Shadow Monarch in DC

Chapter 514: Beyond His Limits

Arthur and Raven materialized on the obsidian plain in a gust of shadows and violet light, the air outside the volcano was cooler and less oppressive.H'El stood before them.

The shadow of the Kryptonian knelt on one knee, his head bowed, his form gleaming with the aftermath of battle. Behind him, arranged in a neat row, lay the three dragons he had slain.

Their bodies were massive each one the size of a big building their scales cracked and broken, their blood pooling on the ground. The first had a horn through its neck, its eyes still wide with surprise. The second had its skull caved in, its face a ruin of shattered bone and blood. The third bore the marks of a brutal beating, its body riddled with craters, its wings bent at impossible angles.

H'El's voice was a low. "My King, here they are."

Arthur walked toward the corpses, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes scanning each dragon with detachment. He circled them slowly, appraising their forms, their wounds.

Raven followed, her expression filled with frustration and confusion.

"What are you doing Arthur?!" Her voice was sharp, "You left that kid alone inside! Fighting that dragon all on his own! You know he is not a match for him!"

Arthur didn't respond.

He continued examining the dragons, his fingers brushing against a broken scale, his brow furrowing slightly.

Raven stepped closer. "Are you even listening to what I'm saying?!"

Arthur straightened. He turned to face her, his expression calm, his eyes steady.

"Do you trust me or not?"

Raven opened her mouth then closed it and her jaw tightened. "I do! But that's not the point!" she finally said. "This is too much for a whole team let alone a single person! So why did you just leave..."

Arthur's eyes met hers.

"Then tell me what is right in this case." His voice was quiet, measured. "Give him a hand? Or just deal with the dragon myself?"

Raven's brow furrowed.

"What if I wasn't here?" Arthur continued. "Imagine I refused to enter this dungeon, imagine I die, and my shadows cease to exist. What would happen to this planet?" He paused. "If I keep doing things for everyone, no one will learn to do things for themselves."

Raven was silent.

"No," Arthur said, his voice softening. "This is not too much, Raven. They need to push past their limits. And that kid is the strongest Hunter. If he can't deal with that dragon on his own, then there is really no hope for the rest to protect our world from the upcoming danger."

Raven looked away. Her voice was smaller now. "I understand your logic... But you are here, you are alive."

Arthur's eyes closed briefly.

"I'm preparing him for the worst-case scenario." His voice was gentle. "But first, he needs to withstand this big obstacle and defeat it."

Raven sighed. Her shoulders slumped.

"What if he dies?" she asked.

Arthur's eyes opened.

"He won't."

The certainty in his voice was absolute. Raven felt something in her chest ease, though not completely, then she nodded slowly. "I trust you. I really hope he stays fine... Otherwise I'll.."

Arthur looked at her, a faint smile on his face.

"I'll..." Raven faltered. "What am I saying?"

Arthur's smile widened, he turned back to the dragons.

"Arise."

The shadows surged.

Darkness poured from Arthur's feet, flooding across the plain, wrapping around the three dragon corpses like a shroud. The bodies twitched and then the shadows began to rise.

Scales reformed in shadow, eyes opened, burning with violet fire.

The dragons rose.

They were shadows now and they bowed their heads, their wings folding.

"My King."

Arthur smiled.

"They will be a great force," he said. "All General ranks." He looked at the volcano, at the darkness within, at the battle that still raged in its depths. "The boss Veythur is clearly Marshal, though."

Raven watched the shadow dragons, with a calm expression.

Then Arthur said"We'll claim Veythur once Ethan kills him."

H'El bowed. "My King, if you require me for a different task, I'm ready."

Arthur nodded. "Rest. You've earned it."

H'El dissolved into shadow, returning to the darkness from which he had come.

Raven and Arthur stood in silence, watching the volcano.

"So now we just wait here doing nothing?" Raven asked.

Arthur raised his hand.

He pointed at the volcano with a single finger.

Then suddenly there was a great explosion, it was apocalyptic.

The mountain's peak shattered, sending a fountain of lava and stone and ash erupting into the sky. The shockwave rolled across the plain, forcing Raven to raise a barrier around them. The ground shook.

And from the heart of the explosion, something massive emerged.

Veythur burst from the volcano's throat like a missile, his wings spread wide, his maw open in a roar of rage and pain. Fire streamed from his body, leaving a trail of liquid flame across the sky. He was wounded, scales missing, blood pouring from a dozen wounds, one wing torn and trailing.

And hanging onto his tail, his form blazing with power, was Ethan.

His Spiritual Body Manifestation had transformed him. His gravity powers warped the space around him, White-violet energy armor covered his body, Halo rings spun behind his head, and his eyes once fearful, burned with a cold, focused determination.

He was magnificent and Raven's eyes widened.

"That's HIM?!"

Arthur's smile returned. "Yeah. You didn't see my fight with him, so it's only natural." He watched Ethan hold onto the dragon's tail, his form blazing. "A form all Ruler vessels have, even though he can't keep it up for long, his is quite unique. He was already a metahuman with gravitational powers before he awakened."

Veythur twisted in the sky, trying to shake Ethan loose. His tail lashed, sending wind-slices that carved furrows across the plain. His fire erupted, a torrent of flame that would have incinerated anything in its path.

Ethan held on and he swung himself up, finding himself on the dragon's back. His sword reformed, blazing with gravity energy descended toward Veythur's spine.

Arthur's smile widened.

"Veythur underestimated the boy."

The raid team emerged from the volcano's entrance in a flood of exhausted Hunters.

They had been fighting their way out since Arthur had left for the boss room, the raid leader a grizzled S-Rank from Bruce's guild had been the first to reach the entrance, his armor cracked, his weapon bloodied.

He stopped and his eyes rose to the sky.

The others piled out behind him, their voices a chorus of questions and complaints.

"What was that explosion!"

"Who is that..."

The words died in their throats.

Veythur blazed across the sky, his form massive, his fire lighting up the clouds. And clinging to his back, radiating power, was Ethan, but they didn't know it.

"Dear god," one of the Hunters breathed a woman with flame-red hair, her staff still glowing with magic. "Who is that... and that Dragon looks completely different than the one we fought..."

The raid leader's jaw dropped.

"Look at him!" another Hunter shouted, pointing.

Ethan's sword came down and Veythur roared.

The blade carved a trench across the dragon's back, sending a spray of blood across the sky. The beast twisted, trying to dislodge its attacker, but Ethan held on, his gravity powers anchoring him to the dragon's scales.

"He's going to kill it..." the flame-haired Hunter said, her voice in awe. "He's actually going to kill it..."

The raid leader's eyes found Arthur.

The Shadow Monarch stood on the plain, arms crossed, his expression calm. Beside him, Raven watched the battle with a mixture of concern and pride.

"Mister Arthur?!" the raid leader murmured. "Didn't he just... what the hell is going on here, if they are there and Ethan is gone... that means the one who is fighting the Dragon is.."

All of the hunters turned toward the raid leader and said. "Ethan.."

The raid leader's throat worked.

"Arthur Blackwynd," he said slowly. "What did he do to him..."

"But why isn't he helping?" The hunter added.

The battle in the sky continued.

Veythur's fire erupted and Ethan raised his hand, and gravity warped around him, bending the fire away, redirecting it into the sky.

His sword descended again, the damaged dragon's wing tore.

Veythur roared in a pure rage and pain and began to fall. His body tumbled through the sky, end over end, his remaining wing useless, his fire sputtering.

Ethan rode him down.

He drove his sword into the dragon's back, his gravity powers amplifying the blow, sending a shockwave across the entire plain. The impact was cataclysmic a thunderclap that shook the volcanic mountain itself, that sent the Hunters stumbling, that carved a crater in the plain.

The dust settled.

Veythur lay in the center of the crater, his body broken, his fires dying. And standing on his chest, his sword still embedded in the dragon's heart, was Ethan.

His Spiritual Body Manifestation faded.

The white-violet armor dissolved, revealing the boy beneath bloodied, exhausted and out of breath. He swayed on his feet, his eyes glassy, his breath coming in ragged gasps, barely standing.

Arthur began to walk toward the crater.

The Hunters watched him go.

"He did it.." one of them breathed. "He actually did it."

The raid leader shook his head slowly.

"Did he really just kill... a Dragon boss all on his own..." he said.

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