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Chapter 398: Burn, Golem, Burn. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2023-03-01 04:07:09 +0000 UTCEdit: Making the [Solar Beam] part clearer.
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Here were our options:
Tatsuya’s [All-In] and a pouch of six fulinoe leaves he took out before the monster room sealed our mana skills. Meaning, he had six usages of [All-In], depending on how many he used at once, so he had options for burst damage.
Kyouya’s [Shadowed Martyr], allowing him to clad himself in armor and turn into a charging bull. It worked off his health, with the more health he paid for his skill, the sturdier it became. However, he needed healing after every use and his skill also reduced healing from outside sources by 50%.
Rajah had some of his mana threads. Sadly, since we were going up against golems, Rajah’s venom wouldn’t work against them. He was heavily reliant on his dark spells to stay mobile, so this might be a problem for him.
A very tired Vifi’Yok with my glaive, but since the weapon was bond to me, it was heavily nerfed in her hands. It still was a good weapon, but Vifi’Yok couldn’t utilize all its potential.
<Burn My Dread: A manatech-based dragoon glaive created using [Geisenlarg Queen] and [Sunfang Dragon] materials, supported by the enchanted bark of a [Stonewood Treant Guardian] and voldunna ore. As the blood and flames of a [Sunfang Dragon] were used during the smelting process, this spear exudes a natural heat as if it was a miniature sun core. The [Dragonkin Blacksmith Technique] used to create this weapon causes the weapon to only show its full potential in the hands of its true owner.
Dragonkin: [Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Attack Power: 2281
Skill: [Mana Conductor Lv. 8] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 6] [True Spear Mastery Lv. 1] [Increased Weight Lv. 5] [All Damage Enhancement Lv. 1] [Herculean Power Lv. 1] [Speed of Sound Lv. 1] [Superior Aerial Fighter Lv. 1] [Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 8] [Mind’s Eye Lv. 1] [Durability Loss Reduction Lv. 10] [Explosion Pressure Nullification] [Flame Core Aura] [Dragonkin Ownership]
Rune: [Utility Rune: Guided Projectile] [Defense Rune: Scale-Dust Barrier] [Passive Rune: Clean Blade] [Passive Rune: Mana Drain] [Passive Rune: Stamina Beast] [Passive Rune: Crimson Cloak] [Attack Rune: Triple Attack]>
Tatsuya’s and Kyouya’s weapons and armors were all decent, since they were made by Grimnir for this trip. However, unlike mine, theirs were placeholders for when Grimnir could find the time to dedicate to making their personal weapons. Ones he could continuously improve and improve.
We had seven major health potions, six major stamina potions, one minor strength tonic, and also some mana and intelligence vials, but they were useless for our current situation.
And then we had myself, the big, bad dragon. I was a mage, but all my mana-based attacks were blocked. I couldn’t use my Territory, my scale manipulation, nor even my spell songs. Thankfully, I had Neill train me for situations where I could only rely on my physical attacks. Honestly, this situation reminded me of my early days when I had to rely on my claws and fangs to survive.
So, what could I use here? What exactly wasn’t reliant on my mana to be used? Well, firstly, my scale-dust had never relied on mana, but on friction and heat. My spark flames and setting my fangs, claws, and tail on fire were available to me. I just needed mana to increase the flames’ size, meaning I couldn’t use my dragon breath. This, sadly, also meant I couldn’t use my [White Flames] or [Corrosive Fire] since I needed mana to switch them around.
In addition, I had the runes and skills on my armor to rely on, specifically, [Dhuinn Rune: Fearless Defense]. It transformed the vitality and wisdom my armor granted into strength and intelligence, respectively. Not to mention, [Battle Frenzy] and [Solar Beam] were available; the latter required solar energy, not mana, so I could go into my overdrive mode.
In other words, [Fearless Defense] plus [Hellblade Edge] plus [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] plus [Solar Beam] equaled our winning strategy … Sadly, I couldn’t speak as a dragon and [Telepathy] required mana. My companions did not know the plan my parallel minds and I had just formed.
“Grrrrrrrrrr!” I growled, stepping forward while raising my tail and swinging it up and down.
Tatsuya, noticing this, nodded, smirking at me like a daredevil. “I know, I know, you’re our trump card here, Hestia-san! I don’t need to hear you to understand that; don’t worry, you lead, I’ll improvise with what you want! I’m not much use as a combat specialist here, but I like shot calling when I play games, so I’ll communicate with you!”
We’re gonna bloody dump on these trash! Make them uninstall from life!
“Here!” Kyouya handed Tatsuya all but one stamina potion and three of the health potions. He then looked at Vifi’Yok, throwing her the strength tonic. “Give Hestia-san the tonic for the final attack! Everything matters; the rest, use however you want to survive! Incoming!”
“Oi! I—” Vifi’Yok wanted to interject, but the combined three waves of golems had already began their march towards us. Arrows flew, a stampede of stone legs, and the booming crackling of the giant [Monster Room Mimic (Fairnite)].
<Monster Room Mimic (Fairnite): A golem with the ability to separate its body parts to form a room, acting like a monster room until the time comes to strike. This version is made out of fairnite, increasing its resistance against magic. Although imposing and sturdy due to its impressive size, easily able to dwarf the smaller rank A monsters, this mimic does not have the stats to match its size. Regardless, one should not underestimate it with its army of monsters. Rank B>
[Mana Eyes], while it sounded like it required mana to use, didn’t. Its primary function was to allow me to see the flow of mana when I activated them, which, fortunately, allowed us to gather some intel. I couldn’t appraise its Profile due to the annoying [Information Blocked] notification, but this description alone was good enough, meaning I could beat it. Just like all the other rank Bs I defeated in the past, this thing will become another piece of experience fodder!
Problem was, I couldn’t tell anybody about this. No [Telepathy] meant I was reduced to my Belzac Forest form of communication—emoting. Seeing how that turned out, I was a bit nervous. Regardless, with the boys attacking, I could only focus on my killing blow.
Either survive for ten minutes or kill the mimic golem. The situation was pretty effed up, though.
“Drinking!” Tatsuya and Kyouya both drank a stamina potion each, although it wouldn’t remove [Exhaustion (Minor)] from Tatsuya’s Profile. Either I had to sing [The Will to Fight and Survive] or he had to take a good, long rest to remove that annoying debuff. “Rajah, the three of us coordinate together, find a path forward. We’ll take care of the fodder to make way for Hestia-san to take care of the rank Bs!”
“Mgreewwwh!” Rajah roared in affirmation.
However, I was certainly not on-board with this plan.
What?! No, wait, not you, Tatsuya! You need to help me down those rank Bs to get to the boss quicker! Don’t waste your [All-In] on the mooks! Also, don’t use Rajah’s tricks and higher agility for the mooks, use his threads to help Kyouya immobolize the minions! Crowd control!
“Kraaaa!” I roared, drawing everybody’s attention, but Tatsuya snapped his head around to dodge an arrow. With his attention on the problems at hand, he dismissed my roar as a warcry, before continuing commands while all I could do was to watch them.
Dammit!
I couldn’t stop them now when they were getting attacked, then the knight golems and the boss would just rush at me. No, I had to correct their plans—
“Oi, dragon, if you got something on your mind, it’s better to not try to disrupt the flow of things.” But before I could rush forward and stop the boys by bodyblocking them, Vifi’Yok smacked me on the head. “No mana means no [Telepathy] or [Humanize]. The cat can’t speak, either. Aside from logistics and morale, communication is another high-priority pillar for war and battle. Break even one of them, and everything will eventually crumble.”
“Krrruh?” I questioned what Vifi’Yok was saying with this, but my head snapped around as my [Foresight] activated, quickly dodging out of the way of a thrown axe, noticing my sense of touch was almost back to normal.
“I need some time to rest. Give me a moment, dragon.” I turned my head back to Vifi’Yok, eyeing her small body, which was barely larger than my mouth. “The operation plan should be you taking down the fodder; don’t worry about their level ups. Let them occupy the rank Bs with their movements and crowd control. Let them take down the weakened golem you nearly killed, which would allow them to gain levels, an extra boost.”
But wouldn’t that mean the boys would gain less experience outright? The Gnomacotta warriors are rank C, which gives me far reduced experience, while the boys and Rajah will benefit from them greatly.
“The only way for all of us to clean this room out, saving us, is for you to take the majority of the damage, naturally taunt all aggression, and clean the most enemies out. Your size, fire attacks, and range of attacks is what will win this battle, not those boys’ making room for you. As the strongest, you lead them, rally them, and support the weak so they can do their job!”
Three opinions. Three different methods to engage this battle.
My plan was to utilize everybody’s talents to carve the victory with my finishing blow. Tatsuya’s focus is to have his side clear the path forward for me to take down the rank Bs, since the victory condition was to defeat the boss. Vifi’Yok’s, on the other hand, wanted me to take down the fodder, acting like a one-woman army to draw attention away from the boys so they can use Tatsuya’s [All-In] to kill the golems.
Since the golems were weaker to physical attacks, Tatsuya should be able to do it. I didn’t need to babysit him … So, what was the correct plan?
I have no other options, really. I dislike Tatsuya’s plan.
“Kraah!” I decided to entrust the leadership to Vifi’Yok, following along her plan. With a simple nod, she understood I would be following her plan, as she could vocalize what she wanted.
Unable to speak, this was the only path to victory.
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” I roared before slamming my tail on the ground, letting the friction ignite my tail ablaze. Without my right arm, I stood up on my two hind legs and jumped up, before twisting my body around and slamming my flaming down onto the approaching army, stopping the boys from reaching their target before I did.
“Woooah!”
Tatsuya, Kyouya, and Rajah were blown away by the shockwave as I unleashed another roar, before swinging my edged tail around, scorching the ground, leaving behind a straight and circular scar on the ruin floors.
“The dragon is taking out the fodder, taking the damage and attention away from you! Take down that weakened B golem!” Vifi’Yok shouted her orders, before I charged into the mix to enact her plan with her on my back. My willingness to do what the demonkin wanted should persuade them to follow along without giving the boys the chance to argue.
I smashed my wings onto the ground, before grinding them along the floor, setting them aflame. If I couldn’t use [Hellblade Edge] on my two hands, then my wings would have to serve here.
At the same time, I dodged the first rank B golem’s axe swing, then another before jumping away. I was attacked by three of them, while the weakened golem ran ahead to retrieve the axe it threw, meaning it would be isolated. This was the time to taunt the rest!
“Attention to the army! Cull the weak! And get rid of the golem’s meat shield!” Snappy orders, quick and precise. Finding no fault in it, I follow her and instead of engaging the golems, I ran away, circling them while smashing the rank C warriors.
At the same time, I noticed the boss—the mimic—moving slowly, fully unable to catch up to me, unlike the knight golems. Even then, thanks to the size of the small room, it was impossible for me to run away forever. This meant that all the golems would gang up against me, but by luring their attention onto me, I successfully isolated the weakened one from every other enemy.
Boom! Like the sound of a building crumbling in a construction site, the noise of rocks broke apart, scattering throughout the room, only attracting the mimic golem’s attention. I snapped my eyes around, noticing the boys were doing what Vifi’Yok wanted.
The golem was still alive, but its legs were tangled by Rajah’s mana threads, while Kyouya had encased the Golem’s hands in his shadow armor, making it impossible for it to grab its thrown axe. Tatsuya, meanwhile, had situated himself near the golem’s head, readying his spear.
“Dragon, did you sense the golem’s core when you attacked it?!” Vifi’Yok demanded as I tried to defend myself from the other knight golems. “Monster golems aren’t like alchemical gargoyles, or the golems from spells. The stronger ones form a mana core, similar to slimes and such. Keeps everything together and allows them to heal themselves.”
I hadn’t thought about that. I hadn’t really use [Mana Eyes] to really inspect all the golems up until now in detail, and even though I appraised them, it was just a quick look. This whole place was saturated in mana, after all. My headache would return if I left the skill on for too long.
Mana Eyes! I activated, looking into the golem’s body, noticing there was a concentration of mana around its stomach, forming something like a spehere. It was small, far too tiny compared to the giant mammoth-sized golem.
“Kraaaah!” I roared, standing up to draw Tatsuya’s attention. Using my remaining arm, I pointed at my stomach, before pointing at the golem. Thankfully, it seemed he understood my gestures and ran to the location of the mana concentration.
At the same time, the golems charged forward, nearly grabbing me. I jumped over them, only for my [Foresight] to activate, prompting me to snap my head up as I saw the boss’s head began to glow blue. Energy was concentrating around it, ready to blow out.
Cheater! I called out, realizing it was using mana despite the rules of the room!
No getting around it, then. Solar Beam!
Heat rose from the center of my body, warming up every cell in my body. The stream of solar energy reached my mouth through the fiber of my body, coalescing into a single ball of power, which I released just as the golem shot out a mana beam. White, burning hot solar energy shot out of my mouth, crashing against the foreign beam attack!
The blowback from the attack helped me stay in the air for a moment, only for the knight golems to grab my tail, pulling me down before swinging their axes at me. [Defense Rune: Pavise] protected me from all three swings, but I also noticed how the axes managed to penetrate the mana barrier, lodging their weapons.
Thankfully, these golems didn’t realize their mistake. [Solar Beam] sent my body into overdrive, making it burn hotter than anything you could possibly imagine. My scale-dust was burning like crazy, bursting into flames underneath my scales.
“I’m going!” Vifi’Yok ran away during this entire mess, cleaving through some warriors with sweat drenching her black hair and clothes.
With her out of the way, I snapped my fangs together, causing sparks to blow up in my face before it detonated the flying scale-dust around me, sending the golems flying as anything around me was reduced to ashes.
A sizable crater was created where I was laying. I snapped my head up, only to jerked it back as the boss finally reached me. Its blue glowing face sent a shudder down my spine, only for me to roar and stand up, pushing the golem back as I sunk my fangs right into its right arm. It didn’t respond, instead, it tried to grab my wings, but due to [Solar Beam], that also meant I could use my rocket boosters without mana. My body was too bloody hot with my solar core active!
‘Everything is going well!’ Manager Mind informed me, assuring me my new solar core was handling the stress without any issues.
I shot up with the rocket boosters, before using [Drakonian Sunlight Edge] on my tail to imbue it with my solar energy, cleanly slicing off the boss’s right arm, before grabbing it with my mouth. I spread my wings, looking down at the boss as I glided down. The heat of my body began to melt the fairnite arm, allowing me to slurp it up like some chunky sauce.
Not yet.
After the molten fairnite churned in my stomach for a moment, I shot forward with my boosters, prompting the golem to suddenly conjure a mana barrier around him, forcing me to fly up to the ceiling. Scouting another of its abilities, I took a mental note to avoid that shield before my final attack.
At the same time, I jerked my eyes to the side, noticing the crumbled mess of a rank B golem to the side. Its stomach was gouged out, looking like some bomb was set off, turning that part into nothing. Tatsuya had done it, but it looked like mana concentration acted like a bomb once it was destroyed.
Fortunately, the boys were already engaging one of the scorched knight golems I just blew away. All three were fine; Kyouya probably protected his best friend in time!
Knowing I had to stick to the plan, I ignored the boss, using its slow speed to our advantage as I flew towards the boys and landed right before the golem. The smaller warriors about to swarm them were dispersed, or were melting around me. I roared before swinging my bright white tail at the burned golem, slicing it in half by its torso, only to realize its mana concentration was forming on its head.
The boys seeing me have this charge at the third golem while I took the aggro from everybody. This also allowed me to kill my first rank B in the process, smashing its head into pieces with my tail.
<Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] has risen from [Level 27] to [Level 28]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<Acquired 750 skill points>
Health filled up!
“Grroon!”
I snapped my head around as I heard that, seeing the boss open its mouth out to shoot out a blast of mana at the boys. I rocket boosted myself in front of them, before being blown away as pavise didn’t do anything. Once again, I forgot to use my Auracoil rune, being too accustomed to relying on my scales and [Draconic Barrier] to protect me instead of my new runes.
Thankfully, Grimnir’s armor shielded me from it, not even showing a crack or chip. Unfortunately, however, the boss was readying more blasts. I flew forward again, blocking a second and third—this time remembering to use Auracoil—before being blown away from the recoil. As the boss readied a fourth shot, Kyouya jumped forward and had his armor split from his body, forming into a large black wall.
The blast crashed against it, pushing it back and taking a chunk off it. Kyouya produced another knight armor from his skill before drinking a health potion, to then pull his shield alongside the others as they avoided the constant mana barrages.
Did this golem figure us out?! I noted how it was focused on them, instead of me, who should be easier to hit.
Knowing I had to stop him, I shot myself forward, only for my [Foresight] to activate and warn me of a flying axe. I killed my speed by stomping my feet down, but failed to dodge it outright and just relied on my armor to protect me. With a loud, metallic “dund” the stone axe bounced right off my chestplate, a testament of Grimnir’s work.
However, while I didn’t take any serious damage, the shockwave did rock my chest, causing the air to fly right out of my lungs. Regardless, this stopped my forward rush.
The golem, though, deftly caught the stone axe and swung it down, forcing me to dodge, only for the boss to take advantage of this with another mana blast. With my rocket boosters, I managed to dodge it by flying up, but now like a turret, the boss continued shooting more projectiles at me while the two last knight golems ran at the boys.
“We can take care of this! Deal with that boss, first!” Tatsuya shouted before putting a fulinoe leaf in his mouth. “Rajah, disarm duty. Kyouya, ram it down! I’ll deal with its legs once you’re done!”
The fodder destruction I did up until this point had really cleaned the room from hostile forces, but their remains still crowded the floor. Rocks and even fairnite boulders were everywhere. It certainly was better than the alternative of blood and viscera … Better make sure that stayed that way.
System, time for this event.
<4:29 minutes remain>
Almost six minutes have passed since the battle started? Felt shorter, but I could take that. Meaning, I wouldn’t have to risk escalating things if I used it now.
“Kriffiek kllk gaaung!” I growled, fully able to replicate the draconic language with my dragon throat.
<[Battle Frenzy (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Overuse of [Battle Frenzy] could cause me to go berserk, as Neill warned me. I just had to use this power-up when I needed it, and for not too long, but now was just the right time.
As my white tints colored my crimson scales, the internal heat inside my body soared even higher, smoldering everything around me. I could feel the solar energy surging and keeping my overdrive active, ready to be unleashed for a devastating solar power attack. Even without [Obsidian Blaze], the flames my scale-dust produced began to surround me as if they were magnetically attracted to my body.
Just as the boss tried to shoot at me, once again, I let out a small burp, sending the molten fairnite from my stomach back up my throat, before belching out magma. As they crashed against each other, the magma exploded, sending it spraying all over the battlefield like some water sprinklers.
Kyouya kept the others protected, while I noticed Vifi’Yok was mostly avoiding, taking a break behind some dead warriors. So, as everybody was mostly safe, I took the chance to transform this area into mine. Even without a Territory, I now had all the agency to win this.
Flash Fire.
Quick movements towards any source of fire; it required stamina, not mana, to use. As such, I dashed behind the golem boss, surprising it as I slashed at it with my tail. As if his body was butter, the golem lost another arm to my white glowing tail, fueled by all the solar energy in my body. Yeostar really knew what sorta skills I like.
As the golem stumbled back, armless, I couldn’t help but form a smile as I raised my tail, aiming it at it like a spear. I then lunged forward, ready to cut its legs off.
The golem’s mana seams brightened, looking like it was ready to shoot another mana blast, however, to my surprise, [Danger Perception] didn’t warn me of anything in front of me, but something behind.
“Dragon, duck!” I heard Vifi’Yok’s voice in addition to my skill’s warning, prompting me to lower my body, only to see an axe fly over me. It didn’t hit the golen, no, instead it stopped just before it did and flew over to his right arm.
At the same time, the numerous rubble created from the fallen golems started to fly up to the golem’s shoulders. With [Mana Eyes] I confirmed it was using mana to do so, but without the skill, it looked like it was done telekinetically. The broken pieces attached themselves on its body, reconstructing its arms, only this time, it had an axe!
“Gooooon!”
You gotta be kidding me!
It swung its axe right down, forcing me to dodge with [Flash Fire] before throwing another tail slash; only this time, it managed to block the attack. Still, I cleanly cut right through its weapon, demolishing it. Before I could swing at it again, its mana barrier materialized, blocking one attack, only for it to turn the axe into a make-shift hammer.
It swung once again while blasting mana beams at me, forcing me to dodge more and more. Everything I tried to attack with failed, this geomancy-golem was cheating its way for its survival.
<2:01 minutes remain>
Oh, shut it!
It knew it couldn’t win! This bastard was trying to stall me to rob us of the victory, and it could do so using mana and the golem corpses I handily created for it. It could even use the magma I belched out for its own use! Unfair!
Time was running out, while the golem had unlimited rubble to use against me and I couldn’t get a good hit on it with my final attack.
There were two attacks I could use with [Solar Beam], both resulting in me releasing this surging solar energy coursing through my body. Either it was to just release it through my body like a radiator, turning myself into a bomb—I primarily used it during my meteor dive attacks, like what I did to Vifi’Yok in Elyonda or the geisenlarg king in Griffonpeak. The second was by condensing all that energy into another beam attack—like my attack against the demonkin of envy in Griffonpeak.
To be honest, both sounded quite generic, but the techniques worked just fine. In any case, the former option was impossible since I would cook everybody. Without [Dragon Fire], I wouldn’t be able to prevent everybody from dying, so I could only use the latter way.
And that meant I needed an opening for a precise shot!
<0:41 minutes remain>
But, while the golem stalled me, I was also stalling it for myself.
“All-in times three! Health sacrifice! Dragoon Dive!” And, just like me, that person I was stalling for loved shouting out his attacks.
My eyes snapped up just as Tatsuya dived from the ceilings, destroying the boss’s right rubble arm once again. As the make-shift hammer fell onto the ground, Tatsuya got stuck on the boss’s fairnite body, far too hard for his boosted strength to break through. Regardless, it still unbalanced the boss enough for Kyouya to come in.
Releasing his shadow armor, the pieces extended themselves and wrapped around its left rubble arm, pinning it down onto the ground. Meanwhile, Rajah jumped onto the golem’s body and snatched Tatsuya. He then pounced off and allowed Kyouya to get on, bringing both to safety.
And just in time, as the second strongest of our boss party finally showed her head. Just as the golem was about to find its balance, Vifi’Yok swung my glaive, cleaving one leg and then the other with four slashes, two on each.
The boss landed on the ground, unable to move or protect itself. It tried to assemble some limbs for itself, but could only stare at me in horror. Its mouth began to light up blue.
<0:37 minutes remain>
Not even close … Mana Eyes! Fearless Defense, on!
After locating a small concentration of mana around the boss’s diaphragm area, I activated the Dhuinn rune on my armor, causing the Kargryxmor’clan symbol to light up on my white-black armor. The red and gold tints glowed brightly as I felt [Dhuinn Rune: Fearless Defense] decreasing my vitality and wisdom to give me the equivalent in strength and intelligence. I felt power coursing through me, further boosted by [Battle Frenzy (Minor)].
[Solar Beam], released!
With my prep done, I unleashed the hot beam of solar energy, drilling straight through the golem’s body. The burst of energy scorched through the ground behind it as it let out a last crumbly whimper. Mana leaked out of its mouth as its blue eyes dulled.
<Congratulations on completing this monster room by defeating the room guardian! In honor of your incredible performance, everybody who participated will each receive a full amount of experience from the boss as if they had killed them. This will not be shared through the party function>
<Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] has risen from [Level 28] to [Level 29]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<Acquired 750 skill points>
Woooooooooooo, two levels!
<In addition, a treasure chest will spawn, filled with items worthy for a rank B clear. Please, pick them up before leaving the room>
‘Original Mind, we’re burning!’ Manager Mind warned me, causing me to stop my jubilation to see that my body was still aflamed. I wasn’t overheating just yet, but without mana, it was kinda hard to managed my body temperature.
Especially if my solar core was empty, which it was after that attack … but not for long. There was a reason why I had Grimnir use my broken cores to help create this piece of armor. Just like my solar core, it could absorb the sun's rays, just not as much. Regardless, as long as I had even a 0.01%, my solar core could handle the rest.
“Grooo!” I let out a massive sigh as the flames on my body died down, falling onto the ground, just like all the remaining golems. They all just dropped dead, showing no signs of life.
I also noticed the corpses of two of the knight armors were cut into four individual pieces. Which probably meant Vifi’Yok helped the boys deal with those things.
We effing did it, ha!
“Here.” As I was praising everybody for their efforts, Vifi’Yok’s voice woke me up, drawing my attention to her giving Tatsuya an empty bottle. “Used the strength tonic myself. Not angry, right?”
“…” Tatsuya glared at her, causing her to shrug her shoulders. He still had a grudge with her, as during their first meeting, she almost killed him.
Well, can’t solve that this easily.
“Oi, Tatsu—”
“Stop it, otherworlder. I don’t need this twat’s bitching.” The demonkin glossed over the details, before handing him my glaive. “Now, if ya’ll excuse me, I gotta dip. Enjoy the treasure.”
What?!
“Hey!” Tatsuya tried to grab her shoulder, but she just dodged to the side and—
“Urgk!”
—fell onto the ground, tripping over some of the rubble. At the same time, I heard her stomach growling so loud, I thought she hid a lion or something underneath her clothes.
“Mreow?” Rajah walked over to her as the boys were stunned at what was happening. With a confused meow, my virigress grabbed her by her scruff and swung her onto his back as if she was some lifeless puppet.
He then rushed over to me, showing me her face. My eyes widened as I raised my head, only to see her closed eyes, looking not only red but purple. She was breathing heavily in an uneven rhythm.
Fever? Heatstroke?!
***
“Meik’s face looks like a bloody thumb at this point. The wounds this time really hit him hard … do we have to let Lod ‘play’ with him?” Rikara, the only female party member of the dragonslayers chasing after Hestia, noted.
Galg, the party leader of the “The Dragonpikes,” looked over the man who always doned a full set of armor, acting as the party’s important tank. His face was completely disfigured to the point you couldn’t really tell his race, showing barely any details a normal face should have like a nose, ears, lips, skin, or even eyelids. Even to the scarred members of this party, the man laying on the ground was beyond horrid to look at if he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
Galg touched his own scars, taking pride in them as badges for his effort. However, he couldn’t help but feel pity for one of his most trustworthy friends. For his dedication to help overcoming Galg’s ordeals, this man had sacrificed his appearance.
Galg touched his bandaged left arm, noting how it still stung. “… [Dread Burn]. Once you have it, you can’t heal your wounds even with the best potions. Only time can heal this ailment.”
Rikara nodded. Aside from the scars blemishing this once beautiful leonid’s face, the burn scars from her battle against Hestia had cost her an ear. She touched it, noting how she could feel the phantom pain of it. She sighed, but instantly grinned as she felt her heart pump faster. She couldn’t stop thinking of Hestia and the battle she had with her.
Unlike most dragonslayers, Rikara did not feel any hatred for dragons. She only felt the excitement of facing them. Just like many leonids from Carmaniate, fighting was truly her calling. The viscous tearing of flesh gave her life, and she wanted to continue doing so until she breathed her last. To her, dying with those she trusted with her life was more thrilling than to die in battle for her homeland in another of their senseless battles.
“Galg, we’re done. Your turn.”
The man in question nodded, looked at the wounded Meik, before turning around to Lod, the pure mage of the group. The human man’s robes were scorched, looking in tatters, only barely hiding the bandages underneath them. He did not say any more, just taking a sip of water.
The last member to join his party, Galg knew very little of this mysterious man, but all he cared about was he could trust him in battle. Just like Rikara, Lod showed no hatred for dragonkins of any kind. Instead, what drove him forward was his faith in Istari, the God of Magic and Knowledge.
And Lod’s thirst for knowledge could even rival that of Aleistunum’s archerudite. He wished to know everything in this world, and what better way to gain this but to travel? Travel with the strongest adventurer he could find. Even if his Quest would lead him to endanger his life for the information, he would do so. Even against giant dragons and wyverns.
In exchange, all he asked for was to treat people using his abilities as a mana surgeon.
Rikara could only frown as the usually stoic mage walked past their leader, only to stare at Meik with a gleeful smile. He placed his doctor’s bag, pulling out instruments like pinchers, knifes, and others to “experiment” on Meik’s body. To hopefully find a cure for [Dread Burn] and brew it using his alchemical alembic. To Lod, “helping” the wounded and “preserving” the dead was his greatest motivation to never betray Galg, for he was his greatest benefactor.
Just like Istari thought of Aurena as his greatest muse.
The only one Galg didn’t have much of an opinion on was Namul. After all, Namul was just like him, even though their motivations couldn’t be more different.
His eyesight was lost not due to a wyvern raid, but due to his former status as a slave. As a katzune, a beastmen, Namul was always treated badly by the humans of the Empire as he was nothing more than a body to them. Galg, too, was a slave, sharing the same master as Namul. Both were freed when the slavers died to wyverns.
While Namul walked alongside Galg due to an obligation to save his life, Galg only wanted to experience the “hunt.” Even to all his companions, Galg’s definition of “hunting time” was unknown, for the man would never let his reasons leave his mouth. Only he knew what he saw in the beasts who killed the people suppressing his freedom. Nobody knew if he even hated dragonkins.
All they knew was that Galg loved the feelings of their scales, blood, and bones touching his naked skin. And for that, he became the group’s blacksmith.
“So much blood.” Galg’s sour face brightened up, completely ignoring the painful groans of Meik, the complaints of Rikara, the crackling of Lod, or the sighs of Namul. Right now, just like during his hunts, he was in his own world.
He picked up the four buckets of blood his party managed to siphon from Hestia’s amputated arm.
“Gotta replace our lost armor. Gotta prepare for the hunt.” He picked up his hammer, sat down before his anvil, and inspected the ruby-like scales of the crimson dragon the Holy Emperor of Mankind ordered him to slay. “The perfect tools to kill her as fast as possible.”
Clank!
Comments
NotLikeThis. Seriously, not too sure, but it would make sense. Sometimes my fingers just write things I didn't think of.
Comiak
Dyslexia.
Hold on, did I write brag instead of grab. As in, the reverse spelling? How?!
Diego Rossi
brag my tail -> GraB my tail destroying the boss’s right rubble arm, destroying it. -> HITTING the boss’s right rubble arm AND destroying it.
