Major Event; Gong Gong

The great tower of magic, that which once belonged to the late brother of Khrona Tensei before the rise of the Veritas from the Lost World, would suddenly begin to pulsate with immense magical power, as if sensing something coming. This was the latent power that was left within it in order to establish it, as well as what had been used to move it in recent days to a less volatile location by the Veritas, herself. This powerful surge of magic was a warning, and it would expend all of its strength to sound such mystical alarms into the aether of this world. Hopefully, something would pick up on it and come to its aid.

The radiating waves of magic in the air swept over the skies of the Shaded Jade, uncovering the head of a fearsome creature with great, bulging eyes and long, untamed, yet fluid facial hair; a mustache, eyebrows and beard that streamed like a river from the face of the creature. Only its head was revealed by the pulsating waves, as well as part of its long body. The full length of the creature could not be seen, as its body seemed to blend in naturally with the very atmosphere around it. The closer it made its way to the magical beacon, the more of it was revealed. It was a great and mighty Chinese Dragon; Gong Gong, who sought to ensnare this land and claim it as its own.

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~At the next moment, Ty would also be able to see where every single head of Orochi was located at the time through his Third Eye, and at those marks, he would swing his arm to dice each of the spots where Orochi's heads connected to the main body with the ethereal energy of the blade projected into each of those locations, since the energy that he was able to omit from the 'King Blade' was able to reach anywhere within his established Presence. This would appear to be him slashing wildly at Orochi whilst his Commanding head was moving, but this was actually to hack at the other 7 the very moment they revealed themselves in the Veritas' reality. Not only would a connected slash sever their ties to the Veritas and isolate their realities as only individual heads, but also this would also sever their connection to their tails.~

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The image of the 'Prayer Beads' surrounding the Greenhouse area would 'Project' itself around Tao's neck, thus binding Tiamat at the same time with the power of the presence of this land and the Master of the Presence, itself.

Through the synchronization of each of the Shinsangels and the Shinsanities, the subduing Prayer Beads that were once only on Tao and Tia's necks would be projected also around the necks of the severed dragon heads of Orochi, preventing them from being able to grow back, as well as establishing a set dominant influence belonging to the Tensei that would prevent Orochi's regeneration without first overpowering the binding forces of the sentient beings fighting against his presence within the Veritas. Though he was assimilated with the Veritas, the realm was fighting back against him, and therefore gave him a power struggle in addition to Ty's Presence as a while that were the individual wills and consciousness of the 7 Shinsangels that protected the Veritas. Thus, in order to overcome the Veritas, or even have any sort of control over any part of the Veritas, as well as the ability to regenerate any of the lost heads, Orochi would have to overcome all 7 of the Shinsangels.

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~Each tail was slung at a high speed toward the respective targets, which were the 7 headless nubs of Orochi and where the dragon spawn were probably still wriggling about. Each spiritual hurricane was cast down upon the Veritas like a paintbrush upon paper, where the true artwork could be colored in fine detail by each tail working in tandem to create a greater story, now, and not working against each other individually. Through harmonizing with Orochi, the tactics of how each head and tail worked in harmony would be applied immediately to the 7 Shinsangels, as well. From there, through that connection, Tiamat would be able to paint each of the heads of the Veritas upon the headless nubs from where the Prayer Beads connected and assume complete control of the hijacked body, as well as each of its tails.~

"Okay, so, we're not calling it 'Magic,' this time," would a passing transmission in the air speak once entering the energetic wavelength being omitted from the 'Tower of Magick,' striking the air hard and bursting into the lightning-headed figure intercepting whatever wave passed through his spiky, electrical hair, "So, what happens is that, we're gonna call that stuff by its proper name, 'Manna,' and I will explain to you how ALL of it works on EACH of its LEVELS." With every word emphasized by his very speech, a wave of energy in the air being released from the beacon would condense itself into a concentrated wave, as if shooting a signal, and the entire tower of radiant Manna (not Magic) would begin firing rapid lightning bolts at the hopefully completely disturbed dragon flying directly into them and their firing radius at the time. "But we can still CALL it 'Magic," he followed, affixing his mage-like scientist's cloak over him and popping up the color shadily, making his head, which was already aglow and streaming like a filament, look like a lightning-shaped lightbulb. "It is very important to how everyone would be able to communicate. Since a lot of people would still definitely be calling it magic, and I certainly don't expect that it will stop anytime soon." He made sure to note that in order for translation purposes to be fully understood. He seemed to be muttering important notes about what moves had to be made next. He was only interrupted by the sight of the lightning being shot from the tower. It seemed that the stray waves of energy that Tsao was picking up on were those of the tower, which sounded to him like actual verbal text, something like narration in his head.

"... Wait. Shit, wait, is something going on here?" Tsao saw that lightning was shooting from the tower, yet he wasn't aware that it was happening at the time because of his thoughts and feelings, nor that his translated thoughts and feelings were from the tower's energy at the time, and the vibrations were simply being slowed down to legible thought at the time for him to pick up on, something like a satellite. It was just reacting according to his own energy automatically, of which he wouldn't have immediately assumed that it would, having never been to this location before. "Ohooooo shit! That's amazing, son~!" Once he was aware that he had control over the Vibrations in the area, he was able to take control over their power, since they were charged and set to his. Thus, each ion in his radius of influence would flow toward the target of his emotion in accordance to how and what he felt about them at the time, as a radio wave, brain wave or and sort of wave would. "KILL THAT DAMN DRAGON." What looked like a streaming plasmatic light scorched in Tsao's eye once he actually concentrated all of his attention on his target, and all of the energy in the area, being infused with his consciousness, and therefore also his attention, would target the creature, hurling bolt after bolt of clustered energy evenly distributed by however much was in each collective space at each time. This created space in between each bolt, but also a vacuum of equal speed that should have suspended the dragon in place as each bolt of lightning drew in their energy at light speed to strike him down from every possible angle at once.

*Note: If the physics was correct, then the entirety of the theoretical methodology should have followed through. If not, all the energy in the air was 'Magic,' anyway. So, just MAGIC that shit up if the logic is flawed. XD

"FOOL!" were the first words out of the dragon's mouth as he felt that bolt of lightning coming from a mile away, having already felt and matched the frequencies of those statically charged in the air. With just a bat of his eye, Gong Gong disappeared as swiftly as he was spotted, masking his presence after it had been severed from the Veritas upon his entry. "You Dare Try To Strike Us With Magic AGAIN!?" It wasn't until each of the lightning bolts crashed into each other and the thunderous roar of the vacuum bellowed throughout the entire area that the billowing clouds rushed, rolling over as though the flowing of just his tail over the land. "Have You Not Learned?!" In but one moment, Gong Gong had taken the city's skies up in the mist of his tail, a vapor of which was the same as the very clouds in the atmosphere. "WE Still Rule The True Sky!!" What was the sound of coherent vocation was, to the ear of those beyond, nothing but roars and booms, as if of nothing but thunder and lightning. However, with each flash of residual electrical charges within the pillow of cloud were what looked to be eyes darting about like lightning. "Not Your Tiny Planetary Facsimiles!!" The first place Gong Gong sought to strike was the one who attempted to dare strike a dragon first. As the boy had stepped out of his place before the Dragon Clan would he be swiftly put back into it at the eye of Gong Gong glaring down upon he and his foolish magic tower. "XIANGLIU!!!" A bolt of lightning just as severe as the cumulative bolts shot out of the slit in the dragon eye hidden in the clouds, branching off into a nine-headed strand of lightning with all such intent to strike down the building that produced power and the child drawing from it... in nine different manners if need be, in case the first strike didn't get them both. Each string of lightning seemed to be like that of a dragon's head and of a serpentine neck.

"... Dammit. I missed it!" His initial excitement and overexertion of his own emotion caused him to loose all of his energy upon the dragon all at once, leaving himself open for the dragon to appear afterward after avoiding the first cataclysmic strike. "And didn't I just say it's NOT MAGIC?! Son of a--" Tsao flipped open his Golden Grimoire, speeding through its pages, trying to find some technique appropriate for using. There were many, plus he could make some up as he saw fit from having the Book in his possession. It wasn't until the flashes of lightning occurred again that Tsao would hear the cry of a familiar name. "Hold up, did this dragon just summon a henchman on me?!" Being well versed in lore, Tsao was well aware of what 'Xiangliu' was, even if it did not seem the same as spoken of in legend. These were mystical creatures of numerous shape and form, so he needed to be careful. With Tsao's consciousness well connected to the entire area, he was able to sense not only Gong Gong, but also the Xiangliu as well as their waves and could feel the electrical current charging inside of the dragon's eye before it left his pupil. Thus, when the nine bolts shot down, from the top of the tower, nine others would be already meeting with the heads of the dragon-like lightning bolts, charged to their ions and attracted to their currents (in case the heads tried to move out of the way), dispelling them in a burst of electricity upon contact.

"Awesome, that's gonna take care of the little henchman... And for the big one..." Tsao had really only been using his powers experimentally for a long time, as he liked to do very long studies and extremely vigorous research on the abilities he possessed, especially the ancient tongue, but the time for experimentation came to a close when it came down to actually testing his work. Thus, recalling whatever he could about the ancient tongue, he would begin to speak toward Gong Gong, "Entro Monzora!!"

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At his command, each of the highly charged particles in the air still at his command would spread from the collision between the two nine-branched lightning bolts and out over the resulting area, neutralizing the polarity of Gong Gong's presence and allowing Tsao's consciousness to snatch the very tail end of Gong Gong's oh so fluffy tail, which happened to conveniently coat the entire city. "Damn, what else do we got here...? Hold on, throw something else at me, I think I'm on to something here..." Tsao continued flipping through his pages, his eyes growing wide, a dogged smirk on his face, and the book crackling with electricity in his hand as it drew from the power of his very highly active mind. Lightning could be seen flashing in his own eyes, a storm brewing in the back of his head as he looked over Gong Gong's work. "... You Got Real Pretty Eyes... Friend." He chuckled softly, keeping a close eye on the book.

Gong Gong was astounded to see the perceptiveness in the eye of what seemed to be a young pup, which seemed to have more in mind that claiming the dragon's head for fame or glory. Instead, there was intent of learning in there, and that was a respect of the dragon's power that he not only understood, but could tell when others did, as well. Therefore, his entire perception of the young one changed, and something about him brought curiosity to the Chinese Dragon. "... You Are No Boy..." he said, watching as the spread of his energy neutralized Gong Gong's own, and even went so far as to trace him on the edge of his own tail, which was a secret feat that not many were able to even accomplish after first being within a dragon's presence. "... You Are Here To Learn Something, Are You?" Somehow, this intrigued Gong Gong into treating this one with more caution, knowing good and well that one who does not respect elders, be they of mind, body or spirit, are the ones to be swiftly disciplined by them. If this youth was both elder in mind and in spirit, then his flesh was nothing but a testament... And something that made him think the young Tsao as an apprentice, merely for sentimental purposes.

With the trail of Tsao's electrical energy lingering closely behind on Gong Gong's cloudy tail, the dragon closed his eyes and allowed his presence to disappear, detaching himself from his tail yet again so that he may not be further traced by the electrical current flowing through to the end of his now detached tail, letting it fade away into nothingness. "Show Me," a voice bellowed beside a streak of lightning streaming straight past Tsao's eye and ear and striking the ground, "It Has Been Far Too Long For Me." As the rest of the voice continued to speak, the long body of the great dragon once again spiraled out of the very spot the bolt hit the ground, wrapping around the tower numerous times as his scaled down, visible form stretched across the expanse lucidly. With a head that scraped the clouds, and facial hair that wafted up into the sky as a silky vapor, the horns of the dragon as well as the strands upon his brow and face would crackle with turbulent force, spreading more dark clouds and charging with lightning. The tail end of the lightning bolt cracked at the tail of Tsao as it continuously flowed into the cloudy tail of Gong Gong, charged with just as much static electricity as the rest of the hair on his body.

Tsao was interested in the sudden change in Gong Gong's demeanor after the two of them exchanged looks, despite how Tsao was looking into the book that harbored the actual textual format of the events taking place and not actually up at Gong Gong. Reading carefully the dragon's movements, as well as an open mind to receive each passing wave that he came across, Tsao would pick up not only the words of the dragon but also where he would strike next. "Hatcha~!!!" he cried out, whipping his hand out from under his garb and matching the whip of Gong Gong's lightning tail with a lightning trail streaming from Tsao's fingertips with the same amount of whiplash. The colliding polarities should have counteracted and neutralized each other, yet left Tsao's hand tense, crisp and charged for more. "... Who are YOU telling...?" This dragon seemed like he could be nice conversation, actually, which, even with an opponent, Tsao was not opposed to engaging in. "... I've Been Waiting For A Long Time For Things To Get Good, Too..."

"... Good," Gong Gong growled lightly, keeping his bulging eyes affixed on the little one at the end of his tail. Having it knocked away by an electrical shock powerful enough to keep it at bay, the dragon's tail would then be swirled about the general area of Tsao, the clouds and latent electricity in the flowing tail coagulating and creating a powerful electrical disturbance that would block off Tsao's senses from within the tail's spin. Likewise, with a snap of his neck, Gong Gong's mustache and eyebrow would whip from the sky and strike down as swiftly as a bolt of lightning where Tsao stood, then back up to the clouds in one swift motion. In the next instance, the other side would be hurled down at him whilst the first pair recharged. In every moment of every second after the first bolt struck, Gong Gong would lob another lash of his brow and stache back down upon Tsao, sometimes even splitting the individual strands of his hair apart to create branches of lightning that covered a large radius. "Let Us See If Your Standards Of 'Good' Match Up To Mine." It was clear that Gong Gong had been humbled severely since this last encounter with a human or any human-like entity, and would not take this one so lightly simply because of his size nor the years of his flesh. There was something that the dragon needed to see about his standards. Those of the elders were of a higher quality than any child, simply from having more wisdom about what is expected, and having already done enough to know that doing too little would serve no purpose in even sustaining a life anymore. Gong Gong had indeed known this passionless life for too long, himself, doing nothing for so long as an attachment to Orochi and had grown bored with hundreds of years of mundane existence. Anything that actually gave him a reason to be thrilled or to have a greater sense of living again was exactly what he was looking for, even more than a new territory to claim.

"A scientist is always ready for a test!" Tsao responded quickly whilst waving his hand across the air as if wiping a smooth surface. At his palm, a dark cloud would form, and the circular motions of his hand would suddenly begin to match the movement of Gong Gong's tail swirling around him. "Rolling Darkness," he said softly, letting the dark cloud puff up and encircle him before expanding outward into the whirling cloudy tail. The darkness spread first up the tail through the very vacuum of the wind it created sucking it up and into the top of the tail, where it would continue on up Gong Gong's body, rapidly expanding. Likewise, it would be pushed outward across the surface of the ground, coating it with the cloud-like blackness that masked the entirety of whatever was inside from even being sensed. It would wrap around Gong Gong's legs and the base of the tower after a moment or two, quickly climbing each, and whatever was within the darkness would no longer have any sensory response. Thus, whatever part of Gong Gong the 'Rolling Darkness' touched, he would not be able to feel, see, trace or hear whilst it was within. Tsao was completely hidden to the point of being not only unable to be seen, but also heard, felt or traced, as well. Anywhere there was this black cloud, Tsao could have been. Each shot of lighting aimed at him would be complete shots in the dark, but would spread the cloud out from the area of impact before it folded in on itself and reformed again.

Bolt after bolt being hurled from Gong Gong's face found themselves no target every time they struck down, merely their strikes spreading a strange black cloud and clearing the ground for a moment or two to see where Tsao had gone. The dragon had already seen what was happening to his tail and as it suddenly lost feeling, Gong Gong was aware not to allow anymore to touch him. Yet, even then, the clouds folded back over themselves and covered his tracks as they covered the ground. "You Are Skilled," Gong Gong said, raising his legs from the ground to prevent this strange cloud from touching him, "To Force A Dragon Into The Sky." His body, wrapped around the tower, would slither from it quickly, yet delicately, using the torque of his coiled body to whip whatever darkness had touched his tail away from him as he took off into the sky. If there was anymore on him beyond his tail, Gong Gong would twist his long body as he shot upward, then quickly unwind in the opposite direction, creating a powerful force that would knock everything touching him off with a powerful burst before hurdling up into the clouds yet again, hidden by their thickness.

The darkness on Gong Gong's body may have faded, but all the while it was on him, Tsao was hidden within it, scaling the dragon's long body carefully. Tsao remained attached to Gong Gong even with the powerful force of his flailing body by magnetizing his own body to the polarities of the dragon's and binding himself to one of Gong Gong's massive scales. When Tsao was revealed, he was casually lying down with his leg kicked up over the other and hands behind his head, crackling with a great deal of electricity. "Do I get points for riding the dragon, too?" Being the most flashy of the Seven, Tsao was king of showing off and enjoyed doing so anytime he felt like he could, usually to his success. Though it sometimes didn't yield the most productive results, sacrificing the best method of handling a situation for the most showy, he was still able to not only make quick work of what he was doing, but also quickly tie up any loose ends that got away from him during his performance.

Now that they were in the sky, above the clouds, this could get a little more interesting. As soon as they were above the border of clouds, his body levitated from the back of the dragon, spinning forward in one swift motion and shooting straight up the body as a giant lightning bolt. Still charged to the polarity of Gong Gong, the bolt of lightning should have arced around every curve of the dragon's body as though it were part of the dragon, itself, and not have been lost no matter how much the dragon moved, flailed or thrashed about, as he had done with the Rolling Darkness. Instead, the lightning would match his movements as it shot up beside him and coil around his body in an attempt to bind him. To ensure that the dragon was bound, as the bolt of lightning that was Tsao coiled around the dragon's body, the electromagnetic force it produced intensified greatly in order to subdue the dragon's own and completely paralyze his body whilst it wrapped around him.

Gong Gong's eyes narrowed, feeling the electrical charge of something other than himself upon his back. "Clever..." he grumbled, passing up above the clouds only once, "... But Do Not Be So Brazen." Immediately, Gong Gong arced bac down, once his head rose above the clouds, sinking back into them as Tsao shot up his body as a powerful lightning bolt. Gong Gong loosed as much latent electricity within his body as was possible, sending a charge out into the clouds, and what should have also been Tsao's current, as well. Though this would disperse his electricity into the sea of cloud, it would have diffused all such electricity among the cloud bed, leaving Gong Gong free to rise up above them once again and gaze down at the electrically charged sheet of fluff. "To Think So Highly Of Oneself Masks How High One's Opponent May Be In Relation And Distorts The Vision Of Capability, Hindering The Likelihood Of Victory Through Overestimation And Underestimation." Gong Gong hadn't even revealed his true nature as a water god yet, despite his command over electricity, which used water as a conduit.

When Gong Gong had the upper hand, he would squint his eyes and condense the clouds wherever they were within his eyesight, causing the entire expanse across the sky to become liquid rather than vapor. A great flood would fall upon the whole land, charged with electricity now, which should have instantly killed everything that was washed over by the great flood of clouds falling from the sky.

Gong Gong's reversal shocked Tsao, as he had not been paying attention to the fact that whilst they were within the clouds, the clouds could conduct the electrical current of both parties and leave Gong Gong untouched by the electricity of Tsao. Even so, with an area advantage, Tsao held the entirety of the clouds at his disposal, yet Gong Gong revealing his true command over water and not lightning actually made Tsao's life a little more difficult. "Hoooo!! That escalated quickly!" he'd say as the vapor compacted into a sky of pure water, and the electrical current that was Tsao surging through it. He had to think up something quickly that would keep all of this water from drenching the Delta and pretty much electrocuting and killing everyone. This dragon was good.

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A massive flash of lightning burst throughout the entire falling sea, illuminating it brightly overhead before changing it all back to vapor from the intensity of the heat and the electrical charge stabilizing the molecules in the air at a steady distance from each other, as what a 'Gas' would be at. Each molecule, now completely charged with electricity and having a polarity that kept each other molecule away, would return the water back to clouds before it fell too far from the sky, yet linger much closer to the ground now, making it seem as though the sky had become smaller. Unfortunately, whatever was in the air at the time should have died.

"... This is getting out of hand," Tsao noted, electricity rising up from within the depths of the clouds and suddenly condensing at a single point, which would shape his body once again standing atop the expanse. He was significantly larger than before, this time about Gong Gong's size, and with his lower torso seamlessly flowing into the entirety of the cloudy range. "I can't let you do something like that again, you know." As reckless as Tsao was at times for the sake of his flashiness, he was still very dedicated to his protection of the Veritas, and when he was serious, his major weakness of sacrificing practicality for showiness was thrown out the window for the greater good. With Tsao's body as part of the entire cloud range, Gong Gong wouldn't be able to go down into the land of the Veritas any longer, and was now confined to the sky, looking Tsao in the eye yet again. If he were to attempt to dive into the clouds again, he would be swiftly met with the full extent of Tsao's might. He crossed his arms and said again, "Rolling Darkness..." and all the clouds in the sky below them would become pitch black.

Gong Gong did not expect something so grand to be overcome so quickly, let alone before much destruction could be caused. It was very clear that this one had a very good understanding of nature around him, or at the very least, his own specialized element and how it reacted to other elements, which was still rather impressive, including in command of it. "... So, You WERE Hiding The True Extent Of Your Power..." Any wise elder would know not to bring about the full extent of their force to anything that was not deserving of it, as a sign that they understood self control and the power of controlling their own abilities only to the necessity that was required to destroy the target. "This Means That I Have Opened Your Eyes To My Strength And Drawn You Out Of Underestimating Me. Your Head Is As Large As Any Dragon." This was both a compliment and an insult, considering that the more certain dragons knew, the greater their arrogance and ego, yet the more wisdom they received, the more knowledgeable they became. Both were present in this Tsao, yet which was greater had only yet to be seen by the eyes of yet another large-headed dragon.

"You Say That You Cannot Allow Me To Do As I Have Done Again..." As the dragon gazed at Tsao, who was now as large as he, straight in his eyes, Gong Gong's body would suddenly rise higher, into the light of the sun, "But WILL You!?" The raise of his voice spread a thick layer of clouds upon the next atmospheric layer beyond the first where Tsao's own black clouds were, spreading Gong Gong's once physical form out now as a body of clouds equally as expansive as the layer below him. The dragon's bulging eyes suddenly opened up again from within the thick sheet of vapor blocking out the sun and peered down aggressively at Tsao. "XIANGLIU!!" Gong Gong called out again, this time with nine large child-like heads popping out from the various parts of the clouds and harboring different facial expressions. Each of them faced Tsao from nine different directions at nine different distances, opening their mouths to spew out virulent torrents of poisonous acid rain in high concentration at him. From each of the nine heads opening their mouths, the sky should have been filled with acid rain.

"HM!!" the dragon grunted after seeing at the edges of his cloudy throne that the black vapor had shot up around him at a high speed, seeing to enclose itself above him. With the speed of lightning itself, Gong Gong shot up and collected his expanded cloudy body, which would solidify as a single streaming streak of bright lightning aimed this time straight for where the Rolling Darkness would come together from all sides, knowing this would be the last place they would touch. If not able to make it through the quickly closing gap, he would still be able to strike Tsao directly in his face and tear his head straight from his body the very moment he appeared. If his head did not roll off with the all too swift serpentine lash of Gong Gong, as well as the charged jaws with all the great pressures of a powerful storm, then certainly, the virulent poison that rested in the fangs of Gong Gong would corrode Tsao and all of his power from the inside out. Once the boy was in the dragon's jaws, he would tear him from his place within the darkness and slip through the hole like a snake out of a hole in the ground.

There was only the bright gleam of a plasmatic streak in Tsao's eye as his body formed, the first thing appearing before his face being the dragon seeking freedom from imprisonment with all such ferocity he could muster. This was expected from any such serpent of all kinds, since whenever they saw their chance to escape predation and once again having the upper hand in a situation, they would take it with as much swiftness and destructiveness as it took. That was why Tsao was already prepared for something like this the moment he appeared. The thick layer of cloud below would continue to push whatever presence Gong Gong had in the atmosphere up toward the top of the dome of Rolling Darkness, until there was no more space below, and the top and bottom became one single layer.

Once the dragon was right before his face, Tsao's body became black and pillowy, like the Rolling Darkness itself, and his mouth would open up great and wide like that of the eye of a storm, with a funnel's opening leading straight to the sun. Because Gong Gong was already heading in this direction the moment Tsao appeared, when his mouth opened up as an eye of a storm, the gaze of the sun piercing through, Tsao merely needed to close his mouth with a decisive clang, sealing off the only exit with vibrating teeth as sharp as lightning. "Absolute Silence; Deadline." The words he spoke were completely silent, but all throughout the spiraling funnel of Rolling Darkness, strings of pitch black lightning masked by the presence of the pitch black clouds would surge through, jolting from every angle and creating a powerful grid behind Gong Gong that prevented him from moving backwards without literally being struck dead repeatedly by nearly invisible bolts of lightning. He should have been forcefully sucked through the funnel out of the Veritas and straight into the sun, and if the suction of the pitch black vortex was not enough to draw him out, then the lightning that would kill him would end him and his body would be expelled with all the swiftness and force of lightning. The next strike of lightning should have been Gong Gong's body hitting the surface of the sun and being completely incinerated.

Though Gong Gong's jaws were wide open and just at the face of Tsao, it would seem that his face was not truly there to bite at in the first place, and there was only more of the strange dark cloud foreign to Gong Gong. Realizing that he had been deceived, and also knowing that he could not turn back, in order to prolong his life as long as possible, Gong Gong entered throat of the darkness and continued through the funnel, seeing the sun on the other side. However, he did not strike it as lightning, but slowed his movements to see if there was a way for him to escape, or at least to continue to prolong his own life.

Gong Gong peeked from the corner of his eyes behind him, seeing that he could still move backward, yet feared that there may have been something there he could not see and that couldn't be sensed, similarly to how the dark cloud worked before. He also knew that diving into the black clouds would have probably harbored the same effect, and that now, the only way to exit was straight ahead, into the sun. Though Tsao seemed reasonable and the type to release Gong Gong if he were to ask for mercy, for some reason, the dragon saw no more reason to live after this, finding that this was the best way for him to end his tireless centuries of passionless existence; as if being put out of his misery. Though, not before he spoke to Tsao once more. "... You Have Done Well," were the first words he spoke, closing his eyes and contemplating his imminent death and how to make the most of what little life he had left. "... Better Than Even I Would Have Anticipated. Your Wisdom And Power Are Indeed Beyond The Standard I Had Perceived." In fact, Gong Gong may have expected even more from Tsao now that he had seen some of his greater works.

"I Am Grateful To You, As Well," He added, snaking his way down the inevitable path to the sun, his thick coat of scaly armor growing ever hotter as the light brightened upon his lids, "For Being Able To Put Me Out Of This Shameful Misery Of Mine. For That, I Relinquish My Spirit To You Upon My Destruction." It was better than having his spirit burnt up, too, and would be like an eternal blessing from the dragon that Tsao had passed Gong Gong's test. Thus, when Gong Gong's body was destroyed, his spirit would remain with Tsao as an ally he could call upon from his own strength. "Use My Will Well, Young One... And Let Me Have Rest Within You And Your Peace." After that, it would be up to Tsao whether he accepted Gong Gong's will or not. If not, then his spirit would be burnt up along with his body as it struck the surface of the sun, driving deep down into its center with all the swiftness of lightning, burning away into nothingness.

Tsao was completely dejected from trusting the serpents. He was well aware of how they all were when given any sort of chance; second, third, and beyond, the snakes were still just snakes, and would strike back if allowed to live any longer than the first time. Yet, he knew that they were capable of change, which made this decision more difficult, since it seemed there was true sincerity in this one's voice. Being no longer attached to Orochi as the main head, perhaps each of the heads had different thoughts, feelings and personalities that were not of the commander's once detached. Having this thought was Gong Gong's only true saving grace, and at the very sight of his body striking the sun, Tsao's face would appear at the end of the funnel, mouth agape and drawing out with a powerful suction the spirit of Gong Gong straight back inside of the funnel. "Rest In Peace..." he said silently, before his face disappeared and the funnel folded in on itself, now with the spirit of the dragon inside of it.

Once they reached the atmosphere of the Veritas again, the part of the Rolling Darkness that was connected to the tower would suddenly begin to glow with Tsao's power, drawing in the blackness into the confines of the building, and with it, the spirit of the dragon Gong Gong, which would strike the very tip of the tower like thunder once all of the dark clouds were drawn into it, sealing the spirit of Gong Gong inside of the tower under Tsao's command, as well as marking the tower as Tsao's own from henceforth. It and all energy that come from it was Tsao's and remained stagnant in the air, linked to Tsao's very consciousness, itself.

Standing at the steeple of the tower, Tsao gazed off at the now cloudless sky and folded his arms across his chest peacefully, as an Egyptian would, and let the beaming sun shine down upon his face and warm his chocolate skin. He smiled warmly from the top of his tower, and what would wrap around his head would be a golden band like that of a Pharaoh with, not a serpent's head, but a dragon's head harboring Gong Gong's face and spirit resting within.

"Dragon Temple," he muttered to himself, naming this abandoned place as his own, "The Tower Of Manna." Fortunately, this place was already equipped with all sorts of stuff, such as classrooms (for teaching how to use Manna), living arrangements (for students and travelers to live in) and many other necessities, with an expanse of vast, lush field that could be used to expand upon this territory as he saw fit. As much as Tsao enjoyed living in the Sacred Temple for so long, he liked this place much better. It gave him a nostalgic feeling. "Yeah... I like that." After reviewing the pages of his book, Tsao turned around and walked inside, finding somewhere within the tower to place the Golden Grimoire, which would now have the mark of a dragon on it, as well as an eagle (to symbolize both Gong Gong and Raijin, both of whose spirits belonged to Tsao now.)