LORD OF THE SKY

Yue and Ivan each dodged to the side as the dragon burrowed into the spot they were formerly standing on. Ivan propped Will over his shoulder as he made sure he wouldn't drop him. Someone of Will's statue wasn't even that heavy for Ivan. The dragon launched into the air again, turning around to face the duo before locking its straight on Ivan.

It opened its gaping maw wide as it stood stationary in the air. Its throat became visibly brighter as whatever was being built in it illuminated with a bright intensity. The parks of flames dancing around its mouth grew noticeable brighter before—

BOOM!

With great intensity, a stream of flame was shot in Ivan's direction. Seeing this he tossed Will over to Yue, all before jumping off the cliff and into the stream the waterfall created. He inwardly let out a sigh of relief as he narrowly managed to avoid getting burned to a crisp. The ring on his finger glowed green before his familiar gauntlets appeared on his hands.

BZZZZZZT!

Unnoticeable sparks of gray skid across the water's surface as bubbles began to form. Then suddenly, the dragon that was about to go after Yue went flying back as a large fist of ice collided with its body. Ivan jumped out of the water as he checked to see the damages.

'Nothing huh… Well, at least I know now that neither Yue and I are not its targets.' As he had expected the dragon flew back towards them without a single bruise or any signs of injury. However, instead of attacking Ivan who had thought he angered it, it instead turned its direction back towards Yue.

When he was holding Will it shot at him, now that Yue is holding Will the dragon is after her. This thing had a goal in mind, pursuing its mission without any regard for its wellbeing. Though these beasts were presumed to have gone extinct five hundred years ago they were feared for their tough scales and immense strength. Any normal attack isn't going to do anything to it, maybe multiple attacks would work with enough strength.

And so Ivan used this giant arm of his to climb back to the top of the waterfall where Yue was. A dagger appeared in his left hand as he cut his right palm. The blood that flowed from that wound entered the ice arm as its mass and density increased. Yue rushed over to his side with Will over her shoulders, taking defense behind the giant ice arm as she mustered up the mana for a powerful spell.

Ivan held the dagger in his mouth before slashing it across his other palm. Reequipping the gauntlet after. He ran on over to the stream and dipped his hand in, now he had two giant fists made of ice ready to beat the shit out of this dragon.

The dragon narrowed its eyes at the giant fists of ice with coursing red lines, huffing out of its nose before releasing another flamethrower attack. But this time Ivan was ready, his hands melted almost immediately under the intensity of the flames, but each time they melted away new ice and blood took their place. Ivan took steps back as the stream of water was becoming noticeably less full after his constant transmutation. He looked back over at Yue to see if she was ready, she, in turn, nodded before placing Will on the ground and standing beside Ivan.

She held her hands in front of her before closing her eyes and muttering—

"Heavensfall."

A whirling black sphere appeared above the dragon's head. Its darkness was so consuming that it felt like one would be sucked into it the moment they laid eyes upon it. And with great momentum it collided with the dragon's head, bringing it to the ground in a swift three seconds. The intensity of the sphere's weight only grew with the dragon's groans. It wasn't long before a gaping crater was created in the indent of the dragon.

Ivan took the moment the dragon was suffering under the weight to get closer, as the time they had to abuse this moment was proportional to Yue's mana reserves. The greatest downside of gravity magic was that it was more costly to cast on things other than oneself, meaning Yue's reserves are disappearing by the second.

He stared down at the dragon before sending in both his giant fists of ice to pummel it. The banging noises these fists made with each contact resounded throughout the mountain range for all to hear.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The force of the gravity weakened as Yue felt her mana reserves dissipate. Slowly the dragon got off its belly, then it bent its knee, and seconds later it was back to full standing. Its bruised and battered body took to the air as Ivan attempted to pull it back down with the ice giant's hands.

However, the dragon only launched another flame attack beneath it for all the ice to evaporate. While the beast was still in the air Ivan was just happy to see that it could bleed. If he couldn't pierce its hard scales then he was going to just break everything inside. He grabbed Will before heading further down the stream, Yue and subsequently the dragon following after.

That last flame attack had evaporated a lot of the water Ivan was going to use. So what he needed right now was to find the source and hope it's a big one. Preferably a lake or river. He trusted Yue to guard his back with water spells until they made it. And just like he had hoped, a lake stood before him.

He dove into the water with Will, pulling out his trusty dagger and slashing it against his chest. Blood flowed freely as it started to glow a bright red, each strand connected as they took Ivan as its source. The mana he imbued offered a glittering effect. And with a loud buzz, the ice giant had appeared again in its full glory.

The dragon took its eyes away from Yue as it eyed the new opponent, spotting Ivan and Will at its core. It built up the mana in its throat before spitting another flamethrower towards the ice giant's chest. In response, the ice giant swung its arm underhanded as it grazed the water of the lake. The same water that had gone flying from that underhanded swing turned to ice as it intercepted the flames.

SSSSZZZZZZZ!

The flames sizzled out as steam enveloped the area. The dragon lost sight of its target underneath that large blanket of steam. It eyed the area before deciding to nuke it all, launching fire attacks one after another with faith that it'll eventually hit Ivan and Will. However, under its raging state, it completely neglected the fourth player in this game.

"...Heavensfall." The dragon felt another large weight hit its head as it was sent hurtling towards the blanket of steam. Its clouds swiftly pushed away as the winds from the impact held a large force. In this brief second, before the steam came back, the dragon spotted the ice giant that had been hidden.

As this was her second time launching this large costing attack Yue slumped her body against a tree as she left the rest to Ivan. The dragon would only be in contact with the floor for three seconds before the effects of Heavensfall disappeared. This time was more than enough for Ivan who hid under the fog's density to swiftly reach the dragon.

It was all too late for the dragon to dodge the moment it felt the ice fist hit its face again. Not allowing it a chance to get back up Ivan wailed a flurry of punches as the loud impact sounds resounded again. This time the dragon finally looked in worse condition as its resistance to the pummeling lessened more and more.

Seeing this, Ivan directed the ice giant to reach for the dragon's wings. With his intent being to ground the beast down here with him for the rest of its short life.

"W-W-Wait! Please, I beg you! My wings… Mnm! It hurts, it hurts, but also… hehehe. A voice emanated from the surrounding area as Ivan stopped his motions. That definitely wasn't Yue's voice, and it sure as hell wasn't Will's. So that could only mean…..

He applied more pressure into the ice giant's arms as it threatened to rip off the dragon's wings.

"I-It's me!... Please, strong adventurer… May we speak under different terms?! Hngh!" That voice emanated again, but this time Ivan kept an eye on the dragon, and at no point did it ever open its mouth.

Which means the dragon must be using some sort of telepathy magic to speak with him. Judging by its voice he judged it to be female… though what bothered him was the moans it let out as he pulled on the wings.

"Hyah! To be so rough with me, the princess of the dragonkin~!... What would my people think of me now if they saw me in this condition? U-Um but I must insist that I'd like to keep my wings…"

The former murderous glint was nowhere to be seen in its eyes as it turned back to him with watery ones instead. That cruel gold lightened to that of a dandelion. Ivan was a bit shocked by this transformation but refusing to let his guard down he applied even more force.

"Grgh! I-I understand the precaution, adventurer. But please allow me to explain myself."

Ivan did indeed have questions regarding this beast's existence. Like what a species thought to have been wiped out five hundred years ago doing here? Sure the mountains seem like a great place for a dragon to build a nest but with a town only two hours away there was no way it'd have never been sighted.

What bothered him, even more, is why it was capable of speech, the only explanation is that it was no ordinary dragon. "You're a dragonmen, ain't ya?"

Seeing that lying would be useless in this situation the dragon decided to reveal its identity. "... Indeed. I am a proud member of the dragonmen race. And I am willing to reveal my intentions so long as you release your hold of my wings."

Ivan glared at it for a moment before pulling hard with both of his hands. Ignoring the moans of the dragonman as he began his questioning. "What are you doing here? Why hunt this adventurer so intently?"

The dragonman trembled a bit as it turned its gaze to meet him. "It was a man in a dark robe. He took control of me and ordered me to kill that young man and the adventurers. You see… I left my village to collect info on the summoned heroes. I was so weary by the time I crossed the sea I felt the need to rest in this mountain range. So using my traits as a dragonmen I transformed to protect myself. But we dragonmen are known for sleeping through anything you see, that's when someone took the opportunity I was asleep to use some dark magic to brainwash me. For a day he cast his dark magic with frightening proficiency, before I knew it I was attacking adventures that made it up here."

According to her, a dragonmen's wings were very sensitive. It was the shock of pain she felt from Ivan's tearing off her wings that broke her out of the spell. Though she had an unclear recollection of what took place during those days, she was certain that the dark mage that had controlled her was creating an army to attack Ur. Her duty to kill any adventurers in the mountain seemed like a move made by the mage to make sure no one who entered the mountains left with news of his plans.

She pleaded for Ivan to release her as she felt a duty to put an end to the dark mage's acts. Offering him her servitude or even her life, anything if it meant making sure the dark mage dies before he can endanger any more lives. She was that afraid of his brainwashing skills.

Ivan's hold on her lessened as she fell to the ground, he was holding her up by the wings. If this dragon were telling the truth then the disappearance of Aiko's student and her brainwashing almost lined up. A human proficient in dark magic, a young one at that. He was almost certain it was the classmate he was asked to retrieve.

He tensed up as the dragon's body became wrapped in a cocoon of mana and gradually started to shrink. His wariness turned to awe as what emerged from the cocoon was a beautiful woman. She had black hair and piercing gold eyes. Sitting on her knees, she supported her body with one hand while rubbing her back with the other. Thick luxurious hair that went down to her waist.

With the figure of a young woman in her early twenties, she stood at over 170 centimeters. Her black traditional kimono with floral designs did very little to hide her very well-endowed chest. She got up from her knees and dusted herself off.

"My name is Tio Klarus. I'm a dragonman of the Klarus clan."

Ignoring her introduction Ivan immediately started asking questions about the dark mage. From her description he was a human with back hair and eyes, bearing the face of a child rather than a man. According to her the last words she heard from him was, "This proves I'm better than him. I'm the real hero here!" This confirmed Ivan's thoughts as he was now 99% certain this dark mage was Shimizu.

In a day he and his monster of four thousand would reach Ur. With all that in mind, he dissolved the giant made of ice before dragging Will's body to shore. Once he reached the shore he stood right in front of Tio. He withdrew a tiny vial from his satchel and presented it to her.

"Drink it. If you are really telling the truth and are determined to stop the dark mage then promise me under this poison. I cannot discern which of your words are lies or truths, so drink this poison that will kill you in a week. I'm confident even a dragon shall succumb to its effects. Once we successfully ward off the attack I shall hand you the antidote. So what do you say, are you willing to bet your life on the truth?"

Tio stared at the vial in the masked man's hand. After having killed a dozen adventurers she did feel a tinge of responsibility in aiding the dark mage's machinations. A responsibility she planned to clear by destroying him. Resolutely she took the vial and drank its contents within seconds.

Ivan sighed at this display before signing in relief. As cliché as it was, what he had done was just a test. Even with his assortment of resources, he wasn't confident to have a poison strong enough to kill a dragon within a week. In a month? Sure. But definitely not a week. He felt a little bit of assurance knowing this dragon had gone forth trusting that he'd give her the antidote when this was all over. With that in mind, he headed towards Yue.

Picking her up by her bottom, he supported her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sunk her teeth in. Tio stood in a daze as she was sure the vampire race had gone extinct three hundred years ago.

And after that could only be called the meeting of two members of a race thought to be extinguished.

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Sorry, was in a bit of a slump with this one too. But regardless I hoped you enjoyed it, especially the fighting scene. Though I understand if a bit of it seems unclear. I'm excited for when the workshop is built, I got so many plans~!

Thanks for reading today's chapter, have a great evening and see you soon!

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