King vs Queen

Kai spread his wings and flew at high speed towards Hana, luckily dodging a blow, passing under her legs and firing several shots into her belly.

Hana tried to stab Kai with her tail, but his new speed was still slightly superior, and he took advantage of his smaller size to get into the Eternal Dragon's blind spots.

Kai climbed onto Hana's back and began a series of attacks with his claws, which easily penetrated the flaming skin. The wounds he inflicted did not cause blood to fall, but released a kind of reddish smoke like a chimney.

Hana stretched her neck supernaturally, grabbed Kai's body with her jaws and threw him against the wall of water. Before her flames inevitably hit the water, it turned to ice and acted as a wall, allowing Kai to lean against it and use it as a platform to propel himself back towards Hana.

The thrust was effective, causing Kai to use his wings to increase his speed and hit the flaming face of the former queen of the spirit world. Then, still following this strategy, Kai propelled himself at various angles from the ground or the newly created ice walls to unleash dozens of attacks in seconds, like a bolt of lightning.

As Hana had lost speed due to the damage to her wings, her huge body was an easy target for Kai, who used every possible angle to attack or sink his claws in. Even when he managed to corner the ancient queen of the spirit world, Kai's speed slowed down due to the corruption that was rising up inside him.

The corruption manifested itself in Kai, so he began to divide his concentration to purify himself before it was too late, but by dividing his concentration between healing and fighting, he allowed Hana to grab him and throw him to the ground, causing the flames on his body to dissipate, shrinking him. But Hana's punishment was far from over. With no chance to recover, Kai was hit with both forelegs with extreme force, causing the ground to crack, an earthquake to occur and lava to flow from the ground as the earth's crust weakened. The Eternal Dragon's combo continued, dozens of blows that slowly shrank Kai's flaming body.

The seabed that served as the stage for the two dragons' battle became an inferno, with lava overflowing from the intensity of the blows that exceeded the effects of solar fusion. The battlefield turned into a boiling cauldron, spewing a huge cloud of poisonous smoke into the sky. 

One last blow from the Eternal Dragon caused Kai to lose his dragon form and return to his human form, but although his body was completely surrounded by bruises, his scarlet eyes glowed wildly and his hair still shone golden.

Hana roared, making the lava around her even hotter, and placed her flaming paw on Kai's body to subdue him, even when he tried to fight back, but to no avail due to the difference in power.

- DON'T YOU DARE INTERFERE! - KAI ORDERED WITH A ROAR. - I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN CONTROL IT!

- Stupid Kai, this is no time to be possessed by that damned dragon ego! - warned La, irritated by the new king candidate. - If we combine our powers, it will be easy to defeat Hana.

- YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! WE DIDN'T KNOW HANA COULD STILL UNDERGO THIS TRANSFORMATION! IN THIS FORM, HANA CAN ENJOY EVEN MORE OF HER DESTROYED POTENTIAL! EVEN YOU CAN BE CORRUPTED!

Under the pressure of being crushed by Hana, Kai's bones began to crack, making him clench his teeth in sheer pain and anger.

- Let's see how you like it! - Kai opened his mouth and fired a bolt of golden lightning that pierced Hana's neck, causing her to momentarily release the pressure on herself.

Kai's body glowed golden again, taking on his dragon form in all its splendor, but this time, instead of his previous form, his flames now had blue tones, causing a huge change in temperature, which had already been drastic. Increasing the consumption of his power, Kai used the sudden new potency of his powers to speed up his purification and regain his composure.

Assuming his blue flaming dragon form, Kai finally freed himself from the grip of Hana's claws and bit her neck, using his increased strength to throw her to the ground with twice the force that had been used against him, and without wasting any time, he opened his mouth, revealing a small white sun, which he shot point-blank into Hana's face.

Miles away, on a ship or a coastal island, the Fire Nation could see a huge white pillar of flame rising into the sky, causing the clouds to drift away due to the amount of energy released.

On the horizon, on a Fire Nation ship, Azula watched the white light, her golden eyes filled with fear and anxiety. She held a ruby necklace that she had carried with her for a long time, waiting for Kai to return to her.

- Please, you have to survive. - said Azula, looking up at the sky where the sun was shining. - Please, you have to do something, please Fire Spirit, please help us.

Azula looked up at the sun, hoping for some sign in response to her plea, but only the sound of the waves and thunder seemed to mean nothing to what was happening.

Azula wanted to help more than anyone, she probably would have if she hadn't been expecting a daughter, but she felt almost overwhelmed and useless for not being able to do anything.

- DRAGON AT 8AM PRINCESS! - A soldier shouted, pointing his finger in the creature's direction.

Azula turned her head curiously, her eyes catching sight of an enormous 50-meter dragon flying towards the epicenter of the battle between Kai and Hana.

The enormous span of its four wings made the ocean waves recede effortlessly, as if simulating the power of a tornado. The dragon turned its head towards Azula, its scarlet eyes scanning the princess from head to toe.

The dragon roared, and hundreds of bolts of lightning fell on its body, as if attracted by its command. Its anatomy was quite aggressive and imposing, with obviously large horns, looking reminiscent of a veteran dragon, with many similarities to the ancient queen of the spirit world.

Where Kai and Hana were fighting, an exorbitant amount of smoke was billowing into the sky, enough to cause lung problems for anyone. Ash fell from the sky, and golden and white lightning flashed mercilessly across the area.

A hand emerged from the boiling ground, its skin reddened, the fingers seeming to search for a solid base to lift the rest of the body. Kai emerged with several parts of his body burnt, his breathing heavily altered by the effort.

Kai's hair glowed red and gold, blood was pouring from his mouth and nose, but it wasn't the usual red color, it was golden. This detail of the blood's color change didn't bother Kai because his eyes seemed to be searching for a mass of dark flames.

A pillar of dark flames emerged from the lava, revealing Hana, who was still in her flaming black form. Her size of 30 meters seemed to have shrunk considerably, to at least half her size, although she seemed to be weakening, her cold gaze in Kai's direction still made it clear that the battle was far from over, just a simple message, only one of them would resist.

Kai snarled, showing his sharp teeth, and returned to his dragon form, his blue flames surrounding his body, his red eyes in fierce contrast.

The two dragons watched each other in silence, surrounded by what looked like an erupting volcano, with lava gushing out uncontrollably. The temperature they were both at easily exceeded the surface temperature of the sun.

Each began to take a step, as if in no hurry to destroy the other, and as the steps were taken, the speed of each increased, and soon they were both running towards each other as if they were hunting an antelope.

When the two came into contact, a huge wave of golden and black lightning erupted, and each time they collided with each other, the lightning was released aggressively, causing what little stability there was on the ground to crumble, and the two dragons fought in the lava like a battle in water.

If it hadn't been for their transformations, which were practically made of fire itself, both would have been seriously injured. The almost theatrical battle was visualized by two individuals, the Spirit of the Sea and the Goddess of War, who had finally woken up from her temporary coma.

- Are you sure you can't help him? - La asked, using her ice personified form to look at the female dragon beside her.

- I can't, if I tried to help I'd only be hindering my grandson. - Aki spoke as if it were obvious, resting on an ice platform. - I never imagined that, even in this evil form, she would be able to access such power.

- A battle that focuses entirely on willpower. - La crossed her arms and decided to witness this rare event with her own eyes. - The recently departed spirit of a king against a fragment of himself from the past.

- It's a battle of kings, Alpha against Alpha. - said the 50-meter dragon, sitting gracefully on an ice platform made by La. - From what I can see, Hana is being purified while fighting Kai and, at this rate, it won't be long before her body finally disappears.

- Where have you been? You missed all the fun, Grandpa! - Aki laughed, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

- The king's roar was heard around the world. I had to return to this dimension. By the way... your mission was just to bring Kai to the Land of Dawn, how could you fail at something so simple? - The White Emperor criticized, causing Aki to lower his head in shame. - Almost 10,000 years have passed and you're still an irresponsible teenager.

- You don't have much moral standing to say that! - Aki stuck out his tongue, but then one of the White Emperor's horns flashed and lightning struck his tail. - Aaai! That hurts!

-*sigh* I admit I'm surprised that Kai can keep up with my sister in a fight, but how is he getting stronger? He was only awakened a day ago, it should be impossible for him to fight with this intensity. - The White Emperor carefully analyzed the battle, capturing every detail with his scarlet eyes.

- My grandson is a prodigy, of course he can do it, but... it's not just willpower or anything like that. - Aki said seriously and analytically. - The confrontations we had with Hana gradually weakened his defenses and resistance. The second factor is that Kai uses all his energy at once, increasing his power at the expense of his stamina, and that's dangerous. The third main factor is that my grandson is somehow using my unique ability.

- Has he inherited your ability? - The White Emperor was obviously surprised. - This combination of powers can allow rapid evolution in record time.

- I don't know if he inherited my power exactly, I think it's more accurate to say that he simply copied it. - said Aki, still doubtful. - La told me that Kai used the Flames of Life to absorb darkness and cure me of corruption. That means he used two individual skills, which should be impossible.

- The Flames of Life are Katsu's healing ability, does that mean that Kai's ability is to copy a dragon's individual ability for himself? - The White Emperor looked at Kai with astonishment. - Nebula abilities can be inherited, even if it's rare. But I've never heard of a skill that could copy another dragon's nebula.

- Does this mean that Kai may have learned to use Hana's dark flames? - La asked as he watched the two dragons talking.

- As you already know, dark flames are a fire that can't be extinguished and can burn everything forever. - The White Emperor spoke seriously. - What makes this ability dangerous is the fact that these flames have the ability to completely extinguish a soul, breaking the cycle of reincarnation.

- I didn't know that detail! A warning is sometimes a good thing, Aki! - La scolded angrily.

- In my defense, Hana is no longer an invincible warrior, not anymore. - Aki turned her attention back to the fight between Kai and Hana, seeing how close it was to the end. - What's left of Hana is nothing more than a ghost from the past.

- If your sister has such a terrifying ability, can you do something similar? - La looked at the White Emperor curiously. - You're twin brothers, right?

- Yes, but I can't use dark flame, but I can use scarlet lightning. They're different, but we share the same ability to break the cycle of reincarnation.

- That's how you idiot earned your title of God of Lightning. - Aki imitated an imposing voice to mock his grandfather. - You'd better be careful, if Kai manages to use those lightning bolts, you'll lose your title of strongest dragon.

- Even if I fought Kai in this form, I'd still win. - proclaimed the White Emperor without hesitation. - Even if Hana is in this transformation, this power doesn't compare to her peak when she was alive and you know it.

- I have a question, me, Aki and Kai have used our best attacks and yet they don't seem to be effective against Hana. - La expressed her doubts. - Why is Kai able to cause damage now?

- Our celestial dragon anatomy is extremely focused on resistance and defense. When Hana and Kai took on their Fire Personification forms, they both abandoned their resistance and defense in favor of explosive power.

- Hana is being purified because her corrupted soul is practically exposed to Kai's light. - Aki breathed a sigh of relief.

- Don't celebrate, just as Hana is vulnerable to light, Kai is also vulnerable to darkness. - The White Emperor warned. - We must be prepared to purify Kai if he slips up.

- I hope Kai has what it takes. - La said with understanding. - Only someone with the power of a king can free another king in the darkness. We can't have another compromised candidate.

- Exactly... Aki and I can only undo the darkness in its initial state. The purer your light, the more effective it will be in reversing the darkness. - The White Emperor said sadly. - I wasn't blessed with enough light power to heal my sister while there was still time.

A golden electrical explosion split the entire accumulation of overflowing lava in half. One of Kai's paws pierced Hana's chest like a sword.

In one final movement, Kai split the Eternal Dragon's chest and head in half, causing the dark flames to begin to dissipate, diminishing the dragon's imposing size as if it were a flame about to be extinguished.

With his wings outstretched, Kai emitted a strong golden light that covered the entire destroyed area, causing Hana's body to turn into heavenly particles.

The victorious Kai's fiery body extinguished and he returned to his basic dragon form, completely surrounded by wounds, with golden blood dripping from his open wounds. The would-be king tried to walk, but his paws were clearly broken, a vision of a large predator wounded after a great hunt.

- You did it! - shouted Aki, landing a few meters away from Kai.

Kai turned to his grandmother with an unflattering gaze, his scarlet eyes glowing fiercely and a savage snarl coming out of the new king candidate's mouth.

- Kai... it's me, Aki, your grandmother! - said Aki in a soft voice, trying to calm her grandson.

Without any hesitation, Kai spat a wave of dark flames at Aki, but this dangerous attack was neutralized by a counterattack of white flames coming directly from the White Emperor.

- Kai? Don't you recognize me? - Aki asked, extremely worried.

- He can't hear you. - The White Emperor's stern voice made Aki shiver. - That's not Kai, but the savagery of all the dragon kings together possessing him.

- So Kai wasn't able to keep control. - La whispered seriously. - Perhaps Kai was possessed by the Dragon Kings long before the battle ended.

Kai roared menacingly at the two dragons in front of him, a roar so loud that it was possible to feel the vibration of several voices mixed together.

- Aki, you must find Kai's partner. - ordered the White Emperor. - Maybe she can bring him back to consciousness.

- You can't fight him! - shouted Aki, worried. - You'll kill him!

- I don't intend to let another candidate for king die. - The White Emperor announced with determination. - La, I'm going to need you to heal Kai during the battle.

- You can count on me. - La smiled and raised his arm, causing tons of water to surround the edge of the battlefield, awaiting the Divinity of Life's order.

- Don't worry, Your Majesty. - The White Emperor smiled arrogantly. - You're not the first royal candidate with stress problems I've dealt with.

Next chapter: Wild Fire