"Not anymore"
"?"
Raika shifts her gaze towards Rastrina's head and sees a woman on it
"..."
"I see you're confused. Don't worry, I'm still the Serevia that you met 10 years ago"
"The same person Jason mentioned…you're still carefree as ever? Revealing your identity?"
"Jason? He did seem to handle my attack well back there…And why not? What can you do about it?"
"..."
"You're back here for this fella here? Well, no can do"
"Tch…arrogant as ever"
"Arrogant? Well if you see me in that way, I shall perhaps show you why…" Serevia says before entering Rastrina's head
"!"
Serevia's action is an attempt to completely manipulate Rastrina, taking over the dragon's powers and abilities and making all of those hers
"Not if I stop you first!" Raika immediately activates her Imaginary Blade and charges towards Rastrina
But the distance between Raika and Rastrina is too far
"Too late"
"!"
Hence, Serevia fully manifests Rastrina and unleashes a powerful aura that pushes Raika back onto the ground.
At the same time, the dragon is no longer Rastrina
"With the combined power of mine and your little pet, you're basically hopeless at this point!" Speaking as the dragon, Serevia's ego has reached its peak
"...Essence of Thunder" Raika slowly chants
"Hm?"
"You will heed my command"
"..."
Raika, inheriting her mentor's teachings, activates the Thundertremble State but further refined
"Still relying on this form? You Thunder users won't change at all"
"You think?" Fwoosh
"?"
Raika dashes towards the back of Serevia in an attempt to strike from behind
"Is that all?" By taking advantage of the dragon's huge body, Serevia uses her energy to unleash a massive explosion around her
"!" Raika reacts in time and guards herself with her arms. The explosion sends her flying before she lands on a mountain
Serevia, using the dragon's tail, destroys the mountain with a swing after flying towards there
"?" Serevia tries to locate Raika, but the latter is way too miniature
…
"There it is"
BAM
Raika strikes Serevia at one of her blind spots: The dragon's lower neck
"GWAH!"
Serevia is launched upwards before Raika appears above her
"Here you go!" By kicking the dragon's head, Raika knocks Serevia down onto the ground
Shortly after, Raika charges downwards again to deliver a devastating strike towards Serevia, who is shaking the dragon's head to regain consciousness
"HAVEN'T YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON?!"
Replicating the situation that happened 10 years ago, Serevia swings the dragon's tail towards the charging Raika.
But this time, the tables have turned
grabs
"?!"
"I have a new trick up in my sleeve, Serevia" Instead of being hit, Raika catches the tail attack instead
"Now take this!" Raika rapidly spins the dragon with full force and extreme speed before throwing it at a far distance
"Tch" Serevia is unable to control her flight effectively due to the dragon having bigger mass and size
Mimicking Rosaline, Raika forges a scythe on her palm using pure Thunder energy but with higher energy concentration compared to her mentor's
"This ends now" Raika says, heightening her resolve to defeat Serevia and retrieve Rastrina
Raika then charges towards Serevia and decides to end the battle with a powerful scythe slash, but just as she's about to do it…
"Miss me?"
"Huh?!"
A replica of Serevia appears in front of the charging Raika, but the latter insists on taking down the replica along with the dragon
Fwoosh
Raika swings her scythe violently, ripping open a small space dimension which its area spans until…the replica's fingers
"?!"
"Well…I guess my original body is better overall!" Serevia says before counterattacks Raika by kicking her away, which the latter reacts on time and successfully defends herself
"This is bad…"
On Raika's left side is the replica, on Raika's right side is the dragon, both of which are the same person, Serevia
"This replica of mine possesses the same power as I do! You can't do anything now, can you?!"
"..."
"Your efforts are now futile, Raika. THIS LAIR WILL ALSO BE YOUR GRAVE!!"
"..." Raika remains silent; she knew that even if the non-injured Rosaline is by her side, they will still fall
But that doesn't stop her from saving Rastrina and the Thunder Region…
Knowing that she'll face a doubled threat, she pushes beyond her limits and attempts to multiply Thundertremble State's capabilities by twofold, including her maximum travelling speed and overall prowess
"STILL ON, HUH?!" Both Serevias unleashes a huge amount of aura to intimidate Raika
"You did well, Raika…"
"?"
"This time, I'll lend you a hand"
...
"Ruler of Light…"
"It has been a while, servant of Senoria"
Kevin smirks as he sees the replica, but while he's unaware of the dragon's true identity, he knew the dragon is also on Serevia's side
"Ruler of Light…?"
"Just call me Kevin, young one"
"Ah…yes sir. This dragon here is supposed to be my pet dragon, but she's under Serevia's control"
"Being manipulated, huh…?"
Kevin looks at the replica and decides to taunt her
"Hey Serevia! You fell off quite significantly ever since we met!"
"...What was that?"
"Yeah, manipulating a dragon and creating a replica of yourself to fight this youngling here instead of your original self? That's a coward's move, y'know?!"
"You…WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT DOMINANCE, FALLEN RULER?!"
Serevia says before her replica self charges towards Kevin and attempts to shut him up
"Heh" Kevin smirks and uses his index finger to block Serevia's punch, sending shockwaves behind Kevin which destroy the ground behind him.
"W-What?!" The replica backs down
"My turn"
Instantly, Kevin knocks the replica up towards the interstellar space before kicking her away from Planet Sudania itself
"This planet doesn't invite you here" Kevin says while he watches the action with his arms crossed from the ground
"...ROAR!!" The dragon, under Serevia's control, immediately fires a beam attack, which was used against Rosaline 10 years ago but heavily enhanced, towards Kevin and Raika
However, Raika blocks the beam attack by summoning the Silicon Thunder shield and starts a conversation with Kevin
"Kevin, it really is an honour to meet you. My name is Raika"
"Likewise, Raika, but we'll have to deal with Serevia first. The dragon is your pet, after all"
"..."
"Worry not, I may not know what has happened, but I can tell it's not your fault. Follow my lead, Raika"
"Roger!"
The Silicon Thunder eventually cancels the beam attack, letting out an explosion in the meantime
When the smoke from the explosion dissipates, the two cannot be seen by Serevia
BAM
With immense speed, Kevin knocks the dragon upwards from below before Raika grabs her tail again, spinning the dragon and throws her farther than before
"Raika! Apart from dimension manipulation, Thunder can also split souls if the target has more than one of those! Nothing can stop it, but I have no idea about it now!"
"I know! But I couldn't land a decisive hit, Kevin!"
"With your scythe, you can! Wait for the right timing!"
"Okay!"
Kevin takes the lead and continuously hit the dragon before finally knocking it downwards
"It's now or never!"
Kevin aims his palm towards the falling dragon, casting a spell that slows down time around the dragon and hence, the dragon is also slowed down
"Now is the time, Raika!"
Raika travels at her maximum speed, which now rivals the speed of light itself, to reach the dragon faster
And as soon as she approaches the dragon at near point blank range
"RINA!!"
Fwoosh
Raika swings her scythe towards the dragon, ripping open a space dimension behind the dragon, revealing both the dragon's and Serevia's souls out in the open, and disrupted Kevin's time-slowing spell
"!" Kevin charges towards Serevia's soul and knocks it, revealing Serevia's true body
Grabbing Serevia's true body, Kevin throws her onto the ground while Raika follows pursuit
"GAH!" Serevia suffers extreme pain, since she lost control over Rastrina, she's now in a severe disadvantage
"Nowhere to go, wretched fool"
Kevin taunts Serevia again, angering Serevia even more but took her nowhere
"You've done enough damage to Rina, now it's your turn"
"Tch…don't get carried away…THE CORRUPTION WILL NEVER FALL!!"
Serevia says before using her remaining energy to create a smoke screen for herself
*cough* *cough* Kevin and Raika are affected by it, and their visions are temporarily impaired
Afterwards, Serevia is nowhere to be seen…
"...I guess it's over for now, Raika"
"Yeah…"
Raika goes to Rastrina, who's in deep slumber after Serevia's soul is detached from her
At the same time, the Crimson Thunder also vanished into thin air, revealing more cities that were once left in ruin
Raika hugs Rastrina's head; She finally reunites with her pet dragon after 10 years…
"Rina…you're finally back home…"
Raika falls asleep beside Rastrina
Kevin, witnessing this peaceful sight, takes his leave