53)The King Robs A Country

“Okay, did anyone forget to mention that King Animus was a dragon?” Gapri of the Three Stars asked as he along with everyone looked shocked to see their king having transformed into a majestic blue-scaled dragon, Swan giving a shaky smirk as she felt the waves of ethernano coming off of the apex predator.

“F-Forget that. Why the hell is there another dragon just like him…with four arms at that?” She asked while looking at Eric, the dark scarlet scales of the dragon shining ominously in the moonlight while a scarf of scarlet flames hung around his neck.

Even though he looked to be smaller than Animus, there was no denying the fact that the aura coming from him was just as potent as the other dragon and the last member of the Three Stars frowned as he felt the two draconic beings' energies increasing even more.

“We need to get away right now or else, we're dead. Lady Sonya, let us depart to the city please.” Doll said while looking at Sonya, who looked concerned as she looked up at her caretaker before blinking as Doll spoke again.

“Lady Sonya, please! We need to go now if we don't wish to die!”

“R-Right! Let's go.” She nodded and Gapri nodded as the ball he was sitting on transformed into a wide board, the other three climbing onto it before the young man took off back towards the capital.

Racing right behind them through the forest was a frowning Ms. Fortune, the Exceed looking up at the sky where she could feel Eric's flames growing more & more powerful with every second.

However, it was not the feeling of comfort & happiness that she was used to. Instead, it felt as if hatred & rage itself were being forced to take the form of fire, the Exceed frowning as she could see the manic look in Eric's eyes even from down here.

'Please, whatever divine being is listening, don't let him go over the edge.'

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“The Dragon of Curse & Despair? Ah, I see. Atlas' Hell Flames.” Animus spoke with a frown as the two dragons floated in the air, Eric snorting as he crossed his lower two arms while pointing two fingers on his upper right arm at the dragon.

“Atlas has his Hell Flames. I'm just making sure I have my own moniker.”

“And what does the 'Dragon of Curse & Despair' actually mean in terms of having an element.”

“Dragon Scales. Repulse. Paired Falling Stars. Curse Technique: Timeless Dismantle.” Instead of answer, Eric didn't waste any time in showing what he meant as he let off his first attack, Animus frowning as he couldn't feel any shift in the air around him before trusting his intuition & ducking down towards the ground.

His intuition saved his life and the dragon's eyes widened as a jagged scar opened on his arm that was still in the attack's path, Animus watching as a large canyon was slowly carved into the ground for a few miles before the attack finally faded.

“Dragon Scales. Repulse. Pair-!” Animus heard Eric chanting and didn't waste any time to turn around & blitzed towards the four-armed dragon, who smirked as his lower two arms uncrossed & were coated in scarlet flames.

“Stellanium Dragon's Talon!”

“Hell Dragon's Burning Wall.” Eric stopped his chant to switch to another spell just as Animus pulled a leg back & swung it forward just as quickly, raising his lower two arms in front of him and grunting as he heard the scales on his arms crack at the impact.

However, he grinned as he quickly gripped the leg in front of him while reaching forward with the other two, Animus gritting his teeth as Eric's arms pulled him forward & right into a double punch.

Feeling the air being knocked from his lungs, the dragon wheezed as he was sent barrelling down towards the ground, spinning head over heels before his eyes widened as he caught sight of a smirking Eric raising his index & middle fingers up while curling the other fingers in.

“Curse Technique: Dismantle.” The air warped as Eric swiped his hand through it, Animus quickly spinning around to face his fellow dragon before crossing his arms in front of him just as another jagged cut tore more of his scales away.

“Stellanium Dragon's…ROAR!” Opening his maw & gathering a surplus of ethernano in his mouth, the world went still as Animus condensed his ethernano as much as he could before the world screamed as a storm of ethernano filled with fragments of Stellanium shot out of the blue dragon's mouth.

Eric on the other hand didn't even look concerned as the Dragon Cry that was now tied around his lower left arm glowed an iridescent gold, Animus' eyes widening as Eric held that very arm up & unleashed a torrent of flames that clashed with his own roar attack in a magnificent display of light & explosions.

However, he lost sight of Eric and that was his blunder as he was surprised by the four-armed dragon diving face first through the explosion with a manic grin, Eric himself grinning as he gripped Animus' arms to his side while raising his lower two arms to the side.

Turning his right palm so that it could face backwards & his left palm forwards, jets of flames shot out from both palms & sent the two dragons into a tailspin towards the ground, Eric waiting until they were just above the tree line before unleashing a monstrous jet of fire from his feet to corkscrew them both deep into the earth itself.

The impact of their bodies to the ground sent a shockwave out that decimated everything within a few mile radius, a pillar of flames charring the ground & burning away everything while a storm of Stellanium & ethernano tore through the sky before raining back down upon the ground.

It took seconds before the dust cloud from their impact finally reached its apex, Eric grinning as both him & Animus were already back in their human forms while glaring at the other.

“Not bad there…for a human.” Animus spoke with a tired tone in his voice as he rolled his neck, Eric smirking as the Dragon Cry unwrapped from his wrist & turned into its staff form.

“You too. Now, are you ready to die?” Eric asked as he held the staff up to the dragon, who frowned as he scratched the back of his head.

“Why are you doing this? From what I can remember, I have never seen or interacted with you in my life, so there is no reason for you to come after me. It almost seems as if there's something else…yeah, there is something else you want from me, isn't there?” Animus asked with a smirk and Eric smirked as he nodded.

“I have something I want to do, but to make sure that what I'm about to do isn't going to tear my head apart, I need your heart. I already have Atlas' that I can use, but I'd rather not use it at all and you are the only dragon I know of right now.”

'That I can beat, that is. That and I don't even know if Atlas' heart is still in me or if this plan is actually going to work at all.' Eric thought as he looked at Animus, who frowned slightly before shaking his head as dark blue scales began to cover his body.

However, instead of transforming into his humanoid form, Eric was surprised to see that only the man's body was being covered in scales & nothing more, his eyes turning a dark scarlet and his nails darkening & growing sharper.

'A partial transformation?…Hmm, perhaps I underestimated him after all.' Eric thought as Animus stared at him, both men waiting patiently as the atmosphere grew tense right before Eric lunged forward.

“Dragon Cry.” The tip of the staff glowed before a blast of condensed ethernano was unleashed, Animus flipping out of its path before corkscrewing over the beam as Eric swung the staff to try & get him.

A pair of blue-scaled wings unfurled from his back and helped Animus stay airborne right before he blitzed forward, Eric holding Dragon Cry diagonally just in time to block the punch to this chest.

Spinning the staff around to push Animus to the side, the dragon grunted as Eric spun around & landed a harsh kick to his side before wheezing as a second & more piercing shockwave came from the attack & sent him flying off to the side.

“Dragon Cry.” Eric however didn't waste any time in letting off another attack at the dragon, Animus gritting his teeth as he forced himself to move out of the way even as it barely managed to burn the outer scales on the soles of his face.

'Enough!' Animus growled as he pulled his hand away from his bleeding side & blasted up into the air, Eric spinning Dragon Cry around his body right before smirking as the staff turned into its ribbon form once more.

This time however, the ribbon wrapped around Eric's neck and the mage smirked as he felt his ethernano soar once more, pulling both fists back before making the ground below him bubble as a scorching heat radiated from his fists.

“Dragon Slayer Secret Art…” Eric chanted as he leapt & slowly turned himself to lay backwards, his left hand held up to the dragon with the index & middle finger extended in a V-sign, a bright scarlet flame burning in the middle of the two fingers right before he reached forward with his right index finger & pulled the flame back like it was an arrow.

“Dragon Slayer Secret Art…” Up above, Animus was charging up his attack as well as he took a deep breath, large jagged Stellanium shards growing out from his back & head as ethernano began to gather both in the crystals & in his hands.

“Imperial Flaming Cuspid! / Stellanium Dragon's Raging Roar!” Both fighters roared as they unleashed their attack, the crystals of ethernano abruptly stabbing into Animus' body as the dragon opened his maw to unleash a cataclysmic storm down upon the ground just as Eric let his finger go & fired a burning arrow up at his opponent.

For a moment, time grew to a snail's crawl as the one singular arrow stared down the devastating cataclysm that was descending upon it before Eric smirked & snapped his fingers, the arrow glowing brightly right before it transformed into a scorching sun the same size as the storm itself.

Immediately, the Dragon Cry around Eric glowed & fuelled even more energy into his spell, Animus giving a regretful sigh as the rising sun burned away his spell within mere moments.

However, before the heat of the spell could even reach him, he was surprised to find it being snuffed out, looking down only to see nothing but scorched ground below him.

“Thank you…for the final battle.” The dragon spoke with a thankful smile as a scarlet hand stuck out from his chest, Eric grasping the beating heart in his hand as he nodded & ripped his arm back out.

“You're welcome.” He muttered before the corpse was set ablaze, looking at the heart with a soft smile before sending it back to his Requip dimension just as he 'saw' Ms. Fortune rushing back along with the Three Stars.

“Eric! Are you okay?!” Ms. Fortune shouted as she bolted through the sky, Eric rolling his eyes as the Exceed wrapped him in a tight hug the moment she slammed into him.

“I'm okay. You know that wasn't enough to hurt me.” He said while patting her head, but he didn't move to make her let go as he looked up just as the Three Stars & Sonya floated up to them.

“Is…is he…?” The young woman asked, Eric nodding while not saying anything at the tears at the corner of her eyes.

“Yes, he died a warrior and per our condition, I won't attack you all as long as you don't attack me first.”

“…Should we attack?” Eric rolled his eyes at Doll's words and the other two of the Three Stars swiftly shaking their heads, keeping quiet as he saw the girl crying quietly.

Instead of feeling sad for the fact that he took the dragon out, he…didn't feel anything.

Well, there was a sense of satisfaction at being able to show Animus who was the stronger one and the relief at Ms. Fortune being okay, but other than that, he didn't feel anything else.

“Do you wish to take revenge?” Eric asked & nodded as Sonya simply wiped her tears away and shook her head.

“I see. Then, I'll be taking my le-!”

“I won't take revenge on you…but I will kill someone you love. I don't care who.” Sonya's whispered words made Eric stop in his tracks, Ms. Fortune looking concerned as Eric glanced back at the woman before letting out a sigh of relief as the man smirked & shook his head.

“Unfortunately, you're a tad too late, miss. Everyone I love is already dead.” With that answer, Eric turned & flew away at a breakneck speed, Sonya frowning before turning as Swan scoffed.

“Yeah, right. He definitely has some people he loves. All we need to do is find them and kil-!” Before she could finish her sentence, a golden crest appeared above them & unleashed a storm of ethernano that completely eradicated their forms from existence.

Another trio of large crests appeared above the city of Altair and its curious citizens that were intrigued by the explosions from earlier looked up right before a bombardment of condensed ethernano rained down upon it, the blasts not stopping until the city had been reduced to nothing but a steaming crater that went deep into the ground.

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“Was that really needed? It's not like anyone you care about doesn't have ways to keep them from getting to them.” Ms. Fortune spoke with a smile as she sat on Eric's back, the mage rolling his eyes as he was using flames from his body to let her sit peacefully on his back without being ripped away by the air resistance around them.

“Like I told you & Flare, I'm not leaving any loose ends from now on. If it threatens me, it dies. I'm actually more surprised you're still okay after seeing me do that.”

“Eh, destroying a city is not something that can make me queasy after the things I've seen Lord Ignia do. In fact, destroying entire villages is probably the least malicious thing that he has done.”

“Is that so? This Ignia guy is sounding more & more interesting.”

“He is. Anyway, there's going to be a lot of people mad that you did that, especially some of Fiore's nobles since they had interest in doing trade with Stella like Zash if your eyes saw right.”

“That's okay. This way, we can be sure that Bosco, Seven & Iceland will be too busy fighting each other for the rights to the Stellanium mines to try & take revenge upon us.” Eric said and Ms. Fortune hummed before nodding.

“I see. However, I have to say I'm surprised to see you not taking any for yourself. From what I hear, the stuff can make some good armour so selling it to the right people would have gotten you some nice cas-!” Ms. Fortune couldn't finish her sentence as they abruptly stopped in the air, blinking a few times before groaning as she saw the smirk on Eric's face.

“That…is true and I do need the money right now. You know what? You just gave me an idea, my dear Ms. Fortune.” Eric spoke with a grin as he turned around and the Exceed sighed as she laid on his back.

“I'm flying back?”

“You're flying back.”

“Hah, you're a worse slave driver than Lord Ignia is…and I didn't even think that was possible.” Ms. Fortune muttered with a sigh and Eric chuckled as they began flying back to the capital of Altair.

“Why, thank you, Ms. Fortune. I appreciate the compliment.”

“Believe me, it was not a compliment.”

A/N: And there we are! The fight between Eric & Animus done.

Next chapter, time to meet a Dragon God!!

Also, sorry for the late upload, but we had a family spring cleaning day so I only started writing this chapter about four hours ago since I thought I would have more time.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!