Dragonlord

Ep 146. This Cannot Be Mere Coincidence. (5)

Ep 146. This Cannot Be Mere Coincidence. (5)

Planting her hand onto the ground, Light carefully calculated the area before executing her spell.

In response, a small patch of earth in the distance began to churn and twist, shifting into layers of sinking sands.

The oblivious yeti that stomped its way past Chell’s walls immediately stepped into the magicked quicksand. Its crimson eyes confusedly stared at the foot that refused to lift itself, angrily shaking its leg to no avail.

Soon after, Urgus leapt into the air with his axe, slamming it into the rooted yeti’s head.

Light drew a couple of heaving breaths as she watched the yeti fade to dust. Her vision was blurry from the excessive spell usage, and her mind seemed ever so distant.

But every time her mind began to wander, a bellowing roar would jolt her awake.

In the distance, another torrent of fire would raze the earth.

Ilias had long thrown herself into the midst of the oncoming horde. The red dragon was practically on a rampage, doing everything she could to cull the vicious creatures as much as she could, easing the efforts of those behind her.

Biting her lips, Light stumbled several times as she rose back from the ground. She desperately shook her head, trying to stay awake.

But exhaustion wasn’t the only thing trying to take advantage of her mental toll.

“Come…! Come with us!”

“Ehehehehehe!”

When two spirits attached themselves onto each of her legs, Light garnered every ounce of her strength to stand firm.

Unfortunately, the exhausted half no longer had the energy to resist their pull. She could feel herself slowly being dragged along the phantoms’ pull.

That is, until Urgus crashed down from above with a giant thud, smashing the ghosts beneath his feet.

“Are you alright?”

“…Y, yeah. I’m okay.”

“Rest if you need. Their numbers are dwindling; we can handle this on our own.”

At the chief warrior’s behest, Light briefly took a moment to scan the area round them.

Thousands of spirits were still about in the air, orchestrating what seemed like hell on earth to haunt the living. Those who gave in to fear were almost immediately snuffed of life, and even those who’d once held firm were still faced with a horde of monsters to fight. And when their strength would wane from all the fighting, the cackling phantoms would take advantage of their exhaustion to drag them off to Twelve-knows-where.

But even in their despairing situation, a glint of hope was beginning to form.

‘There’s…less.’

Since the monster horde had first showed, Light had seen at least a thousand of these vicious creatures being slaughtered by Ilias and Asarda’s warriors. But each time one would die, two more would take their place; she’d thought their numbers infinite in the beginning.

But now, after long, grueling hours, the endless horde was finally seeming to recede. Unlike before, the monsters they’d kill were no longer being replaced by more.

To boot, even the haunting spirits seemed to decrease in number. The world was still flooded by them, but the deathly mists didn’t seem as thick, and the spirits that whisked the living away were far fewer than before.

‘Just a little more…’

Gathering her strength, Light stepped forward to stand by the chief warrior’s side.

She couldn’t bear to collapse alone – especially not when Ilias was still fighting for everyone.

‘Just a little more. We’ll get through this.’

And when they do, she’d go scold her teacher for all the mess he’d made.

✧   ✧   ✧

A drop of light rippled against the ground's surface.

The possessed academic watched on with a horrified expression as he saw the light’s ripples evaporating the ground whole. He could swear they were standing on solid ground, and yet, the dragonlord’s spell seemed to treat it as if it were water.

He had no need to raise his head. He could hear the droplets falling about him, drumming the ground with hideous sounds.

When a drop finally managed to find his shoulder, Felicir felt a piercing sesation through his body. The droplet instantly burned through him like molten lava; what followed after were feelings of sharp, weightless ice, rippling throughout the rest of his body to freeze him from inside-out.

Felicir’s first response was to shield himself from the deathly rain. He was quick to form a layer of black around himself, preventing the drops of light from touching the possessed academic.

However, it only took another drop for him to realize that the falling rain could not be barred by any magic.

‘…How? Even that cursed son wasn’t able to…!’

As his shielding spell powerlessly eroded away, the Reaper grit his teeth in frustration and pain. Dozens of additional drops touched his feathered skin, burning holes and freezing the insides all the same.

The Reaper then began to lash out at the swirling spirits with additional chains.

Shrieks of pain echoed about as the souls were once again dragged back to their captor. Each were used as food to restore the eroding monster, prolonging his life beneath the unending rain.

Serenis watched in indifference as Felicir struggled to survive, glowing blue eyes darting about rapidly.

'...How much longer will this take? Perhaps I should...'

“Looking for another escape?”

The dragonlord's questioning voice immediately cut off the Reaper's thoughts.

With a small sigh, Serenis dismissively flicked her hand in the air.

At the dragonlord’s behest, the rain of lights immediately ceased; the droplets instead gathered into a single point, far above where she stood.

From that singular point, a pillar of perfect brilliance pierced through the churning mists to smite the monster before her.

“…Dragon…lord…!”

“…”

Gradually, the feathered silhouette began to fade within. The ray of light drowned out the black in its midst, reducing it to nothing.

When the pillar finally dissipated, Serenis looked down towards the ground.

She’d hoped to find nothing but a single mana shard on the ground.

But instead, a molten hand was sticking out of a churning black pool, splattering against the ground beside it. The rest of the feathered body soon followed, climbing out of the black liquid like a freshly summoned horror.

Soon, a layer of eerie mist disappeared into the possessed academic once again, restoring the shine into his gleaming blue eyes.

“…”

“…”

A heavy silence fell between the two as Serenis studied Felicir’s restored form.

She’d seen others prevail against her spells in a myriad of ways. In that sense, perhaps Reaper’s prevalence was nothing to be surprised about.

What did disturb her was the hell that was swirling around them – and how her opponent was using it to return to life, over and over and over again.

“…Strange.”

“Hm?”

“You’ve lost your former body. And yet, somehow you appear even more attuned to ‘death’ than you were before.”

“Ha…haha.”

The Reaper’s grin widened upon hearing Serenis’ observation. He opened his arms in a welcoming manner, as if to gloat about his newfound physical self.

“Why, of course. This body was designed for my use.”

Serenis’ eyes immediately thinned as she heard Felicir’s strange response.

But instead of clarifying, the Reaper withdrew his arms to gather mounds of pulsing black mana into his clawed hand.

Then, the spell was released in the form of dozens of razor black arcs.

The dragonlord’s eyes darted around the numerous blades that were flying towards her general direction. A number of them weren’t even aimed at her properly; instead, they were aimed straight towards the backs of Asardans, struggling to fend off the horde of monsters and souls.

Biting her lips, Serenis wove her hand in the air to instantly erect a barrier – but instead of a single layer to protect herself, it was a giant dome that prevented the Reaper’s spell from exiting its parameters.

Meanwhile, Felicir feasted upon another wailing spirit, restoring the mana he’d just used.

“You were right, dragonlord. It wasn’t mere coincidence that I happened to find your friend in this distant land. Even a fool could see the difference between your friend and a typical monster. No, this one – or as you call him, Karas – was created for a very specific purpose.”

“…”

“And of course, that purpose was to serve as my vessel during dire times.”

With her expression twisting into a visible frown, Serenis gripped her open hand into a fist. The dome she’d erected began to rapidly shrink, trapping the feathered figure in mere moments.

But in the instant her spell seemed to crush Felicir within, the possessed academic managed to rush a teleportation spell within the sliver of time, reappearing just beside where he would’ve been crushed to bits.

“It’s in the name, really. They may be called monsters now, but they were once called ‘manaspawn’ for a reason.”

“…”

“Their birth is governed by mana – this you know already. But if so, whose divinity do you think could create them at will?”

Typically, monsters were born from an excess of highly concentrated mana in the environment.

In other words, a monster’s birth was nothing more than a natural phenomenon. It was no different than a downpour of rain, or the receding tides of the ocean.

However, on rare occasions – when certain deities would feel the need – they’d dictate such natural phenomena. They could make the sky rain at will or calm the waves at their discretion.

Similarly, there was indeed a deity who could once create monsters at will.

‘Iris…’

Serenis briefly closed her eyes, drawing upon the memories of the peculiar red-haired enforcer.

A long time ago, the enforcer had come to Serenis in person to confess their identity. They’d admitted to their reluctance to continue as a member of the Twelve, and they’d been more than willing to play a role in facilitating an end to her own brother’s rule.

No matter how hard she tried, Serenis couldn’t possibly picture the same individual plotting their dreaded brother’s return.

“…She’d never. If she had, she would’ve told me of it.”

“You truly believe that she understood what she was doing?”

“…”

“Not at all. In fact, she was all for erasing the existence of monsters altogether. She’d never tolerate one that could claim thousands of lives and feast upon their souls.”

“…Then, why…?”

Beaming back at the confused dragon, the Reaper briefly spared a moment to clear his throat before continuing in a harsh, dramatic tone from the past.

“We thrive in the face of hardships. Without enemies to oppose as one, our blades will once again point at each other. The existence of monsters are a necessary evil, Felicis – and it’s your duty to make sure that mankind always has an enemy to conquer.”

“…”

“Given her reluctance to design them herself, suggesting particular designs for her was a child’s play. This is but one of them.”

The Reaper tapped his clawed, feathered hand against himself. His expression clearly explained that he saw no wrong in his manipulative antics.

And their beaming expression was the final straw in making something snap inside Serenis’ mind.

“Now, don’t look at me like that. I didn’t lie to her, per se – I’d never lie to my dear sister. I merely-“

This time, there were no forewarnings or telling movements from the dragonlord.

In one instance, everything was as they should be.

In the next, the Reaper’s feathered figure were covered in starlit explosions from head to toe, rendering his body into powdered bits of dust. Sudden grunts of pain briefly filled the air, though they were quickly silenced by successive explosions of magic.

Desperate, Felicir rushed to transform into the form of a black liquid once more, attempting to slither away from the dragonlord’s array of magic. Additionally, dozens of translucent chains struck out from the pool to latch onto a nearby spirit, dragging them back towards their captor.

But the instant he did so, several bolts of lightning struck the Reaper’s exact position from the skies to incinerate him.

“…!”

The liquid violently bubbled, and the captive spirits broke free as the chains that connected them strained to nothing. Pained cries grew clearer and clearer as Felciir’s spell began to lose its effect.

Eventually, the burnt academic would powerlessly return to his original, feathered form.

Serenis slowly took a step forward thereafter. She began to approach her possessed friend, each step heavier than the last.

“…A useful spell. But you should know that it renders you vulnerable in other aspects.”

No response was given.

No response was expected.

Eventually, the dragonlord stopped to stand before the professor on the ground. A pair of dreary eyes towered over Karas’ body, reluctance and duty clashing within each of them.

But the latter would soon triumph over the former.

Serenis hovered her hand over Karas, emitting a soft, prismatic glow.

‘I suppose…I should apologize to Light.’

When she’d sent the others away, the thought had always been at the back of her mind.

And while she’d deferred for far too long, it was nigh time that she admitted it was the only option available.

Even now, Serenis had faith that Karas meant no harm towards his student, or anyone in Chell for that matter. She still believed that were he to return, they could sort out their misunderstandings.

‘Alas…’

Ideal outcomes are nothing more than a fantasy at times.