It took nearly a full minute for the group to act when the dragons started to take the field. They were at least 20 meters long and brilliantly colored. From the midnight dark of their tail spikes to the oil-slick rainbow sheen of their heads, the dragons were a beautiful and terrible sight. Even at this distance, the dragons’ innate fear effect was radiating over the party.
“Do you all feel that?” Aurelia asked.
“Even at this distance, their fear effect is strong.” Jablach acknowledged.
Aurelia nodded and activated the first Ability she had ever received, INSPIRATION. Suddenly, the group all received an 82% boost to their morale, pushing the dragons’ fear effect back. The visible relaxation of muscles was immediate, and nods of admiration and acknowledgement were sent her way.
“Baslin if you have any more of those boulder-dropping spells, you might want to get them going.” Duke suggested.
“Unfortunately, I am out of titan’s dust so that spell is no longer available. I am not sure any of my elemental spells will affect the dragons as significantly. I thought I had prepared enough variety of spells to handle this dungeon, especially as you had described the denizens. But there is no way to prepare for dragons. The best I can do now is individual shielding. It will last about an hour and will protect each of us from physical harm and most elemental attacks. It will provide no protection from soulfire, however, so do not get hit by their breath weapons.”
“Wasn’t planning on it. Speaking of planning, anyone have suggestions?” Duke asked.
“The dragons seem to be largely unimpressed with the towers. I know. You’re all surprised at that.” Eihlen added from above.
“There are no riders, so we don’t have that extra part to worry about. But, they are all flying and I am the only one who has flight capabilities right now. Maybe we can…holy shit!” Duke was stunned as one of the dragons casually turned and burned the first Heaven’s Wrath tower down, like swatting a particularly annoying insect away.
“I think perhaps we should have left.”
“All of you get back behind Baslin’s shields. This is on me.” Without further discussion or giving anyone else a chance to argue, Duke poured 100,000 additional Mana into his MENTAL FORTITUDE and TELEPORTED onto the back of the lead dragon, at the base of its neck. He started with his newest Ability, SOULFIRE to see if it had any effect on the monster.
“That tickles, mortal. Surrender the Waters of Life and we will let you and your companions leave in peace. You have my word.”
Duke noticed that the entire flight of dragons had halted and were starting to surround him as much as they could in the limits of the dungeon path. With chilling realization, he noticed that the dragons were using all three dimensions to surround him. Should have figured that a natively flying creature would use 3-dimensions like this. Time to use the only thing that seems to work on dragons.
“You misunderstand your position in all this, dragon. It is not me who is in trouble. It is you and your friends who have made the error in coming so close to me. Do you think you have me trapped like prey?”
The dragon’s reaction was faster than Duke had anticipated. In a strike so fast, he did not see it coming, the dragon’s tail spike struck. The only thing that kept him from being impaled was Baslin’s shield which flickered and winked out after the impact. Duke responded by releasing his UMBRAL REAPER Ability with an additional 100,000 Mana poured into it. The Ability was powerful in its base form, he steeled his nerves, maintaining his boosted MENTAL FORTITUDE as he released.
The darkness exploded outwardly from his entire body in an instant. The dragon beneath him bucked in agony, throwing Duke off of its back with enough velocity to punch him out the top of the battlefield. He bounced off a few more dragons before he was free of them and steadied himself in the air. His REGENERATION worked to heal him of cracked ribs and a broken arm to go along with countless rips in his skin caused by the dragons’ scales as he bounced off and past them.
When he was finally able to see below himself, he saw the effects of his boosted Ability. His MENTAL FORTITUDE was working overtime to keep him from processing what he was seeing. Despite that, he could not help but watch as ebon claws tore outwards from the dragons, leaving crimson trails cascading down onto the battlefield. His Ability, combined with Aurelia’s INSPIRATION was enough to hold the horror of what he was seeing from filling his conscious mind and rooting him to the spot. What it did not prevent is the horror of his own Ability feeding right back into his subconsciousness which provided yet more fuel for the Ability.
Duke TELEPORTED back to his team on top of the base tower. He was growing used to the concerned looks he received at this point. He smiled at them and said, “Well, one down. Four more to go. Should we wait and see if the towers have any effect on the next wave or just meet them early so we have this position as a fallback?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I can sell the towers back for half the points we spent on them. There might be some additional reward for accumulated points.”
“If that is the case, we have a dilemma for sure. If the towers do have an effect on the dragons, then we are going to need them as I expect they will shortly have resistance even to that hellish Ability of yours, Duke. But if they destroy the towers, it doesn't matter if the towers can hurt them. Perhaps it is worth it to just leave the Enhancer towers intact and sell the rest.” Baslin surmised.
“Are you sure you don’t have a Spell to protect the towers?”
“How well did that barrier protect you, Duke?”
“It saved me from the first hit pretty well.”
“That’s good. Better than I had thought it did judging by the state of your clothes. Anything I put on the towers right now would last little more than that. I am admittedly ashamed of how underprepared I am for what we have faced in here.”
“Hey, none of us expected dragons, especially when it all started with kobolds.” Axis added.
“Or considering what Duke faced in here last time for that matter.” Jablach said.
“That doesn’t change the fact that we are facing creatures of legend that are only getting harder and harder to fight. I think we should leave.”
“I think you are right, Greslarnier. You all should leave.” Duke responded, trying to get his team to depart.
“Didn’t abandon you for the last fight. Not going to abandon you for this one.” Axis responded. “Why don’t you try and blast them with a million-Mana LIGHTNING bolt? You have enough Mana to spare, and it might actually hurt them.”
“I won’t be able to regen back to full before the next wave if it doesn’t work.”
“If it doesn’t work, we’re going to have to use more drastic measures anyway. I doubt they are completely immune to it.”
“Can someone explain to me what more drastic measures would be in this case?” Eihlen asked.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Baslin responded as the next wave began.
Duke rose up over the battlefield as Baslin handed out some items to the rest of the team. Duke did not pay attention as he was gathering his focus for the enormous LIGHTNING blast that was the plan. He was increasingly concerned about the efficacy of this plan. If the dragons were as magic resistant as he expected, this would be an enormous waste of Mana, so much so that it would take him a full ten minutes to recover his Mana and they were getting decidedly less than ten minutes between waves.
The dragons came flying onto the field slowly as if they did not have a care in the world. They were even bigger now, nearly 25 meters long. Duke IDENTIFIED the gathering flight of dragons.
*** You have encountered an Adult Dragon. This dragon has come into its power and is one of the most powerful creatures on the planet.
Tier: 5
Level: 100
Health: 2,677,500
Mana: 2,835,000
Special Abilities: Extreme Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells, Thick Scales, Draconic Presence, Spatial Mutability
Weaknesses: None
***
Duke relayed what his Ability was telling him back to the group as the last of the 250 dragons took to the field. He received an immediate response.
“Do not engage the dragons. We are all coming to you.”
Duke looked over to see the entire group quickly flying up to meet him. He also noticed that all the towers had been sold back to the dungeon. The path for the dragons was clear. As they approached, Duke gave them a quizzical look.
“We all saw what your Ability showed us. I don’t think we have a weapon among us that could do more than anger the dragons. If there were but one, I would say we could try, but there are 250 of them. That is more than have ever been reported to have ever existed. We are beaten and dying to prove it is not a good idea.” Baslin spoke in his most matter-of-fact, lecturer’s tone.
“But they’re only Tier Five.” Duke protested.
“Their Tiers are not the same as yours. Their Tiers also incorporate age and maturity. The dragons you see below us may only be counted as Tier Five, but their effective Tier is far closer to Tier Eight or Nine. They are so far beyond anything you have faced, even the last flight, that it can’t readily be measured. We must stand aside and allow this level to fall.”
“I’m not one to just give in without a fight. It’s not in my nature.” Duke reminded them all, noticing the tension growing in their visages.
A single dragon materialized out of empty air before them. “Tell you what, mortal. I’ll let you take your best shot. Give me your most powerful attack and if it defeats me, the rest of the flight will surrender and quit the level. If you fail to defeat me, then this level is ours to take. You have done exceptionally well in making it this far. You were supposed to fail much earlier. This way, you get to show your full power and we will all see if you are fit to advance.”
“Sounds like the best offer I’m going to get, doesn’t it?” Duke responded.
“Why is this being offered? It seems like a generous offer. Too generous.” Aurelia asked.
The dragon’s voice changed. “Because he is a Dungeon Emperor and I need him to grow far more powerful.” There was another change in the dragon’s voice, returning it to the original tone. “I have seen your most powerful magics already and I am confident that even your dark cloud will not affect me.”
Duke shrugged, then smiled. “I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You all should return to the base tower and get behind Baslin’s best shielding. This is going to be something to see.”
As everyone got into position, Duke observed the arrogant dragon and considered his approach. I could use TELEPORT as that is my highest-ranked Ability, but that SPATIAL MUTABILITY Ability makes me think that the dragon might have specific resistance to something like that. Elemental attacks are probably not going to get it done. SOULFIRE is their breath weapon, and they seem to be immune to it. That really leaves a physical attack that I’m certain would not be enough or unleashing the full power of my subconscious demons on the thing. If that is what it takes, so be it.
“I am prepared, mortal. Hit me with your best shot.”
Duke focused, OVERCHANNELING more than 2.8 million Mana into UMBRAL REAPER. It took a full thirty seconds to channel that much Mana. But when he hit the limit of his Mana, he released the Ability. And the world disappeared in nightmare horrors of his deep mind.