelt down, gently laying his weapon down next to mine. In that moment, I was able to see his back.

My heart pained with sorrow.

I couldn't hide my sharp, frightened gasp. CJ turned around, hastily ensuring my well being. I couldn't get what I saw out of my head. "W-What is it? What happened?" He hastily asked. He must have thought that a sharp pain went through me out of nowhere. "Arkaid? Arkaid, what's wrong?!"

"Your… your back." My response left his face out to dry, basking in shame. He couldn't look at me straight. He turned his head away, but I was not allowing that. "What happened to your back?!"

"I… you weren't supposed to see that…."

"Sit down, now!" I demanded in a cold voice. "You are going to rest and explain to me the truth!" He no longer had the will or ammunition to fuel his retort. Weakly, he took his position on my right, setting himself down beside me. He laid his back to the wall, as I soon instructed. He was motionless for a moment, but he soon went for the food and water to slowly feed to me. I was furious with him, but I had to let my anger subside as he gave me the resources to help me last for the incoming days. I ignored the taste of the food, and the water felt plain to me. I just wanted him to explain himself to me! "What happened out there?"

"… Like you said, resources are scarce," he morosely replied. "… I wasn't too surprised to see that other beasts wanted to fight me over this…."

"Good Lord…." I sighed in sorrow.

"I won… that's at least good," he sheepishly returned. "I tried healing my wound but… I was so low on mana at that point that I could only make the wound scab over without exhausting me too much."

"And you completely forgot about the blood stains," I coldly voiced. "Understandably so; the first thing on your mind was probably to get back to me."

"Well, I needed to get this to you."

"Damn you." My comment left him frozen. He stared at the gravel beneath him as my body shook with anger. "Damn you… Damn you. Damn you!"

"Arkaid…. I'm sorry."

"… Why are you like this?" I morosely stared at the dreary skies before me. I wanted to be up there. I wanted to leave this place, removing my burden of a body from this horrid world. I wanted CJ to be able to think of himself and only himself. But no; he refused to stop thinking about me. "Why do you have to be like this? I'm supposed to be protecting you, not the reverse; you shouldn't have the weight of watching over another life over your shoulders."

"What good am I if I can't look after you?"

"You'd be alive and healthy!

"But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You can't possibly expect to take care of yourself!"

"You shouldn't have to worry about that!" I struggled to yell.

"I'm your buddy; I want to!"

"You need to get out of here; that's all I care about!"

"Well, you're all I care about!" Neither one of us could even do as much as mutter after his last response. I tried to divert my eyes, but something gravitated me back to him. He looked just as nervous and awkward as I did, and soon he curled up into a little ball. His head hung low, hiding within the tops of his knees. He was unmoved even upon hearing the sound of the boisterous thunder in the distance. I wanted to get closer to him. I felt my body tense up as I attempted to even do as much as think of moving. I wanted to be by his side. He didn't want to hide from me; I know that he wanted to talk. "You're the only thing on my mind right now," he finally stated. "This entire time, I didn't think about my family. I didn't think about returning to the others..." He carefully pulled out a familiar object from his left pocket. It was a Core Deck Case. I didn't even know that he had one on him. He weakly stared at it, gazing at the blue gem resting in the center of the metallic device. He firmly tightened his grip on the object, closing his eyes before holding it close to his head. The way he held it... it held value to him, but why? Why a regular Core Deck Case? My pondering of this enabled me to recall that horrible memory; when his case was destroyed, broken into scattered pieces. The Core Deck Case became like that of a shield, holding the will of Alliot and I. Wherever he got that new one, the way he held it told me enough. It told me that he was not going to lose this one too. "My will hasn't broken up; the only thing on my mind right now is getting us back home, with Alliot and all of them, that's all…."

Finally, with one soft inch, I felt my body tilt over. My head landed on his shoulder, which somewhat hurt me a little bit. But I didn't care; I broke him free. He uncurled himself, noticing my odd position. "A-Arkaid?" He brought me closer, soon attempting to push me back up. "Are you okay?"

"Leave me there," I demanded. He froze, gasping from the oddity of such an order. "Let me stay on your shoulder right now." He inched himself a bit closer so I had more support. He brought his knees close, but he didn't take his eyes off of me. He brought the water and food to his side, making me giggle softly. "I'm sorry for asking something particularly strange. I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for me."

"… You're not worthless," he mumbled to himself. "I hope you know that."

My eyes widened, but soon I found myself smiling. "You know me too well."

"How long were you thinking of it?"

"Admittedly, for a while," I quietly returned.

"Don't think like that, please," he mourned. "I wouldn't be here if you weren't important to me."

"… Okay," I conceded. Even though I only ate some of the food provided, I felt myself drifting off to sleep. "I'm sorry…."

"You sound exhausted."

"How are you not?" I mused, soon giggling quietly. "You can't be human."

His voice fell to that of a soft whisper. "I'll keep watch for a bit. I'll get my rest, I promise."

"You better," I chimed quietly. "I'll never forgive you if you don't."