Chapter 252 Instinct, Mystic, Valor

The Black Winged Tribe had always lived in the Beast Dimension for generations. For humans they are, they are ranked at the top of the food chain, the most fearless, and the most ferocious of predators when it comes to the beasts that reside there.

For years, the Black Winged Tribe lived in peace and harmony. There were three main factions of the Black Winged Tribe. The Instinct Black Winged Tribe, the Mystic Black Winged Tribe, and the Valor Black Winged Tribe. Each tribe holds a particular core belief that is related to the name of its tribe.

Instinct relies on their own intuitiveness, relying on that 'battle dopamine rush' in battle just like any berserker would. Mystic relies on analyzing their opponents before they make their moves. And lastly, the Valor tribe depends on their sheer strength.

These core beliefs clashed against each other, and the tribe had no choice but to duke it out. Three kingdoms went head to head with each other with no side backing down. The war lasted for a couple of years and would later be called the Battle of the Three Kingdoms.

But this is not the focus of this segment.

Ryoko was born in the Valor Black Winged Tribe where everything relies on strength. Her dad was one of the most powerful Black Winged Dragon to ever exist. He had crystal scales and is said to be the most indestructible Black Winged Tribe member to ever exist.

When he was young, he rose through the ranks, becoming the head chief of the tribe in no time. He had a wife and a daughter, and they lived happily ever after—

— or so that's how the story was supposed to go but... tragedy struck upon the Valor Tribe.

p Fearing the rising power of Ru Ryu (Ryoko's dad), the Mystic Tribe and the Instinct Tribe decided to ally themselves with each other, with the sole purpose of destroying the Valor Tribe once and for all. It was a horrid plan, but they worked it out for the betterment of their tribes. After all, they knew that it was only a matter of time before Ru Ryu took over the entire Black Winged Dragon race.

They devised a trap, and along with it, they kidnapped Ru Ryu's wife and only daughter. It worked out perfectly, and Ryu was killed.

However, the two tribes didn't end it there. For fear that another Crystal Scaled Black Winged Dragon would emerge in the Valor Tribe, they made up propaganda that the Valor Tribe should be erased from the Beast Dimension at all costs. Well, it worked like any other propaganda and the Mystic and Instinct Tribe as a whole were convinced that the Valor Tribe should be annihilated.

Ryoko and her mom, who were imprisoned up until now, we're finally released from prison, only to be taken to the center of the Valor Tribe and killed there. In a desperate attempt to rescue her daughter, Ryoko's mom sacrificed her life and she managed to take Ryoko out of the tribes' territory.

Since then, Ryoko lived in hiding, surviving on red salamanders and blue salamanders since she didn't have any choice. Sometimes, she would see a Black Winged Dragon passing through and she would hide in the shadows. For many years, she lived like that— alone, inclusive, and afraid.

She had no idea what happened to the Valor Tribe. For all she knows, she's the only member of the tribe left.

And then, one day, she saw Jean Grey and Jack Michaels, two humans who can't transform like her. She wanted to talk to them, but they don't understand a single word she said. They even attacked her, but fortunately, her scales were formidable, and she was able to come out of the situation unscathed.

They were too panicked, too out of it that they started attacking her while she asked for help. She started getting angry, calling them mere humans, weak humans, and feeble humans. Even with their superpower, she still deemed them weak since they couldn't transform into a Black Winged Dragon just like her. She thought they were mutations since all the humans she knows could transform into a Black Winged Dragon.

The rest was history.

.....

The flames touched the Black Winged Dragon, engulfing her in blue flames. 'That's weird, these flames, they're not... they're not hot at all. They feel warm and kind, and gentle... It somewhat reminds me of my mother's hug... haah~ so warm.'

"NUOOOOAHHHHH!!!" Tears came out of Satoshi's eyes as he extended his hand in the air, all hopeless. Dread was written all over his face as blood came out of his eyes. He really was in anguish, and his despair couldn't be described in words.

As soon as the blue flames fully clothed her body, Ryoko felt as if her whole self was being sucked into another reality. She bit her lips and closed her eyes as tightly as she could, hoping that she didn't die after touching those warm and gentle flames. A whimper came out of her mouth and she started to shudder in fear.

From a distance, she could hear someone wailing, crying in despair as he lost himself. She couldn't tell why but somehow, she knew who the person was. His name was Midoriyama Satoshi. Furthermore, she could somehow feel what he was feeling, not to mention see through his past and share feelings with him.

"What's this feeling?" Ryoko asked herself as she woke up, only to be greeted by powerful beasts. There was a Floating Four-Piece Nailgun, a white floating cute stuff toy with seven halos on her head, a ghost-like being that teleported here and there, and a few other beasts that were almost as strong as her— if not on par with her.

Even with all those distractions, her connection with the boy who was the same age as her, Midoriyama Satoshi, was still as strong as ever. She could feel everything he felt— not intentionally though, but because Satoshi was sharing his feelings with her subconsciously.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asked.

To be fair, Ryoko had been to many places before, but she'd never been inside a place wherein familiars reside. But then again, she had enough experience with the unknown so she wasn't particularly panicky when she suddenly found herself in it. Besides, Satoshi's reassuring presence was there to ascertain her that everything was going to be all right. Her connection with him made her believe him, and that's more than enough for her to retain her composure and tranquility.

Compared to her times in the Beast Dimension where it was eat or be eaten, and where she should do everything to survive, the dimension inside Orb Oboros was far more peaceful. Ever since she escaped the Black Winged Tribes, she had experienced living in utter survival, but now, all those years seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye and she was calm.

Satoshi's White Lion approached her, nuzzling his head on her legs which tempted her to go down on her knees and bury her head in its mane. She fell asleep soon after that.

.....

Meanwhile,

"AH?! What happened? Where did it go?" Satoshi acted as surprised as he could, looking around in confusion while glancing toward Jack and Jean respectively as if to redirect his suspicions towards them.

"I didn't do anything. You?" Jean Grey asked while patting Pheross, his Azure Blue Tiger, on the head. It purred comfortably.

"What? Me? I didn't do anything." Jack Michael repeated as the two of them started looking around.

One moment, the Black Winged Dragon was there, the next moment it was gone with the end, disappearing in a snap of a finger.

Before anyone started questioning him about what happened, Satoshi fell to his knees and sighed in relief, wiping an imaginary bead of sweat on his forehead. "Whew, we survived that one. That was scary." He muttered to himself, truly getting into the character of a helpless teenager.

"Yeah, how could it disappear just like that?" Jack said, bewildered.

"You know what, that's enough excitement for the day, let's get out of here for now. How about we stop by over at my place by the Nichijou Region? It's a clear shot via the Dimensional Portal that leads to our world." Jean Grey excitedly offered, his eyes sparkling like the starry night reflected on a lake.

"What? No, I have better things to do." Jack Michael said. "I need to do a quick run to my country, you know, paperwork... I've been ditching the lot of them lately."

"What? Every single time I invite you, you're always not available." Jean Grey sighed. "How about you, Satoshi?"

"I'm sorry, I need to meet up with my group. We're currently on an excursion to the Beast Dimension or something like that." Satoshi said in a casual manner, relieved that they weren't skeptical about him. "But hold on a second... let me take a couple of steps back and ask... you two know each other?"

"Yep, we're best buds, right Jack?" Jean Grey cheerfully declared, wrapping his arm around Jack's neck.