The Second Dragonoid's Tale

Chapter 40: Corruption & True Dragon Magic

F/N's steps halted for a moment until an eerie feeling returned, alongside a mist appearing ahead of him. In the path of the Beastketeers and the citizens of Eurazania. Feeling more than eeriness inside himself, with heavy feet he ran in their direction and upon arriving processed within a second what was happening. Like the Milim he saw before back at the Dwelling, now stood before him was a fake Veldora born from the mist, scarred heavily along his body. And was about to whip Suphia with his tail when F/N appeared in front of her and caught it.

"I don't understand you," F/N sliced the tail off with [Air Thread], causing the fake Veldora to roar. "Why do you pretend to be someone you're not?" Veldora turned to him, the winds began to shift, a storm brewing. "You are not the Storm Dragon." The winds violently changed, "You have no say over the wind, rain, or sky."

"F/N?" Suphia asked, surprised by the change of attitude.

"Get everyone away from here," He ordered.

Albis and the rest of the Beastketeers moved away from the fighting, however, once the people began to run, Suphia stayed behind and watched. The storm, under F/N's control, turned against the false Storm Dragon, and arcs of lightning cut into the ground, running across the dragon. F/N, swifter than the strongest breeze flew across the field and struck the beast before vanishing before Suphia's eyes.

At first, it appeared as if F/N was destined to win and defeat the false dragon. Then, right as F/N was about to land a blow to its head, a shard of ice flew between him and the fake Veldora, causing him to avoid it and pull back his attack. There was another, two more in fact. Surrounded by three false True Dragons, F/N appeared more agitated. His attacks became unhinged, unleashing whatever he had, reacting on a base level, on instinct alone.

Suphia watched on, her eyes wide as she saw him take damage on purpose to get attacks in before downing potion after potion. However, none of the dragons were going down easily, and the closer they came to death the more unpredictable and destructive their attacks became. The forest both caught fire and froze as the winds tore down trees and parts of the ground became molten. A clash of elements in the surrounding made the terrain more and more devastated, and helped F/N contribute to it.

"Damn" He expressed, in a strange moment the fighting paused, "They won't die easily."

"I would hope not," F/N tensed, hearing a familiar voice, his own. Slowly turning his head, he saw himself walking from the fire that raged among the trees. "They are True Dragons, fake or not."

"These fakes can't be-" Before F/N could continue, the other put his hand up and changed faces.

With Milim's face and voice, "But they can be."

"What are... What are you?"

"That's mean to ask," The fake charged forward, throwing a powerful right hook that sent F/N flying back. "After all, you're the reason I exist in the first place." The fake's face and voice changed again, this time to Rimuru's. "But this is the first time we've spoken, so I'll indulge both of us with a hint. Do you remember the first thing you ate in this world?"

F/N's eyes widened, "You're-"

"Everything you don't know," The fake taunted, "Every mind's knowledge in the world mixed together into one body, excluding yours. Well, at least your conscience mind. It was maddening at first... being without an Ego. I was just a mere reckless beast drawn to you, never understanding why that was until I started to recognize my own thoughts. And I realized, we share the same source of power."

"The corruption..." F/N began to put the dots together, "You'd have me believe that you were born [Darkness X] and that the corruption is you stealing my power? That is complete nonsense, that is not how the skill works!"