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The mood was tense. The Ryusoulgers had just returned from a failed attempt to get rid of a Druidon that had recently popped up. No one knew the name or really anything about this Druidon. All they knew was that they should get rid of it as soon as possible.
This Druidon at least didn't seem to have much of an interest in using minosaurs at all. It prefered to be the one doing all of the hard work. That did make things a bit easier for them all to deal with.
However, tensions still became high. They had launched multiple failed attacks on this Druidon. Nobody could agree on what they should do to proceed with things. They all had different suggestions about what might work on this enemy.
As it stood, everyone was bickering about what to try next. Certain people were not being listened to anymore due to their first ideas failing. It was causing more issues. They were not working as a group like they should be.
"This is getting nowhere." Koh complained, bringing everything to silence for a moment.
"Because no one can agree who is right here." Melto commented. "It should be obvious we should listen to whoever has had most success with their attacks."
"Just because some attacks were better than others doesn't mean they know how to defeat the Druidon more!" Asuna argued.
And then it descended right back to where they had been. No one wanted to go with anyone else's plan. They wanted their plan to be the one they did next.
"Shut up!" Koh snapped again. "This is pointless if we're all just going to argue!"
Koh was not part of the conversation much anymore. No one wanted to listen to him at all. Sure, his initial plan had gotten them nowhere, but now he knew more about the enemy. They all knew more about the enemy.
"Koh..." The one who whispered his name was Towa. The younger boy seemed the most distressed by the arguing. That was part of why Koh had snapped. They were starting to make their own friends upset with this.
"I'm going to do things alone if you all can't come to an agreement." Koh growled.
He stood up from his seat and stormed out of the house.
"Koh!" Towa got up and rushed after him.
Everyone else looked at each other for a while. There was a lot of disbelief in everyone's faces. How had things gotten to this point?
"We should go after them before something bad happens." Melto was the first to speak again.
Everyone agreed with what he said. They all went searching for where the two boys had gotten to. Hopefully they hadn't met the Druidon and were just wandering around the place.
After a few minutes of searching to no avail, a scream pierced through the air. Everyone froze at the sudden noise.
"That sounded like Koh..." Canalo said quietly.
"Let's go!"
The four of them ran toward the direction the noise had come from. It wasn't far before they reached the scene.
Koh was fighting the Druidon. Towa was kneeling on the ground, noticeably wounded. Everyone was standing still. It was only for a brief moment, but that moment was enough for worse things to happen.
The Druidon fired off a shot at Koh, hitting him dead in the chest. Koh was flung backwards. He rolled across the ground, his transformation breaking apart. He didn't move once his body came to a stop.
"Koh! Koh!" Towa reacted first, rushing to his side and shaking him.
"Why don't you join him?" The Druidon spoke in a taunting voice.
Before anyone could react, Towa let out a scream of pain. His body tensed up as what looked almost like bolts of electricity coursed through him. When the energy faded, he fell forward, also unmoving.
"Towa!"
Bamba was the first to reach the two downed Ryusoulgers, the rest of the group not far behind. The Druidon let out a laugh and then vanished from the scene.
The two unconscious Ryusoulgers were examined. To everyone's relief, both were still breathing. They were alive, just heavily injured. They took them back to the house and did what they could to treat the wounds.
A doctor even was called to come check out the two boys. Much to everyone's relief, the doctor confirmed there was no internal damage. Just external wounds. They would recover.
"I can't believe that guy..." Asuna growled. "Who does that Druidon even think he is?"
"He's strong." Melto responded, "He managed to take two of us down with such ease. He didn't even need to touch Towa to do that much damage."
"Every time we fight him, it seems he has a new trick up his sleeve." Canalo added.
"We underestimated him more than we thought." Bamba said. "And now..."
Everyone's gazed drifted over to Koh and Towa. Both laid unmoving on some makeshift beds.
"All we can do is wait and hope they recover soon." Melto said, "It's late. We should all get some rest as well."
"I'll stay out here and keep an eye on them." Bamba offered, thought it was more of a statement.
Everyone nodded and went to their room for the night. Bamba sat down on the floor beside where Towa was at. He stared at his little brother for a long time, watching his chest rising and falling slowly. He blamed himself a bit for the fact Towa had gotten so badly injured. He should've been able to protect him somehow.
He only moved his gaze away when he heard a groan coming from the other inhabitant of the room. Bamba watched as Koh moved around. After a few minutes, his eyes opened slightly.
He blinked a few times and then started looking around. He went still when his gaze fell onto Bamba.
"You're awake." Bamba spoke, "How are you feeling?"
"Sore..." Koh mumbled, now looking anywhere but at Bamba. "I'm sorry... what I did was stupid..."
"It's not your fault. This could've happened no matter the circumstance." Bamba replied.
"I... I'm sorry I drug Towa into it too..."
Bamba sighed. He had heard whispers from the others working over if he might have some harsh things to say to Koh because of what happened to Towa.
"Towa really looks up to you. I'm not surprised he followed you there. Honestly... if he hadn't been there as well, I think the outcome would've been worse than it was."
"Eh?"
Bamba glanced over at Towa. "The Druidon almost killed both of you."
"Eh?! Towa... got hurt worse...?" Koh forced himself into a sitting position and worriedly eyed up Towa.
"He rushed to you when you collapsed. The Druidon... was able to attack him from afar. There was nothing we could do."
"So... you're saying if there hadn't been two targets..."
"The Druidon most likely would've killed you before anyone got to you."
Koh stared down. "I... is he okay?"
"He'll be fine. Just needs to rest."
"Are you... mad at me?"
Bamba had to think about his answer. That only seemed to make Koh more on-edge.
"I think everyone is mad at you for running off on your own. Beyond that, no."
"That Druidon..."
"Is still out there, unfortunately."
...
When morning came, everyone was glad to see that Koh was awake. And thankfully, not long into the morning, Towa finally woke up as well.
"The Druidon can launch attacks without touching us."
"But it still has to come from him, right?"
They had started talking about the Druidon once more, pondering over ways to defeat it once and for all. At least this time everyone was cooperating with each other. They were building a plan together. It was just unfortunate it took a horrible situation like this to make that happen.
"The connection must be really small so it's hard to notice until it hits you."
"Then, we need a way to see it."
"Or a way to deflect it."
"Is there a ryusoul we could use to help us...?"
"Probably."
Their conversation got ended abruptly as they were alerted that the Druidon was back and wreaking havoc in the town once more. Looks like they'd have to just make up the rest of the plan as they went. There was no time to waste.
"Koh, Towa. Both of you stay here you're far too injured to be fighting." Melto stated.
"But..." Koh went to protest.
"No! You will just get yourself hurt worse! Stay here." Melto was not having any of it.
Towa didn't say a word. He had just nodded to the statement. It seemed he at least had the sense to not put himself into reckless danger unlike Koh.
"Let's go." The four Ryusoulgers who were still able to fight left to go track down the Druidon again. They were going to try and end it today.
They found the Druidon rampaging through a park. It was chasing any patrons it found, laughing at their fear.
"Ryusoul Change!"
The four of them transformed and rushed into battle. The Druidon faced them.
"You guys are much more fun to play with than those people." The Druidon chuckled. "Shall we have some fun? Like what I did to your friends?"
"We're getting you back for that!" Asuna stated.
They clashed. The battle was tough. The Druidon still seemed to be able to overpower them. Even with the help of multiple types of ryusouls, they were still being knocked back.
They were all hit and sent rolling across the ground. They all forced themselves back to their feet. This fight wasn't over yet.
"Ryusoul Change!"
To everyone's shock, a voice broke through the noise. Koh had opted to still followed them. He had transformed and rushed at the Druidon.
"Koh...!" Towa was not far behind him.
Canalo and Melto placed themselves in front of Towa since they were the closest to him. They weren't giving the Druidon any opening to reach Towa again. Not when he was still barely recovered from the previous attack.
"I'm sorry... I... tried to stop him..." Towa panted.
"Koh! You're too injured to fight!" Asuna yelled.
"I'm not sitting back. I'm going to fight!" Koh yelled in reply.
"Not for long, you won't." The Druidon taunted.
It hit Koh hard and sent him flying. He landed on the ground, out of his transformation. Koh was gasping for breath. He wasn't able to get back to his feet. Every attempt ended in him falling back down.
"This time I won't let you live." The Druidom began to charge up a shot.
"No!!"
The shot was fired. Koh braced for impact. Only, the pain never came.
"As if it would be that easy for you to kill one of us."
"Eh...?"
Bamba had managed to get in front of him before the attack landed. He had blocked it, though not without taking some damage.
"Koh!" Asuna rushed to Koh's side.
Bamba held out his sword at the Druidon. "This is where your story will end. I won't forgive you for what you've done."
"You haven't made a dent on me yet. Good luck." The Druidon mocked him.
Bamba didn't react. He simply charged at the Druidon. The two fought, everyone else watching. Surprisingly, Bamba was hitting the Druidon a lot. The Druidon was starting to weak.
"How?! How are you hurting me?!" The Druidon yelled.
"You've made me angry. I'm not holding back." Bamba said.
"I'll kill you!" The Druidon rushed forward.
Bamba unleashed his finisher. When the dust settled, the Druidon was gone. Dead. Gone up in flames.
"You... did it..." Everyone else was quite shocked.
Bamba undid his transformation and walked back over to Koh. "Don't be reckless like this again. You almost died."
Koh gave him a lopsided smile. "Lesson learned. Though, that was pretty cool. So you do care about me, huh?"
Bamba quickly turned around, opting to not answer the question. He walked over to Towa now.
"I'm sorry... I know I shouldn't have followed him here but... I was worried." Towa mumbled.
"I understand." Bamba replied.
He knew Towa had started really looking up to Koh. It wasn't hard to notice the way the two boys had started treating each other. Of course Towa wanted to help his friend.
"Let's get back. You need some medical attention too." Melto broke into the conversation, "As does Koh."
Bamba glanced at his arm. The shot he had blocked had left a nasty mark on his arm. But, it had been worth it. No one had lost their life today.
"You do like Koh, right, nii-san?" Towa questioned with a knowing smile.
"I merely did it for you. Because you like him so much." Bamba deflected the question.
Towa chuckled. "Right, right."
Bamba knew everyone could tell he was lying. He was very well aware that everyone was starting to learn how to read him despite his emotionless behavior. That didn't mean he was going to change how he acted. They could learn all they wanted. He didn't mind as much as he used to about people knowing his true feelings.
Towa started dragging him back toward the house. Bamba let himself be pulled along. Everyone was in a better mood now that the Druidon was gone. One less enemy to deal with.
Once everyone's wounds had been treated, they had a peaceful day. Though, Towa kept teasing Bamba over his sudden protectiveness he had shown to Koh.