Chapter 116: TPW (1/2)

Icefang had caught up to the fairy first, and lost.

As Vainqueur reached a destroyed village, he found Magnifique and Suffisante motionless on the ground amidst the corpses of a dozen nagas. Houses had been pounded into dust, while ice shuriken and laceration marks scarred the landscape.

A good mile away, he noticed a swirling tornado of icy winds and miasma devastating all in its path, uprooting the entire forest. Icefang and whichever fairy had trounced his party were still fighting bitterly.

“Magnifique, Suffisante!” Vainqueur called, as he landed next to his fellow dragons with Gorynych in tow. “Wake up!”

No response, even though none of them looked wounded. They must have been beaten into unconsciousness or fallen asleep due to a spell.

“All these people…” Knight Kia said while riding Gorynych’s back, the zmey too intimidated to speak. “An [Instadeath] area of effect?”

“You, minion!” Vainqueur pointed a claw at his fellow dragons. “Heal them!”

Knight Kia remained silent for a moment, before shaking her head. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you cannot? I knew you were useless!”

“I can’t cure death.”

Vainqueur paused.

Cure death? But they didn’t have any wounds!

Vainqueur glanced at the two dragons in disbelief and gave them a closer look; he noticed the white blank in their eyes, the pallidness of their scales, the complete lack of warmth. The truth hit him like his own magical hammer.

Vitality check successful. Shock negated.

Vainqueur stared at their faces, frozen in terror.

They died of fright?

“This is not [Instadeath]...” Knight Kia said, analyzing the corpses with magic. “Their souls have been extracted while they were still alive.”

Vainqueur ignored her, his furious eyes settling on the icy cyclone. He expanded his wings and flew towards it with revenge on his mind, while Knight Kia and Gorynych quickly followed.

The dragon activated [Fire Crown] and [Victory Fist] as he entered the vortex. Ice shards melted before they could touch his scales, and he braved the battering winds to reach the center.

You are taking heavy [Wind] damage! Necromantic damage reduced by [Psi-stone of Positive Energy]!

[Ring of the Dragon Ur-Pharaoh] cast [Protection from Elements]!

With his trinkets shielding him from the storm, Vainqueur entered the eye of the cyclone, where two dragons were dueling to the death.

Icefang was fighting a beast as big as Vainqueur himself and losing badly. Blood flowed from his scales and horns, his right eye had closed forever due to a wound, and someone had dug a hole where most of his ribs should have been. The larger wyrm savagely strangled Vainqueur’s rival, its bony claws tightening around his windpipe while smashing him against the ground.

No.

Not a dragon.

The monstrous creature that fought Icefang had the shape of a dragon. It had the wings, the neck, the tail, the fangs, and the claws. It breathed purple flames and roared its dominance for all to hear.

But that thing was no dragon. It was an abomination of white bones and putrescent moss, a corpse animated by ghostly purple flames and reeking of foul fomor magic. Two bright crimson stars shone in its empty eye sockets, and a spherical core of suffused energy radiated within its ribs. Its ragged wings had holes everywhere, reminding Vainqueur of an ancient bat rather than a majestic wyrm. A magical, prismatic layer of light covered its body, providing magical protection.

This creature was an unliving insult to dragonkind!

As Vainqueur charged to face it, he sensed something foul in the air. An invisible, sinister pull drawing him towards the monster.

You have entered [Dracolich] Mell Odieuse’s [Voracious Syphon]!

If you die within its area of effect, your soul will be devoured!

[Terrifying Aura] negated by [Crown of the Conqueror].

The undead dragon heard Vainqueur arrive and reacted by casting multiple spells at once. “[Death X], [Accelerated Hellzone].”

Level high enough! [Instadeath] negated!

[Hellzone] negated by [Immovable]!

Vainqueur tackled the fairy monster with his hands, forcing it to relinquish Icefang. The half-dead Frost Dragon collapsed to the ground, profusely bleeding golden blood.

“Knightsbane,” the undead creature muttered, recognizing her superior. Albeit twisted by a whispering echo, Vainqueur immediately identified the voice, and the smell. The fairy that murdered his chief of staff, stole his items, and cost him a fortune! “Is your manling with you?”

“He has better to do than clean up fairy trash!” Vainqueur snarled, shining with the bright, golden light of his hoard. “Like breeding new minions!”

[Shining Majesty] couldn’t affect [Prismatic One] Mell Odieuse!

“A pity. I relished the thought of killing him again.” The false wyrm let out a screeching wail and opened her mouth, unleashing purple, ghostly flames at Vainqueur. The attack didn’t damage his scales but sapped his very will, his soul.

Massive [Spirit] damage!

[Ring of the Dragon Ur-Pharaoh] reflexively cast [Hasten]

Moving at an incredible speed, Vainqueur powered through the attack and pummeled the fairy with a dozen punches, faster than she could defend herself against. The creature fought back with vicious ferocity, but she had neither the Tarasque’s strength nor Wotan’s awe-inspiring skill.

“How many?” the [Augustus] snarled. “How many dragons?!”

“Not enough.” The monster vanished, transformed into a ray of light, only to reappear a hundred meters away from Vainqueur. Ten tiny flying black prisms materialized around her. “[Prismatic Shards].”

The tiny prisms fired a potent laser, each a different color, and all aimed at Vainqueur. The dragon moved around the battlefield to dodge them, while Mell Odieuse used his distraction to cast another spell. “[Magical Suppression].”

The effects of your magical items will be suppressed for five minutes!

Charisma check successful! You ignored [Terrifying Aura]!

Vainqueur felt his body slow down, and rays of light hitting his scales; he considered using his [Geomancy], but relented out of fear of harming Icefang.

Thankfully, minion reinforcements chose this time to cross the cyclone.

“Leave… leave Big V alone!” Gorynych opened his mouths to attack Odieuse but froze at the mere sight of her. Unlike Vainqueur or his own rider, the zmey became paralyzed by terror.

“What is this thing?” Knight Kia shouted in disgust, before casting a spell on the monster; information appeared over Odieuse’s head, revealing her true nature.

Mell Odieuse the Overlord

Type: Soulcrested Dragonblooded Fomor (Fairy/Dragon; also count as Undead whenever beneficial)

Level: 60 (Dracolich 10/Prismatic One 10/Tyrant 10/Deathlord 30)

HP: ???/5280

Weak to Starmetal and Cold Iron.

“I am an existence that transcends fomors and dragons,” Mell Odieuse lied proudly, as she began assisting her prisms into attacking Vainqueur, firing ghostly fireball after ghostly fireball. The dragon retaliated with his own flames, but the fairy teleported out of the way like the annoying Furibon. “The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither.”

“Yeah, I heard that one before,” Knight Kia shrugged off, before raising her sword and calling upon her [Solar Judgment].

[Solar Judgment] canceled by Mell Odieuse’s [Anathematic Horror].

No light fell from the heavens to smite the fairy. “Your gods will not save you from my jaws, Bekele.”

“No, but my sword will!” Knight Kia countered, wreathing her blade with wind and light. Unfortunately for her, the zmey refused to budge, paralyzed by his overwhelming fear of the false wyrm.

“[Gorgon Gaze],” Mell Odieuse whispered while glaring at the zmey and his rider. The three-headed reptile immediately turned to cold hard stone, falling on the ground. Meanwhile, Knight Kia ignored the spell and jumped off her mount’s back and towards the fairy. The [Paladin]’s blade cut through bones and carrion like butter.

“Why?” Knight Kia snarled as she landed on the ground, leaping to avoid being trampled by the larger creature. “Why kill these people? You shouldn’t gain any exp from them, so why you sick—”

“I believe you mortals call it happiness.”