Targaryen Who Turned Dragon

"The first match of the Quarterfinals; Jun Long versus Lai Mei, BEGIN!"

"You will fight against me? As you wish."

As she said this, ice started to surround her and fill the arena. Then a large amount of ice grew from the cold ground and surrounded Aerion's entire body.

"Is that all?" Aerion asked.

Mighty Wind Slash.

Aerion broke free from the ice and jumped high into the sky. Then he looked down at the arena and breathed fire onto the ground. All of the ice was transformed into water by the time Aerion returned to the ground. The power of his flames far surpassed the power of Izanami's ice. And that was just his regular flames...

"Wow, so Jun Long can use both wind and fire? He's amazing!"

"He's as talented as he is handsome!"

"I feel like he's going straight to the finals..."

"Tch, it's not like he has much competition anyway. Group 1 is an embarrassment to the entire tournament."

Aerion drew Silver Eagle and charged towards Izanami. In response, Izanami drew her own sword and placed herself into a defensive pose. Then she activated her Sharingan. The moment Aerion was in her range, his sword clattered to the floor and he found himself without a weapon. Izanami disarmed him before he could react!

One of the powers of the Sharingan is to be able to "predict" movements and Izanami seems to be exceptionally good at using this power.

"Now I'm serious. From here on out, you won't be able to disarm me again!"

"I'll take that as a challenge."

Aerion activated his own Sharingan.

Star God's Broken Shadow.

Two afterimages appeared and they distracted Izanami while Aerion retrieved his sword. Well, actually, they didn't distract her. She saw right through them! Still, the speed provided by the powerful movement technique was more than enough for Aerion to get his sword without getting hit.

Aerion charged once again. When he got close, Aerion changed his direction slightly.

Swift Wind.

He moved to the right in the very last moment. Izanami wasn't prepared for that, her left side was completely unprotected. Aerion smirked since he outsmarted her in battle.

*Slash*

Aerion's sword stopped in its tracks.

"Huh?"

A barrier of ice appeared at the very last second. This time, Izanami was the on smiling. Aerion was once again surrounded by ice. You could say that he was 'sealed'. Getting out was at least five times harder than before.

"So, how are you going to get out now?"

"Is this all you can do? Sealing things in ice? Hahahahaha, what a joke!"

DEMON KING'S EXPLOSION!

"What...? You..."

"I want to end it here, but it's too soon for that."

A few clashes later, it was very clear who the winner would be. Aerion's skill with the sword matched Izanami's, he was stronger and he had a far superior arsenal of profound skills.

"I'm going to end this right here..."

Dragon Soul, Star God's Broken Shadow.

The difference in both speed and strength was too much, there was no way Izanami could win unless she had something powerful up her sleeve. Unfortunately, for Aerion, she did. Her three tomoe transformed into one shape, a Mangekyō Sharingan!

Aerion stopped in his tracks when he looked at her eyes... he was now under a genjutsu, an illusion.

~In his mind~

Where am I... what is this world?

Aerion looked around and all he saw was an empty space, much like his inner realm where the Dragon lives. The only difference was that there were over a thousand Izanami's attacking him!

"This can't be real... how in God's name am I supposed to beat all of them?"

Every time he damaged an Izanami, she would disappear and another one would come in an replace her. Aerion knew that this was all an illusion but he couldn't break out of it! All he could do is fight back... or just stand still and feel a lot of PAIN.

~Reality~

"Don't worry, your pain will end soon enough."

Izanami stabbed her katana right through Aerion who looked like he had been paralysed. She didn't want to win like this... but she had no other choice. She withdrew her sword and kicked Aerion down to the floor. The referee started to count to ten. Why did Izanami stab Aerion? It was to make sure that she would win, even if he broke through her genjutsu.

"One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight..."

~

I can't lose... not after all of my training! What's the point of it all if I don't win THE DAMN TOURNAMENT!? No... I won't accept this!

The image of the Crimson Dragon appeared...

*ROAR!!!*

All of the hundreds of Izanami's were sent flying by the mighty roar. Then in an authoritative and dragon-like voice, Aerion spoke.

"I'M A DRAGON AND, THEREFORE, NOTHING IN THIS WORLD CAN CHAIN ME!"

BOOM!

~

Aerion stood up and a crimson red aura started to gather around his body. Crimson scales started to grow on the right side of his body. His eyes were filled with killing intent and bloodl.u.s.t.

"I WIN!"

*SL.A.P*

In an instant, Aerion knocked Izanami out cold with just one slap. He was faster and far more lethal in this state, the only negative was he couldn't control himself properly. Still, he managed to stop himself from killing Izanami. Aerion looked at the referee, waiting for him to speak.

Aerion's gaze sent shivers down the referee's spine. He quickly announced the winner.

"The match winner is... Jun Long... he moves onto the semi-finals!"

The moment he was announced as the winner, Aerion let go of his consciousness.

~

"Wow, that was one hell of a fight!"

"I know. They both had those red eyes... where did they get them?"

"It's probably some sort of bloodline but there hasn't been anyone else with such eyes..."

"His eyes are impressive but his healing is god-like!"

"You know Ling Kun is probably rubbing his hands and waiting for the opportunity to recruit Jun Long into the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region."

"If he doesn't, then one of the other Sacred Grounds will get their hands on him."

~An hour later~

Tai Xia sat by Aerion as he peacefully slept in his bed.

*Knock*

"Who is it?"

Izanami opened the door. "It's me, Lai Mei."

"Get out... you caused this..."

Izanami nodded as she entered and closed the door. "I did go a little too far... but it looks like he's doing fine."

"Get out."

"Make me."

The young ladies entered a clash of stares. In the end, Tai Xia sighed and gave up. Izanami smiled.

"Believe it or not, I care about him as much as you do... if not more."

"Whatever, I'm leaving."

Tai Xia left the room since she had a match to prepare for. Izanami looked at Aerion's very handsome face and she gently stroked his soft silver hair for a while. Then she stood up.

"I hope you get well soon and win the tournament. Perhaps, after the tournament, we could talk about everything and get back on the same page."

She pecked Aerion on the cheek and left shortly after. A sly grin slowly formed on Aerion's face. Women get so emotional and open when you're "unconscious". Tsk, tsk, tsk I was awake the whole time! Did everyone really think breaking out of that illusion would cost me a whole day? Fools, I'm a Dragon! Anyway... it's good to know Izanami is still the same Izanami, it's just that she's hiding it really well.

It wouldn't hurt to get some good sleep. I'm still tired from that burst of energy. I wonder, where did it come from in the first place? It was just like that time I fought Yun Che... when he was about to kill me. In fact, it also happened in my fight with Viserys. It all leads to the Crimson Dragon; his image, the burst of power and the voice change. He's the best inner Dragon anyone could hope for, I would've lost without him.

After solving the relatively obvious question, Aerion went to sleep.

"You really think it was just me? Hahaha, we are one! You are giving me too much credit." The Dragon laughed.

~

The ice golems looked at the broken entrance and saw Aerion walk inside. They all looked defeated before Aerion even drew a weapon.

"Not this guy again, he comes every damn morning."

"Wait... isn't it like midnight or something?"

"That's true, he never comes during the night."

The day-night cycle is reversed. While it's day in the real world, it's night in the Dungeon and vice-versa.

"True, I never come during the night."

FIRE BREATH.

Every single ice golem was melted. Then Aerion waited for the Ice Queen to show up once again.

"Ugh... it's you, again."

"Mhm. I've come here to harvest some gold! So why don't you get that book out and summon your Ice Dragon?"

"And why would I do that? So that you could get more gold? I won't be foolish enough to assist an enemy."

"So damn stubborn! Oh well, I'll just take whatever you have."

*SLASH*

~Meanwhile~

The battle between Ling Jie and Ling Feiyu had an unexpected end with Ling Jie winning. The third match was Xia Qingyue against Tai Quin. Tai Quin fought long and hard, even pressuring Xia Qingyue to use her true strength! After it was revealed that she had the cultivation strength of Earth Profound Three, it was pretty much over. It was pretty sad how badly Tai Quin lost in the end.

The fourth and last match of the Quarter Finals was Tai Xia against Ling Yun. This match was really unfair to Xia due to the difference in cultivation strength... but what can you do? She fought as hard as she could but it wasn't enough. Ling Yun won and advanced to the Semi-Finals. Only one Noble Rogue Sect disciple remained... the Silver Calamity himself, Jun Long!

~

Ling Jie was standing in the arena, waiting for Aerion.

*BANG*

Sky Piercer was thrown up, high into the sky. Then it landed and made a thunderous sound, letting everyone know that the Mightiest Halberd Of All Time was here. Then, right after the landing, a shining figure jumped down to the arena. Aerion easily picked up the colossal halberd with his right hand. Everyone was shocked, apart from the Noble Rogue Sect.

~

"Sigh... I'll never be as good as Jun Long."

"Don't stress over it, Quin. You still reached the Quarterfinals while only being 16 years old!" Tai Ming stated

"Ming is right. Jun Long is just destined for far greater things. I'm still proud of you, my son." Tai Wentian added

Tai Quin nodded, he acknowledged Jun Long's superiority ever since he beat him in the Assembly Tournament but he was still bitter about it. It seemed like it was just yesterday when he was amazed by the Wind God's Art. Now, Jun Long is miles ahead of Tai Quin and he couldn't possibly hope to reach him. How things have changed...

~

"It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to finally face you, Jun Long."

"Same here."

Let's see what Ling Yun's brother can do... more importantly, I wish to see the profound art of the Heavenly Sword Villa in action. This should be an easy win for me but I want to actually benefit from this match. After this match, your sacred Heaven's Might Sword Art will be in my possession!

Aerion activated his Sharingan.