The Three Headed Dragon
"The demon king is stirring..."
--- Orochi Cultist, on the eve of Imperfect Orochi coming into being.
Dracozilla Jr. is currently one of Neighpon's guardians, this is the story of just how that came to be.
Following the destruction of the Third Demon King, Orochi's cultists would step up their attempts to resurrect their dark god. This would lead to a series of events that would awaken an ancient darkness... but turn Neighpon's most feared kaiju into one of its greatest protectors and mark a big change in the nation's history.
Background
"We deny any involvement in this tragedy."
--- People's Empress Zora Kalakov, in response to accusations of her country's involvement in the assassination of King Salneigho and disappearance of his daughter. Given their character, it is not known for certain whether the leadership is directly involved in the assassination or is unaware of actions of 'bad actors' within their nation.
As the Cloven Empire's attempts at modernization and expansion persisted, there were naturally areas nearby that they desired to annex into their empire that were both unwilling to 'accept' their rule, but too peaceful and well-liked to take by force. The small, mountainous country of Selgineigha is one such nation. The resources of the nation and its high deer population made it very desirable to the Empire, but its peaceful stance mean taking it by force was off the table.
However, this did not stop a Pro-Clovenist faction from appearing in the country, which the Empire itself denied any involvement in. While at first peaceful, the peaceful King Salneigho was found assassinated in his bed room with no sign of the assassin. What was found was a common variety of Clovenist crossbow.
Eyes turned further towards the Cloven Empire's involvement when the Crown Princess of Selgneigha's airship exploded in on the way to Neighpon for a diplomatic mission that would have seen her meet with Mothryu's Priestesses on neutral soil to request Mothryu's protection against potential Clovenist aggression. While the Clovenist claimed it was simply an accident, many believed it and the assassination of King Salneigho were both an attempt to help the Pro-Clovenist faction come to power to permit their annexation of Selgineigha. Something the combined incidents showed likely to happen.
Meanwhile, AK Yearling ventured to Neighpon to follow up on the awakening of the Third Demon King, looking into a Orochi-worshiping cult in the Neighponese wilderness.
The Prophetess
"In the caverns beneath that island is the monster Roedan."
--- Tamaneyura, Priestess of Light, prophesizing the destruction of a ship leaving for what would become 'Roedan's Island'.
During all these incidents, an expedition to an island where Clovenist wild magic waste from the creation of their Mana Bombs was being prepared to head off to sea, but before they could depart, a mysterious mare appeared before them, claiming to be a Priestess named Tamaneyura from ancient Neighpon.
Her prophecy was a simple warning: if they departed to that island, then they were putting themselves at great risk, for in the caverns beneath the island another member of the species of kaiju called Roedan lay slumbering and about to awaken. Unfortunately, she was not believed, due to appearing like a homeless mare and sounding crazy.
She soon appeared once again at a port to warn those about to get aboard a ship that if the ship set sail, it would be destroyed. Among those on this ship were Mothryu's priestesses, who unlike the rest of the passengers believed the Priestess's warnings and snuck off the ship before its departure.
During all of this, a number of those in the government came to a startling realization: Tamaneyura was the missing and believed dead Princess Salneigho.
The Prophecies Hold True
“What did the Clovenists awakened THIS time?!”
--- Leader of the expedition, upon Roedan’s appearance.
Upon their arrival on the island, the group expedition found the island unusually quiet...until the Earth began to quake and split open. With a screech, Roedan emerged from the caverns beneath the island and took to the skies, the winds from his passing nearly killing several of the group and leaving them injured. Thankfully, while they didn't listen, their leader was still worried about the prophecy and made precautions that ultimately saved their lives.
To make matters worse, it became clear that the Clovenist wild magic waste had mutated Roedan, making him far, far stronger and larger than the two that had attacked Neighpon years ago.
Upon hearing of Roedan's resurrection, the captain of the ship that had been warned by the Priestess chose to have the lifeboats prepared just in case and the coast guard to be on alert. This was fortunate, as shortly after departing, Dracozilla, who had not been seen since fighting Mothryu and being defeated by her newborn larva, rose from the depths and attacked the ship. While the ship was destroyed and many went down with it, many others managed to escape thanks to the prophecy.
The Second Demon King Awakens
"This is Yearling...we've got another one..."
--- AK Yearling, upon discovering the Second Demon King had awoken.
During her studies, AK Yearling was met with the Priestess, who informed her that a darkness was stirring and directed her on her path. Coming upon a forest, Yearling was met with a deep crater in the land where something had dug its way out of the ground. After managing to escape several Orochi Cultists, she overheard a terrifying truth: the Second Demon King had awoken, and it was only the beginning of the cult's plans.
Reporting this to Neighpon, she also took Priestess Tamaneyura to a hotel to try and figure out what was going on. Despite appearing identical to the missing Princess Salneigho, the Priestess had no memory of the lost Princess, instead asserting she was truly from ancient Neighpon, something Mothryu's priestess soon arrived to collaborate on.
While they could not confirm or deny her claims of being ancient, they could confirm her gift of foresight was legitimate, and was the reason they escaped from Dracozilla's rampage.
In the midst of this, the assassin who had claimed King Salneigho's life returned to attempt to finish the job of killing the heir to the throne. Thankfully, with some aid from the Priestesses of Mothryu, Yearling was able to drive them off and protect her ward.
Red Sun II Takes Flight
“Now, witness the power of our new and fully operational aerial dreadnought!”
--- Pegasi People's Centurion Malinav, Belomaneian Clovenist Imperial Aeroforce liaison to Neighpon, upon the take-off of their upgraded Red Sun II. Malinav belatedly dismissed any concerns that it would prove inadequate like the first Red Sun.
With three powerful monsters now on the loose in Neighpon, including what had ultimately become a minor nemesis of theirs, the Clovenists decided to once again attempt to restore their lost honour by killing Dracozilla, this time offering the aid of the upgraded Red Sun II. While similar to the first vessel, this one not only possessed greater firepower, but a hidden surprise in the form of a reflective, diamond mirror that had cost a sizable amount of the military's budget to procure and enchant properly. It was hoped this mirror would be able to reflect Dracozilla's wild magic beam back at him and destroy the creature.
With Neighpon's blessings, the Red Sun II was deployed to confront Dracozilla as he rampaged across the Neighponese country side while Neighpon's benevolent kaiju searched for the more actively malevolent Second Demon King, but before the warship could confront its intended target, it was instead confronted by a monstrous red dragon, which was soon confirmed to be the Second Demon King. Being forced to change targets, the Red Sun II and the Second Demon King battled, with the warship sustaining damage but managing to do some in return.
What happened in the end depends on who you ask. The Clovenists claim the Red Sun II destroyed the Second Demon King, but eyewitness reports imply the truth may be far from it. The Second Demon King had intentionally fired its heat ray into the Red Sun II's mirror and made no effort to evade the reflected beam, dying and once more resulting in a burst of dark magic in the shape of Orochi's head and neck.
To many, it appeared the Second Demon King DESIRED to perish in the battle.
Clash of the Titans
“When gods cry war, the world trembles…”
--- Fair Land, renowned artisan, writer and chronicler from the Grittish Isles. These words became widely quoted around Neighpon in the light of the increasing kaiju attacks.
The Red Sun II, its crew doing repairs in transit, moved on to intercept Dracozilla next, the mutated dragon seeming to recall the first model.
While its enhanced arsenal and reflective mirror did give the kaiju quite the fight, in the end something inconceivable happened: the mirror began to melt and lose its integrity. With its main weapon out of commission, the Red Sun II was ordered to return for repairs. It would not make it.
Arriving on the scene, Roedan severely damaged the Red Sun II with his spiked chest plates before flying around and unleashing his own wild magic ray into the still damaged mirror, sending the airship falling from the sky and and exploding in a huge fireball, its crew managing to barely reach the escape pods and eject while the two monsters turned their attention to one another.
Charging each other, Roedan and Dracozilla began a long, evenly matched battle across Neighpon's country side, the two mutants proving evenly matched.
A Incomplete Darkness
"Darkness falls! Orochi-Daimao lives!"
--- Yomi, High Priest of Orochi Cult, upon the ritual to create Imperfect Orochi is completed.
With the aid of Tamaneyura's prophecies and warned if nothing was done Orochi's darkness would return, Yearling the Neighponese Special Defense Forces would find the location of Orochi's firstborn and confront Orochi's cultists as they prepared some dark magic ritual. Chanting dark spells, the dark energy of the Second and Third Demon Kings congregated into a pair of torches before an alter to the demon.
Despite their best efforts, the spell was completed and the First Demon King, a monstrous golden dragon, emerged from his prison...and absorbed the essence of his two fallen brothers. Growing immensely in size, the monster sprouted two additional heads and became an incomplete, three headed Yamata no Orochi.
Rising from his tomb, the Demon King began a rampage across Neighpon, shrouding the sky in darkness and proclaiming death to all who oppose him.
During the resulting confrontation, the leader of the Orochi Cult, High Priest Yomi, perished by falling to his death. Exacts are not clear, but Yearling's fictionalized account, 'Daring Do and the Cult of the Demon King', sees Daring Do sending the cultist falling to his doom during their confrontation.
The Goddess Arrives
"Mothryu is just a little caterpillar now, we don't think she could beat Orochi."
--- Mothryu's Priestesses upon being asked to summon Mothryu to defeat Imperfect Orochi.
The incomplete Orochi, dubbed Imperfect Orochi, continued his rampage, forcing Empress Nadeshiko of Neighpon to prepare to initiate the Orochi Contingency, a plan to unite all of Neighpon's good kaiju in the event that Orochi ever return.
Unfortunately, that would soon prove impossible, at it soon became apparent that if left unguarded, Orochi's cultists would awaken the other Demon Kings and merge them with Imperfect Orochi to recreate their god. Her hoof forced, the Empress instead gave the order for the kaiju to protect the known locations of Orochi's spawn to prevent the situation from worsening.
Yearling quickly turned to Mothryu's priestess to summon Mothryu to battle the Demon King, but the two asserted that in her infant state Mothryu alone would not be enough, and the necessary time for her to metamorphosis into her imago form was simply unavailable. Instead, they suggested a very radical plan: summon Mothryu to talk to Dracozilla and Roedan, as all three together may be able to defeat the incomplete Demon King.
With no other options, this plan was approved and the Goddess of Foal Island soon arrived in Neighpon and confronted the two warring kaiju, using her silk to get their attention.
Unfortunately, while willing to cease fighting, the two hated the civilizations of the world for their painful creation and while not as actively aggressive as the original Dracozilla, both of them had little desire to face Orochi for their sake.
Mothryu's response was apparently to call them cowards who would let the innocent suffer along with the guilty, before crawling off to face Orochi on her own.
Destroyer turned Savior
"Dracozilla? Hmm, let's see what you're made of..."
--- Imperfect Orochi upon being confronted by Dracozilla.
Mothryu confronted the fallen Ryujin, but despite her best efforts and considerable power, had next to no hope of falling the incomplete tyrant on her own and was thrown around like a ragdoll before him.
But before he could kill the infant goddess, Dracozilla roared his fury to the heavens and joined the battle with the ancient terror, Roedan following soon after. While Dracozilla wasn't found of ponies, deer, or most sapient species, he was not so blind with hate as his father to ignore Mothryu's plea when the young monster was clearly so devoted to it. The moment he saw the Demon King, even he knew the incomplete fallen deity must be stopped, no matter the costs.
However, even Dracozilla's great strength was not enough to defeat Orochi alone, and the mutated dragon was soon hurled through a bridge, at which point Roedan joined the struggle, and distracted the beast long enough for Dracozilla to recover.
Uniting, the trio assaulted Imperfect Orochi from all sides in what would be one of the longest, most brutal kaiju fights in Neighpon's history as the trio battled the Demon King.
End of the Assassin
"Here's an idea, don't go trying to kill a girl while the battle of the century is happening a few kaiju footsteps away..."
--- A.K. Yearling, after witnessing the death of the assassin.
While this battle raged on between the trio and Imperfect Orochi, Yearling and her crew were in the middle of their own fight as Tamaneyura was again attacked by the assassin. In the midst of the resulting battle, the prophetic mare was shaken from her state when grazed by a crossbow bolt, returning to Princess Salneigho, causing her attacker to redouble her efforts.
However, in the midst of the brawl, a stray blast struck the mountains above them and sent an avalanche of rock plummeting down, crushing the assassin to death.
With Yearlings help, the Princess escaped the battle zone, and watched as the showdown reached its climax.
The Battle Ends
"This isn't over! My five children still remain! One day, I shall rise again!"
--- Last words of the Imperfect Orochi.
Climbing atop Roedan's back to get a better vantage point, Mothryu showered Imperfect Orochi in silk, binding him enough for Dracozilla to grab him by his tails and send him flying into a rocky valley, his wings too restrained by the silk to fly.
With Mothryu using her magic to create a magnifying spell seal, Dracozilla and Roedan unleashed their wild magic rays at full charge, the enhanced and combined beam was sufficient to finally slay the weakened, incomplete Ryujin, blowing him to bits.
However, in an ominous reminder, three bursts of dark magic in the shape of Orochi's heads and necks erupted from the corpse, roaring a dying vow that the Demon King was not yet finished.
All three wounded and exhausted, the trio parted ways, Dracozilla to the sea, Roedan to the island of his birth, and Mothryu back to Foal Island with her priestesses, with a brighter future seeming certain.
Aftermath
“We cannot afford to take any more chances. When Orochi rises, we must be ready.”
--- Empress Nadeshiko of Neighpon, on the current situation. What manner of plan she had in mind was not specified when asked.
While the kaiju trio managed to slay Imperfect Orochi, Neighpon's other kaiju devastated the Orochi Cult that attempted to resurrect the other Demon Kings and merge them with their master, leaving the cult near destroyed. However, in light of these events, increased security was placed in the areas around all five remaining Fallenspawn demon's prisons.
While managing to gain a small boost of honor and prestige from killing the Second Demon King, the Clovenists ultimately lost any chance of annexing Selneigha, and not simply due to Princess Salneigho returning to the throne, but because the assassin's corpse was recovered, along with the Clovenist passport and weapons he'd been carrying. While not decisive proof of their involvement, it was enough to get the Empire in hot enough water to cause them to remove all forces and support of the Pro-Clovenist faction in Selneigha to save face, and many still believe that the Clovenists were directly responsible for the insurrection.
However, things would take a brighter turn as a result: Dracozilla was soon found to have made a permanent home on an island at sea, and would cease his attacks on Neighpon, gradually coming to be a protector rather than the destroyer he had been. Roedan would soon come to join him, the two becoming best friends and among the top protectors of Neighpon in the future.
Despite all this, a shadow still hung over the nation. Three of Orochi's sons had fallen, five more remained. Even with his cult's presence heavily lessened, the countdown to the demon's true resurrection was still ticking down. But at least now, Neighpon knew it had two more protectors to face him should that day come.