"Kiliano…!" Victoria called out. She pointed towards a restaurant at the corner of the block, "...Let's go here, okay?" Kiliano walked over and inspected the place for a few moments, "Hmm… yeah sure, sounds good." They both walked inside. The restaurant only had a few people inside. The place was nearly silent, except for the occasional clanging of silverware. A server walked over to them and smiled, "Hello. Please take a seat and I will serve you." Kiliano nodded, "M'kay, thanks." Victoria and Kiliano walked over to a table by the wall, and sat down. After a few moments of silence, the server walked up and handed them a menu, "Please take your time. And call for me when you're ready." The server walked off and Kiliano began reading over the menu. Victoria glanced over the menu and began staring at Kiliano, "Oh right… Uh, Kiliano?" He looked up from the menu, "Yeah, what's up?" "Do you…" She blushed, "Like… me?" Kiliano tilted his head to the side and began thinking, "Well… I'm not sure yet. You seem like a really good person. But I still don't know you. I'm sure once we get to better know each other, I'll like you, hehe." Kiliano smiled. Victoria's eyes widened with a gleam. In her mind, she thought, Wow… this guy's a real playboy. And he doesn't even know it! Victoria sighed, "Yeah, sounds good." Her cheeks were still blushing, and she stuck her face in the menu while reading it. After a few minutes, the food came, and they began eating. Once they finished, Kiliano paid, and they left. Victoria started looking around for something else to do. Kiliano looked down another street and spotted something, "Hey, let's go there." He was pointing at a small carnival by the outskirts of Caale. "Oh yeah! That's a great idea, Kiliano!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the carnival. They played some games, bought snacks, and watched as the sun began to set. The sky turned a bright orange, which mesmerized Kiliano and Victoria. Suddenly, something caught Kiliano's eye. He turned his gaze farther left in the sky and spotted a patch that was slightly darker than the rest of the. He squinted his eyes and focused harder. "Hey Kiliano… it's really pretty huh?" Kiliano kept his gaze fixated on the dark path, but he still responded, "Yeah." He blinked once and realized something. His eyes widened and he whispered, "It's getting bigger." He turned back to face Victoria and yelled, "Get out of here! There's a dragon!" He picked up Victoria and ran out of the carnival and down the road at incredible speed. He ran down the block in little more than a second, before a loud BOOM! Houses were crushed, a gust of wind, nearly fast enough to lift up a grown adult, were sent across the entire area. Kiliano looked over his shoulder while continuing to run. A black dragon, nearly triple the size of an average red dragon, spread out its wings and let out a bellowing roar. It opened its eyes, revealing a gleaming crimson color. It focused all of its attention on Kiliano, and began chasing after him. Victoria squealed, "Kiliano! What's going on!?" "Hang on! A dragon's attacking the city, I'm taking you back to the mansion! Don't worry, you'll be safe there!" The dragon took in a deep breath and a sizzling noise started coming from its mouth. Kiliano noticed this and increased his speed, dashing through alleyways and over houses. He hopped on top of a house's roof and dashed from rooftop to rooftop. The dragon pulled its neck back and smoke began to form around its mouth. After a few moments, the dragon shot its head forward, opened its mouth, and released a blast of pure red fire shooting towards Kiliano. He glanced behind him and dashed left before the flames could reach them. He landed on the ground and continued running towards the mansion. The flames that were targeted towards Kiliano burned through several houses and left the area in flames. The Black Dragon twisted its body and slammed its front legs onto the ground, before pushing off its back legs and rushing towards Kiliano. It stretched out its neck and opened its mouth while gliding down city blocks. Kiliano dashed right down a large street and made his way closer to the mansion's entrance. The dragon stopped its trajectory and tried turning right, but the momentum caused it to fall over and topple down several other buildings. It got back up and started charging towards Kiliano once more. He noticed the widened gap between them and dashed into an alleyway, "Miss Victoria, keep going straight and you'll make it to the mansion. Stay there and you'll be safe. I'm going to lure the dragon out of Caale, so don't worry." Before she got the chance to reply, Kiliano ran out of the alleyway and continued down the street. The dragon made a bellowing roar and sent out a fireball from its mouth. Kiliano tried to dodge it but the fireball was too fast and blew up in front of him. Dust was blown everywhere and flames were sent flying into several other buildings, which caused multiple fires to start. "Tornado!" Kiliano used wind magic to blow away the flames and dust. He twisted his body around, and continued running down the street. The dragon had nearly caught up, and slammed its arm on the ground, sending a shockwave surging across the ground. Kiliano's footing was disrupted and he toppled onto the ground, rolling into a nearby building and getting the wind knocked out of him. The dragon jumped up, and swung its arm down once more, this time aiming at Kiliano directly. He tried to stand back up, but his knees gave out and he fell to the ground, "Shit!" Boom! The dragon slammed its arm onto the ground, sending up a huge dust cloud. The ground around them cracked and broke apart. The screams of people yelled out from every direction, as houses began to crumble and fall due to the fire that was rapidly spreading throughout the entire city. The dragon pulled away from the crater it left behind, and turned its attention towards the large crowd of people that were fleeing. Its mouth started to make a sizzling noise, as smoke began to form. A red light began surging from inside its throat up to its mouth, and it released another blast of fire than decimated multiple houses. Multiple people were caught in the blaze, and their screams went silent. The dragon redirected its blast from one area to another, turning the entire eastern side of Caale into a barren wasteland of fire. "Gyuh…" Kiliano rose up from the rubble. He turned his eyes to the dragon, but his vision was blurry and he felt weak, "...Damn it… I can barely move!" He sat up, and propped himself against a piece of protruding rock. The flames began to surround him, and his eyes started to close once more. "Kiliano…!" Victoria's voice called out from beyond the flames, "...Kiliano!" His eyes widened, and his vision became more clear. "V-Victoria!? You need to run!" "Catch!" She tossed a sword into the flames, and landed beside Kiliano. "Well… it's not Excalibur, but this'll do just fine. Thank you Victoria…" Kiliano grabbed the sword and used it as a cane to stand up, "...Leave the rest to me!" Suddenly, wind magic blew away the flames which surrounded him, revealing himself to the dragon. The Black Dragon turned around and stared back at him. Its eyes glaring with a deep crimson color. Kiliano raised his sword and took a stance. The dragon spread its wings. And, in a show of dominance, it released a skycracking roar. Fast winds surrounded the area, and Kiliano had to stiffen himself in order to stay in place. The dragon rushed at him, using the buildings around them as leverage to push off of. Kiliano put his left leg backwards and pushed off of it, dashing towards the dragon's stomach. But before he could reach, the dragon swiped its claws at Kiliano, sending him flying into a building on the dragon's right side. It turned its head, and began to bellow. Its throat began emanating a red color, and smoke started to rise from its mouth. Kiliano got up from the rubble, and grabbed his sword. The dragon released a powerful blast of fire shooting towards Kiliano. He managed to jump up, evading the attack. But he was stuck in midair, which gave the dragon time to swing its right arm and smack him onto the ground. "Gyah!" The wind was knocked out of him, and he heard a crack come from his body, "C-crap… I think one of my ribs is broken." He put his left hand on his ribcage and got back up. His left eye was sealed shut, and the right one was covered in blood. His vision was half gone and blurry, but he maintained another stance. The dragon turned its head and shot out a fireball hurling towards him. Kiliano pulled his sword back and swung sideways, cutting the fireball in half, and dissipating it. But before he could catch his breath, three more were sent flying towards him. Kiliano slashed through one, dodged left, and swung downwards, cutting the last one in half. The dragon suddenly swung its arm downwards, aiming for Kiliano. But he dashed backwards, dodging the attack, and countering with a fireball of his own, "Fireball!" He shot it out, and made a direct hit onto the dragon's stomach. "Damn it! Not even a scratch!?" The dragon swiped its claws. Kiliano barely managed to dodge it, but his shirt was slashed. Kiliano took a few steps back, but tripped on a protruding rock. The dragon took this opportunity to swing its arm once more. Kiliano tapped his foot onto the ground, and used wind magic to propel himself backwards, evadingthe attack. He sent himself flying dozens of meters, before regaining his balance and stopping. The dragon charged at him once more, but Kiliano jumped onto a house and started running from rooftop to rooftop, evading every attack that was sent at him.
The dragon sent off multiple fireballs, but Kiliano cut through each one. "I'll have to stall for time. Once master gets back, I can leave the rest to him." The dragon sent out a blast of flames hurling in front of Kiliano, its trajectory closing in on him. Kiliano dashed left, and jumped down into a nearby alleyway. The blast of fire followed him, decimating every piece of brick in its way. Kiliano ran left, through the alleyway and into another street. He ran down the block and turned into another alley, the blast of fire following shortly behind him. Kiliano ran through the alley and came out from a small opening between two buildings, the view of the dragon completely visible now. Kiliano pulled his sword to his waist and took a deep breath out. His surroundings went dark, and he closed his eyes, focusing solely on his aura, which was emanating from his body, flowing like a river. He opened his eye, and everything became clear. He pulled his right leg forward, and his left leg back. He pulled his left and right heels up from the ground and said, "Split-Step." He pushed off both legs, and sent himself towards the dragon at speeds too fast for anyone to visibly see. In less than the blink of an eye, Kiliano had his sword in contact with the dragon's neck. "Clang!" But the sword wasn't sturdy enough, and it broke. Kiliano's eye widened as he fell to the ground, landing on his back. The dragon tilted its head downwards, and opened its mouth. Smoke began to rise from it, and a red glow started emanating from deep within its mouth. Kiliano rose to one knee, and looked up. His face was covered in blood, his shirt gone, and pants charred past the knee. Victoria walked out from an alleyway, looking at the confrontation between them. Her eyes widened, and tears began to form around them. She took a few steps forward, but stopped herself, "Kiliano?" He turned to face her. His face was bloodied, but he smiled warmly. "Kiliano!" The dragon released a blast of fire hurling towards Kiliano, who was barely 10 meters away. He responded by raising his arm and sending out a blast of flame, "Flamethrower!" He gritted his teeth, and squinted his eye. Their flames hit each other, sending a gust of wind shooting through the entirety of Caale. The ground beneath Kiliano's feet began to crumble and shatter apart. His flames were getting pulled back by the dragon's. He tensed his hand, and raised his shoulder higher, "I…I will not lose! Gyaaaah!" Just then, his arm weakened, and Kiliano was swallowed up by the Black Dragon's flames. Victoria fell to the ground, sobbing in defeat, "Why? Why Kiliano!? You idiot! Why did you fight!? You could've ran!" "Excuse me…!?" Suddenly, black flames appeared from where Kiliano was located. They began pushing back against the dragon, and Kiliano reappeared. His whole body healed, and his eyes a deep azul color. He was smiling, while staring at the dragon. His arm was raised up, palm open. He was shooting out black flames that pushed the dragon back. Kiliano tensed up his hand, which triggered his flames to intensify and completely overwhelm the dragon, sending it flying backwards. Kiliano's eyes held a malicious look, as he started walking closer to the Black Dragon. Victoria walked out of the alleyway and looked down the street. The dragon got back up and turned its head to face Kiliano. Its mouth started smoking and a blast of fire was sent flying towards Kiliano. But before the flames could reach him, Kiliano's body became a blur, and he disappeared, reappearing on top of a nearby building. He crouched down, and jumped off the rooftop, sending himself flying towards the dragon. He stretched his arm back, and began forming black flames around his fist. The dragon swiped its left arm, aiming towards Kiliano. The attack landed, and Kiliano was sent flying onto the ground with a loud thud! He quickly got back up, and dashed forward once more. The dragon released several fireballs hurling at him. Kiliano stopped his momentum and took a step backwards, dodging the first fireball. He glanced downwards, spotting the broken sword, and picked it up. Just as he did, another fireball made contact, and blew up in his face, "Kiliano!" Victoria cried out. "Stay quiet…" Kiliano's voice echoed out from the flames, "...If you yell, the dragon'll kill you!" He emerged from the flames, holding a malicious smile. He turned to face the dragon once more, and raised his arm up, "Fireball." Black flames began to form from around his hand, and a fireball, the size of a small house, was made. The flames were hot enough to melt the ground around him, and the intensity of it was nearly too much from Kiliano to handle. His arm tensed up, and he gritted his teeth. The black flames shooting from his hand pushed the dragon back, and overwhelmed it. The dragon was enveloped in the flames, and it fell back. Kiliano put his arm back down, and turned his eyes, spotting a sword on the ground. It was completely charred and was impossible to use. He turned to Victoria, "Hey, I need a sword. Go get Excalibur, will ya?" Victoria was taken aback by the statement. She gulped and nodded, before running off to the mansion. Kiliano turned his attention back towards the dragon. Black flames simmered from its head, as it widened its eyes in anger. Kiliano dashed towards it, enveloping his hands in black flames. The dragon swiped its claws, narrowly missing Kiliano, who dodged in between its fingers. He dropped to the ground, crouched down, and pushed off hurling himself towards the dragon's chin. Kiliano pulled his fist back, the black flames became much more volatile. He swung upwards, punching the dragon in its chin, sending its entire body off the ground by several meters, before landing back onto the ground and sending a cloud of dust into the air, which hindered Kiliano's vision. He landed on the ground and squinted his eyes, trying to look for the dragon. The dust in front of him turned darker, and two crimson ovals appeared above him. Kiliano snapped his fingers, and a gust of wind sent the dust away from the area, revealing the black dragon that was standing before him. Kiliano continued smiling while the two of them stared at each other.
Victoria made her way to the mansion's entrance. She opened the gate and walked into the courtyard. Boom! Rumbling shook the entirety of Caale. She looked back, and saw a mixture of black and red flames covering an entire city block. The Black Dragon and Kiliano cintuned clashing with spurting flames getting sent in nearly every direction. Victoria twitched her brows in anxiety, and continued running towards the mansion.
Kiliano jumped on top of the roof of a building. The dragon spread out its wings as an intimidation tactic. Its wingspan was several hundred meters long, and spread across dozens of houses. The two faced off, staring each other down, neither one wavering. Kiliano's body became a blur, and he disappeared. The dragon swung its head to face behind it. Kiliano reappeared just above the dragon's back, but it expected he would appear there, and already sent a giant fireball hurling towards him. Kiliano was in midair and couldn't dodge. He grabbed the fireball with both arms and gritted his teeth as he was sent flying. Kiliano landed into a building, CRRBOOM! A giant explosion sent flames flying in all directions. Kiliano was laying on a pile of broken wood and rock. He opened his eyes, and got up. The dragon sent another fireball hurling at him. Kiliano raised his left arm, and sent out a spurt of black flames. The two fire attacks smashed into each other and sent high speed winds flying across the entire area. Kiliano's black flames enveloped the fireball and sent itself into the Black Dragon. The flames hit its body, and sent it flying across the city, destroying several large buildings, and creating a large crater spanning from where the dragon was originally standing to where it laid now. Kiliano jumped onto another rooftop. He looked out onto the rest of Caale. Nearly half of the city was either enveloped in flames, or destroyed. Kiliano's eyes became saddened, "Damn… Looks like I've taken too long…" He turned to face the dragon. It was trying to stand up, "...You've made a big mistake coming here, dragon…!" Kiliano clenched his fist, and his face became stern, "My conviction will not waver! I'm going to-" "Kiliano…!" Victoria called out from below him. She was holding Excalibur. Kiliano jumped down, and grabbed Excalibur from her, "Thanks. Go back to the mansion. This will be done soon." Victoria nodded and ran off. Kiliano jumped, walked into an open street and stared the dragon down, "Lets see, where was I… Ah that's right…" His aura began emanating at a much more intense rate. A dark atmosphere of murderous intent covered the area, "...Black Dragon! Trust me when I say this… If you hadn't come here then everything could've been normal… But now that Caale is destroyed… You'll die." The dragon swung its arm down, slamming it onto the ground. Kiliano dashed backwards, dodging it. He slid across the ground and jumped onto the rooftop of another building. The dragon swung its arm across the building, destroying it. But Kiliano dashed onto another building, and began running towards the dragon. Several fireballs were sent towards Kiliano. But just as they surrounded him, and were about to explode, dozens of slashes from a sword cut each one into powerless embers. Kiliano crouched down, and tensed his legs, channeling mana into them. He pulled his sword back, "This ability is meant only for the most powerful swordsmen. It is the only technique required to learn before becoming a Sword God, and it's impossible for anyone other than the highest tier Emperors to learn, "Split-Step!" Kiliano disappeared, and a crater was formed from where he was crouching on. The dragon's eyes widened, and black flames began to form from around its neck. Suddenly, Kiliano reappeared, standing on top of the dragon's head. He smiled and snapped his fingers. Once he did, a spurt of blood came rushing out of the dragon's neck. It let out a high pitched screech and shook its head side to side, knocking Kiliano off. He fell downwards, but used wind magic to regain his balance, and shot himself on top of another rooftop. The dragon swayed its body side to side in pain. Kiliano tightened his grip on Excalibur and pulled it to his side, getting ready to attack. The dragon swung its arm towards Kiliano. He began channeling his aura throughout his body, and began emanating a black aura from his sword. He launched himself from the building, and swung his sword at the dragon's hand, slicing off three of its fingers. Kiliano landed on its arm, and continued running up. The dragon released several fireballs hurling towards him, but Kiliano cut through each one with ease. He made his way towards the dragon's shoulder, and closed his eyes. Time seemed to slow down. His mana fluctuated into Excalibur, and a black flame began to form around it. Kiliano opened his eyes, setting his sights on the dragon's neck. "Sigh… It's over!" Kiliano stopped short from the dragon's neck, but swung his sword anyway. A white flash of light shot out into the dragon's neck and past it. Following it was a spurt of black flames going in the same direction. The dragon's bellowing and screeching stopped. Its limbs went limp. And blood began to pour out from its neck on all sides. The dragon's body began to tilt backwards, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud. Its head rolled several dozen meters from the rest of its body. Kiliano landed on it, and stuck Excalibur through the dragon's lifeless eye.
Kiliano sighed in relief, and his face softened with a smile. He tried to move, but his body gave out. He dropped down on his knees, holding Excalibur for support, "Damn… Looks like I used too much mana, hehe. I should take it easy… Once master gets back, we can stop the fi-" His eyes began to close, and his vision faded away. He lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, still holding Excalibur in his hands.