Leo couldn’t help but brace himself as the Lightning washed over him, but preparation proved key—he felt the protective magic of the new ring he’d gotten. The borrowed Lightning energy resistance item’s protections had been bolstered by a potion taken to confer additional resistance as well. It was enough, and the insane power of the attack washed over him harmlessly while causing explosions, burns, and cracks throughout the trees, buildings, and road all around him.
Leo grimaced. Gotta watch that, it could cause problems below! I need him to use his second breath weapon before he gets into range of our newest toy.
Leo did his bet to fake twitching, and his illusion ‘burned.’ After a second, he gave his best cough, ‘crashed’ to the ground, and then limped into the building behind him.
Gulung leapt after Leo, causing him to pick his pace up a bit as he ran into the tower first floor, and then down toward the ‘basement vault’ section. Gulung followed, slamming through the wall of the first floor and running across the stone after Leo, his claws digging into the stone as he ran, he was so powerful.
Leo cleared the first wall, his telekinetic sight letting him ‘see’ backwards to gauge the exact progress of the dragon as it bore down on him… and the perfect time to dodge. As Gulung launched himself to attack Leo, Leo used his sight and speed to just barely dodge, then turned and slashed the dragon across his snout before the dragon could recover from the over-extending claw attack. Blood gushed forth and the dragon hissed like an angry cat. It swiped a few more times, trying to eviscerate or pin Leo. But Leo moved like nothing his level moved, dodging and weaving and stinging like kung fu hummingbird. Gulung couldn’t get a claw on him.
Leo was half-tempted to try and win here, but the wounds on Gulung were already closing, albeit slowly. Leo needed a blow too strong for the dragon to heal from, and he needed the dragon to use his breath weapon first.
Leo glanced back. I think the distance will be fine here.
After the third or fourth slash to his face, Gulung roared again and lowered his head. Lightning poured forth again, and Leo’s illusion once again ‘burned.’ Leo threw himself backward and to the ground, twitching and then rolling at the last moment to avoid the follow up claw.
Leo rushed further into the room, into the actual ‘vault’ portion of the room, where Andul waited with their toy—a Dardanelles gun, very loosely modeled on the one’s used to bring down the walls of Constantinople.
Leo dived to the side, triggering his telekinetic powers. “Now!”
Gulung proved far smarter than most of the dragons Leo had fought—he didn’t simply trust his raw capacity. He jumped upward, pushing his upper body through the stone as Leo felt massive Earth magic erupt from the dragon. One claw sank into the wall, prepared to boost the dragon into the ceiling entirely.
No no no! Leo thought, his eyes widening. He desperately tried to move the cannon to face upward with his telekinetic powers, but doubted he moved it more than an inch with his power—the cannon was far to heavy.
The cannon erupted, so loud in the confined space of the vault that Leo got a notification for ear damage and the pressure wave bowled him into the wall. He touched himself to start regenerating.
He got a damage notification, with two features he had never seen before.
‘Dardenalles cannon’ fired in combined attack of Andul and Leo. Target hit. Damage dealt is 233 (1014 damage -30 armor. Strike to left aft leg and tail disintegrates limbs, doing maximum possible damage to hit portion. All remaining damage is carried forward with the attack and does not effect target.) Target fails Toughness check (-30) against hydrostatic shock. Targets supernatural Toughness converts lethal hydrostatic shock to stun. Target fails Toughness check (-30) against bleed x2. Target has a -10 Health per six second and -20 Health per six second bleed.
Leo whistled. The metal hardening magic power and the precision afforded by a metal-molding golem had, Leo hoped, been enough to overcome his huge deficiency in practical experience or detailed knowledge—and the magical fire trigger allowed him to simplify the cannon to its most basic components—a thirty-foot tube almost five feet in diameter at the opening, perfectly crafted, with a perfectly crafted five foot ball in the center, and black powder in the back—only one direction for the power of the explosion to go.
The dragon fell out of the ceiling—and there was no hole. Gulung had literally been phasing through the Earth, something Leo hadn’t even known was possible.
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Leo leapt at Gulung as the dragon twitched feebly on the ground, determined to do as much damage as possible before the stun wore off. He stabbed deep into the beasts neck. Getting another massive damage and bleed notification—but the dragon didn’t die, and recovered very quickly. It fell into the Earth, leaving Leo slashing at the floor.
For a moment Leo thought they had lost the dragon, but Gulung proved he still had some of the dragon rage and hubris. He leapt out of the floor behind Leo and grabbed the cannon. The cannon had actually flown back into the wall, smashing it massively, and still somehow skewed slightly off course. Leo saw that Andul was on the ground, his leg and armor severed from where Leo assumed the cannon had rolled over him—but Lily was there, swaying as she stood, healing Andul, whose leg was actively and visibly regrowing from the speed of the healing.
The dragon lifted the cannon, its muscles bulging as blood spewed across the floor. But Leo could see that the dragon was healing as well, albeit slowly—and the flow of blood was slowing.
It must have a mere hundred or so Health left. I need to finish it now!
Leo flew down the hall at the dragon, who turned and tossed the massive cannon at Leo. Leo flew under it, but in the moment, the dragon sank back into the ground. Leo’s telekinetic sight couldn’t see through the ground, and for the first time in a couple weeks he didn’t instantly have ‘eye’s on’ and opponent.
The dragon burst up under Lily and Andul claws first, grabbing each and hurling them into a wall. Leo screamed in fear and rage as Lily hit so hard he heard things break like sticks, and blood gushed from her mouth. Lily and Andul slammed to the ground, neither moving.
Leo rushed the dragon, which jumped back into the wall. Leo was having flashbacks to his fight with Chester—how was he going to win?
He took the temporary reprieve, however, to hit Lily and Andul with his own, weaker regenerate. Both fortunately survived, their new supernatural Toughness enough. Leo thanked all the gods of this kooky world he had convinced Lily to get some more Health.
He heard running, and claws on stone.
“I’m here, Leo!” Hugh screamed. His oldest friend rushed into the room, charging as fast as he could go, foxes running beside him.
Neha appeared next to Hugh as well, running full-tilt, then disappeared again, appearing next Leo. “Me too!”
The dragon leapt up again, grabbing at Leo with one claw and grabbing Lily and Andul with the other. Despite the surprise attack, Leo managed to launch into the air and barely dodge, and Neha’s defensive teleportation triggered and she disappeared with a puff of air.
“Grab it and hold it!” Leo screamed, and Hugh didn’t question. Crystal sprouted all across his claws and he sank them into the white-and-blue scaled remaining hind leg of Gulung, ripping back with all his strength as the giant dragon—probably twenty times as heavy as Hugh—dropped his erstwhile victims and tried to flee into the wall.
He mostly made it—but not quite. Leo slashed the already wounded leg back open and then used Brutal reaction to stab the dragon as hard as he could about where genitals would be on a human.
He got an increased bleed notification, as well as doing a tiny bit more damage.
At the same time, Neha, proving she was Leo’s true heir, touched the part of the tail that had healed, disappearing it and starting that bleed again.
Blood was still spewing as the dragon pulled those portions into the wall as it kept going, giving the impression the wall was bleeding. Hugh was leaning back, pulling as hard as he could, trying to keep the one leg visible.
Just a tiny bit more!
“Rip it!” Leo screamed, slashing the leg twice for slight damage.
Neha disappeared a small amount of scales.
Hugh pulled his claws out some and then yanked back, pulling his claws shallowly along the entire aft leg. He also did a tiny amount of damage and inflicted another bleed.
The dragon disappeared into the wall.
“What’s going on?” Hugh asked, his eyes wide as he stared at the stone wall in front of them.
“Well, I think you made it in time to save us all, but I—”
Leo was interrupted as the wall in front of them suddenly bulged outward, cracks appearing in it. A notification appeared in Leo’s mind, telling him that he had slain Feng Gulung, a Level thirty-four dragon, split five ways.
He made three more levels. Holy shit!
Neha’s eyes widened. “I made four levels! I’ve only made two levels with you ever, Dad! I just made four!” she repeated.
Leo nodded. “Yeah. We caught up to you, and we’re fighting enemies that will give you experience as well. Wow. That guy was nearly as strong as Chester. Same Level range, certainly. We’re moving up in the world. Worlds, in this case, I guess.”
“What’s with the wall?” Hugh asked. “Did… did the dragon appear in the wall?”
Leo nodded. “I think it bled to death while using its power—I assume it did. I don’t have another explanation. I’m just glad it didn’t displace the wall at the same rate the gunpowder displaced the ball in the tube.”
Neha briefly looked shocked. Leo assumed she was contemplating what he had said.
Hugh shuddered dramatically. “That’s no way for a descendent of Merdrek to go. Oof, as you would say. Interred in a wall forever.”
“For the love of god, monstresor!” Leo quipped, his usual method of dealing with situations.
Hugh rolled his eyes and Neha quipped, “That’s a new one, as Mom would say.”
Andul groaned and sat up, and a few seconds later, Lily did as well.
“We won?” Andul asked. “That’s why I’m four levels higher?”
Leo nodded, slightly annoyed that his experience penalties existed, even though he knew they gave him an incredibly amount of power to fight over-level.
As they sat there, Leo started hearing faint pops.
“Oh, right,” Leo said. “Let’s go. Fight isn’t over, let’s go make sure we win.”
He flew out of the cave. Neha appeared next to him in pattern, and Hugh grabbed Lily and Andul and put them on his back, then started to run after them as fast as he could go.