"If we're so special, how come everyone doesn't know about it?" Harold questioned, scratching his chin. "Mina wields two Artifacts. Doesn't that tell everyone she has the angel's blessing?"
Linia stares into Mina's bubbly sleeping face. "Yeah, it's supposed to, but, ermm... I guess people just magically forgot? Like they never existed to begin with. There isn't even any text in recorded history about them."
Esmeralda sighed before shutting down the topic. "Let's stop here. Our bigger priority is protecting these two morons." Harold waved his fist at her. "Who are you calling morons!?"
Crackle!
Crackle!
A loud crackle in the air whizzed through the open window of the nurse's office. Checking outside, Linia gasped. In the sky above Argon City, everyone watched in horror. The sky crackled with lightning of vibrant colors, and a claw was tearing through the fabric of reality. White pristine scales shimmered in the night sky as more of its body was revealed. Its full form was a legendary dragon that let out a ground-shaking roar. Thunder struck, and the clouds began to storm in the presence of the legendary dragon.
Linia gasped. "I recognize that anywhere..." The ground trembled, and the city shook with every movement. Linia screamed as she pointed out the window. "T-That's the Dragon of Calamity! N-Nevality!" Esmeralda rushed beside Linia and saw it clearly. The dragon was identical to the history books. "How! Nevality was sealed away decades ago in the war of Arabas!" Trembling in fear, Linia clutched her light scepter. "I-I p-promise I have this under c-control as the student council p-president!"
Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her head. "Don't worry, just let the adults handle it from here. Focus on evacuating to the emergency shelter underneath the academy with the others. Remember, your duty is to protect Harold and Mina, okay? Don't worry about this dumb dragon." The voice was from Harlibue. A reassuring presence to the group amidst the sudden chaos. Esmeralda takes both Harold and Mina's hands. "You heard Harlibue, let's get out of here!"
Linia stood with hesitation, looking back at the group. "B-But Harlibue... you-" Harlibue flicked Linia's forehead. "Just run, okay? You think I'll die to this dragon, anyway?" He tells her with a reassuring chuckle. Linia took a deep gulp before scurrying off, taking one last glance at him before running off. Hearing her footsteps distance away from him, he smiled. "Welp, time to get the show on the road." He took off his coat before leaping out of the window.
"You done talking with those kids?" The witch asked. She waved her staff, which made it glimmer with a small light. Harlibue began stretching, summoning out of his Artifact. It was a glowing green watch made of titanium. "Yeah. Thanks for picking up my call, Tania." Tania crossed her arms angrily before increasing her volume at Harlibue. "You should be thankful I came! You never answer our calls to begin with!"
"Sorry, sorry, I'm super busy, that's all."
"You're part of the seven disasters! A group of people who are considered one of the strongest adventurers in the world! You shouldn't be treating it like some side hustle-"
Cutting her off, Harlibue let out a hearty laugh. "Oh my, the dragon is going on a rampage! Let's go fight it now!" He starts leaping towards Nevality, which Tania begrudgingly follows. "I'll get you for this one day..." Tania grumbled, snapping her fingers. As she snapped her fingers, her staff began to float. As she hopped onto her staff like a hoverboard, she pulled out a minigun from her back before flying to Nevality.
From the rooftops, Ryan sees chaos unfolding. "Oh God, what's going on..." He turned over to Stephen and pointed his unsheathed blade toward him. "Is this your doing?! Stephen!" Yue had a sweat drop trickle down her head. Just moments prior, Ryan came to the rooftop with the resolve to stop Stephen once and for all, but now there's a world-ending threat wreaking havoc in the city.
"So what if that's my doing?" Stephen replied with a stern tone.
"You've been doing so many horrible things, but I still want to change you. That's why I brought an amazing nun to try to change your heart!" he says, flaunting Yue as she awkwardly stood there. "S-So this was the reason you dragged me here?" She anxiously glanced at Nevality wreaking havoc on the city. "Is that why someone destroyed the church? So they could bring that in?!"
Ryan nodded, stabbing his greatsword into the ground. "Yup, because I still believe my brother has some good in his heart, just like back then!"
Stephen's glare grew sharper. "Just like back then? That was simply when I was blind, Ryan. This world was molded by the greatest mistake of God—humans. I do not wish to live with any of these disgusting people, nor do I care about this place anymore. Because in the end, it doesn't matter."
Ryan kept his unyielding smile, but held his eyes shut. "For years, I trained just to bring you back from the darkness you are in. I always strived to be stronger than you, so you wouldn't have to face the burden of the world yourself, brother. But in the end, I could never catch up to you."
"Just give it up, Ryan. With your talents, you'll get nowhere in helping me."
He was talentless, going by with a determined heart. Better yet, he could only succeed when he put all his might. But in the face of his goal, even his hardest wasn't enough. Even if his hardest wasn't enough, he held his head high.
Ryan exhaled, gripping his sword. "Fine, brother. Sadly, it has to come to this. I'll stop you, for your sake, and for the sake of everyone in the city!" He bolstered his resolve as he swung his sword into the air. "Yue, please help me!" In response, Yue raised her hands in the air and let out a wail of panic. "Ryan, we should really evacuate right now! Asar!" chanting her spell, a collage of Holy Rysen formed above her palms. Then, streaking out in multiple directions came chains manifested by the Rysen. Darting toward Stephen, he made no motion toward the chains. "Acquiring assistance for this matter? As expected from my pathetic, inferior brother." Stephen's Artifact formed within a split-second into his hand. It was a purple, royal longsword, engraved with gold lines that streaked over the blade.
Stephen slammed his palm onto the floor, creating a dense purple ring above them. Moments later, a massive force weighed over the entire area. Quickly, Yue's spell had been dispersed, the chains turning into white particles of Rysen that fizzled out. Meanwhile, Ryan pushed with all his might, struggling to stand on his own two feet. "You think your Artifact is going to stop me!?" Ryan activated his own Artifact, encasing it over his body. With his armor now engulfing him, he managed to gather enough strength to push through the intensified gravity.
Stephen saw his struggle and saw his might, and he also saw an opportunity. Dashing in, he aimed his blade straight at Ryan's chest. Stephen's assault was calculated and more than Ryan could handle. He increased the intensity of the gravity field over them, causing Ryan to be immobilized even with his Artifact active. Yue saw the plan unfold, and, with quick thinking, caused an immediate save. "Chazaq!" She cried as she aimed her hand toward Ryan. Casting the spell onto him, a white light emanated onto Ryan. "Whoa, smart thinking, Yue!" With no delay, Ryan tossed his weapon above Stephen, using additional force to push it within the gravity field. Stephen, however, already saw through this shabby plan. He knew that with this force being cast downward upon them, the greatsword would just slam onto him.
"A useless trick-" As soon as Stephen sidestepped to avoid the greatsword, he faced a mean right overhand to his face. With the fist pummeling through his face, he was momentarily stunned. "What the-" He didn't expect these results at all. Even when he was using a decent chunk of Rysen to weigh both Yue and Ryan down with his Artifact, Ryan was moving like normal. "How much strength does he have to move like that?!"
"Bring it!" Ryan roared as he threw a flurry of blows at him. Left hook, right cross, knee to the face, downward elbow, spinning backfist. Stephen was able to see all of these attacks, but was unable to act upon them due to the sheer force of them. He constantly stumbled back, trying to shield himself with his arms, but it was futile against the relentless assault. "Is it cause of that nun blessing him with Chazaq?!" He then gritted his teeth. "I see, if you're able to move cause of that nun, then I'll do this!"
Snapping his fingers, the field of gravity above them pulsed momentarily, only to create a giant shockwave that smashed Yue and Ryan deeper into the ground. Sensing this was bad news, Ryan used all his strength to hurdle onto Yue, snatching her as he used his back to catch all the momentum. "Yue, please brace yourself!" As the second pulse hit, the immense force of gravity crashed onto them, pushing them past the floors of the academy.
Harold and Mina ran at full throttle to reach the back of the academy. Currently, they just left the nurse's office, which is positioned right next to the entrance of the academy. "I just hope we can make it in time!" Linia cried. Then, the group came to an abrupt stop. "Everyone, stop! I hear rumbling from above!" Esmeralda warned.
A powerful burst came crashing from above. Smashing right in front of them came a lot of rubble that scattered everywhere. The group, having the dust clear out, finds out what it was. It was Ryan clutching onto Yue to protect her from the force. Both of them are unconscious, but Ryan was more visibly injured. His Artifact armor was shattered, and he was bloodied.
"Ryan!" Harold exclaimed in worry as he rushed to him. Kneeling over them, he carefully checked their wounds. "Do any of you have a healing potion?" He asked them before Linia popped out two healing potions from her pocket. "They're just regular healing potions, but they'll at least turn their wounds not fatal at the very least." As she tosses both of them to Harold, he catches them with one swipe in the air and makes them both drink it.
Seeing their unconscious bodies relax a little, Harold lets out a sigh of relief. "There, everything should be fine now!" he says cheerfully to the others. But looking back at the others, he saw their faces etched with fear. "Huh, why are you ladies-"
Turning his head around, he sees Stephen Lyhorn next to him as he gives him a stare of bloodlust.