Big bad frog [2]

Beneath the infamous Dragon-Queller of Jueyuen Karst, a raging battle between two miniscule figures and one massive stone dragon was about to be held.

The two challengers, seemingly finding themselves in the doorsteps of this behemoth, looked at it with bewildered expressions.

Lumine quickly analyzed the situation, her golden eyes darting around the vast cavernous space. In the short span of a second, she had quickly summarized what was going on.

'This is... the perpetrator behind those mind-controlled miners?' she thought, suddenly gaining an insight behind the matter. However, she soon brushed this thought off as she narrowly dodged a falling debris.

'No, now's not the time. I need to either get out of here first or...' Her eyes narrowed on the sealed colossal stone dragon, hesitating as she tightly held her legendary Dull Blade.

'Kill that thing...'

This one simple thought, however, was easier said than done... Or rather thought than done.

She then grimaced. 'We can't possibly do it right now... We don't have enough strength.'

Originally, she had been accompanied by the most reliable person in the world. Now, however, he was nowhere to be found and had seemingly disappeared with another person they were with.

As such, Lumine was left to deal with the creature alone. She might have fought a dragon before, but this one was much more massive than the previous one.

Moreover, the last dragon she fought was flying and she had the help of three other companions. Now, however, she was all alone. In the face of the massive creature that was about unsealing itself...

Indeed. It was just too terrifying to face head on. Moreover, although Lumine can sense that its seal was holding some of its power back, she could still feel an ancient and domineering power emanating from the stone dragon.

Hesitating, Lumine found a safe spot and held her ground. Clenching the Dull Blade tightly, she raised it directly at the behemoth.

- Rumble!

Then, in a series of events, the stone monoliths that served as the behemoth's seals all crumbled to the ground, thus freeing the creature from its luminescent cage. Followed by it was a deafening roar announcing its freedom.

Both Lumine and Paimon quickly covered their ears, but even so, the sheer magnitude of the shriek of the dragon caused them to get stunned for a second.

Disoriented, Paimon tried her best to stay afloat while trying to comprehend the creature. In shock, she pointed at it.

"What the heck is that?!"

Yet even the traveler cannot answer such a question.

Then, a primal and maddened voice emanated from its absurdly giant mouth, hinting at a burning hatred. Raising its crimson eyes full of indescribable agony and loathing, it spoke.

"Morax... You have arrived at my doorstep at your own volition."

Just its voice alone caused the cavernous space to rumble, triggering yet another rain of debris. And, once more, Lumine dodged them with her exceptional agility.

However, the creature was not done. In a harrowingly amused tone, it continued.

"Excellent... Taking revenge for sealing me away will be all the easier!"

Upon hearing this, Lumine prepared herself for the worst and assumed a defensive stance. However, she couldn't help but digest the words uttered by the stone dragon.

'Morax...' Thinking of that gentleman she met not too long ago, Lumine's eyes narrowed. 'Where is he...?'

It was right at that moment that a voice emanated from beside her, responding to the cries of the stone behemoth with his usual eloquence.

The man, who appeared beside Lumine, raised his eyes and looked at the dragon. His deep amber eyes look eye to eye with the great beast.

It was none other than Zhongli, or rather, the Geo Archon Morax.

"But if you recall, Azhdaha... This is not how we intended for events to transpire."

His deep soothing voice, even though he had spoken aloud, still had a sense of authority and wisdom. But in the eyes of the sealed king of the Vishaps, his words were as worthless as dirt. The Lord of Geo wanted to make peace yet the stone dragon found it useless.

Grunting, the stone dragon roared with anger. "Waste not your words! Your life is mine!"

- Thud!

Then, with a furious growl, Azhdaha stomped the ground as hard as he could. With his massive and powerful limbs, it caused a significant seismic activity that rocked both underground and aboveground.

"Stay inside my barrier, Traveler."

Turning over to Lumine, Zhongli conjured a shield made from the Geo element.

"Azhdaha is on a rampage. Be careful to not be caught up in his blind rage."

Finding herself suddenly enveloped in a ethereal cocoon made purely of Geo, Lumine felt somewhat empowered. It was as though she was being inspired— elevating her mind and boosting her courage.

'This shield...'

Remembering the capabilities of Zhongli's barrier, Lumine had a sudden thought. Currently, she was being protected by a barrier conjured by the Lord of Geo, and she had personally witnessed how sturdy such a barrier was.

Darting her eyes around, she made a bold decision. 'Maybe with this...'

Holding onto her Dull Blade, she hesitated a bit before deciding to lunge and dash forward, heading straight to the rampaging Azhdaha.

"Traveler? Traveler?! What are you doing?!"

Seeing her sudden bizarre action, Paimon shouted in bafflement, watching Lumine head off straight to the terrifying massive dragon.

Looking back, Lumine's gaze lingered on her for a bit before shifting to Zhongli. She then spoke to him.

"Mr. Zhongli! Keep giving me this shield! I think I can deal a blow to it!"

Her words were quite bold for someone of her stature. Compared to the magnificent being that was currently rampaging, she was but a tiny person.

However, even then, she still had to give it her all.

Indeed, she was small, and yes, she lacked the necessary power to fight such a thing. Even so, her desire to defeat it overwhelmed her senses. It was not the call of heroism— no— it was the call of adventure, and the thrill rushing through her veins, fueling her to reach even greater heights than what she could possibly achieve.

With both the Anemo and Geo elements, she will do her best to fight the colossal beast. No matter what it takes.

But would she lose?

In the peak of adrenaline, Lumine remembered a certain Barista's face and soon, she lightly smirked.

'Nah, I'd win.'

Perhaps being with that certain barista has tainted her with a certain affliction.

At that moment, Zhongli's deep amber eyes lingered on the figure of Lumine before giving a silent nod. Willed by Zhongli, the transparent amber shield enveloping Lumine suddenly became thicker, amplifying its protection and the buffs that it gave to the wearer.

Seeing this, Lumine nodded her head with satisfaction. Turning to Azhdaha, she braced herself before running at full speed.

"This insect... How dare you!"

The proud king of the Vishaps, however, saw her charge as an insult and immediately retaliated.

With a furious growl, it swiftly turned its massive body and made use of its thick tail to try and attack the charging visage of the traveler.

'Dodge!'

Seeing this, Lumine quickly processed what was happening and immediately slid underneath the incoming crushing force of the gigantic tale.

- Woosh!

She managed to swiftly dodge the deadly strike of the beast, but she wasn't done yet. She saw this as an opportunity.

Not wasting time, she quickly stood back to her feet and immediately jumped up, aiming at the massive body of Azhdaha, with her Dull Blade in hand.

"Haa!"

With a battle cry, she pushed the sword in her hand in the body of the behemoth. Empowered by the shield of Zhongli, as well as two elements, the power that was produced by the strike amplified, causing a great shockwave.

- Boom!

"Argh...!" The stone dragon let out a pained growl.

With the help of both the Anemo and Geo elements, while simultaneously being empowered by Zhongli's barrier, the king of the Vishaps experienced tremendous pain. With its current half-sealed state, such damage had made a great impact.

Seeing that her blow caused significant damage, a look of astonishment appeared on her face. 'It worked!'

However, her celebration was short-lived. Because Azhdaha was not done yet.

The stone dragon's crimson eyes narrowed to Zhongli, filled to the brim with madness as he let out an abhorrent howl.

In the stone dragon's eyes, what Zhongli did was basically pick a champion to kill it. And... that angered Azhdaha greatly.

"Once is not enough... You would forsake me again?!"

After saying this, the madness in Azhdaha's eyes burned even brighter. In a moment of fury, the behemoth dug beneath the Earth. This was not an act of cowardice but instead another form of attack.

Surprisingly, for a creature of its size, it did not take too long for it to submerge the majority of its body. It didn't make sense at all.

But one should know that not everything needs to be made sense of.

As the behemoth sunk its body beneath the soil, it started moving around the arena akin to a predator encircling its prey.

Lumine darted her eyes, carefully eyeing the creature's movement while simultaneously dodging falling debris caused by its movement.

'Come on... Come out...'

Fulfilling her wishes, the mighty stone dragon suddenly emerged from the ground after completing its encirclement. Afterwards, Azhdaha's crimson eyes darted at the figure of Lumine and Zhongli. His voice boiled with loathing as he spoke.

"Morax... You and your insect... Would now perish here!"

'Huh?'

At that moment, Lumine sensed that something was wrong. She felt that the stone dragon was about to attempt something. Perhaps it was because of its blind fury or its last resort, but she felt that it was about to do something drastic.

Assuming a defensive stance, she held her Dull Blade tightly. 'This isn't good... It's about to do something!'

Indeed. Right after Azhdaha announced their supposed doom, its body started to act bizarre. Elemental energy from the surrounding environment started gathering around it and crystalizing in various parts of its gigantic body.

The most noticeable changes were at its tail.

Zhongli's deep amber eyes narrowed, as he too felt that the stone dragon was about to unleash something powerful.

Various parts of its body then started flowing with different luminescent lights, representing four elements: Cryo, Hydro, Pyro, and Electro.

Lumine sensed all of them— as well as what the crazed dragon was about to do. She knows that it was about to do a powerful attack— one that she couldn't possibly block without her current shield.

In a moment of reluctance, she even doubted her skill.

"Can I... truly beat this?"

Negative thoughts clouded her mind. Perhaps if Zhongli kept shielding her and she persisted, then she might just be powerful enough to beat it.

However, what if she was in a similar situation without the help of anyone? Then she would just be powerless.

She loathed that.

Her eyes squinted to her sword as a negative feeling crept up her heart. Holding on to her Dull Blade, she grimaced.

"Maybe... I am—"

However, just at that moment, a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed her left shoulder.

'?!' Her eyes widened upon realizing that someone had sneaked up on her. Turning her head, she was prepared to deal with the unknown person when she paused and saw who it was.

'That...'

Her golden eyes stared at that person, full of disbelief. For a moment, she didn't know if it was real or not.

However, before she could open her mouth and utter her curiosity, the person's own affirming voice reached her first.

It was a silvery yet soothing voice, tempting anyone who heard it to calm down— as if inducing tranquility.

"Relax, Miss Star."

Seeing that familiar tousled brown hair and deep amber eyes that were eerily similar to the Lord of Geo, she hesitated before uttering in disbelief.

"I-Isaac? Why... Why are you here?"

He smiled.

"No. Not just me."

Then, with an elusive smirk, he spread open his arms as more figures appeared behind him.

Along with him, four other figures appeared. Each of them had an aura of nothing ordinary.

One emanated a sense of foreboding power to wipe out evil, the other held a pristine sense of nobility, another appeared to be a child yet hid endless wisdom behind her eyes, and one that seemed to emanate a dreadful sense of heat and fire.

Lastly— the man in front of them, who looked the most normal, yet was the most enigmatic individual.

Pulling out a bronze revolver, the man then smirked as his eyes locked on to the giant stone behemoth.

"Well then, lads... let's begin the Hunt."

The Tarot Club has joined the fray.

* * *

A/N:

Didn't managed to update the other day cus... Got into a bike accident lol. Unfortunate enough to get hit by a strong wind while on the road filled with sand. The result? A very... uncool... skid.

Got 4 big wounds from it and nothing broke, though. But did it made me think I'd lose to the pain and stop writing?

Nah, I'd win.