"He was one of the more renowned warriors to fight in the battle between the Shades and Vampire Families, nearly 50 years ago. He was called 'Lucky Seven,' in honor of his near-complete mastery of the 7 Lucky Strikes technique." Bella's voice was full of pride,

"He achieved the rank of Captain in the Golden Moon Mercenary Alliance after reaching the peak of Lord Class, nearly Pseudo-King. While he couldn't be compared to those ultimate Peak or Pseudo-King experts that can fight King Class experts, his abilities and techniques made him a bit of a legend."

Dorian listened to her words attentively. He gave her an encouraging nod as she spoke.

'The war between the Vampire Families and the Shades 50 years ago, huh?' Helena had told him that her parents died when she was young. She later explained, a little, that there had been a great war, and that they died in an invasion from the Shade Commune.

That must've been what she was referring to.

His heart went out to her. Despite her physical nature and powerful strength, Dorian felt that she was far too kind for this world. She'd suffered so much.

"He sounds like a great man." Dorian returned.

"He was." Bella said, smiling somewhat sadly,

"He still is." She corrected herself,

"He just has lost a bit of his edge. The injuries he suffered eventually took their toll, as I told you earlier. He lost almost all of his strength due to some type of unknown wound to the soul, something I believe is related to Luck Magic."

"Oh?" Dorian replied, rubbing his chin,

"Is it not curable?"

Bella shook her head and shrugged,

"Without information on why he's injured, treating it is almost impossible. Believe me, Dorian, I've tried. We just don't know what to do to help him." She sighed, frustrated.

TINK

Abruptly, a small splinter of wood cracked beneath Bella's feet, startling both Dorian and Bella. They both looked down in surprise, staring at the shard of wood. It had broken up from the deck out of nowhere.

The wood on the deck, and on the entire ship, was magically enhanced and extremely durable, resistant to impacts. For part of it to randomly splinter was very odd.

Bella bent down to pick it up, perturbed.

WHOOSH

Just as she was bending over to pick up the splinter and look at it, a metal sword blurred through the air exactly where she had been standing.

THUNK

The sword slammed into the wooden ship and sank all the way into the floor, cracking the deck and throwing up shards of wood. Its movement was so fast it was a blur even in Dorian's eyes.

Dorian and Bella froze for a split second, staring at the sword in astonishment.

An instant later, Bella spun around in the direction it came from, yelling aloud,

"We are under attack!"

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..

"How did that miss?!" Hadron's jaw dropped in astonishment as he looked at the result of his spell, his hands held out to the side.

He had just cast one of his favorite Spells, Collision Magic: Collision Blade. Collision Magic was a derivative of Impact Magic that focused on long-range attacks.

His Collision Blade Spell formed, and launched, a blade made of tough, durable steel at roughly 1,500 miles per hour forward. The technique was incredibly potent in regards to surprise attacks and could cause a huge amount of damage.

Yet, at the moment that he had launched his spell, just as he sent it forward, his target had, for some unknown reason, bent down.

Causing him to miss due to sheer luck.

"She studies some type of freaky Luck Magic. Who knows? Our cover is blown." David's voice echoed out as he grabbed ahold of Hadron.

"What now?" The Peak Lord Class Wizard asked Hadron, the leader of the team.

"Whatever. We attack. Move!" Hadron's voice turned into a yell as he waved his hand, commanding the giant boulder they were flying on to rush forward.

WHOOSH

They shot through the air, on a direct collision course for the floating wooden ship at the end of the caravan.

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..

"Prepare for enemy attack! Ladies, it's time to WAKE UP AND READY ARMS!"

Bella transformed into a completely different person as she took charge of the situation. The air around her trembled with yellow light, a pale Aura forming as she went into full readiness.

In mere seconds, all the female warriors and Wizards that were part of Bella's party filed out from the underbelly of the ship, pouring onto the deck. Some of them were in various states of dress, wearing nothing but a nightgown and a sword.

At the same time, two other Wizards appeared, alongside a good dozen or so guards that were already on the ship. They all wore worn grey armor and set up into formation on the brow of the ship. Members of the Tone Transportation Alliance, guards hired to protect each ship in the Fast Caravan.

"Here they come!" Bella's warriors and Wizards split up into their own formation near the front of the ship, the three Wizards standing at the center while a pool of guards spread out, protecting them. A warm yellow light covered all of them in a comforting glow, some type of unknown spell.

"Get below deck Dorian!" Bella spared a single yell for Dorian as she turned her focus to the south, where a huge chunk of rock was crashing straight towards them.

Dorian stumbled backwards till he was next to the mast, his eyes wide as he looked around. He zeroed in on the rock that was charging towards them, on a direct collision course.

His powerful eyesight could make out several figures on the rock, all braced for impact.

"What the hell? Are they- Are they going to collide with us? In mid-air?!" Dorian sputtered, forgetting for a brief moment that he could just transform into a form that could fly away if worst came to worst.

"Oh right, I'm fine." He said after a second, catching himself.

'What should I do? If I fight, I might expose myself. I know there are people hunting for us Anomalies…' He was caught in a quandary.

In the few seconds that Dorian took to think, the boulder crossed the distance between them and the flying ship.

And collided.

BOOOM!

Dorian was flung off his feet, blasted backwards as the giant rock slammed into the ship. Enormous chunks of wooden shrapnel shot off into the air, a sickening crunch echoing out as the entire boat tilted dangerously to the right.

Dorian's body whipped through the air, smashing into the side of the ship. He felt more than heard the wooden deck crack beneath his back as he bounced off it painfully.

He sailed towards the edge of the boat, about to pass over it. His eyes opened wide as he saw this, ignoring the pain in his body.

Just as he was about to fall off the ship, Dorian's hand cut down towards the wooden railing, reaching to grasp onto it.

And missed.

"Oh come on!" Dorian yelled out loud, mentally swearing.

He fell completely overboard the side of the flying ship.

His body free fell through the air, tumbling in the wind as he flipped over. The speed he'd been knocked away at had prevented him from standing his ground.

"Fine." He gave up on hiding,

"Transform!"

'Ausra, take on my Sun Eagle Form!'

Dorian's body shifted and morphed, expanding in size. His human arms lengthened and transformed into large, feathered brown wings. He gained a sharp, black and yellow beak, where small yellow flames lingered, running up his head all the way down his spine.

He grew from his slightly less than 2 meters human height to an expansive 4 meters tall, Sun Eagle. The edges of his wings gave off warm yellow and orange flames, as did the back of his head and spine.

(Image – https://i.imgur.com/VwEqVCx.jpg )(Does not open in App)

As with all forms he gained by combining fully grown bloodlines, there was no need to wait to let his soul adapt to it.

He felt powerful. Agile. The world around him seemed to transform, no longer an incoherent mess of falling air. But, instead, a world he could soar in and fly freely, one he was in complete control of. He could feel the wind around him, the various paths he could take.

'Wow. This form is something else.' He thought, feeling the incredible agility. He flapped his wings once, noting the trail of fire he left in the air.

WHOOSH

Dorian's head spun upward as he sensed movement.

A huge chunk of broken wood and shattered rock was falling directly overhead towards him, just a few dozen meters away. The heavy, dangerous debris had fallen from the still floating ship, crashing down towards the ground below.

The ship itself was blasting forward, rapidly moving away from Dorian despite the dangerous lean it had gained.

'Nope.' Dorian flipped over and backed out furiously, flapping his wings.

Immediately his body shot out to the north, blasting forward at an extremely fast speed. He almost tripped, somehow, in mid-air, as he regained control of himself, managing to dodge the falling objects.

His Sun Eagle form came with a natural sense of control and of flight. Even with that, however, he was still, at his core, not a bird. It took him a few moments to adjust as he got a hold of himself. His passive Steady Wings Ability greatly boosted this control.

'I'm good.' He thought as he righted himself, and then flapped hard, shooting upward. His body blurred as he soared, cutting through the air.

As he was about to race towards the ship, however, he noticed a figure falling down through the air.

One of Bella's 'Women Warriors,' specifically one of the fighters and not a Wizard. She was falling with only a torn, partially shredded nightgown on, a broadsword wielded in her hand. She was also barefoot, he noted.

–

Species: Human

Class – Grandmaster Class (Pseudo-Lord)

Maximum Energy Level: 2,822

–

She was about as strong as his Lesser Throne Demon form had been, at least in terms of energy. She must've been knocked overboard by the impact like Dorian had been, unable to find solid footing in her nightclothes.

As soon as Dorian spotted her, the voice in Dorian's head rang out. A voice that had stayed quiet for a brief period, one he had hoped had gone away.

'Kill her.' This voice was a quiet whisper that echoed in his thoughts. As it did so, the dark lines on Dorian's soul and mind twitched slightly, lines he was unaware of.

'Go back to being quiet. No one cares about your opinion!' Dorian brutally forced the thought down, his Eagle face distorting into a snarl. As he forcibly ignored the thought, he noticed that it was harder to force away than before.

Without a second of hesitation, he dived down towards the falling figure of the female warrior.

In his Sun Eagle form, he covered the distance in mere seconds. As he got closer, he got a clear look at the face of the female warrior.

She was a bit older, in her late 30s, with lined cheeks. A small scar ran down her tan neck, and while Dorian wouldn't call her attractive, she certainly wasn't ugly, with her short brown hair and calm green eyes.

Despite starting to fall thousands of meters towards almost certain death, the fighter had a calm look on her face. She was trying to maneuver her body to slow her descent, stretching her arms and legs out wide.

'Better than I would be.' Dorian thought, shrugging. At least he would've had a Cloud in a Bottle Artifact to use from his Spatial Ring. The woman didn't appear to have anything but her sword with her.

In a single smooth motion, Dorian slipped under and grabbed the woman, placing her on the lower part of his back, a bit offset to the side so the flames that burned on his spine wouldn't harm her.

"Hold on!" He squawked out loud. His voice was understandable, just barely, in his Sun Eagle form.

He then twisted and soared upward, back towards the listing ship.

The woman looked down at the eagle that had just rescued her in abject astonishment. An instant later, she grabbed hold tightly of Dorian's feathers as he blasted upward, her eyes wide. She didn't seem to question the odd occurrence of a giant flaming bird rescuing her out of nowhere, surprising no one, Dorian thought.

'Owww.' She was pulling roughly on his feathers. He mentally grumbled at her, but refused to say anything out loud, maintaining his dignity.

In just a split second, a trail of fire blazed into the air as he shot up, reaching the damaged wooden ship. His Sun Eagle form must've been at least 3 times as fast as his Black Ambian Eagle. Its musculature and skeletal structure was dense and strong, powered partially by the Elemental Fire Energy that was present within the Eagle.

Even with a passenger, he could ably maneuver and move at a fast pace.

The scene on the deck was chaotic.

The collision with the boulder had tossed many of the defenders to the ground. The formations of the two groups were barely sustained, though most of them had managed to stay on the ship itself.

The attackers were a bit better off in the landing, prepared as they were for the collision.

Though only a few seconds had passed, the battle was already underway.

BOOM

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

Bright flashes of light lit up the deck as spells collided. Bright red fire washed against the yellow air that covered Bella's team, trying to incinerate them. The clashes of swords and axes rang out as the attacking warriors charged, slamming into the defenders.

The physical strength and might of the attackers were very clear as they easily overpowered the guards set up by the transport company, knocking them away. They didn't actually kill any of the guards, however, only blasting them to the side.

The Wizards guarding the ship took a look at this and, of all things, actually retreated, pulling back their forces. Instead of bravely fighting off the attackers, or at least trying, they backed off and retreated towards the rear of the ship.

In the distance, Dorian could see the other wooden ships turning about and starting to rush towards them. Reinforcements from the full squadron of Wizards and fighters guarding them.

'It won't be enough.' Dorian's eyes flashed as he took everything in at once, landing on the edge of the ship. The Women Warrior team member on his back leapt off it in the second Dorian took to look things over, rushing towards her allies.

A bright flash of green light cut into the air as a giant fist appeared out of nowhere, smashing down on the center of the deck. Two more green flashes of light shot from the fist, huge, shivering vines covered in thorns slamming into several of the female defenders.

Warm white light formed into a shield, blocking the vines temporarily as one of the Wizards on Bella's side entered the fray. This shield shook, however, cracking immediately under the pressure. It would break in a second or two.

A masked Wizard began to walk towards the defending women, raising his hand. A black metal sword appeared in it, one he pointed directly at Bella.

–

Species: Human

Class – Lord Class (Peak)

Maximum Energy Level: 87,112

–

It was a classic scene.

The attackers were overwhelmingly stronger than the defenders. There were far more warriors, and so many of them were much stronger. There was no realistic chance of victory for Bella. They were destined to die here.

'Kill them.' A voice whispered,

'Kill them!'

'KILL THEM!'

The darkness in Dorian's soul writhed as he looked at the attackers, anger filling his heart.

It wasn't fair.

It was never fair.

But perhaps he could change that.

"Try picking on someone your own strength."

Dorian blasted forward towards the Peak Lord Class Wizard, his eyes flashing with rage.

'Transform! Black-Scaled Rage Dragon form, go!'

..

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