Roaring in pain, the dragon tried to mask itself in illusion once more. The success was partial. The wounds that the large crackling puma had dealt remained visible, like tears of reality. It didn’t help that Nox had proceeded to bite the dragon’s wing with every pair of fangs on his body.

Dozens of point attacks concentrated on a single point. All the awakened were adept at using their combat splitting and coordinating their attacks.

MINOR STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 10%

Red rectangles stacked up, reducing the dragon’s overall health by a quarter. Yet, many of the domain rulers were still holding back. They knew from experience that the greatest vulnerability was at the point of victory.

“Count, we’ll go for the eyes again!” Abla ordered. “Dal, Pierce, soften those eyes!”

“It’s not as easy as you make it sound,” Pierce replied, though he switched spells mid casting.

Dallion, on the other hand, didn’t. Instead, he concentrated on canceling out the sounds the creature was making.

Two blades split the air, flying straight at the beast’s head. The partial illusion did little to provide protection. Both tips struck almost simultaneously, shattering the scales on the dragon’s eyelid.

AGGRAVATED STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 150%

PERMANENT EFFECT - BLEEDING

LUSTRA has been scarred by the attack. The scar will continue bleeding in the real world until the status is removed.

The status continues to be in effect in the real world.

The weapons bounced off, unable to continue deeper into the eye. Abla and the Count instantly summoned their blades back, ready for another attempt, but they already knew they had lost the initiative.

“Nox! Come back!” Dallion shouted.

The crackling hesitated, but did as told, returning to Dallion’s personal realm. Barely had Nox done so when the dragon spun in the air, like a hurricane. Arms, wings, and tail extended, sending hundreds of line attacks in all directions.

Shit! Dallion burst into instances, casting aether parries in each. He had seen beasts react this way in the wilderness. Back when he was a hunter, he’d occasionally come across creatures that didn’t want to admit defeat, neither to themselves nor their enemies. As a result, they’d lash out with everything they had in a final attempt to take their attackers down with them.

Massive chunks of stone fell as the realm itself suffered the brunt of the line strikes. Over ninety-five percent of Dallion’s instances faded away due to lethal damage. Some of the other nobles weren’t as lucky. In the case of three, even having over a hundred options proved not enough. The sheer strength of the line attacks proved unstoppable, ejecting them back into the real world, their powers sealed.

“Use a cylinder, old man,” Onda suggested. “A few good hits and—”

Before he could finish, Dallion charged forward. It was a reckless move, like the ones he used to do back during his awakening trials. Knowing that failure held no real consequences acted as a confidence boost, forcing him to try out various approaches.

“What are you doing?” The hammer guardian shouted as Dallion combined athletic and acrobatic skills to leap from one realm fragment to another, losing tens of instances every second.

“I learn when I’m in danger,” Dallion replied, his arms moving so fast that it seemed that there were four of them, each holding a weapon. And the greatest enemy is me, he added mentally.

In its current state, the dragon was wounded, desperate, and distracted. Without a doubt it was extremely dangerous, and yet one of the greatest opportunities Dallion would ever have. It wasn’t just his mind telling him that, but his heart as well.

Twenty of his instances leaped onto a giant block of ceiling falling down. A split second later, three line attacks reduced it to rubble, fading nineteen of them away. Without hesitation, Dallion chose the twentieth instance to become reality, then split again.

Markers materialized in front of him; first the small skill specific pointers, then the large green and red shapes, telling him which areas would be subject to attack and which not. So many of them overlapped, transforming the space into a cat's cradle of extreme danger and certain death.

Spark! He performed a multi attack in front of him.

ATTACK NEGATED

You sliced LUSTRA’s attack in two.

Attack has no effect.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

ATTACK NEGATED

You sliced LUSTRA’s attack in two.

Attack has no effect.

ATTACK NEGATED

Your attack has been sliced in two by LUSTRA.

Attack has no effect.

ATTACK NEGATED

Your attack has been sliced in two by LUSTRA.

Attack has no effect.

ATTACK NEGATED

You sliced LUSTRA’s attack in two.

Attack has no effect.

Red and purple rectangles stacked up.

“Only wound it!” another set of nearby instances shouted.

Dallion saw that he wasn’t the only one burning to take a piece of the dragon. Bloodlust and eagerness filled Abla’s body, as he too fought through the dragon’s defenses.

Both domain rulers shared the same goal, but like everything else, when it came to the awakened world, there would be no second place. They hadn’t formed a party, so only one could kill the dragon and claim the prize of victory.

I can do it, Dallion told himself. His level exceeded Abla’s, not to mention he had all twelve skills. It should be easy to earn the kill. All it would take is a spell to slow the duke down, and—

“Dal,” Giaccia whispered from his hand. “Let it go.”

“I can kill it!” Dallion protested. The dragon was right there. At this distance, it was already easier to avoid the creature’s attacks than if he would pull back.

“I know. You won’t achieve anything if you do. I’m not telling you to stop, just not kill him. Deal the first strike.”

That sounded like a consolation prize: the knowledge that he could have killed the dragon, but let Abla do it instead. There was no way the duke would admit to that; there was no way anyone would believe him if he did. Only Dallion would know.

Gritting his teeth, Dallion avoided the dragon’s wing. He was less than ten feet from the creature’s chest. Attack and zoology markers clearly showed all the weak spots he could take advantage of.

“No!” Dallion shouted and sunk all three of his swords into the dragon’s chest, immediately following up with a triple point attack.

DRAGON SLAYER

(+5 Body, +5 Reaction, +5 Perception)

ABLA has killed a reflex dragon. That’s one for the history books. Question is, is there more to come?

The creature’s massive body exploded in a cloud of bright orange particles, bringing an abrupt end to the attacks. Chunks of stone kept on falling for a few seconds more—the results of the devastation. Only Dallion remained in the air, kept there thanks to the whip blade that had wrapped itself around him.

“Are you okay?” Gleam asked.

“No.” Dallion looked down below at Abla.

The noble was breathing heavily. His desire to be first had taken a lot out of him, yet it was undeniable that he had earned the kill.

“And once again, your idiot nature returns,” Adzorg’s voice came from the whip blade. Somehow the old man had convinced Gleam to act as his interpreter. “You have no idea how lucky you are! What do you think would have happened had your name had been on that achievement? Did you think that the rest of the party would give you a pat on the back and wish you well? This is their hunt. You were invited to assist, not to take the kills. If there’s anyone to be upset, it’s Pierce. His rank isn’t far from Abla’s. You, dear boy, aren’t even in the running.”

“You know better than that,” Dallion whispered beneath his breath.

“I do, and you made me vow to keep it that way. A count, even a prodigious one, doesn’t stand up to a high-noble of Abla’s stature. Not in plain sight of everyone.”

Dallion could feel his heart thumping like a drum. A small part of him wanted to go on a rampage and release all the anger he had amassed. Thankfully, he did the next best thing: use his music skills to keep his emotions in check, then gradually tone them down.

Not in plain sight, Dallion told himself. Not yet.

Now that the battle was over, the consequences were a lot more serious than anyone had expected. Four members of the Twelve Suns had been ejected outside the realm—likely to be killed in the wilderness. Of the remaining seventeen, all but five had received damage from minor to serious. Even when combining Pierce and Dallion’s magic spells, Lux also had to make a brief appearance to heal anything that was curable. One person had so many permanent penalties that he’d be equally burned in the real world as well as in the awakened realms.

“Would be best to drop to fourteen,” the Count said. “No point in carrying damaged goods.”

“I’d forgotten your way with people,” Astra said, using an artifact of some sort to sharpen her saber.

“If they can’t face this, what do you think will happen when we fight the real thing? We’re saving their lives by dropping them. We’re saving our lives.”

Now that Dallion had calmed down, he had a chance to assess the situation logically. The monster they had fought had turned out to be nothing more than an adult version of the ferals. By the looks of it, they weren’t even close to the nest.

Concentrating, Dallion looked further into the domain. Even with the light of Pierce’s fireballs, there was nothing to be seen. Then again, he had thought the same just before the dragon had attacked.

“I think it’s a safe bet she knows we’re here,” Dallion said.

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and looked at him.

“The dragon is female,” he clarified. “I thought I mentioned that. Anyway, we no longer have the element of surprise.”

“We never had the element of surprise.” The Count shook his head.

“Or maybe we do,” Pierce joined in the conversation. “Big beasts like big prey. If she’d known, she’d be here finishing us off. This one is just another part of her litter wandering about, just older. We could still have the first strike.”

“Always the optimist.” Abla didn’t seem at all pleased. For someone who had received a dragon slayer achievement, one would have thought that he’d be flaunting it left and right. “If one dragon found us, the others could too.”

“We just have to be careful about it. Our entrance was… sloppy, but now that we have a taste, things should be fine. Also, I agree with the Count. We leave everyone who can’t take it behind. From here on, we’re using extreme stealth. And that means no item use.” He pointed at Abla as he spoke. “Even I caught your bloodlust near the end.”

One glance from the duke was enough for everyone to drop the topic.

“How long will it take to find a nest in a realm like this?” Astra sheathed her blade.

“Two weeks,” the Count answered without batting an eye. “Three, if we want to take risks. After that, we’ll be at a serious disadvantage.”

“In that case…” Abla stood up. Even with the battle damage, an invisible aura of authority surrounded him. There could be no doubt that he was the leader of the Twelve Suns. Some might even believe that he was worthy of being the next Tamin emperor. “We find the nest in less than two weeks. The heart of every domain is in its center. We just have to take the indirect route getting there.”

“In less than two weeks,” Dallion couldn’t help himself from adding. “Without using magic.”

“That’s what we’re here for.”

You want to be a player as well, don’t you? Dallion thought. If you pull this off, you’ll be able to pressure the emperor to openly recognize you as his heir.

On the other hand, this was also the perfect opportunity for the emperor to nib Abla’s ambitions at the bud.