Challengers And Vessels

"Are you positive that this dragon won't wake up?" One of the five's more cautious and serious members asked the one leading them.

They were running with great speed. They had distanced themselves for more than five kilometers from the secret ruins and quickly moved like a blur of wind.

"I'm positive. First of all, the soul detector is ringing wildly. Secondly, her younger sister is an Ice Heart Maiden! If I am not mistaken, the powerful soul of Crystal left the remnant power in the womb of her mother and allowed her sister to be born with that physical constitution. And finally, her natural affinity to ice is the highest I've seen in my life. If I wasn't sure she wasn't an Ice Soul Maiden, I would not have decided to go after this dragon!"

"Fine…But why did we leave her sister? If she was an Ice Heart Maiden, that would have saved us a lot of trouble, and we could have gone after other Monsters of Antiquity!"

"Because I don't want to trigger the anger and wrath of the Ice Soul Maiden! They are maidens who have the legendary ability! The one we also possess! Sacrifice! She willingly offered to give herself up for the sake of her sister. If we refused, that power would erupt! That's why I made everyone perform that Magical Vow to prove to her that we won't go after her sister to stop the power surging out of her!"

"Is she really that strong that we, the Slayers of Antiquity, cannot handle? We are after all, Challengers. We could on those called as Vessels." Another asked.

"Of course not. We could defeat her. But she would die and we lose a sacrifice! So I made that decision and calmed the Ice Soul Maiden! Besides, we can report and ask another team to take the Ice Heart Maiden."

"Hmp… I'm still not satisfied with this plan. We've slain Hell Hound Kings, Vishnus, and Mantis Emperors… but now, we're going to pull a cheap prank of awakening a dragon and making it fall asleep after eating this sacrifice." One of the five complained.

"You idiot! We can't even handle Basilisks and Cyclops! And you want to fight a dragon?! That's a Monster King of Antiquity! They are either a peak Challenger, or a low-ranking Vessel! Even fighting it in a sleepy state is risky enough! We will be employing several of those weapons we gave us to kill this creature!"

"Brenins are male dragons, right? What if this is a Rhiannon? Won't our sacrifice go to waste?"

"That's not an issue. Rhiannon dragons are known for their purity. This is also why they also require female sacrifices. They do not allow their purity to be tainted by any male. And as sacrifices often have soul-binding implication, Rhiannons disdain a male unworthy of her and demand female sacrifices." Another answered.

"We're approaching the chamber. Get ready." The leader warned.

The five approached the secret temple sealed under a mountain and approached the secret chamber.

Soon, the group ended up in the sacrificial chamber, and a slumbering dragon could be seen there.

"Woah…. This one is strong! It's even stronger than that Cyclops! This is a Vessel!"

"We attack together. Five Challengers can bring down a Vessel. And we aren't ordinary. Bring out the artifacts of legends. Be prepared to use everything! For the Five!"

"For the Five!" The others echoed, and each brought out a powerful artifact.

A sword, a spear, twin blades, a dark orb, and what appeared to be a potato.

The five disappeared and became like blurs of winds.

Crystal watched from the outside and could not help but be amazed. She had heard of the power that Vessel Challengers possessed but still could not believe their inhuman moves.

"A Vessel Challenger… Those strong enough to challenge the vessels of gods..."

The sword grew bright with a blue light, and a powerful flame lit it up.

A deadly purple light followed the spear with its poison.

The twin blades began to zap out yellow and white lightning.

The dark Orb revealed a dark shadow magic, and a giant dark spear appeared.

The man with the potato squished it, and numerous stone swords appeared above him.

They all let out their most powerful moves.

But at once, a bright light flashed, and the once dull stones that covered the body of Adam flashed with their energy, and his radiance and glory were revealed once more.

An eruption of Will Power shot out and surprised the five Challengers.

"It's awake!" The leader shouted and held his dark Orb to create a shield.

All of them changed their attacks to defense and blocked the attack.

"AHHH!" The one with the potato could not quickly change his stance to defend and was blown back.

But the giant figure of the dragon vanished.

The figure of Adam appeared behind the man with the potato, and Adam's jaw opened and bit down.

CRUNCH!

Only the arms and legs remained and fell down together with a thick gush of blood.

"Dennis!" The leader shouted, and they all began to release an even more powerful energy.

Numerous artifacts were revealed, and the remaining four revealed the full extent of their Will and Wizardry.

A battle unlike any other began as the four Challengers released an onslaught of attacks and elements.

Crystal couldn't understand any of it. She could only see a blur of explosions and various elements, and even Adam's giant form was disappearing and moved at great speed.

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted, and the entire mountain trembled from the fight.

Instead of four, there were only three left.

On the other side was Adam. He was unwounded and stood up haughtily.

Crystal could see the twin blades emitting faint light in the ground nearby. But no corpse of the man wielding it could be seen.

"Impressive legacies. Those weapons are quite strong. But I have fought with the ones who created those weapons!" Adam laughed.

"You… can talk?!" The one wielding the dark Orb trembled.

"Talk? I can do more than just that… I can eat you!" Adam laughed as his body glowed of the divine.

It was only then that the three realized the true heritage and power of the dragon they fought.

"Oh, great one! You truly are… marvelous. You've slain two of our numbers despite our best efforts! But this is an age you have not seen! The Ancient Era has been long forgotten! Wizardry of greater power has been invented! Knowing you are one from the Ancient Times is reason enough for us to use this! By the mark of the Five Lesser, the Five Greater, and the Five Above! Vessel Binding!"

Five lights shone. Two were within the dragon, and three were from the three men. The power of the Binding soul was used up as the three men felt great pain.

The power of Sacrifice was invoked. And for some reason, though two had died, their souls resounded in accepting the Sacrifice!

A red man with seven horns on his head and shoulders appeared. He was like the astral form that Adam revealed.

A five-layer binding appeared below Adam and restricted his movements.

"Dagon!" Adam saw the man and roared out in anger.

The astral projection of 'Dagon' cast a spell on Adam and sealed his movements.

But the power and might he once displayed was weakening!

The three men were all shouting in pain as their souls were being offered to Dagon.

Yet even then, they harnessed their Wizardry and Will and began to launch their attack on Adam!

STAB! STAB! STAB!

The weapons stabbed through and delivered a deep wound to Adam.

CRUNCH!

But a dragon was not an ordinary beast and bit down and slew the man with the fire sword.

"By the Mark of the Five! May my life be of use!" The man with the spear dug the spear deep and did not retreat even as his ally was killed.

His entire body turned purple, and he was drawn into the spear.

BOOM!

A purple flood of poison appeared as the spear injected the poison into Adam.

The man wielding the Orb raised it up high as the powerful darkness began to take form.

Crystal saw all this and her heart was aching. Her soul trembled as if she wanted to leap out of her cage to protect Adam.

"Stop! Stop!" Crystal shouted as she tried to strike the shield. But no sound or damage would leak out.

"Die!" The man hurled the dark energy that the Orb formed, and a black sword manifested and stabbed Adam in the chest.

"ROAR!" Adam roared in pain, and his gigantic form began to disappear, revealing his human form.

"Hahaha! We win, Dragon!" The man laughed as he readied yet another round of attack.

But at that moment, the entire world froze.

The man was startled and turned to the side to see a woman levitating, and a divine frost froze everything.

Even Wizardry and Will froze at her power.

"Impossible!" The man was horrified as he saw the Ice Soul Maiden's power.