Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

The sound of my heartbeat continues echoing throughout my head... everything else feels distant.

Rika’s voice is also very hard to even understand anymore. I think this transformation is the cause of it all.

It all feels like background noise compared to the power surging through my body now, again this is definitely different.

I slowly lower my gaze towards my arms.

Black and purple scales cover both of my arms completely now.

The red glow leaking through the cracks tells me that I’m still using the dragons power as well as the crystals.

The wounds that were tearing me apart moments ago have also come to a complete stop. But they aren’t fully healed either.

Instead it is just done causing me pain it seems.

Almost like the powers finally found something to force a ceasefire between them.

A strange sensation runs throughout my entire body.

One I never really felt before, but yet it also felt familiar in a sense? I wish that could be explained to me.

The urge to fight against King Albus is definitely strong right now.... It is best to end this while I still have that in mind.

CRACKLE!!!!

Purple and black flames burst from my body once again.

The force immediately tears through the remains of the courtyard, slowly forcing everyone to realize what’s happening.

Chunks of stone are ripped from the ground and thrown into the air as I stare towards King Albus.

In that moment the pressure he had been causing finally starts to retreat, but it wasn’t because he decided to bring it down.

It is because my own power is pushing back against it for the first time since this fight began.

Since I began this fight in the courtyard against all of these guards I felt weak. Even after beating the strongest one I still didn’t think I was strong enough.

Now that I have this transformation to aid me... That is a completely different story on what I can and can’t do. I don’t feel as weak as I once did.

Rokuro!

Rika’s voice reaches me.

Yet it sounds distorted like it did earlier when I first entered this state.

She sounds like she is getting further and further away with each second that passes by.

Can you hear me?!

My head hurts just listening to her.

She sounds worried about me but there isn’t anything to worry about now. I’m more than capable of my handling myself against the King.

I take a step forward.

BOOOOOOM!!!!

The ground beneath my foot explodes apart.

I didn’t expect it to explode like that... I guess power can be a crazy thing when it reaches a certain level.

I clench my fists as I prepare myself for the next move.

King Albus watches everything without saying a word.

The black aura surrounding him swirls violently around his body.

His eyes never leave mine.

Then...

A smile slowly appears on his face once again after all of the serious looks he kept giving me. It was like this moment is the one he has been waiting for the whole time.

He almost looks like he is satisfied.

"There you are," He says.

His voice echoes throughout the ruined courtyard.

My eyes narrow as King Albus chuckles.

"The version of you that has been trying to crawl its way out this entire time is finally here!" He shouts.

The moment he says those words I can feel something strange within me, almost like someone is trying to remind me. A person I once knew maybe?

"What are you waiting for? Tear him apart already Rokuro," A familiar voice says.

My grip tightens.

The flames around me immediately grow stronger.

King Albus notices almost instantly.

"I was beginning to think you’d never stop holding yourself back Rokuro," King Albus says with excitement.

The pressure around him suddenly explodes outward.

RUMBLE!!!!!

Everything shakes for a moment and the remains of the castle begin collapsing behind him.

Large chunks of stone crash into the ground, yet King Albus remains standing completely unfazed.

For the first time since this battle began...

He slowly lowers himself into a fighting stance as the black aura surrounding him condenses around his body.

Growing denser and heavier.

The smile finally leaves his face as he realizes how serious the battle is about to be between us.

"I’ve waited long enough," He says.

I’m glad he said it before I could. I’m ready to end his life. Didn’t I need answers from him before I kill him?

It doesn’t even matter at this point if I get anything from him or not since he probably won’t tell me anything anyway. It doesn’t match his character in the slightest.

BOOOOOM!!!!!

The ground explodes beneath both of us at the exact same time as we both rush towards each other.

Within mere moments I find myself face to face with King Albus as he begins to throw a flurry of punches towards me. Each one getting faster each time.

I manage to dodge them while waiting for an opening but it doesn’t seem like one is ever going to appear.

Until...

CRACK!!!!!!

I drive my fist right into the center of his arm as his fist goes right past my face and I can hear the bones break within the middle of his arm.

"Holy shit!!!!!" He cries out as he immediately back steps away from me a bit.

Even though it was painful I can already see his injury healing.

This fight is definitely going to be about who can endure the most damage. He’s definitely got the upper hand on me right now since I was damaging myself for a good while.

Rokuro!!!!!!!! God damnit!!! Listen!!!!

Rika’s voice is still almost impossible to make out at this point so I’ll have to deal with the consequences later.

I’m sure she’ll forgive me at some point or another.

WHAM!!!!!

Before I get the chance to react I feel a fist go right across my face... And it doesn’t knock me back like I thought it would.

I grit my teeth and start moving my face back towards him; As our eyes meet I swing my fist right across his face as well.

This time it staggers him and he moves back yet again. Only now he is starting to understand that this really isn’t going to be an easy fight for either of us.