Drafaira charged Gluttony with black flames covering her hands. Receiving no command to block or avoid the attack, Gluttony took the hit directly to his chest. The impact of the attack sent Gluttony skidding back, while a wave of magic power exploded around them.
Syrus watched as everyone braced for impact, while he was unaffected since all damage directed at him was sent to Gluttony. In the distance, Syrus saw Sylvia shielded their mother, Aurora and her daughter, Samantha.
Syrus turned back to the scene and glared at the dragon. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Don’t,” Tia spoke.
Suddenly, an overwhelming pressure was brought down on everyone, causing them all to fall to their knees except for Syrus.
Drafaira began walking towards them. “Do you know why there’s a lack of rifts in this area?” she asked as she arrived in front of Syrus. “I dealt with all of them,” she revealed.
That explained why the rifts they found would close before they could even get the chance to raid them.
“it took a while for me to awaken as a player, so I had a lot of catching up to do,” Drafaira said as the pressure she was releasing kept pushing down on everyone.
“I’m confused,” Syrus crossed his arms. “Are you saying you’re our enemy?”
Drafaira’s hands lit up with black flames. But before she could do anything else, an axe sent her flying and crashing through the log wall of the settlement. Gluttony stood tall with his axe in his hands, and then began stomping towards the enemy.
The other dimension players got up and drew their weapons the moment Drafaira’s magic pressure was gone. “You’re on her side?” Syrus raised an eyebrow.
“Only a fool goes against a dra-” the elf didn’t get to finish his sentence as a wyvern ate him whole.
“Then you’ll die alongside her,” Syrus spoke as the ground beneath the OD players exploded.
“What happened?!” Tia exclaimed in shock, then she turned to Syrus. “This is too risky! You’ll get us all killed!”
“People with power never compromise,” Syrus said as he got the notification about leveling up. “Bow to them and they’ll never stop stepping on you,” Syrus said as he began walking towards one of the players that was still alive and struggling to get his dead comrade of him. “If you can, deal with them immediately,” a sword appeared in Syrus’s hands.
He swung the sword, finishing of the player.
“Get everyone to safety,” Syrus stated as an explosion occurred outside the walls. “I’m going to slay a dragon.”
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Drafaira touched her bleeding shoulder in surprise. Dragons stood at the pinnacle of all races, and yet she was wounded by a mere human.
Drafaira growled as scales began covering her whole body. “You dare!”
“My lord commanded me to retrieve your head,” the human that appeared out of thin air spoke as he came out of the settlement. “I shall obey!” he swung his axe once again, and then it grew and stretched to reach her.
“You’ll perish along with him!” Drafaira roared as she swung her clawed hands.
The collision caused a massive explosion of magical energy. Drafaira was shocked to feel the force behind the attack and seeing her hand trembling. “H-how?!”
The smoke parted as an axe slashed through. Drafaira barely had the chance to leap away from the attack, and avoided being decapitated.
“My lord demands your head,” the armored man spoke as he stepped out of the smoke. “And I, Gluttony shall deliver!” he swung his axe downwards, creating a shockwave heading straight for Drafaira.
She leaped out of the way, only to get hit from above by the axe. “AAGGH!” Drafaira screamed in pain as she lost her left arm.
“You’re not much of a dragon.”
Drafaira looked up as she clutched her wound. She saw the man that had greeted her at the entrance of the settlement and who she presumed to be the master of the armored man. “Who are you?”
“Sorry, but I get to ask the questions,” the man smirked.
She wanted to rip his head off, but there was nothing she could do as the man called Gluttony stomped down on her legs and pulled her up by her hair.
“I expected you to be stronger consider your level is over a hundred,” the man spoke. “That’s at least 500 worth of stat points,” the man continued. “So... what gives?”
“I have nothing to say to you human!” Drafaira roared, then a short distance away, something landed.
A man wearing a white suit and had two pairs of avian wings revealed himself. His hair and eyes were glowing, making it hard to reveal any details about his appearance. “She has been excommunicated by the system.”
“And that means?” the man asked, unfazed by the appearance of anew being.
“Her class was stripped and her level was reset to one,” the new arrival answered. “Additionally, her growth has been hindered with only getting two stat points per level.”
“And you are?”
“Artevis, an angel monitoring every being that has been excommunicated by the system on this new dimension,” Artevis replied.
“Are you here to stop me?” the man asked.
Artevis shook his head. “I do not have the authority, nor the power. All my abilities are sealed as this is not my physical form.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The man and Drafaira glanced as the crater the angel created where he landed.
“I am simply here to bare witness,” Artevis stated.
“Wait!” Drafaira struggled. “I can be of use!”
The man scoffed. “As material.”
A sickled formed in Gluttony’s hand.
The last thing Drafaira heard was a single degrading question.
“Any chance you can tell me where the other excommunicated are?”
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“Drafaira the seventh is dead?” a woman wearing a black veil that obscured her face responded as she was watering a flower bed. “Good riddance. Did one of the clans kill her?”
The servant shook his head. “A native player from the new dimension killed her using a unique unit.”
“A native?” the woman became interested. “A chosen then. Do we have anyone in that dimension?”
“Drafaira the twelfth,” the servant answered. “She is currently level 47.”
“Is she capable of transforming?”
“Not yet.”
The woman sighed. Dragons had declined so much that their natural forms had been reduced a humanoid dragon. Only the strongest among them were capable of using their full draconic form.
“Tell the twelfth to observe the native who killed wench,” the veiled woman ordered.
“Understood.”
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Syrus did not get the location of the other excommunicated players, but he still got a lot from this interaction. First, his level had jumped to 32, which he distributed the stat points to his physical stats. Second was the achievements that gave pretty hefty rewards.
You have survived the pressure of a superior race
All stats increased by 5
You have fought a superior race
All physical stats increased by 10
You have slain a superior race
You have gained the class specific skill: Unit link
Unit link – allows the user to possess their unit and gain manual control of their body.
You have completed the challenge: Dragon slayer
You gained: 500 credits, lord’s medallion
You have gained one free use of [Antagonizing unit]
“What’s a lord’s medallion?” Syrus asked Artevis.
“It’s an item used to create a safe zone,” the angel answered. “The system prohibits conflicts within safe zones and enforces laws. As the lord, you’ll own the land and may rent it to others. The form of payment would depend on you.”
“This is valuable,” Syrus muttered in amazement.
You quickly recognized the value of such an item. It would give him an advantage even against OD players. With the world thrown into chaos, there was nothing more valuable than a safe haven.
“How do I use it?”
“You simply activate,” Artevis replied. “But I do recommend looking for a better place,” the angel looked around. “Once you use it, you can’t move the safe zone. Additionally, you can only be the lord of one safe zone.”
“Is there a fix size of the safe zone?”
Artevis nodded. “Yes, but you may expand by gathering more medallions.”
“Thanks,” Syrus said. “Are you sticking around?”
Artevis answered by taking off to the sky, creating a small shockwave that threw dust everywhere.
“Rude...” Syrus muttered as he dusted the dirt off him.
Heading back into the settlement, he found it completely empty. Using his ravens, he saw that everyone had evacuated into the forest accompanied by his wyvern. He tried giving his wyvern a mental command to try and tell everyone to return. Thankfully it worked as Tia began leading them back to the settlement.
With that done, Syrus took notice of the mess he made. One of the preparations he made was planting a significant number of dynamite rats under the reception, and the aftermath was gruesome. Severed limbs were scattered everywhere and massive crater was left by the entrance of the settlement. There was also a giant hole on the log wall.
“We’ll need to have meeting to discuss staying here,” Syrus mumbled as he went to his workshop.
After a couple of minutes, Syrus heard the others return and the door to his workshop slamming open to his mother’s entrance.
“Are you alright?” Aurora asked as she began checking for any injuries.
“I’m fine,” Syrus assured. “I wasn’t the one that fought and the enemy was surprisingly weak.”
“A dragon was weak?” Tia said as she entered the workshop.
“Yeah. Some angel said she was excommunicated by the system,” Syrus mentioned, shocking Tia. “Anyways, we need to have another meeting.”
“Don’t you need to rest? A lot happened?” Aurora said in concern.
“Like I said mother, I’m fine. There was barely a fight.”
“I can’t believe any of this,” Tia said as she walked away.
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Three weeks. It took Drafaira the twelfth, or as how others call her, Ignia, three weeks to track down the person that killed the exile.
Observing from a distance, she found that the majority of the population of the settlement he resides in is forest goblins. From what she could see, there should be around a dozen separate families. There were also several humans and a single dark elf.
None of them should be capable of facing a dragon, no matter how weakened she was. But the culprit came to light as she felt a powerful presence suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Ignia’s eyes widened then she shot a fire arrow at a raven perched on a branch. Due to the sudden appearance of the powerful presence, Ignia almost failed to sense the raven spying on her. In the next second, the powerful being was next to her and grabbed her neck.
“We’ve been getting a lot of guests recently,” a man stepped out of a portal followed by a faceless creature. “It’s been getting annoying.”
“I’m not your enemy,” Ignia managed to speak.
The man crossed his arms. “Those words are hard to believe in this day and age.”
“I am Drafaira the twelfth. I was simply sent to observe the person who killed the exile,” Ignia stated.
“So... you’re here for revenge?”
Ignia tried to shake her head, but the grip of the person holding her by the neck was too strong. “No. Seeking revenge would be the same as acknowledging our relation to a criminal.”
The human raised an eyebrow. While he seemed to be thinking of something, Ignia was released from the person’s grip. She coughed as she regained the ability to breathe. She could still feel the strain on her neck despite her scales taking most of the exerted force.
“We’re kind of busy at the moment, so say what you need to say and leave,” the human stated.
Had it been anyone else in her family, they would have probably attacked the human by now. But Ignia gained this opportunity since she was the least volatile in her generation.
“I was tasked to observe the person that killed the exile,” Ignia began speaking. “If you allow me to stay within the settlement to observe, I will repay you with information.”
The man seemed to be considering her offer. If he was wise, he would see the value of what she was offering. After an agonizing minute, Ignia heard the man’s answer.
“Alright.”