Ethan walked away from the remnants of the green crystal.
“I never thought I’d be fighting the ent,” Ethan chuckled. “Only the demons are left now. Let’s see if they’ve adapted at all. This body is much weaker than my dragon form, so maybe they’ll show me something interesting.”
The last few days had been one fight after the other as Ethan rushed from one pillar of light to the next. He’d learned a lot about the limitations of his humanoid form, which included a significant reduction in strength and less defence due to the lack of scale coverage and the fact that his Eldritch Breath was unusable. The size difference was noticeable, and the added mass of the dragon form added much to his strikes, which accounted for a lot of the strength difference, but he’d grown fond of his human form for its versatility. The ability to use weapons and tools was a game-changer. He was more flexible, agile and dextrous in his human form, and best of all, the fights provided some challenge as he couldn’t just steamroll everything with his weight and size alone.
“I didn’t think I’d miss the life-and-death struggle,” Ethan shook his head with a rueful smile. “Well, not really life and death, but the challenge of having to push myself at least.”
The red pillar grew closer as he kept walking and thinking, but Ethan frowned as he looked around.
“Where are they?” He wondered. There was no demon in sight.
Ethan clutched his sword tight and prepared himself as he pushed his senses to their limits. The area around the crystal was empty. There were no demons, only trampled earth and undergrowth.
Ethan stepped into the clearing and looked around, but nothing happened. He approached the crystal, tension visible on his face and shoulders, but nothing happened.
He placed his hand on the crystal, and a massive claw manifested before him enveloped him, and lifted him into the air.
“Holy crap!” he exclaimed as he struggled against the grip. He tried to use his tendrils, tail and even his horns, but nothing so much as scratched or shifted the creature’s grip.
A portal had appeared without his notice, and a massive creature manifested through it. The long arm, followed by the rest of its gargantuan body, revealed itself.
“Oh, shit!” Ethan’s eyes widened as he witnessed the giant red dragon squeeze through the portal and tower above him. It stood almost twenty feet tall, nearly twice his size in his dragon form. Its blazing orange eyes glared down at him, and Ethan felt something within his body rebel. “Fuck this!”
Shapechange caused his body to turn fluid as it shifted into his dragon form, and he managed to extricate himself from his opponent's grip. The red dragon's eyes narrowed as a growl rumbled from its chest.
“Abomination!” It roared as Ethan scrambled to make some distance. “I shall cleanse this world of your filth!”
A glow emanated from the dragon’s chest as flames blossomed in its mouth. A wide cone of fire surged from the dragon, and Ethan dove aside, barely escaping in time.
“Fuck!” Ethan lamented as he felt his scales sear under the heat. “No Qi! Why did I take this risk?!”
Ethan scrambled, dove and dodged frantically as the red dragon, almost leisurely, threw attacks at him. Ethan heard the rumble of the dragon's laughter and growled in return.
“Fucker! Arrogant shit!” Ethan saw red and lost himself to a rage he’d suppressed for weeks. Every indignity he’d weathered in his life, every disrespect and hurt surged into the foreground of his mind as his instincts took over. His body sped up, but rather than flee, he moved closer.
The red dragon frowned and snickered as it raised a claw and slammed it down, but Ethan had avoided it by flapping his wings and soaring to the side. He flapped hard and flew toward the dragon’s head as his body squirmed with tendrils. What little Qi he’d regenerated was used to form the tendrils and shape them into lamprey-mouth-tipped tentacles wrapped around the dragon's neck and latched on.
The red dragon roared and swiped its claws, severing several tendrils, but more was formed as Qi flooded Ethan’s body, originating from the lamprey mouths.
“I can drain Qi from an enemy and use it?” Ethan’s consciousness was a passenger, along for the ride. He had no control over his body but saw and felt everything that happened. “That shouldn’t be possible! It’s not the same type of Qi! How is this possible?”
Around and around, Ethan flew as more and more tendrils enveloped the red dragon until it roared in frustration, and a wave of fire burst from its body. Ethan’s tendrils evaporated from the heat, sending him flying back.
Several dozen meters away, he regained his stability and continued his circling, though he didn’t approach this time. He circled and watched the red dragon thrash and roar. Blood poured down its body as fire wafted from it. Ethan noticed it was panting and sneered as the fire faded.
The red dragon twisted around and met Ethan’s eyes with a glare that turned into a wide-eyed stare—a beam of purple energy blasted from Ethan’s mouth, striking the red dragon in the chest.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, and the red dragon's expression turned scornful, but then a painful tremor shook its body. Pustules erupted on the red dragon’s chest and spread as wounds opened.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Red Fire-Qi emerged from the dragon’s scales and fought the corruption back, but it gave Ethan enough time to quickly fly closer to the red dragon and snap his jaws around the red dragon's jugular.
Ethan brought both of them to the ground. He ground his teeth and twisted and savaged the dragon’s throat. With a final gurgle, the red dragon died.
Ethan still didn’t regain control as another surge of Qi flowed out of his body. Purple tendrils surged from his body, dug into the dragon beneath him, and consumed everything they could.
After a few seconds, Ethan finally managed to regain control of himself. The tendrils were searching and reaching through the red dragon’s body, but Ethan stopped them as he realised what they were going for.
“It would probably be great for me,” Ethan lamented. “But, I think Laila would benefit far more from the core of a red dragon.”
Ethan let the tendrils eat the rest of the dragon, leaving the core to thump onto the ground. He turned to the crystal, touched it, and caused it to crumble into dust before he picked the core up and took off.
The flight back to the mountain took a few minutes, but he landed without much issue and settled down to review his gains.
His body ached where he’d been burned, but as Ethan watched, a purple membrane grew over the scales, and the pain lessened.
“Regenerative scales, huh?” Ethan smirked. “That was too close, though. Did the demons retreat and send another dragon to fight me? That would make sense since it only showed up when I did. I really need to get a grip on these instincts. I completely lost it the moment my pride as a dragon was threatened. And that savagery. That was too much. Also, what the hell is up with those tendrils draining Qi? I shouldn’t have been able to use that Qi. It wasn’t eldritch. Or is that a part of the eldritch Qi? To usurp other types of energy?”
Ethan shook his head and dove into his core. There was an immense reservoir of biomass waiting for his use. He was about to begin when he was interrupted by a notification he’d ignored.
[Quest Complete! Invasion!]
[Calculating Rewards.]
[Lair Core Received.]
[Initializing Lair Creation.]
***
Laila stomped out of the building as it collapsed behind her. Golden fire followed in her wake as she glared at the people gathered on the square outside. Alissa stood not far away, frowning at the people as well.
“Listen up, shitstains!” Laila shouted through gritted teeth. “There’s been a change in leadership around here. Your controlling bastard of a leader is dead, as are his closest lieutenants.”
“Why would you do that?” someone asked. “He was human, like us! You could have done this differently. There was no need to kill them!”
“Just like they had no reason to kill my family!” Laila screamed, and fire surged from her body. “You’re damned lucky I don’t burn everything to the ground! So, shut up, sit down and do as you’re told!”
Alissa approached Laila with her hands raised.
“Please, Laila,” she said calmly. “I know you’re angry and have every right to be. But, please, this helps nobody. We already discussed it, didn’t we? How we should avoid terrifying them and leading them through fear? As it stands, it might have been better for Ethan to do this.”
Laila closed her eyes, and the flames dimmed. She stood with her eyes closed for several minutes as the crowd murmured, then opened them and met Alissa’s eyes.
“You’re right,” Laila nodded. “I’m sorry. It’s just-I-. They’re gone, Alissa. Dead because I stole the egg and fled.”
“I know,” Alissa grimaced. “Jason-. I didn’t know he was that cruel and vindictive. I never should have joined his group.”
“Yeah,” Laila sighed and rubbed her eyes. “This is all kinds of messed up. Do you think you could handle the rest? I’m tired and could use some time.”
“Sure,” Alissa nodded. “Just don’t go too far, alright? There’s still the red pil-”
An exclamation cut off Alissa’s words from the crowd.
“It’s gone!” Someone shouted. “The red pillar is gone. We’re saved!”
“Heh,” Alissa shook her head. “Good timing.”
Alissa met Laila’s eyes, and they nodded before turning to the crowd.
“Yes,” Alissa said. “The pillars are gone, and the Invaders have been fought off, for now.”
“Who did it?” a man asked.
“An ally of ours,” Laila explained. “Someone we met after we escaped the city.”
“I became disillusioned after learning some things about our previous leadership,” Alissa said. “You’re going to be feeling some changes as well, I assume. It came to my attention that Jason and his core team have been using mind-controlling effects to influence any of you who showed doubt.”
“Yeah,” an angry voice sounded from the rear of the crowd. “I’ve noticed. How do we know you won’t do the same?”
“Because I’ve been a victim of it,” Laila answered. “And, we do not need to. You’ll soon see the benefits of joining us.”
“And, those are?” the same voice asked.
“Freedom,” Alissa said as she stood straight. “Liberty. There will be an election. You will choose who leads you. It does not have to be either of us.”
“So, you want it to be your ally, then?” another voice sneered. “Figures.”
“No,” Alissa shook her head. “That’s not it at all. He doesn’t want to lead. I’m pretty sure he’d go far away if we tried to force leadership on him.”
“You will choose among yourselves,” Laila picked up the explanation. “If you choose one of us, then fine, though I doubt it.”
“Anyway,” Alissa cut off any further arguments and questions. “This is neither the time nor place for this discussion. “You should take some time to figure things out, and we’ll call for another meeting in a week’s time.”
After a few minutes of muttering, the crowd dispersed, and Alissa turned to Laila.
“Now,” she said. “We need to protect the compound. The Invaders seem to be gone, but there may be stragglers, and other monsters are abundant. Do you think we could handle it on our own?”
“Yeah,” Laila sighed. “But not for a week. We should put the word out and find some others who could help us. Though you’re right, they should take some time for themselves. I’ll stick around for a day or two, but then I’m heading back to the mountain.”
“I see,” Alissa grimaced. “We’ll make do. Do you think Ethan would want the help?”
“No,” Laila shook her head and smiled ruefully. “And, I don’t think he should. If he does everything, we’ll grow dependent on him, and the moment he’s not around for whatever reason, we’ll stumble and fall.”
“True,” Alissa frowned and bit her lip. “Alright, we’ll figure it out on our own.”