138 136: A Company of Fools: Operation EVOLUTION I

"Fuck around and fuck off!" I yelled as I fired a shot from the Draco Lance spell. A large fireball flew over Draco and his goon's heads and slammed into the bar in the lounge. The fireball exploded on impact and sent a massive shockwave towards Draco, his men, as well as Sin and I.

I grabbed Sin by the collar of the tattered remains of his dress and jumped down into the closest arena. The shockwave went right over us and knocked Draco and his goons as well as Adellah into various arenas. Most importantly, Draco was cut off from his men and Adellah, if only momentarily.

"Sinner summon your fluff-viper!" I instructed as a crystalline structure formed around my crystal. It shot behind us, and Alpa'nagia burst from the structure and let out a massive roar. Sin did as he was told, and his fluff-viper slithered up his leg and wrapped around his waist.

Alpa'nagia grabbed Sin, and I then snapped open his wings and flew up to the ceiling. He quickly locked in on where Draco was. He'd fallen into an arena with a few of his red dragons, but they were all normies. Alpa'nagia threw Sin and I towards the arena, and then turned his attention to the rest of the red dragons that were just now getting up.

I switched my mana channeling to float attribute mana and slowed my descent into the arena until I was floating mere inches above the arena's sandy surface, then stopped channeling and just land Sin tucked and rolled and skidded to a stop a few feet in front of me. He quickly stood and pointed his blood axe at Draco, who was glaring at the two of us maliciously while holding his elbow at the stub.

"DRACO! I'M TAKING YOUR FUCKING HEAD!" Sin bellowed.

"The only thing you're taking Audin is a trip up the river Styx! Kill those bastards!" Draco snarled.

There were five red dragons in the arena with us and they all quickly swarmed around Draco and drew whatever weapon they had on them. Knives, hammers, a couple swords and charged us. Sin held his blood axe high then grabbed his fluff-viper from around his waist and threw it at the closest red dragon. It wrapped around her neck and slit her throat with a flick of her tailblade.

Sin rushed around the woman and raised his axe over hos head and brought it down on a red dragon goon, splitting his skull and driving the blade deep into the gangster's chest cavity. Sin then yanked the axe free and charged the next goon, cutting him in half with a ferocious swing.

The two remaining red dragons tried to flank Sin and attack him with their swords, his fluff-viper struck from the sand and bit one of the red dragons in the leg, that red dragon let out a pain scream and swung hos sword at the fluff-viper only for it to dodge and slither up his leg and slash it repeatedly with it's bladed tail as it climbed until it reached the goon's throat and slashed it as well. I concentrated the dragon flames from the Draco-Lance spell on my left hand into my bone claws and rushed forward. A blade of pure blue flames shot out from between my claws as I impaled the goon through the chest, as I withdrew the blade all that was left was a smoking crater of cauterized flesh and seared bone where his heart and lungs should be.

Sin and I both turned towards Draco, only to see him being pulled out out of the pit and up into the catwalk by his goons. They surrounded the arena from the catwalk above us and glared down at us angrily.

"I'm starting to think jumping into this pit wasn't the best idea boss!" Sin exclaimed.

"Trust the process!" I yelled and aimed my Draco-Lance spell at Draco, only to have Adellah jump in front of him and shield his body with hers.

"If you want to kill him Aduin you'll have to kill me!" Adellah exclaimed. Sin stepped in front of me blocking my shot and pointed his axe towards Draco.

"Adellah are you insane! He had our parents killed!" Sin barked. Adellah threw her head back and laughed. If the laugh was any indication of how forgone she was, the woman was in space.

"So what? They were weak! They were both normies that could nothing to stop Sadiq when he came to take me. Nothing but die in the gutter like trash." Adellah huffed.

"Yep sounds to me like the bitch is insane…." I muttered to myself.

"Now you too Aduin will die like trash! Kill them!" Draco snapped as he motioned to us-with his remaining arm. The red dragons all started casting offensive spell sigils and various elements started gathering in front of them.

I channeled volt and blast attribut mana into my legs again and jumped, grabbing Sin around the waist. We were rocketed high above the arena where I had a clean shot. I aimed and fired the last two blast of the Draco-Lance at the sides of the ceiling above Draco and Adellah. They exploded on impact blowing the roof off the warehouse and sending rubble and debris falling down.

I stopped channeling volt and focused on blast to propel Sin and I through the open hole in the ceiling.

"OH! SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Sin cried out as we soared up toward the stars.

"ALPA'NAGIA!" I bellowed at him. He quickly flew around and grabbed us as we were both falling, holding each of us in one of his hands.

"Ssssstar Ssssshaper! I got you two!" He said reassuringly.

"Thanks, Alpa! Circle around. I'm not leaving here without a body! I've read too many comics where the hero goes before he got confirmation that the villain was dead!" I ordered.

"My sister was under there!" Sin snapped and punched my shoulder.

"Ow! She's alright! Sje's related to you, so I'm sure a roof or two falling on too of here wouldn't kill her!" I snapped back and rubbed my shoulder.

The roof had collapsed around the area that I had shot with the Draco-Lance and a vast majority of the rood and building had fallen, though most of that damage could have been from the black hole that Jade created. A bright silver light glowed from underneath the enter of the rubble that made both Sin and I freeze. Suddenly, a huge chunk of the fallen ceiling was sent flying several hundreds of feet into the sky, nearly hitting us, but Alpa'nagia was able to react and dodge quick enough

An enormous evo at least three to four stories in height emerged from the wreckage of the warehouse and let out an ear piercing roar that blew Alpa'nagia back from the shockwave of it. The evo was unlike anything that I had heard before, at least outside of pictures of fairytale. It's stood on four tree trunk sized legs, had a long whip-like tail, and had two wings large enough to blanket apartment buildings. While it was hard to pinpoint what was used as a base for this evo, it was obvious that this evo was designed to look like a dragon.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" I gawked.

"Draconis…" Sin breathed softly. I snapped my head to the right to look at him.

"Draconis? What the fuck is Draconis?" I demanded.

"Draco's evo. A heavy armor type evo that's strong enough to destroy all of bronze city. It has a natural fire breath that can burn and warp titanium. It's one of the reasons why draco was able to gain so much territory so fast. People were scared of that evo." Sin explained.

"And you didn't think to warn me about this soon, why?!" I snapped. "It's the size of a fucking building! I would have come up with a better plan if I knew we might have to fight that!"

"I thought your plan was to kill him before he summoned his evo!" Sin defended

"I planned around luring him out! I forgot to plan a battle strategy!" I barked. Sin's eyes grew wide and he started punching me on my shoulder.

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME!" Sin roared. "I PUT MY LIFE AND MY SISTER'S LIFE ON THE LINE AND YOU DODN'T FORM A BATTLE PLAN!"

"OW! OW! OW! OOOOOOWWWWWW!" I hissed until Alpa'nagia flipped Sin upside-down.

"Harm the Ssssstar Ssssshaper again gorilla. It will be the lasssssst thing you do." He threatened.

"I MIGHT AS WELL KILL HIM NOW BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" Sin snapped and reached for my legs only to come up short.

"AUUUUDUIIIIIIIIIIIN!" Draco bellowed from down below. Sin and I froze and looked down. Audin and Adellah were standing atop the Draconis head and looking up at is with furious glares.

"See! Your sister's alive! Told you a building wouldn't kill that gorilla cyclops!" I exclaimed and pointed at Adellah.

[Star boss! I took Bo, Jade, and the loud screaming one back to their home. I'm heading back now to assist you in the fight!] Grimm-Guard told me over the telepathic link.

[No! Stay and protect them!] I ordered him.

[WE can manage…I think. I need you to make sure those three are protected.]

[But…] Grimm-Guard objected but I quickly interrupted.

[Grimm that is a order! Protect those three!] I snapped putting all the steel and authority I could into my voice.

[Yes boss…] Grimm-Guard replied, sounding dejected.

"SINCE NONE OF MY MEN CAN KILL THESE TWO LETS TRY AN EXTENTION OF MYSELF! DRACONIS KILL THEM!" Draco roared.

Draconis chest glowed with a faints orange light as it took a deep breath. Sin's eyes grew wide, and he started smacking Alpa'nagia's arm.

"It's his fire breath attack! Dodge!" He bellowed. Alpa'nagia quickly spun around and started to fly away, probably hoping to get out of range. The draconis opened its mouth and let loose a raging stream of molten plasma.

[Dive!] I ordered Alpa'nagia. He snapped yo wings closed and held Skn and I close to his chest as he nosedived, just barely skimming the stream of flames that spewed from the oversized lizards maw. Alpa'nagia snapped his wings open just before we hit the ground and glided mere inches above the ground.

"fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Sin screamed as Draconis attack came to an end. Alpa'nagia flew up again and we both got a first hand look at the devastation.

The flames left a scorched trail of ruin at least a whole city block wide and went on for another ten. Anything not caught directly in the flames path was melted and obliterated by the sheer heat coming off the flames.

"Alpa!" I yelled and looked back at the evo. He had several severe looking burns on his arms and wings. Two wings sagged lifelessly, charred beyond recognition. The only reason Sin and I were relatively unharmed was because he took the brunt of the heat.

"I'm fine Ssssstar Ssssshaper!" Alpa'nagia hissed. His voice was strained and he looked like it was all he could do to keep himself conscious.

"No…you're not!" I yelled then broke free of Alpa'nagia's grip. I fell a few feet then channeled float and gravity attribute mana throughout my body. I felt a sharp twinge in my chest but ignored it as my body stopped in mid-air and started flying towards Draco and his monstrous evo.

"Draco! How's the arm!" I yelled as I extended my claws. Draco snarled at me and started casting a offensive spell. A fireball about the size of the draconis head formed in his hand and then launched at me.

The fireball eclipsed me and there was no way that I was dodging that but I didn't have to dodge. I added Void attribute mana to the mana I was channeling and a cocoon of darkness enveloped by body. For a one-millionth of a second I felt the scorching heat of the attack before it was absorbed and broken down into mana. That one attack filled my dwindling mana pool which had been at fourth percent and dropping back to max. I stopped channeling the void attribute mana and the moment I left the cocoon I saw a massive tail coming straight for me.

It slammed into me before I could move or otherwise react and sent me flying back as pain racked my entire body

"SSSSSTAR SSSSSHAPER!" Alpa'nagia roared. He flew right into my path and caught me, well, kept me from flying back further. I crashed into him and Sin, and the force I hit them knocked us out of the sky and sent us crashing into the ground. Alpa'nagia guarded Sin and I as best as he could from the impact but as we skidded and tumbled along the ground he lost his grip on us and I tumbled along the ground a few times before crashing into a wall.

Everything suddenly went black, I was swimming in a deep fog for what felt like eternity until a deep voice cut through the fog, and a wave of unimaginable pain raked my mind.

"Boss! Boss! Wake up! Boss!"

I awoke with a jolt to find Sin crouched over me. The concerned look on his face turned to relief when he sat up.

"Thank the gods…but boss your evo…" Sin said, then turned and looked further up the street. My gaze followed his, and I felt my heart leap into my throat.

Alpa'nagia was slumped over in the middle of the street, a wooden lamppost through his gut. All four of his arms were shattered and contorted in unnatural ways. His wings were completely torn off, and his serpentine face was battered beyond recognition.

"ALPA'NAGIA!" I bellowed as I jumped to my feet and ran over to him, ignoring the pain in my body as I ran. The poor evo opened one eyelid to look at me as I screamed his name

"Ssssstar s-s-s-sssshaper…" Alpa'nagia wheezed as I approached.

"Don't speak! It's okay! I got you!" I exclaimed and started to recall him when I saw a sudden bright flash in the night and sharp increase in temperature.

I turned around and saw another one of the Draconis massive fire breaths heading right towards us. It was so massive that I couldn't even see the edges of it. Sin dropped to his knees a look of utter defeat in his eyes as he gazed upon our approaching doom.

"FUCK!" I bellowed and took a few steps past Sin. I held my hands out towards the approaching flame and channeled void attribute mana into my hands, willing it into the shape of a wall.

'Please work! Please work! Please fucking work!' I thought as a screen of darkness that spanned the entire width of the street and stood as tall as a two story building. I forced every ounce of mana out of my body and into this makeshift shield.

The apocalyptic inferno slammed into my void wall and forced it to bend backwards towards Sin, Alpa'nagia and I, eventually covering us completely. The shield did it's job and blocked the flames and the heat from reaching us. It also started absorbing the flames from the fire breath and breaking it down into mana. Within a few seconds I found myself at full capacity. However the attack didn't last for a few seconds.

My crystal started glowing red as I started drawing in more mana than I could handle. I gritted my teeth as I took in double and triple my mana capacity and the attack still wasn't over. I the excess energy bounce around my body like bullets. My knees bucked as I felt bile and blood spew from my throat but I kept channeling I kept taking in more mana. It wasn't until I had taken in quadruple my mana capacity that the attack had finally stopped.

I stopped channeling mana and coughed up more blood, I could feel tears streaming down my and it wasn't till they dripped onto the concrete that I realized I wasn't crying but bleeding from my eyes and ears.

"BOSS!" Sin exclaimed and rushed over to my side.

"M-m-mana-a…t-too…m-much…" I sputtered and coughed up more blood and fell face first into a pool of my own blood.

"CHASE!" Sin bellowed and flipped me own my back.

"S-s-ssstar s-s-s-sssshaper?" Alpa'nagia wheezed. I turned my head to look at him and smiled to the best of my ability.

"S-sorry…they got me…good." I wheezed. As I looked into Alpa'nagia's eyes however I dodn't see pity or fear, I saw pure unbridled fury.

"H-h-how…dare…they…" Alpa'nagia forced his broken arms to support his upper body and sit up. His eyes began to glow with a golden light that felt oddly familiar as the wounds on his body began to rapidly heal.

"How…dare…they…"

The glow in his eyes washed over his flesh and scales and I suddenly felt a rapid depletion of my mana, I went from quadruple my capacity to just under fifty percent in a matter of moments.

Alpa'nagia stood to full height and I realized his body was growing, the serpent part of his lower body was getting longer and wider. The human-like torso became broader and more muscular while his head changed from an anthropomorphic snake head to a full on human head. Long black flowing hair sprouted from his scalp and came to rest at the base of his waist. Three jagged thunderbolt shaped horns sprouted from his forehead as a thunderbolt shaped pattern appeared on it's scales and skin. Six massive black and gold wings sprouted from Alpa'nagia's back.

It was right then that I heard the thunder booming above us, the sky had been clear the last I checked and in an instant it seemed that the clouds were forming out of nowhere. A lightning bolt suddenly stuck the ground near Alpa'nagia bit he didn't even flinch. Over a dozen more followed in rapid succession until a lightning bolt stuck the center horn in Alpa'nagia's head.

"HOW DARE YOU HARM…THE STAR SHAAAAAAAPERRRRRRR!" Alpa'nagia bellowed to the heavens as thunder rolled and bolts of lightning struck the city around us.

"Alpa…?"