The Primal Blood Demonic Dragon

The corrupted beast’s body lay still, a steaming mass of twisted muscle and shattered bone. Its blood a sickly, iridescent black which slowly pooled beneath it while burning small holes into the forest floor. A corrupted corpse that still twitched, like it hadn’t yet realized it was dead.

Gin stayed where he had collapsed. Exhausted, battered.

His body, this beastly wolf body that had long since passed the threshold of endurance, refused to move. His breathing came slow, dragging, edged with the rasp of pain. Every heartbeat throbbed through his limbs like a drumbeat calling out his limits.

But even now... he couldn’t rest.

The silence after the storm always brought questions louder than any roar.

Across the battlefield, Saira stood at the edge of the clearing, shoulders rising and falling in deep breaths. The gentle churn of water coiled around her wrists and slowly receded, dispersing into the air as mist. Her brows were furrowed not from deed now but focus. Caution. Her blue eyes didn’t roam the trees or the corpses. They fixed on her companions.

Xingning sat on a nearby rock, hunched forward with her hands dangling between her knees, shoulders tense. Her blade rested at her side, the edge chipped from the final fight. Her ponytail was loosened, a few strands sticking to her damp forehead. She said nothing.

Jean’s towering wooden form stood over the battlefield like a guardian statue, though parts of her arms had been reduced to splinters. She looked like she hadn’t even noticed. Roots extended from her feet into the soil, anchoring her while vines slowly weaved to repair her arms painfully slow but functional. Her glowing green eyes remained ever watchful.

Behind them all, on the raised slope, Lucy still hadn’t moved. Not even after the battle had ended. She had folded her hands on her bosom again in composed posture. She scanned the area like she had when the first wave began—looking for something. Measuring things invisible to the others.

And Alice...

She knelt just a few meters away from Gin.

Her knees rested on the moss-covered earth, her dress dirtied by the fallen leaves and bits of ash from the burning remains. Her eyes clear, green and glimmering with something heavy were locked onto Gin. She hadn’t blinked in what felt like an eternity.

Gin shifted slightly.

It was a mistake.

The pain that jolted up his side was sharp enough to blind him momentarily. A small whimper escaped his maw, unbidden and his ears flattened instinctively. He hated the sound. Hated the helplessness.

Alice’s hand moved but only slightly. Like she wanted to reach out.

She didn’t.

Gin tried to stand. His front paws responded, shaky but able. His hind legs, however faltered. He managed to rise to a crouch but wobbled immediately. A small growl escaped his throat more frustration than pain.

The others heard it.

Jean turned first, eyes locking onto the source of the sound.

Then Saira.

Then Xingning.

And then finally, Lucy. Who stepped forward with a strange stillness, as though the wind itself bent around her feet.

They all saw him now.

The silver-blue wolf, panting, bloodied, surrounded by the scent of corruption and battle... yet still radiating spiritual pressure. Still breathing. Still watching them back.

Xingning stood, hand instinctively going to the hilt of her weapon. Mira stepped forward, though her posture wasn’t aggressive just prepared. Jean didn’t move.

Alice was the first to break the silence. Her voice, low and shaky, echoed across the sudden stillness:

"Don’t."

No one moved.

She looked at Lucy. "It’s him. It’s Gin."

Gin’s heart skipped.

The words, simple as they were, struck deeper than anything. Even with blood covered all over, broken, disbalanced limbs from everything he went through, she still recognised him.

’She knows. She recognizes me even in this state. Then why can’t i even feel the previous connection between us with even this close distance.’ Gin moved his eyes slightly toward Jean ’Nor i can feel my connection with her.’ He now knows she is his companion formed through equal contract but completely changed like a new being. Able to talk, can shift to elemental form whenever she wants as if it is refined through over time.

’....But it seems like they can still feel me even after this transformation.’

Lucy didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes narrowed slightly. And then in a calm, cool voice that held the weight of command, she spoke:

"I know"

Her words were like a stone dropped in a still pond.

Jean tilted her head slowly as if she didn’t understand what the heck are they even talking about.

Xingning’s grip loosened. Her gaze darted from Gin to Alice and back again. "What do you mean Gin? Gin’s..." She trailed off. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

Mira’s lips parted slightly, and for the first time since the battle ended, a hint of emotion touched her face.

"...Well didn’t recognise in this state, his presence has been silent for years." she whispered as if embarrassed.

Years?

Gin’s body shivered. Not from pain this time but from something else.

His instincts had told him he’d been gone long... but years?

’What happened to me?’

His spiritual sense extended a bit out of reflex. Not far he didn’t have the strength but just enough to feel the shifting auras of those closest.

None were hostile.

Confused one. One Guarded. Another feeling awkward.

One transformable had face as like what the heck are these idiots talking about.

And last one with pure longing.

He relaxed slightly, letting himself sink into a seated position, his front paws folded beneath him. His tail curled around his wounded flank. If he couldn’t speak, he could at least not threaten them.

Saira approached cautiously, a light mist forming around her hands again not as a weapon this time, but as healing vapor. But she paused before getting too close.

"Can you... understand us fully?" she asked gently.

Gin blinked once.

Then nodded.

’It seems Saira had taken after Lucy’s cautious nature... or maybe she was always been one...’

All eyes went wide even Lucy’s, though just slightly.

Xingning looked like she was extremely puzzled. "Then... is it really you?"

’It seems she is still confused after everything.’

Jean stepped forward slowly, lowering her massive wooden form into a crouch, still towering, still wild... but gentle in movement. Her voice was low, gravelly, but soft in tone.

"Gin. You look different again."

Gin huffed.

A short, raspy exhale. Almost a laugh.

Jean leaned back. "I always knew you’d come back. Somehow" she said while transforming back to her lizard form.

He tilted his head at that.

She smiled or what passed as a smile for her small face. "The forest informed me."

Gin blinked again, then shifted his gaze to Mira.

She was closer now, and this time she didn’t hesitate. Kneeling beside him, she raised a hand. Her aura was gentle, the mist even gentler. When it touched his side, his body tensed but only briefly. The cool sensation of water began to seep into his wounds.

"You’re still a mess, though" she murmured. "Some things never change." She remembered a old memory of them, below the ocean water fighting with everything they had and....... both without cloths after coming out for some reasons. Well she didn’t mention she was also one at that time.

Gin gave her a slow, skeptical look that made her laugh.

Soft. Tired. But genuine.

"You should rest," Mira said. "You’ve done enough."

Gin turned his head toward Alice.

Her eyes hadn’t left him for a second.

Not even now.

She knelt again, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her expression unreadable. And then she whispered something so faint, only his spiritual sense picked up the vibration in the air.

"...I missed you."

Gin’s heart clenched.

He wanted, needed to speak. To ask what happened. Why they had changed so much.

To investigate why he had changed. Why his body refused to shift back. Why his voice was trapped in a muzzle that couldn’t form words.

But no matter how deeply he tried, no words came.

Just a quiet growl of longing. Not anger. Not pain. Just the ache of unspoken questions.

And none of them, none could answer.

Because even if they’d lived through it all...

They still didn’t know why Gin had disappeared. Or what had brought him back like this. And mainly what the heck is he even trying to convey.

Lucy turned finally to the others.

"Rest," she said. "We’ll talk later. And keep watch. The wilderness isn’t done yet."

Then she looked at Gin one last time. "You’re really back... for now."

And with that, they slowly dispersed.

Alice remained.

So did Gin.

Beneath the fading light of the battle-scarred sky, the silver-blue wolf lay in silence beside the girl who had never stopped watching him.

And the wind carried only quiet questions that neither knew how to answer.

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To Be Continued.