The draconic-sounding roar of the Threaded-Heart Of Terminus Est silenced hundreds, if not thousands of evacuating civilians. Their disordered stampede, and the chaotic muttering of shouting voices came to a swift and sudden halt; eyes widening in sheer awe of the silver-coloured epoch-heart dragon.

  Vibrant, hair-like frills, surrounded a pair of glorious deer-esque horns. Silver-scales stretching along the length of Song Lian Yu’s elongated tail, from the tip of his five-clawed fingers all the way through to the end of his draconian-looking face.

  Wings that rippled through the air. Like the faint lapping of water against the shore of a tranquil lake. Seir-Perpetual Heart glowing within the centre of his chest, humming with an extraordinarily potent weave natured spiritual energy.

  Thousands looked up towards the dragon, staring up with slumped shoulders.

  Bags and phones falling down on the ground beside them.

  Hundreds of thousands looked through their television screens towards the Threaded-Heart Of Terminus, momentarily forgetting to type their reactions or comment on the continuously flowing livestream. Those that were not immediately awestruck at the sight of the mythological beast turned their attention towards the miniscule figure standing atop it, narrowing their eyes in confusion as they gazed towards the figure of-.

  “A person?” Diggory questioned, confusing what Mael had muttered towards him.

  The Spiritus Ensis Sanctus shook his head from side-so-side, allowing more spiritual energy to flow from his Light Mana Core towards his Fragment Of Linear. Figure glowing with a tinge of pale-colourless light.

  “I’ll inform him of the situation. Igraine and David should be capable of halting its movements long enough for-.”

  “Mael!”

  Mael’s words interrupted as the Architect Of Ruinous Annihilation shouted his name from across the tarmac. The undyne activating her Fragment Of Fractal-Shield, manifesting a pseudo-spiritual construct formed from ward natured spiritual energy.

  [Shielding Ward Art; Fractal-Space Protection].

  Protecting the Guardian Of The Honoured Shield from another barrage of darkness natured spiritual energy. Hundreds, if not thousands of arrow-shaped constructs launched towards him all at once, forcing him to abandon his retaliatory strikes and focus purely on maintaining his defensive position.

  One shield-type ability, each manifested from a different Mana Core all activated in near-perfect unison.

  [Tri-Fold Shield Art; Consecutive Shield-Casting]

  [Leviathan Shield Art; Crashing Daemons, Swirling Waves].

  [Shielding Ward Art; Fractal-Space Protection].

  [Daemon Water Art; Crashing Tide, Pandemonium Wall].

  [Bellum-Invidia Art; Victory Is The Birth Of Envy].

  [Slothful Sin-Shield Art; Lackadaisical Movement, Stalwart Guardian].

  Fragment Of Shield allowing him to temporarily weave his other Shield Trait and Protection Trait abilities together, enhancing their effects and reducing his mana expenditure. Fragment Of Guardian, Fragment Of Victorious-Protection, Fragment Of Barrier, Fragment Of Bulwark and Fragment Of Diligentia weaving together a defence that even Mael would be hard-pressed to break through.

  “Master!” Levia Heartslayer shouted, roaring an inhuman bellow as she rushed towards the hydra-turtle. The ground beneath the White-Scaled Leviathan-Adonis cracked as she propelled herself towards David.

  Arrows continuing to rain down upon the Guardian Of The Honoured Shield.

  His summoned companion could not pass through his shield-effects without him being harmed. Fragment Of Summon activating the Fragment Of Transformation layered atop her original concepts, expanding in both size and mass and assuming her leviathan-shaped transformation.

  The white-scaled adonis lasting all of four seconds before vanishing into motes of pure leviathan natured spiritual energy. Monstrous figure impaled with hundreds of arrow-shaped darkness constructs.

  “Levia you idiot!” David roared, controlling the emotions that spilled out from his Fragment Of Mind. Focusing instead on maintaining each of his manifested defences.

  The first shield shattering within the span of eight seconds, under the continuous and relentless barrage of darkness-shaped arrows the hydra-turtle launched towards him. David pushed down deeper into the half-cracked concrete tarmac beneath him, cracks spreading out like spiderwebs in all directions.

  Both Igraine and David turning their heads in Mael’s general direction, not bothering to lift their heads towards the familiar-looking figure still several kilometres from their current positions.

  “Mael!?” Igraine shouted, “A little help here please!?”

  Ruin natured spiritual energy flowing into her Fragment Of Eradication.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  [Imperial Ruin Art; Malefic Star Of Destruction].

  Igraine felt her Fragment Of Heart and Fragment Of Marrow buckle under the sudden activation of her imperial ruin art. Arms held upwards above her head, gathering spiritual energy into a spherical mass of searing light. Tinges of red could be seen along the outskirts of the chaotic construct.

  Tinges that grew darker and more saturated the closer one peered into the centre of said construct.

  It took Igraine all of nine seconds to completely condense her malefic star of destruction. The Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge shattering another three layers of David’s manifested shields during that time period, forcing David deeper into the ground as he withstood the full brunt of a triple-fragment pathway.

  Fragment Of Candlelit-Shadow Rain producing more and more arrows of darkness with each passing second. The hulking mass of the hydra-turtle humming with a potent darkness natured spiritual energy as it activated whatever marrow-derivation pathway it had formed at Lordship.

  The skies around Sydney Airport darkening, causing the manifested arrows to grow larger, and in much greater number.

  “Igraine!” David shouted, screaming at his fellow Second-Veined Knight, watching as she released her malefic star of destruction. A pulsating, crimson-coloured star launching from one side of the tarmac to the other, carving a series of jagged wounds into the concrete below.

  The undyne similarly screamed, fingers burning from the intense overload of her abilities. Nails melted off and patches of skin already blistering and bleeding from her chaotic construct of ruin natured spiritual energy. Her mouth twisting into a malicious-looking grin as she watched her Fragment Of Eradication crash straight into the hydra-turtle.

  “Take that you son of a bitch!” Igraine yelled, repeating something she had heard David say once before.

  A violent eruption of light and heat billowing out at the exact moment of impact. Chaotic ruin natured spiritual energy crashing into the barrier formed from water natured spiritual energy, causing several cracks to appear across its surface.

  Dark, crimson-coloured flames rippling out from the side of the hydra-turtle. Expanding outwards from its nine o’clock. The Fragment Of Candlelit-Shadow Rain it had activated halted under the powerful blow, causing the beast to cry out as it was engulfed in flame-shaped ruin.

  A nearby hangar exploded, as the materials and vehicles inside were bathed in searing flames. The subsequent explosions causing one of the other hangars beside it to ignite as well, sending hazardous substances and metallic shards flying up into the air.

  Pillars of orange-red flames billowing up into the air, visible from the Sydney Central Business District.

  The Guardian Of The Honoured Shield collapsing onto one knee, nothing other than his Fragment Of Diligentia keeping him alive. Fragment Of Incarnation doing its best to transfer any debilitating afflictions away from his main body, more than half of its stored lifeforce gone in the blink of an eye.

  His head glancing in Igraine’s general direction, noticing that the Architect Of Ruinous Annihilation had similarly dropped onto the ground, sharply hissing as she cradled her injured hands in the palm of her lap. The two of them had expended close to two-thirds of their maximum spiritual energy reserves.

  Fighting without regard for their dwindling mana.

  Trying their best to halt the movements of the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge.

  However-.

  David lifted his head towards the enormous hydra-turtle, staring blankly at the unmarred surface of its outrageously large turtle shell. Fragment Of Reflective Aqua-Desgate somewhat damaged under the malefic star of destruction, although remarkably still intact despite having received the full force of Igraine’s Fragment Of Eradication.

  The human man laughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

  “Fuck… And here I thought the Voracious Swarm Mother would be the more difficult of the two.”

  Igraine nodded her head, Fragment Of Perception catching his words. Wincing as she felt one of her other abilities slowly start to heal her damaged hands. Eyes continuing to watch the tumorous growth on the side of the turtle-head’s neck.

  “We’re fighting a Lord that specializes in siege warfare. A slow but inevitable advance; one that wears away the spirit as much as it does the mind and the body…” Igraine replied.

  David scoffed, rolling his eyes at his fellow Knight.

  Hydra-head slowly turning back in his direction, gathering immense amounts of ocean natured spiritual energy in the soles of its stumpy, scaled feet. The sound of trickling water echoing throughout Sydney Airport as the other Knights swiftly retreated from the battlefield.

  “… Cowards, the lot of them,” David muttered, groaning as he moved to stand back up on his own two feet. Fragment Of Regeneration working to heal some of the internal damage done to his shoulders and organs, momentarily glancing at his remaining spiritual energy reserves.

  A wry-looking smile marring his face.

  “Ah, I didn’t think I would have to use my Fragment Of Sacrifice again so soon,” David muttered, “I might have to give up a little more than my sense of taste this time as well, if I want to kill this thing before I can harm anyone else.”

  Eyes momentarily glancing towards Igraine.

  “Before it can hurt Igraine any further as-.”

  [Shielded Intuition].

  David Dumass barely had any time to react, before the familiar-looking figure of a silver-scaled dragon crashed into the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge. The pounding a certain Seir-Perpetual Heart echoing throughout the half-destroyed airport, as draconian-claws carved deep gnashes into the Fragment Of Reflective Aqua-Desgate.

  Water natured spiritual energy gathering in the form of retaliatory spheres, launching straight towards the epoch-heart dragon-.

  [Alnus-Viridis Wood Art; Majestic Towers Of Springtime-Green].

  Before a dozen redwood-shaped trees burst out from the ground beneath the hydra-turtle, enveloping its manifested shield and preventing it from clearly targeting the dragon. Retaliatory orbs firing in random directions as the Sixth-Honoured Lord failed to hit Song Lian Yu.

  Epoch-heart dragon pushing itself back upwards towards the skies, landing close to two hundred metres away from the hydra-turtle. Directly behind David and Igraine, and several dozen metres in front of the human police officers.

  David felt his breath hitch, as a familiar-sounding gait entered his ears. Eyes widening in pure shock as a white-chalked figure walked straight past him, dropping a Knight Ranked Life-Blood Potion onto the ground in front of him.

  He did not even so much as glance at the spiritual item, as he lifted his head towards the Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation.

  …No.

  “… You did well David.”

  “As did you Igraine.”

  The corners of their mouths curling upwards, backs unconsciously straightening as their Fragments Of Mind overflowed with emotions of joy and relief. Their hearts pounding within their chests, as they gazed upon ‘his’ recognizable figure.

  “Get some rest. I can take it from here.”

  Jon stared down the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge, softly exhaling as he activated the effects of his Mortal Ranked Title, in conjunction with effects of his new Knight Ranked Title. Seir-Perpetual Heart and Murmur-Arhat Marrow shifting within his Ice Mana Core, churning and surging with an extraordinarily potent spiritual energy.

  The slow but rhythmic sound of a heartbeat echoing throughout the ruined airport.

  ‘Behold, for this thine birthright. The birthright of this Imperator Of The Adeptus Mutare.’

  [Jonathan Randall Guilliman; Imperator Of The Adeptus Mutare].