The Void Emperor

Her reddish white fur dancing along the flow of wind.

Ryuu and Tenko just sat there hugging each other with no slightest idea of what happened.

It just happened instantly and from vast greenery, they entered pitch black s.p.a.ce and next second they appeared who knows where.

This was one world with one purple sun, no clouds or wind where everything seemed to be reflecting dark purple rays.

About a few hundred meters from them, there was one strangely shaped building erected resembling an ancient tower turned upside down.

Its bottom was spiky and the top was similar to a mountain.

As soon as Ryuu saw that tower one familiar feeling washed over him and Tenko as they both began quickly recovering their lost strength as gloomy blue rays like a deep ocean escaped from the tower in front of them and entered their bodies.

When blue energy got absorbed by them, their auras as if had a sublimation and life force skyrocketed making their strength promote to the peak in an instant.

The only thing that surprised them more is that two faint blue and red shadows stood in front of them barely recognizable holding hands.

"Ryuu listen carefully. We don"t have much time." Red shadow said floating slowly in their direction.

Hearing this voice Ryuu immediately jerked back to his senses "Dad!" he summoned remembering everything from a while ago.

"Listen now, speak later." Aito"s shadow said coming to a stop few meters in front.

"Child, don"t be sad. Mom and Dad have to leave now to finish something they didn"t a long time ago. We have made some enemies throughout our lives and they will certainly be targeting you as well so you and Tenko-chan must take care of each other. Ryuu, you must become strong as soon as possible therefore you have to enter the floating castle in front of you."

Aito said pointing in a direction behind him.

"Blood of Asuras originates from ancient primordial dragon G.o.ds who ruled this land a long time ago. That castle is where their bones are buried, you can call it their resting place. Inside of it lies their inheritance left to the following generations as a proof of their rule and might, what you need to do is to obtain that inheritance and their approval."

Ryuu didn"t interrupt the father"s shadow in front of him speaking, listening carefully as those were probably the last words he will hear from his father in a while.

Although Ryuu didn"t know the background of his parents, he wasn"t a fool either. He could at least guess that this time his parents have to leave against their will otherwise only problems would arise.

"Ryuu, give your mother a big hug." Blue shadow said appearing in front of little guy without prior notice which startled all three of them.

"Mother will be waiting for you to become strong. Strong enough that no one in this world can oppose you, strong enough that you can protect those who you love and care for."

While Ryuu carved mother"s words in the depth of his soul, one little tear escaped sliding across his cheek and fell on the ground. Upon coming in contact with a surface, the small puddle of water of a size nearly one meter formed reflecting three silhouettes and plants began rising around it as if receiving stimulation from it. But did this matter to Ryuu? He could only stare in silence towards the front where two shadows slowly began dissipating cherishing each other.

"Dad, Mom. Rest a.s.sured. Your son will certainly find you even if I have to overcome the heavens and become stronger than G.o.ds." Ryuu resolutely said as his little hand formed a fist thumping on his chest in the position of his heart, resembling a military salute.

Seeing this, two illusory existences made the biggest grin ever beaming with happiness and love as their vague forms finally vanished and with them, the world turned gloomy several points.

Ryuu stood firmly in place his look flashing with cold and oppressing killing intent as his little voice stated: "Let"s go, we have to greet the ancestors."

Tenko finally opened her eyes as she was restoring her strength with the help of

an essence that surged forth from the inverted castle in their vicinity. Although she did close her eyes, thanks to the ritual her and Ryuu"s souls are connected so they both know what each other feels, thinks and also, their thoughts.

Feeling what Ryuu"s mind was occupied with, she couldn"t even say that little boy in front of her was a human anymore. Why? Because Ryuu"s thoughts right now are: "My life finally started." akin to a heartless demon who discarded emotions

not even feeling sad about his parents leaving just a silent and oppressing killing intent hidden deep within his heart like a poisonous snake approaching from the darkness.

"You are overthinking it, fool." Ryuu"s thought reached her. "Don"t forget I can also feel your thoughts, silly girl. It"s not that I"m some kind of heartless demon It"s just that in my previous life my parents didn"t pay much attention to me after I grew up and because of that I"m no longer able to feel the same about my parents regardless of whether they are kind or not." Ryuu"s vision drifted falling on her pure white form only kindness left in his look. "The only one who can get my entire love ... is you.".

A blinding ten-colored light instantaneously manifested in the position where Ryuu"s vision fell as beautiful girl slightly taller than him rushed out of it, her goal is a little boy with teary purple eyes not far away from her. In a few breaths, her light body soared, happily entwining her own body with his and clutching tightly as if to never let go which made Ryuu startled as he adjusted his center of gravity bracing for the impact of her light jump. When Ryuu"s view shifted down what he saw was Tenko in a human form tightly hugging him with tears streaming down her face.

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.

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Little did they know that this moment signified the start of twin legends known throughout their realm. The legend of Yin and Yang ~ of a twin kind demons.

The legend of fierce Void Emperor and kind Elemental Empress, as they would be known in the future.

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Three forms entered on the lowermost level of the inverted tower all three being humanoid. Two were a bit higher than half a meter boy and girl walking arm-in-arm like, a pair of lovers with a girl in their side around 1.8 meters high.

As soon as they stepped forth from the entrance, the whole floor was lit up with a variety of ancient runes clearly incomprehensible to the three.

Just as the three entered, extremely oppressing pressure fell from above them as the gravity increased several times making it hard to even breathe let alone step forward for the pair of two little guys* as two melancholic voices resounded throughout the s.p.a.ce "Who dares invade on our territory?" the first voice said, "State your purpose or die here." the second joined.

"Honored ancestors, my name is Asura Ryuu from father Asura Aito and mother Asura Haruhi. With me comes my lover Asura Tenko and my mother-in-law Akashiro. I"ve come to acknowledge ancestors upon my father"s instruction."

Little Ryuu said, disregarding his own age, height or anything that made him two-year-old now.

"Aito"s child eh? What"s that brat doing, didn"t see him for a few years?" the first voice said.

"Where"s my cute Haruhi? Shouldn"t they have come with you here?" the second voice inquired.

Ryuu remained silent for a bit pondering whether he should tell the situation of his parents. After a while, he decided to do so since there was no need to hide it from his ancestors if they knew his parents already.

"Oh, so that happened." the first voice interrupted, not giving Ryuu a chance to talk.

"Hmm, I see. That"s bad I wanted to see them very much." the second one joined in.

The pressure eased up several points making Ryuu and Tenko restore their initial condition then, a voice resounded once more: "Little brats, have you came to seek death here?" unclear to distinguish which one of the previous two voices it is. More like, it seemed like those two voices unified into a single ent.i.ty now.

As soon as the voice ceased, Akashiro suddenly disappeared from the scene leaving only Ryuu and Tenko standing side-by-side looking cute there, just casual thing about little kids, at least from the point of the observer. However, what they felt was strong killing intent penetrating into their hearts as a mirage of a big red sword emanating terrifying voices of cries that seemed like escaping from h.e.l.l came to haunt on those who dare stand before them.

The sword fell down bringing even stronger oppression with it until~ ...

"ROAR!" "ROAAAAAR!" two deafening roars resounded at the same time likely coming from the top of the tower dispersing the mirage and obliterating sad cries like nothing. Ryuu"s heart was filled with shock. Not because of the scene that happened, but because those two roars felt very familiar, even more than his parents.

"s.h.i.t, I wanted to make an April fools joke, but it seems like those two fellows awoke. Little brats, go up quickly before they come down or I"ll end up in big trouble." the voice from before resonated with the surroundings as the runes on the floor lit up brightly.

Next moment, Ryuu and Tenko felt only blank and weightless state and they were already at the top of the inverted tower, before them, two giant statues of a dragon and one strange beast presented.

The strange beast was similar to Tenko in a certain sense. It had thirteen orbs floating above the thirteen tails and a pair of pointy foxy ears, but instead of fur, it had smooth mirror-like scales refracting ten-colored light, two pairs of sharp dragon claws and a pair of wings. It seemed like a half-breed between a dragon and a fox being neither, but it resembled both at the same time. The important thing to note is that in the legends, dragons and foxes were overlords of the past being the first to appear as they lived in unison.

The foxes were gentle and intelligent controlling the nature, whereas dragons were vicious and malevolent wrecking havoc and destruction with their arrival.

There were some cases where the foxes and dragons paired mutually which resulted in a unique kind of divine beast that is now before Ryuu and Tenko. It possessed both, the intelligence and the power making it dominate at the apex of a power chain but its name was never clearly determined, neither was the reason why it disappeared - did all of its descendants ascend to G.o.dhood or did they go extinct unable to breed. Up until the present, it remains a mystery.

When Tenko saw that statue in front of her which seemed like it was alive, her soul trembled with excitement, something deep within her waking up and partly coming under the influence of the dragon statue next to her.

What made that dragon statue stand out was its uniqueness, not similar to any of the present dragon-like beasts alive. It had a pair of vigorous ma.s.sive wings and it stood on two claw-shaped legs literally resembling a humanoid dragon.

Its claws akin to arms were radiating strong ten-colored sparkles and its shiny scales resembled a milky mirror-like substance but instead of refracting elements, it absorbed them. This was also not usual dragon beast but it had stronger aura than a dragon could possibly achieve. If compared to the beast next to it, one could say they shared the first place on the top of the power scale the only thing that differed was their appearance. This dragon had a greenish aura around it meaning a strong life force. It had an appearance of half human half dragon. The human part was another thing it had in common with its friend as foxes had an ability to shapeshift to human form like Tenko is just now.

Ryuu had sudden enlightenment as he stared at the left statue - that of a humanoid dragon.

"Isn"t that how my Soul Spirit looks like?" he thought.

"Brats, aren"t you forgetting something?" The mighty voice entered their consciousness making their breath stagnate for a moment.

Hit with sudden realization, Ryuu fell on his knees with head gently banging on the floor, kowtowing to the being in front of him - "Asura Ryuu greets the ancestors!".

In his side, Tenko had a similar appearance bowing in front of the second statue - "Asura Tenko greets the ancestors!".

"Ain"t they cute like that?" gentle female voice entered their ears seeming like it was asking the Dragon-like creature next to her.

"Humph, I will forgive them this time." The mighty voice responded, oppression dropping several points.

"Kid, stand up. Tell me what is your martial spirit I don"t seem to sense its form but I feel its existence, and there are two. You awakened twin spirits, right? Come, release them. Let these old bones see." the mighty voice demanded in Ryuu"s direction.

Ryuu promptly sprang up on his legs and as he closed his eyes strong pressure burst towards two beings in front elevating previous oppression Tenko and Ryuu felt. The next moment, nine dragons appeared out of thin s.p.a.ce circling around Ryuu as his body completely transformed into the half-human half-dragon form, but it"s not at all similar to the form he had when he completed a ritual with Tenko. Right now, only his arms had a thin layer of scales and the tips of his claws had a faint l.u.s.ter of separate color unlike previously where the whole claw was saturated in colors.

"...! HOW"S THIS POSSIBLE?!" The mighty voice seemed shocked as if its mind was breaking unable to persist in front of Ryuu.

"Kid, tell me the name of your soul spirits, now, quickly!." The mighty voice hurriedly said.

"Respected ancestor, The nine dragons come from a soul spirit called Dragon G.o.d of Creation, whereas my half-dragon form comes from Dragon G.o.d of Destruction soul spirit."

"What?!" the same voice shouted even more shocked than before.

At that moment, strong ten-colored light shone from its statue as it came to life appearing in front of Ryuu. The ma.s.sive humanoid dragon stood before Ryuu trying to maintain its posture but soon fell on its knees like a slave greeting his master.

"This one greets the Overlord!" it said.

Ryuu was shocked. He knew his spirits were something special - but he never imagined it to be this special. He was simply startled.

"This one wishes to offer himself to the Overlord!" the dragon continued.

"Hold on, can you explain first?" Ryuu asked.

"There"s no need, you will know in the future." the dragon said as it transformed into ten-colored gem piercing through the head of little Ryuu as another marking appeared on his forehead "The fifth one!" Ryuu thought, sensing the marking on his head.

"What happened?" Ryuu was startled when at the same time in his vicinity other statue came to life just like before integrating with his lover"s head in a similar manner as the dragon did. Needless to say, it was the strange beast that sensed similar occurrence in Tenko as the humanoid dragon did in Ryuu.

"I have no idea what"s going on."Tenko said running near Ryuu and hugging his arm.

"We wish to serve the Overlords." a dual voice resounded in their minds as the two forms from before appeared in their consciousness in the same place.

"What does this mean?"Ryuu asked in confusion.

"Try concentrating on the marking, and imagine a form of what you"d like to be your weapon." the dragon said.

Ryuu did as he was told and suddenly, a long spear appeared in front of him.

The spear was two and a half meters covered in ten-colored radiance with dragon scales stretching across its surface.

One madness aura surged as soon as it appeared as well as strong oppression.

"I wish to be of use to the Overlord, therefore I decided to take this form and follow you on your back to the G.o.dhood." the thought appeared in Ryuu"s mind.

"G.o.dhood? How did you come to the conclusion that I will become a G.o.d?" Ryuu asked.

"There"s no doubt, you are the first one in history to be chosen by your spirits which signifies that your potential is limitless as they wouldn"t choose just anyone. I can only tell you that both of your spirits are something out of this world and they should be at the peak of the G.o.d realm, but I don"t know why they descended to be your spirits. There must be a reason, and that"s why I wish to follow my Ancestors until you achieve the point where we can awaken them and find out what happened. While I follow by your side, you may use me as any form of a weapon or tool as long as you have enough power to manifest it."

Ryuu felt a sudden sense of satisfaction as he heard that: "Finally, my life began becoming interesting. Mom dad, wait for me!" he thought to himself.

Ryuu glanced at Tenko and said: "You too?".

Tenko glanced back and said: "It seems like so." as she stretched out her little hand and ten-colored spear similar to Ryuu"s appeared but this one had a different shape and aura. The aura of Ryuu"s spear vas the same as its initial form - that of a vicious and domineering dragon, while her own spear"s aura was of a gentle half-fox-half-dragon from the beforehand statue which is now part of her.

"I will be tagging along with my husband. I hope you don"t mind, hehe." the mild female voice resonated in their minds - the one from before.

"Now It"s time to leave since this place will collapse without our support."

And the next moment they both disappeared from the scene returning to the real world where Akashiro was waiting. They actually appeared at the center of Sacred Spirit Forest where Ryuu was no long ago.

As soon as they appeared, a strong dragon roar resounded throughout the forest as big golden blue dragon roared towards the ten forms in the clouds making Ryuu"s killing intent instantly reach the peak.

To be continued...

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* - I wrote guys for the sake of convenience, those guys are Ryuu and Tenko (not a guy really).