"Chosen one, greetings."
All at once, under Firewing's gaze, the egg quivered—and then, impossibly, it spoke human language.
"???"
"Summoning an egg is one thing, but it even speaks Huaxia…?"
"Did my summoning ability mutate?"
Firewing fell silent.
"Chosen one, I am not a summoned beast. I am a Divine Beast Lion."
Apparently dissatisfied with how Firewing had addressed it, the egg rocked as it spoke.
"Divine Beast Lion? Who came up with that name? Don't you think 'Lion' sounds completely out of place next to 'Divine Beast'?"
Hearing the name, Firewing, who had been silent a moment before, couldn't help complaining again. It wasn't that lions were absent from Huaxia myth—take the Nine-Spirits Primordial Saint, for example, a nine-headed lion; now that title sounded imposing.
But for most people, hearing "lion" first calls up the image of those cats on the savannah.
"Mm."
Put that way, the egg didn't know what to say either. After thinking for a long while, it said:
"I have another title—Flame Beast. Is that better?"
"Then I'll call you Flame Beast."
Firewing clapped as she spoke.
"Now that I know your name, talk. Where did you come from? What can you do?"
"And what does 'Chosen one' mean?"
"…"
For some reason, the Divine Beast Lion felt that something was off. But it still answered honestly:
"At the dawn of heaven and earth, the world lay barren. The Creator descended bearing divine power, brought forth clear springs, and gave life to the land."
"The Creator also made divine beasts to aid the human race's development. I was one of them."
"But all of this is memory in my mind. Whether it is fact, I do not know."
Firewing tapped her chin with her index finger as she listened. This "divine beast" was not quite what she understood a divine beast to be. It wasn't called that because it was nobly born or overwhelmingly strong, but because those creatures the Creator had made were all divine beasts.
"In my memory I have the power to muster the beasts. Besides that, I can transform into a divine armament."
The Divine Beast Lion continued.
"A divine armament?"
"Among the divine beasts the Creator made, there is a special kind that can transform into various divine armaments with special powers, and are thus called Divine Armament Beasts. After I am born, the chosen one can cry my name, and I will transform into Divine Armament Flame Beast!"
The Divine Beast Lion rocked its shell as it spoke.
Hearing the egg's words, Firewing rubbed her head. "Divine Armament Beast" sounded exactly like an anime.
Wait.
As if something had occurred to her, Firewing asked a bit hesitantly:
"Do you know Brandon White?"
"The Creator?"
The Divine Beast Lion asked in puzzlement.
"I think I get it now."
Firewing picked up her phone, opened the dedicated website, and searched for the latest uploads. Sure enough, there was a brand-new anime on the site.
Shenbing Young Generals.
Judging from the animation style, it looked a bit like something from childhood.
She hadn't been chosen by the Armors, Imperial Arms, Clow Cards, or Kamen Rider—but being chosen by this wasn't bad either.
At least she'd been chosen.
Firewing's mood brightened.
Previously, Skyler had been chosen by the Flame Dragon Armor; Chris Frost had obtained an Imperial Arm; that kid Nathaniel Gray had also gotten a Devil Fruit; Ethan Yates and William Mecham had gotten their own windfalls.
Only her—she had nothing.
Even the Flame-Flame Fruit had been something she'd received from Brandon White.
That wasn't being chosen at all.
Now, with a Divine Armament Beast egg in hand, she finally wasn't empty-handed.
Moreover, everything Brandon White manifested had its own criteria for choosing: if not the righteous and kind, then those hero-soldiers willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the people—in any case, someone worthy of bearing such things.
Devil Fruits seemed to depend on one's own ability and luck… whatever, she wasn't talking about Devil Fruits.
A Divine Armament Beast egg had to have a selection rule. That she had been chosen also meant she had been acknowledged by Brandon White's rules.
"Flame Beast, when will you hatch?" Firewing asked the Divine Beast Lion with a smile.
Although the Divine Beast Lion didn't understand why her mood had shifted so fast, it still answered honestly:
"It should take another year. If there are items containing great energy to nurture me, it should go faster, and my strength after birth will be greater."
"How about these?"
Without hesitation, Firewing pointed at the dragon blood beside her.
"If they are used to nurture me, I can probably emerge in about three months."
The Divine Beast Lion sensed the energy and spoke.
"Then all of this is yours. In three months, we'll give Skyler a little surprise in our first bout."
In Tianhai City, after receiving the true dragon heart-blood, Chris Frost merely nodded faintly, showing little emotion.
As with Skyler's sense that her own strength was not enough, she felt the same.
After fighting too many battles against weak mutated beasts, she had nearly mistaken herself for something out of the ordinary.
In truth, she was not.
Not only among humans—among other races there were mutated beings whose gifts were no less than hers, and some greater still.
The mutated giant octopus of Haicheng had made her see herself clearly.
But that was fine. If her mindset had gone wrong, she would correct it; if her thinking had skewed, she would set it straight. She would train harder, fight more, grind her combat power, and spend more time cultivating.
She would become stronger.
Since their gifts were not inferior to hers—and some were even greater—she would simply outwork them. She would develop ice to an even higher extreme.
To that end, she would seize every possibility that could make her stronger.
Just as Skyler had, Chris Frost opened a vial and drank down the dragon blood. As the intense pain arrived, she closed her eyes and steadily absorbed the surging energy contained within the blood.
Behind her, the phantom of an Extreme Ice Phoenix flickered faintly. A hint of gold rippled through its ice-blue eyes.
Chris Frost was unaware of the vision behind her. After absorbing the energy from one vial of dragon blood, she uncorked another and swallowed it, continuing to digest.
Again and again.
Compared to the peace and order that Huaxia currently maintained, the island nation at this moment had fallen into a catastrophe without precedent.
Rrrrumble…!
Out upon the sea, a colossal existence whipped its arms about wantonly, raising wave after wave.
Terrifying swells rolled endlessly across the ocean, and under the giant's ceaseless flailing they piled up into a tsunami tens of meters high, slamming straight toward the island nation's coastal cities!
"A tsunami—it's a tsunami!"
"What is that thing doing? Why is it squatting just outside our island nation! Bastard!"
"That has to be the eight-forked serpent of the sea—Yamata-no-Orochi! Where is our Susanoo-no-Ōkami? Why isn't he here to save us? Damn it!"
"Run! If you don't run now, it'll be too late!"
"No, no, no—don't come here, don't—"
(End of this chapter)