As the blade was about to strike, a woman stepped in front and blocked it with a shield, the sound of the sword and the shield colliding echoed throughout the hall. Vibration waves split the air around them and the sheer force pushed both of them back. Red straightened his posture and aimed the point of his blade at the woman,

"This does not concern you! Step aside Arianna!" demanded Red with an angry tone,

"You wish to murder his majesty, as a holder of a seat at the Crown  Table, this concerns me well" replied Arianna, she held her shield high, covering her torso and half her face,

"Arianna, kill him" commanded the Emperor,

Arianna suddenly dropped her shield and drew her sword, the blade was enormous standing at six feet tall. With one swing she struck at Red, he could feel the air being pulled in by the sword as it aimed towards him. Red could feel the intent to kill, his body moved as fast as light to dodge the blow like an instinct of survival,

"Shit, that was close" exclaimed Red, his heart was beating rapidly, his breathing was irregular and fast. He straightened his body and raised his sword to cover his chest,

"RED!" shouted Rios as he was running towards Red, there was blood and sweat dripping from his face from the battles with the guards,

"Rios stay back! I can take this, get out of here!" yelled Red,

Rios placed himself in front of Red, his body was trembling, he was panting like a dog on a hot day "I know you can, but that's not the point. I know we're not really brothers, I've always known about your immortality...",

"Then why..." asked Red,

"Because we are brothers, we may not share the same water of the womb but we share the blood of the covenant" said Rios, there was exhaustion in his voice. Red looked at him and saw his eyes, there was a look of protection, suddenly Red had a flashback to the day he saved Karla "We live our lives by the death of others, use your life so that mine will not be wasted",

Red stared at him and Rios stared back, they shared a smile together. Memories of them as kids were flowing around them, the pain they shared, the happiness they shared, the sorrow they shared, all of it was surrounding them,

"Now go, I'll hold them. It may not be for long so do me a favour and run" Rios spoke with a soft quiet tone,

Out of nowhere, a blade emerged from Rios' chest, blood was dripping onto the floor. The sword pierced his chest through his back and exited through his ribcage. Red's face went from a smile to a distraught look, a small tear fell from his eye,

"Well he didn't buy much time did he?" said the Emperor with a grin on his face,

Red fell to the ground and with an almighty cry shouted "RIOS!", there was anger and death in his voice, his eyes went fire red, his body was no longer wearing white clothing but instead a black mist. Everyone around was in shock and terror, fear gathered within them, a God was angry,

"What is this?" asked the Emperor with fear in his voice,

"Your Majesty , take cover" ordered Arianna, as she did so she picked up her shield and placed it front of her. Around them all the guards were frozen in confusion,

Red slowly got up from the ground, his eyes were closed, he had a smile on his face. A flow of memories with Rios flashed in his mind. He remembered every blood drop, every tear that they shared together. Happy and sorrow feelings now translated into anger, Red clenched his fists and opened his eyes, he looked up to a round stained coloured window, the sun was striking through the colours and hitting Red's body,

"It's warm..." said Red with a gentle tone,

All of a sudden the sun disappeared, everyone went quiet and Red's smile quickly dropped. An immense deadly screech echoed throughout the entire city and all civilization came to a halt. An enormous thud followed the silence with a heavy vibration that felt like an earthquake, the Emperor looked at Red and exclaimed with a grin on his face,

"You lose!",

Suddenly a massive crash shook the ground, rocks and glass went flying everywhere at an astronomical speed, the sun that disappeared now covered the entire hall with light. Red crouched down and placed his arms over his head to protect himself, the guards surrounding him hit the floor as rocks landed on them, blood and skin splattered all over Red's body as his mist got blown away with the strong winds that followed. Stone dust and glass particles circled the air around everybody, the Emperor stood still and laughter spiral out from his mouth. Behind him stood a gigantic black creature standing at the same height as the hall itself, scales and bones emerging from its skin, smoke and heat gathered around its mouth. Its head had two round horns that ran from its nostrils all the way to the back of its head, on its feet and hands were dark metal claws sharp enough to cut through concrete, it's tail was long and thick waving from side to side, but above all two huge wings stood up with a black leather look to them that seemed to absorb light itself,

"Oblivion..." grunted Red, his eyes sharpened,

"You know each other?" the Emperor asked sarcastically,

The dragon slowly walked forward and lowered his head, he stared deeply into Red's eyes,

"The Forbidden One. I see... so he lives..." spoke Oblivion with a deep dark tone,

"Oblivion, you're bowing you're head to a mortal? You've fallen" Red stated while standing up,

"THE STARS NEGLECTED ME BECAUSE OF YOU!" shouted the dragon, the rage in his voice cause hot steam to exit his mouth,

"That's enough. Oblivion, I gave you your job now finish it!" commanded the Emperor,

"Hold your tongue mortal, yes we have an agreement but the speech between two Heroes is not the business a puny insect should meddle with" Oblivion argued. The Emperor took a step back, agreeing to the words from the dragon,

"Oblivion? How's Savanna?" asked Red,

"Huh? You don't know?",

"Know?",

Oblivion straightened up and looked Red straight in the eyes "Savanna is in chaos, the alliance did not withstand, humanity broke The First Cord",

"How can..." Red said in shock,

"Ravager" responded the dragon,

"Impossible he died!" shouted Red in confusion " I killed him myself!",

All of he sudden the Emperor ordered in a roar "THAT'S ENOUGH!" both Red and Oblivion turned to the Emperor "Oblivion you finish the job I gave you or the deal is over!",

The dragon turns to the Emperor and grunts "I see humanity has lost its greatest virtue", Oblivion then turns to Red and spoke with a strong tone "I'm sorry Forbidden One, this isn't what I wanted our first meeting after so long to be, but, unfortunately I have made a deal. I hope to meet you in the afterlife",

Red closes his eyes and smiles "I guess this is it huh? Well I won't go down easy you know?" Red told to the dragon,

"I know",

Red aims his sword at the Dragon's head, in response Oblivion screeches with an almighty sound. The dragon starts charging a breath attack and Red prepares himself to dodge, this was it, the strike that decides it all,