When he rushes into the cave, he sees her weakly lying there with blood smeared all over her face, blindfolded with tears streaming down her cheeks. He sees two unknown men trying to pour something down her throat, forcing her jaw open with the larger one's hands as she weakly tries to resist. In an instant his reason snaps and he sees red. His new twin blades appear in his hands without warning, glowing brightly as his light skill charges up for a frontal assault. The two kidnappers were so focused on getting her to swallow the unknown substance it took them a second to sense his approach, by the time they did it was already too late.
Clank!
The harsh sound of metal meeting metal rang clear in the confined space. Sparks fly in the air as a short dagger barely manages to block a pair of twin blades, inches away from the thin man's neck.
"Oi, are you being serious right now. We're trying to save this bitch's life!" Number Two grits his teeth and pushes back with all his might, finally fending off the attack.
"Who sent you?"
Rei hops back a step, raising his twin blades in anger with his eyes glowing pure gold. The vision of his enraged form makes number two shudder in fear.
"Number 5 forget the girl for now, this guy is the real deal."
Barely a second after he's finished speaking Rei charges at them again, issuing lightning-fast strikes. His twin blades flashing out like whips of light, assaulting both men at the same time. His limbs are weightless, twisting and spinning in a lethal dance of blades. A single swing of his sword is enough to leave a deep gouge in the ground, yet he'd already unleashed fifty of these strikes in an instance, scarring the entire cave. The two kidnappers can hardly keep up, sweating bullets as they try to pry his enraged attacks. After relentlessly smashing them against the cave walls several times, Rei suddenly pulls back. The two are relieved, breathing heavily in fear, unsure of what's to come.
He gathers his two blades, merging them into one giant bastard sword made entirely of light. Effortlessly heaving it over his head, he proceeds to slam it to the ground.
[Falling Star]
"Shit!" Number two can't believe his eyes, watching the uncontrollable surge of light mana morph into a roaring dragon headed right at them.
"Number two are we gonna die?" The battered oaf beside him mumbles, no longer as boastful as before.
"Like hell I'll die like this!" right before they are swallowed by the destructive light, number two quickly chugs down a foreign concoction.
When the light of the massive attack subsides, a deep crater is left on the cave wall. Through the dust, the silhouette of number two can be seen shielding number five. His body is completely ravished with hot charred skin all over.
"Gah…ek" He coughs out dark blobs of bloody phlegm. "You have it all wrong my Prince, we only wanted to use her to guarantee your return to the capital. Your father would like to have a word with you."
Rei's stoic enraged expression doesn't change even with the mention of his father. Like an executioner ready to fulfill his duty, he simply holds up his sword with cold glowing gold eyes.
"Number two?" the cowering big oaf beneath him cautiously calls out to him, unsure if his companion is still alive in such a state.
"Run you stupid oaf, he's too strong."
"No, I'm not leaving you" the big man switches their positions, taking a defensive stance at the front.
"You should not have come, anyone who touched her will perish here!" Rei is far too enraged to care for their display of camaraderie, heated steam escaping his parted lips with a hiss. Stabbing the massive sword in the ground to charge, he rushes forward and begins to box number five. In a test of might, one would think his larger frame would give Number five an advantage, but reality proved to be different. Each mana enhanced punch from Rei felt like a bolder slamming into him, breaking his bones, even blasting off his limbs if he's careless. He could hardly put up his guard while Rei pummeled him like a ragdoll.
"Argh, my arms! He took my arm!!" The big man rolled and wailed on the ground for several minutes in despair.
Rei moves were too agile for the big oaf to follow, in the end he could only retreat to number two's side with a bleeding stump for an arm. Surprisingly, Rei didn't chase after him, instead returning to his massive sword that had been charging this entire time. Heaving up the massive sword of light, he swings it horizontally, slicing the very air itself with a daunting white arc of light. Trapped in the vacuum left behind, the two can't even breathe, grabbing at their throats as they struggle for air. Like the embodiment of wrath itself, Rei descends on them from above, his massive blade transforms into a lance made of light mana as he slams it down on their heads like crashing lightning.
"Is that really Rei?" Riell is shocked beyond words.
He and the others could only watch from the sidelines, unable to join the fray due to Rei's indiscriminate destructive attacks. It seems in this enraged state, anyone other than Ariellia, would be forced to bear his wrath. They could only rush to Ariellia's side to offer her first aid while he fights. Even though he knows his nephew wouldn't harm Arie, the older Bastian still placed a barrier around them just in case. The heiress stopped convulsing after Jasper offered her a super elixir but the earlier strain on her mind kept her unconscious.
"He's a Bastian after all. No one touches a dragon's mate without facing the consequences."
"Dragon?" The fox boy is shocked to see Rei let out an animalistic roar, opening his mouth and releasing a breath of pure white flame, incinerating the two kidnappers to cinders on the spot.
"Yes, my nephew has finally passed his rite of passage as a dragon. Nothing brings out our full potential better than rage." Jasper smirks at the sight of his approaching nephew, pleased by the adorning horns and tail made of light mana.
"Give her to me." The unstated command in Rei's voice would make most kneel on the spot but Jasper remains composed. Any other time he might have teased him and willfully denied his request to annoy him, but Jasper knows better. Doing such a thing could easily get him labeled as an enemy, reigniting Rei's anger. In his current state he could gravely injure the older Bastian, best not to chance it. Jasper releases his barrier and offers the heiress to Rei.
Seemingly unaware of his altered state, he gently takes her into his arms like fragile glass, while removing the blindfold over her eyes.
"It's ok now, I'm here Arie. I'm here now."
The beauty in his arms begins to stir at the sound of his voice, her soft amethyst eyes slowly blink open. She reaches up towards his face, both surprised to see he'd been crying without knowing it.
"Rei?" She looks groggy and dazed, disbelieving that he came to her rescue.
"It's me, I'm here."
"You came…even for someone like me…really…such a hero…" she's still muddled from the hit to her head so he can't make out everything she's trying to say. The bits he does hear makes his heart twist painfully. What does she mean 'for someone like me'? Why wouldn't he save her?
"It's okay now, you don't have to worry. I'll always find you." Choked up by so many emotions, he simply hugs her tightly to his chest. A sense of peace returns to him as he hears her steady heartbeat as she falls back to sleep in his arms, cancelling out the rage from before, turning him back to normal.