Chapter 3: Silver Against Gold
After defeating Umi No Omi, Kurohane did not rest.
He sailed across the seas alone, seeking the remaining Umi No Oni, not to challenge them, but to learn from them. To grow stronger. To master the power he had been given.
One name echoed above all others.
Shirogane Ayame.
An Umi No Oni who had also failed to defeat Umi No Omi.
A warrior feared even among the sea's guardians.
Approaching Ryushima
Ryushima rose from the ocean like a sleeping beast.
The Land of Dragons.
The air itself burned.
As Kurohane stepped onto the island, heat surged through his boots, the ground scorching beneath his feet. Rivers of lava glowed in the distance, and above it all stood a massive castle carved into the side of a volcano.
At its peak waited Shirogane Ayame.
Kurohane climbed until he reached the castle gates.
She was already there.
Silver hair flowing, blade resting at her side, eyes cold and sharp.
"What brings you here?" Shirogane asked.
"I am here to train," Kurohane replied.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You need training?" she said. "You defeated Umi No Omi, didn't you?"
"Uh… yeah," Kurohane answered.
"Then why do you need training?" she asked.
"I need to master Kinryu."
The air shifted.
"YOU HAVE KINRYU?" Shirogane screamed.
She lunged.
Steel clashed as her blade slammed into Kurohane's defense, sparks flying across the stone floor.
"WAIT!" Kurohane shouted, barely holding her back.
"What?" she snarled, attacking relentlessly. "Kaigan no Shugosha could not… give… ME… Kinryu!"
"Who is he?" Kurohane yelled.
Her blade froze inches from his throat.
She stepped back.
"You don't know him?" Shirogane asked.
"I don't," Kurohane replied.
"The one guarding the Realm of the Great Sea," she said quietly.
Kurohane blinked.
"That old guy?" he asked.
Shirogane stared at him.
"…Yes," she said. "That old guy."
The volcano rumbled.
And somewhere deep beneath Ryushima, a dragon stirred.
The gates of Ryushima closed behind Kurohane with a thunderous boom.
The heat was unbearable.
Lava flowed like rivers beneath stone bridges, the air thick with ash and fire. Shirogane Ayame walked ahead without looking back.
"If you fall," she said calmly, "you burn."
She stopped at the center of a massive stone arena carved into the volcano itself.
"This is where you train."
Kurohane tightened his grip on Kinryu. "I'm ready."
Shirogane turned.
"No," she said. "You are not."
She raised her hand.
The ground shook.
Silver scales erupted across her skin as her body lifted from the ground. Bones cracked. Wings tore through the air in a storm of heat and ash.
In seconds, a silver dragon stood before him, eyes glowing like molten moons.
"This is my true form," her voice echoed from the beast's mouth. "Survive."
She moved.
A blast of dragonfire tore through the arena.
Kurohane barely rolled aside, the stone behind him instantly melting. He leapt to his feet and swung Kinryu, releasing a wave of golden heat.
The attack vanished.
The dragon's tail slammed into him, sending him crashing into the wall.
Pain exploded through his body.
"You hesitate," Shirogane said. "Kinryu does not respond to fear."
She attacked again.
Claws. Fire. Wind.
Kurohane was overwhelmed.
He blocked too late. Dodged too slow. Every mistake burned into his body.
Hours passed.
Then days.
He collapsed again and again.
Each time, Shirogane stood over him.
"Again."
He learned to breathe with the heat.
To move with the flow of the volcano.
To strike not with rage, but intent.
One night, surrounded by lava light, Shirogane spoke.
"I was chosen once," she said. "Kaigan no Shugosha showed me the Realm of the Great Sea."
Kurohane looked up.
"He said I was unworthy."
Her claws dug into stone.
"I wanted Kinryu," she continued. "I wanted to end Umi No Omi. But I sought power for revenge. The sea rejected me."
She turned back to him.
"Do not make the same mistake."
The next trial began at dawn.
She transformed again, faster this time.
Kurohane did not run.
He stepped forward.
Kinryu burned brighter.
A golden dragon spirit surged around him, wrapping his body in blazing light. His movements sharpened. His strikes became precise.
Gold met silver.
Fire met fire.
The volcano roared.
At the peak of the battle, Shirogane halted midair.
Her dragon form dissolved, returning her to human shape.
She knelt.
"You have learned," she said.
Kurohane fell to one knee, breathing heavily.
"What… did I learn?"
"That Kinryu is not a weapon," she replied. "It is a responsibility."
She stood and placed her blade into the stone.
"From this moment on, I will train you not as a warrior," she said, "but as the sea's executioner."
The volcano calmed.
Deep beneath Ryushima, the dragons slept again.
And far away, in the darkness of the Black Sea, something felt Kinryu's awakening.
"Try training with Ankoryu, the Dark Tide Dragon," said Shirogane.