Chapter 2

On the Frontier of Oblivion, an Imperial advanced squad was seizing a checkpoint. It was made up of five Red Wings and two nobles. Meanwhile, the beast-men were toiling hard, digging for Hade Dust found in the settlements all over the Dark Continent.

"Faster, slave!" a warrior bellowed at a beast-man with a commanding voice.

"Yes, sir!" he replied, a palpable fear of punishment in his voice.

The atmosphere of the place was unusually quiet. Nothing could be heard for miles around, which could mean a very profitable day for the Imperial squad.

Suddenly, as the beast-men worked the land, a Red Wing felt a brief variation in his wings. At the same time, a tattoo on his companion’s wing shone with an emerald intensity.

"To your positions!" They grabbed the scythes from their backs. Their wings stretched to cover a circumference three times their size.

"It's too late, Icarus," he said, turning to see the look of desperation on his comrade's face.

The nobles' bewilderment was evident. First, they didn't understand why the Red Wings were drawing their scythes; second, who could oppose the magnificent dragon race?

"Damn Red Wings!" The contempt in the nobles' tone was more than palpable.

"Always disappointing the gods with your actions," the nobles continued, laughing as they mocked the commoners. "You have nothing to fear while we're here."

The moment those last words left his mouth, his head was no longer connected to his neck. The other noble, full of terror, fell into a sitting position as he watched a golden river flow from what had once been the head of his loyal friend.

A dark, sinister voice was heard from the shadows: "Hakai came to finish off the baby dragons who are far from home." He spat out the nobles' corpses and, in turn, licked the golden blood from his katana.

From the darkness, ten pairs of glowing green eyes were seen.

"Icarus, you must go and inform the regent." His companion's gaze had one mission: to buy as much time as possible for him to escape.

The dragon warrior's body grew to twice its size. His circulatory system pumped four times its limit, and his wings took on a wild appearance; his strength tripled. It was a suicidal transformation.

Hakai yelled, giving an order: "Arashi, destroy that scum while we take care of the rabbit that escaped!"

Arashi, a Silverback Osaru and an elite soldier of Airipem, also chose to use his partial transformation, adopting the appearance of a bear. His strength was greater than that of a Red Wing.

The Red Wing flexed his knees for an explosion of speed. Even if they are stronger, we are faster, he thought to himself in the few seconds of life he had left.

As he prepared to release the explosive tension in his legs for the attack, a large cloud of dust arose around him.

"Come, I'll be waiting for you here," Arashi said, clenching his katana with a murderous will.

The Red Wing released his body and jumped at full speed, but not toward his opponent in front, but toward the adversaries who were following Icarus. He was outnumbered, ten to one, and his thoughts raced at a dizzying speed. I figure I can hold out for a minute at most, he thought. His strategy would not be to attack, but only to defend himself.

However, his strategy did not account for the misinformation about who the true attacking force in front of him was.

Arashi arrived a second later. "I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention," he muttered. As the Silverback apologized, a slap was heard.

Hakai took matters into his own hands: "Useless!" His voice was exasperated and full of hate. "You must be thinking you'll buy time for your little boyfriend to escape." His body's direction was fixed, ready to move forward.

Each step the Osaru took was like a mountain falling on the Red Wing's shoulders. "Kneel, disgusting dragon!" Unable to do anything else, the soldier knelt, trying with all his might not to give in. The great dragon, nearly thirteen feet tall, was being bent like a simple dog. A single movement of Hakai's katana was enough to end the Imperial soldier's life.

"Now it's your turn," his voice reflected madness and a thirst for blood.

In a matter of seconds, he reached Icarus. Two movements of his hands made him stop flying at full speed. As Icarus fell to the ground, he could feel the immense pressure Hakai was exerting on him. His ability to breathe had been taken away. Icarus gasped for oxygen, but it was as if an invisible law forbade him from finding it.

Just as Hakai's katana was about to finish the job, he felt the will of a dragon approaching.

"Luck is on your side, baby dragon," he said. Without another word, he sheathed his katana and activated his camouflage rune.

Oxygen returned to Icarus's body, but that was all that returned. His consciousness had left him; for now, he was just a body lying on the edge of the border.