237 Asking for directions

An old man was walking down a road while coming closer to the gates of a city carrying a bag on his back.

His curly grey beard and mustache were so long that it was near impossible to see his mouth under it. While his body was old, with one look one could spot several muscles under its clothes.

"Excuse me, my young lads..." the old man asked while reaching the front gate and gazing at a pair of knights guarding the entrance, "Is this the city where the temple of the West goddess is located...?"

"Indeed it is, sir... Can we help you?" one of the guards replied while holding a sword with both hands and stabbing the ground.

"Ah! I see... I'm glad... That means I'm in the right place..."

The two guards just stood there while the old man continued to smile at them while carrying his heavy-looking bag.

"Sir...?"

"Yes, young lad?"

"Are you going to enter?"

"Enter what...?"

"... The city...?"

"Oh... Why would I want to enter this city?"

"Are you not looking for the temple of the west?"

"Oh!! Yes, I am! Is it here?"

"... ... ... Yes..."

"Oh, good! I was looking for it! You mind if I come in?"

"We can't let you enter without identification, sir..."

"Oh... I see... Identification... Yes, yes... It is important to know who people are these days... Names are important..." The old man replied.

He then stepped forth and raised his arm to aim it at one of the guards. The two kept looking as his hand began to turn red and claws started to appear in it.

"Wha- What the hell!!?? A demon!!" the guard shouted.

"Allow me to introduce myself..." The old man commented while his arm continued to grow and proceeded to stab that guard's torso.

"Ughaaaa!!!" the guard mumbled as life vanished from his twitching body

"I'm the demon dragon of wrath!"

"Tyler!!!! Noooo!!!!" his partner screamed, "You will pay for this!!!"

"Oh!! Such sweet, sweet anger, you're letting out!! Much appreciated!!"

The soldier tried to pierce the old man with his sword, but Wrath just used the dead body of the soldier in his claw to smack him against the ground.

"Now..." he whispered while locking the knight under the body of his fallen comrade, "Could you please tell me where the temple of the West is?"

Part 2

Wrath continued to navigate through the city while still trying to find the location of the temple. Each time he forgot what the direction was he would grab one of the citizens with his red claw and ask them for information while completely terrorizing them.

"Excuse me... Could you tell me where the temple of the West is?"

"D- Don't kill me!! Please!! It's down this street!!"

"Oh! Thank you!! Also, one more thing... Could you tell me where the temple of the West is?"

"Oh... I see, I see... One more thing, could you tell me where the temple-"

"For the love of God!! Is right there!! Just walk down this road!!"

"Aahh... Thank you for the sweet anger..." Wrath commented while bitting the citizen's head off, "It tasted great!"

He then released the body to continue on his walk.

"Now then... Where could this temple possibly be...?"

As the old man returned to his walk he noticed his shadow growing on the ground. He looked up out of curiosity and noticed a massive golden energy shield dropping from the sky towards him.

"Oh, dear..."

The massive shield squashed him completely and created a hole in the middle of the city. Nearby houses were grabbed by the force of the impact and started to crumble on top of him as well.

Once the smoke was gone he simply stood up while rubbing his head and cleaning the dust off his clothes, "Now then... Where could this temple possibly be...?"

He exited the crater that the shield had placed him in but found himself stopped by four golden energy walls locking his movement.

"Oh dear..." he whispered while touching the barriers gently and feeling the energy repelling him.

"Who are you?" yelled a voice behind him.

Wrath turned around and spotted a muscular bald man with his arms crossed and staring at him with an angry expression.

"Ah! Young lad... Good! Could you do me a favor and guide me to the temple of the west?" Wrath asked while waving his hand.

The bald man raised his hand with two fingers pointing up, proceeded by switching to point them down.

As soon as he made this gesture, the four walls surrounding Wrath started to move towards him in an attempt to crush the old man.

Wrath noticed the energy walls approaching and waved his red claw around to smash them into pieces.

"This is bad..." the bald man whispered, "I'm too far away from her... My power is not strong enough..."

Wrath just looked around as the pieces of the shattered wall continued to fall over the streets like broken glass and slowly vanishing in thin air.

"... Ah! That's right!! Do you happen to know where the temple of the west is?"

"... Why are you looking for the temple of the west...?"

Wrath began to scratch his beard, "That's a good question... Why am I looking for this temple... Ah!"

The old man then grabbed his bag and started to search it with the limb that still looked like a regular human hand. After a couple of seconds, he took a piece of paper from it and began to read the instructions that were written on it.

"Find the west temple... Find Auren and Ria... Kill Auren and Ria... Destroy the west temple... Ah... That's right, that's right... I remember now..."

The man started to shiver as he heard Wrath's words and began to worry that this old man might be more dangerous than he appeared.

"Oh! Young man!! Good! Could you help me find the west temple?" Wrath asked as he placed his paper back in his bag.

"You stay away from my wife!!!" Auren shouted as he created several more golden energy walls and began to launch them at the demon dragon.

"Oh, dear..."

Wrath raised his other arm and began to turn it into a red claw as well. He grabbed one of the incoming walls and used it to block all the other incoming ones, making them fly all the way across the city and wrecking the place completely.

"Young man, you seem angry for some reason... Is something bothering you?" Wrath wondered while using the wall he was holding to scratch his back.

"What in the world...?? What... Are you??" Auren gasped while trying to understand why none of his attacks were working on him.

"What am I?? Mmmm... Good question... Hold on a second..." Wrath replied as he was about to grab his bag one more time.

Auren then used this chance to create a shield beneath his feet and launch him high up towards the clouds.

He then proceeded by creating a second shield on top of him and pushing him back to the ground at high-speed using all the strength he had.

A pillar of smoke was created as Wrath collided with the terrain and began to raise a pile of destruction everywhere.

Auren watched through the cloud of smoke to confirm if he was defeated but suddenly, he began to hear his voice once again.

"Ah! Here it is!" the old man stated as he picked a different paper.

"This cannot be possible..." Auren whispered.

"Wrath... One of the seven demon leaders that are now also a dragon... Works for Knucker... Responsible for taking Greed's dog for long walks on Sundays... Owns Drya five pieces of gold... Mmm... These last two are not written with my handwritting for some reason... Oh well..."

"Drya...??" Auren gasped, "Drya is still alive???"

"Mmm!? Oh! Young man!! Good! Could you tell me where I could find the temple of the west?"

Auren began to think about his situation for a moment and tried to calm down, "Y- Yes..."

He then pointed at the city gates while hoping that his plan could work.

"It's in that direction! Just keep moving and don't stop!"

"Ah! Thank you, young man! You're very kind!"

Wrath then started to move in the direction Auren was pointing at. With each step, the bald man's heart would throb harder and harder as if the ground beneath his feet could shatter at any moment.

Once the old man finally passed by him, he stopped his movement to look at him for a moment.

"By the way... Young lad... I can feel a really nice taste of anger coming from you right now..." he commented while lifting the corners of his mustache, "do you mind if I taste it some more?"

Auren felt like the world was moving in slow motion as Wrath started to bring his claw close to his chest in a attempt to stab him.

He managed to create a shield to protect his heart at the last moment but still wasn't able to stop his attack, resulting in his body getting punched instead of pierced and being sent flying across the houses of the city.

"Guaahhhh!!!!"

Auren continued to fly, breaking building after building until he finally collided with a wall sturdy enough that stopped him.

He landed on the ground while barely being able to move as the old man continued to stare at him all the way from where they were fighting, a distance of seven buildings.

Wrath tilted his head and began to lose himself in his own thoughts, "Mmmm... Now then... I wonder who can tell me where the temple of the west is..."