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Chapter 193: Boltreaver’s Revenge. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2021-06-25 00:45:53 +0000 UTC<Lightning Revolt: The racial skill of the [Boltreaving Dragon], enabling the owner to turn mana into electric currents. This electricity is stored inside their scales before being released. A huge amount of mana may transform into electricity at once, supercharging the electric organ inside the [Boltreaving Dragon] and transforming the green lightning into blue, increasing all stats>
<Lightning Rod: Lightning from any source is attracted to the user, streaming towards them by themselves and through the user’s mana. If the user’s [Lightning Resistance] is superior compared to the lightning source, they will transform this electricity into Health, Mana, and Stamina>
<Boltreaving Blade: A skill that grants the ability to channel mana into potent electricity around their bodies, forming them into any shape they wish. The power for this skill is determined by a combination of [Lightning Magic]’s and [Boltreaving Blade]’s levels>
<Electromagnetic Barrier: The scales of the user allow the smooth flow of electricity without losing much energy, granting them a magnetic push. This electromagnetic barrier can only be deployed around areas of surging lightning>
Notable features: Sharp wings with claws on them, probably can be used for slicing and smashing, although flimsy. A pincer-like tail, can grab things probably. His horn-like crest is broken, but looking at how he tore through Saori’s Dragon Thunder, he can probably still use it well enough. Dangerous. Very Dangerous.
Let’s go! Hellflame Breath! Corrosive Fire!
Without letting another second fly past, I ground my teeth together to create a spark, igniting a fire inside my mouth. Using mana to enlarge it, I then unleashed this flame at Astalos. [Corrosive Fire] had already changed my crimson fire into purple; in a sense, this was a toxic breath attack.
Now completely focused, unlike during my surprise attack, Astalos was no longer underestimating us. He roared at me before coating his legs and wings with electricity, before flapping the latter to send him into the air, avoiding my breath attack.
In response, my scale-dust exploded under the scales of my wings, launching me forward to bodycheck Astalos into multiple trees, snapping them into pieces as I drove him deeper into the woods. “Get him away from the RV,” was part of the reason for this action, but I also wanted to give the rest of my party enough time to prepare and maybe form a plan to take this monster down. Unfortunately, the moment we left the ground was when Astalos could take advantage of his smaller size.
I used to be shorter than Astalos when I was still a [Young Spark Inferno Dragon]. Now, however? After evolving, I was far larger than him. This old scale was around the size of a taller elephant — he was slightly taller than Saori as a reference — while I was about the size of a mammoth. Dragging him along by using my size advantage was effective, but my plan had a small hitch - my larger size didn’t change the fact that Astalos was the better dogfighter.
As I was feeling electricity around his body bombarding me, Astalos smacked his left wing right at my right shoulder, causing an electric explosion that disrupted my balance in the air. This enabled Astalos to free himself before using his pincer-like tail to grab my right wing and slam it on the ground, causing me to completely lose my ability to fly and crash land on the ground.
[Mana Eyes] already gave me an idea of how proficient he was as a flyer, so I knew that it would do me no good to fight him in the air. This was the power of information. Sadly, the same applied to Astalos, who had an improved version of [Identify] in the form of [Eye of the System]. It would be prudent to fight as if he already knew my abilities.
Krak!
As my body was still flailing about on the ground, large amounts of electric crackling resounded from above me. I couldn’t see what was happening, but both my [Perception] and [Danger Perception] were warning me about an impending attack. I did not react for now, simply letting [Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration] heal my scratches as I continued listening to the sounds of lightning.
Krak!!
Krak!!!
Now! Dreadflare Aura!
The moment I recovered from the fall and jumped back on my feet, extreme heat exploded from my body, detonating some of my scale-dust to release an aura of deadly fire. Looking in the direction of the crackling, I could see Astalos covered in green lightning, stopping himself before the aura reached him. As he hovered around at the perimeter of how far I wanted [Dreadflare Aura] to go, I activated my halo’s secondary effect.
<Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration: A [Sanctified Blaze] variant spell, using the fire of [White Flames] as its base. Creates a halo above the caster, acting as a signal fire to lure allies into an aura of beneficial flames. Automatically cast [Sanctified Blaze] and coats their weapons in [White Flames] on all allies. Additionally, the caster may intensify the halo’s flames, sending waves of consecrated flares at enemies, ignoring all allies>
Inspired by the fact [Omnictus] would inflict different amounts of damage depending on if a friend or foe was caught in it, I believed I could do something similar with my [White Flames]. They could become cool enough to not hurt anybody, and if my song spells could differentiate between allies and enemies, I could do the same for my custom spells.
The moment the flames on my halo grew, I deactivated my [Dreadflare Aura] and white flames began spewing around me endlessly like a fountain. Astalos, not anticipating this attack, was blasted by sacred flames piercing through his barrier. Unlike my [Draconic Barrier], intangible attacks made using mana, like fire or holy spells, was something I believed should have worked on him. Fortunately, my assumption was correct.
Panzer!
Recasting [Panzer] to cover my dragon body in purple armor and ignoring the fact I set another forest on fire, I used [Unheilige Engel] to launch the offense. The purple slime hovering behind me like a pair of sludge wings once again solidified into jagged obsidian wings, before morphing into three long spiky tendrils.
Like a gatling gun, the three long spikes began to send a barrage of attacks at Astalos, pushing him back as he struggled to get rid of the white flames. Now that I could inflict [Dread Burn] after buying [Fire Abnormality Effect: Dread], any flame damage I inflicted prevented Astalos from healing his wounds, meaning the two gashes I landed on him while he was a dragonewt were still there. Now, I needed to weaken him with my toxins.
Now, with [Poison Resistance Lv. 6], he was decently resistant against moderate toxins. [Panzer] could poison you with touch, but when I sliced into his shoulder with a [Panzer]-covered tail slash, he didn’t get poisoned, sadly. [Unheilige Engel], on the other hand, was a stubborn, semi-manual spell my parallel minds could give a command to and it would follow it through until a new one was issued, kind of like a poison slime-golem. Astalos’ barrier was blocking the spikes from landing, but this opened up an opportunity for me.
Using the burning ground to sharpen and heat my tail through friction, I activated my boosters and sent myself flying up in a spiral. Astalos immediately dodged this attack, enduring through waves of white flames erupting from my halo. I then sensed another attack. This time, it came from Astalos’s tail.
The pincer widened and revealed a group of emerald scales filled with electricity, firing a small scale as if shot from electric railgun. The speed of this attack was near-instantaneous, making it impossible for me to dodge the attack in my current position. As the laser broke through my armor and shaved some scales from my sides, I regretted not dodging the second I saw his tail move.
Like before, this attack sent my [Tailwind] out of control, unbalancing me. Astalos, noticing this, cast his own [Tailwind] and began to speed up his flight around the area. As I dropped back down to the ground, I was able to see Astalos’s horn grow larger and crackle with more electricity. [Danger Perception] and [Prediction] were warning me he was about to attack, but neither of these two skills could tell me from which direction.
As I anxiously snapped my neck around, trying my very best to follow up with Astalos’ movements with all my current buffing spells. When he appeared more or less like a flash of thunder zapping around, I began to understand how problematic fighting against a speedster was. The only move I had was to activate [Dreadflare Aura] and surround the area with [Scale-Dust Veil], relying on the fiery field to dissuade Astalos from attacking.
By the time I finally was able to pinpoint his location, it was already too late.
At the very edge of my eyes, a massive spear of thunder was thrown at me, detonating all my scale-dust on its way. Although the explosions shrouded the javelin, the speed it was moving was just impossible to react to.
“Kraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!” I cried out in pain.
It huuurts!
[Dreadflare Aura], [Panzer], [Draconic Barrier]; none of these defensive measures were able to stop this attack. Blood was dripping from the wound as the spear lodged inside my stomach. I could feel my organs being ravaged by my [Dreadflare Aura], begging intensely for me to stop boiling them alive. When I did what my pain receptors were telling me, the lightning spear disappeared and white flames and healing spells began to heal the hole in my body up, but this left me vulnerable.
Without another sound, a shadow appeared above me, accompanied by the very same crackling of lightning from before. When I looked up, I saw Astalos flapping his wings. On his head was a massive blade of thunder.
And he swung it at me like an executioner.
<[Bleeding (Minor)] [Broken Right Wing (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
“Krraaaaaaaaahhh!!!”
“Kriiieeghhhh!!!”
Two roars erupted in the woods. One was mine as none of my previously mentioned defensive options could not protect me from this attack; fortunately, as I had anticipated an attack like this, my legs were already moving. Still, it was far too close. Just a millisecond longer and I would have probably lost my entire right wing. It was fortunate I managed to escape with only a broken wing and part of my back sliced up
Now, the second roar came from Astalos himself. No, I did not injure him with a counterattack, it was impossible for me to set something up after what happened. It wasn’t even a physical or magical attack; instead, it was mental.
“Kriiieeghhhh!!!” Astalos continued to struggle, holding his head with his two wings.
From the corners of this area, four “Wrooooooh!!!”s echoed around the area, following with five groups of [Dark Tendrils] bursting from under the wyvern’s shadow, grabbing his feet and pulling him back onto the ground. A giant ice golem jumped out from the woods, on top of it was an elven woman in a maid’s outfit, cooling down the flaming trees to allow the golem to slam Astalos on the ground.
[“Grk! W-What took you guys so long?”] I forced myself to send that telepathic message towards a group of five giant wolves and an elven woman with two pairs of wings.
[“Figuring out a plan in the first place.”] That voice was from none other than Saori, fully clad in her [Shadow Armament] while stygian lightning was surging around her fenrir form. [“Ellaine, Grimnir, now!”]
A human girl and a dwarven man armored in crimson armor revealed themself from behind trees, materializing giant [Bedrock Blades] to crash into Astalos after the golem moved away and throwing a few of my firebombs at him, respectively.
“Kriiaaghh!” Astalos cried out again, whether it was from the damage the two were inflicting or due to what the garms were doing to him.
Mental overload using [Telepathy] was a basic hunting tactic the wargs and garms of Belzac used to hunt down larger prey. It was essentially a psychological attack by flooding your brain with junk telepathic messages, ranging from shouts to incomprehensible gibberish or even to threats. This was the same move these garms used on Saori when they were still onnikais. [Absolute Pain Tolerance] may make physical pain tolerable, but it did nothing to help with mental anguish.
“Ueehhh!” However, suddenly all four garms yelped out loud, showing pained expressions.
[“Intolerable little insects!”] Astalos wings spread out, cladding them in green lightning before using them to slice Ellaine’s [Bedrock Blades] like swords. A purple magic circle then appeared behind him, casting the [Lightning Magic Lv. 5] spell [Overload].
<Overload: Supercharges the caster’s body with magical electricity, significantly increasing the caster’s Intelligence, Agility, and Mana Regeneration at the cost of Health while this spell was active>
Astalos was shining brightly like a bulb, roaring haughtily as the spell activated, before he stopped and stood still like a statue, eyes widening in astonishment. [“M-My healing?! Why am I not healing?! My wounds aren’t closing!”]
Got’cha!
[Lightning Rod], one of Astalos’ unique skills prevented him from being damaged by lightning; instead, that element healed him. Due to this effect, it synergized perfectly with [Overload], nullifying the spell’s health drain while still benefitting from its buffs in addition to healing him due to the spell. However, [Dread Burn] was the ace here. Nobody besides my allies and I were allowed to “heal tank” while I was around.
I might have mentioned Astalos could have seen my profile; unfortunately for him, without something like parallel minds or accelerated thinking, looking at a super long profile with so many different skills, abilities, spells, and titles was a nightmare in a fast-paced battle like this. Even the descriptions of my skills were as long as an established trading card game’s effect details! Picking out the effects of Dread Burn when it had been merged into another skill? Might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack.
Smirking as he fell for this simple mistake, I increased my halo’s effective range while continuing shooting out the consecrated flames. It buffeted Astalos while keeping [Dread Burn] active on him while helping out my allies.
[“Hestia, the plan is simple. You and Grimnir will be the frontline. Whatever you do, stall him and prevent him from attacking either Tasianna or me. We will provide the damage. No complaints, hopefully?”] I agreed. [“Ellaine will provide support using earth and wind spells with the help of the garms. Displacements, crowd control, protection. You and Grimnir need to go all out with holding the line.”]
I was honestly a bit worried that Saori was putting Grimnir in a perilous position here. Astalos was actually a tough opponent, actually High Ogre tier of dangerous. No, the difference in stats and levels was too much between them, and Astalos was even faster than me. Maybe he was even stronger?
I need to get my shit together. Purple Flash! Symphonie des Feuergottes!
After some time with [Major Heal] and my halo’s healing, my wounds closed up and my wing was fixed, I dashed back into the fight, signaling the second round of this battle.
Astalos, having regained his composure, activated his lightning around his feet, destroying the [Dark Tendrils] Saori and her garm cast on him. Before he could do anything though, a blue magic circle under his feet, materializing a giant ball of water around him and imprisoning him in the [Water Magic Lv. 9] spell [Aqua Prison]. Water might be tangible, but it took a while for his [Electromagnetic Barrier] to counter it; Saori and Tasianna had already caught onto this fact.
Astalos struggled inside this sphere, using his thunder to blast pieces of the ball away to liberate himself. The moment he was free again, white flames crashed onto his body again, blocking his sight of me.
Now, of course, I knew he could still sense me with [Detection Sensor] and [Prediction]. However, that was okay.
Unheilige Engel, it is time!
There were three states [Unheilige Engel] could be in: solid obsidian, purple slime, and… corrosive liquid.
<Unheilige Engel: The venomous wings of the unholy angel descend upon the foes of the owner of [Corrosive Fire], carrying with them a virulent purple flame. A spell able to morph itself into three states: obsidian, sludge, and viscous liquid. The composition of toxins inside this spell may be changed using [Corrosive Fire]’s effect, lighting these purple wings on fire. Can be controlled by the user remotely, however, mana cost will increase the further away it is>
The features of my [Corrosive Fire] were obvious to me by now. If I heated my purple flames high enough before cooling them down, they start to turn into a slime before finally transforming into obsidian if the purple flames suddenly turn yellow. Since the loss of my [Toxin Secretion], Saori has been using the sludge version of this fire to complement her attack strategy. However, there was one form I’ve been neglecting ever since: its liquid form created whenever I’m sweating.
“Unheilige Engel,” German for “Unholy Angel,” was my idea to easily use the different forms of [Corrosive Fire] without having to do the necessary heating and cooling to produce the different states. In addition, I also thought the idea of swamping my enemies in a bath of toxic purple water was a pretty boss-like move. Also, a bit heinous of me, to be fair.
The obsidian tendrils I left my [Unheilige Engel] in quickly transformed into a thick, deathly-looking, violet liquid, before coating my whole tail in it. I somersaulted into the air, swinging my tail down similar to how Astalos did it. As you might expect, Astalos was able to react to it in time, having already moved away from me slightly with his wings flapping. With how I was moving, I would not be able to hit him…
…well, not fairly at least.
Shine!
One of my first spells; an intensely bright light suddenly erupted from the tip of my wing, blinding everybody in the area, which included my allies and Astalos. Only I, with my head hidden behind my body, wasn't blinded by it.
Astalos roared out, flinching and increasing the intensity of his lightning to improve [Electromagnetic Barrier]’s effect. In for a penny, in for a pound! Small amounts of damage were irrelevant to me with all my healing and while I’m under the sun.
I was a sunfang dragon!
When his green lightning began to sizzle my scales, I clenched my teeth and used [Wind Blast] to further increase the striking power of my tail slash. When I made contact, Astalos’ defenses could not withstand my attack.
“KRIAAAAAghhhh!” He damaged my wing, I cut his off. Like a curtain to my attack, [Symphonie des Feuergottes] finally activated, blasting a waterfall of flames onto me and Astalos. I managed to prevent it from flooding the whole area, endangering everybody else from Aurora, leaving only Astalos and myself to enjoy the inferno.
<[Symphonie des Feuergottes (Allegro)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Solar Beam!
Using [Detection Sensor], I blasted a concentrated beam of solar energy at my enemy. Sadly, he somehow managed to dodge it and escaped from my flaming waterfall. The scale-dust under my scales still exploded from [Solar Beam], putting me into my overdrive mode. The moment the inferno ended, however? What came into view was Astalos struggling to defend himself from the assault from my teammates.
With Ellaine’s help, the garms had thrown a black mana thread net over him, enabling Saori to send streams of black lightning to ravage Astalos’s body. Ice blades and beams of metal-piercing water commanded by Tasianna kept Astalos inside the net, preventing him from getting out of it. Grimnir, using my halo’s effect of enchanting weapons with white fire, swung his hammer around, shooting blasts of fire at Astalos like projectiles. I didn’t even know that was possible!
When I leered at him with nearly all my buffs activated, Astalos’ eyes turned blood red, channeling green lightning around his body under the constant barrage of attacks. As if he was mimicking me, his body went into its own version of overdrive, causing his scales to protrude like miniature lightning rods as a constraint stream of blue lightning had turned his emerald scales into aquamarine.
A blue lightning blade on his horn sliced the net like a master chef, shredding it before Astalos freed himself and charged at me. Slamming his tail and only remaining wing on the ground, electric explosions destroyed the ground. Despite his higher starting Agility, I finally had [Symphonie des Feuergottes (Allegro)] active on me. At this point, our Agility was nearly equal. Dodging his attacks was still hard, but not impossible anymore.
Krak!
“Kriiu!” As Astalos swiped at me with his blue lightning blade, Saori shot out another [Hadean Dragon Thunder], pushing him back before he sliced it up again. As if he was on a rampage, Astalos’ eyes made contact with Saori’s and he charged towards her.
Not on my watch!
Using my tail, I slammed the blunt side of it at Astalos’ head, sending him reeling back. When he retaliated, he suddenly coughed out purple blood, leaving him open for another tail slash. This time, I wasn’t able to cut off another of his limbs, but the toxic liquid coating my tail kept seeping into any wounds I caused him. When I saw him coughing more blood, I couldn’t help but smirk that [Unheilige Engel] finally found its sting.
“Kriiiiiiiiiaaaaahhhh!!!” Astalos roared before jumping into the air, somehow flying with only a single wing using [Tailwind]. When a single purple magic circle appeared on his head before disappearing and summoning a massive [Omnictus]-level spell, I gulped.
[Purple Flash] into… [Ramuh]!
I remembered the spell [Ramuh]. I wasn’t sure at which level you received it, but I knew very well what destruction this spell could cause. When the grimgarians attacked us back when he was escorting us to Avitor Peaks, Astalos used this spell to completely vaporize a whole section of the Belzac forest in addition to all the goblins, kobolds, or orcs that attacked us.
[“Spread out!”] There was no answer to this spell. [Omnictus] could compete with [Ramah] in terms of power, but it only shot downwards, never up. The same applied with [Symphonie des Feuergottes]. Saori’s [Hadean Dragon Thunder] was her strongest spell, but she was still restricted with moderate Intelligence, making it unable to compete with stronger spells at this point.
However, Saori had a different idea.
[“We can’t let this chance go. He’s vulnerable in the air. Ellaine, Tasianna. You two move away with the garms. Grimnir, you come with me. Hestia, go up there and distract Astalos for me.”]
[“Hey, are you trying to send me into a suicide mission?! I can’t block that with a counterspell. I’ll be blasted away!”] I responded, baffled at what Saori suggested.
But that was when I remembered.
I do have a way to counter that spell!
Turning my head to the sky, I made my parallel minds focus on using [Tailwind] while I blasted up in the air with my rocket boosters. As Astalos’ purple magic circle separated into three, lightning pillars appeared from them, sending streams of lightning into a single point, growing larger and larger in size. And when it shot at me, I used [Sacred Magic Lv. 7]’s newest spell
Gloria Ascendence!
<Gloria Ascendence: A miracle of the Goddess of Light surrounds the caster in an impenetrable ball, defending them against mortal attacks. No attack may leave or enter through this heavenly shield. The ball turns any damage taken into Health, first healing the caster before buffing their Strength and Wisdom>
A divine barrier encapsulated my body, shielding me from the devastating lightning blast. All I could hear inside the stream was the thundering of a storm. Although [Gloria Ascendence] was defending me from [Ramuh], I was still being pushed back, forcing me to fully dial up my boosters just to push back against the spell. Still, I wasn’t able to move an inch forward. In fact, Astalos’ spell was pushing me slowly back despite all the power I was putting into my flying.
Seconds passed and I could hear the divine shield breaking, not ’cause it soaked up too much damage, but ’cause it was about to expire. The moment it broke, that was when [Ramuh] would devastate me. However, as if my prayers were answered, I could feel [Ramuh]’s power waning. Timed perfectly, both my shield and the large-scale lightning spell ended together.
<[Gloria Ascendence] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
As I let out a sigh of worry, I turned my head around to locate Astalos, but the sky was empty. Confusion, then worry, then fear filled my chest and head as I frantically tried to locate Astalos using [Detection Sensor]. I looked down at the ground, only to find the trees under me were completely gone. Only a large, scorched gash was there, devoid of any life.
[“I have fought for far longer than you, Princess.”]
And then in a split second, dread appeared.
[“I cannot slay you, for I serve God Kargryxmor. Allow yourself some rest…”]
While I was hovering in the sky, a blue flash appeared right underneath my chest. Instincts made me attempt to use [Dreadflare Aura] but it was too late. This time, Astalos delivered his counterattack.
How is he—!!!
[“I apologize if this might hurt, but you are sturdy enough, I presume?”]
The lightning crackled. All channeled into a wing before it touched my chest. And this was when my world was rocked.
“KRRRRRRRRIAIAAHGAGAGHAHHAHHAHAHHA!!!”
<[Nerve Paralyzation (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
<Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Lightning Resistance Lv. 2] evolved into [Lightning Resistance Lv. 5]>
I blacked out for a second. Everything went dark. In the next moment, the light came back into my eyes,but all I saw was a never-ending rotating world. I could not move my body. They did not respond.
Was Astalos not there just a second ago? I thought, confused at what was happening.
[“Hestia!”]
“Lass!”
My ears and mind registered voices but I could not make out who they belonged to. My brain hurt whenever I tried to think. My parallel minds weren’t responding. The only actual stimuli I could feel was the fact I crash-landed on the ground, tumbling around on the blackened ground. When I came to a standstill, I saw my fingers twitching uncontrollably. Every time I tried to move them, they wouldn’t.
“Umsleud! Araaghhh!” Sounds came from the sky. Thankfully, I could still move my eyes.
When I peered up, I saw something similar to a large frozen platform hovering up there. A man in crimson armor transformed his hammer-looking weapon into a shotgun, blasting one half of a blue-glowing wyvern’s face scales off. As it roared in pain, a large shadowy wolf smacked it with an electric stomp, sending it crashing onto the ground, causing the ground to explode.
[“Hestia!”] Another message came. I did not know who this telepathic message belonged to, but I knew I had to respond.
[“Worry about… the wyvern.”] Whatever was happening to my body, I could feel my white flames were healing me. It would take a while, but I’ll get back on my feet eventually. The wolf in the sky nodded, swinging the freefalling man on its back before dashing back onto the ground.
<[Nerve Paralyzation (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Seconds felt like an eternity as I was trapped in this sleep-paralyzed state. When I could finally move myself, I crawled closer to all the sounds I was hearing using my head to drag me close. Wings, legs, and tail. I couldn’t move them nor could I cast a spell. My brain was in so much constant pain, I just couldn’t concentrate.
Still, my brain wasn’t the only thing hurting; my body also complained. The twitching became milder but it wasn’t stopping, especially around my chest area. I don’t think my heart or lungs were damaged too much, but they were aching nonstop. That was when I realized, it wasn’t my heart hurting, it was my sun core!
Scheiße! Did something damage my sun core?
I hadn’t noticed it until now, but both [Symphonie des Feuergottes] and [Solar Beam]’s overdrive were deactivated. I could feel my sun core working on absorbing sun rays, but it was far slower than usual. I stopped moving for a second and looked down. Fortunately, there were no cracks on it, but it kept glowing and dimming the whole time for some reason.
Right, [Unheilige Engel]. I can use the slimes as limbs.
I could still feel some liquid around my tail, most likely it was the liquid form of [Unhelige Engel]. Forcing myself through the headache, I transformed the liquid into two large sickles. I attached them around my wings and controlled them to drag my body forward. When I finally got myself out of the blackened area, I heaved a sigh when I saw grass and trees again.
“Dragoon Jump! Haarrrghh! I got its wing pinned!”
“Bladdarg, you foolish girl! Don’t attack like that! Get out of there, now!”
I followed the sounds echoing from the woods, peering into them to see the glow of blue and black clashing against each other. When I finally made it close enough, I saw the green grass scorched back from black and blue lightning, the trees frozen from ice, the ground burning due to bombs, and a pack of four garms shooting out [Dark Bolt] with mana threads attached to them.
In the middle of all of this, a blue glowing wyvern was struggling to fight against all of these threats. His scales were cracked, frozen, and burned. His face was torn openand bones were showing. The giant, shadowy wolf was pounding onto the wyvern with her electrified front legs while a dwarf rode on her and slammed his hammer at the wyvern’s head.
As the damage accumulated, the wyvern puked out a bucket full of purple-colored blood bile, reminding me of what sorta toxin I made [Unheilige Engel] with. Mana path blocking, cell necrosis, and protein deconstruction. They were pretty much ideas I still had from all those discovery shows I watched, since snakes frequently appeared on episodes. I’m still trying to replicate a nerve toxin, but to no success.
When I began remembering my rather mad scientist-like experiments with my toxins, my mind began to clear up, helping me to finally realize who the people were before me. I was able to fully identify Aurora fighting against Astalos.
“The white flames are back! The lass is still alive!” Grimnir suddenly shouted as his hammer strike was blocked by Astalos’s lightning blast. He then swung his weapon in the air, shooting out a projectile of fire.
“Ahhh, the healing is back, too. Tasianna you don’t need to focus on healing anymore!” Ellaine, who was riding a garm, was elated as white flames began to heal her wounds.
Telepathic messages also arrived. [“Lady Hestia, I am so glad you are alright! Please, forgive me, I wanted to come to your side, but Miss Saori insisted otherwise!”] Tasianna sounded very worried. It made me really happy to hear her worry.
[“Hestia, you still do not look so good. Sit back. We just need you to play your music and keep your halo active. Sorry for putting you in a supportive position!”] Saori didn’t glance at me, fully focused on fighting Astalos. With the toxin affecting his body, it seems Saori was able to fully keep up with him.
However, earlier in the fight I had thought I was able to keep up with him for a moment, before he suddenly disappeared from my sight and abruptly appeared before me to deliver a devastating attack. I was able to remember now. It was as if he teleported, then used his wing to electrocute me right at my sun core. I didn’t fully understand my own anatomy yet, so I had no idea what he did to my core.
When I was trying to remember what Astalos did, a purple magic circle materialized on his body. When his spell cast, purple lightning covered his body before he suddenly disappeared from everybody’s sight.
Oh no! What spell is that?!
Looking at my [Detection Sensor], a single signal was dashing from one corner to the next without taking a break. It was most likely Astalos, but none of us could see him.
I wanted to move, but my body still couldn’t due to [Nerve Paralyzation], something my white flames were actively trying to heal. My parallel minds had come back when my mind became lucid again, and was actively trying to track down Astalos since [Major Heal] couldn’t heal my current affliction.
Sanctuary!
Astalos admitted he wasn’t here to kill me, but to drag me off somewhere. However, considering his personality and what the collective of Aurora has done to him, I didn’t think he would let my friends live if he won this fight. My priority had to be to overcome my current predicament and protect them. I wasn’t able to move, but I was a mage, so I could cast spells.
[Sanctuary] surrounded everybody in a light barrier which allowed no threats from coming in. I don’t think the barrier could stop him, but it should be able to give everybody a warning before his attack comes, hopefully. And, in the unlikely case he actually tried to drag me away without finishing the others, I was already ready to fucking explode with heat hot enough to fucking melt the bones of a B rank High Ogre.
Seconds passed, everybody was readying themselves for an attack while my body still hadn't recovered. Our [Detection Sensor] was acting erratically but it was completely silent. More seconds passed. Even more seconds passed. My fingers stopped twitching and I could finally move and stretch them. More seconds passed and my muscles regained their strength, allowing me to slowly push myself up.
Eventually, [Nerve Paralyzation] was finally gone and I struggled to stand up. For a moment, I wondered if Astalos just made a run for it, seeing at how dreadfully injured he was. It was false hope.
Kaklang!
[Sanctuary] broke and my head snapped up, only to see a blue flash crash into Saori. She was driven back by a significant margin, but she prevented herself from flying away using her [Dark Tendrils]. They wrapped themselves around her legs with the ends coming from the shadows of the others.
The one who pushed Saori back like that was none other than Astalos, who had his blue lightning horn stuck inside Saori’s shoulder. She was holding him back with her forelegs and was using stygian voltage to damage him, but suddenly, he disappeared from our view again, before reappearing behind her.
Channeling electricity around his wing once again, he struck Saori in a flurry, sending electric explosions to buffet her. I cast [Sacred Field] around her, betting on my white flames and the healing spell to keep her healthy while I was limping towards them for support.
The [Dark Tendrils] around her feet dissipated and Saori was finally launched towards me. I managed to catch her, confirming she was still alive but gravely injured from all the burns she received from Astalos’s attack. When I healed her wounds, I noticed she also lost consciousness from that attack.
Although I was still worried, I was more worried for the others. When I snapped my head up to see how the others were faring, I saw Tasianna, Ellaine, Grimnir, and the garms glaring at a wheezing Astalos. That was when I noticed the state of his body: burned scales, some spots on his body that were stripped of scales entirely, and the stump left after I cut off his left wing had already undergone necrosis, rotting due to my toxin. Whatever spell he used to attack Saori and me with super speed, it apparently did his body no good.
Regardless, his exhaustion did not mean he had given up on the fight, dashing forward to attack the others. Grimnir intervened, slamming his hammer at him but missed. Astalos jumped over him, ignoring Grimnir to focus on Tasianna. Her ice golem began punching at the wyvern, with the support of her myriad ice blades. I could see the very air slowly freezing as Tasianna was preparing another spell.
It was easy to guess that the golem stood no chance, being sliced in two by the boltreaver’s blue thunder blade. Tasianna managed to cast [Ice Age’s Paradise] once again, freezing his body even further, to the point some of his scales broke off completely. Thunder erupted from his body once again and he brute-forced himself out of the spell, escaping it only to be confronted by Ellaine.
The catalysts on Ellaine’s rings activated, summoning massive [Bedrock Blades] and fast-moving [Tornado Bullets] to push Astalos back. She was keeping her distance, knowing she couldn’t land a proper hit without anyone else supporting her. If she could push him back into Tasianna’s spell, she would be able to contribute more.
Kaboom!
A concentrated blast of mana exploded on the scarred right side of Astalos’ face, removing the remaining scales and skin. I looked to the side, learning Grimnir had shot the wyvern at the same spot once again. This attack sent Astalos reeling backward, right back into [Ice Age’s Paradise]’s field of effect. The combination of ice blades and freezing temperature cracked his pincer-like tail, breaking it.
“Kriiiiaaghhh!” Astalos roared once again, blasting himself out Tasianna’s spell with [Wind Blast] to swing his tail at Ellaine. Ellaine’s Agility was still too slow for her to fully react to this attack, bearing the brunt of the attack and being sent flying at a tree.
“Krraaaa!” I called out for Ellaine. I softly let Saori’s body down and began to rush towards Ellaine, but my still weakened legs made it difficult.
“Ughhh arghhh!” Thankfully, the armor Grimnir made for Ellaine protected her from the attack; however, it did not leave her unharmed. As she was stumbling to stand back up with white flames healing her, Astalos suddenly stood over her, lightning blade formed on his head.
“Ellaine!”
“Lass!”
“Ruff!”
[“H-Hey, stop! Ellaine!”]
“Eh?”
“Kriah!!!”
Tasianna had been sending her blades at Astalos, the garms were materializing their magic circles, and Grimnir moved his short legs as fast as he could to save Ellaine. My parallel minds had already finished the materializing of my spells, and I was about to release them, but time was not on my side. Ellaine’s hand was trying to cast [Wind Blast] while her legs began to move, but…
Krak!
… Astalos was faster.
Ellaiiiiinnnneee!!!
Boom!
An explosion, and my mind went blank. The only stimulus I could feel was an intense heat being ignited inside me like a volcano, bursting up with so much power I was sure I would explode. This inferno turned into anger, rage, wrath, or whatever you wanted to call it. I was angry, battle thirsty, and I wanted to kill something so badly every single fiber in my soul was urging me to do so.
My hearing came back to me. “Kriagh!” I could hear the cries of pain from somebody accompanied by a fiery slicing sound. Like a twister, the slashing sounds just wouldn’t stop, clashing against something like electricity. “Kriaaagaghhhhahhhhahh!!!” When the screams reached their highest, something like an explosion happened.
Light entered my eyes again and I could see the sky, with the clouds drawing closer and closer. Regardless, this sensation lasted for less than a second, as the inferno rage inside me consumed my mind. I snapped my head down and activated another explosion. This time, it was my [Dreadflare Aura]
[“I will fucking kill you! I will fucking kill you! I will FUCKING KILL YOU!”]
I coated my body in [Unheilige Engel]’s liquid from the moment my scales exploded. Instead of crimson, my infernal aura was colored a deadly purple. Astalos roared in agony, tried to force me to release him by activating his electric barrier, but I did not care about my safety at this moment.
With my claws, I dug them deeper into his body to keep him from escaping and bit his throat. As I could feel blood flowing into my mouth, I further intensified the power of my aura. Astalos’s body was melting and corroding at the same pace, but the damage he was doing to me was inconsequential against my white flame.
My current skill set was made from four dragon types. My [Dreadflare Aura] from the dreadflame dragon, power claws and bites from the hellblade dragon, white flames and a sun core to absorb sunlight from the sunfang dragon, and a noxious toxin from the obsidian blade dragon. With these powers, I was fully, 100% committed to killing Astalos.
I could feel the air blasting past me as I felt like a rocket flying in the air like an airplane. The heat was becoming unbearable even for me, but as long as my sun core was above 0% energy, I could not [Overheat].
[“I-I salute you for a magnificent battle—”]
[“SHUT UP!”]
[“—Dragon Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor. Only in a few months, your growth has transcended mine. In a single year, you have become stronger than me. I bow my tail in the power of your bloodline, marveling the power of a true dragon.”]
[“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”] I did not want to hear anything Astalos was saying. I was too angry, I wanted to do nothing else but to kill Astalos. I wanted it so bad, I could feel my jaw crunching his windpipe.
[“It was an honor to fight you. May my life essence become your strength. May my death serve God Kargryxmor even as my soul reaches Goddess Ilsaphone. I—”]
Die.
I turned my body towards the ground, and released all the scale-dust I had left in my scales and shot the both of us down. With an explosion similar to a missile's impact, our crash land rocked the very earth, turning the surrounding flora and fauna into complete devastation.
Only I was left standing upon the grave of the [Boltreaver Dragon].
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] has risen from [Level 8] to [Level 15]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<Acquired 4850 skill points>
<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Dreadflame Dragon Lv. 4] [Hellblade Dragon Lv. 3] [Solar Core Lv. 3] [White Flames Lv. 3] [Corrosive Fire Lv. 3] [Stage Fever Lv. 5] [Draconic Aura Lv. 3] [Royal Presence Lv. 3] [Battle Mind Lv. 10] gained>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Battle Mind Lv. 10] evolved into [Tranquil Mind Lv. 1]>
<[Humanized (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
All the anger dissipated the moment these messages entered my head, and I just felt… empty. My mind wandered back to what happened back then. Astalos channeled a blade of thunder, using it to strike at Ellaine who was trying to flee. At that moment, all Ellaine could do was look at the descending blade, all while the rest of Aurora was helpless to prevent it from reaching her.
E-Ellaine.
I dropped to my knees, memories of my days with Ellaine came back as flashbacks. About our first meeting, about how rude I was to her after the dinner party, about how I lived with her in Firwood, when she joined Aurora, and when I fought side-by-side with her. Our chill interactions together were my fondest memories, and how could I forget about the fact I wrote an entire song just for her.
“Memories.” Her song’s name was to remind her of the time she spent with me but…
I could feel tears running down my face. My mouth twitched. I hiccuped. My legs felt the dropping teardrops. I lost—
<Hestia, stop this at once! Get back to her, now! Now!>
Aurena?
“Lass!”
Grimnir?
With my emotions still in turmoil, Grimnir suddenly came running at me while riding on Uno. Without letting me ask what he wanted, he grabbed my shoulder effortlessly and threw me, in my winged moderate form, onto Uno’s back, carrying me like a sack of potatoes. In my confusion, I could not but yelp, all while Uno ran like the wind.
“W-Wha—?!”
“Shut up! Ellaine is alive!”
Huh?!
I was astounded, almost in disbelief. I knew what I saw. “T-That can’t be! I saw Astalos slash at her. Even with your armor, there was no way she could survive an attack able to pierce Saori’s or my body!”
“Shut up! Bladdarg, lass! She’s alive like I said, drill that in your head! We ain’t got the time to chatter, get your wings ready and fly to her. Something is happening with her body. It feels demonic!” When Grimnir said those last words, I jumped off from Uno’s back and tried to activate my rocket boosters, however, the amount of scale-dust I had left was not enough.
Fuck! Wind Blast! Tailwind! No rest now, parallel minds!
I once again brute-forced my flying, shooting through the woods towards a group of signals. When I finally arrived at the location, I saw Saori still unconscious on the ground with the other three garms surrounding her. Tasianna, on the other hand, was seemingly fighting something!
What the fuck?!
A wing made from a ribcage, claws as long as daggers, bones protruding from flesh, and tentacles wiggling around as if they are a mind of their own. But the most unsightly parts were the eyes. Two eyes were moving in the gems of two rings while the others were living inside the bleeding arm of a young girl. All of this was happening on the body of this very girl: Ellaine.
“Eeeeek! Arrghhhhh!!!” Desperate calls of agony came from Ellaine’s mouth. Her right hand was clutching her left shoulder. The armor on her left arm was broken and those eldritch-like things were coming from there.
<Hestia, listen to me. You need to bring Ellaine directly to my altar in Griffonpeak at once. If you wish to save this girl, then you cannot dawdle any longer!>
Aurena?! Aurena’s voice came back again, but she was not letting me respond just yet.
<Demon of Lust. That is the wretch Elder Marsven trapped in the orb. A species from my homeworld, which is able to regenerate its form if all its cells aren’t destroyed at once. Ellaine is not affected just yet, however, you must use [Shine] right now to push back the infection. If you do not, then—>
I ignored the rest of the method and dashed forward into action.
“Tasianna, close Ellaine’s eyes!” Tasianna looked at me in bafflement but she nodded immediately and did what I ordered. “Song, make sure none of you or Saori open your eyes. Understood! Tasianna close your eyes, too!”
Ten parallel minds and my own.
“Shine!”
Eleven simultaneous casts of [Shine] created a blinding glare. It was so bright, I thought my eyes were being burned despite having them closed. Fortunately, what Aurena said was working. Ellaine’s cries were becoming milder and milder while I could hear something breaking apart like clay.
When Ellaine stopped screaming, I stopped my cast and opened my eyes, only to see Ellaine’s bleeding arm, devoid of all the eldritch features. I quickly healed her up, happy to hear her strained breathing. Ellaine’s left arm was sadly now covered in a lightning scar, but that was a small price to pay for her survival. When I asked Tasianna how she survived, I couldn’t believe what she said.
“My Lady, when you began attacking Astalos with your tail, the dust settled and I saw that huge bone wing, which protected Ellaine. When you left us, I tried to treat her wound with [Ocean Healing], but those grotesque things grew out of her arm. I sent Mister Grimnir after you, as I couldn’t come close enough to heal Ellaine.”
Bone wing?!
If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed her. While I was feeling baffled, Aurena began speaking again.
<Hestia, I know you’re happy enough to cry now that you know your friend is alive, but this isn’t over yet. Elder Marsven has given me enough information on the issue. You must hurry and bring me that black orb. I must destroy it and finish the job, which will also allow me to remove the demon’s mana trapped inside Ellaine’s spell rings.>
Ring? Oh!
I remembered. During the fight against Keith, the rebellion orb he used to cause the dungeon break of the rachonoid queen caused the dark orb inside my storage to activate. The demon, one of the enemies of the origin gods, managed to break through the seal, even if it was only an arm. I managed to destroy it, but it did touch Ellaine’s left arm after destroying her newly acquired shield.
Aurena told me not to let the demon touch me, so was the same thing happening to Ellaine?
<I told you already. Ellaine is not infected. The demon cannot take over a Peolyncian whose soul is complete. You are endangered due to your fractured soul, but the being inside the spell rings isn’t the demon. Enough talk, bring her to Griffonpeak already! Hurry!>
It was decided. When Grimnir arrived, I informed both Tasianna and Grimnir about my plan before carrying the unconscious Ellaine in a princess carry.
“Got it, lass. We’ll handle the rest. You get the girl to Aurena immediately,” Grimnir nodded.
“We will take care of the wagon and Saori, Lady Hestia. You have my word! I still have everything needed to enter the noble district and House Helvas’ mansion in Griffonpeak. Let us rendezvous there.”
It was decided. I morphed my [Unhelige Engel] into a hand and used it to pull out food from my storage. My sun core was still having trouble absorbing solar energy, so I had to supplement my Stamina and scale-dust regeneration through food. As I blasted off into the air, I had my [Unheilige Engel] feed me as I directed myself towards Griffonpeak’s temple.
Goddess Aurena, I just wanted to—
<We may talk about everything when we meet face-to-face. Focus. I shall grant you the knowledge of Griffonpeak’s location, so do you best to fly.>
Yes!
Hang on, Ellaine!
