Within the reinforced cage, there are two dragons, an Esmo, and an amalgam. Around the cage is 18 other dragons, two Esmos, and a homunculi. They all have opposing objectives. Some wish to kill Vildra, whether due to her past actions or the threat of her very existence. Others are trying to protect Vildra. And of course, some dragons have their own idealogical opponents. Who would know if they died in the chaos? Most strange of all is Dragon lord Liripat, who was smart enough to let everyone else fight while she just watched.
The moment Vildra coughed up blood, Tildra burst forward. The cage shattered with excessive force, nearly crushing some dragons. In response, 3 dragon lords lunged towards Tildra, attempting to restrain her. They overestimated their strength; She simply threw them to the side.
Among the cage's rubble and dust, 7 dragons were fighting a secret war. On one side, Perseverants, who want dragons to survive. On the other, Nihilists, who expect extinction and detest interfering. A conflict brewing for 100 years, fueled further by the death of Dravinos.
3 dragons find a new opportunity. The fabled 'dragon slayer' was right in front of them. Whatever their reason, whether eliminating a threat or illogical desire, they all attempt to slay the slayer of dragons. In response, the homunculi unleashes its full power; Hesmo's magnum opus, the blood engine.
2 dragons, the oldest among them, wait. Something was amiss. Why was Vildra coughing up blood? Why was she covered in bandages to begin with? Her only injury should have been her shedded wings. And most unnerving, why did they feel like they were being watched?
1 dragon lay dead, poisoned quite a while ago, sweat smelling foam eating away at their teeth. If you looked carefully, you wouldn't see the Esmo jumping from the corpse's shadow.
For a brief moment, the room goes dark, as the dragon who made the light loses focus. In the next moment, that very same dragon sends thousands of magic missiles around the room, casting an eery green glow. Some dragons take cover, others endure a hit or two. The amalgam absorbed the missiles, the smell of burning mythril smoking onto Aesmo.
An opposing dragon unleashes a hurricane in the opposite direction of the magic missiles. The turbulence sends them harmlessly upwards. The floating vials also get smashed into the surroundings, coalescing into mini amalgam centipedes.
To the 2nd oldest dragon's dismay, the hurricane also sends the light 'dragon slayer' straight towards them. As they are a fool, they unleash the fires of leviamuth. Swept around by the winds, the fire burns everything in its path... except the homunculi, whose burning hot blood blades sink deep into the old dragon's eyes.
Unfortunately, Tildra's tail gets burnt by the flames, though this is of little concern to her. More importantly, the three dragons around her show their remarkable coordination and teamwork by casting fire and ice magic, canceling each other out. Tildra was about to respond with her own spell, but then notices the oldest dragon lord joining the fight, lunging directly towards Vildra.
He had came to three conclusions. First is that Vildra was actually weakened somehow, and that now would be the best time to kill her. Second, most of the conflicts are directly tied to Vildra, such that eliminating her would end the chaos. Third, and most importantly, he was faster than Tildra.
Of course, that doesn't mean that he could go straight to Vildra. Tildra switches her aim, and sends a yellow powder into his path. Circling around to avoid the dangerous dust, he is blocked again by the amalgam, which is deceptively fast for its size.
A Nihilist yelps, bitten by a mini amalgam. Some dragons notice the 30 tiny amalgams, each capable of causing minor yet painful bites. An annoyed Perseverant sends a swarm of explosive moths to deal with them. Then they remember the hurricane is still roaring.
The moths do explode the small amalgams, but they also crack the walls and even roof a bit. The threat of collapse causes a momentary pause, one that the oldest dragon takes advantage. Sidestepping the amalgam, they get within a tail's length of Vildra. Then they felt static.
Lightning is rarely used by dragons. They require certain conditions, like cloudy skies and lack of interference. Then a loophole was found; certain dust could cause weak lightning. It was too weak to be useful, but the idea was eventually turned into a spell only Tildra used, 'static dust'. Of course, with enough dust, it could paralyze a dragon.
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There is a second loophole. Elemental gems. Unfortunately, lightning gems in particular are rare, due to the improbability of lightning hitting exposed gems without destroying them. The strength is also variable. A low quality gem will be as effective as 'static dust'. The gem in the homunculi is about as strong as a dozen lightning bolts when fully charged.
The blinded dragon flails about, managing to grab the homunculi and throw it. The homunculi first collides mid-air with one of the dragons trying to slay them. Rebounding off of them, they then jump towards the old dragon targetting Vildra. In the process, they pass through Tildra's 'static dust'. Instead of causing paralysis, all it does is charge their lightning gem.
The homunculi collides with the oldest dragon. Their lightning doesn't stop. It pierces past their scales, into muscle and nerves, and eventually through a lung, before continuing out the other side in search of ground. The dragon curls up, muscles forcefully retracting, lungs burning, and wings fully paralyzed.
Then the amalgam catches up and smashes them into what remains of the cage's columns.
30 seconds have passed.
In the remains of the cage, there are 4 dragons, 2 of which are unable to continue fighting, a homunculi, and an amalgam. Around them, 14 dragons, half of which still want to fight them, the other half fighting their own war. The Esmos are nowhere to be seen.
The hurricane finally stops. A dozen spells fill the room, unimpeded and unrestricted. Some hit enemies, some hit allies, and none reach Vildra. Yet strangely, she was the most bloody dragon here.
A burst of ice freezes the amalgam, a burst of wind knocks the homunculi to the wall. The three dragons targeting Tildra finally work together and shove her a step away. It was enough to fully expose Vildra to everyone.
Liripat chose now to act. Ignoring the near-invisible threads now cutting into her as she flew, she reaches out for Vildra's neck. As if by instinct, Vildra's left arm stabs into Liripat's shoulder. It pierces through, then extends further than it should, all the way to the wall beyond the cage. As the bandages fall loose, it reveals a night-dark fleshy arm with hundreds, if not thousands of cuts everywhere.
Then the cuts open their eyes.
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Pov Tildra
I wake up in an ice cave. No, not wake up, maybe regain awareness? Whatever, that's not important. Where am I?
"Hello, Ms Miltos. I'd like to talk for a bit."
A feminine voice whispers to my mind. I turn around, and find a small desk with a... snake?
"My name is Rephantasia. I've heard and seen some interesting things about you. Please, have a seat."
Looking around, I don't see an exit. Reluctantly, I sit down in front of the desk, while asking some important questions.
"Where are we? What happened?"
"We're inside Vildra's mind palace. Don't worry, you're safe. Her mind palace isn't designed to cause any harm. As for what happened... Does it matter? She'll erase your memory when you leave. Not that it's anything concerning, just to keep this place secret."
"...I see. Now, why is an angel in my daughter's mind palace?"
"Whoa, don't get so aggressive! We made a deal. Basically, I teach her some strong rare spells and help her with this mind palace. All it costed was the souls of dragons that she killed, and a piece of a daevva. Of course, I got ripped off. Did you know she has a daevva living with her? And don't even get me started on the demons."
"Wait, what spells did you teach her?"
"⩚♱₷⫆⺃⩓. That's Avaegic for 'secret'. I can't tell you, for several reasons. Of course, if we make a deal then maybe..."
"Later. What were you saying about demons?"
"The second reason why I got ripped off. See for yourself."
One of the walls of the ice cave turns transparent, revealing the what was outside. A barren wasteland, and in the sky was a battle between moons and... the dragon lords?
"Those moon things are demon fragments. It seems that eating other dragons has its downsides. I've been trying to destroy them for a while now, but it's slow. Luckily, we just so happened to get some dragons into the mind palace. I'm sure they'll help speed things up."
"Her mind palace... Why is it so barren? Aren't mind palaces supposed to reflect the owner's experiences and desires?"
"Exactly. See, after spending some time talking with her, I found something strange. She doesn't have any desires. Additionally, something's wrong with her mana. Do you know what ⲻⷪ⊪ⵈⷖ is? Um... the thing where you can't absorb mana naturally anymore."
"I already know about both of those things. What's your conclusions?"
"She's lacking things that everyone else has. And that's the experience that shaped this mind palace."
...Could I have done anything to prevent this? I've known about these problems for so long. Of so much I've done, was there more I could've?
"Hey, stop that. This isn't your fault. And plus, this is completely harmless to her. If anything, her mind palace is stronger for it. If it was any weaker, then those demon fragments would've pierced their way into her mind and cause some real damage."
I wipe away the tears I didn't notice. It was alright. Thanks to either luck or fate, everything worked out in the end. I turn back to the snake, no, angel, and give an honest bow.
"Thank you. Now, I still have some questions. What did you do to Vildra? Physically."
"I'll be honest, I'm not sure. I haven't done body modifications before. It wasn't even intentional! I destroyed one of the demon fragments, then suddenly her whole left side started transforming. Um... how should I say this... She's technically physically an angel now. please don't hurt me"
...
"Hey, I'd like to make a deal."
"...₻♼⬺ (fuck)"