10 Chapter X - Hidden Dragon

Deep within the dark Lushwood Forest, four cloaked men stood over three young ladies who were bound by their wrists and ankles.

"So these are the sacrifices? Must be really valuable, 'cuz even the Nobles of the Free Empire had requested my services in kidnapping them for their secret sex slave trade," Veryn Ford said as he squatted down in front of one of his captives and stared into her teary eyes.

She had fair skin, bright, innocent blue eyes and long, unkempt blonde hair that covered her eyes. She donned a plain white dress, which was presumably her nightwear.

"This one's pure," Someone said from within the shadows cast by the trees blocking out the silver rays of the moon.

The speaker was another man who was leaning on a gray-coloured tree with his arms crossed.

He wore a thick, hooded, heavy black cloak, which couldn't hide the large buster sword strapped on his back. The blade was black and one and half feet wide, with a right angled tip, and its hilt was two feet long. It would require great strength and stamina to wield a weapon this large, however, even though he had a skinny frame, the young man was qualified to wield this buster sword due to his profession.

This young man was a Witcher. Witchers are a subclass of the Warlock profession, they are proficient users of magic, who also specialise in rituals and are adept at martial arts and skills. They are a magic-oriented cross between Warriors, Berserkers, Ritualists and Rangers. The only difference between them and Warlocks, are their ability to access and make use of Chaos energy.

Chaos energy was a unique form of magic that wasn't exactly magic. Chaos energy has remained a mystery over the centuries, because only Witchers have information about this unique energy, but have refused to share it no matter what– even through torture and magical means.

Veryn got to his feet and twirled his dagger in his hands as he walked around the three young women. While the other young man was a Witcher, Veryn was a Shadow Ranger. Shadow Rangers are simply Rangers with the ability to bend the shadows and use them either as weapons or as a stealth cover.

He was hired by the Church of the Western Theocracy to acquire living sacrifices who would be used in the creation of a powerful ritual that would be able to prevent, in their words, a 'looming calamity'.

"So what do your think, Tyrian?" Veryn asked the hooded Witcher emotionlessly. His lack of emotion during assignments had helped him become a very efficient assassin and mercenary. That's why even the Church of the West had bothered to hire him– a man less than twenty five years of age.

The Witcher, Tyrian, chuckled slightly as a bit of moonlight illuminated the bottom half of his smooth face through the leaves around him. "I think you should go fuck yourself," He said with a cocky smile.

A second later, Veryn's dagger struck the tree, right next to Tyrian's ear, yet the man that threw it didn't even seem to move. However the young Witcher didn't even flinch as the dagger sank into the gray bark of the tree.

Silence descended upon the area, and the only sounds that were heard were the silent sobs of the captives and the rustling of the white leaves of the gray trees in the area.

"Let's try that again," Veryn said as he took out another dagger from within his own green cloak.

Under his green cloak, he wore a simple but effective leather armour as well as dozens of straps and bandoliers which held multiple throwing weapons of different shapes and sizes, as well as some potions of varying effects.

"Well..." Tyrian trailed off as he pondered his next words.

Seeing that Tyrian had finally become serious, the three captives began to tremble in fear. They didn't understand what was going on, but they could tell that their lives were in the Witcher's hands– his next words would determine their futures.

"P-please sirs, just leave us be! W-we'll do whatever you want! We'll give you whatever you want!" One of the young ladies said in a terrified voice.

Veryn turned to her with his eerily expressionless face, causing the three ladies to shake and cower in fear.

"Enough, Veryn. Intimidation isn't part of our job," Tyrian said in a warning tone as his hand slowly crept toward the hilt of his buster sword. The wide, onyx blade of the sword was forged from a leg of a Child of Arachnide– a giant spider that spun thick, strong acid webs– and the hilt was forged from High Steel. It was a legendary weapon that could contend with some of the more powerful Phantasm in the mortal plane.

"Women have always been your weakness, Tyrian," Veryn said with a dry chuckle and he kept the dagger in his hands.

In response, a snort came from somewhere in the dark forest.

A few feet away from Veryn stood a tall, muscular man, whose arms were almost as thick as Veryn's head.

He was a Paladin of the Church of the West, and his name was Sono. He also wore a black cloak, which went perfectly with his black knight's armour.

He had long, shoulder-length hair which was an alluring golden blonde and his strict green eyes were focused only on the task given by his superiors. He was a born warrior and sworn protector.

Sono spat on the darkened grassy ground below and pulled one of the captives; the one with blonde hair. His strict, focused expression immediately transformed into a sleazy smile that can only be found on pedophiles and rapists.

Okay, he might not have been as heroic as was depicted. Or even half as much. Or even in any way, nor manner.

Veryn narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists as he watched Sono drag the young lady up by her arm, although he didn't say anything. He knew Sono wasn't a man he could trust. He was a sick bastard; scum whose death would make the world a better place. But he couldn't act now, he had a mission to complete, maybe later... He would trail the man to his home– or whatever cave an animal like him crawled out from on a daily basis– and murder him.

Unlike Veryn, who was always calm, even when pissed off, Tyrian took a step forward and gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Ah, Mister Witcher... Would you mind telling us which of these fine young ladies would be suitable for the sacrifice?" Sono asked with a bright smile, almost like he couldn't see the two glared fixed on him.

Although hesitant, Tyrian nodded towards one of the captives; the youngest one. "She has the most mana among all of them, as well as a very high affinity for the Light element," Tyrian said. He was able to detect this because of his extreme sensitivity to mana, as a result of his profession.

Sono smiled slightly and turned to the young lady in his hands. She seemed to be around the age of sixteen; the second oldest among the captives, which meant she wasn't needed for the ritual. Which meant...

"Seems like we're going to have some fun, girl," Sono said in a predatory tone as he stretched his right hand towards the girl's developing chest.

Tyrian's eyes widened and he was about to run over and stop Sono, but Veryn appeared in front of him like a ghost.

"Outta my way!"

"We have a mission, Tyrian. Focus on the mission,"

Tyrian pushed Veryn out of the way in irritation and charged toward Sono. His hand gripped the hilt of his buster sword, and he was about to draw the large weapon, but then something hit him in the neck, causing him to lose all his momentum. Then he felt a foot hitting the back of his knee, sending him falling to his knees.

"Don't make me go any further,"

Tyrian heard Veryn's voice coming from beside his ear, as he felt something sharp press against his neck.

Veryn rose his head and turned to Sono. "You can get arrested for that, Paladin Sono, she's a minor,"

"Don't care," Came Sono's indifferent reply.

Still in Veryn's hold, Tyrian began to shudder uncontrollably with rage. "... Why?"

Silence.

"It's... Our mission,"

Tyrian chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "That's why you've got no friends, that's why your family hasn't called you back after all these years... It's not always about the mission, Veryn, remember that,"

Veryn didn't flinch at Tyrian's words, and even pressed his blade against his neck harder, drawing a little bit of blood. "Don't move," He whispered cautiously.

Tyrian opened his mouth to refute, but also noticed it. A powerful being was close. Very close.

"Ah, finally, you two have fallen silent. Now I can enjoy her screams," Sono nodded his head and licked his lips with a lecherous smile. He fumbled with his armoured pants for a moment, before pulling them down to his ankles.

Sono chuckled, after seeing the girl trembling once she caught a glimpse of his member. "The best part is the first scream... Oh, that one always sends a shiver down my spine,"

"N-no, please sir. I-I'll do anything but this," The girl begged pitifully, her face covered in tears and mucus.

The youngest among the captives, the one most suitable for the ritual, crawled over to Veryn and grabbed his ankles. "Sir please! Don't let him do that to my sister! Please, sir!"

At fourteen years of age, her face bore a certain innocence that could melt the hearts of millions, regardless of sexual preferences. Her long brown hair flowed to her lower back in a simply straight hairstyle, and she was also dressed in a nightgown.

Veryn twitched and was about to say something. Then his mask of no emotion returned and he drew one of his daggers. "Please, take your hands off me, otherwise you would lose them," He said coldly and pointed his dagger at the girl.

"P-please, I-"

The girl's words were cut off, as Veryn swung his dagger so fast that only a slight trail of light was seen.

"Ah!" The girl screamed in pain as a very small and shallow wound appeared on her left shoulder. She rolled around on the forest floor screaming in agony and pain.

Veryn and Tyrian sighed.

"Nobles," They both said.

Sono, on the other hand, didn't even witness this incidence as he was busy undressing the teenager in his grasp. "Stop struggling, dearie, we'll have so much fun together," He said as he held the young lady's hand in a vice grip and guided it towards his penis to begin stroking it.

Tyrian clenched his fists in anger, but he couldn't do anything because he was being held by Veryn, who was much stronger than a normal Witcher. His eyes began to glow with a black and gold light– an effect of Chaos Energy.

The final cloaked man, who had been silently hidden in the shadows until now, finally spoke. "It would be much appreciated if you three would hurry up. I've got other places to be," He said and stretched out a withered hand from underneath his robe. A dark green ball of energy floated above his palm, crackling with green lightning.

"No! Don't you dare!" Tyrian shouted as he saw that the cloaked man aimed his magic attack at the final captive; the oldest among the sisters. He made a move to get up and stop the attack, but Veryn pushed him back down.

But he would have been too late, even if he wasn't stopped by Veryn, as a green bolt of lightning had already covered half of the thirty meters separating the cloaked man and the woman.

However, a dark blue light rushed by, and the lightning struck two silver daggers that were crossed in front of their wielder's chest.

"This is not part of the mission, Weren," Veryn said as the traces of the green lightning bolt was absorbed into his daggers.

Weren analysed the daggers with a curious expression. They had a forward-curving blade with jagged 'teeth' at the back and a smooth, thin edge at the front. The lower part of the blade in the front curved downward and covered the leather hilt to form a sort of handguard, and a very small portion of the same part on the back of the blade curved upward.

Seeing the odd, light-blue sheen on the silver coloured blades, Weren's eyes widened as realisation dawned on him.

"Reaver!" The sorcerer said, a hint of fear could be heard in his voice.

The Reaver was a name given to the two daggers in Veryn's hands. They were once a part of a God's weapon that was broken into seven pieces, and among the seven, the two daggers have the most powerful as they had begun to adapt and replicate the God's power. The reason was because the original weapon could absorb magic, hence it began to absorb its master's own power.

Weren sighed and dropped his hand in defeat. "I admit, I am definitely incapable of fighting you without those two weapons, but I can still take my chances. But when you're with Reaver... I am powerless,"

Veryn nodded and turned to Sono in order to tell him to hurry up, but then immediately frowned in disgust.

Sono had held the girl against a tree with her back facing him. His hands gripped her waist with the strength of a Paladin, causing his fingers to leave red marks on her fair skin. His erect penis was lined up in front of her anus, and he was slowly forcing his way into the hole, not paying heed to the girl's wails and sobs as she underwent the painful process.

No, that is incorrect, he did hear her cries. And it sent shivers of pleasure down his spine.

"If you keep screaming like that, I'll cum before I even enter you," He whispered sensually into her ear, before continuing to force his way into the girl's anus.

Veryn shut his eyes for a moment and forced himself to calm down. His forearms were flexed to the maximum as his hands tightened around Reaver. He felt like slaughtering the stupid Paladin, but he had to wait for the mission to be completed.

Then and there, Veryn decided that the Paladin would not live to see daybreak.

Tyrian could only shake his head and hang it low. He knew Veryn would still stop him again, and besides, the damage was already done.

Unconcerned with the glare fixated on his back, Sono reached out and grabbed the teen's breast with one hand, and her arm with the other. "Get ready, because this is going to be very... Crazy!" As he said the last word, he thrust his lower body forward, causing his penis to enter into the girl's anus.

Her scream tore through the night, breaking the hearts of all who heard it... Except for the one responsible for it.

Sono chuckled and shuddered as he began to cum inside the girl's anus. The white substance began to drip from the girl's anus, while Sono began to laugh wildly. His hands tightened around the girl and he slowly spoke.

"Now, the real fun can beg-"

His words were lost to the ether as an immense power suddenly came to life nearby. It didn't explode, but it just began to slowly seep out, yet it was incredibly dense and powerful.

The four cloaked men immediately turned toward the source of this immense, overbearing power.

All they saw, was the last captive. The oldest of the sisters that seemed to be around nineteen or twenty years of age.

"What the fuck?" Sono said and let go of the teen, while turning to face the oldest sister.

Everywhere was silent for a moment as the massive aura of power slowly retreated back into the girl. Then everyone just stood there, staring at the young lady as she knelt on the forest floor with a blank expression.

Suddenly, the oldest sister's face contorted to form an unnaturally wide, toothy grin of small, razor sharp Dragon teeth. Her eyes became an eerie red with thin black slits– like a Dragon's. Long, jagged black horns began to grow out her temples. They curved forward then bent upward, making them resemble a crown.

Her formerly short, blonde hair began to grow out and become pure white. Her white hair billowed around as if she was in a storm, and her face changed into the face of a tan-skinned beauty queen with soft facial features and big, cute eyes.

"My, my, I apologize for being late," She said in a soft, seductive voice that matched her perfect face.

As she got to her feet, it was revealed that her body was also transforming. From the skinny figure of the oldest sister, to a dangerously curvaceous figure. Her body was shaped such that any man would lose his mind after laying eyes on her. Such was the effect of her perfect figure.

She was still in the oldest sister's nightgown, which was partially transparent, revealing her perky, voluptuous breasts and buttocks, as well as her narrow waist and broad hips. She was the definition of perfection.

"Now, which one of you am I killing first?" She said as the aura of immense power exploded out of her body, causing an indescribable pressure to fall upon the four men.

Veryn recovered from the effect of the woman's beauty and power first, and then he took a defensive stance in front of Tyrian and spoke to him over his shoulder. "Run! Forget the mission, just get out of here and take the girls with you! I'll hold this... Entity off for as long as I can,"

The lady laughed, hearing Veryn's words. "Aren't you quite the hero? Well, you seem to be a good man... So I'll kill you last, and I'll do it in the blink of an eye, okay?" She said laughingly as black talons began to grow from her fingers and toes. Black scales soon followed the talons and covered her forearms and shins. "But first, I think I'll kill you first," She said with a serious tone and pointed a talon at Sono.

"What the fuck? What are you? Do you fucking know who I am? Who I work for?" Sono said angrily while pointing at his chest. He quickly put on his leather pants properly and began to charge a spell, the telltale golden light of Light magic covering his arms.

"Shut up," The lady said from behind him.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock as the were literally watching the woman carefully, yet they didn't even see nor hear when she appeared behind Sono.

"Y-y-you," Sono said fearfully as he slowly turned around to face the threat behind him.

The woman stared at him with cold eyes. "Shut up... Because you are already dead,"

It was at that moment that everyone noticed the three thin, barely visible lines on Sono's body. One line passed horizontally through his neck, the other through his waist and the last went vertically from his head to his groin.

A second later, his body began to split at the point of the lines, and he fell apart in six pieces.

"By the blood of Sirex!" The sorcerer known as Weren exclaimed in shock, calling the name of the Forbidden King of Hell, and unconsciously took a step back.

"Fuck! We're toast!" Tyrian groaned and hefted his buster sword.

"Well... Shit," Veryn said with a shrug.

The woman sighed and ran a hand through her full white hair. "Humans.... You're all the same. Vile. Worthless. Controlled by lust and the desire for power," She said and kicked a piece of Sono's body with a lonely sigh.

"Damn... Power is so solitary," She muttered to herself with a sad sigh. "I want to be... Defeated, but there's no one here capable of granting that request,"

"I put my life, my body and my soul on the line to motivate all my potential contenders. Yet even the heavens and hells couldn't bring me down. Not even other Dragons can harm me, talk less of lesser races,"

Her eyes began to glow with the red light of rage and she lost her cool, tearing at her own hair with her talons. "WHY THE FUCK ARE Y'ALL SO WEAK?!" She screamed, causing her suffocating aura to explode throughout the entire forest, causing endless destruction.

Needless to say, the other five people present did not get off lightly.

The youngest sister had been flung into a tree, and she struck her head hard. She fell unconscious instantly and suffered a severe concussion. However, she was much better off than her sister, who directly exploded in a shower of blood due to her proximity to the odd woman.

Among the three men, Veryn was much better off than the others. But even still, his entire left arm was messed up and he looked like he had just taken a bath in blood, as he was drenched in blood from countless tiny wounds that had appeared on his body due to the explosion of power sending debris at him, which tore him up in many places.

But he was still standing.

Not far from him was Tyrian. He didn't seem to be in a very bad condition and only had a few cuts on his face and arms, as Veryn had been standing before him like a shield. However, his spine had been damaged when he was thrown into a tree after the burst of power, and he seemed to be unable to walk right now, and he was currently struggling to drag himself towards Veryn.

And lastly, Weren was lying by the foot of a large tree. His upper body was twisted at an unnatural angle, as were his four limbs. He was obviously dead.

The Dragon breathed heavily as she dropped her hands to her sides. She took a deep breath and let it out, before adjusting her hair, which had been ruffled by her during her outburst. "My apologies, I have to remind myself not to shout whenever I'm around humans from now on. Anyway, you must be feeling despair right now, am I right? So I'll give you five– no, ten seconds to escape. If you can do that, them I wouldn't follow you, nor will I send others to hunt you,"

"H-how the f-f-fuck are to do... That?" Tyrian said in a very choppy and uneven tone, as he struggled to do anything with his damaged spinal cord.

The Dragon rose her hand and stared at her talons as if she hadn't heard Tyrian's question. "Eight,"

Hearing her begin to count down, Tyrian cursed under his breath and wished he could stand. He might have been able to attack and land a hit with Chaos Magic, so at least he would buy some time for himself and Veryn. But then, here he was.

"Tyrian... Grab on to me," Veryn suddenly spoke without turning to face Tyrian.

"What?"

"Just do it,"

Tyrian scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Why... Would I... D-do that?"

"Four," The Dragon said and lowered another one of her talons.

"Screw it," Tyrian said and grabbed Veryn's ankle as fast as he could.

A second later, the two men disappeared without a trace as if they were never there.

The Dragon lowered her hand and scoffed. "Took him long enough," She muttered and turned to the last surviving member of the captives.

At this point, the fourteen year old was already waking slowly and had propped herself up on her elbows.

"I apologize for taking your sister's form. Don't worry, she's alright and I didn't touch a single hair on her head," She said to the little girl, before turning away from her. Moments later, two pairs of black wings grew out from her back and she took to the skies.