The ground trembled as Heirloom kept the enormous pearl-white magic circle wide open, and the screech of what sounded like thousands of dragons flying toward the open portal filled the skies. With growing anxiety, Anthony stared at the portal expecting something to pop out at any minute. However, as Heirloom continued to cackle, a blaster went off and hit Heirloom right on the elbow. Shocked, everyone turned to where the shot came from and saw OJ standing tall with smoke coming out of a gun in his hand.
OJ: [If you honestly think we will let you summon a monster, you must have eaten ass.]
He lowered his blaster and stared at Heirloom with a conniving smirk. Vijan turned to Heirloom with narrow eyes and slumped shoulders.
Vijan: [You basically asked for that one. You should've kept a barrier open or something.]
With a vein popping out of his forehead, Heirloom shouted at Vijan as he groaned and rolled his eyes.
Heirloom: [I expected you guys to have my back!]
Ruby and Erma giggled while Omar watched with narrowed eyes. After catching his situation, he turned back to the army below with a blush.
Heirloom: [Whatever. You'll pay for that!]
OJ spread his arms apart and chuckled.
OJ: [Come at me, bitch!]
Vijan: [I think he's taunting you.]
Omar: [Nooooo, he's asking him to be friends.]
Heirloom: [CAN YOU TWO SHUT UP?!]
With his voice pitched up and face flushed in a pink tone, Heirloom stomped the ground and dropped his hands below his waist. The girls could help but laugh at his anger.
Ruby: [Sounds like someone's pissed!]
Heirloom turned to Ruby and whimpered.
Heirloom: [Not you too.]
Standing beside Zack and Sophia, Ali stood disappointed at the enemy he was brought up against. With a sigh, he turned to Anderson and Lek
Royal Knight Ali: [Did you guys really struggle against these idiots?]
Anderson scratched his curly black hair while nervously chuckling.
Lek: [Don't underestimate the vampire. He has power far greater than mine.]
Zack chuckled as Ali rolled his eyes. Sophia popped a lollipop open and stuck it in her mouth.
Sophia: [Fucking pathetic.]
Erma: [Now they think we're a joke.]
Ruby: [You can hear them from here?]
Erma nodded.
Omar: [After all I did to scare the living shit out of the purple one, too. It's all your fault, Heirloom!]
Heirloom: [Sucks to suck, I guess.]
Royal Knight Sophia: [Ali,]
Ali walked over to Sophia and grabbed her shoulder. In an instant they went from the ground to face-to-face with Heirloom, scaring him a little and causing all of Team Hydra to flinch.
Royal Knight Sophia: [Okay, I'm going to make this quick and simple. You five are going to forfeit.]
The bottom of her long hair began to emit a purple highlight.
Royal Knight Sophia: [You don't stand a chance against what I'd assume as tens of thousands of soldiers, so it would be best for you to give up.]
She watched the eyes of Team Hydra fade out.
Sophia is of the mage class, but unlike Sean, she isn't capable of pulling off all sorts of spells and is restricted to mental abilities. She is capable of telekinesis, hypnosis, magic locking, and reading minds — to list a few. Having reached the level capstone, going any further than it is virtually impossible, which makes her one of the most powerful mages in the world.
Ali teleported her back to the ground where Sophia took the lollipop out of her mouth.
Royal Knight Sophia: [And that's game. I can't believe you guys were losing to that.]
Standing in silence, the entire army was shocked. Sophia pulled out a mana bottle and tossed it to Ali.
Lek: [Did you really beat them so effortlessly?]
Sophia: [Of course I did. They're just a bunch of idiots that think they can do whatever they want.]
As everyone was in awe of the power, Zack and Ali were unamused. Ali opened the mana bottle and began to chug it down like it was water. As soon as he finished, he slammed the bottle on the ground and let it shatter all over the place.
Soldier 1: [No wonder they didn't bring an army along!]
Soldier 2: [They had this in the bag from the moment they arrived.]
Anderson: [No way...]
Zack: [You didn't win the fight... did you?]
Sophia: [Are you really asking that?]
After looking at the look of concern in his eyes, Sophia sighed and tried slipping her hands into her pockets.
Sophia: [I'm currently blocking the flow of their magic energy. Unless something were to break my current, they won't be able to stop the hypnosis.]
OJ: [With a combo like that, you might as well be a goddess.]
The five standing on the mountainside stood still and clueless. With blank expressions and no magical current running through their veins, Sophia might just have won the war.
A badge that was sitting on Heirloom's chest began to pulse a bright yellow and soon went crashing to the ground. Shattering to pieces, the badge let out a tiny bolt of lightning into the air and fizzed away within seconds. A sudden magical pulse made Sophia turn back to the five... and saw nothing.
Paladin Zack: [You felt that?]
Sophia: [It was faint, but yeah.]
Paladin Zack: [It was a distress call! It's possible that more of them are on their way!]
Sophia pulled a long sword out of her inventory and held onto it with both her hands. The dim purple light on her hair suddenly vanished.
Royal Knight Sophia: [Shit.]
Heirloom took a large gasp as he came back to being himself. Once he knew he was back, he began to touch himself all over to see if anything had gone missing. He noticed his badge on the floor which forced a smirk on his face.
Blinking twice, Erma looked around.
Erma: [What just happened?]
Heirloom: [I didn't want to turn to them until things got bad but looks like they will be here shortly.]
Ruby turned to him and tilted her head.
Vijan: [ARE NONE OF YOU GONNA MENTION THE FACT THAT WE WERE OUTSIDE OF OUR BODIES?!]
Omar: [Chill out, it isn't even that serious.]
Vijan: [I THOUGHT I DIED!]
Once again, the ground began to tremble. Coming from further north of the castle, the clanging of armor and marching footsteps became ever more audible. From afar a banner sign could be seen flailing with the wind. The colors and details couldn't be picked up by the normal eye, but Heirloom and Erma could see them clearly. A crystal red flag, as bright as a ruby in the sky, with four wavy stripes of white, vertically and evenly spread apart.
Sophia and Ali began to wonder if it were the dragon, so they requested Zack went into Omni-search mode. As he collapsed onto the ground, the other two Paladins surrounded him in a poor attempt of a wall. With his eyes in the sky, Zack looked around and noticed a small army of humans marching their way toward the battlefield. Zack zoomed in when he noticed a waving flag. The Penn flag surprised him as he returned to his body.
Zack: [It's Penn.]
Paladin OJ: [Penn? I thought they were taken down.]
Paladin Anderson: [Only the main city was raided. The external towns were left unscathed and the people in them had no idea the incident occurred. Keshab said not to tell them anything.]
OJ: [To have your kingdom raided and not have an idea of what happened, has to mean that they're from the countryside.]
Anderson nodded. With a sigh and groan, OJ continued.
OJ: [Who invited the country boys?]
Anthony: [I only sent the message to Sir Zack and his majesty, Didus.]
Ruby: [The Kingdom of Penn?]
Ruby whispered while confused.
She turned back to Heirloom and looked at him as he smiled at the army. The trembling of the ground made it hard for her to think, but she tried to put all the parts together. While the Paladins were distracted, Heirloom raised his hand again and opened the massive pearl-white magic circle that played the screech of the dragon cry.
In an attempt to shoot his blaster again, OJ pulled the trigger and watched as the ball of plasma flew at Heirloom. Before the ball could touch him, it seemed to have ricocheted off an invisible wall and went flying off in another direction. Surprised, OJ turned to Erma, who had her hand sticking out. She stuck her tongue out at OJ which triggered him.
Pulling out her wings, she and Vijan jumped down to the battlefield and stood face-to-face with the other Paladins.
Vijan: [Penn seems to be on our side now.]
Shocked, OJ looked up at the princess.
Zack: [What happened to our promise?]
Vijan: [Well, you're on my turf now.]
They fell silent as the wind blew on their hair. Vijan pulled a sword out of his inventory.
Vijan: [My wounds were healed and I feel like a baby again. Time to see what you're capable of.]
Another blaster shot at Heirloom, but the same thing happened. OJ clicked his tongue and tossed his blaster in his inventory.
OJ: [The wall is still up.]
The army behind them kept moving closer and the screeching of the dragon grew louder. The tension on the battlefield forever rose which led OJ to a final decision. As he rested his blaster on his waist and turned around, standing tall and strong; he took a large breath. He had an idea, one that could lead the alliance to victory. To have his army of three hundred thousand fight against the small army put together by Penn, while the Paladins dealt with Hydra was the perfect plan.
Paladin OJ: [EVERYONE!]
He managed to garner the attention of most of the soldiers.
Paladin OJ: [I WANT YOU ALL TO FOCUS ON THE ARMY BEHIND US! We more than quadruple their forces, so it shouldn't be too hard to take them down!]
All the soldiers turned around towards the direction that the tremble was coming from.
Paladin OJ: [Paladin Zack, Anderson, and I will handle Hydra with the help of the royal knights!]
OJ lowered his microphone and whispered to himself.
OJ: [Don't let us down.]
With a cry, the army charged in the opposite direction of team Hydra and the Paladins. Anthony hopped off of the flying whale and landed behind the paladins.
Anthony: [That was a good idea. With them away, we can go all out.]
Paladin OJ: [I told them to go elsewhere for their safety. If Hydra was responsible for brainwashing an entire army on their side, who's to say they won't do it again?]
Anthony agreed with him. OJ pulled out the sword resting beside his waist and fueled it up with his mana. Within a few seconds, the steel on the blade turned blue, and like it was wet, it began to release water drops by the tip.
Paladin OJ: [These people aren't a force to be reckoned with.]
With Omar and Ruby by his side, Heirloom grinned. The summoning was nearly complete.
----------------------------------------
At the waterfall towards the outskirts of Leviere, Parker and Sean cautiously looked at Faith as she was getting stares from the pedestrians walking by. Even though there was nothing odd about her appearance, it seemed something was pushing people away from her. Something neither of the two could see or sense. Though concerned, they did nothing to try and help.
They stopped walking at the waterfall, where the grass was light green and the water flowing down the river was pale blue. Between the water and the grass was a line of light grey rocks that piled over one another as they went on. There were a few audible sounds such as the water crashing on the ground and flowing down the stream, along with the chirps and mating songs sung by the nearby wildlife.
Getting to this destination was one of the hardest tasks the three were set up with, just slightly more difficult than doing absolutely nothing against Vijan. It was a long journey filled with popping flies, abnormally crazy chimps, strange aggressive bulls, and worst of all, the mana mosquitoes.
Sitting by the stream was a young female elf, her hair a majestic red-orange that curled down to her waist and eyes as blue as a cloudless morning sky. She seemed to have been humming a melody of a child's nursery rhyme while splashing the surface of the water with her short pale legs.
Parker: [Is she the quest giver?]
Sean: [She better be. I'm not going back in that forest without compensation.]
Hearing Parker and Sean, the girl turned to them and then smiled. Nature continued to play its songs.
The elf got on her bare feet and ran to the adventurers with a smile.
Parker: [Do you think she speaks English?]
Sean: [Do they have other languages in this world?]
Parker: [I don't know!]
Faith: [Elves have their own language.]
Sean: [Oh, for fucks sake.]
Palming his face, Sean groaned.
Sean: [If she so much says some gibberish, I'm robbing her.]
Faith: [She's an elf, man. You could get in some serious trouble.]
Elf: [Hi! My name is Abrianna! Are you the three that accepted the quest?]
Sean raised his head and took a moment to understand what she just said. His eyes shot open and his mouth widened when he heard English come out of her mouth. Like a suspicious merchant, he rubbed his hands together and giggled.
Sean: [That's right! You're the one that requested an escort?]
Parker walked up to Faith and whispered into her ear with nervous sweat.
Parker: [Woah, she's not an NPC!]
Abrianna nodded then Sean smiled back.
Sean: [Then you'd be pleased to know that we're the strongest escorts around!]
Abrianna: [Great! Let's get started immediately.]
Sean: [Okay, but I have to ask. You didn't include the location on the forum. Can you tell us where it is... just in case I've been there once already?]
Abrianna: [Do you know teleport magic?]
After a nod, Abrianna opened her mouth and started laughing.
Abrianna: [That makes things so much easier! I need to go to the Penn capital city!]
Faith turned to the ground in confusion.
Abrianna: [I didn't mention it in the request form, but the princess and I are really good friends. She hasn't been answering my messages lately, so I just wanted to check in.]
Faith: [About that–]
Sean silently nudged Faith's shoulder to get her to be silent. He knew that if they broke the news to her early, she would cancel the quest and not give them any payment.
Abrianna: [About what?]
Sean: [Nothing!]
Faith shifted her eyes towards one of the bark trees.
Sean: [I haven't been to the capital city itself, but I can bring us to the gate.]
Abrianna: [That's fine! I can get us in without a problem.]
Parker opened his message interface and sent a message to Faith.
It read,
From Parker – To Faith:
[Are we not supposed to tell her what happened?]
After taking a look at it, Faith turned to Parker who seemed pretty confused and worried for the young elf.
To Parker – From Faith:
[Let's have her figure it out herself.]
With a sigh, Parker closed his interface and looked at the red-headed elf admiring the invisible teleport portal. Sean has already prepared the portal to the Penn capital and made sure he jumped through before everyone else. Abrianna followed him and Faith went last.
Walking through, Faith saw the quest giver staring through the castle gate, watching the bodies of dozens laying all around the ground. The place was cleaner than it was when Faith first saw it with James the Messenger. If there were more bodies, Faith believed that Abrianna would have had a more traumatic reaction. Within a few seconds after Faith's arrival, the portal Sean set up closed. Without wasting a second, the elf went darting toward the castle.
Faith: [Is it part of the quest to go after her?]
Sean: [We're supposed to protect her until we get back to Leviere.]
With a sigh, Parker and Faith ran after her leaving Sean behind.
Parker: [Wait a minute, ma'am!]
Gaining speed and practically running right behind her, Faith noticed tears trailing and faint sobs.
Faith: [Miss!]
While still running, Abrianna turned around and with a raise of her arm, Faith was punched in the stomach by an unknown force. She was pushed back a few steps while holding her gut. The punch did quite a number on her and made her cough uncontrollably. Mid-cough, a green aura formed around Faith that quickly healed her injuries. Confused, she saw Parker run ahead.
Parker: [Don't fall behind!]
With a small smile, she continued to chase after Abri. Running side by side with Parker, they noticed Abri pulling open the castle gates. After noticing more bodies inside, she stopped. Parker managed to catch up and stood by her side as she took in the revolting sight.
Parker: [Ma'am, we should have told you earlier.]
He took off his hat and rested it on his chest.
Parker: [We're sorry.]
Abrianna: [There's no way…]
Faith: [Penn was a strong kingdom. They fought till the very end.]
Turning around, Abrianna threw her head onto Faith's shoulder and began to sob loudly. Faith could feel Abri's makeup and tears getting all over her new dress. Sean eventually caught up and had Parker tell her everything.
By the time they finished, Abri calmed down and listened carefully while keeping her head on Faith's shoulder. Faith couldn't keep her eyes off her, but no one seemed to have noticed.
Abrianna: [Ruby is still alive?]
Turning to her, Parker nodded. He mentioned seeing her at Leviere when William fought Vijan.
Abrianna: [Do you guys know where they could be now?]
Faith: [Most likely at their hideout.]
Abrianna apologized and then wiped her makeup off.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Abrianna: [We're going there then.]
Sean: [I feel sorry for you and all, but any member of Hydra is waaay out of our league–,]
Abrianna: [I'll triple your pay, then. All I want is to see her.]
Sean: [Well, then I can't refuse!]
Faith: [I know the way to Jime, which the hideout is close to, but not the exact location.]
Abrianna: [Where is the hideout?]
Faith: [The late King Roshan's castle. I can use my blue phoenix to give us a ride.]
Abrianna seemed shocked.
Parker: [Since when did you have a blue phoenix?]
Faith: [I learned it after leveling up from the mosquitoes.]
Abrianna: [I know the way to King Roshan's castle! He was really good friends with my father.]
Parker: [Sorry,]
Abri: [It's okay. I was never really close to him anyway.]
The cry of a phoenix came from the sky. Looking up, they saw the giant flame bird that matched the color of the sky, slowly landing on the ground in front of them. Surprisingly, the bird didn't radiate any heat, and touching it didn't harm any of the four. With her energy building back up, Abri hopped on the bird and turned to Faith.
Faith: [Let's go save the princess!]
The rest of them hopped on the bird and felt excited as the bird rose into the clouds. Beginning their voyage to the Hydra hideout, the three of them didn't know if they were going to make it back safely at all. While sitting on the phoenix, Sean began to regret ever accepting the quest extension. Maybe it isn't worth the four hundred thousand that was offered.
----------------------------------------
Back at the battlefield in front of the Hydra hideout, most of the soldiers and mages had already made it to the Penn army. It was fairly quiet after the trembling of the army moved places, with the only noise being the cry of the dragon. The Paladins and head knights cautiously stared at team Hydra as everything went on. Vijan and Erma stood in front of Zack and Ali while the others were gripping their swords like they were preparing for an unexpected attack.
Noticing a sudden pearl-white spike rising out from the magic circle, Anthony alarmed the rest of the Paladins. Pissed off, OJ started running his way to the mountainside with his sword in hand. His blaster couldn't do anything due to the barrier, so the only hope he had was to get up close and personal. No matter how stupid the plan seemed to be, if he were to play his cards right, he could make it out without a scratch. Surprised to see his boss run off, Anthony ran behind him.
Omar and Ruby watched as the two came running toward them while Heirloom kept the portal open. By this point, the hydra had already released half of its neck and was noticeable from a distance. After seeing the head continuously rising from the portal, some of the soldiers fell to their knees. The sight alone made soldiers feel powerless... and that seemed to be what Heirloom was looking for. Remaining still on the battlefield, Anderson ignited his sword and walked up to the Leviere Royal Knights.
Paladin Anderson: [I know a way we can take down the dragon.]
Gaining their attention, Sophia took her lollipop out of her mouth and stared at Anderson with curiosity.
Paladin Anderson: [Depending on the limitations to your teleportation, you may be able to just... get the god off the field.]
Thinking it through, Ali slid his glasses off and then smashed them onto the ground, completely shattering the lenses and revealing his narrow black eyes.
Royal Knight Ali: [With enough mana, I can pull anything off.]
Anderson smiled and opened his inventory.
Royal Knight Ali: [I can teleport the dragon to a different, more secluded area, but there's no telling if it will end up coming back, or worse... wreak havoc on the world.]
Paladin Anderson: [Take Zack and Sophia with you. We got team Hydra over here.]
Zack turned to Anderson and looked at him as if he was crazy.
Paladin Anderson: [Trust me, bro.]
Royal Knight Sophia: [I don't know what you expect us to do against a dragon! Let alone the god of dragons!]
The remainder of the Hydra's neck showed while it was already above the clouds. Now the body was flying through causing the ground to quake.
Paladin Anderson: [We don't have much time! Once the dragon is out of the portal, you three need to leave immediately!]
Ali pulled three more potions out of his inventory and chugged them down.
Paladin Anderson: [Good luck, Zack.]
Ali grabbed Sophia and Zack's shoulders and then disappeared in an instant.
Reappearing in midair, right next to the dragon's chest, Ali touched the dragon with his sole and as soon as the entire body of the dragon flew out the magic circle, the four of them completely disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It was like the dragon never showed up.
In complete shock, Heirloom looked up at the magic portal that was shrinking by the second.
Heirloom: [What the...]
Omar: [Damn! What a waste of–]
Ruby: [WATCH OUT!]
Immediately shifting his head to the left, a small blue liquid sphere zoomed past Omar's cheek. He turned towards where it came from and saw a Paladin coated in blue rushing his way. He grinned maniacally as the Paladin approached.
Omar: [I almost forgot about you!]
Jumping in the air, OJ vertically twirled around and collected tons of water from the atmosphere around him. While he was in the sky, Anthony formed water bullets out of thin air with one hand and shot plasma out of his blaster with the other. While dodging the countless shots coming from Anthony, Omar heard a roar come from above. Looking up, he, along with the others, saw the body of a pure water dragon coming towards him with its mouth wide open.
Coming to the rescue, Heirloom jumped and punched the dragon before it could hit the ground. Landing in front of Omar as the water fell like rain above them, Heirloom turned to him and smirked.
Ruby: [This isn't the time to be joking around,]
Pushing the two forward, Ruby somehow made them feel like fresh babies. With this new sense of purity, Omar and Heirloom ran forward at high speeds. Surprised, Anthony stopped in place and prepared more liquid bullets in front of his hand. With lightning forming around them, they looked like bolts running at the speed of sound on top of the mountain. Anthony's water bullets didn't seem to be connecting and OJ remained in the air for some time.
Omar and Heirloom split paths. Heirloom jumped into the sky, heading straight for OJ, while Omar remained on the ground and toyed with Anthony by running around him while he tried his best with his water bullets shooting like a machine gun.
In the air with OJ, Heirloom summoned his wings and grabbed the helmet of the Paladin with his palm. OJ tried his best to get Heirloom's hand off him, but any form of resistance seemed futile. Flying above the clouds and looking down at the puffy white marshmallows below him, Heirloom raised OJ's body and then chucked him down into the clouds, splitting them apart at a large radius. OJ's body was falling at an intense speed to the point that flames covered his body, making controlling his posture impossible. His hands were glued to his thighs and the pressure pushing against his shoulders became unbearable.
On the ground, while still toying with Anthony, Omar noticed the clouds splitting apart and the Paladin falling like a space rock. Seeing this, Omar built up traction on his feet by running around Anthony, then he jumped right as OJ came near the ground. With his fist glowing a bright red, he punched OJ with everything he had- sending the Paladin zipping through space and indenting a mountain off in the distance.
Heirloom came back to land and stood beside Omar as the both of them grinned. Staring off in the distance, Lek trembled in fear.
Vijan: [Damn. They're just playing with you guys! That's gotta be embarrassing.]
Anderson punched Lek's shoulder to remind him of their position. This was no time to be cowering and Lek seemed to have forgotten that.
Erma: [I thought they were cool with that big whale.]
Anderson: [Don't underestimate Aveay. I doubt they even got started.]
Vijan: [Well if you're going to tell your strongest ally to fight something else, you guys must be strong.]
An enormous burst of wind suddenly blew on the people on land, completely shocking even the two armies going on in the background. Everyone stopped fighting and turned to the mountain OJ had been punched into, and not believing their eyes, everyone fell dead silent.
Even on the other mountain, Heirloom, Ruby, and even Omar fell silent as the wind blew on them. The wind was coming from the towering spirit of the long-extinct water dragon race.
Heirloom: [A Palou dragon...]
The body of the dragon was extremely transparent yet crystalized, making it look like a soul of a wingless water dragon. Its scales, though blending with the sky, were glistening like stars. OJ's eyes matched up with the dragon; a pale blue with no iris and pupil. The collision shattered OJ's armor to the point that not a piece of it remained on him and the chainmail clothing he wore underneath fluttered with the wind even revealing some skin.
As OJ raised his head, the dragon did the same. It was like they were in complete sync which surprised Erma. She felt a level of fear she hasn't experienced in a long time.
Heirloom: [Erma!]
Shocked, the human dragon flew her way to her master and stood beside him.
Heirloom: [Is that what I think it is?]
With a gulp, Erma nodded her head.
Heirloom: [Omar, sorry to say this, but only we can take that out.] Heirloom whipped out a slip of paper that had a rune marking.
Omar: [Why? It's just another big lizard. Is it that big of a threat?]
Erma: [The Palou were a race said to have been so powerful... that the Feathered Serpent had to emerge from slumber to take them down.]
She turned to Omar and looked at him with fear in her eyes.
Erma: [One of them is capable of a catastrophe that the demon lord could only dream of.]
In shock, Omar looked back up at the crystallized dragon.
Heirloom: [Lucky for us, the race went extinct and that is only a spirit. The human body can't withhold that much power without breaking down.]
Erma: [It also seems remotely controlled, nerfing it down by a ton.]
She looked up at Heirloom with confidence.
Erma: [This should be a little easier than Hydra, so we should be able to take it down.]
With a nod, Erma and Erma released their wings. Heirloom pulled the Dragon Master's blade out of his inventory and slapped the slip of paper onto the blade. The slip blended into the sword and faded away within seconds. The rune on the slip appeared on the grip of the sword.
Omar: [Are you two sure you can handle that?]
Taking his eyes off OJ for a second, he turned to Omar and smiled, the next second, he went crashing into the mountain not too far from him at the speed of sound.
Erma: [MASTER!]
Standing where Heirloom used to be was OJ with his crystallized eyes. The crystallized dragon seemed to have disappeared but OJ was still leaking magic energy like a full-powered hose. Lifting a foot, he roundhouse kicked Erma toward the ground where Anderson and Vijan were. Barely able to get up, Erma muttered.
Erma: [What... the... hell?]
With his dagger in hand, Omar jumped towards OJ, but before he could make it, he was pushed back to where he stood by a burst of wind. Omar coughed blood then smirked at OJ.
[Ruby worried: Omar! Are you okay?] She ran up to Omar and touched his back instantly healing every injury. OJ turned to Ruby and noticed Anthony sneaking up on her. Not saying a thing, he remained in the sky with his blue aura beginning to shine brighter.
Vijan lifted Erma from the ground and made sure she was doing alright. With the back of her head bleeding, she managed to stand on her own and pull out her wings.
Vijan: [You're too hurt right now-]
She slapped Vijan's hand away from her and immediately jumped in Heirloom's direction. Before she could leave, Vijan noticed her pupils transformed in shape and her teeth became far sharper than they were before.
Anderson: [While he handles the rest of your team, why don't we duke it out?]
Vijan turned to Anderson and darted a disgusted glare at him.
Vijan: [You lost to a weakened Omar... Not even worth my time.]
While Omar and Ruby silently stood on the mountainside, Anthony slowly made his way towards the princess with nothing in his hands and silent footsteps. While the two were occupied by the Paladin above them, they completely forgot about the other person they were going against.
Suddenly, Ruby felt two big hands wrap themselves around her mouth and what felt like water filled her mouth up. She couldn't utter a word or let out a sound. Slowly being dragged away, she lifted her leg and kicked Omar; finally making him notice. Shocked, Omar tried reaching for her, but the moment he took a step forward, OJ came crashing down and fell onto Omar's head, slamming his face into the ground and splattering his blood all over the battlefield. Underneath Omar's body was a large puddle of blood that left Ruby petrified and trembling.
OJ: [Take her to the king.]
With a head nod, Anthony ran in the opposite direction with Ruby in his arms.
OJ: [Now...]
He turned to Vijan as a lightning bolt struck in between them.
OJ: [It's your turn–]
Dozens of balls encompassed in flames came raining from the sky and one just happened to hit OJ. Putting up a shield, OJ looked toward where the flames were coming from, and there he saw the two dragons spitting flames toward him. Getting agitated; OJ screamed into oblivion only to have a long blade approaching him from the ground. With a split second to react, OJ shifted his entire body to the left only to feel a hand clench onto his ankle and begin squeezing it like a toy.
OJ looked down and saw Omar's nails piercing through his skin.
Omar: [You thought that was enough to take me down,]
He turned his head to OJ and revealed no skin on the entire front portion of his face. All bones from forehead to chin. OJ flinched back in disgust.
Omar: [I'll kill you!]
Lifting him up with a single hand and sending him flying into the nearest mountain, Omar got back up on his feet and turned to Vijan. The ninja was slightly disgusted by Omar's new appearance, but knowing what had to be done, Vijan ran towards the two armies fighting. Seconds later, a half-dead magi-knight was thrown toward Omar and slid on the mountain floor. Picking up the knight and removing its helmet, Omar sunk his fangs into its neck and began extracting gallons of blood with no interruption. After he finished, the now-dead magi-knight was thrown away as scrap and Omar's body healed once again.
Paladin Anderson: [Lek, go accompany Anthony while he escorts the princess! I got everything here.]
Lek nodded and ran away. Less than a second later, Ali and Sophia appeared out of thin air.
Paladin Anderson: [What are you–!]
RK Sophia: [My Mind Manipulation doesn't work on monsters, so Zack said it would be better for me to help out here.]
She interrupted. Sophia looked up at the mountain Omar was standing on and also sensed the enormous amount of power coming from OJ, which was getting himself out of a mountain.
RK Sophia: [Looks like you need it.]
RK Ali: [I'll go back to Zack,]
And like that, he vanished.
Vijan: [You're back!]
Sophia sighed and looked at Anderson. Her disappointed glare made him feel worthless.
Vijan: [Last time you got me by surprise, this time things will be different.]
Sophia's hair lightened up, but before the highlights could reach, the world suddenly stopped. Vijan chuckled as he slowly walked his way toward her.
Vijan: [Little b–!]
He was suddenly punched across the cheek by the girl standing in front of him.
RK Sophia: [Watch your mouth,]
Vijan: [But... how?!]
RK Sophia: [Your 'Time Pause' is incredibly flawed.]
She shook her arm and watched as the world returned back to its usual pace.
RK Sophia: [I would explain, but I don't think you have the mental capacity to understand, little boy.]
She smiled. The highlights on the back of her hair reached the stem.
Vijan: [WHO ARE Y–!]
His eyes went pale as he stumbled backward. Sophia calmly took out another lollipop from her inventory.
RK Sophia: [They call me the wannabe Paladin...]
She unwrapped the lollipop and stuck it in her mouth.
RK Sophia: [or the human deity.]
Paladin Anderson: [You Leviere warriors are brutal.]
He sighed as he looked at Sophia.
Paladin Anderson: [What rigorous training do they put you on?]
Sophia chuckled then turned to the remainder of team Hydra standing on several different mountains. Anderson watched Vijan's paralyzed body standing still and stiff.
RK Sophia: [He isn't dead.]
Her sudden response surprised him,
RK Sophia: [I don't have it in me to kill a person. If you want to do it, you have a split second after I take this lollipop out of my mouth.]
Anderson pulled his sword out and engulfed it in holy flames. The bright light caught Omar's attention and seeing Vijan frozen in place triggered a nerve.
Sophia heard a loud boom come from the mountain the second she plopped the lollipop out of her mouth. Turning to it, she saw a large dust cloud and an entity heading straight for Anderson. The highlights in her hair faded away as she tried to warn the Paladin, but it was too late. A heavy gust of wind pushed Sophia and Vijan backward as an enormous dust cloud formed where Anderson was once standing.
RK Sophia: [Paladin!]
Moments passed as the dust cloud blew away with the natural wind and cleared out the area. Once it did, Omar could be seen sitting on top of Anderson's chest with his dagger's blade resting on Anderson's neck and eagle eyes darting at the female wizard. The Paladin was struggling to get out of Omar's grip and felt powerless. Vijan seemed to have been conscious again and surprisingly looked at Omar. Sophia's hair slowly started to glow.
RK Sophia: [Let him go.]
Omar chuckled.
Omar: [Make me.]
RK Sophia: [You guys act like such big babies!]
He pushed the blade closer to Anderson's neck; cutting through some skin and releasing drops of blood.
Omar: [Your mind tricks don't work on me anymore.]
OJ: [Why the–!]
Erma: [Hey!]
Interrupting the Paladin and forcing him to turn to them, Heirloom and Erma were standing in front of the indented mountain with an aura forming around them.
Erma: [We're your enemy!]
Clicking his tongue, OJ looked at them as if they were a nuisance.
Heirloom grew his wings out.
Heirloom: [We were just getting started!]
He jumped into the air and flapped them around until he started taking flight. Following behind him, Erma did the same and they charged towards OJ. Preparing for their clash, OJ crossed one hand over another and by the time Heirloom came close enough he jabbed him in the gut and elbowed Erma on the head with his opposite arm. Though not pushing them very far, the two were forced to the ground and had them darting back at him in no time. Unarmed, OJ was forced to fight against the two with bare strength, but he didn't seem phased or scared. Forming a clear bubble around himself that popped instantly, he was ready for their next attack.
With his sword, Heirloom tried aiming for the lower half of OJ's body, but he just ended up jumping over the blade. However, like it was coordinated, Erma shot a fireball at the Paladin, which he noticed instantly. Landing on Heirloom's sword, he punched the dragon tamer's helmet, and the fireball came closer to him sooner than he expected. The fireball hit an invisible force that popped the moment it came into contact. Shocking Erma, Heirloom was sent back towards her as OJ formed another bubble around himself; which popped immediately after.
One of the abilities that came with being a water mage was the added abilities that came with the Paladin title. Safeguard, a Paladin exclusive ability is capable of blocking or nullifying any attack, regardless of its damage stats. It takes many forms depending on the class of the warrior before receiving the title. In OJ's case, the ability takes the form of a bubble that goes invisible depending on the time of day. Also depending on the warrior's class, Safeguard can either be large enough to cover a kingdom or just barely enough to fit themselves.
Erma: [That's going to be a problem.]
Heirloom: [Not really,]
He raised his sword above his nose and felt his pupils transform into a slit hole.
Heirloom: [As long as we burst the bubble and attack before he makes another, things should be fine. Here's the plan.]
Whispering in her ear, they formed an attack strategy that was sure to land a single blow. OJ watched as they quietly spoke to one another but did nothing about it, meanwhile –
Vijan: [What's the matter, Psychic?! Are you afraid?!]
Sophia smirked.
RK Sophia: [You couldn't fight me alone so you brought along a teammate. As expected from a villain. I just need to buy those two some time.]
Omar: [You should've stayed with the Paladin.]
RK Sophia: [You shouldn't be telling me to stay with someone, Commander Kulow.]
Omar narrowed his eyes.
RK Sophia: [I can't believe you decided to drop such a catchy title.]
Omar: [Being the knight of a pitiful kingdom wasn't getting me anywhere–]
RK Sophia: [But look at the position the 'pitiful kingdom' is in now. Biggest and strongest kingdom of them all. They've even waged war with your current boss.]
A single strand of a purple highlight was forming on Sophia's hair.
RK Sophia: [If you ask me, you made the wrong move.]
She noticed Anderson coming back to his senses with faint but noticeable trembles from his hands.
RK Sophia: [To think, you've become what you once swore to destroy. Scum.]
Vijan: [Yo, what's she going on about?]
Omar: [Ignore her. She's trapped in her own delusions.]
RK Sophia: [I was only a young girl when you served the kingdom alongside my older brother. It's hard to believe that I once looked up to both of you.]
Omar: [Your brother–]
Omar turned to Vijan and noticed the confusion riddled all over his expression. Stopping himself, Omar put his blade back in his inventory; completely forgetting about the paladin beneath him.
Omar: [Shut up.]
RK Sophia: [Your younger brother took your place, y'know. The one sibling you forgot to get rid of–]
Vijan: [HE SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!]
Surprised to hear Vijan enter the conversation, Sophia turned in his direction. Her highlight fade had been completed.
Vijan: [Don't twist the story, you snake.]
RK Sophia: [That's funny to hear, coming from you,]
A faint purple light began to emit from her eyes. She began to dig into Vijan's past and pull things out of it that she could use to manipulate him. While searching she came across several scarring moments of him going berserk, but one moment of them all caught her attention.
RK Sophia: [Crystal Essence.]
Vijan became visibly more irritated. Sophia began to laugh uncontrollably.
Vijan: [Why are you digging–!] He felt a hand wrap itself around his neck and begin to squeeze. Looking down, he saw the torn-up tuxedo-shirt vampire looking into his eyes with soulless ones. Omar was taken control of and there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it.
RK Sophia: [They call me the human deity, Vijan.]
Another strand of her hair began to fade into a purple color.
RK Sophia: [You don't just get this title from being an average run-of-the-mill Royal Knight.]
A large flame ignited from the ground and began to grow ever stronger as it engulfed the Paladin that had been smashed into the ground by Omar. The heat from the flames melted the snow around them and drastically increased the temperature of the area around them.
Anderson, holding the sword of the flame god, glared at Vijan with flames all around him. Vijan began to choke as Omar's grip on him grew stronger.
----------------------------------------
Seconds before they teleported with the dragon:
Sean: [Why do I get the feeling that we're lost?]
Nervously laughing, Abrianna felt as if she messed something up. The four of them were soaring in the sky on a blue phoenix. They've been flying for several hours now and by following the directions given by Abri, they seemed to have gotten lost. Now in a desert-like area with mechanical monsters roaming on land, Faith felt uneasy about everything here.
Abrianna: [I've never been to the desert before.]
Parker: [So we are lost. Fucking great.]
Faith: [Are you sure you know where we're going?]
Abrianna turned to Faith and shrugged. Moments later, they heard an explosion go off in the distance. Meanwhile–
Ali, Zack, Sophia, and the Hydra reappeared in the sky above a great orange desert that was surprisingly empty and had little to no wildlife anywhere near it. Was this a different kingdom, possibly not in the northeast? Surprised to be in a part of the world he hadn't discovered yet, Zack dived towards land. As he landed, he heard a loud explosion coming from the north and an abnormal gust of wind before the Hydra hit the ground and made an enormous crater underneath him.
Paladin Zack: [Seems like things are getting serious over there.]
Ali and Sophia landed seconds after.
RK Sophia: [Maybe we should focus on the problem ahead of us.]
Zack chuckled before the Hydra made an ear-piercing screech. Ali opened a bottle of the blue liquid and began drinking it softly.
RK Sophia: [I can't believe they left this thing to us.]
RK Ali: [That's what happens when you're the strongest… so annoying.]
The hydra slammed one of its feet onto the ground and shook the earth beneath it. Looking at the dragon for the first time, they noticed that a typical three-headed beast was now running around with four identical heads equally as long and life-threatening and a single head cut in half.
RK Ali: [I thought this thing only had three heads.]
Paladin Zack: [It's the Greek mythology dragon, Hydra. Cut one head, two grow back in its place.]
Zack groaned and looked at Sophia.
Paladin Zack: [Do you think you can do anything about this?]
RK Sophia: [I can't control animals, only humans.]
Paladin Zack: [Then having you around is pointless. Ali, teleport her back to the battlefield and meet me back here.]
With a nod, Ali touched Sophia's shoulder and they instantly vanished into thin air. Standing alone with the five-headed dragon, Zack pulled his blade out and pointed it directly at one of the Hydra's necks. His blade began to radiate heat, making a mirage-like aura around it. Ali reappeared by his side with a bottle of liquid in hand and began to chug it down.
RK Ali: [One of the Paladins is going crazy.]
Zack: [It's probably OJ with his crazy dragon move.]
Zack got into a battle stance and darted a glare at the hydra. Within a second, he ran forward creating a dust cloud that blocked Ali's vision.
The dust clouds were cleared by a burst of wind that came from the hydra flailing its tail. When Ali regained his sight, he saw Zack hanging onto one of the pearl-white scales. Ali frowned, pulled his sword out, and ran towards the dragon before teleporting above its severed head. He noticed that the severed head looked like it had been recently barbecued and took note of that before landing on the side of the neck and sliding down to the body. Zack, which was still holding onto the dragon's tail, released it when it was above the beast's body. Landing beside Ali, he waved his sword around before jabbing it through the dragon's scale and piercing its body. The dragon screeched.
When Zack pulled his sword out, he noticed the flesh of the hydra had healed itself back to its original state, but the scale remained broken.
RK Ali: [I thought so.]
Confused, Zack turned to Ali.
RK Ali: [The thing has impressive healing abilities. The only way to do any real damage is to burn it up from the inside.]
Paladin Zack: [How do you know that?]
RK Ali: [I saw that the head that hasn't grown back looked like cooked meat.]
Turning to the severed head, Zack remained confused.
RK Ali: [Only way we're taking this thing down is with a flame P–]
The hydra surprisingly swung its tail towards the two, cutting Ali off mid-sentence.
Faith: [IF ITS FIRE YOU NEED, FIRE IS WHAT YOU'LL GET!]
Looking towards the sky, Zack and Ali noticed a blue flame bird heading their way. On top of the bird were four people, two men, and two women. One of them was standing tall while looking down at the giant dragon and the two royals battling against it.
Zack: [Felix? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!]
Faith: [LONG STORY SHORT, WE GOT LOST!]
With a klutzy smile, the phoenix dived downward and brought the four of them to Zack.
Faith: [So, what's going on here?]
Zack: [That's none of your concern.!You four need to get out of here immediately!]
Faith turned towards Ali and stared at him for a moment. She felt as if she's seen him somewhere before, but couldn't put her finger on it.
Zack: [FELIX!]
Snapping back into it, Faith turned to Abri and the others.
Abrianna: [We're looking for the late King Roshan's castle to find Ruby. We sort of lost our way.]
Paladin Zack: [You four are not allowed there right now. Just go back to Leviere and live the life of a–!]
The hydra shot a ball of fire at the six standing on top of a rocky mountain. Sensing it before it collided, Zack grabbed all four of them and jumped off the mountain.
Zack: [Sean, Parker... I expected you two to at least have some common sense.]
Sean: [Listen, man. The lady is offering nearly half a million gold in return. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to do this to be a millionaire.]
Zack and the rest safely landed.
Zack: [Of course it's about money.]
He seemed really disappointed at Parker and Sean for doing so.
RK Ali: [I understand that you care for them, Zack, but now's not the best time to be talking. If they're willing to lend us some of their fire magic, let them be.]
With a sigh, Zack turned to Faith and Sean. Neither seemed to be remotely scared of the beast ahead of them.
Paladin Zack: [Fine, but right after this you're all returning to Leviere! Got that?!]
Abrianna: [No can do!]
Her lusciously long blonde hair shook with her head.
Abrianna: [I'm going to make sure I see Ruby, even if it's the last thing I do!]
She confidently stared Zack in the eyes.
Sean: [She's the quest giver, Abrianna something.]
Parker: [I think she said it was Davis or whatever.]
Sean: [Does Davis sound like an elf's last name?]
Parker turned his head.
Sean: [We were told to escort her to her location then–]
Zack grabbed hold of all of them again and jumped away. Once they returned back to safety, Sean continued.
Sean: [We won't get our payment if we go back.]
Zack gripping the hilt of his sword,
Paladin Zack: [Fine then. Follow my orders and don't die.]
The hydra let out a deafening screech that would have deafened Faith and the others if Zack hadn't muffled its voice.