Blood hits the stone floor as I start to slowly stand back up. The whispers go throughout the courtyard from the other guards who aren’t dead yet.

"How are we supposed to beat a monster like that?"

"Yeah, that is definitely not something I want to deal with."

Aria and Velia both look towards me with looks of worry on their face. It is clear they didn’t expect me to kill the guard as brutally as I did.

SLICE!!! SLICE!!!!

Both of them kill the guard that is in front of them before anything else happens. The others quickly run off after that and the king is left by himself.

Their bodies hit the floor with no sign of them getting back up like the guard I had fought before.

Clench!! Clench!!

I begin to clench both my fists tighter and tighter as I resist the urge to kill anyone else right now. Pain is still surging throughout my body as well which is making this even harder.

This is the exact thing I didn’t want to happen but it is happening... What the hell am I supposed to do?

Maybe I can help you with this somehow.

What could you possibly help me with... Especially when it comes down to my bloodlust? I don’t remember you calming down my blood lust before.

I’m not—

You don’t have to try to explain it to me Rokuro. You’re having a hard time right now and you aren’t trying to be mean to me like you are.

"It seems I’ll have to make a move sooner than I originally anticipated. I didn’t expect you to actually force my hand here Rokuro!" King Albus shouts.

RUMBLE!!!! RUMBLE!!!!

The ground around us begins to shake violently as a strange new sense of power starts to make itself known. Looking around I notice it is definitely coming from the king but he couldn’t cause it to feel this way.

There is just no way he’d be hiding that kind of power from us this whole time, right?

A bright black aura begins to radiate from all around him as he finally stands up from his throne. A more serious look finally on his face after everything that happened.

Rokuro I don’t think you can fight him in your current state.

It’ll be fine Rika, I can handle myself here somehow.

If that’s true, how do you plan to deal with him?

I’ll use some of the other power that I’ve had this whole time. I haven’t done much with it since the tower anyway so this would be a nice way to see how strong it is.

The power from the tower is one I never really got to utilize much. Combining it with my current power would probably be a deadly combo.

They didn’t really mesh well the last few times I attempted to use it against my enemies.

A completely different feeling starts to surge throughout my entire body as the red glow from my arm begins to change colors. It starts to shift into more of a dark purple mixed with black type of color.

Flames begin to pour out from the scales as I feel the pain in my ribs disappearing.

Crack. Crack.

I crack both my knuckles and begin to head towards King Albus. He doesn’t have a different reaction or anything to what he just witnessed with me.

"Rokuro we should fight him together!" Aria shouts in the distance.

Without thinking I begin to rush towards King Albus, my right fist already winding back.

Air rushes past me as I propel myself towards him, breaking portions of the ground underneath me.

BOOOOM!!!!!

My fist tears through the air as I close the distance between us... but King Albus doesn’t move, Not even a little.

What the hell is wrong with him? He doesn’t seem to be phased by this in the slightest.

My fist is already inches away from his face.

Then—

SNAP!!!!

The sound echoes throughout the courtyard.

My eyes widen.

A massive pressure immediately crashes down onto my body.

CRACK!!!!

The ground beneath me shatters and It feels like my entire body stops moving, almost like I was never able to move in the first place.

The momentum from my charge completely disappears as I suddenly find myself forced down towards the ground.

THUD!!!!

One knee crashes into the stone floor.

The black aura surrounding Albus continues to grow stronger.

"You really are impatient, Rokuro," King Albus speaks with disappointment in his voice.

My teeth grit together as I try to force myself back up.

Every muscle in my body is screaming against this insane force that I’m fighting back against.

This pressure... It’s different, completely different from the guard.

The guard I fought previously was nowhere near this level of strength... This pressure. I’m starting to understand why the King was acting the way he was.

The pressure gets even more intense, almost like the entire world is pressing down against me.

Flames continue to pour from my arm as I force more power throughout my body.

CRACK!!!!

The stone beneath my knee begins to break apart.

Slowly... very slowly, I begin standing back up.

King Albus raises an eyebrow.

"Oh?" He says with a bit of a surprised tone in his voice.

For the first time he actually looks surprised.

That means whatever he’s doing isn’t impossible to overcome. I still have a chance to win.

I continue forcing myself upward, inch by inch.

The purple-black flames surrounding my scales begin burning brighter.

The pressure around me starts trembling.

RUMBLE!!!!

A shockwave erupts from my body.

The force immediately pushes dust throughout the courtyard.

The pressure weakens for just a moment.

FWOOSH!!!!

I disappear from where I am standing and King Albus finally moves.

His arm rises.

BANG!!!!!

Our fists collide.

The entire courtyard explodes apart beneath us, cracks spread across the stone floor.

The shockwave alone sends chunks of rubble flying in every direction.

Yet... My eyes slowly widen.

King Albus stands completely still.

Almost like he blocked my attack without any effort whatsoever.

Then his eyes begin glowing black.

For the first time since meeting him... I finally understand why he became king.

"Now then," Albus says calmly.

"Let’s see whether you’re truly worthy of all the attention you’ve been receiving."

A chill immediately runs down my spine.