Ascension of the Immortal Asura

Boom!

An enormous pillar of lightning, appearing to come from the heavens above, blasted down before Thunderzen, like that of heavenly judgment itself. The lightning had been formed from his own Qi, as well as drawn from the natural lightning generated from the Alliance leaders' storm, augmenting Thunderzen's Thunderfall Judgment to levels he was unable to reach alone. The lightning pillar engulfed the Asura who had arrived before him, blasting him down towards the earth below with its ruinous power.

The attack blasted into the earth, further decimating the ruined land for thousands of miles. They had chosen this location for its remoteness, as otherwise, millions or even more lives would have already been lost in the brief battle.

The pillar of lightning suddenly parted down the middle, as if it had been carved apart by a massive invisible knife. An overwhelming power blasted up through the pillar of lightning, directly towards Thunderzen.

Roar!

The dragon roared with anger as it appeared before the attack, a beam of ruinous lightning blasting out from its mouth. The beam collided against the Asura's attack, forcing Raijen backwards briefly before both surged forward once more. The two exchanged dozens of attacks in the blink of an eye, the world trembling from their battle. After the brief yet violent exchange, the Asura won out, knocking Raijen backwards through the sky, blood trailing behind Raijen from several large wounds on its body.

The Asura arrived before Raijen again in an instant, his figure dwarfed by the massive creature. Despite taking Thunderzen's augmented Thunderfall Judgment head on without blocking, as well as Raijens barrage of attacks, the Asura had suffered practically zero physical wounds at all. What was on his body was superficial, scrapes and cuts not impacting its battle prowess in the slightest. Thunderzen frowned once more, as even his augmented Thunderfall Judgment had almost zero effect on the Asura.

The Asura's four sabers slashed outwards towards Raijen's claw that was slamming towards it. Raijen had not had enough time to unleash a blast of lightning, and had to resort to a physical attack.

Boom!

Space fractured from the collision, forming splinters and rifts in the fabric of space itself. Raijen's claw was knocked backwards by the Asura's attack, blood falling from a massive wound on its claw. It roared in pain and then surged forwards towards the Asura, its pride of a dragon refusing to back down.

The Asura sneered, a wide snarling smile appearing on its face. It held its saber's out to the side, welcoming the dragon's approach.

Boom!

Another pillar of lightning rained down on the Asura a moment before Raijen arrived, blasting the Asura into the earth below. Raijen paused for a moment, as if it had not expected Thunderzens' interference. It started once more, surging down to the ground below.

"Raijen!" Thunderzen called out loudly, his cry causing the Dragon to pause its forward momentum. It quickly turned around faster than one would expect a massive dragon capable of, and moved back to him, appearing next to him nearly as fast as the Asura was able to move.

"You are not strong enough to fight it alone," Thunderzen said, his voice warm yet concerned. Raijen was his dear friend, like Kirii was to John, and seeing it wounded ached his heart. Raijen's eyes, like two mountains of blue crystal, stared at Thunderzen, a thousand emoticons contained within.

Raijen flared its nostrils and then puffed out a cloud of smoke, resigning itself to Thunderzen's words. As much as it did not want to admit it, it truly was not the Asura's match. While it was the only one capable of fighting the Asura head on without dying, that would only last for so long. When it came to Raijen's age, it was still very young for a dragon, and had yet to reach its full potential. Before an existence like an Asura, he would eventually lose.

"Perish!" the Asura roared, appearing before Thunderzen and Raijen like a ghost. Its aura surged outwards like a storm and slammed into them with unstoppable power, sending them flying backwards like broken kites.

It sped after them, appearing above Thunderzen an instant later. The Asura's movement alone left small spatial fractures in its wake, a testament to its horrifying power. Not even space could withstand its presence.

The Asura arrived above Thunderzen, slashing downwards toward him, who had yet to recover, and could not possibly defend against the attack. This attack would be fatal without a doubt.

"Have you already forgotten about me?" A voice from below sounded out, calm, yet profound. The air seemed to dance to the words, as if the air itself was under the command of the voice.

The Asura's gaze shifted downwards, just in time to see a solid wall blast up towards it, a wall made completely of air. The wall of air was as firm as the hardest metal, and slammed onto the Asura from below, launching it up into the air before its blade could land on Thunderzen.

The Asura roared with frustration and cleaved downwards, instantly destroying the wall of air, but that alone was enough time for both Thunderzen and Raijen to recover. The Alliance leader appeared next to them, the air swirling around him like a tempest. The storm above and around them continued to wreak havoc on the land, blasting it with ruinous power.

"We cannot take any more chances," Thunderzen said grimly. He had nearly died just there, just off a casual explosion of the Asura's aura, and then a simple physical assault. It was still clearly toying with them, and the longer they resisted, the more enraged it would become.

If it used its full power against them as they were now, only Raijen would be able to keep himself alive for a while. Thunderzen and the Alliance head would surely perish without realizing how they died.

"So it's come to that then?" the Alliance leader asked.

"I'm afraid it has, my old friend," Thunderzen replied, sighing heavily, his face filled with gloom and regret. "Once the formation fails, if we have not activated it, the Asura will go for John. His speed is far too fast for all but Raijen to keep up with, and Raijen cannot handle the Asura alone. We must activate it now, before the formation fails. We must buy more time for them!"

"Do not look so sad, my old friend. As I told you before, this is going to be one glorious way to die. Let's not stall any longer, shall we?" the Alliance leader said, glancing downwards. "Besides, it appears as though the formation is about to collapse, so we cannot delay any further."

Thunderzen stared at his old friend for a moment, and then nodded his head.

"You're right," Thunderzen agreed.

The Alliance leader smiled, and then glanced upwards towards the Asura, his smile growing wider.

"Ruining your evil plans will fill this old one with incomparable pleasure," the Alliance leader said to the Asura, who snorted as it sped towards them once more.

The Alliance leader's smile faded as he watched the incarnation of death approach, and his mouth parted slightly as he whispered to himself.

"Heart of Vibrant Oblivion!"