"Save her."
That was the simple and frightening message.
Sally was gravely injured, and it was truly hard to make out the face due to the swelling changing the structure, and the blood and bruising changing the skin tone. However, the most likely option truly was that she had been kidnapped and was now being tortured.
"Sons of…"
Arthur's immediate reaction was shock. That lasted for about 2 seconds before immediately springing into action, leaving the lecture hall quickly and running off campus.
The location wasn't too far from his campus. If it were a timed thing, he would have no choice but to go there alone. However, he heard nothing of a time limit, only that he needed to save her.
He called Chad, and after a couple rings, he picked up.
"Yell—"
"Chad, they've kidnapped my friend, please, please please please go to the location you sent me the other day and check on her," Arthur said, jumping on top of a building with a leap and then a proper running jump into the sky before sprouting wings and flying out. "If you see her—she's a woman who's really injured—then rescue her, please."
He reached above the raining clouds, covering himself quite well. He ignored the freezing cold and flew as best he could. The connection so high up obviously wasn't too great.
But by a stroke of luck, Chad had made sense of that, and gave him an immediate response.
"What? I dunno her, do that stuff yourself," said Chad. The words were immediate and in an almost angry tone.
"...W-what the fuck are you saying?"
Chad tried to respond back, it seemed, but the connection so high up cut out, and that was that.
"FUCK!"
Arthur cried out into the world below him, as he hung up and clenched his unarmed fist to the point that it hurt. He pocketed his phone, bursting forwards towards the Graves household.
'No, I won't get there in time, I can't get there in time.'
"But it's obviously a trap. They're not just going to do that and let me get her, they're going to… they're going… damn it, damn it damn it, stop, please stop, don't, please, fuck, damn it damn it damn it damnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnit—"
Why wouldn't they stop?
Did Arthur truly have no choice but to admit that his life would never be the same? That his life, from then on, was destined for misery? Maybe so.
'Who can I contact… Alicia, no, she won't do much. Wait, but she can tell Damien, right? But Damien's probably with them, and even with whatever natural talent he has, if he's not Chad then the strength gap isn't going to be big enough…'
'Lucy? But I'd need to sleep to do that, and there's no guarantee she'll pop up. Actually, doesn't her physical body get transported to the dream? If so, then she's technically still at school right now, so there's no… damn it!'
'Chad won't help, Alicia and Damien won't be enough, and Lucy isn't available… no, I… ah.'
His wings moved slower, as a tidal wave of despair crushed him.
'I need… I need the other members, if I can just get them, then… please…'
…
Arthur reached the Graves household. He had attempted to push past the despair and reach them quickly. He banged on the door, and Rudy answered.
"Hello—"
"I need your help."
…
The explanation was delivered to the entire family who resided in that house. Arthur didn't believe he had much time, but he did know that he needed someone to help him, as he wouldn't be able to do it on his own.
"Please, I need your help, I need your help, I can't do this alone, so please, so please… save her."
Mrs Graves, who had suffered a loss of a loved one somewhat due to Arthur, was hesitant. However, Sun, Moon, and Rudy, all of them did have the empathy to help him. Even if he smelled bad, it was the natural reaction to seeing the pitiful existence before them.
Arthur's eyes were wide and frantic, not crying but seeming extremely emotional. So, they agreed. Her children's agreement pushed Mrs Graves into helping as well.
"Very well then. Let's go."
Arthur looked over to Chad, who left the basement to check out the commotion, still wearing that pink apron. He seemed disappointed, but walked over to Arthur, towering over him.
"Why aren't you doing it on your own? Bro?"
"I'm not strong enough to do it on my own. I just want to keep my friends safe, I don't care what level I have to fall to in order to do that."
"And if you fail?"
"——"
Arthur turned away, leaving the mansion with the others. Sun had the best flying capabilities of everyone there, so they all rode him in his proper dragon form, which took the form of a black dragon with purple lining all along him.
They soared above the clouds, towards the destination.
…
Arriving, they leapt from above the clouds and sprouted their wings, descending down to the top of the building.
They'd made a simple plan, and Arthur checked the number of enemies. There only seemed to be five people on the tower, one of them being Sally herself, who was tied to a steel bar with a gag in her mouth.
Four enemies, and all Arthur needed was to take Sally. He flew towards her, and around 15 feet before he reached her, he heard an incantation.
"War Art: Sniper Rifle."
He looked forward, seeing a gun appear into the hands of a dragon. That dragon took the form of a tall and muscular man with shaved blond hair, wearing all camo and the like.
It pointed at Arthur quickly, firing. The next moment, Arthur's shoulder was gone from his body, as he spun around and torpedo'd into the ground, slamming into it with a hard thud.
"A-aah…"
He looked at his shoulder. Blood quickly poured from it, soaking the ground as pain immediately hit him. Arthur grit his teeth in fear, staring at the left shoulder of his which was now a piece of meat dangling on itself, profusely spraying blood.
That iconic "chic-chic" sound, and metal hitting the floor reached Arthur's ears as he used the blood from his shoulder to form a helmet. He closed his eyes, awaiting sure-death, before hearing slamming and thuds.
He looked, seeing that the gunman, or perhaps gundragon, was attacked by Moon to save him. Arthur looked to Sally, who was unconscious, as he rushed towards her and bled all over the place like a wounded animal—which he was.
He used the ring and shaped it into a knife, slicing up the ropes and grabbing her. He fled the battlefield, not wanting the human woman to get injured.
As he ran down the stairwell, he heard banging below, and once he reached that part, he saw a tall man with brown hair and a plain face.
Immediately, he recognized him as the man who had so brutally beaten him. The fear of this man was etched into his bones, from the constant, unending and cold mangling of his body with that man's bat.
Arthur healed his shoulder and grabbed all of his blood, transforming it into a ring on his finger as he kept a hold of Sally. He dropped her off to keep her away, before turning and facing the man.
The knife in Arthur's hands changed to a spear, as he wielded his own blood as a shield. The man wielded his bat once more, putting it over his shoulder as he looked up at Arthur coldly.
Arthur did not know his name. However, his legs shook when reminded of that night.
The man he saw before him was Hiein, the Blood Artist.
'Calm down, calm down, calm down. I can't run… no, should I? Do I run? I can't win against him, no way I can. I already know what happens if I fight him.'
'Think of a way to win, try, try, try…'
But to no avail. Every conceivable outcome against this man ended in the same result of death.
'Stop shaking, stop shaking, stop shaking—'
His legs wouldn't stop. The night never left his mind. It was seared into his existence as a night of absolute torment. Five minutes. Five minutes of hell and humiliation.
"Are you afraid, Dragon?" The man asked. Arthur's eyes widened, and his body froze. Slowly, Arthur exhaled and gave his answer.
"I… I am."
He wasn't much of a liar.
"I see."
The Blood Artist offered no words of consolation. But even speaking to him calmed Arthur's nerves slightly. Hiein took his bat off of his shoulder, spinning it down and stabbing it into the ground.
'What is he…'
"Can you be reasoned with?" Hiein asked. Arthur's eyes narrowed, before he swallowed his saliva and nodded his head.
"Very well. Join us against your family. And once the members of the Graves family are dead, you shall end your own life. If you accept this deal, I can promise the woman's safety."
His words were blank and emotionless, spoken like a robot. Arthur's forehead grew moist with sweat and he tried to breathe normally.
"If… if…" Arthur murmured, saying nothing more. It was a good deal.
Or rather, it could only be considered a good deal if one had no regard for their own life. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Arthur, he fit that category somewhat well.
It was not that he wanted to die. Rather, his view of his own life was neutral, when it came down to his friends.
If Arthur was a 0, his friends would be 100. The lives of others, normal humans, was maybe 5-10, or perhaps in the negatives. But regardless, his friends simply meant everything, no matter what.
'It makes sense. As long as I'm the one who has to die, then… then… as long as it's me, as long as it's me and not her or anyone else, just me…'
Arthur took a deep breath and forfeited his life.
"I'll do it," he said. For once, Hiein smiled at him, and Arthur was caught off guard by it. Just as Arthur blinked, Hiein disappeared.
"What—"
Something appeared from his stomach, something red. The noise that accompanied it was the sound of meat being forcefully severed, and the splashing of his dark red blood hitting the ground.
"You truly are a disgusting traitor, eternally."
Such were the words of Hiein.
Arthur roared in pain, grabbing the weapon of blood and forcefully dismantling it, an action which caught Hiein off guard. Arthur turned around, baring his bloody teeth before he changed the blood which was spilling from him into a katana.
As quickly as he could, Arthur swung his sword, slashing his face, though just the flesh on it, diagonally from the right side of Hien's jaw to the top left of his head and beyond.
Hiein leapt backwards, immediately healing the wound and clicking his tongue, taking the blood weapon that was his own and absorbing it into his body.
"Hm."
Arthur gagged on his own blood, from the stab that penetrated his lungs, before reaching into his throat and warping the blood into a ring around his finger which he then changed into a knife.
The reason for the katana was that a spear was too long and would be awkward for a slash, and a knife would be too small in the event of Hiein weaving backwards. So, he chose a katana, using a primarily slashing based weapon of speed.
"We truly do wield the same Dragon Art, don't we?" Hiein said plainly, before swinging the bat around. Arthur breathed heavily, and made up his mind.
'I made him bleed. I just have to kill him, I have to kill him.'
So, he cast away the human flesh for the moment, his body transforming into that of a true dragon of blood.
"I see."
So, Hiein changed his bat. It was then morphed into a mighty warhammer.
"Do keep in mind, Arthur Graves, that if you don't defeat me, I am going to kill that woman."
Arthur roared in response, taking the blood that Hiein had shed, combining it with the blood of Pyro and himself, before creating a large, elegant spear, around 12 feet long.
Truly, it was befitting of being wielded by a dragon.