Xavier, standing on the surface of the volcano, only a few feet away from a pool of lava, observed the battle between the Spirit of Vengeance and the Magma Bull.
It was beautifully brutal.
The Spirit of Vengeance swept through the air like lightning striking sideways. The Magma Bull, despite being caught by surprise at the dragon’s presence, had managed to brace itself for the attack.
The dragon opened its maw as it slammed into the Magma Bull’s neck. The Magma Bull tried to sweep one of its massive horns through its new enemy, but it just slipped straight through the translucent dragon.
The Magma Bull dwarfed the Spirit of Vengeance, being at least twice its size, but this didn’t look like a Yorkshire terrier attacking a German shepherd, it looked more like a lion taking down a bear.
And the lion had a massive advantage.
The dragon’s jaws were clamped over the bull’s neck like a vice. The Magma Bull jerked left and right, trying to dislodge the spirit, but it was having no luck.
Streams of lava shot up from the pools around the area, heading straight for the dragon. Xavier took a step forward, waiting to see what would happen—wondering if the strikes would actually land.
The lava went straight through the translucent dragon and hit the Magma Bull. Though the lava didn’t seem to hurt the Magma Bull on contact, it clearly enraged the beast.
The Spirit of Vengeance isn’t even fully in this realm—its corporeal enough to attack, but not to be attacked.
Xavier didn’t understand how such a thing could be possible, but the last thing he was going to do was look a gift horse in the mouth.
But while the Magma Bull couldn’t dislodge the ethereal dragon from the Otherworld from its neck, it also didn’t seem to be taking as much damage as Xavier had hoped.
I saw the Spirit of Vengeance one hit D Grades. This Magma Bull should be really hurting right now.
But it simply looked enraged.
It started swaying side to side, then it bolted forward.
The Magma Bull was… running straight for the side of the volcano?
What the hell does it think it’s doing?
The Magma Bull stopped suddenly. Xavier didn’t know how such a thing was possible. It didn’t slow down. Its hooves didn’t cut trenches through the ground. One moment it was moving at speed—and this thing could move—the next a green flash of light pulsed around its body and it was standing absolutely still.
The Spirit of Vengeance went flying.
Xavier had seen the dragon stand in the middle of a building—like a ghost, it didn’t seem to interact with the solid environments around it. The only thing that had ever stopped it had been a magical defensive barrier that one of the enemy tanks had used in the last fight he’d been in with the dragon.
There was no such barrier here, and yet still, the dragon slammed into the side of the volcano as though it were a solid entity, and not a spirit from some mysterious realm of reality.
Xavier took another step forward, eyes widening.
Was there something different about this volcano? Something that let it strike the dragon?
How could a volcano be more solid than a stone wall?
Something snapped as the dragon slammed into the wall of the volcano. It fell and hit the ground. It was back on its feet a moment, then a flap of its wings had it in the air.
Whatever had snapped—it sounded like bones—didn’t seem to hinder its movements.
It was making an odd noise that took Xavier a moment to identify. For a moment he thought it was in pain, then he realised.
Laughter.
But not like the laughter from before—this was maniacal.
Insane.
The young Denizen has brought forth a worthy opponent! Joy will fill my heart when your blood floods the earth!
It flew forward, straight at the Magma Bull, then a snap of its wings made its stop and hover in the air. It opened its maw and shouted one word.
DIE!
There was a red and blue glow at its throat, and Xavier knew what was about to happen next—a stream of fire and ice shot forth and cut into the Magma Bull.
The fire didn’t do a thing, but the ice…
The ice stuck at its impact point and quickly spread across the Magma Bull’s tough, molten skin. The Magma Bull pawed the ground, but its movements slowed the more the ice spread.
The dragon threw its head back and laughed once more before shooting down to rip into the Magma Bull.
The Magma Bull, however, wasn’t having it. It stomped a hoof onto the ground and the ice about its body shattered. The dragon went wide eyed. Something glowed about the Magma Bull, then the ground rose up and slammed into the dragon, knocking it to the side.
This beast can control the very earth?
Xavier hadn’t known that—hadn’t seen it happen before. He was also confused about why the solid rock around the volcano was able to hurt the beast at all.
This doesn’t make any sense!
The ground rumbled. The Magma Bull was free of the ice that had spread across its body only a moment ago. It stomped the ground. Once. Twice. Then it jumped up and stomped the ground with both its front legs.
Then, suddenly, it was standing on only its two back legs.
Smoke streamed from its nose, and the beast spoke.
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“You dare enter my sacred territory!” It stomped again. The entire volcano rumbled. “You will not live to see another sunrise!”
Xavier wasn’t sure why he was surprised that the beast could talk. It wasn’t the first time he’d encountered beasts that walked on two legs and spoke like Denizens. He still didn’t understand how it worked—whether the System classed this beast in the same way it classed a Denizen, now that its intelligence had grown, or if it thought of beasts differently, as they had not started off as sapient creatures, but had reached that point because of what the System offered them.
The Rat King could talk, and it was way, way lower level than this…
It made him wonder if the wolven he’d faced, or the boar, were the same.
But that was hardly the most important thing on his mind right now.
Why can it hurt you? Xavier asked, willing his thoughts to the Spirit of Vengeance.
The beast and the volcano are as one. The magic infused in the very rock counters my being, like the barriers some Denizens can form.
An expression of rage and glee mixed on the dragon’s face.
It is time for you to enter the battle, young Denizen. We shall feast on this beast’s entrails together! As they might say on your home world, beef is on the menu tonight!
Xavier blinked, for a split second fascinated by the fact that a spirit from the Otherworld could be making a reference that he was pretty sure was to the Lord of the Rings movies.
He shook that off, however, and started casting spells at the Magma Bull. When he had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance, he had honestly expected this fight to have been over by now.
But apparently the two beasts were close to evenly matched. Or perhaps it was simply that while Xavier’s Spirit attribute was incredibly high, it didn’t make this spell as strong compared with this Magma Bull as it had compared to the D Grades he’d faced in the past.
When I become stronger, the Spirit of Vengeance will too. But I have to wonder how powerful this beast would be if it were unleashed upon this world in full…
Xavier cast a series of spells at the Magma Bull, at the same time as he leapt backward toward the edge of the volcano.
He had only brought one of his soul puppets down to the surface of the volcano. There simply hadn’t been time to bring the others, but as he didn’t think he would be striking this beast with any melee attacks, he brought the other soul puppets down as well, casting Heavy Telekinesis between his other spells to hover them down.
Spirit Break!
The Magma Bull’s entire body shuddered as Xavier’s first spell hit. He was surprised by that—he’d expected it to have a different result.
Well, he hadn’t expected it to have any result.
One of his soul puppets hovered down to the ground as the first had already sprinted forward to try and distract the enemy.
Soul Shatter!
The Magma Bull’s body shuddered again as shards of its soul shot out all around it. It fell back to all floors and turned its gaze straight onto him.
Its eyes were infused with an anger that felt almost physical, as though it permeated the very air. Steam shot up from the pools of lava all around the surface of the volcano at the exact same time as its gaze had fallen on him.
Lava shot up from the pools closest to the two soul puppets Xavier had on the field of battle. The ground opened up, latching onto the soul puppets’ legs. They’d both been running at this point, and the force of their feet sticking to the ground, stopping their run, made their ankles snap.
The lava came for them where they were stuck.
It engulfed them, burned them away. His awareness of his soul puppets disappeared as they were destroyed before his eyes.
So much for that.
The ground rumbled where Xavier stood. He leapt up just as a rock had been about to slam into him and knock him over and straight back down to the surface of the volcano.
Evasion has reached Rank 64!
Huh.
Xavier smiled. He’d felt that attack coming. Something in him had shifted a moment before it had come. A warning.
His Evasion skill was growing stronger and stronger with every fight, and with his upped Speed…
The dragon slammed into the Magma Bull and knocked it over. With the Magma Bull’s focus having shifted, it appeared not to see the massive beast coming. Or, if it had, it hadn’t managed to do anything about it.
Xavier noticed something as he rose higher in his leap. The wound in the Magma Bull’s neck, it was still bleeding, and the beast was hurt more than he’d initially realised.
The Spirit of Vengeance still packs a punch!
And now the dragon had clamped its jaws onto the other side.
Xavier capitalised on this. He cast Core Burn, hoping that this beast wouldn’t be immune like the boars had been.
Something slammed into his mind.
The Core Burn spell was blocked, but not as fully as it had been by the boar. There was something there. A crack in its mental defences.
Perhaps he might be about to worm his way through that crack if he applied just the right amount of pressure.
Even as the Magma Bull rolled around the ground trying to dislodge the dragon, solid rocks rose into the air and slammed into the Spirit of Vengeance. Xavier heard the thud they made as they impacted the ethereal beast, when the Magma Bull itself couldn’t even touch it with its horns.
The dragon is actually getting hurt. Actually taking damage. I need to move faster! Help more!
And it wasn’t only that. His leap was still making him rise into the air—the two beasts were fighting lightning fast below him, each second passing almost like minutes—and the Magma Bull was splitting its attention.
Streams of lava shot straight up at Xavier. They rose higher than he had imagined they could. Even this far away from the surface of the volcano, he knew they would be able to reach him.
And he had no idea how much damage they would be able to do to him.
Xavier raised his Midnight Scythe. He cast Heavy Telekinesis, pushing the staff to his left, making him jolt that way out of the streams of lava.
But there were over a dozen pools of lava down there, and they were coming at him from all angles.
He evaded another of the attacks in the split second while his Heavy Telekinesis spell cooled down by spinning in the air. He smelled burning hair. The lava had been close.
Not close enough.
Evasion has reached Rank 65!
Though the streams came from every angle, Xavier could see them easily with his Farscope ability.
He used that to his advantage, dodging stream after stream, his Heavy Telekinesis spell yanking him this way and that as his midair acrobatics became increasingly intense.
Adrenaline infused his entire body as the thrill of the combat thrummed through him. God, this felt good. He was pushing himself to the very edges of his ability.
Evasion has reached Rank 66!
Dozens of times the streams of lava had almost cooked him, and something told him they would take out a massive chunk of his health—not to mention deal him a great deal of pain.
Then the hits would snowball, and he’d fall before he hit the ground.
The ground wasn’t exactly a safe place for him, either, not after he’d seen what had happened to his soul puppets. If the Magma Bull were able to clamp him in place…
A roar of pain was unleashed from below. At first, Xavier worried it had come from the Spirit of Vengeance.
But even as Xavier had dodged stream of lava after stream of lava, pushing and shoving himself this way and that as he flipped around in the air, he hadn’t stopped casting offensive spells.
And Spirit Break was clearly taking its toll on the beast.
Its movements were slowing, and so were the streams of lava.
Xavier saw an opportunity.
He didn’t know how much health this bastard of a beast had, but its mind was starting to crumble.
The next spell he cast wasn’t Core Burn—it was Willpower Infusion.
Purple mist streamed out from the pure black blade of his Midnight Scythe and shot down toward the Magma Bull like a beam of light from on high.
The mental barrier the beast put up was perhaps the strongest one Xavier had ever come in contact with—or, it would have been if it wasn’t riddled with cracks.
And, just as he’d hoped he would, he wormed his way straight through it. The streams of lava stopped. He made the beast freeze.
Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis to make him shoot down toward the enemy, confident that in the time it would take him to reach the beast, the spell would have already reached the end of its cooldown.
His control over the Magma Bull’s mind was tenuous at best, and he already felt it slipping away. But it would last.
Just long enough.
The dragon kept ripping at the Magma Bull’s neck, and now that Xavier had taken control of it with his Willpower Infusion spell, he was able to feel its health—and that health was dropping fast.
The control he had over the beast’s mind slipped away just long enough for it to look up and widen its eyes.
Xavier slammed his Midnight Scythe straight into the beast’s skull, infusing it with extra strength with Heavy Telekinesis.
His attack kept digging through its skull until it reached the brain deep beneath.
The Midnight Scythe was lodged so deeply inside the beast’s head Xavier knew he would have to cut it out.
But the Magma Bull was dead.