Chapter 101: The Dragon's Spite
“Do you see now, my beloved? Do you see how your impatience and emotions have blinded you?”
What I see, Adamus, is one of your creations performing an act of global terrorism on an innocent population because you’re too much of a Gods-damned extremist to realize what a force of evil you’ve become.
“You are angry. I understand. No one enjoys being wrong.”
Did you contact me just to gloat?
“Of course not. I still believe you are capable of so much more, my beloved. You are a bright, creative, and very talented—”
Don’t condescend to me, Adamus! Spare me your patronizing, demeaning rubbish. I won’t hear another word of it. Begone!
Eilea snarled and ejected Adamus from her mind, but not before spitefully giving him four more brain tumors, a backache, and erectile dysfunction. She doubted he’d even care about the last of those enough to bother fixing it—or even realize the impairment existed at all. The last hint of manly passions within Adamus had faded away thousands of years ago. He showed no interest in anything other than his system: his instrument of torture to billions of lives. He had become so focused on his system that he had neglected his own self, allowing his body to age, become old, and wither away, whereas Eilea still looked as though she had just turned eighteen despite being held in captivity for a millennium.
“Is everything okay?” Francis asked her, looking concerned.
She closed her eyes a moment. “I’m caught between two extremes: the humiliation of being wrong and a sudden rush of hope that the boy might live after all. Why do you even…?” She let her words trail off, realizing the question she’d been about to ask was a stupid and embarrassing one. Francis, however, leaned in towards her, his eyes aglow with curiosity.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“No, please, ask me.”
She sighed. “Why do you even side with me? I’ve just humiliated myself and allowed a young science teacher in his twenties to make me look like a complete fool. I missed so many things I should have seen. I’ve given Adamus more fuel to his fire. But even worse, I’m incompetent despite being so egotistical, arrogant, and—”
“Loving,” Franics interjected, causing Eilea to feel a sudden, unexpected rush of heat into her cheeks.
“W-what do you mean by that?”
Francis smiled. “Much of what you’ve said about yourself is true. You are indeed flawed, Eilea.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you trying to get on my bad side, too? Rub it in how wrong I was?”
“No, not at all,” he said. He placed his hand on top of her own, and even more heat entered her face. “I mentioned it only because I am flawed, too. Putting aside the question of whether or not you’re actually a Goddess, you are also definitely a person. And all people are flawed, Eilea.”
“No, not all people. Not Adamus. I can never win against him. If he has some flaw to be found, I’ve never been able to find it.”
“Exactly. And that right there is my point.”
“Your point?” she asked, unsure where he was going with this and becoming oddly nervous for some reason. This only increased as his tone became darker and more serious as he continued to speak.
“I knew Adamus for many, many years before meeting you,” he began. “When I say that you are flawed because you are a person, that is not an insult, but a compliment.”
“How is it a compliment to say that I am a person?”
Francis gently squeezed her hand. “Because Adamus can hardly be called a person anymore. That’s why. He is empty inside. He sold his soul to his dream, which has become a nightmare of his own making; only, unlike a nightmare, it’s real to those who live under his shadow. A man like Adamus is only able to ‘win’ as he does because there are no lines he won’t cross. For as far as you’re willing to go, Eilea, I have personally witnessed with my own two eyes that there are things you simply will not do.”
The two of them were standing in front of the viewing dome, which continued to output a life-like image of the raid taking place on the surface of Galterra far, far above them. For the first time today, Eilea found something other than the raid occupying her mind, and she took her eyes off the viewing dome so that she could regard Francis. She was glad he was no longer wearing the serpentine mask. A man with such beautiful, amber-colored eyes ought not keep them hidden.
“Why are you here, Eilea?” he asked her.
She chewed her bottom lip, nervous in a way she hadn’t been in a very long time. “Because Adamus trapped me and vowed to keep me sealed away unless I agree to play by his rules.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
“What I’m saying,” he explained, “is that you care so much for the pain of innocents that you have willingly allowed yourself to be locked away like an animal in a dark and terrible place for a thousand years just out of a refusal to abandon them. That, Eilea, is why I side with you. Because you could make this torment stop in an instant if you wanted to. But you refuse to do so.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond. She had never even thought of things that way. In truth, she had not viewed her presence here as a sacrifice, but rather as a result of her refusing to budge on her principles. She had not done it out of a sense of moral superiority. Only that she believed so firmly that Adamus was wrong and cruel that the mere notion of accepting his way sickened her.
“Francis, I…” Once more, her words trailed off, but this time it was due to something catching her eye in the corner of her vision: from the viewing dome. Francis turned his head to look as well, releasing her hand. Secretly, she wished he hadn’t. Together, they once more observed the situation on Galterra. Things had just taken an interesting turn. One of her kin, the girl, Kalana Vayra, had unexpectedly thrown herself into the fight with Ziragoth. Now, she was shoulder to shoulder with the boy, and the two were about to square off against the wyvern together.
“In a way, this is almost poetic, isn’t it?” Francis asked her.
At this, Eilea laughed. “It is, isn’t it? Your kin and mine, standing side by side just as we are.”
“A Calador and a Vayra,” Francis whispered. Then he chuckled and made a whistling sound with his lips. “Once upon a time, even just the suggestion of that kind of pairing would start a war. It’s amazing how the times have changed.” With a sudden, soft-spoken sadness, Francis closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “Goddamn you, Moldark,” he whispered. “God will never forgive you for what you did.”
“God?” Eilea asked. “Which one do you claim will never forgive him? Do you imply the others will?”
Francis let out a somewhat livelier laugh. “I’ve told you this before, Eilea. In my day, we only believed in one.”
“Ah, right. I’d all but forgotten with everything else happening. Apologies, Francis.”
“It’s not a problem.”
Eilea recalled that Francis did not believe in the Greater Gods or the Lesser Gods—which included figures such as herself and Adamus—but rather he believed in the Old God, which come to think of it, was likely why he wore that strange pendant of a man hanging from a cross on his chest. She did not know what that symbolized. Truth be told, she knew very little about the ancient religion or the God Francis worshipped. One day, she would like to ask him more about his beliefs. For now, the two of them once more cast their gaze upon the viewing dome, watching as the sands within painted a picture of the battle with the dragon.
Only a few minutes ago, Adamus had told her that Zach had a one in three chance of success. But Eilea did not accept this. Sure, Adamus knew his numbers: but she knew people. Earlier, she had simply not known that it was even possible for Zach to win. But now that she knew otherwise—that there was a realistic, real chance he could emerge victorious—she knew that he would do so.
Contrary to what Adamus likely suspected, Eilea had not chosen Zach for his potential alone. No, that was certainly not the sole and only reason. And that was something not even the all-knowing Adamus could ever understand. Because as illogical as it may have seemed, Eilea rejected his calculations of a one-in-three chance. For someone like Zach, there was either zero or a hundred. And even despite how wrong she’d been thus far, this time around, she had absolute confidence that she knew which it would be. Or maybe that was just her emotions talking. Either way, whatever happened next would be fate.
******
Ziragoth approached, and the world rumbled with each of the dragon’s steps. Standing so close to Kalana that their shoulders were touching, Zach’s thoughts turned from victory to protecting her. Although he was cognizant of the fact that Olivir—or her cousin—could resurrect her if the worst happened, the very idea of her dying even a single time was completely, totally unacceptable. Zach knew that he would lose his Gods-be-damned mind if he witnessed such a thing. He wished she was somewhere safer. Hers was the only life in this world he valued more than his own, as she meant more to him than anything else. The result of this was the return of fear. Unlike before, however, none of it was out of concern for his own safety.
“Stop it,” Kalana growled at him.
“Stop what? I’m not doing anything.”
“Nah-uh. I know you way too well, Zach. Stop worrying about me.”
“I can’t.”
“You better.”
There were numerous things Zach would have liked to say to her in reply, but his attention was far too focused on Ziragoth, who was approaching with unusual slowness. Then the dragon stopped in its tracks about a dozen feet before the two of them, and in an exact repeat of earlier, it remained motionless, its mouth open and its forked tongue flicking back and forth in a way that made it seem as though the creature was thinking.
“Whenever you’re ready, give the word,” said the voice of Fylwen over the Comm. She, Peter, and Vim had now given him and Kalana enough space that it was likely easier for them to communicate over the Comm as opposed to shouting. Even still, the three of them remained fairly close by, as they had to keep within casting range.
“Understood,” Zach replied. He closed his mouth, but then he opened it again straight away as an idea came to him. “Wait, why doesn’t Vim just use the debuff on the dragon itself? Then we can have the whole raid attack it.”
“Won’t work,” Vim said. “My ability has a limitation on it that specifically states it doesn’t work on bosses. And even if it did, it still wouldn’t matter. Ziragoth is too strong and it would just be resisted. It’s why you don’t see any of the other mages casting debuffs on it like before. I’m willing to bet that if they could help you, they would.”
“Didn’t know that,” Zach admitted, releasing a disappointed sigh.
If only Vim could cut the dragon’s stats in half, they might’ve been able to just bombard it to death with the mages and archers atop the wall, who had finally gained the upper hand against the adds they were fighting. In fact, they were gradually starting to make good on their promise to help those down below once they were free to do so. Already, several tanks and melee DPS had leapt off the top of the wall and rushed forward to assist the struggling BG5, while a few of the Elvish archers began shredding apart the adds overwhelming BG2 and BG3 with their precisely aimed arrows. As soon as BG5 and BG6 were clear of adds and good to go, Zach imagined they could once more act as a unified division and begin clearing out whatever else remained. Really, the primary problem now was the dragon itself.
They’re doing their part, Zach thought. It’s all on me and Kal now to do ours.
In total, Zach estimated that slightly fewer than half the raid members had died. Yet as implausible and miraculous as it seemed, Olivir and Kolona’s infrequent reports over the Comm appeared to imply that they had yet to permanently lose a life. Even those who had been delivered to the vampires as nothing more than a head attached to a piece of neck were apparently recovering.
If me and Kal actually kill this thing…if we can just somehow pull this off…we might end up coming out of this with every single one of us still alive.
The thought of all five-hundred-thirty-five raid members living to see tomorrow emboldened Zach. It helped him to move beyond his worries over Kalana’s safety. Truly, there was nothing he could do to change her mind, and being afraid wouldn’t make it any less likely that she got hurt, either. All he could do now was fight as hard as he could and try to eliminate the dragon from this world. And that, he was certain, would happen right now or not at all. Zach had the sense that everything would be settled within the next few minutes. This was it. Here and now, today. Either he slayed the dragon with Kal, or he lost everything—including her. It was a zero-sum game. There would be only one winner, and he refused to let it be Ziragoth.
I’ve got to kill it. I’ve got to!
With Vim having enough stamina to cast his debuff, Zach knew he could attack the dragon any time he wanted. Right now, he had the option of either taking the fight directly to Ziragoth or waiting for Ziragoth to take the fight to him. Part of him wanted to charge in headfirst and launch another assault, but he decided against it, as that could potentially be costlier in terms of both risk and time, since Zone of Enfeeblement only lasted ten seconds.
Zach, regrettably, had wasted its earlier use, as he’d been acting off emotion and ended up hitting the wyvern with it just once. That, however, was not a mistake he could afford to repeat. It was imperative that he made every last second count. Zach figured he’d get the most out of it if he waited for the perfect opening to counterattack. He needed to be spot-on: especially given how much HP the damn thing still had.
HP
23,215,888/25,000,000
Name
(T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level
70
For sure, it was a daunting number, but if nothing else, at least it was steadily going down, however slowly. At the moment, only two of his Cursed Defender of Ziragoth cards were still in the fight, with one nipping away to the dragon’s left side and one to its right. The five remaining Valkyries, on the other hand, were all spread out evenly and laying into the dragon one strike after the next. Through it all, Ziragoth remained motionless, and Zach was left to wonder what in the name of the Gods it was doing. Kalana seemed to wonder the same, as well.
He felt her placing her hand on the side of his face so that she could cup it over his ear as she leaned in close to him. “Hey, what’s it doing?” she asked in a very muted whisper like she was telling him some kind of secret in class. Despite everything else going on, Zach, for a reason he didn’t even know, released an honest, genuine, and loud cackle. “What’s so funny?” she whispered again, this time sounding aggravated.
“Why’re you whispering?” he asked, trying very hard to stifle his laughter.
She frowned. “It’s ‘cause it might be able to understand us, remember?”
“Gee, Kalana, do you think it’ll want to kill us less if it doesn’t overhear us openly speculating about what it’s doing?”
Kalana’s frown deepened. “You’re starting to talk like your mean guild-leader.”
“Okay, now hold up,” Zach said angrily, his humor evaporating. Kalana had really pinched a nerve there. “Do not call Vim my guild-leader. That’s a low-blow.”
“Sorry,” she whispered again. “But that’s the kind of mean thing he’d say.”
Zach waved off the nonsensical comparison. “Anyways, I don’t know what it’s doing. It was doing this same thing before, too. It’s just kind of staring at me. Or actually…wait a second.”
Something changed. Even while keeping its head pointed directly at Zach, Ziragoth began to turn its eyes downward and to its left, where a Valkyrie with a large, two-handed longsword was slicing away furiously at its side and even managing to draw blood. At some point, someone or something had caused the longsword to become encased in a glowing, luminescent type of frost. Zach had no idea whether it was a caster from one of the other battlegroups or, hell, maybe it had even been one of the other Valkyries. But regardless of whoever had enchanted the weapon, the frost-imbued blade was clearly making a huge difference.
One time after the next, the Valkyrie struck out for over twenty-thousand damage. This, she did again, and again, and again—until Ziragoth whipped its head in her direction, opened its mouth wide, twisted its body, and snapped its jaw shut, splitting the armored, winged NPC into two separate pieces, both of which promptly turned into streaks of white light that beamed up into the sky before vanishing.
“What the fuck?” Zach snapped. “Bullshit! I know I had aggro.”
“Language!” came Mr. Oren’s voice over the Comm, reminding Zach that he had once again forgotten to switch it off transmission mode. The problem was that the Comm required the use of a facial gesture that was difficult to remember and kind of finnicky, and Zach often lost track of whether or not it was on Transmit or Mute.
“Sorry,” Zach said.
“It’s fine. And to your point, you should—hold on a moment.” Mr. Oren chanted something, and Zach turned his head and looked off to his right to see his science teacher standing just in front of the wall. He had summoned about fifteen arrows made of pure light, all of which were floating in the air and lined up above his head; then, one by one, he sent them streaking forward and into a mob named “Cursed Defender of Ziragoth 2D.”
Blasting forward like miniature rockets, the arrows made an incredibly high-pitched whistling sound as they tore through the air, and Zach observed as they ripped the creature apart, shredding parts of its face until its head became completely deformed while simultaneously puncturing so many holes in its body that the grass beneath the lizard-avian hybrid became fully stained in its blood. Come to think of it, Zach actually remembered that ability, as he’d used it on Varsh when the two had fought one another.
“Zach,” he continued, “you and Kalana should operate off the assumption that no one has aggro. I’ve been watching the dragon as best I can while handling adds. I don’t believe it is any longer bound by the rules of the s…of the universe,” he finished.
Zach and Kalana exchanged a knowing look. Mr. Oren had almost accidentally said the word “system,” which was one of those things they were not supposed to know and were definitely not supposed to say outside of the spy-proof privacy room in Angelica’s.
“You’re probably right,” Zach replied over the Comm. “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“It started gradually, but I’ve noticed it’s been displaying odd behavior since becoming T10. I think it’s now reached a point where you should cease treating it like a mob and instead like a living creature. In other words, don’t try to predict mob-like patterns of attack. It has likely gained the ability to fight wholly according to its own whims.”
“Yeah,” Zach agreed with a frustrated grunt, “that’s what I’m thinking, too. Okay, got it. I’ll be careful, Mr. Oren, thanks.”
“You’ve got this, my man.” Upon those words, Mr. Oren charged forward and began striking out with his summoned sword, delivering the killing blow to the mob he was fighting before starting on another nearby.
Now that Zach finally understood the cause of Ziragoth’s strange behavior, he was not surprised to see the dragon turn its body fully around so that it could begin attacking the other NPCs. It had likely come to the conclusion that their constant pecking away at its HP would prove to be a very big threat over time. Thus, taking its focus off Zach completely, the dragon appeared to make killing them its sole, current priority.
Shit, what do I do in this situation?
Zach struggled to think of how he should proceed as Ziragoth roared, lifted its massive left leg, and then stomped down on top of the Valkyries. Though its foot failed to hit a single target, it caused the four armored NPCs to fly upwards and away, their wings flapping. Unfortunately, this only made things even easier for the wyvern, as he was able to then bite one of them right out of the air, killing it with a single crunch.
Seeing the way things were going, Zach had to begrudgingly accept that he would not be able to rely on the cards or NPCs for damage anymore. That was simply no longer an option. And as though to demonstrate this fact, Ziragoth slammed its tail down onto the ground so hard that the resulting quake caused more of the wall to fall apart while killing one of Zach’s two remaining cards. Seeing his level-90 minion become crushed and deformed, he realized there would be no point in letting the other one die as well. He might as well recall it.
No way I’m letting it destroy all five of my cards!
Assuming he and Kal made it through this—and he fully intended to do so—it would suck to leave here with nothing gained. And so, targeting the lone remaining Cursed Defender of Ziragoth, which was still at full health—and thus would not cost Zach any stamina—he activated Card Dismiss, causing it to revert to a white wisp of light that sailed across the air towards his open, waiting palm, where it then transformed back into card form. And with that, he stuffed it inside his pocket. At the same time, the three airborne Valkyries also disappeared. This confused Zach, as they hadn’t even been touched yet. How had Ziragoth taken them out?
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“I have dismissed them,” Peter said over the Comm as though wishing to prevent any confusion.
Zach risked a quick peek over his shoulder. “Why?”
“Because, like you, Zach, I too sensed the utter pointlessness in them remaining, and for each Valkyrie that dies, it adds one year of recast time to the ability which summons them.”
Zach winced. “So you won’t be able to use that again for…”
“Six years,” Peter confirmed. “I shall indeed miss my winged warriors.”
With the NPCs now gone, Ziragoth darted its head around as if to ensure it had really killed them all. This not only reminded Zach of real animal behavior but also confirmed that Mr. Oren’s theory was correct. Mobs, Zach knew, did not ever have to look for targets within their aggro range. Hearing or seeing was not required. They just knew where someone was. But Ziragoth was clearly searching. Finally, as if seemingly convinced that its targets were well and truly gone, it once more spun itself around and faced Zach and Kalana’s direction. And this time, when it moved towards them, it did not hesitate or pause to think. Oh, no. Clearly, its mind was now made up.
“Get ready!” Zach shouted to Kal in warning.
Kalana raised both her daggers with her elbows pointed down, her blades pointed up, and her arms parallel. “Mhm!”
Just two kids from Whispery Woods fighting alone against a dragon, Zach thought, wondering how this was not just some wild dream. What could possibly go wrong?
Ziragoth released a tremendous roar and then abruptly took off, heading straight for the two of them. The ground shook each time its clawed feet stamped down, leaving massive patches of flattened grass in its wake. Numerous rocks, several quite large, were smashed into countless pieces as it charged, and several were incidentally kicked, causing them to fly like meteorites in Zach’s general direction. He actually had to duck beneath two and strike a third, splitting it in half—all while keeping his eyes focused on the approaching threat. As Ziragoth continued to race towards them, Zach could see the intense, murderous fury within its golden, lizard-like eyes. It wanted them dead: both of them.
“I’ll go right,” Kalana said. “You split left.”
Nodding, Zach darted off towards his left side as Kalana dashed to the right. Along with a trail of impossibly black smoke that exited Zach’s lips, he left behind in his wake a cloudy streak like the contrails of a jet, which formed a line between where he’d been and where he was now standing. An instant later, Ziragoth shot right past them both and ran through it. Then the dragon halted its movement by planting its feet, causing it to kick up literally tons of dirt—enough to fill in a community swimming pool—as it skidded to a halt and turned itself around. Peter, Vim, and Fylwen were forced to scramble out of the way or risk being buried by it as it then showered back down where they’d been residing.
Now, a few-dozen feet away and facing in their direction, Ziragoth opened its mouth wide, and the inside of its throat began to light up a bright orange. Zach gasped. He knew what would come next. This was either going to be a fireball capable of exploding like a missile or an inferno of flame breath—neither of which he felt like dealing with.
But as it turned out, it was both.
With a dull, ominous-sounding foosh, a massive ball of fire much like the two that had left gigantic holes in the wall came flying across the grasslands in their direction. Despite traveling several feet above the ground, it was so fiercely hot that it caused all the grass beneath it to catch flame as it passed by. Zach tensed up as he watched it near him and Kalana. It came at them so fast he wasn’t even sure that either of them would have the time to react. The fireball, Zach knew, would be so powerful that it wouldn’t even need to hit them directly in order to kill them: it would only need to land somewhere in their general vicinity—and not even all that close by, at that. Even if he and Kal both dodged and ran as fast as they possibly could, they would still be killed in the subsequent explosion.
Yet, before Zach could think of how to deal with the approaching threat, the dragon lifted its head as though drawing a breath. Then, making matters even worse, it unleashed an absolute firestorm upon the two of them. The heat was so intense that, even before the flames had fully exited Ziragoth’s mouth, Zach immediately struggled to breathe and had to fight just to keep his burning eyes open.
No choice. I’ve got no choice!
“Now!” he cried over the Comm.
At the exact same time that he spoke that word, he used Phase Rescue on Kalana. The situation was so critical that he didn’t even have the time to wait for her to get to him. The moment he activated his ability, a blue orb formed around the entirety of Kalana’s body. This orb then shrank until seemingly vanishing from existence itself—only to reappear by Zach’s side an instant later, bringing Kal to him.
Now, the two of them exchanged a glance; it was a look that lasted for a duration so short it would be difficult to measure. Yet in just that one, transient moment in time, he saw several things in her beautiful, wonderous eyes. He saw confusion, alarm, and a great deal of concern. But he did not see any of the fear that he himself currently felt, reminding Zach that she was far braver than he was. But more importantly, he hoped that the look he sent her way in this fleeting instant would convey to her that he wanted, no, needed her to trust him.
And with that, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. Then he threw the both of them down onto the ground, holding her as close to him as he possibly could. Thankfully, she cooperated. If anything, she snuggled even closer into him. Even with certain death a split-second away, she trusted him enough with her life not to get up and run. Even with the sensation of heat so terrible that Zach began to scream as he felt himself being cooked alive, he continued to endure. He had to wait for Vim, then Fylwen, and finally Peter to all cast on him before he took any actions. Both his life and Kal’s depended on it. Thankfully, his three compatriots in BG7 did not keep him waiting.
Unlike their first use of the combo, this time, all three spells came in so quickly that it was almost impossible to tell the order they arrived. Zach did not feel even so much as a moment’s worth of sickness or confusion. He felt only strength: pure, godlike power. And with that, he activated Phase Shield.
Immediately, a brilliant shield made of a pure golden light appeared in the world before him, one so magnificently bright that it drowned out the light of the flames. It covered the two of them, serving as a solid, truly impenetrable barrier that nothing could break. Yet even despite its brightness, it did not hurt to stare directly at; if anything, it was comforting. Right away, the feeling of unbearable heat cut off. And then there was a boom, and with it came the sensation of the world shifting around him along with a loud ringing in his eardrums that made him hope he had not just permanently deafened himself. From the fact that he could hear the sound of Kalana’s startled scream, he didn’t think so.
From the vicious shaking and rumbling alone, Zach assumed the fireball must have landed. But he could not see it: or anything for that matter. The combination of the shield and the flames erased virtually any sight of the world around him. But for sure he could feel the secondary effects of it. It was like he was sinking with Kalana into the ground: fast enough that it actually felt more like falling. The terrain was becoming deformed all around him, the result of an explosion that would have claimed their lives if he had not shielded them from it.
And then, just as it had come, the shield faded, and immediately, Zach threw himself on top of Kalana and covered her body with his. Despite the disappearance of the golden light, Zach could still see absolutely nothing around him, as the world was completely, totally encased in an almost perfect screen of orange, which meant that Zach was now inside the inferno with her. The sound of it was so loud. It was a crackling and hissing and whooshing that deafened him as much as the flames blinded him. Yet eventually, it came to an end, and sparing only the slightest of moments, he glanced down to ensure Kalana was okay. With a relieved exhale that caused more black smoke to exit his lips, he saw that she was just fine.
“Thanks, babe,” she said cheerfully, blowing him a kiss.
Now, the clock was ticking. At best—and this was being optimistic—Zach had about five and a half, maybe six seconds before the buffs wore off. He also noticed something: something that he hadn’t noticed before. It seemed that, while Blessing of the Angels was active on him, every inch of his body gave off a golden glow that was similar to the light of his Phase Shield, only slightly less bright. It was enough so that it almost masked the flames shooting from his hands and feet. Of course, that didn’t really matter right now, and so he put it out of mind.
Not willing to waste even a fraction of a fraction of a second, he bolted right up to his feet. He then spared only enough time to flick his eyes quickly to the left, then quickly right in order to take in his surroundings. It appeared he was in a crater nearly fifty feet deep with Kalana, the result of the detonation from Ziragoth’s fireball. In the very corner of his vision, he briefly caught sight of his stats, which he kept down and to the right of his field of view. What he saw sent a jolt of shock and disbelief coursing into him: one that he did not allow himself to dwell on.
Name
Zachys Calador
Level
21
EXP
83,500/170,000
Armor Bonus
336
Strength
414
Dexterity
384
Constitution
380
Intelligence
450
Speed
350
Luck
280
Bending his knees, he launched himself up into the air, the black robe Fylwen had given him flapping as a rush of wind met his rapid ascent. Within a quarter of a second, Zach reemerged, leaving behind a jet-like, cloudy trail in his wake as he flew out of the hole then landed on the grass in front of it. The moment he touched down, he frantically exploded forward at full speed, his body shining with a golden light as he blasted his way towards Ziragoth for all he was worth. He now likely had five or fewer seconds. He had to make them count. He must make every one of them worth it! Thus, even as he soared across the distance between himself and the dragon, he swung his blade downwards diagonally and shouted, “Phase Slash!”
Then he did it a second time. “Phase Slash!”
As fast as he was moving, the ripple-like distortions he’d formed in the air moved even faster. More gasps of surprise came from over the Comm as a high-pitched, zipper-like noise drowned out every other sound on the battlefield. Faster and faster Zach ran, his windswept robe and hood feeling as though they would fly off him as the air attempted—and failed—to resist his forward momentum.
A moment before he reached the wyvern, his first Phase Slash hit. And Gods…if Zach had only known in advance what it would do to the dragon, he would have done nothing else aside from it. Even before the distortion collided with Ziragoth, the dragon let out a preemptive, high-pitched shriek in advance: as though it understood that it was in serious trouble.
The dragon had two protrusions on each side of its face that were sort of, but not quite horns. They were curved, the color of bone, and if they served any practical use as a weapon, Zach had yet to see the fire wyvern use them that way. Regardless, the first Phase Slash landed on the right side of Ziragoth’s face, and then it erupted into a miniature explosion. The horn-like appendage, along with what looked like several gallons of dark red blood, as well as a solid chunk of the lower-right corner of Ziragoth’s mouth, simply exploded off its face, causing the dragon to unleash a cry of such agony that had Zach hated this beast even slightly less, it might have caused him to feel pity for the creature.
3,211,492
The impact blasted Ziragoth several feet backwards, forcing the dragon to once more plant its feet in order to slide to a halt: only for the second Phase Slash to hit. This one hit dead center in its chest, and then came another intensely loud shriek of pain as muscle, tissue, cartilage, and a piece of its intestinal tract were exploded off it while the dragon was sent hurtling away once again. This time, it rolled along the ground several times before crashing into a thankfully unoccupied section of the wall, destroying it completely and sending thousands of pieces of stone scattering up into the air.
2,911,152
Sensing blood in the water, Zach forced his body to run even faster. He nearly took down several members of BG3 and BG4 as he zipped by them. Numerous adventurers, political guild members, and a couple of Elvish warriors were scrambling to get out of the way, clearly wanting to be nowhere near the dragon. They seemed fully content to let Zach handle it.
With around two-and-a-half seconds remaining on this ungodly powerful combination, Zach reached the dragon just as it was picking itself up. It was missing part of its face and upper chest, and blood was absolutely pouring out of its body. In this moment, Zach felt a piece of himself become restored. He felt as though he’d regained something he’d lost when this horrendous, vile piece of shit spawned in the Den of Ziragoth and hurt him so badly. He’d feared this creature so much. It had terrified him. It had wounded him. It had made him cry. It had stolen from him, breaking the sword he’d earned for saving his friends. It had taunted him and tortured him. This was payback. This was justice!
“How does it feel to be the prey?” Zach screamed at it.
The terror in the wyvern’s eyes elicited no sympathy from Zach: no pity at all. With hatred flowing through his veins like a poison, he unleashed as many strikes as he could in the little time he had, putting all of his energy into each one of them. Raising his sword over his head, he brought it down on top of Ziragoth, adding another beautiful wound to its body and hitting for 351,222. Ziragoth quickly swung its wing, but Zach ducked—and lost precious time in the process. Straightening his back, he delivered an overhanded slash, causing the dragon to cry out in anguish and suffer another 301,951. It began to back away, heading beyond the destroyed section of the wall and towards the camp. It was retreating. Actually retreating! Zach, naturally, pursued.
Down to the final moment, he performed a three-slash combination, hoping to inflict as much damage as he possibly could. First, he bent his knees then sprang back up, sending out a rising slash that chopped off another piece of the wyvern’s lower mouth as well as carving out two of its lethally sharp fangs. Then he spun himself around full circle and delivered a spinning slice.
In response, Ziragoth brought both of its wings around—but not to attack. It pressed them together in front of its body, and the serrated edges of both wings actually seemed to fit together like pieces of a puzzle, creating what resembled a fleshy, scaly shield. To Zach’s dismay, his sword bounced right off the wing-shield, hitting for 0 damage. Growling, Zach spun yet a second time, and on this go around, the moment his body had turned full circle, he hopped slightly into the air, spinning a third time and grunting with exertion as he used all his strength in delivering a downward, spinning slash that made a loud, unexpected crack as he struck the dragon. Yet, even as he struck with so much raw force that he blasted the dragon more than fifteen feet in the opposite direction, he still hit for nothing at all. And with that, Zach realized the dragon had just discovered how to defend itself.
Now, the golden aura around him vanished, and his stats, while still hugely elevated from Phase Unleashed 3, were now half of what they had only just been; this, as Peter, Fylwen, Vim, and Kalana only first caught up and the rest of the raid actually reorganized itself just in response to Ziragoth’s presence, with everyone moving as far as they could out of the way.
“GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Ziragoth knew that the assault was over. And it was angry. So, so angry. Zach did not have to be a mind reader to tell that much. It was obvious in the way its eyes bulged, and the look cast off from those cold-blooded pupils changed from one of terror to rage.
“GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
One thing was for sure, though: Zach had hurt it—badly. There was no denying that fact. The dragon was in real pain, and unlike an unfeeling mob, Zach now knew beyond all doubt that Ziragoth could be rattled. Sure, one of the advantages of sentience was unpredictability and the gift of decision-making, but on the other hand, it came with some cons as well; namely, the dragon was susceptible to all the same psychological horrors as any other participant in a battle. And right now, Zach imagined the wyvern was only first coming to truly understand this.
HP
16,442,122/25,000,000
Name
(T10) Ziragoth the Awoken
Level
70
“I don’t know if you can understand me,” Zach said to it, “but you’re going to die, and I’m going to kill you.”
“GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Ziragoth made as if to attack. It spread its wings, uncoupling them and essentially ridding itself of its shield, and then it paused a moment as if in hesitation. Though, unlike the previous two times, it did not remain unmoving, nor did it seem as though it were taking a moment to think. Instead, it was darting its eyes between Zach and something else. Zach wasn’t sure what. It would require him to take his eyes off the dragon to find out for certain, which would be suicidal while in such close proximity. Yet for some reason, he thought he knew. And it sent an explosion of terror coursing through him. Zach wasn’t even sure how he was able to figure it out without looking. Perhaps it was the hatred in its eyes. It wanted to hurt Zach. It wanted to hurt Zach badly. And it seemed to know how it could do that in the worst way possible.
Kalana!
Ignoring him completely, Ziragoth flapped its wings and took off into the air, then slammed itself down fewer than three second afterwards, causing a shower of dirt and rock to rain over Zach. Horrified, he spun himself around to see that Ziragoth was now towering over Kalana, who for some reason stood her ground defiantly before it.
“Run!” Zach shouted.
“Nah-uh.”
“Gods-dammit, Kalana! You have to—”
Ziragoth lunged at Kalana with its mouth opened, ready to bite, and thankfully, she backflipped out of the way. But even still, Zach felt a rush of fear travel straight into his heart, which began to pound in his chest as he wondered what the hell he was supposed to do. He currently had 10:05 remaining on his current duration of Unleashed Phase, which meant he could afford to Phase Rescue Kalana if the need arose. The question was knowing whether or not such a need existed. Obviously, he couldn’t just Phase Rescue her every single time the dragon launched an attack, or he’d end up burning up the rest of his time and dying of a heart attack.
Yet, as Ziragoth went all in on Kalana, almost certainly for no other reason than to spite Zach, he came so close to activating Phase Rescue so many times that he lost count, as what he saw caused him so much anxiety it was amazing that he didn’t suffer a total breakdown as a result of it.
It began with Ziragoth lunging at Kalana a second time, trying its best to rip her apart with its teeth. Even while missing three fangs, and even with its mouth oozing blood, Zach had no doubt that Kalana would perish if the dragon managed to bite her a single time. Her mother, too, seemed to share the same fear, because right now, Fylwen’s face had gone white with terror. Yet Kalana did not seem afraid. Either because she was being dumb and had no idea how much danger she was in, or because she really was just that fearless.
To make things even worse, she toyed with the Gods-cursed dragon.
Ziragoth snapped its mouth shut, then looked around, confused. It appeared to be wondering whether or not it succeeded in killing its target, because Kal was no longer in front of it. That, of course, was because Kal was now running along its back. It almost seemed to take Ziragoth a second to realize this, and when it did, the dragon hissed in rage. Flapping its wings, it rocketed itself up into the sky, its body positioned perfectly vertically as though hoping to cause Kal to fly off—which she did.
Now, with the two of them nearly fifty feet in the air, Zach was ready pull the trigger on Phase Rescue on a moment’s notice. He watched as Kalana began to fall and Ziragoth, having pulled away from her a bit, now flew directly towards her, its mouth opened wide as if to snatch her up midair and devour her.
Okay, I’ve got to use it now, right? Surely I do.
Even midair, where it should have had an overwhelming advantage, Ziragoth was denied its meal. The moment it snapped its jaws shut, Kalana tucked her knees into her chest, narrowly avoiding being eaten. Then she kicked off the dragon’s face and entered a backflip before falling dozens of feet and landing dexterously atop a still-intact section of the wall. At least, intact for the moment.
Clearly frustrated, Ziragoth roared and flew directly at Kal, who then leapt into the air a second time as the dragon crashed directly into—then through—the stone-built fortification, absolutely obliterating another large section of it and causing two of the towers built on top of it to collapse; this, as Kalana landed next to Zach in a crouch, her eyes deadly serious and her expression tight as though deep in concentration.
“I think it’s mad at me,” Kalana said.
Zach sighed. “I think it’s mad at me.”
She gave him a confused look, but rather than explain, he called out to Vim over the Comm. “How long?” he asked.
“A b…a bit more,” the leader of the Royal-Roses said, panting.
Dammit!
An ear-piercing screech came from the wyvern, and along with it a bright flash of orange. It was now flying several-hundred feet up in the air, and it was launching multiple fireballs at the two of them. Thankfully, however, the distance between them and Ziragoth meant that, unlike before, there was actually time for them to get away—albeit not a whole lot. Together with Kalana, Zach sprinted as fast as he could as a wave of heat, light, and an earthquake-like trembling punctuated each massive explosion as the wyvern attempted to bomb them from the sky. Zach did his best to run in a direction that was away from the other members of the raid, who were all still occupied fighting the adds.
“Holy shit!” Zach cried, looking over his shoulder.
Behind him, there were now multiple sites of fire and destruction, six in total, and all but one was still on fire. Each site consisted of basically a deep crater in the ground that was shooting out flames like a firepit. Zach hoped nobody had plans to build a home or a community in these grasslands any time soon, because between this and the shit he’d done yesterday, it was going to take like a century of landscaping to get this stretch of land back in serviceable order.
As though realizing it was getting nowhere with attacks from the sky, Ziragoth turned its body in their direction and began diving at breakneck speed towards the two of them. Glancing over his shoulder as he ran, Zach yelped as he realized the dragon was gaining on him. It was too fast. There was no way he could outrun it. And so, he stopped short, and Kal also halted alongside him. Then he grabbed her, picked her up, and an instant before the dragon slammed down on top of them, he activated Phase Blink, carrying them both to safety.
The sound of the sonic boom coincidentally synced with the wyvern’s impact with the ground, and together, the combined noise was enough to create a thunderous echo that Zach imagined could be heard for a hundred miles. It elicited another round of terrified questions from the raid, to whom Zach was now likely proving to be an even greater source of horror than the dragon.
“GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The dragon’s eyes were locked on Kalana. Clearly, this was personal. It was intent on making Zach watch her die. The fact it was such a chickenshit that it had to resort to this only made him hate it more. “I don’t know how to get it off you,” Zach said nervously.
“I’m gonna be fine,” Kalana said. “Is there any way you can hurt it while I distract it.”
Zach opened his mouth to deny the possibility, then paused as he realized that there was, in fact, a way. “Actually…well, yeah. I mean, if I had enough distance and could get behind it. But I don’t like the idea of you—”
“Okay, then do it!”
Before Zach could utter another word to her, Kalana was sprinting towards the dragon, who itself was charging towards Kalana, giving Zach exactly the distance, space, and positioning that he needed. Even still, it was incredibly hard for him to focus when the love of his life was perpetually just a single bite, scratch, stomp, or fireball away from being turned into roadkill or a burnt piece of toast.
Almost from the moment the two clashed, things ended up back in the air again. For some reason, it seemed like any time Kalana tussled with the dragon, things inevitably ended up in the sky. Zach wasn’t sure if that was just a biproduct of both their temperaments or maybe some other factor, but the two of them just did not seem capable of keeping the fight on the ground. Seriously!
The exact instant that the two met, Ziragoth struck out with its wing, Kalana flipped over it and landed onto its back, causing Ziragoth to again take to the skies, and now, Zach was left down here shaking his head in absolute disbelief as Kalana did cartwheels on its back, pissing it off even more while it flew through a cloud. Why couldn’t she just fight like a normal person? The two of them and their fucking sky acrobatics. Zach had enough of this already!
Every second brought Zach closer to the verge of panic as the strangest back-and-forth he’d ever witnessed played out in the North-Bastian summer sky. At an almost predictable interval, Ziragoth would flip its body violently, launching Kal off of it, then try to snatch her out of the air with its mouth. Somehow, Kal would always manage to jump off its mouth—and in one instance, its fang—and put herself out of harm’s way as it snapped shut. This would typically see her landing once more on its back, repeating the process all over again.
It did help Zach to understand one thing, however. Up until now, he hadn’t been sure if Kal had the same penchant for predicting enemy attacks that he did. But now, he could clearly see that the two of them were different. Whereas Zach was able to evade the dragon by reading its body language, Kalana was just so damn fast and had such incredible cat-like reflexes that she was able to more-or-less survive attack after attack even while having no clue what was coming at her.
The problem with this, however, was that as a result of it, every time she avoided something the dragon sent her way, she did so at the last possible second, making it virtually impossible for Zach to know whether or not he should Phase Rescue. And that was why, after the absolute circus taking place in the skies became too much for him to mentally handle another second of, he activated boundless and then Phase Rescue, pulling her back to his side.
Predictably, she reappeared grumpy. Somehow, even before the blue light faded and deposited her next to him, her arms were already pre-folded in disapproval and she was giving him an icy glare.
“Zach! Why’d you blue-thing warp me? I was doing perfectly—”
“I don’t even want to hear it!” he shouted at her. “Kal, can you please stop fighting the thing in the Gods-damned sky? I’m serious!”
“But it’s fun,” she grumbled, pouting.
“FUN?” he screamed at her. Then he pointed to the dragon, which was trying yet again to divebomb the two of them. “I thought I was going to have a fucking heart attack, Kal. It almost ate you like fifteen times.”
“Zach, please, language,” Mr. Oren said over the Comm.
“Gods-dammit leave me alone with your fucking language rules!” he screamed back, ripping the Comm out of his ear and throwing it onto the ground before stepping on it and smashing it to pieces. “Shit, I actually needed that.”
Kalana tsked. “See? You broke it. This is why I said you need—”
“I DON’T NEED FUCKING ANGER MANAGEMENT! Now run.”
Yet again, Zach tried—and failed—to outrun the dragon-turned-homing-missile, and instead, he was forced to scoop up Kalana and Phase Blink away with her a second time as Ziragoth crashed into the terrain with explosive force. And also like before, upon turning itself around to face in their direction, it proved itself to still be totally fixated on killing Kalana.
“Listen, Kal,” Zach said to her, even as the dragon began to charge. “If I use a maximum-distance wave slash and aim for its weak point, I think I can—oh, no. Oh, you mother….!”
Even before he’d finished speaking, Kalana was back in the Gods-damned-mother-fucking sky! Had she listened to nothing he said? Why did she have to fight it up there? The wyvern had the advantage in any kind of aerial encounter. Did Kalana not know that? Was Kalana not actually aware that she was not a dragon? This was some kind of disease or mental illness. It had to be. Because she was definitely doing this on purpose. Zach had managed to fight Ziragoth way more than she had—across two different regions, nonetheless—without ever once ending up in the sky. (Doomsday Slash doesn’t count, that’s different!) This was just too aggravating. No man should have to deal with this level of stress.
Why the hell did she have to keep fighting in the sky? This was bullshit!