Dragon versus Gaia

Pant pant.

Veil barely recovered after breaking free from the spatial lock and the aftereffect of the teleportation skill casted on her by Varun.

She then scanned her surroundings to find out about her current whereabouts.

It seems that she was sent faraway towards North outside Lauerveck's forest.

As she hurried to go back to question Varun's identity, she noticed the oppressing force as she move closer to the barrier erected by the Dragon.

She then tried out envisioning a new skill to get a certain protection against weakening magic.

As her mind gets immersed in creating a new skill while she converses with her memories of the Noir, the battle inside the forest grew fiercer.

The four Gaia captains are repelling the Dragon with their own skills.

Skill: Flame of Annihilation!

Skill: Gaia Spear!

Skill: Claws of Abyss!

Skill: Runic Binding!

The Dragon then sent his own attack to counter the skills flying towards him.

["Scram!"]

Draconic Skill: Wave of Ruins!

Every strongest move of the captains is wiped out as the shockwave sent by Lauerveck washed away every single Gaia troop.

Only the captains barely survived from the Dragon's attack.

Meanwhile, in the nearby city borders, the respective Sentinels are sensing their allies' weakening energies.

"My liege, should we abandon our current position and aid our comrades?" the Sentinel asked her lord.

"…"

There was no reply. The three then agreed to go to the forest and check the situation themselves.

It seems like any forms of communication are cut off inside the forest after the Dragon locked it down.

Varun then finally broke free from Lozzaro's attacks.

Lozzaro's party of three then engaged Varun in a 3v1 battle to slay the lord of the Gaias.

[...]

Marlov's Adventurer teams are defending their borders from the sudden Gaia invasion. The army of hundred thousands are crashing on their walls endlessly.

The three neighboring cities have also noticed the lockdowns on their respective cities have disappeared and final started aiding Marlov on its defense.

Skills flying everywhere on two sides.

Flames sprouting from the ground, magic arrows are raining on the side of the Gaias, evil orbs are crashing on the magic-fortified walls as its mana reserves weaken every wave of attacks.

Meanwhile, the Sentinels arrived on the forest; they immediately pounced on the Dragon who just landed to devour their fallen troops.

["Hnggg!? More ants have entered my territory? You shall meet your demise!"]

The Dragon sent multiple swipes onto the three Sentinels.

Daggg! Daggg! Daggg! Rumble!

As the ground gets worse and worse from the battle of the Dragon and Sentinels.

Veil finally created a protection skill to resist the Dragon's array.

Skill: Shadow's Embrace!

She was able to set foot into the invisible barrier and sense no changes to her aura. She then charged towards the center.

As she arrived, she first noticed familiar faces, Lozzaro and his party members battling Varun.

Lozzaro is barely standing on his foot while his two allies are lifeless on the ground beneath the 10-meter tall Varun, who reverted back to his true form.

"Varunnnnnn!" Veil growled as she finally understood Varun's identity.

"So you finally noticed, huh~" Varun mocked her with an evil grin.

Just as Varun is about to finish off Lozzaro, a shadow moving as fast a bullet crashed down under him.

It was one of the Sentinels with his head destroyed beyond recognition, a lifeless puppet sent to afterlife by the Dragon's claw swipe.

"!!!"

Varun coldly turned towards Lauerveck who just landed.

While the two monsters are having a stare down, Veil did not hesitate to help Lozzaro.

While Lozzaro rested away from the battlefield, Veil intercepted one of the Sentinels who is about to attack the Dragon.

Clang!

Veil's sword blocked the Sentinel's blade hand. She immediately used her strongest attacks.

Skill: Shadow Dance!

Skill: Shadow Weave!

Skill: Dark Swipes!

As she sent 15 consecutive slashes to the Sentinel, her Shadow Weave ability created a copy of her swords that attacks on different angles every time she swings her own sword.

The Dark Swipes then enhance the damage dealt in wounds caused by her.

Uwarkkkk!

The Sentinel who received the attacks helplessly fell down on his knees after failing to block the last 5 attacks by his nimble opponent.

Veil then finished off the static Sentinel. Behead!

As she gestures to absorb the Dark Soul Fragment left by the Sentinel and the nearby Gaias' fallen troops, the last Sentinel engaged her in another battle.

"You dare slay one of my kin!" The Sentinel bellowed angrily.

Skill: Dark Rend!

It is the female Sentinel's strongest move under its arsenal.

The slash is so strong that it slightly warped the space around it and created a spatial tear that moves toward her opponent.

Veil, sensing the danger of the attack, similarly used every move she knows to counter.

Skill: Shadow's Embrace!

Skill: Shadow's Wings!

Skill: Dark Slash!

Unknowingly, as she combined her skill to counter the spatial slash sent towards her, she created a new sure-kill skill that formed inside her mind.

She immediately imitated the motion as shown in her visions.

First, wrap herself and her weapon with shadows and dark energy.

Second, launch her body with great precision towards a single point to create a momentum.

Third, use the momentum to further enhance the power of the single-point attack.

Finally, slash downwards while grasping one's weapon with both hands, aided by the generated shadows.

Sure-kill Skill: Shadow Rend!

The motions are similar to what the enemy Sentinel has shown. She just converted the attack as one of her own.

As the two spatial tears meet, the space created a massive shockwave that shook everything in the forest.

Vuooooooooooosh! Crackkkkk!

The commotion attracted both Lauerveck and Varun who are both busy in a deathmatch.

The Dragon suddenly angrily flapped his wings and flew upwards.

He then suddenly channeled a great energy that even absorbed the power of his previously-erected barrier to lock the forest down.

Badump. Badump. Badump.

As the Dragon's heartbeat pumps loudly that can be heard throughout the forest, he finally finished absorbing all the energy he previously dispersed and finish his incantation.

Draconic Skill: Draconic Morph!!!

As the Lauerveck's body seemingly shrink down in size, Varun quietly watched as he catches his breath.

After the secondary commotion by the Dragon, he suddenly spoke in human language with his new form.

"I. Am. Lauerveck!!!" The Dragon shouted in his 10-meter humanoid-dragon hybrid form.

As the chaotic waves of energy settle down after the spatial tears and Lauerveck's transformation, Veil did not stop in her attacks.

The Sentinel is greatly weakened after the shockwaves, so she could barely block Veil's attacks.

'Her aura is getting stronger and stronger the more she battles?' The female Sentinel hypothesized while repositioning.

Cling. Cling. Boom. Wuooosh.

Veil, sensing her growing aura, created strands of shadows in the air and sent them towards the Sentinel.

Skill: Rain of Demise!

As the black streaks pierce through the wind with each of their own unique trajectories, the Sentinel could only scream in pain after the attacks find their marks all over her body.

The 7-meter Sentinel fell down after bleeding greatly.

Similarly, Veil kneeled down in exhaustion. She barely lifts up her hand to absorb the Dark Soul Fragment.

As the energy seeps through the circuits on her arm, she felt pulsing powers in her soul.

Pulse. Pulse. Pulse!

On the battlefield next to her, Lauerveck promptly stretches his new body before turning into a streak of light and instantly reappearing behind Varun.

The Gaia Lord, seemingly prepared already, parried the attack with his spear.

Varun is feeling satisfied after using his spear delivered to him via the gates his troops used.

However, he lost his beloved army he built for years before his eyes.

He steeled his resolve to destroy the Dragon who wiped out his troops and next is Veil who similarly slain the strongest of his troops, the Sentinels.

Channeling his devilish mana, he strengthened his spear.

Skill: Abyssal Fortification!

Evil energy with a phantom of a spear wrapped around his weapon, increasing both its range and destructive abilities.

Pointing his empowered weapon towards his enemy, he used a similar instantaneous movement to reappear behind Lauerveck.

Thrust! Booom! Cling!

A crisp metallic sound ringed on the battlefield, Lauerveck easily swiped down the phantom of the spear away from his using his tail.

Receiving the attack, Varun quickly repositioned with his wings and responded by creating multiple magic arrays on the air.

Skill: Skull Rain!

As the flaming orbs fill the skies, he sent multiple skill combinations toward the humanoid unmoving Dragon.

Skill: Annihilation Slash!

Skill: Crescent Wave!

Skill: Revenger Thrust!

Two phantom waves from two directions created by his swipes, ten crescent moon shaped shockwaves and spear thrusts fill the air into a single point converging towards Lauerveck.

"Break!" Lauerveck growled.

Draconic Skill: Flame of Sovereigns!

A gigantic dark-blue flame appear on his hand, making a large sweeping motion, all the attacks sent by Varun were destroyed. Yes, utterly destroyed.

Varun gaped at the response of his enemy.

The difference between their strengths is now visible.

He could only drag the fight with guerilla tactics instead of a full front combat, however, just how could he do that?

As the lord of the Gaia is pondering on his next move, Lauerveck constructed a new array on the battlefield.

Draconic Skill: Devourer's Authority!

As his domain-like field spread out on a much smaller radius, the energy inside is much more devastating and oppressive.

The corpses littered in the field even disintegrated from Lauerveck's domain energy alone.

Inside his domain, any movement will not be spared.

Veil who is still waiting for an opportunity to join the fray, casted her own protection against the domain.

Skill: Shadow's Embrace!

She then injected even more energy on her shadowy coat she always liked using in fights.

As her protection gets empowered via her coat, she resisted greatly against the Dragon's newly-established domain.

Of course, the host of this domain already noticed someone resisting him.

"Human, you are faring better than this weak Otherworld invader here. I praise you by sending you to the afterlife!"

Lauerveck charged towards Veil with the dark-blue flames on his claws.

Draconic Skill: Burning Charge!

This charge skill is similar to a swordsman Adventurer's charge; however, the Dragon's charge has a flame effect leaving on his wake.

Veil responded by summoning tentacle-like shadows around her.

This new ability is something she got after absorbing the female Sentinel's fragment.

Skill: Darkness Precinct!

It is a pseudo-domain skill that can aid one in their battles. As for Veil's case, she combined her shadow limbs into a single point to repel Lauerveck's flaming body as the latter charges unstoppably towards her.

"Scram!" Veil shouted.

Kaboom!

Veil was able to stop Lauerveck's charge, but the flame effects still affected her, sending her like a cannonball towards a tree.

Her precinct was inevitably deactivated as she heavily panted while sitting down on the tree she landed on.

Pant. Pant. Pant. Shuk.

She spit a bit of blood out of her mouth as she stands up to observe her enemy.

"Hahahahaha! Great! Great! A human was able to stand up after receiving my charge!" Lauerveck praised the human before him; he added "I shall truly reward you for your bravery to face me. In return, send this invader into oblivion!"

The Dragon slowly approached Veil.

"Why should I be the one to defeat that bastard? Why won't you do it while you're at it already?" Veil truthfully asked.

"It is because I am not allowed to travel in-between worlds and realms as per the absolute rule of the Gods." Lauerveck explained.

"What do you mean?" Veil stood up in front of the humanoid Dragon.

"His real body is still inside the Middle Realm, fighting him made me realize that this is only a manifestation of his energy."

While Lauerveck is explaining, Varun laughed loudly.

"You found out belatedly huh, lizard!" Varun smirked, "Very well, I shall wait for you at our land! I will make you pay greatly for slaying my men!"

Taboo Skill Cancel: Spirit Manifestation!

As Varun cancelled his channel, his body gradually disappeared as if he never existed there in the first place.

The evil energy in the forest disappeared altogether, while the Gaias' troops invading the city of Marlov stopped their attacks and retreated in the gate behind them.

The leading squadron captains sent their final attacks to buy time for their troops to leave the place.

Skill: Flame of Annihilation!

As the ground erupted with greenish flames, the gate of Marlov finally crumbled.

The defending Adventurers had no choice but to stop giving chase as they turn back towards their city.

[...]

"Now you understand what I mean, human…" Lauerveck scratched his chin.

"Mhm, but how do I even go to this Middle Realm?" Veil inquired.

"I shall grant you the blessing of the Dragons to aid you in slaying the Gaia Lord. But learning the truth for yourself is up to you." Lauerveck unhurriedly explained as he opens his hand and transfer the dark-blue flame onto Veil.

Draconic Blessing: Eternal Flames of the Devourer!!!

Authority: Lauerveck. Transfer blessing onto the human known as Veil.

Vuoooooooshhh! Crack!