I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

The End of Corruption

"Stop! Go away!" Emric suddenly called out while he desperately attempted to free himself from both Ergen's grip and Asal's vines. However, even while he managed to pull himself out of Asal's vines, he didn't manage to move away or attack Sera as Ergen regained his determination and trapped Emric's arms to his side with his free claw once again.

"Emriiiic!" Sera yelled out along with Emric's scream before she finally brought her sword down on the medallion that Emric had been wearing. It was their last hope of defeating the man, and they both knew it as Ergen attempted to do his part in holding Emric down. In front of him, the bright light of the sword's enchantments illuminated the entire destroyed area of the city, making Ergen hope that she'd been successful in destroying the medallion. However, both Ergen and Sera were suddenly casted into despair as a shattering sound suddenly echoed throughout the destroyed city, knocking everyone back as Sera's sword was destroyed and the enchantments detonated.

Another shock wave blasted Sera almost twenty meters through the air until she finally crashed onto the ground and rolled to a stop. And seeing as she had a fair amount of blood running from the top of her head and the fact that she wasn't moving, Ergen hoped that she was only unconscious as he stumbled backwards along with Emric. Unfortunately, he'd been forced to release the man as soon as the shock wave had hit them, and Ergen now used one of his claws to begin pulling out several of Emric's ribs that had gotten dislodged in his stab wounds as he panted deeply. It seemed almost as if he were panting from exertion while almost being able to sleep at the same time, and Ergen fought to remain conscious as he knew that his current status was most likely the effects of both blood loss and exhaustion.

Emric, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly fine as he frantically patted his chest until he finally found his medallion and breathed a sigh of relief. It did indeed seem as if the medallion was the man's weakness, but they'd found it to late as everyone was already either dead, dying or unconscious. And as he thought about it, Ergen could have grit his teeth as he regretted that things hadn't played out differently... If only he'd known about the medallion beforehand, things would have turned out differently. But that didn't matter anymore... Emric had won, and Ergen was about to die.

"I have to admit that you fought well." Emric said without any trace of humor as he started walking confidently towards Ergen. "You were far stronger than any dragon that I've ever faced before, or any other creature, for that matter. But in the end, you were fighting a hero with over a hundred years of experience and access to an avatar's magical powers... No hard feelings, right?"

Looking at Emric's new smile in disgust, all Ergen could do was wait for the end as Emric slowly raised his hands to finish him off. However, just when Emric had been about to cast his magic, the unthinkable happened. At first, both of them were confused as a small snapping noise seemed to pop lightly in the air around them, and suddenly Emric's smile turned into a look of horror as he looked at the medallion again to see that it had a single crack running down it's middle.

"N- no... No!" Emric yelled before what looked like one of Chae's arms suddenly erupted in a fountain of black blood from his chest. The arm, while seeming to be blind as it flailed around, didn't waste any time before it grabbed Emric's head and seemed to be pushing against him.

"Stop! Chae!" Emric yelled. "We are one! If you separate now... Everything we've accomplished will have been for nothing!"

Apparently not minding Emric's words, another arm burst from Emric's stomach before repeating the same actions as it's predecessor. And with one final yell, Emric was sudden covered in a blinding red light that seemed to mimic that of when he'd merged with Chae to begin with. And a few seconds later, Ergen uncovered his eyes to see that both Chae and Emric were back to normal with Emric on his knees, looking as if his entire world had crumbled away around him.

"N-no... this can't be..." Emric whispered to himself before he looked up at Ergen with a mixture of sadness and fury. "My plans... they're not over with yet! You cannot die, do you hear me! You cannot die until I can complete the ritual again! I command you not to die!"

'I've never followed an order from you, and I'm not about to start now.' Ergen thought with a bit of humor as he collapsed as standing seemed to hard for him to do now. And as Ergen looked at Emric's miserable expression, he felt his entire body warm with glee as, even if he died here, at least he stopped this madman's plans from becoming a reality.

"No!  Get back up!" Emric suddenly ran over to Ergen. "You can't die! Not yet! I- I still have to save Ligan! I still have to save the entire-"

Watching with wide eyes, Ergen watched Chae suddenly sprint from where she's been standing before biting down on Emric's top half with her beak. The man had never gotten to finish his sentence as he was now screaming in pain from the assault while Chae shook him violently in the air as if attempting to tear him apart. However, thanks to what little enchanted armor that the man had left on his body, she couldn't seem to kill him until Ergen saw that Emric had somehow drawn his sword with his one free arm and started stabbing Chae's head with it. The attacks were at an awkward angle, but Chae still seemed to be affected by them as she shut her eyes and still shook him around for all she was worth.

Chae seemed weaker now to Ergen, and while he thought that his weary eyes were possibly playing tricks on him, he knew that he still had something to do with what little strength he still had inside of his body. And so, after slowly rising on shaking legs, Ergen walked over to where Chae was biting Emric before he opened his jaws and caught the man's stomach with his teeth. Chae opened one of her eyes, and with nothing but a glance at Ergen, both of them suddenly had the same thoughts.

Pulling for all he was worth, Chae copied Ergen's actions while Emric's screams grew louder. The shining of his armor's enchantments became almost blinding, and just when he'd pulled all that he could, Ergen thought that perhaps his efforts in his weakened state were in vain before he suddenly felt something snap between his teeth. With a loud crashing sound, Emric's armor shattered and his screams ended instantly before Ergen opened his mouth and threw his half of Emric into a nearby building. Chae simply dropped hers, and now everything grew strangely quiet as Ergen wondered just what what going to happen now. He was no match for Chae in his condition, and now that she'd apparently freed herself from Emric's control, he didn't know what she would do.