Winter wraps her wings around her body, protecting it as she throws herself out of the fiery explosions that consume the area in a lake of fire. She propels herself backward, hurtling through the air, slamming into the ground, extending her wings, and dropping to all fours, her claws digging into and gouging out chunks of the frozen ground to arrest her movement, making her look like a miniature dragon. With a bone-chilling roar, she releases a wave of ice that washes out over the battlefield, extinguishing the fires and entombing everything in the immediate area in ice. Winter stands, glaring at the attackers, her clothes and wings singed but otherwise unharmed. She reaches out her hand to the side cracks forming on the ice-covered ground before it explodes, her swords ripping their way out of the ice. The swords fly in her direction, and without taking her eyes off the new enemies, she catches the flying projectiles drawn to her hands like magnets.
Winter stands, glaring daggers at the platoon in the distance, twirling her swords with a flourish; she watches the mages prepare another round of empowered fireballs. Blue energy flickers from her mouth as she grins, digging her claws into the ice and lowering her stance, eyeing the mages as they rush to launch another barrage of fireballs. Winter’s smile widens at the incoming projectiles. She opens her mouth with a roar, releasing a cone of blue ice energy that consumes the three fireballs, negating the attacks. The resulting concussive explosion that follows sends a shockwave across the battlefield, leaving a frosty mist to hang in the air, sending the platoon and mages into a state of shock; the ability of a single creature to negate the combined effort of ten mages is unheard of, but they had just witnessed that overwhelming power firsthand.
Winter runs her index fingers together, her claws slicing through the scales, drawing blood. She watches the platoon fan out, taking a defensive stance in the distance, the officers shouting commands. The mages break out of their stupor, empowering fire lances to release a long-range barrage. Winter dodges through the rain of fire as she draws runes on her body, one on each side of her chest just below her clavicles and another on each side of her neck just below her jawline. Winter’s blue ice energy mingles with the blood, freezing it to her scales and causing it to glow with a vibrant purple hue. She smirks, lightning arcing across her body as she vanishes from sight, zigzagging across the battlefield on her approach as little more than a blue of lightning for those with exceptional perception abilities.
Winter appears a couple dozen yards in front of the last functional platoon; eight soldiers lingering on the edge of the battlefield collapse to the ground screaming in the wake of her movement, ice-filled wounds crippling a leg each or completely removing them outright. Everyone stands motionless, screams echoing in the background, the soldiers hesitant to make the first move. Winter glances past the platoon, the Noble and Adventurers observing her in the distance. After a moment of hesitation, the knights move, fanning out in a defensive formation, raising shields and leveling their swords at her, attempting to defend the mages. Winter smiles at this, a wide predatory grin spreading across her face, her eyes glowing a brilliant blue. Her gaze bores into the gathered soldiers, exuding an oppressive aura of hatred and wrath. “I would have gotten to you eventually, but since you are in such a hurry to die, I’m more than happy to oblige.”
The Noble stands away from the battlefield at his tent, the Adventurers guarding him. “This better work!” The Noble Fumes. “That platoon is my dedicated personal guard, and if they die, I will hold the lot of you responsible!” The Mage weaves a spell, replying in a cold, calculating tone. “We need to know what this thing is capable of and exhaust it as much as possible with these continuous fights.” The Noble glares at the Mage, angry furry flashing across his face. “What! You’re a step away from becoming an S Rank High Mage, and you are using my soldiers as cannon fodder to tire this thing out! My father will hear about this!” The Mage sighs, rolling his eyes in annoyance, still weaving a complex spell. “This creature is, at the bare minimum, an S Rank Dragonkin and is well beyond the parameters of this job. It can block all of my assessment abilities, meaning we have no idea what level, rank, or skills it possesses, but based on this barrier, it is most likely a Lord. If this creature did not waste so much time and energy killing your men, we would already be dead.” The Noble crosses his arms in a huff at the Mages words, glaring down at the battlefield.
Winter’s words hang heavy in the air, and despite being an elite platoon or perhaps because of it, they know they are no match for her speed. The experience of the soldiers allows them to gauge that Winter’s base speed is several magnitudes faster than theirs, regardless of her lightning-empowered movement. The mages are the first to break the standoff, working together to resume the fireball bombardment, recognizing it as the only thing to have caused Winter any harm up to this point. This action breaks the tension, spurring the knights into action past their reluctance. One unit of knights falls back, taking up a defensive stance in front of the mages, while the other three units of knights fan out in a half circle, attempting to prevent her from charging the mages, five knights charging her in a futile attempt to lock her down.
Winter narrows her eyes with a frown at the incoming charge, a futile attempt at a last stand from her perspective. Her claws dig into the ice, bracing herself, blue energy flickering from her mouth as she yells. “Enough!” With a roar, she releases a massive cone of blue ice energy more than four times the size and intensity of her initial breath attack. The attack washes over the charging knights, the mages, and their guardian knights, cutting the army in half and consuming more than half of the platoon in the devouring cold of her attack. Surviving soldiers dodge away from the attack, the ice and cold biting at their bodies despite not being hit by the attack.
Winter’s breath attack lances through the battlefield, targeting the Noble and Adventurers. The Noble’s eyes open wide, throwing his hands out in a panic, creating a mana barrier in a desperate attempt to save his life. The Guardian Knight steps forward, slamming his shield into the ground, interposing a forward-facing shield wall between Winter’s attack and his party. At the same time, the Mage extends his hand, generating an energy dome over the group. Within a fraction of a second, the attack slams into the barriers, washing over them like a tsunami, consuming the group in a torrent of energy. The pillar of energy winks out of existence as Winter closes her mouth, leaving the Mage on his knees, drenched in sweat, gasping for air, and the Guardian knight gripping his arm in pain, his shield and forearm coated in ice. The Priestess rushes over, dispelling Winter’s cursed ice, attempting to reverse and heal the damage to the Guardian Knight’s arm, while the Mage drinks multiple potions to recover his mana stores.
The blood runes on Winter’s body dim, crack, and crumble, dispersing into particulates. She glances around at the surviving soldiers, who, at this point, have long since abandoned any sense of decorum or order, deserting the battlefield like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Winter flips her swords into the air, spinning them in place before adding them to her halo of blades. Stepping into her newly created sculpture garden, the dozens of soldiers forever frozen in place by a single attack. Walking through the garden of death, she keeps her gaze fixed on the Adventurers, running her claws across the ice sculptures’ surface as she passes near them, eliciting a chilling screech.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The Noble hesitantly opens his eyes, relief washing over him at his survival. Looking around the field at the fleeing soldiers and Winter walking toward him like she is on a slow, relaxing stroll, his relief transforms into furry, his face reddening as he shouts. “Thanks to your incompetence, this expedition is a complete failure!” He points at Winter, his hand shaking, seething with rage, her slow, casual walk and seeming disinterest infuriating him, but her gaze is the thing that puts the Adventurers on edge, making them feel like she is boring into their very souls. “I demand you kill that thing this instant and bring me its core, or you will not see a sing copper for this job! Do you hear me!”
The Mage downs another potion before speaking. “This job said nothing about a Dragonkin, or we would have never accepted it in the first place. We’ll be lucky to survive; be quiet, or I’ll feed you to that thing.” The Noble’s face twists in rage. “How dare you speak to me like that! I am the son of Duke Ferris, and I will see to it that the Adventurers Guild revokes your license for speaking to me in such a manner! You ha-” “Silence!” With a single word from the Mage, the Noble’s words catch in his throat, magically forcing him to remain silent. The Noble’s eyes open wide in shock as he tries to speak, glancing around at the other Adventurers, panic welling up as they all ignore him.
A tall, burly man with a greatsword sheathed on his back laughs, a broad, excited grin on his face. “Hahaha. Since that peace of excrement finally stopped spewing all over the place, can any of you get a read on this thing?” The Night Hunter shakes her head, keeping her gaze trained on Winter, not saying a word. The Guardian Knight winces as the Priestess continues to heal his arm. “No… Sparks, how about you; any luck?” The Mage shakes his head. “Nothing useful. No matter how hard I push, the only thing I get back is that it’s a Dragonkin; that’s it, no rank, level, stats, skills, or trait information; nothing but its race, and that’s what I find most worrying.” He sighs, dropping his spell. “It took a lot of power just to confirm its race, but why can’t I see any other information? It’s almost like it wants me to see it.”
The large man draws his sword, pointing it at Winter. “I don’t see a problem. That thing only feels a bit stronger than Sparks. Heck, it’s walking over here like it’s taking a stroll. Let’s just smash it already.” “Shut it, you idiot!” The Night Hunter snaps at the large man, her body tense, ready for a fight. “That thing just massacred an army, overpowered ten mages, killed around thirty soldiers with a single attack, and only took one attack the entire time. Heck, even that one attack looks like it barely did anything. You want to commit suicide, be my guest, but leave me out of it. That thing isn’t normal.” “That’s enough, you two.” Sparks interrupts their bickering, weaving another spell as he continues. “Ash is right. In a one-on-one fight, I would lose; we have no information on that thing; it’s intelligent, possibly far more than we can imagine. It’s using this time to recover while analyzing us, and it could still be hiding its real power.”
The Priestess finishes working on the Guardian Knight’s arm. “You will need a regeneration spell to heal the frostbite damage, but for now, you should be okay.” The Guardian Knight chuckles, flexing his partially healed hand and arm. “Thanks.” He replies, looking at Winter in the distance. “I hope you’re joking, Sparks; we’re done for if that thing is hiding anything more powerful than that last attack.” Sparks dismisses his spell. “Monsters tend to have more skills and abilities when compared to humans, and they also have well-rounded stats to utilize them, but that last attack used a type of blood runes to multiply its power. It seems to take time to activate, so we should be able to interrupt it. The problem is, that thing was probably born at S or A Rank, making this an impossibly difficult fight, regardless of that one attack. It would be better to flee, but this dome blocks all communication and teleportation spells and abilities.”
Sparks looks at the Night Hunter. “Fortunately, movement skills still seem to work. Ash, do you think you could bypass the barrier?” Ash shakes her head. “I don’t think so, but I would need to try, and I don’t think that thing will let me.” Sparks sighs, glancing over to the Priestess. “Nina, you have any luck?” She shakes her head, dejected, tightening her grip on her holy symbol, her hand shaking. “No, this place feels wrong; it’s like this entire mission is cursed. I can’t get any communications out, but more importantly, don’t get hit by that thing’s ice. I can dispel it, but even a small amount will eat away at your body, causing permanent damage. If this is what it’s doing to the soldiers, all of the wounded are already dead.”
Sparks swears under his breath. “It’s probably a unique skill or trait that works in tandem with its ice spells and abilities.” The Guardian Knight sighs. “Sparks, do you think you can break this barrier?” He shakes his head, a grim expression on his face. “Not like this. The barrier’s strength is unbelievable, and there is a good chance it’s a Domain. If I had enough time perhaps, but I don’t think we have that kind of time, and if it’s a Domain, then no.” The Guardian Knight curses. “So, Sparks, you’re the smartest one here; any good ideas, I’ll even take a bad one.” Sparks laughs. “Sure, let’s try talking to it.” Everyone looks at Sparks in disbelief, silence hanging in the air.
The large man is the first to break the silence, pointing his greatsword at Winter in exasperation. “You want us to talk to that monster; have you lost your mind?” Sparks shrugs. “Sure, why not; it’s a few hundred times smarter than you, Jax. Plus-” Jax stomps forward, cutting Sparks off. “You trying to say I’m dumber than some monster. You-” “Enough!” The Guardian Knight steps between the two. “Jax, back off, and Sparks, cut the snark and explain.” Sparks turns his attention back to Winter. “Thanks, Alex. It’s common knowledge that high-end monster slaves can speak, but the truth is all humanoid monsters can communicate to some degree. Each monster group has a unique language within the same evolution tree, and they have varying degrees of linguistic ability based on rank, evolution, and intelligence. This one should speak draconic; however, most monsters don’t speak any human languages, but if my guess is correct, this one is old, likely older than all of us combined. So, it’s worth a try, and no, I don’t speak draconic.” Alex curses. “Fine, better than nothing.”
Alex looks back at the Noble, fuming with anger and contempt. “Release the silence spell.” With a wave of his hand, Sparks releases the spell. “How dare-” “Shut it!” Alex snaps at the Noble, cutting his rant off. “Lord Ferris, you are on your own; we cannot defend you in this situation, and I recommend you use your strongest barrier magic and pray to the goddess. You should have heard the plan; keep your mouth shut and stay out of the way, or I will gut you like a pig.” Lord Ferris’s mouth hangs agape, left in utter shock, unable to speak for a moment. “But… but I paid you for protection. I demand you protect me from that thing this instant! My father will have your head if any harm comes-” His rant is cut short with a punch square to his face, breaking his nose and sending him sprawling to the ground, Ash the Night Hunter standing over him. “We Quit!” Alex releases the grip on his sword, chuckling at the Noble’s sorry state.