With the threat of Crescent vanquished, Fate could finally sigh in relief. The priestess was replenishing Vez’ vigor using her spells, while the latter rested on the grass. Suddenly, a portal opened. A man wearing a dark robe stepped out of it.

“Cain.” The priestess stopped her treatment of Vez and walked closer to the dark magician. “Crescent stole the World Serpent. So, the fight against the guardian is going to be hard.” 

“Oh, about that.” Cain summoned a scroll to his hand. “The Arcane scroll is going to solve that problem.”

“Oh, a summoning type! Nice one, Cain.” Fate jumped on Cain’s back and scratched his head. Her chest rubbed dangerously against Cain’s back, making the latter uncomfortable.

“Stop it, Fate.” Cain tried to squirm out of Fate’s hold, but there was no escaping. She clung to him like an overgrown child on her father’s back. In the end, he sighed and gave up.

“Oh, what type of summon are we talking about?” asked Vez, his complexion was much improved after the blond priestess’ treatment.

“An arcane dragon,” responded Cain still weighed down by Fate who was still straddling his back.

“Oh, a legendary rank beast? That’s rare!” Fate slid off Cain’s back and hopped around him to get a closer look at the scroll. “Let me see, let me see. It’s been a while since one dropped for us.”

Cain’s shoulders dropped in disappointment. “Can you be a little more serious? This is still a final, you know?”

In response to Cain’s comment, Fate waved her hands off, uninterested. “Who cares? It’s just a regional. Let’s have some fun! Now, gimmie that scroll!”

Cain sighed and said, “Here, take it.” He lobbed the scroll for Fate to catch. The moment she caught it, she looked at the words inscribed in gold on its sides.

While Fate was playing around with her new toy, Cain slipped away in case she remembered and decided to cling onto him again.

Cain made his way towards the shade of a tree, on which Rev rested. Truth, on the other hand, struck a conversation with Fate to divert her.

Both Cain and Rev stayed silent for a few seconds before Cain struck up the conversation.

“So, how was your first fight against a Tier-VI?”

Rev stayed silent for a few seconds before responding. “It was hard, overwhelmingly so.” He then paused for a few seconds before continuing once again. “But it was nothing compared to fighting you and Shesmu.”

Cain chuckled in response. “Oh, you think so? Crescent was pretty strong, you know?”

Rev didn’t respond. His eyes were solemn, hiding behind them a thousand emotions.

Seeing Rev act this way, Cain couldn’t help but sigh and say, “What’s going on, what’s on your mind?”

Rev stayed silent for a few seconds before blurting out in an almost inaudible whisper, “Does Shesmu know yet?”

Cain didn’t respond.

“Does he still believe the lie that you’re retiring of your own will?”

Cain again didn’t respond.

With Cain unresponding, Rev joined him in his silence. He had already said his piece.

“You know, Rev… some things are just better not known.”

Hearing his response, Rev’s lips tightened in anger.

“But he will know. Whether it be now or later, he will know.”

“Yes, he will. And he would probably feel sad, terrible even. But he will move on, everyone will move on.”

Rev didn’t have the time to respond, as both he and Cain sensed a spatial fluctuation. Turning around, they saw a man clad in a black cloak flickering into existence.

Shesmu walked over the grassy field towards the rest of the group. Everyone stopped chattering and directed their attention to their leader.

“Crescent is dead. Let’s go finish this up before their team respawns. We have five minutes.”

Hearing Shesmu’s command, Rev could only sigh and look at Cain worriedly. However, there was no longer any time to spend talking, they had a finals to win. In resonance, they all teleported from the grassy field and appeared in front of an immense gate made of dark honey wood which was decorated with golden metal runes. Cain stepped up and pushed the door open.

The gates opened with a creak, and a cloud of dust billowed out from the air pressure. Light seeped out from the crack of the open door. The darkness gave way to a new world, a green and beautiful one. 

A flight of doves escaped through the open door, while Cain and his teammates entered this new dimension. Immense white clouds decorated the blue sky. Green grass covered the lands, and from afar, a river flowed. They were on a ridge rising above this valley, a place where the sky was within one’s arms reach. 

* * *

Shesmu stepped to Cain. “The floor is yours, Cain. I can’t do much against the boss, so we’ll be relying on you.”

Cain nodded to Shesmu. His eyes turned serious as he scanned the edge of the valley.

A sharp cry from the depths unknown forced everyone to cover their ears. From below, a white reptilian limb rose and slammed on the grassy ground. Many luminous yellow eyes opened, and seven monstrous heads emerged.

A titanic creature flew from underground. A beautiful, white dragon with seven heads opened its wings and soared into the skies. Each head had differently colored hair. From red to violet, the gamut of colors spanned the full spectrum of a rainbow. On its chest, a multicolored crystal was embedded. Five HP bars appeared above the beast, while its name was displayed in full golden.

 

The Seven-Headed Hydragon Of Virtue

 

Shesmu unsheathed his sword and stepped to the fore. “I’ll take the aggro in this fight. Rev, focus on disarming. Truth, heal me. Fate, Vez, ascension ritual Cain.”

“Understood,” Everyone responded.

The holy dragon dived with its seven heads towards Shesmu. It summoned a gale with its wings and roared in a display of its full might.

Yellow lightning coursed along the dragon’s right arm as it raised its clawed limb. They glinted with a dangerous light. Shesmu coated his sword with a green aura, and jumped towards the dragon, ready for the impending impact.

The clash of claw and steel reverberated. The red-colored head of this dragon looked directly at Shesmu with a cold reptilian glare, before opening its mouth. A torrent of blazing flames gushed out, forcing Shesmu to break the stalemate and guard against its scorching fire. Meanwhile, the yellow pate looked at Shesmu from above, before gathering light in its open mouth. The head turned down to bear down on Shesmu, its mouth wide open and a ball of lightning forming in its mouth’s epicenter. 

Shesmu braced for impact, but suddenly, the rampaging lightning was no more. It dissipated in the blink of an eye. A shadow flashed from behind the dragon’s yellow head, but Shesmu paid the movement no heed. He dashed towards the beast of virtue’s open chest and struck the rainbow-colored crystal. Its lively colors dimmed and grayed.

The seven heads screeched in pain, while the main body swayed. The HP bars above the Boss shone in red, and the top bar decreased by a quarter. However, Shesmu didn’t stop his barrage. He kept slashing at the dragon’s body, leaving wound after wound. The monster’s HP kept decreasing until it reopened its eyes.

Shesmu backed out, exiting the Boss’ range of attack. The Holy dragon of virtue raised its heads and cried out. Colors returned to its crystal and pulsated throughout the beast’s whole body. It took off with a flick of its wings and soared into the sky.

Realizing what the Boss was about to do, Shesmu glanced at Cain. He was sitting, eyes closed and legs crossed in the middle of a blood-red magic circle, while Fate and Vez skirted the edges. They fed their power into the circle only for it to be absorbed by Cain.

Crap, they’re not done yet. Shesmu glanced back at the dragon with all its seven mouths open, gathering energy in all of them. No choice, I need to tank this one.

Magic circles started appearing in front of the beast’s open mouths, their colors matched that of their parent heads. Six magical circles finally appeared before each mouth, gathering unimaginable power inside each spell. Flames blazed, rocks formed, Thunder roared, the wind turned into tornadoes and water into jet torrents, plasma balls emerged and purple poison fog gushed out.

Shesmu witnessed this agglomeration of elemental power. His whole body glowed a dark hue while black magical circles materialized below him. His brown eyes turned dark, and a white pentagram emerged from its depth. He whispered, “State Zero.”

And nothing happened. No green aura, no monochronic world, no flying magical circles. Even the dark aura that was surrounding his body was no more. Shesmu stood on the grassy ground, gazing up at the beast high in the sky preparing this armageddon of raging elements within its open jaws.

The dragon roared with might. Its seven heads launched spells of every color. Lightning rumbled, flames blazed, small meteorites fell, and all kinds of other spells made their way towards Shesmu. He stayed silent, motionless.

The man kept tracking the spells as they drew closer. For a moment, he was entranced by their beauty. However, it was but a fleeting thought before they melted into nothingness.

Rocks decomposed, and jets of water turned into glassy static droplets before disappearing into thin air and giant hurricanes softened to a gentle breeze. The fire whiffed out of existence and so did the lightning dissipate. The balls of plasma quickly followed suit while the purple poison fog thinned out leaving only a light purple faint haze in its wake.

“Cancel State.”

Shesmu’s eyes returned to their normal brown color. Black magical circles appeared below him before shattering and disappearing once more. His eyes darted back to where Cain was. The latter was clad in a dark orange aura. He opened his eyes and walked out of the blood-red. Fate and Vez stopped channeling their energy into the circle. They sat down on their butts, dizzy and lightheaded from the whole ordeal.

“Here, the scroll.”

Even though Fate was tired, she still found the strength to throw the summoning scroll at Cain. He caught it with one hand before inspecting it. The golden letters on its side were written in a strange language. Cain whispered, “Arcane Dragon of the First Flame.”

With a quick motion, he opened the scroll. Blinding light radiated from it, forcing Cain to protect his eyes with his hand. He slowly opened it only to be greeted by a gargantuan beast. Fangs sharper than the most treacherous daggers, reptilian yellow eyes that pierce the soul and a snout that breaths whiffs of fire three meters long.

The dark brown dragon was laying down, but it still towered over everything in sight besides its kin. The dark beast regarded Cain and said, “Thou which hath summoned me shalt receive the august essence of mine august being. The nectar of dreams is the poisoned well of the fool, may wisdom guide thy path to the original truth.”

The dark dragon raised its taloned foreleg gently and showed him his index claw. Cain fist-bumped the dragon’s claw before the latter turned ethereal. The beast decomposed into countless red particles. They gathered around Cain like moths on a bonfire before merging with the latter’s deep red aura. Energy flared around Cain becoming a torrent of red light that pierced the heavens. He stood motionless, amidst the flame-like aura. Jumping far above, he rose high enough to see eye to eye with the dragon of virtue. The aura that connected Cain to the clouds compressed and became a ball surrounding him. It then contorted in various forms before breaking out, appearing as a ghost of a dragon.

Cain stood inside the dragon of flame, controlling its every movement. He flew to the holy beast in a flash, claws clashing with opposing talons and horns colliding. The flame dragon gathered fire in its mouth, it breathed hell upon its opponent. Cain followed up with a slash to the rainbow crystal in the holy dragon’s chest.

The beast staggered backward, screeching in pain. However, Cain did not stop. He kept clawing away at his opponent while breathing fire upon it. The holy dragon's HP decreased until the first bar was emptied. 

The holy beast opened its eye. Light shone from underneath, as it began to repel Cain. It soared into the sky with a mighty cry.

Looking at the situation from afar, Shesmu panicked. "Everyone, run!"

Cain flew into the sky, while Shesmu teleported to Fate and Vez. He seized each one-handedly and dashed away, towing them.

Magical circles started winking into existence everywhere across the field. They were golden, and they emitted an intense light. This sharp glow became a pillar of light that speared into the sky. Everywhere the eye could see was soon covered in this light.

Shesmu and his team fled with all their might. Fate turned to see the source of the commotion only for her jaw to drop. Humanoid creatures with wings flew out from the magical circles and soared high into the sky.

“You—you’re joking! Are all of these… angels?!”

Shesmu grabbed Fate’s arm in a vise-like grip before teleporting away. Rev turned to watch the spectacle of a thousand angels rising from the ground before following suit.

A moment later, Shesmu, Fate, and Vez materialized above the clouds, Rev followed them shortly. Shesmu floated midair while carrying Fate and Vez.

“Leader, can you use Float on us?”

Understanding their discomfort, Shesmu nodded and said, “Sure.” He proceeded to invoke the spell in the depths of his mind and a transparent aura enveloped both subjects.

“Yahoo!” The moment Fate regained control of her body, she flipped around in the air like a clown and laughed loudly.

“Goddamnit, Fate. Can’t you be calm for like, one second?”

Fate calmed and sat cross-legged in the air beside Shesmu.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just that this is the most boring part of this whole situation, though. We’re just gonna sit here, spectator mode, while Cain gets all the limelight!” She pouted.

Shesmu tilted his head, unamused by Fate’s outcry. “Yeah, can you tell me who lost the Serpent to the enemy team again? I forgot.”

Fate was frightened by Shesmu’s sudden shift of tone. His cold tone gave her shivers.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t be angry, Leader. We didn’t know he had already achieved Tier-VI, else we would have burst it way earlier.”

“Haha, well, it’s not a problem this fight went like this.” Spoken in an attempt to smooth things over, Vez butted in. “Thanks to that mishap, the world will see the first arcane transformation of a Tier-VI mage.”

“Ohh, that’s hype! Leader, you and Cain always go questing together, has he ever shown you his arcane transformation?”

Shesmu gave Fate a questioning look. “No, he didn’t. Also, what the heck do you think arcane scrolls are? Candies you can buy at a shop?”

Shesmu’s series of sarcastic questions made Fate chuckle nervously. “Though I do have an idea of what it might be,” he continued, easing the tension with only his words, “and if his arcane transformation is anything like mine, it’s gonna go through six stages. Each one is fundamentally stronger than the last. Since it’s the Arcane of Fire, I’m guessing that its color would change at every stage.”

“Shesmu, can you please use your Orb of True Vision? I can’t use mine.” Vez’s reminder spurred Shesmu into action. He summoned a white orb and activated it with his mind. A holographic screen appeared in front of it to show Cain facing the Boss.

* * *

He basked in the light of a thousand spells. Cain gazed around as the army of two-winged angels rose from the ground and pointed their spears at him. He then looked to the holy dragon which was inspecting him before he made a decision and issued a command, “Avatar mode activated. Arcane Stage II.”

The dragon of flame that encased Cain issued a piercing cry. It glowed bright red before melting and condensing into a ball of flame encompassing Cain as a cocoon. The ball of flame rotated at a high speed before it cracked and Cain emerged. A bright orange aura surrounded him while flaming wings sprouted from his back.

Seeing his transformation, the holy beast flew towards Cain at high speed. Noticing the dragon’s movement, Cain looked back at the army of angels before diving right in. He gathered a ball of fire in his hand before throwing it at the enemies in front of him, killing dozens of the angel soldiers. He forged a path forward amidst his bloodthirsty opponents. He formed a giant hole in the enemy’s formation.

From the corner of his eye, Cain looked at the movements of the mighty dragon. To his surprise, it flew in a straight line towards him, not caring about the thousands of its comrades in its way.

Expecting a clash between the dragon and its minions, Cain stopped and repositioned himself. He waited for the opportune moment to strike. The dragon dived into its minions and passed through them like ghosts.

Cain’s eyes dilated in surprise before he regained his composure and clicked his tongue.

“No friendly fire mechanic…” He whispered.

Not wasting any time, he sprang into action. Cain looked at the grassy ground below him before his fire aura grew bigger. Tongues of flame lashed out at the air, scorching the incoming angel army and keeping it at bay. The oversized aura then shrank and concentrated on Cain’s right fist, covering it in a ball of flame. He punched the ground and it cracked.

Like an erupting volcano, the whole valley was split in two, fire and lava coming out of every crack. Rocks crumbled and fell into the river below the valley. Cain jumped into the crack he made before turning around and facing his enemies. 

The holy dragon bypassed all of its minions and crashed into the ground. Dust billowed and rocks were pulverized. However, the dragon couldn’t make it past the crack Cain made. It could only look at its enemy as it tried to reach him with its paw to no avail.

Cain didn’t waste his opportunity. Orange magical circles appeared all around him, forming a hexagon. A fire laser launched from the middle of the formation, piercing the dragon. 

The beast howled in pain, but Cain didn’t ease the pressure, he comboed the first attack with another fireball, before dashing towards the dragon and punching its face with his flaming orange fist. The dragon was catapulted out of the crack and into the air before it regained its balance. The flurry of attacks quickly chipped at its Health bar, decreasing it by more than half.

The Boss stood in the air, eyeing Cain who was still inside the Crack. It roared with might, beckoning for the army of angels. Its subordinates answered its call and dived down the crack. 

The angels pointed their spears forward and entered the crack one by one. Suddenly, Cain couldn’t see the light as hundreds of them covered the sky. He chanted a spell and wisps of flames popped into existence beside him one by one. They turned into bullets as they flashed towards the flying army.

Spells bombarded the armed angels by the hundreds, however, they remained unscathed.

“Damn, seems like that won’t cut it.”

“Arcane Stage III”

The flames surrounding Cain, his wings and everything, they became more intense, they shone like a thousand stars before turning white.

The angels lunged at Cain with their spears, while he countered with punches and kicks. His limbs clad in white fire, like the hammers of the heavenly forge. He would dodge by the tiniest of margins and strike with clean hits. Their flesh was nothing more than a cover for the metallic frame behind it, which Cain pulverized. 

However, the more angels Cain killed, the more surrounded him. By the tenth soldier he killed, Cain was already surrounded by all twelve directions.

“Tch,” His fists that were covered in flames shone brighter. He punched out, and before his fist could land, he punched again. Again, and again, and again, until his fist was but a blurry image of flaming missiles.

With his ranging flurry, Cain opened up a pathway. The bright sky showed itself and he was finally able to get a breath of fresh air. Suddenly, the red head of the dragon covered the sun. It opened its mouth and gathered flames in its center, preparing to breathe hell into the earth.

Cain clicked his tongue before focusing back on the angels surrounding him. He gathered flames on his hand and threw a fireball at his right side. The spell wreaked havoc on his enemies and left Cain an opportunity to flee. An opportunity he did not miss as the hellish breath of the dragon blazed through his previous position in the blink of an eye.

Cain’s eyebrows furrowed at the gravity of the situation.

“Arcane Stage IV!”

A blue fire pulsated from Cain’s chest. It then covered his arms, legs, head, and finally wings. Like a blue phoenix, he soared in the air.

He murmured a chant beneath his breath and six miniature sky blue magic circles appeared beneath his feet before immediately disappearing.

Cain kept destroying angels left and right while the dragon kept looking for blind angles to fire its projectiles. In the meantime, he whispered his chants and the magical circles popped in and out of existence. This back and forth lingered for a minute or two before the army of angels dwindled to a non-threatening force. 

Cain looked up at the sky, catching a full sight of the seven-headed dragons. Something he wasn’t able to do for the last minute or so. His expression, however, wasn’t one of worry or distress, but a triumphant one. His grin spanned from ear to ear, a sight he rarely showed to his peers.

“Flames of Genesis.”

Light sprouted from beneath Cain and illuminated the crater. Hundreds upon hundreds of magical circles popped out of nowhere.

Blue flames surged and roared before engulfing Cain with their nightmarish tongues. He became fire, and soon enough, he turned into a blazing phoenix. His eyes glinted with a sky blue gleam. His sharp talons tore the air in preparation before he launched with mind breaking speeds.

One punch. The mighty dragon couldn’t even follow Cain’s movement; he appeared right in front of it. Flames fluttering like wings, fists more solid than steel. With a clean uppercut, Cain shattered the dragon’s crystal, pulverizing it into rainbow-colored dust.

The Hp bars above the Boss’ head plummeted, and life in its eyes dimmed. The holy dragon fell from the sky and plunged into the river. The crash caused a tsunami. Gigantic waves drowned the grassy plains.

Cain stood high in the sky, flames surrounding him from all sides. He was looking at the dying dragon when his vision blurred. The wings of fire faded into a whisp as Cain lost his balance. He slowly dived down into the ground before falling on his back, exhausted.

“Good job Cain, you did great.”

Shesmu suddenly appeared and so did the rest of his teammates. He looked at Cain for a few seconds before continuing, “Well, the only thing left now is the World Cup.”

“Holy hell, you went all out. Look at this crater! Who’s gonna pay for the repair!” 

Fate’s obnoxious shouting and unfunny jokes brought a smile on everyone’s face. Even the usually stoic Cain couldn’t help but soften.

“Once we get the prize money, we’ll have enough to cover the cost and more. Even after the snakes at the top take their cut, you’ll all have enough money to drown in booze until you die.”

At the mention of alcohol, Fate got even more excited than before.

“Leader! Last time you said it’s gonna be your treat but chickened out. You better make it up for me this time or you’re never gonna hear the end of it on twitter!”

Shesmu immediately regretted bringing up the matter of booze. His eyes darted in all directions trying to find a way out of this sticky situation. However, even though they saw his signals for help, neither Vez nor Cain stepped in to help. They let out a sigh in resonance. They looked at each other in surprise before letting out a laugh.

"Hey, hey. You guys laugh all you want, but we're still in-game. This is a final, you know?"

“Yeah, well, we already won and—”

Vez was about to continue when his face froze.

"Wait, we lost the Serpent. Can't they base race us now?!"

Everyone turned into high alert mode with Vez’s reminder. Even Cain who was on the ground resting tried his hardest to stand up.

"That's what I'm saying you apes. Let me call winter, hopefully, he made it back in time," Shesmu concluded.

'No need.' A new voice, one that didn’t make its appearance throughout all the fights and struggles resounded within the depths of everyone’s mind.

‘Yo winter!’ Fate jumped into the call. ‘Leader is freaking out here. First, he forgets about the booze, then he trolls around in the finals and forgets that they stole the Serpent. Honestly, it’s kinda embarrassing.’

“You little sh*t…” Shesmu seethed at Fate’s teasing, while Vez and Cain just breathed a sigh of relief knowing that matters at the base were cleaned up.

‘You don’t need to tell me that Shes is noob, I think we already established that ages ago. Though while you dipsh*ts were having fun trolling around in these regionals, I took care of the mess here. So, for the sake of everything that is holy, can you please end the game?! I’m getting bored out of my goddamn mind here!’

Click.

The connection was cut over, leaving Shesmu not able to say anything. A wry smile was plastered on his face, he didn’t know whether to be angry or laugh at the situation.

“Okay, Winter is right. This is getting boring for both us and the fans, let’s finish it cleanly.”

Everyone nodded at Shesmu’s words.

“Well, finishing the game is fine and all, but Leader, don’t forget about the booze!”