Chapter 807 - 806: An Unexpected Incident in the Skies Above Midgar."

Some time before Alex entered the battle with the Mechanical Bahamut, everything in the Sixth Sector of the Plate was relatively calm, except for the fact that the fixed gazes of the local residents were practically glued to the television screens. Everyone around was unbearably curious about how the large-scale terrorist attacks that had taken place in the Fifth and Seventh Sectors would end. The residents of Midgar constantly and heatedly discussed everything that was continuously broadcast to them on the news, seriously worrying about their own safety and the overall state of affairs in the city.

Similar anxious conversations continuously rang out even in a small cozy café located on a spacious observation deck practically in the very center of the Sixth Sector of the Plate. From a quiet alley not far from this café emerged Dean and Wedge, who had already managed to change back into their usual everyday clothes and were now walking unhurriedly among the concerned residents of Midgar. Climbing the steps up to the observation deck, Dean thought exclusively about how to quickly drink some hot coffee and eat a large hearty sandwich.

Having reached the very top, Dean and Wedge entered the café and immediately encountered the already familiar scene: the gazes of all the visitors were deadlocked on the television screen, where emergency news from the Seventh Sector was being broadcast live—the place where a Mako Reactor had still towered not long ago. While Dean ordered himself a snack at the counter, Wedge sat down at one of the free tables and began carefully watching the news along with the other visitors.

Despite his entirely simple-minded and naïve nature, Wedge clearly saw and understood how skillfully Shinra was manipulating the minds of Midgar's residents. Dean, however, watched what was happening on the screen only out of the corner of his eye—for the most part, all his attention was completely focused on the appetizing, very hearty sandwich that was proudly displayed in the glass case.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation of a tasty snack, Dean didn't even try to hide his satisfied smile. And even though, thanks to Amara's power, he no longer experienced any physical hunger or fatigue whatsoever, that by no means meant he would ever voluntarily refuse the joy of eating a triple-meat sandwich or a piece of delicious pie. Having collected the tray with his order, Dean approached Wedge and lightly patted him on the shoulder, drawing his attention.

"Hey, did you see what's happening in the Fifth Sector right now?!" Wedge said in a surprised tone, pointing a finger at the television screen and turning his head toward Dean.

"Whoa, so they went and organized a whole rally there. Looks like someone has absolutely nothing better to do," Dean replied with a slight shrug, not taking the situation in the Fifth Sector seriously at all.

"Our friends are there… Aren't you worried about them at all?!" Wedge asked in an anxious whisper, nervously glancing around so that no one would accidentally overhear their conversation.

"Alex is there. He'll figure everything out on his own. Things have been way worse in the past. Now let's go out to the terrace. I really don't want to sit here listening to the gloomy muttering of these people," Dean answered with a confident smirk and in the same second headed for the exit into the fresh air, thinking only about how he could finally dig into his sandwich.

Watching Dean walk off toward the terrace, Wedge once again fell into deep thought upon hearing the familiar phrase that things had been worse before. He involuntarily asked himself: what kind of terrible things had Alex and Dean faced in their past that the entire current situation in Midgar didn't seem like anything special to them?

But knowing perfectly well that he still wouldn't get any direct answers, Wedge stood up from his chair and, casting one last glance at the television screen, followed Dean out onto the terrace. And the moment Dean and Wedge disappeared into the fresh air, a minute later Aerith, Yuffie, and Jessie entered the café. From the outside they looked like ordinary close friends who had gone out for a walk to drink a cup of coffee and chat calmly.

Upon entering the premises, the girls likewise saw the emergency news report from the Fifth Sector, where a large-scale rally with a huge gathering of local residents and a garrison of Grunts was taking place right at the gates of the plant. Seeing this story, Jessie frowned heavily—she understood perfectly how difficult it would be for her friends to get out of such a trap.

But before she could fully sink into unpleasant thoughts, Jessie felt a warm palm on her shoulder. Turning her head, she met the gaze of Aerith, who was smiling encouragingly and gently, showing that everything would definitely be all right and that everyone would return safe and sound. Seeing that bright smile, Jessie breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, deciding to trust her friends completely.

"Everything will be fine, they'll definitely manage. I think they're already halfway here," Aerith said with a smile, lightly patting Jessie on the shoulder.

"I think you're right. Most likely that very demonstrative fireworks display managed to completely distract the attention of all of Midgar," Jessie said with a light laugh, immediately returning to her usual spirited character.

"And I'm almost certain that someone is raging in fury right now… Heh-heh-heh," Aerith said with a quiet chuckle, vividly imagining the twisted faces of Heidegger and President Shinra after seeing that fireworks display.

"Anyone in their place would be furious at such a spectacle," Jessie said, shaking her head and barely holding back another surge of laughter at the memory of the fireworks.

"That's for sure… And now let's go stop Yuffie before she buys every single dessert in this café," Aerith said with a light laugh, pointing a finger at Yuffie, who without the slightest twinge of conscience was ordering absolutely every sweet from the menu at the counter.

"Looks like Alex really shouldn't have given her that reckless promise that he'd buy whatever she wanted," Jessie said with a sympathetic sigh, mentally calculating how noticeably Alex's personal account would empty out.

"It's his own fault! And since he's treating everyone today, I think I'll grab a couple of desserts myself too," Aerith answered with a sly smirk and with a light, airy step headed straight toward the counter in Yuffie's direction.

Watching Aerith quickly approach the display case and order herself several exquisite desserts, Jessie thought that since Alex was treating, she should also definitely indulge herself a little with something sweet. Having ordered themselves an entire mountain of desserts and cold drinks, Aerith, Jessie, and Yuffie headed out to the terrace. And the moment they stepped out into the fresh air, they immediately noticed Dean and Wedge sitting in the farthest corner, away from the other visitors.

Noticing the girls, Wedge with a joyful smile on his face immediately waved his hand at them, inviting them to sit nearby. But Wedge's smile faltered for a brief moment when he saw the truly colossal mountain of desserts that Yuffie was carrying. Noticing Wedge's stunned face, Dean slightly turned his head back, still appetizingly chewing his sandwich, and saw Yuffie proudly carrying three trays at once, piled high with all sorts of pastries and cakes. Chuckling to himself, Dean merely shook his head and calmly returned to eating his sandwich and hot coffee.

Taking a neighboring table, Aerith and Jessie breathed sighs of relief, feeling that now they could finally relax and rest a little. While the girls chatted casually with Wedge over cold drinks, and Yuffie continuously devoured one dessert after another, a couple of minutes later Biggs came out onto the terrace with a satisfied smirk on his face. Noticing his friend, Wedge immediately jumped up and began actively waving his hand, breaking into a smile. For he understood perfectly: since Biggs had returned safe and sound, that meant the others would arrive here very soon as well.

"Hey, Biggs, over here!" Wedge shouted with a laugh, waving his hand and calling Biggs over to their table.

"No need to yell like that, I can see you just fine… Have you guys even seen what's happening in the Fifth Sector right now?" Biggs said, shaking his head as he approached the table and sat down next to Wedge.

"The whole of Midgar saw it! Do you know anything yourself? You came straight from there, didn't you?" Jessie said, shaking her head, and in the same second stared intently at Biggs, waiting for details.

"No idea. When I left, something was only just starting in the Fifth Sector. I watched for a while from the roof of the nearest building, but when all that nonsense with the rally started picking up steam, I decided to leave," Biggs answered with a frown, explaining what he had managed to see with his own eyes.

"So you also have no idea why all of this even started," Jessie said with a sigh, wearily rubbing her forehead and trying to get rid of the growing tension.

"Oh, that I know perfectly well. And you guys are definitely not going to like this crap," Biggs said with clear irritation in his voice, making a solid gulp of coffee from Wedge's mug with a completely natural gesture.

"And what exactly might we not like?" Wedge asked with complete bewilderment, quickly snatching his coffee back from Biggs's hands.

"That damn merchant Garrett sold us out completely and handed us over to Shinra! That's exactly why Shinra decided to stage this entire demonstrative crackdown on the 'terrorists,'" Biggs spat out with obvious irritation, feeling the anger boiling up inside him at the mere mention of Garrett's name.

The moment Biggs's words rang out, Jessie abruptly rose from her chair, nearly knocking it over onto the terrace, and loudly slapped her palm on the table. Wedge's eyes immediately widened in wild shock, and he stared at Biggs with clear bewilderment. Dean, for his part, calmly wiped his mouth with a napkin and set the half-eaten sandwich aside, wanting to hear all the details. Aerith frowned for a brief moment and shifted her thoughtful gaze toward the Fifth Sector.

Even Yuffie paused for a second in devouring her desserts and stared intently at Biggs. Jessie immediately, with her heart skipping a beat, asked Biggs again what exactly he had just said. In a calm tone Biggs retold everything that Alex and Barret had managed to tell him before they went their separate ways. He described in detail the setup with the train, the blowing up of an entire car, and the carefully planned ambush in the depot near the abandoned passage.

Hearing all of this, Jessie frowned even more deeply, and the sticky anxiety inside her began to grow with renewed force. But Biggs quickly reassured his friend, timely reminding her that since all that nonsense with the rally in the Fifth Sector was still continuing, it meant Shinra had still failed to get to Alex, Claudia, Tifa, and Barret. And only after these convincing words did Jessie breathe a slight sigh of relief, even though she still felt a little unease.

Dean, upon hearing about this entire setup, merely scratched his cheek lightly with a finger and was not the least bit surprised by what had happened. Despite his short time in Midgar, he understood perfectly that in such an unfavorable place as the Slums, one should never trust shady merchants of any kind. Shaking his head, Dean barely held himself back from blurting out some caustic joke. After all, he and Sam had been betrayed more than a dozen times over the years of hunting, and Crowley had engaged in it more often than all the others put together.

"Come on, enough with the waterworks! Next time just think more carefully about who you should buy information from in the first place," Dean said with a casual smile, lounging back in his chair with a mug of hot coffee in his hands.

"Doesn't it bother you at all that we were all literally sold out completely?" Biggs asked in a dry tone, shifting a heavy gaze onto Dean.

"And why should I worry? First time or something? Just find that idiot later and quietly take him out. Just don't forget to bury the body somewhere far from prying eyes—that's the whole problem," Dean answered, continuing to smile calmly, and set the coffee mug back on the table.

"I see you've accumulated quite a bit of experience in these kinds of matters," Jessie said with an ironic smile, slightly narrowing her eyes and looking at Dean.

"Something like that. Only one bastard turned out to be way too tenacious back in the day. Sam and I tried to kill him so many times, and the son of a bitch kept surviving! And then he completely latched onto us and started drinking my personal booze. If he hadn't been so damn useful at the time, I would have sent his sorry ass back to Hell without a second thought," Dean answered with an exaggeratedly heavy sigh, feeling genuine relief at the thought that at least in the near future he definitely wouldn't see Crowley's face.

None of those present even knew how exactly they should react to Dean's such frank words. They could only nod their heads awkwardly, sincerely amazed at what kind of wild hell he and his brother had had to go through in the past. And yet the pressing question of what Shinra was currently plotting still remained. Jessie even passionately proposed immediately going to help Alex, Claudia, Tifa, and Barret so they could help them break out of the tight encirclement.

Wedge immediately perked up and supported Jessie's decision, proposing to stage some kind of loud disturbance in the Fifth Sector and thereby draw the attention of Shinra's forces onto themselves. And while a short and heated discussion was going on at the table about what they should do and how best to help Alex's group, Aerith continuously gazed toward the Fifth Sector, not taking her eyes off the distant horizon.

She firmly knew that her friends would be all right and that they would get out of any scrape without particular problems. But deep inside her a strange, unknown feeling was ripening—as if something was about to happen that she clearly had not expected at all. Listening to the endless arguments about rescue plans, Dean merely smirked ironically, considering all this fuss an absolutely useless activity.

He knew perfectly well what Alex was capable of in a real fight, and since the skies in that area still weren't collapsing, it meant only one thing: very soon something incredibly large-scale was going to happen. Chuckling to himself, Dean reached for the tray for his sandwich, intending to finally finish it, but at that very moment his intuition gave him a sharp prick: something was about to happen right now.

Barely had Dean turned his head toward the Fifth Sector when on the very edge of the horizon a blinding beam of compressed plasma flared up, which rose in a crushing pillar right up under the clouds, illuminating all of Midgar with a bright spectrum. Jessie, Yuffie, Biggs, and Wedge froze in place at that same moment and as if on command turned their heads toward the Fifth Sector, staring with unblinking eyes at the colossal plasma pillar.

"What the hell was that just now?!" Biggs asked in astonishment, having absolutely no idea what he had just witnessed.

"I think this is called the beginning of a rather entertaining show," Dean said with a restrained smirk, turning in his chair toward the Fifth Sector and casually throwing his legs up onto the railing of the partition.

"After all, the Fifth Mako Reactor is there… Could these be the terrible consequences of its explosion?!" Jessie asked, frowning slightly and trying with all her might to make logical sense of what she had seen.

"I don't think an ordinary reactor explosion would look like this," Biggs answered, shaking his head, deeply convinced that this plasma flash had nothing to do with a Mako explosion.

"Then what the hell was it?!" Wedge asked again, turning fearfully to Biggs in the hope that he knew the answer.

"If you all shut up for a minute and just watch carefully, we'll see everything for ourselves soon enough," Dean said calmly, turning his head to the others and making it clear that no one had exact answers right now.

As soon as Dean finished speaking, a bright fiery tornado flared up on the horizon of the Fifth Sector, immediately followed by another powerful flash of a plasma beam. Watching this madness unfolding literally in the neighboring sector, no one except Dean and Aerith truly understood the true nature of things. And what frightened those present even more was that the blazing fiery hurricane right in the air bent the trajectory of the plasma salvo, sending it far beyond the city limits.

Watching the raging fiery tornado, Aerith clearly felt the presence of Ifrit's crushing power, which she could not have mistaken for anything else in this world. But at the same time she distinctly sensed another strange presence—very weak, broken, and as if bound by unseen chains, as though someone was being held against their will. Frowning heavily from these unsettling sensations, Aerith herself didn't fully understand why Alex had decided to use part of Ifrit's power and what was actually happening in the Fifth Sector.

And while everyone else was frantically guessing about what was going on, Dean watched the epicenter of events with an excited smirk as if he himself were standing a couple of meters from the participants in the battle. Fortunately, Amara had timely helped him quickly master extremely convenient abilities—in particular, the ability to see everything happening at a distance without even getting up from his seat. Seeing Alex in a half-form of Ifrit and the mechanical dragon fighting him, Dean couldn't help but whistle in admiration, thinking that he was watching some Hollywood blockbuster about a battle of ancient monsters.

Understanding that the grand clash was about to enter its initial heated phase, Dean knew exactly what physical consequences this would bring for the entire city. Smirking, Dean carefully covered his half-eaten sandwich with one palm, and reliably placed the other hand on the back of Aerith's chair. Aerith herself noticed this strange gesture and raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, having absolutely no idea what he was doing.

And at that same moment a deafening clap rang out across all of Midgar with a thunderous echo, followed by a crushing wave of scorching air that instantly overturned all the tables and chairs on the terrace. The gust of wind was so powerful that Jessie, Yuffie, Biggs, and Wedge barely managed to stay on their feet, grabbing onto the railings. Having somehow recovered after the powerful blow, everyone stared in astonishment and fear toward the Fifth Sector.

"What the hell was that just now?! Was that an explosion?!" Jessie shouted, adjusting on the go the hair tousled by the shockwave.

"You could say that. And all of you had better grab onto something as solid as possible right now—there's going to be another one," Dean said with a satisfied smirk, continuing to confidently hold onto his sandwich and Aerith's chair.

"In what sense—another one?!" Yuffie cried out in fear, quickly hiding behind the overturned table and only slightly peeking out from behind its edge.

"Aaaand… BOOM!" Dean said with a wide smirk and cheerfully snapped his fingers in the direction of the Fifth Sector.

Barely had the dry snap of Dean's fingers sounded when it was immediately followed by a deafening series of loud successive claps, more resembling the detonation of a series of heavy munitions. At the very last moment before the approaching shockwave, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge managed to dive behind the overturned massive table where Yuffie was already hiding. The most unpleasant and heavy part of this cannonade was the dense stream of sultry air that dried out the lungs and the squalling gusts of wind.

Continuing to take cover behind the tabletop, Biggs shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to give at least some logical explanation for the unfolding madness. In his opinion, the complex in the Fifth Sector was used not only as a Mako Reactor but also as a secret factory for the production of experimental weapons. And he was firmly convinced that the first plasma salvo had caused a chain detonation in the factory's warehouses. Hearing Biggs's shout that overpowered the noise, the others considered that his version might well turn out to be true. And as soon as the main rumble finally died down, Jessie, Yuffie, Biggs, and Wedge carefully peeked out from behind their cover.

Casting a glance over the complete devastation on the terrace, they stared at Dean in silent shock. He was still sitting imperturbably, casually throwing his legs up onto the railing of the partition, and next to him sat Aerith, who was diligently trying to put her hair, tousled by the shockwaves, back in order.

But the most uncomfortable and oppressive consequence of these flashes remained the sensation of dry, scorching heat that had literally hung over the Plate. With difficulty taking a deep breath, Jessie and Yuffie approached right up to the railings, trying to make out what exactly was happening in the Fifth Sector. Yuffie even considered climbing higher onto the fence to get a better look at the epicenter.

"Is… is it all over?" Wedge asked anxiously, feeling the unpleasant sticky stuffiness from how sharply the temperature of the surrounding air had risen.

"No idea… But I really hope that's all. It was simply terrible. I never would have thought an explosion of military stockpiles would be so large-scale," Biggs said with difficulty, wiping his face, which was sweating from the surging heat, with his sleeve.

"What scares me the most is that Shinra even allowed something like this… How in their right minds did they decide on something like that?!" Jessie said with difficulty, sincerely believing that all the blame for the unfolding catastrophe lay exclusively with the corporation's leadership.

"After all this they'll just blame everything on 'AVALANCHE' and pretend they had nothing to do with it," Aerith answered with a weary smile, adjusting her tousled hair and slightly turning her head back toward her friends.

"Only a complete idiot would believe that! Who in their right mind would believe that something like this is the fault of 'AVALANCHE'?!" Biggs spat out with fierce irritation, sincerely considering Aerith's words complete absurdity.

"You just answered your own question perfectly. Only an idiot would believe it, and as it turns out, there are way too many of them in Midgar," Dean said with a mocking smirk, appetizingly taking a bite of the sandwich that had been so conveniently heated by the hot shockwave.

After the words spoken by Dean, none of the three even thought of denying the fact that the overwhelming majority of Midgar's residents would indeed blindly believe everything Shinra drummed into them. Yuffie at that moment was indignantly and frequently stamping her feet on the terrace floor, thinking with the deepest regret that from the very beginning she should have gone with everyone to the Fifth Mako Reactor—and then she would have been guaranteed to steal some valuable secret weapon from Shinra.

Feeling universal offense at such an unforgivable blunder, Yuffie grabbed her hair with both hands and began loudly and dramatically complaining about life. Hearing her wails, everyone present immediately turned their heads toward Yuffie, who was rather comically shedding tears and pounding her little fist on the railing of the partition.

No one even knew how they should comment right now on such behavior from Yuffie and her sincere lamentations about missing the chance to clean out Shinra's arsenals. Smiling tenderly, Aerith gently patted Yuffie on the palm, trying to calm the upset kunoichi. But instead of the long-awaited relief, Yuffie merely sniffled dejectedly and impulsively hugged Aerith, continuing to aloud regret the lost loot.

Shaking their heads in unison at the sight of Yuffie so comically grieving, the group merely thought that even in such a wild situation she still remained herself. And while everyone was occupied with watching Yuffie, Wedge accidentally shifted his gaze back toward the Fifth Sector. In the same second his eyes widened from indescribable shock, and his mouth involuntarily opened. With difficulty trying to utter even a word through the lump that had risen in his throat, Wedge began furiously pointing a finger high into the sky.

"L-L-Look! There's something in the sky!" Wedge stammered in fright, continuing to actively jab his finger upward.

"What else is there, Wedge?.. What the hell?!" Biggs asked in bewilderment, turning his head in the direction his friend was pointing and immediately cutting himself off.

"What the hell is that monstrosity?!" Jessie cried out in astonishment, also seeing the same giant dragon in the sky as the others.

"Oh, and here's the dragon. Cooool," Dean said with a satisfied smirk, nodding his head in approval.

They all saw with their own eyes Bahamut in his true greatness—the colossal ancient spirit was rapidly rising higher and higher, toward the uppermost clouds. Aerith, however, looking at the winged giant, finally fully understood why she had just sensed the presence of another ancient entity in the Fifth Sector. Now it became absolutely clear to her why Alex had used the full power of Ifrit: all of this was done solely to stop the Bahamut subordinated by Shinra, whom they had barbarically taken under control.

At the same time Bahamut soared to the very heavens and hovered right above Midgar, proudly spreading his massive, shining wings. Lowering his muzzle downward, Bahamut looked down from on high upon the sprawling megapolis, feeling a deep disgust at what the Planet had become over the long centuries of his pitch-black sleep. Scanning with his gaze the dead wastelands around Midgar, Bahamut unexpectedly sensed a very familiar presence among the millions of the city's residents.

His intent gaze in the same second shifted toward the Sixth Sector, where Aerith was standing on the terrace. Slightly narrowing his eyes, he managed to make her out—standing in the open air and looking straight back at him without fear. Exhaling scorching air through his nostrils, Bahamut lowered his gaze lower, in tense expectation of his only worthy opponent. Feeling Bahamut's dull rage through the direct connection with the Lifestream, Aerith tightly clenched her hands on her chest, praying to herself that everything would turn out all right.

And at that very same moment from the smoke-filled Fifth Sector rang out a deafening, primordial roar, resembling the growl of a colossal predatory beast. Hearing this thunderous roar, Aerith averted her gaze from Bahamut hovering in the heavens and looked toward the destroyed complex. Straight from the epicenter of the explosion leaped a gigantic beast wreathed in black flames, with brightly burning, scorching horns on its head.

"And here's the second one," Dean said with a satisfied smirk, immediately recognizing Alex in his full form of Ifrit.

"Another one?! What the hell happened there?!" Biggs uttered with enormous difficulty, sincerely and unsuccessfully trying to digest what he had seen.

"Maybe… maybe we should already run from here?!" Wedge asked in an extremely nervous tone, with difficulty swallowing the lump stuck in his throat.

"That's completely unnecessary. Our monster will quickly deal with this Dragon now," Dean said in a cheerful, absolutely imperturbable tone, pointing a finger at Alex in the gigantic form of Ifrit.

"Our monster?! Since when is some terrifying monster on our side?!" Jessie asked in astonishment, sharply turning her head toward Dean.

"Because you yourself personally handed this 'monster' over to someone," Aerith reminded in a calm, insightful tone, looking at Jessie with a gaze as if everything was already perfectly obvious.

"Ifrit…" Jessie murmured in shock, in the same second recalling how just yesterday evening she had lightheartedly handed Alex the rare Red Materia.

"Bingo! And now you can just relax and enjoy a real kaiju battle. You don't get to see a spectacle like this every day," Dean said, raising a thumbs-up, casually throwing his hands behind his head and slightly leaning back in his chair.

At the same time Alex was rapidly rising higher and higher into the sky at full speed, using all four paws at once and deftly pushing off from the flaming clumps of fire in the air as if from solid supports. Rising to the very heights, Alex couldn't help but think with light irony that his past joking transformation into a cat had unexpectedly helped him so quickly and naturally get used to the plasticity of Ifrit's beast form.

Grinning widely in a smile, Alex reached the very layer of clouds and confidently rose onto his hind legs right in front of the hovering Bahamut. Meeting him with a direct gaze, Alex clearly saw that the eyes of the ancient dragon were filled with dull rage directed exclusively at the residents of Midgar.

And it wasn't hard for him at all to guess why Bahamut was reacting exactly this way. After all, thousands of years ago he had defended the world of Gaia to the last against the treacherous attack of Jenova, after which he had plunged into a centuries-long sleep with complete confidence that the Planet was finally safe. And in the end the Gray Whispers had barbarically and forcibly awakened him, and even forced him to fight against his own will.

Finding himself at the summit, he had seen with his own eyes how people were unpunishedly sucking out the sacred blood of the Planet, rapidly leading the entire world to destruction. Exhaling a stream of heat from his maw, Alex understood perfectly: if he began to fully fight Bahamut under these conditions, all of Midgar below would simply be destroyed. Narrowing his eyes, Alex resolutely reached with his paw toward his left horn and without hesitation broke it off.

Bahamut, silently watching Alex's actions, slightly changed in expression, looking in surprise at what his opponent was doing. In the same moment the still-burning black horn in Alex's clawed paw began to rapidly transform, turning before their eyes into a huge, heavy fiery club. Grinning his sharp teeth widely, Alex cheerfully pointed the club straight at Bahamut.

"Don't worry, I'll hit you as gently as possible," Alex said in a cheerful, teasing tone, casually throwing the fiery club onto his broad back.

"I have absolutely no need for your leniency, Ifrit. Fight at full strength," rang out a deep, rough, and majestic voice right from Bahamut's maw, and long, shining blades immediately materialized in his paws.

"You… you can actually talk?! Holy shit!" Alex cried out in astonishment, sincerely surprised by the fact that Bahamut was capable of human speech.

"Apparently your excessively long sleep has completely clouded your memories, Ifrit. At least now you're staying near the last Cetra, and not with these disgusting creatures," Bahamut said in a calm, icy voice, for a second lowering his gaze onto the Midgar sprawling below.

"Oh, come on, stop it! You're making me blush," Alex said in an exaggeratedly embarrassed tone, playfully waving his huge clawed paw toward Bahamut.

"But at the same time you've become noticeably dumber, Ifrit… And I'll have to correct that," Bahamut said in the same even, imperturbable tone, once again raising his heavy gaze onto Alex.

"So we're going to diligently beat the crap out of each other after all. Cool!.. But first let's change the ring. Domain Expansion: World of Fire Muspelheim," Alex said with a wide, excited smile, raising crossed fingers in front of himself.

To be continued...

(You can throw a slipper at me, it's my fault. I know, yeah, I made a cliff again. But damn, my allergy is driving me crazy, and I still managed to get sick. How I got sick, who the hell knows. I just woke up and realized I was sick. Anyway, I'm sitting here covered in snot and tears. A fucking combo that makes me just want to die. Anyway, I'll try to survive. Like I said, I'll keep going until I die. Heh. I'm going to go eat and take another dose of meds. Peace, love, and fuck pollen allergies.)

Early access to chapters on my patreon: p*treon.com/GreedHunter