Chapter 255 - Tooth Dagger
On the other side of the arena, Kenji suddenly opened its red eyes wide. A strong inner energy was burning in its chest and the sensation was similar to the one he had felt in the swamp cavern when Yoichi had managed without the help of its Oracle to summon Therion's flame.
The little dragon placed its front paws on the ground and then, with considerable effort, did the same with its hind ones, managing to get up. As if it, too, had not realized the reason that had helped it get back to its feet, it looked at its tamer, sensing the bond that united their souls like pulsing energy.
Yoichi's sudden anger unleashed his true strength, and suddenly, the arm that had been bent by Urgerross made a bony sound: with an incredibly painful twist, the arm returned to its ordinary position and the hand clenched into a fist, resisting the pain and preparing to fight.
Yoichi's subconscious had projected the spirits of Ryutaro and Enatsu before his eyes as if his mind was telling his body that it was not yet time to surrender. The epic battle between him and the thunder dragon was taking place in his mind and in that world, he was the sole ruler.
On the mountain, during those frantic seconds, Therion, the Dragon King, felt a strange sensation. Beneath the black scales of its chest, reaching down to its throat and lower jaw, veins of draconic fire were activated without his consent.
Even the ruler of the heavens, the one who had inherited the primordial flame from the dynasty that had reigned the skies of Lumya for millennia, took a few seconds to realize that its heir had just awakened his true powers.
Raising its huge clawed hand and bringing it close to its face, the Dragon King felt incredible energy coursing through its veins. "Yoichi, my son," he whispered in its deep, warm voice. "Use your anger and draw from my power. Let the fire of my ancestors destroy your opponents and purify your body!" he thundered, raising its voice, but not enough to reach Yoichi's ears.
The young tamer's body was still hanging on Urgerross' claw, who, unaware of what was about to happen, was still convinced that it could bite his head off.
Before the jaws of the great white dragon could close, Yoichi extended his right arm and grabbed the longest of its canines, just as he had done long ago with the Hebigure, the serpent demon that attacked the village of Blackborough.
"Uh?!" Urgerross muttered, sensing Yoichi's grip and opening its eyes wide, ready to release its anger.
However, what happened in the next few moments was so strong that there was no time for the dragon to counterattack: when Yoichi's hand gripped Urgerross's tooth, Kenji roared with all its breath, activating its power-up skill to full power. The black scales on his arms, which had never disappeared, increased in size and thickness, further fortifying his upper limbs.
A blaze was thrown from the center of his chest and moved down his arms like a scorching wave, entering under the scales and causing them to vibrate. "Aaargh!" the young warrior shouted, who, ready to show his opponent the true strength of the Dragon King, joined his second hand to his first and clamped both on Urgerross' canine.
*track*splat* - With a loud bone clatter followed by a splash of blood that covered his face, Yoichi ripped that tooth out of the mouth of the thunder dragon, who felt such pain that it was paralyzed for almost a second.
"GROOOARGH!" Urgerross roared, flailing its arms and making Yoichi, whose physical strength was now comparable to that of a demon dragon, fly away.
As the dragon's heartbreaking cries echoed through the skies of the arena and beyond, the sky above their heads darkened further and a giant, ominous black cloud formed at the eye of the storm.
In that scenario, the only visible light was that of Yoichi, whose flaming arms had reached considerable size. Flying in mid-air with Urgerross's tooth in his hand, he seemed to have succumbed to the innermost instincts of his ego, donating his body to the draconic flames and enhancing his aura.
Instinctively, after forcibly losing a tooth, the dragon touched the wounded and bleeding part with one hand, forgetting that Yoichi was right above its horned head.
"Uaaargh!" - Falling with his feet on Urgerross' head, the heir of Therion sank the long bloody canine into the dragon's eye, piercing it and unleashing a fountain of thick red blood that sprayed into the air like a geyser.
The dragon's roar became louder and more excruciating, and with its mouth practically inoperative, it had just been blinded and made vulnerable.
Yoichi was covered in his enemy's red blood but continued to push the tooth deep into its cranium, dealing Urgerross considerable damage. The enemy's defenses had now collapsed.
What is this uncontrollable power? My arms, my legs... I don't have full control of my limbs and I feel an absurd force running through my body! He thought, feeling as if his mind was trapped inside the body of a stranger.
The wounds on his arm and the soreness in his back were gone, and the anger he had felt for Urgerross thinking about what would happen to his friends if he failed had taken control.
Yoichi immediately left the tooth lodged in the dragon's eye. With his arms, moving like a quadruped, he quickly climbed up the back of its neck until he reached its back, stopping next to a wing.
The desire for blood I feel is uncontrollable! I feel invincible! He kept thinking, unable to express with words what he was sensing. The only sounds he made after his true power awakened were grunting cries, more common to beasts than humans.
Urgerross continued to shake here and there and, unable to reach Yoichi with its hands, flapped its wings and took flight, trying to shrug its enemy off its body.