Chaos | A Black Clover Story

2 Weeks Before going to the Captial!

5 months and 2 weeks later

Night's shadowy veil was descending, and Cyra found herself ensnared in the forest's heart, eyes clenched shut, breath hissing in through gritted teeth. Muscles coiled in her legs like springs, her grip on the hilts of her swords white-knuckled. With a battle cry that tore from her throat like a demon's shriek, she summoned her newest terror, her newest ally: the dragon known as the Water Dweller. It burst into being behind her, a monstrous thing of glistening blue scales and razor-edged fins, its wingspan casting long, ominous shadows across the forest floor. It shrieked into the sky, a sound that shattered silence and sent birds fleeing in terror, before launching itself heavenward to join the waiting forms of Themis and Gaia.

Cyra herself became a living torch, her body wreathed in a mad whirl of violet flames that danced and crackled with a hunger for destruction. She hurtled into the trees, a fiery blur that left scorched, blackened wood in her wake. Branches shattered beneath her feet, and she used the splintered remnants as launchpads to send herself soaring, swords flashing down in deadly arcs that bit into bark and splintered leaves with wet, meaty thuds. The forest itself seemed to shriek in agony as she carved her path of destruction, the air thick with the acrid tang of smoke and ozone.

Above, the dragons clashed in a maelstrom of scale and claw, their roars echoing off the trees and shaking the earth beneath Cyra's feet. The Water Dweller, that monstrous blue beast, swooped and dived, its massive form sending shockwaves through the air that sent Cyra stumbling. But she recovered in an instant, launching herself off a splintered oak branch and plummeting toward the glint of moonlit water below. Time stretched, her heart hammering in her chest, and then she hit the pond with a bone-jarring impact that sent water exploding upward in a glittering plume. The Water Dweller was a heartbeat behind, its body slicing through the surface with barely a ripple, sending Cyra tumbling through the icy depths, her lungs burning, her vision blurring.

She managed to wrap her arms around one of the dragon's spines, holding on for dear life as it arrowed through the water with a force that threatened to rip her free. But she clung on, her muscles screaming in protest, until she could muster a breath to scream out her next command. "LEVELED CONTRACT: WATER DWELLER: SILVERING FIN!" The words tore from her throat, and in response, a monstrous tail of living water burst into being, its fins razor-edged and deadly. It slammed down into the pond, sending a wall of water plowing over the pursuing dragons, sending them tumbling through the depths, their roars muffled and distant.

The Water Dweller surged upward, Cyra clinging to its spine, and they burst from the water in an explosion of spray and shattered light. Cyra shrieked out another command, and the dragon responded, its body dissolving into mist and smoke that left her plummeting once more. But this time, Gaia was there, her claws outstretched, and she snatched Cyra from the air just as a katana flashed down, its blade glinting with deadly intent. Cyra managed to raise her sword, and the blades met in a shower of sparks, the force of the blow jarring her arm and sending a scream of pain through her shoulder. But she held on, her vision blurring at the edges, until the katana spun away, wheeling back into the trees like some deadly bird of prey.

Gaia banked, her wings sending Cyra tumbling across her scales, and then they were plummeting, the pond rushing up to meet them. They hit with a bone-jarring impact that sent water exploding upward around them, and then Cyra was surfacing, gasping, her lungs burning. Gaia was there in an instant, her claws closing around Cyra's arm, and then they were rising, the dragon's wings pounding the air and sending spray flying in all directions. Cyra managed to haul herself onto the dragon's back, her body aching, her lungs burning, and looked up to see Themis wheeling overhead, her flames painting the forest in hues of violet and white. "Themis, enough!" she screamed, and the dragon broke off her attack, circling back to join them.