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Phantom Ddraig: Blood of Kings
Chapter 28: Frost and Venom

Chapter 28: Frost and Venom

Chris lost track of how many hit and run raids he had performed, or just how many men and women he had slaughtered. Though by just how much his trigger finger was aching, he could tell that it was many.

"Leza above when does it end, " he mentally groaned as he was forced to wheel around once more and let loose his round of shots.

He might not have realised it but the Avalonian hit and run attacks had taken a considerable toll on the enemy. Their formations were far less solid and many ground troops were left between being ground up by the castles defenders and potentially shot by the fast riders in the back. Some hunkered down to survive the artillery shells in fear of retreating back to the riders of Avalon.

Whilst others simply fled in mass hoping that their mass flight would protect them from the barge of bullets and arrows fro the Avalonians, because there would be enough of them fleeing that that the man and woman who ran besides them might catch the projectiles.

Up in the great carrier someone had noticed and their blood burned with a venom of hatered. This person leaped from their carrier multiple kilometres and unknown to anyone a Zodiac had taken the field.

Chris was going through another hit when he saw the red blur rushing through the battlefield. With a sonic boom it blitzed right into a few Avalonian riders on horseback. Those unfortunate horsemen fired off their shots while retreating, but it amounted to nothing as the blur easily danced around every hypersonic projectile.

It then began leaping upon them, taking them down with ease and the great scorpion like stinger in its back tore through Avalon armour like a hot knife through butter.

"No!" he roared in outrage as he reared the Gryphon towards the blur.

As he got closer he got a better look at it. The figure was male fae of an unusually tall hight for that race, he was clad in red full body armour that had white scorpions engraved into it while a giant scorpion like tail waved back and forth behind him. The only thing that gave away his identity as a fae was his helmet, it was open in the facial area exposing his face for all to see.

The Fae saw his calvary charge with his sword drawn and in its response it thrust forward it's stinger in the hopes of impaling him like it had with the others, but Chris managed to move his head out of the way of the stinger and as he got closer to the Fae, he swung the blade for the enemy's face.

But the Fae was too fast and he ducked out of the way at the last possible second while his tail coiled around Chris's body like an anaconda before launching him off the Gryphon and onto the ground.

"Now what do we have here, this face..." the Fae stated in suprise as he looked at Chris who was struggling in the crushing coils of the tail. "What a surprising catch, To think that I would find you here, little Prince."

"You know who I am," Chris managed to force out those words as the tail got tighter and tighter around his chest.

"How could I not, that fool Leo and her little sister won't stop whining about how much you almost took her right eye," he chuckled as he spoke. "Oh, forgive me on standing on ceremony here, my name or rather my title is Scorpio and you will make a beautiful catch for my lady."

"I am sorry to break it to you friend, but your lady is going to be disappointed today!" Chris responded as he let a beam of ice and frost fly out of his hands and towards Scorpio.

The Zodiac with his impressive agility was able to side step it, but Chris's true objective was reached all the same. Scorpio loosened his tails grip around Chris as he focused on the ice and that nanosecond was all the young prince needed to out muscle his way out of the tail.

He quickly rolled to his feet in time to avoid the stinger which Scorpio tried to impel him with one more.

"And here I thought I was a beautiful catch for your Lady?" Chris asked as he used his sword to deflect the stinger.

"She needs you alive, but there is nothing in that about you being paralyzed," Scorpio responded with a laugh as his stinger kept coming so fast that each time it shattered the sound barrier and each time Chris deflected or dodged it.

"Damn it, he is strong." Chris thought as he tried to hide his winces from the power each stinger imparted into his body with every deflect. "I can't keep this up forever, my arms are already shaking."

He waited for the stinger to come at him once more before he burst forward and under it as fast as he possibly could. As he got close enough to Scorpio, he threw a ice dagger at the Zodiac as a distraction.

Scorpio caught it and Chris was able to get close enough to wrapp his arms around the Zodiac who he raised high and suplexed into the ground hard enough that the earth beneath them shattered.

Chris then quickly mounted Scorpio with his sword ready in his right hand to quickly deliver the killing stroke, but he had vastly underestimated the Zodiac as Scorpios right hand shot upwards and the fist caught him in the chin.

The the blow was like an electric shock which temporarily shut down his body to all but a numbing pain. Chris was too shocked by it to realize that the impact of the blow had sent fifty meters into the air.

But Scorpio's assult did not end with the punch and Chris watched as below Scorpio plucked out a massive stone the size of a full grown man and he hurled it upwards towards him.

"Fuc..." he never finished the thought as the stone boulder shattered after slamming into his body.

His landing would have been rough from the punch alone but with the extra helping of the stone boulder, Chris added some new black bruises to his body as he unceremoniously crashed.

"Is this it, is this all a son of the all so legendary Roland and Natalia Ddraig could do?" Scorpio shouted as tried once more the skewer Chris through with his stinger but even dazed Chris was able to deflect the stinger though this time it managed to send him staggering on his backside.

Desperation was now taking Chris and he answered with a reckless leap forward in the hopes of beheading Scorpio, all he got for his troubles was the stinger finding its way past his right shoulder. The metal needle easily cut through steel and cloth before grazing the flesh.

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The wound should have been something minor but Chris also doubled over in excruciating pain as it felt like that simple cut had a mixture of salt and vinegar rubbed into it.

"What the hell was that!" he demanded whilst retreating to put as much needed distance between him and Scorpio.

"Just a small dose of my venom, nothing fatal but rather excruciating. Don't you agree Ddraig."

"You smug bastard." his entire right arm was trembling from the pain.

"Is that your best witty retort Ddraig ," Scorpio asked him with a predatory grin as he slowly stalked forward.

"I am screwed, my arm is practically useless... think Chris, think!"

He knew that any grappling and punching option was out of the table, as well as using his sword, his right hand was too compromised for him to have a good grip of Lucius-Aurora.

He remembered one of the oldest lessons he had been taught during his lessons, not all fights were fair. He slowly knelt as if his legs had lost all strength and he let go of Lucius-Aurora so that he could dig his left hand into the dirt.

"Kneeling already, I was hoping to break you just a little bit more," Scorpio said with a disappointed sigh.

"It must take a certain level of delusion to think that you of all people could break me," Chris responded through gritted teeth as he readied himself.

"Perhaps losing a..." he never let Scorpio finish as he launched the fistful of sand into the Zodiac's face.

Scorpio shreaked in suprise and pain as the said entered his eyes. He staggered back screaming and clawing at his face in an attempt to force the sand out of his eyes.

Chris lifted his sword and even if his right arm still burned in pain he madly slashed at Scorpio. At any other time he would have been able to easily cut Scorpio in half, but his right arm could barely make the clean slash.

He missed the head but the sword was slammed down into Scorpio's left shoulder. The blade tore through armour plating and only halted when it hit bone.

The sound of Scorpio screaming in pain as his blood stained his body and Chris felt a sense of satisfaction swell up.

"Got you back, bastard,"

Scorpio had lost enough sand from his eyes to see Chris and the young Avalonian grinned at him as he tried to force the blade deeper and deeper into bone in hopes of cutting through it.

The Zodiac in retaliation raised his tail but Chris beat him to the punch with a left hook that sent Scorpio flying across the battlefield. He flew straight into a tank with enough force that the tank was knocked over.

Chris did not give him anytime to recover from the blow, he manifested his Fae wings upon his back and he propelled himself forward. He rarely used the physical aspects of his Fae half and his wings felt awkward and heavy, like limbs which was rarely used.

He flew through the air with all the grace of an elephant in a china shop with his sword ready and in mid swing. Scorpio had seen him coming and he raised his tail to block the blade. Their collision shook the world and the tank beneath them crumpled and deformed.

"I am going to tear you apart!" Scorpio snapped in rage.

"Oh, how original " Chris smiled.

Chris let go of his sword with one hand and he used his free hand to strike the open wound on Scorpio's shoulder so hard that further blood was drawn from wound and Scorpio hissed and crumpled to his knees.

He slammed his knee into Scorpio exposed face hard enough to send the Zodiac flying through the air once more and he came crashing down into the earth leaving a trench in his wake.

Chris leaped off the tank and he grabbed the crumpled remains of the tank. With the gritted wince he managed to raise the seventy ton crumpled remains of the tank overhead.

"Hey Scorpio, I believe that this is one of yours!" Chris shouted at the disoriented Zodiac.

The tank was launched and Scorpio could not avoid it. It crashed on him and like a tomb it buried him into the earth.

Chris finally felt the tension which had tightly bound his body were cut and he finally breathed out in relief. With the adrenaline that rushed through his system waning, he could feel some of his muscles relax and with it went some of his strength.

"Your highness," shouted a voice behind him.

He turned and was met by three Asikari and one Knight on horse back. Judging by the blood and dirt that cracked their bodies, he could tell that they had dismounted prior to meeting him and been involved in scraps of their own.

"Good throw, sir," one of the Asikari had a wide grin as he spoke.

"Thank you, but I feel like I just tore something which should not be torn off." he laughed even though both his arms stung from pain.

It was then that he heard it, a loud creaking sound which was a heavy metal object being moved. Chris slowly turned to see the tank being raised and flipped to the side by Scorpio. The Zodiacs face was cut and bruised while parts of his armour had been deformed like the tank which Chris had thrown at him.

"I would advise that you stand down already, I am not in the mood to beat you into the dirt again." In truth Chris wasn't sure if he truly could, but with the four mounted Avalonians behind him, he could threaten Scorpio into surrendering.

Scorpio coughed out a mixture of dirt and blood, he followed up this display by laughing so hard that Chris was sure his lungs must be hurting.

"No, you dog. I will never dishonour the lady, I am the Scorpio of Zodiac, who the hell do you think you are!"

"I am Christian Ambrosius Medrawd Ddraig, Prince and Knight of Avalon and the person who was just beating the piss out of you, now stand down and call off your troops!"

"I have a better idea Ddraig," Scorpio smiled in a way that Chris didn't like.

The Zodiac raised his stinger and he stabbed it into the earth before whispering. "Gadeath!"

A wave of magical threads spread from the Scorpio and Chris knew exactly what it was, this was an Alpha-Spell and though he could not see it, he could feel the arcane threads spinning into a pattern around him.

"Kill him!" the knight behind him shouted before rearing up his horse and charging forward with a spear drawn and ready to strike Scorpio.

"Stop, can't you see what is happening!" Chris shouted at the Knight.

And though the Asikari listened and stayed behind, the Knight kept riding forward but just as he was two metres from Zodiac, both rider and horse halted. They then both began gasping for air before collapsing to the ground.

Black blood vessels pulsated against their flesh while said flesh became as pale as a corpse. The Knight and the horse were twitching and frothing from the mouth before the worst part finally kicked in and their flesh began rippling, it became liquid amorphous sludge.

"Leza be good" Chris whispered as he looked at the abomination that had been a Knight and horse.

"My Alpha-Spell, my curse upon the very air will make your final moments absolute agony," Scorpio spoke with a deep laughter and a mist of foul looking brown mist began circling around Scorpio and extending forward.

"Retreat." Chris ordered the three Asikari.

""We can't."

"What?" Chris turned and the Asikari were leaning on the invisible air which was like an invisible wall keeping them boxed in.

"Don't bother, you can't escape my prison," Scorpio shouted. "Now die already!"

The brown mist then rushed forward at faster speeds than it had done before and before Chris could react it swept over them. The moment it did his eyes instantly burned in pain and it was like a thousand needles were being driven through his flesh.

He gagged and doubled over as it almost felt like his lungs were being clumped down on and all oxygen was being driven out of his chest. Panic gripped and in it he called upon his wings which propelled him upwards and out of the mist.

As soon as he exited the mist a fresh dose of cold air entered his lungs and the pain which gripped his body soothed away. He continued upwards and he hit that invisible force once more.

"It is some kind of dome," he thought as he touched it.

Still hovering in the air he slowly used his poorly coordinated wings to swing around and looking down to the earth where a thick amount of brown mist had blanketed everything.

"I can't stay up here for long." his wings now hurt like a muscle that was strained too far. "And if I go down there I will die. I can't let him survive this time... I don't want to turn into one of those things."

A strategy came to mind and took a deep breath before sending himself plummeting down to the earth and the brown mist of venom. Chris drew upon the threads of magic within to weave two tapestries within and around him.

The first tapestry manifested as two mist wraiths. Chris landed on his belly, but the wraiths remained standing. And within seconds they fulfilled their purpose as Scorpios stinger came through the thick mist and through one wraith dispelling it and giving Chris a general direction for the Zodiac.

The second wraith began running in that direction and Chris followed it behind as fast as he could without overtaking it. He could the effects of the brown mist taking effect as his lungs felt ready to explode and with each step it was like his bones were cracking.

But he pushed on, even as Scorpios stinger came out once again and dispelled the last Wraith, but Chris could see the Zodiac through the brown haze and Scorpio could see him in turn.

Scorpio smiled and reared up his stinger for another strike at Chris, but he dropped the smile when the prince opened his mouth and the Zodiac saw bright blue glow from the inside of said mouth.

Chris let out the final amount of oxygen from his breath with the uttering of his Alpha-Spell "Golau-Outlivion."

And from his mouth spilled out an aurora borealis of concentrated energy with the force of a nuclear warhead. Scorpio in last seconds of life could only scream in suprise as the power that enveloped him burnt away his armour, then his flesh and finally his bones were rendered ash.

The power washed over the dome burning away both it and the toxic mist which had filled it. The display of power lasted for only one minute and when it was over, Chris was all that remained upon a circle of land which had been so cooked by the power that it turned to glass.

He could finally breath again but his body had lost all strength and he could only rest upon the glass with nothing left to him. Looking up he could see the great Lunar Empire carrier casting it's shadow over him.

Then something strange happened, a rend in reality opened over the skies and out of it came six massive red and blue carries with an almost golden dragon proudly emblazoned on their side.

"Those almost look like our flying carrier's." He thought as black dots began appearing across his eyes and his mind felt light.

From one of the carriers a humanoid figure leaped off the carrier and Chris could have sworn that it looked like the Paladin, Hector Mychana.

The person crashed into the Lunar Empire carrier, the impact of this collision shook everything from the air to the very ground that Chris rested on. The enemy carrier instantly crumbled and shattered into a million pieces, steel, mountains and all.

" Shattering mountains in one blow, that might actually Hector," he thought with a smile as his mind finally drifted into unconsciousness......