"Were you the one who killed those people who arrived on the island?" Derivan asked.
"Of course."
"You'll pay for that, you bastard" Derivan charged at him.
"DERIVAN, WAIT!" Nohara tried to stop Yashimiro, but he didn't listen to her.
Before Yashimiro could reach Tortoro, he was suddenly struck in the stomach, causing the teenager to spit blood and be sent flying several meters back.
"He's fast."
Without hesitation, Tortoro immediately fired an energy projectile.
"Raiden!" Derivan responded by launching a lightning sphere at the incoming attack, neutralizing it.
Before Derivan could do anything else, Tortoro appeared behind him and struck him in the back, knocking him to the ground.
"Damn it" Derivan jumped back at the last second before Tortoro's kick hit the spot where he had been standing just a second earlier.
"Shindo!" Yashimiro instantly unleashed a stream of lightning, which Tortoro effortlessly countered with his own attack.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Tortoro appeared beside the teenager and delivered another blow. But this time, Derivan's body dissolved into thin air.
"What the was that a hologram?"
The real Yashimiro was levitating in the air, his raised hand forming spirals of fire.
"Over here! Firesoner!" Yashimiro transformed the spirals into a pillar of fire and hurled it at his opponent. "Let's see how you handle this, bastard!"
"To Derivan's surprise, Tortoro began eating the fiery attack."
"He ate it?"
"Not bad fire" Tortoro commented. "Let me return the favor" he added, releasing the very attack he had just consumed.
Yashimiro was forced to leap aside to avoid his own attack. Tortoro appeared in front of him and kicked him in the face, sending him crashing into the nearby forest.
"DERIVAN!"
"Hey, look at that necklace he's wearing" Eric pointed out.
"It looked like a crystal" Nohara said.
"Exactly."
"Do you think it could be a fragment of the Kinotro crystal?"
"Most likely."
Moments later, Derivan burst out of the forest with his Dragon Manifestation activated, surprising his opponent.
"That power… so you possess the power of the Heavenly Dragon."
"Yeah, so what?"
Tortoro smiled and unleashed his own power. Dragon wings sprouted from his back, and scales appeared across his body.
"It seems fate once again desires a battle between the Demonic Dragon and the Heavenly Dragon."
"Wait, so you possess the power of the Demonic Dragon?" Yashimiro asked.
"That's right."
"Now I understand what that mural in the temple meant, the one showing the Heavenly Dragon fighting the Demonic Dragon. Even so, I won't back down" Yashimiro declared with a confident smile.
"Excellent. Let's have some fun."
Derivan vanished in blue flames, instantly reappearing in front of his opponent and uppercutting him into the air.
"Is that Derivan's power?" Eric asked in shock as he watched the fight.
"I was also surprised by how much stronger he's become" Nohara replied.
Tortoro quickly regained his balance and looked around for Yashimiro. Suddenly, Yashimiro appeared beneath him, grabbed his leg, and hurled him into a nearby mountain.
"You're better than I thought, but what about this?" Tortoro spread his arms, forming black demonic fire in his hands before unleashing a stream of flames at his opponent.
In response, Yashimiro extended his hand and formed heavenly fire, firing his own stream. When the two attacks collided, they initially struggled against each other.
At the same time, Krenom was searching for another fragment of the Kinotro crystal when he suddenly sensed the power coming from Derivan and Tortoro.
"What is this power? I'd better check it out" Krenom immediately set off for the Island of Forgetting.
Meanwhile, on the island, the attacks dispersed. Tortoro instantly kicked Yashimiro in the stomach, making him spit blood and crash into the ground, leaving a crater.
"Fuck…"
"Is that all you've got? If so, you've seriously disappointed me. I expected you to entertain me a bit longer."
"Even with Dragon Manifestation activated, he still surpasses me in strength. I don't know if this will work, but I have to try" Yashimiro thought, activating the power of Shonetsu and combining it with Dragon Manifestation.
His right arm and part of his face became covered in demonic armor, and a horn grew from the right side of his forehead. Tortoro's eyes widened as he recognized the power. Just by releasing his energy, Derivan blasted his opponent away.
"So you're one of them" Tortoro commented.
"You know about Shonetsu?" Derivan asked.
"Of course. After all, it was our race that helped wipe yours out."
Tortoro's answer shocked everyone, especially Derivan.
"What? Why? Why did you do it?"
"Why? BECAUSE YOUR DEMONIC RACE TRIED TO SEIZE THE TERRITORIES OF OTHER DEMONS AND SUBJUGATE THEM!" Tortoro roared angrily. "But I'll start from the beginning. In the demon world, various races lived, including the Shonetsu and the Karokuzo race, to which I belong. All demon races originate from the Demonic Dragon. After his battle with the Heavenly Dragon, the Demonic Dragon landed on this island, on the brink of death. A human woman approached him and decided to heal him. Seeing this, the dragon took the woman and bestowed his power upon her, ordering her to revive the demon race. Decades later, when several demon races had already arisen, each had its own territory. Unfortunately, not everyone liked that idea. One day, one of you appeared Prince Kinuro who tried to warn us about an attack from the Shonetsu demons. But none of us believed him and we ignored him. A few hours later, the Shonetsu demons attacked our territory, killing most of my race. Only a dozen of us survived, including me, thanks to my parents' sacrifice. We decided to join forces with the remaining races to take revenge on the Shonetsu. A few years later, it turned out that some Shonetsu had survived, so I set out to hunt them down and kill them."
"So you were the one who killed my comrades" at that moment, Blade and Kira arrived.
"Blade, Kira, what are you doing here?" Yashimiro asked in surprise.
"I came for that Kinotro fragment."
"So another Shonetsu has appeared. This must be my lucky day."
"Be careful. This guy is powerful and dangerous" Yashimiro warned.
In the blink of an eye, Tortoro appeared above Blade, attempting to strike him. The demon raised his guard and took the hit. A second later, Derivan appeared beside him and kicked Tortoro in the face, sending him flying far away.
"Don't interfere."
"Sorry, but you're the one who interrupted our fight. So the only one interfering here is you."
"What?"
Derivan said nothing more and immediately launched his attack, instantly appearing beside Tortoro. Before Tortoro could react, he received a powerful punch to the face that sent him flying several meters away.
"He's much stronger than when he fought me. Could it be that he was holding back?" Blade wondered.
"Damn you!" Tortoro began firing energy beams.
Yashimiro dodged each one with agility. At one point, he vanished and reappeared above his opponent, smashing his joined fists into the back of Tortoro's head and slamming him into the ground.
"Had enough?"
"You wish."
Tortoro leapt up to strike Derivan, but Derivan dodged, grabbed his arm, and hurled him into the air kneeing him in the stomach beforehand.
"I guess I have no choice. I'll have to sacrifice this island to defeat you."
"What?"
Tortoro extended both arms, pressing his wrists together as he concentrated his choki, forming a sphere of energy.
"His power is rising significantly. I'll have to use my new technique" Derivan extended one hand forward and grabbed his wrist with the other.
"Death Beam!" Tortoro unleashed a massive shockwave.
"Kanezoko!" Derivan responded with a blue energy beam.
When the two attacks collided, they struggled against each other at first, until they finally triggered a massive explosion.
"What an incredible fight" Eric commented.
Moments later, as the smoke cleared, Yashimiro and Tortoro stood facing each other, both breathing heavily.
"Looks like I made it to the party" Krenom appeared on the scene.