Chapter Twenty-Four: Dragon Slayers'

I awoke to a rush of power. The sudden influx of energy was akin to jumping in an ice-cold lake in the middle of winter while being stabbed with an adrenaline needle. My entire body hummed with sudden vital energy.

Even though I now had energy coursing through my body once again, I still felt a fatigue that clung to my existence like weights tied to my ankles while trying to swim.

This polarizing state of being alerted me immediately to two facts upon my return to cognizance. The first was that Life Siphon had ended. The absorption it returned to me was the only thing that could have sparked the sudden surge of energy.

The second was that Noblesse Oblige was still in effect. I took that as a good sign for the moment. That meant my friends were still alive. If they had died I would have had the attributes I infused into them return to me.

Although with the nullification of my first two abilities, I needed to act fast. The sounds of battle were still ongoing and my allies would now be in a weaker state with Equivalent Exchange ending.

I rose to my feet and every fiber in my being attempted to resist the effort. Despite the boost I had received to my stamina and mana after Life Siphon ending, the negative side effects from fully depleting them as I had would linger for a time.

My still weakened attributes didn’t help matters.

Against my body's better judgment, I remained aloft and began to climb the embarkment of the crevice I had used as my shelter to gaze upon the aftermath of my skill.

I don’t plan on doing that anytime soon. I told myself as I wobbled up the side. I summoned Abyssal Ruination to my hands which added some power to my body, but it was still a struggle. Noblesse Oblige was most definitely a Hail Mary kind of skill, and I wasn’t catholic enough to want to subject myself to this kind of abuse often.

Soon I had reached the top and witnessed a wonderful sight as my eyes feasted on utter carnage, Derzeri’s body lay in ruins, his flesh spewed across the battlefield as my friends had ripped his body apart.

Compared to the beast of myth and legend he had been before all that remained was a husk of his former glory. The timely buffs had been used to significant purpose.

My friends themselves were all still intact if not worse for wear. The dramatic boost and following debuff of equivalent exchange had left its impact on them. Even no longer under the skill's effects, they were clearly haggard.

Relying solely on Noblesse Oblige now they continued to attack the prince, although to minimal effect. Without being under the effects of one skill the effects of the other had been mitigated. From my vantage point, I could see parts of the large dragon’s body had already started to recover.

Fucking draconic vitality! I cursed as I tried to assess our options.

“What’s the matter, guys? Just couldn’t do the job without me?” I called to my friends as I tried to formulate a plan. Jeloqa turned a weary smile in my direction before answering.

“Of course, we could, but we didn’t want you to miss out!”

“You lowly worms! As if this is enough to stop me!” Derzeri roared into our minds, although his actual body was mute. Considering Grenthar was currently doing his best to hack through the dragon’s neck.

Inside the dragon’s left flank, I could see Wuzzy and my other minions attempting to dig their way through the dragon’s excessively large body. Yet the harsh acids contained within his flesh were corroding their ectoplasm and I called them to extricate themselves.

I thought about using Equivalent Exchange on my friends but immediately rejected that idea. This had been the longest battle I had fought in this world and something I had suspected proved itself over the course of this engagement.

While it was true that mana and stamina recovered during battle the quality of it degraded the longer it went without being full. No, that’s not it. It’s more that our bodies themselves can’t always keep up with the constant strain. I observed. Using that skill on my team right now, so soon after using it before would not do them any favors.

I had a handful of skills I assessed and discarded as all of them would have limited effect in my current state, or reduced capabilities against such a high-level foe.

“Fools, when I recover I will make you suffer before your deaths!” The arrogant bastard raged. Even on the verge of death the asshole still felt superior. I consoled myself with the fact that even though dragons apparently talked with country accents, they were still as arrogant as lore suggested.

“You just going to stand there all day, or are you going to pull another victory out of your ass?” Grenthar shouted as he sluggishly swung his sword, still trying to separate Derzeri’s neck from his body.

“And ruin your fun?” I shot back, but my friend was right. I was overthinking this. There was an obvious solution.

Activating Castle of Fealty one more time I traded places with Grenthar. This brought me right next to the dragon’s side. I was still weak. The bonuses to the effects of my attributes not comparable to what was still temporarily coursing through my allies.

That wouldn’t matter. Not with what I had in mind.

“Carry me!” I commanded the two deathsworn nuckelavee I had summoned who were thankfully still intact. They pranced to both sides of me, each grabbing one of my arms and launching themselves into the air.

As they carried me higher I prepared myself. Soon I was easily 300 feet above Derzeri’s neck. It was torn to shreds, but still slowly recovering.

“Any last words?” I muttered. I didn’t expect the dragon to actually hear me. In truth, I didn’t care if he had any.

“My father will hunt you and kill you.” Was the prince’s response as I commanded my minions to drop me. As I fell I activated Equivalent Exchange on myself. Oh, I would suffer greatly for the skill.

I had just enough time for the attributes to return to me before I would pay the penalty and I could only imagine the hell the debuff would put me through after how worn I already was, but that didn’t matter now.

I plummeted from the air suddenly coursing with a meager amount of attributes, but it should be enough for this, as my body picked up momentum. I readied Abyssal Ruination for the final blow as I made sure my body would survive the fall.

Activating a skill I had obtained from taming some of the monsters my body turned gelatinous.

Skill: Amorphous Structure

Skill Rank: F (upgradable)

Skill Description: At the cost of 1% stamina per second you can make your body malleable.

I descended and with all I could muster, I swung my scythe through the dragon’s neck Allowing my weapon to reap its harvest. Power coursed through me as I became a puddle on the ground.

Splat!

***

“Are you just going to lay there all night?” Shialk asked me as he stood near my head looking down at me inquisitively.

“Can’t you see I am dead? I have died, go on without me. Or did you not see my body splatter on the ground like dropping an egg?” I groaned. While resting on the ground had allowed my stats to return to full, it was too soon before I could be considered recovered.

My friends however seemed to be in high spirits. Fuckers! I scowled at them inwardly.

“Don’t give us that shit, you’re fine!” Faerwyn chimed merrily.

“Are you enjoying watching me suffer?” I asked contemptuously as I turned a baleful eye in her direction.

“Now, now, stop teasing the poor, lame, king of darkness. Can’t you see he has a booboo?” Jeloqa scolded mockingly. That actually did make me laugh and slowly pushed myself up.

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The muscles, the bones, and everything else inside of me made their displeasure quite clear at being moved, but I insisted. My friends were feeling glad to be alive, and I didn’t want to be the one to ruin the party.

“I see you all managed to survive intact.” I beamed at them and could see that each one was now roughly 32. They had gained an average of 5 levels in that fight. A significant bonus.

“Yeah, although we probably should try to get away from here as quickly as possible. There’s no way that a prince of any kingdom would set up an operation like this, especially under a king’s orders, without some contingencies in place. we could have armed forces already marching our way.” Grenthar spoke up.

The rest of the group nodded at that. Even Velixen was clearly visible, which was a pleasant surprise. Grenthar looked down at me with concern.

“Can you walk? The exit tunnel through the ridge is a few miles long here. This close to the heart of the kingdom there were extra precautions in place.”

“I can walk, sure. But there’s something else I need to do first.” I said as hunger began flooding over me. A familiar gnawing sensation clawed through my stomach until my mind was falling under its influence. “Can you all… start without me? I will catch up.”

I shot Veli with a meaningful look. She had seen what I had done to the adventurers and as far as I knew kept my secret. While I could now safely assume they all would be okay with the darker parts of my racial traits, that didn’t mean I wanted them to watch as I gave in to them. She nodded, making me feel grateful to her.

“Gren, let’s go. He will catch up.” She said softly to our party leader. A moment later they were all marching away. I waited until they were out of sight. A few of them looked at me inquisitively but soon enough they had passed beyond the ridges and I could no longer see them or hear them.

I looked at Derzeri’s headless corpse. Even with his body in ruins the size of the thing was intimidating. I approached the dead prince’s side and began to feed. First the flesh. Memories washed over me.

The fifth son, one of the least sons. Derzeri had no great destiny, no hope for a future. He acted out, causing problems. If he was nothing important then he should live as he pleased. Then his mother got involved. Scolding him, beating him, terrifying him.

He started trying to accomplish more in life if only to prevent her from hunting him down again. She was no warrior, but all dragons are ferocious, and he was young.

Thanks to her though he found his calling as a warrior, and rose to become one of the prominent commanders under his father's authority. For 200 years he protected the borders. He could have leveled up, he could have gone adventuring. Instead, it was nothing but border skirmishes and weak monsters.

Yet, he performed his duty honorably, that was his objective. Live an honorable life of duty. Something his mother would be proud of. Between him and his men, they had never lost an engagement. So when his father sought volunteers to cut off the passages through The Wound he had volunteered.

After all, each individual team would have to be individually as strong as an army. Derzeri had thought his team was. What he had never counted on was how powerful the dark lord might be.

As those memories faded, I pushed deep inside his body until I ate his hearts, he had three of them. Power flooded through my body, but I didn’t bother looking at the skills yet. There would be time for that later.

Finally, I moved to Derzeri’s lifeless head and split it open with abyssal ruination, and began feasting on his brain. I took everything from his body. Knowledge of the dragon king's plans, new skills, and more experience.

Finishing the meal filled me with a new sense of power, but I continued to ignore the desire to discover what the system had blessed me with. With one last look at the ruins of the dragon, I turned my back and began making my way to my friends.

With a casual wave of my hands, an orb of dark fire shot out and created a pillar of flame in the center of the body. It was no ordinary fire, and soon combined with the internal acids the corpse began to burn away. A funeral pyre for someone worthy of a proper death.

***

“Sooo… “ Faerwyn said once I had caught up with my team again.

“So, what?” I asked.

“What did you get? For your class?”

“My what?” I was still preoccupied with digesting the events of the last battle and contending with the dragon’s memories to piece her words together, and then something clicked. “Nevermind.”

I had yet to look at my status screen and had been avoiding opening up the system notifications. That fight had hit too close to home for me. I had almost lost people, I had almost died myself.

While I wasn’t afraid of dying, it felt like I actually had something to lose now, and the brush of that affected me. It had put me in a mood to avoid thinking about the System for a while and just appreciate what I had.

My friends' eager inquiries reminded me of something Veipos had taught me during one of our tutoring lessons, that I had nearly forgotten. At level 20 one of my classes would either enhance or evolve. Alternatively, I may be granted a branching class based on my race, classes, and skills that I had invested in.

I began dreaming about the possibilities before I even opened my screen. If my Regulator class went to rank SS would my deathsworn be more powerful?

If Revenant evolved would my ghost powers evolve with it?

I hadn’t been in the mood before, but now with a bit of excitement I checked my notification screen and once again approved of the option for the abbreviated battle results.

Notice: You have Killed an Elite. You have gained an additional 50% experience bonus.

Notice. You have killed a titled enemy. You have been awarded a new skill. (see skill screen for details)

Notice. You have killed a member of a faction. You will be awarded a new title based on the faction of the deceased.

Faction: Draciolis Red Legion (see title screen for details)

You have defeated a total of 53 enemies. You have gained 113,000 experience points.

You have reached level 27

Notice. By reaching level 20 a new path for your classes has been opened.

You have 3 classes open for enhancement. 0 classes open for evolution. 1 branching class is available.

Current Path recommendation: Branching Class.

I read that screen twice for a moment. So far the system had been forcing its will upon me with no regard to what I desired. Not that it was entirely wrong, but that didn’t mean I liked it. I wanted to choose my own destiny, and it felt like the choice had been out of my hands.

I almost wanted to ignore its recommendations out of spite, but I wavered. I didn’t like picturing myself as some evil dark lord. I had no real desire to rule over millions of people. All I wanted was freedom, and the system had taken away my freedom to have it.

Yet in other ways it had given me everything I had secretly desired for. The chance to have allies that would never leave me lost and alone. The chance to be important. The chance to claim vengeance for all of those who suffered.

I thought about Shialk telling me about how slaves were treated in the Bright Lands, and anger washed over me.

No, I won’t become some sort of overlord. I won’t let the system so easily control me. But if it wants to offer me power, I will listen. For now.Until I have the power to ensure nobody I care about can be brought to harm. I will follow along until I have the power to break free from this fate.

I selected the option and a new screen opened up to me.

You have selected Branching Class.

Class Granted: Emperor of Darkness

I read the notification and laughed. Of course. You really have to try to hammer that home, don’t you? I will never be your puppet. Never. But… I will gladly use what you give me.

“What’s so funny? What did you get?” Faerwyn whined as she clutched my arm. I looked down at Shialk who was looking at me eagerly.

“Why are you guys always so insistent on discovering my secrets anyway? None of the others bug me as much as you two do?” My voice was light and rolling as I chuckled. The two scoffed indignantly.

“I can answer that.” Jeloqa laughed. “Fae’s a succubus. The fact that they can, eventually, feed off of the emotional energy people give off makes them more inquisitive when it comes to others. Shialk is a scholar. He likes knowing everything he can. Watch, when we finally get to the city, the first place he will go is the library.”

“I would just like to clarify that I don’t feed off of emotional energy. Yet. I only smell it and taste it.” Faerwyn objected. I smirked at her expression and raised an eye at Shialk who had no comeback for Jeloqa’s assessment.

“Guys I think that can wait. We are coming up on the first barricade.” Grenthar said. The tone of his voice was light with amusement.

I turned my gaze forward and there was a large iron door placed within the tunnel. Standing in front of it was a solitary demon guard. This one was not made out of rock like the other guards but was the same race as Grenthar.

“Aye Aye Gren!” I saluted and quietly fell into step.

A few moments later we were standing in front of the guard.

“Ho there! I am not seeing fit to let anyone pass as of right now. Not unless you have the documentation from the unit that was stationed there. Do you have the papers?” The man said.

“I’m sorry, we actually don’t. You see there was a horrible accident and the tent that contained the documentation was burned down by a random monster attack.” Faerwyn spoke up from behind, lying flawlessly. Her higher charisma instantly caught the guard's attention.

“Yeah, it was a huge mess. But we were cleared for travel and here we are. Unless you think the six of us could somehow get past the group out there without getting their permission?” Grenthar said, picking up on her lie with a smooth laugh.

Damn, this whole party is great at lying. I thought. It started making me wonder what other kind of mayhem they had gotten up to before I met them.

“No, I don’t suppose you could have. They’re a strong one those that are guarding this. I guess I’ll let you pass.” The gruff older demon replied after a moment and with a series of bangs on the door it began to open.

Making our way through we froze as the tunnel opened up to a small chamber filled with armed demons. Some of them were more armed than others, as standing between them was a tall black-skinned demon with a ghoulish face, four muscular arms, and pale white hair that was almost resemblant of Veli’s appearance.

“Ahh, so the mighty dragon slayers’ have finally graced my presence.” The demon drawled, his sharp, red, eyes studying our group with interest. All of my party members, save Velisen who had vanished from sight as we approached the barricade, instantly fell to their knees and lowered their heads.

I remained the only one standing as I turned my attention from the figure in front of me to my now prostrating friends. Anxiety and annoyance became dominant in my mind as my brain put the pieces together instantly. Like a children’s puzzle.

It was a response so ingrained into the fiber of their being, so manufactured that it could only be something instilled into them from a young age. that it didn’t surprise me when they spoke in unison.

“Hail! Prince Sherivos!” My demon friends declared in unison. Prince? We just dealt with one fucking prince and now we have to deal with another? You know what system. I take it back. Double-Fuck You.