Ethereal vocals sang in welcome as Douken entered the area, sounding mournful, but pretty like breaking crystals. A long parapet guarded by tall bone spurts, fleeting spirits, and a gargantuan dragon statue where the first things to come into focus for anyone visiting Dragonbein. Grand as it was, everything was seemingly out of reach; the spirits floated lazily over the bottomless trench, dissolving into grey matter upon proximity with anything of substance, and a large break in the bridge made passage impossible toward the dragon statue. There was no way to branch off and descend to the mountains either.

The Dragonbein was not a place to explore, but to contemplate.

A place of solitude.

A touch of static sounded somewhere nearby, farther along the bridge.

The closer he was, the easier it was to pinpoint where the static came from. Somewhere...somewhere in between the two sides of the broken bridge...Down below! A spatial distortion lied a dozen feet below from the plain where players were allowed to walk. It seemed like the only way to reach it was to freefall into an uncertain death. Would he? 

Regardless, the distortion seemed to sense Douken's proximity, causing a system prompt to pop open on his screen.

[ SPZZZ...*unidentifiedable code*....proceed? y/n ]

*GROWL*

A beastly sound razed through the air, distorting the light, and sending the lesser spirits into frenzied flight. The sound of stone breaking off was everywhere and it wasn't until the air finally calmed down that Douken would realize that something humongous now blocked the sun like a tower behind him. If he were to glance at the dragon monument from before, he'd realized that it had disappeared. 



Gwydion craned his enormous head down so that it hovered at Douken's eye level, his mouth big enough to swallow the beastman in one bite. His breathing was like bellows in the wind, but the voice that came upon Douken's mind was gentle and....sad.

Master...? 

The spatial vortex expanded and stabilized after being activated, allowing a vague image of a hall to barely be seen through it.

A touch of warmth spread from the tip of the dragon's snout, softening the marble-like surface. Indeed he could smell him, Tarannis, through the Beastman's aura. Gwydeon let out a shrill, bird-like cry of happiness, unable to truly set apart Douken from the godly scent that surrounded him. His body trembled, afraid to prance around and flatten his tiny counterpart by mistake, so he settled for nuzzling Douken with the full force of his head, perhaps even knocking him down in the process.

Master. It's been so long. I've been here all this time, like you told me to.

An eery wind swept past the precipice. Tarannis had not been seen on this earth for untold years, which meant that Gwydeon had been laying dormant in this place all this time; to the extent that he just merged with his surroundings and became stone. Such an extensive amount of time alone would have surely driven any lesser creature to the brink of insanity. Gwydeon was no mere beast, however.

From deep within the dragon's body, a slow rumble gathered, hastening, quickly settling into a thunderous boom that set off all its scales into a threatening rattle.

Surely, with the body and mind of a godbeast, Gwydeon would be immune to such a thing that has only ever plagued pitiful mortals.

Gwydeon snapped his wings open, their force sending wind blades barreling in all directions. His pupils, quickly shrinking to knife-like slits, locked unto Douken with sudden ferocity.

With insanity.

Like you told me to...I've been here...waiting...hungry...for master.

Gwydeon's roar echoed across the mountains before he lunged for Douken.




lv.80 Insane True Dragon Gwydeon//Divine Beast
[100000000 HP/ 500000000 SP]

Gwydeon has entered enraged status!

All beast-type units defense and magic defense greatly decreased.

A gritty crunch tore through the place Douken had just been standing at, missing him by a hair's width. Lost in his madness, Gwydeon clawed at the empty spot, mangling some invisible foe to death, and the terrain's turf could not help but evaporate from the horrific damage.

It wasn't until the burst from [Sunshine] washed over the field that the dragon looked around itself, realizing Douken was nowhere to be seen. However, with another length of the bridge torn away, it was all too easy for Douken to be spotted down below. He was too close to the portal for Gwydeon's comfort.

The dragon kicked off the bridge snarling.

...

...?

...mortals...still so narrow....minded

There was a young voice, clear as a cloudless sky, distinctly male. It brushed against Douken's thoughts with such clarity that he might wonder if it was his own mind talking back to him. Only, the holder of the voice sounded like he was just waking up from a long slumber.

Gwydeon's huge body barreled through the air, attempting to bully Douken out of the vicinity of the portal with his overwhelming size.

...don't you see, *yawn*, Gwydeon...is in his natural state. There was a lingering chuckle. He is the best part of me. Really makes me jealous. Sigh...should have given him that part, too.

A sharp claw full of the promise of deadly damage raced to rend Douken in half as the dragon shoved his way through.