The Light is Fading

Leaning closer to Elena, Dred whispered, “We shouldn’t do it in front of them. All of our spells can be explained, but if they saw us making Cor drink our blood…”

“You are right,” she nodded her head. “Let’s leave it at a later time. I hope that he won’t remember too much and change his mind.”

“We can always force Cor to drink it, though…” Dred reminded her.

“We could, but that wouldn’t be any good. If they don’t accept their fate, they won’t evolve as much as Audrey and Jake did. He would stay a weakling, not to mention that he might be able to betray us, unlike Audrey and Jake. It’s dangerous to share our blood, you know. I wonder what will become of him,” she said, disagreeing with Dred’s method.

“True. Then let’s hope,” he said with a chuckle. Since Audrey and Jake were both very weak when she gave them her blood, their evolution was powerful. Cor was different since he had some foundation. The higher level somebody reached, the smaller their evolution would be.

On the other hand, if they didn’t drink and accept Elena’s or Dred’s blood willingly, it could have different results. It would be possible for them to betray the Shadow Progenitor, which would have negative effects on Elena or Dred, depending on whose blood they drank. Once the absorption was complete, neither of them would be endangered, but if the ‘victim’ fought against it, he or she could keep his or her personality and way of thinking.

“Follow us,” Elena said as she turned around and made her way towards the exit. Vince and Acton stepped to the side to let her leave. Cor scratched his head before a huge amount of steam covered the room and he turned back to his normal look. When everyone left the underground laboratory, Dred transformed into a Wyvern, surprising everyone.

“I still can’t get used to this sight,” Vince mumbled with an amazed face, sizing up Dred’s huge body.

“Hold onto my legs tightly,” he said, looking at each of the people present.

“W-what?! But that’s…” Vince stuttered and told Dred’s words to Acton. But when the latter heard it, he grabbed his shoulder and pulled him towards Dred.

“Stop stuttering. If we can’t go with them, we might die of hunger. The desert is dangerous, even if we travel through the edge of it. Who knows how far we are from our base, not to mention the monsters. We don’t have the defensive mechanics of our cities on us. We would be dead meat in a few hours, at best. If they leave us here, we are doomed,” Acton rebuked Vince. Hearing his words, he was the first to hug Dred’s front left leg.

“But why can she sit on you?” Vince couldn’t help but ask, feeling bittersweet over his position.

“It’s because he is mine~” Elena replied with a bright smile, hugging Dred’s neck and caressing his scales.

“I’m not yours… but let’s say that we are very close,” Dred corrected her words to save some face.

Stopping beside him, Cor knocked on his scales before sticking out his long tongue to lick Dred’s side. “This texture is great! It’s perfect food! It’s full of Magical Energy!” Cor exclaimed, ready to bite him. Flicking his tail, Dred smashed Cor’s side, making him crash into a tree.

Jumping up from the ground, he looked around. “What was this? Ah! My skin tore! Who hit me?!” Cor shouted.

“It was me. Don’t try to have a taste of me ever again,” Dred growled back.

Raising his hands, Cor shook his head, “I wouldn’t dare to.”

“Haha, such a liar,” Elena chuckled.

After everyone got on, Dred flapped his wings and flew into the air. While enjoying the wind blowing against her face, Elena noticed a strange, clicking sound. Leaning to the right side of Dred, she almost fell off from the laughter that came upon her. Cor was trying bite Dred’s leg, but his teeth and jaws weren’t strong enough. She spent a few more minutes of the travel by chuckling every now and then when she heard the clicking sound again.

“You wouldn’t stop him, would you?” Dred asked, visibly annoyed.

“Haha, I’m sorry. I will do it. I can’t be an asshole, can I? You are always nice to me, after all,” she mused with a smile on her face. Stepping on Cor’s head, she said, “Stop trying to chew Dred or I’ll push you down. I believe you’d splash on the ground and your bones would break into smithereens from this height. If you will follow us, you won’t lack Mana.”

“Really?!” he asked, wiping Dred’s leg with his hand.

“Yes. Please behave,” she nodded her head.

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“We’ve got some company,” Dred interrupted them.

Two huge shadows encompassed them, hiding the sun from view. They grew smaller and smaller as they neared them. Turning around, Elena saw two monsters. They had two pairs of feathery wings, two pairs of red eyes. Their bodies were covered in two layers of sky-blue feathers. They had red beaks and forked tails, which seemed to be just as dangerous as their long and sharp talons. Inspect.

Race: Skydiving Hawk

Rarity: Common

Level: 124 (Threat Level: 2)

“We are in big trouble! These are very powerful monsters!” Vince shouted, losing his cool again.

“Hold on tight,” Dred warned them. When the Hawks got over Dred, they made a sudden turn in the air and dived towards his back. Their pointy beaks threatened to skewer both Elena and Dred. The bigger one on the right reached them before the other one could.

Dred pulled back his wings and spun in the air like a drill. Elena pulled out her long dagger at the same time and raised it towards the sky. As the hawk missed Dred’s back and dived towards the ground on his right, Elena’s dagger sliced across the monster’s side, opening a long wound on it and tearing off its left wing.

Its blood spilled onto Elena’s face and arms. Grabbing its back, she used her monstrous strength to pull it back up. With the help of some Dark Magic, she pierced the monster’s chest with her bare hand, her other hand following. Gripping its juicy, blood covered insides, and its ribs, she tore the hawk into two halves, showering everyone in blood. Feeling it spilling on her body, she couldn’t help but laugh like a maniac.

“Come!” she shouted as she threw the halves towards the ground and looked at the other hawk that stopped midway. After screeching once, it turned around.

“As if you could leave,” Elena mumbled as she raised her hand. A bolt of electricity, the size of a football, started flickering in front of her palm. The sound of a thunderbolt cracked in the air as it shot towards the hawk. Upon contact, the monster’s feathers turned charred, along with its skin and organs. Its heart had stopped beating, its brain fried to a crisp. As it fell towards the ground, Elena shot a ball of fire to burn it to a crisp.

“You will be tasty food for the others,” she humphed, licking her blood covered lips.

“Ah~ This was wonderful. I haven’t had the chance to enjoy myself for a long time,” she mumbled as tints of reds appeared in her green eyes, Dred having the same reaction.

“You are crazy, woman! I love you!” Cor shouted, licking his own face.

“Haha, it’s great, isn’t it?” she asked, laughing loudly.

“Who the hell are we paired up with?” Vince asked Acton in their own language.

“I don’t know, but their powers are amazing. This is what we need. I must report this to the General or the King. But I have to meet one of them at first. The Sliton Empire is too powerful for us to beat alone and the other idiot Kingdoms won’t respond, thinking that the Empire would stop after our Drung Kingdom. We need crazy people like these,” he responded, seeing Elena and co. in a different light.

“S-Sure…” Vince said with an awkward laugh.

They flew over the desert, a big forest, and a few cities before reaching the capital city of Drung Kingdom. “This totally screwed up our plans on our Dunk planet. I wonder what’s going on there,” Dred remarked as he landed not far away from the city, in a clearing in a forest.

When they landed, Acton told something to Vince, who translated it in the next moment, “He asking- he is asking what happened to us.”

Tilting her head to the side, Elena replied, “There was a huge explosion so we grabbed you and ran. You’d be dead meat otherwise. You were what I’d call pieces of baggage.”

After translating it, both of them thanked for everyone.

“Alright, we should split up here,” Elena said with a serious face.

“What? Why?” Audrey asked, raising a brow, visibly disliking her idea.

“I don’t think that they would appreciate a zombie in the city. So somebody will have to stay outside and wait here. This forest is lush so nobody would notice him. When we are done with our quick tour here, we can leave,” she replied with a wink, brushing her hands through her black hair.

“I’ll stay here with him. I’m a monster anyway,” Dred added. Understanding her meaning, Audrey said no more.

“Let’s go in that case,” Vince was the first to walk towards the city, visibly happy to be back again.

Everyone but Dred and Cor left with them.

“So it’s only the two of us,” Cor tilted his head to the side. “What did you want to make me do?”

Closing his eyes, Dred checked his surroundings with his Sense. “Alright, there is nobody around. I ask you again. Do you want to become a member of our team and earn our help in turn to find your past? If you do, there will be a few simple rules, but you will be mostly free. We don’t need a slave, we need somebody who can fight alongside us,” he said in a serious tone as he transformed into his original form.

Tapping his chin, Cor made a thoughtful face, I don’t remember who I am, which I would like to find out. I assume that they will leave me alone in case I don’t follow them and the outside world might be more dangerous than I think. My race seems to be something others don’t like either and I’m far away from the forest I felt cozy in. Keke, they didn’t even leave me any other choice. I like these bastards!

“It’s a deal,” Cor said with a chuckle. Nodding his head, Dred walked closer and raised up his right leg. Understanding his meaning, Cor hurried to bite him, but it took three tries before he got through his thick fur and tasted his flesh.

“Ylou ale too flully... but your blood is amazing!” Cor exclaimed, trying to wipe off his fur covered tongue.

“What did you expect when you bit into a fur covered monster? Either way, good night,” he said with a chuckle, seeing Cor’s eyes drooping down. Noticing that he was trying to stay awake, Dred warned him, “Don’t fight it. Just go to sleep and I’ll keep you company.” Nodding his head, Cor fell to the ground.

You have caught the Necro disease!

If not cured, this disease will make you sick and kill you in a short period of time.

“Great… “ Dred growled in a low voice as he bit the back of Cor’s shirt and dragged him towards the forest, leaving the plain.

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