Dragonlord

Ep 145. This Cannot Be Mere Coincidence. (4)

Ep 145. This Cannot Be Mere Coincidence. (4)

What followed thereafter was a pure, one-sided torture.

Despite the screams continuing to explode from around them, the scream that now filled the air most was the Reaper’s. The blue glow in his eyes were beginning to wane as they rapidly shut and opened, their mind endlessly waking and shutting down from the excessive amount of pain.

But even as Serenis’ claws continued to chip away at the professor’s body with a deathly menace, she faintly held onto hope.

‘Wake up.’

Again, her claws would tear out another piece of flesh from the monster’s body.

‘Wake up.’

And somewhere in the deathly mists behind her, she knew that the others would’ve heard Karas’ screams by now – Light especially would’ve recognized the sound of her teacher’s screams.

Then, the only reason Light wasn’t rushing in to stop Serenis could only be because the present dangers were already overwhelming them.

And so, Serenis plunged her magicked claws into the feathered figure beneath her once more, slashing through the professor’s already-torn shoulder.

“WAKE UP, KARAS!!”

When the dragonlord finally broke her silence, the Reaper’s heaving breaths immediately died down. His dreary eyes once again gained focus as he took note of the desperation in her voice.

“You thought…that torture would warrant his return? Haha…”

At the Reaper’s mocking voice, Serenis’ widened eyes soon thinned in evident anger.

But just as she was about to rip out another piece of the possessed flesh, Felicir’s armless shoulder began to twitch.

“…You struggle in vain, dragonlord.”

Translucent chains struck out from within his exposed flesh to skewer a number of the spirits floating about. High-pitched shrieks filled the air as the chains began to recede, dragging them back towards their captor.

The spirits began to claw the ground, as if they knew what would become of them upon returning to the monster’s body. But their efforts amounted to little as the chains mercilessly dragged them back against their will, marking an end to their small freedom.

As the shades sunk back into Karas’ body, their screams immediately ceased with a final, horrifying howl.

Following suit, a colorless cloud began to churn around where Karas’ limb had once been. The cloud clearly took the form of the professor’s lost limb, quickly solidifying in form.

And soon enough, the cloud would solidify in form to restore the monster’s missing right arm, gripping onto the ankle of the dragon towering above him.

“Try harder.”

Serenis watched the scene unfold with a disturbed, bewildered expression. The dying academic had suddenly seemed restored in vigor – and clearly in form, with his missing limb making a near-instant return.

The sharp jolt of pain coming from her leg only emphasized the disturbing reality of the situation.

“What…was that?”

“Why, I dined.”

“…On spirits?”

“What else?”

A mocking grin soon formed over the Reaper’s face. His pained expression was long gone, replaced by his usual demeanor once more.

“Monsters sustain themselves from the mana in the air or their foods, but sometimes, those just won’t do. In rare cases, they restore vigor from other sources they’re capable of processing – for example, this one has been feeding on the dead for centuries.”

“…”

“Not that you would’ve known. I’m sure he did a good job of deceiving those around him.”

Serenis didn’t bother returning a response.

Instead, small particles of white began to gleam around the feathered figure, forming a constellation of tiny stars. Their light grew brighter by the second, as did the weight of the dragon above Karas.

Each particle of light soon exploded in magic, turning into rays of light that sunk into the monster’s flesh. The burning rays webbed through his body in a chaotic manner, stringing the possessed academic like a lump of butcher’s meat.

When each ray then exploded in magic from within his body, his entire figure seemed to melt and churn, reducing itself to a pool of black shadow.

Unfortunately, the Reaper’s presumed second death was short-lived. The fragmented shadows began moving of their own will, gathering into the ground some ways away from Serenis.

Dozens of translucent chains once again struck out from the black pool, each latching onto a haunting spirit.

Immediately, Serenis slashed the air with her hand, sending a blade of mana to soar across the air and sever the chains. But contrary to her hopes, the spell merely passed through the monster’s chains, seemingly unable to stop their onslaught.

As another few dozen souls were absorbed into the shadow on the ground, the black pool would churn and bubble.

Once again, the Monster of Mire emerged from the ground in his fully restored form.

“My. That was close, dragonlord.”

“…”

“Still…it wasn’t quite close enough. It’d be quite the shame to suffer a second death by your hands.”

Again, Serenis returned no response.

She instead stomped the ground, her eyes fixed on the shadowy figure of her enemy.

Somewhere above the mass of deathly mist that covered the area, a single star began to gleam in the distant sky, heeding the dragonlord’s will.

Without warning, a massive ray of starlight blasted through the churning spirits, crashing down to smite the possessed academic. His black figure was instantly swallowed by the pillar of light that incinerated the ground whole.

Another cackling laughter echoed from within.

The monster’s faded silhouette continued to darken from within the pillar of starlight. Hundreds of chains stripped the dead of their freedom to instead serve as fuel for the captor that resided within.

‘How much will it take to overcome your magic?’

Instead of attempting another escape, the Reaper held his ground within the pillar, feasting away on the numerous souls he’d captured. His body continued to melt and restore itself, but he paid no mind to his deteriorating body.

Instead, he raised his clawed hand above him. Strips of black mana gathered from every direction to form a single sphere above his palm, holding itself firm amidst the rain of magic.

“Shall we find out?”

A massive explosion of shadows followed the sphere’s formation.

Felicir held firm above the molten floors, keeping his hand firmly raised. Above him was the same pitch-black orb, unleashing a massive pillar of black mana to mimic the dragonlord’s spell.

“Hmph!”

“…”

Eventually, Serenis’ spell began to wane – and the triumphant grin on Felicir continued to spread further. His own pillar of black mana continued to gain way above him bit by bit.

And eventually, the starlight would completely give way, shattering apart as it was replaced with a surge of dark.

When the looming threat dispersed, the Reaper slowly lowered his hands. A satisfied laughter slid out from him as he met the dragonlord’s gaze.

“Well, look at that. It WAS possible after all.”

“…”

“Oh, don’t look at me so. I’ve seen what your second lord is capable of – I knew what I was getting into.”

Finally, Serenis’ indifference broke as a small, derisive snort escaped her.

Soon, it’d turn to snickering; after another few seconds, it’d turn to outright laughter.

 The Reaper’s gaze visibly narrowed as he beheld his amused opponent.

“…You knew what you were getting into, you say.”

Serenis lightly shook her head, still amused by the irony of the Reaper’s statement. She was on the verge of wiping tears from her eyes.

With a light swipe of her foot on the ground, the sky would darken once more, beyond the swirling mist of spirits.

But even from beyond, the hundreds of glowing lights above were plainly visible now. Their intense brilliance seemed to pierce through the possessed academic’s mist, signifying what would soon come to pass.

In response, the Reaper’s narrowed eyes would soon well with bewilderment – as well as the fear that accompanied it.

“You assumed Vulka and I to be equals? Don’t be foolish, Felicir.”

Even as the dragonlord’s voice cut through the air, Felicir didn’t have the mental capacity to return another snarky response.

In fact, he didn’t even have the mental capacity to stop his shaking legs from slowing backing away, step by step.

Unfortunately, no amount of walking would allow him to hide from the very night sky.