Reid and Mark arrived at Old Man Scrappy's home with John in tow. Rusty gently set John down, still under the effects of [Pause].
Scrappy, hearing the commotion, stepped out with a grim expression.
"What's all this?" he asked, taking in the restrained and frozen John.
Mark quickly explained everything, showing the video evidence. Scrappy's face hardened as he realized John was behind the beast siege that had nearly destroyed their settlement.
"What the hell is wrong with you, John?" Scrappy said bitterly. "You've endangered your own family and everyone else here. Why?"
John, now released from [Pause] but still restrained, smirked. "You wouldn't understand, old man. I am chosen by the Master. These steps are necessary to cleanse the world."
Scrappy shook his head. "What have you become?"
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble.
"Evo, what's going on?" Reid asked.
[Something's coming,] Evo warned.
John started laughing hysterically. "You've delayed the Master's will, but it can't be stopped! My death will be the catalyst for true judgment!"
The sky above the Scrapyard darkened, the sun completely blocked out.
A massive magic circle appeared above them, radiating a crushing pressure that forced everyone in the Scrapyard to their knees.
"W-what is that?!" Reid struggled to speak under the pressure.
[T-that's a beast summoning gate,] Evo said, her tone panicked. [Y-you have to stop him before he completes the summoning!]
"We have to stop him!" Reid shouted, sensing the urgency in her voice.
John grinned. "You fools think you can stop the divine? With my sacrifice, I'll ensure its arrival!"
Before anyone could react, John activated a hidden implant in his body. A glowing sigil appeared on his chest, and his body began to burn from the inside out.
It was his last-ditch effort to complete the mission—even if it meant his death.
"Rusty, [Pause] him!" Reid ordered, but the skill failed.
"How is he resisting it?!" he asked, panic rising in his voice.
[The sigil on his body is interfering with the skill,] Evo explained quickly.
As John's body began to disintegrate into raw energy, Reid made a split-second decision.
"Get back!" he shouted.
He leapt forward, summoning a new gadget from his inventory—a containment field generator he had recently repaired.
He managed to deploy it around John just as the sigil on his chest reached critical mass.
Inside the field, John screamed as his body was consumed, releasing a wave of energy that shook the entire settlement.
When the dust settled, all that remained of John was ash—and the faint, glowing outline of the sigil burned into the ground.
Above it, a massive shape was forcing its way through the summoning circle.
A beast.
Its shadow loomed over them as it finally broke through—a massive eastern dragon with obsidian-black scales and glowing blue eyes. Its roar shook the air itself.
"W-we're f*cked," Reid muttered. From the pressure alone, he could tell—the beast's rank was far beyond anything they could handle.
[That's Calamity—the Platinum-tier Storm Dragon,] Evo confirmed grimly.
Reid's heart sank. A primal at Platinum rank was capable of wiping out an entire country, let alone a makeshift settlement like the Scrapyard.
"I'll take care of it," Old Man Scrappy's calm voice rang out, breaking through the panic.
The others turned to him, stunned. How was he planning to fight something like that with a Silver-tier beast?
Then Scrappy spoke again.
"Raio, you have my permission to remove the seal."
A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking Raio. The ground trembled from the impact.
When the dust cleared, a massive wolf stood where Raio had been. Its fur crackled with arcs of blue lightning, and its eyes glowed like twin storms.
Its aura wasn't inferior to the dragon's in the slightest. The Storm Dragon paused, almost curious, watching Raio's transformation—a mistake it would soon regret.
"What's going on?" Reid asked, awestruck.
[Apparently, the old man placed a seal on the wolf, limiting its rank to Silver-tier. Now that the seal's removed, it's back to its original rank—Platinum-tier,] Evo explained.
"I see," Reid said quietly. By now, Raio had already negated the suffocating pressure, allowing everyone to breathe and move freely again.
"Reid, Mark—get everyone to safety," Scrappy ordered. "Farther from here. I'll handle the big guy."
Mark and Reid immediately began evacuating the nearby residents, herding them to safety as fast as they could.
Once Scrappy confirmed everyone was clear, he turned back to face the dragon.
"Let's see what you can do, you bastard," he said coldly.
Raio roared in challenge, electricity sparking off its fur. The dragon roared back, equally enraged.
It swiped its claws from afar, the air distorting around them. Scrappy didn't hesitate—Raio moved instantly, pulling him out of harm's way at light speed, leaving a trail of lightning behind.
Where Scrappy had been standing, a massive crater appeared—the ground split open in the shape of claws.
"Thanks, Raio—but don't just dodge!" Scrappy ordered.
Raio howled, summoning runic targets around the dragon. A heartbeat later, massive lightning bolts rained down from the sky.
The dragon's scales deflected most of the attack, but it still roared in pain.
Recovering quickly, it unleashed its own breath attack—an invisible blast of compressed wind that tore through everything in its path, almost reaching Reid, who watched in awe from a distance.
To the dragon, Raio was like an annoying fly—fast, unpredictable, and impossible to catch.
Snarling, the dragon adjusted its flight, watching Raio's movement patterns before diving at full speed, confident it would land a hit this time.
But Raio was ready. At the last second, it accelerated, avoiding the dive completely. The dragon crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact, the shockwave toppling scrap towers across the yard.
Before the beast could recover, Raio slashed at it with a lightning-charged claw. The attack struck true, carving glowing marks into the dragon's scales.
In retaliation, the dragon whipped its tail toward Scrappy. Raio immediately moved, shielding his partner and taking the hit head-on. Both were sent flying backward, crashing into one of the Scrapyard's steel buildings.
"F*ck, that hurts," Scrappy grunted, pushing himself up.
The dragon reared back, preparing another invisible claw strike—strong enough to cleave both man and beast in half.
The air began to vibrate, the pressure intensifying once more.
----
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