by Dante Doom
"I sincerely hope that this was not your only strategy," the dragon said. "Turning the weaker of my recruits against each other and poisoning them? It's not a bad play, but I was expecting something more grand. Yet, I have yet to hear of your army breaching our outer walls. Perhaps they are invisible?"
Van smiled as he sent a message to Sang that said "Go." He chuckled a little and cracked his knuckles. "You want to know what my strategy was?" he asked.
"Indeed, I do," the Emperor replied.
The wall holding the red door exploded, causing thousands of red shards to fly everywhere. The rocks crashed to the ground and Jet emerged, his wings spread wide and his roar triumphant. Hundreds of the Iron Dragons came pouring out of the hole, armed to the teeth and ready for battle.
"My strategy was to cheat," Van said.
13
"Is that the Xevov?" the Emperor asked, his voice conveying a tone of true surprise. "Engaging in battle?"
Van drew his warhammer from his side and took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, it is!" And with that, he swung his hammer as hard as he could, smashing it into the side of the Emperor's leg. The words Insufficient Damage Rating hovered above the dragon, and Van could hear the beast laugh.
"Really, Van? You believe that you can damage me? Like I wouldn't have given myself the most powerful protection spells and abilities in the game? Do you take me for a fool?" the Emperor asked. "But if you insist on attacking me, then I suppose it would be fair to insist on attacking you!" He took a deep breath and began to spew flames at Van.
Van rushed out of the way of the fire, narrowly avoiding the stream of heat that would surely have vaporized him on contact. He heard the dragon behind him laughing heartily.
"I suppose that if you can even get one point of damage on me, it will be the most I will have ever suffered!" the dragon taunted him.
Van ran into the melee, where hundreds of his own soldiers were battling against the remaining players. As he ran, he noticed Sang in the middle of the fray, shooting arrow after arrow at her enemies.
"Sang!" Van yelled as he ran up to her. Before he could reach her, however, a large player wielding a spiked chain leapt in front of him.
"You think you can ruin a good thing?" the man said, his name showing up as Bruno as he spun his chain around. "Think again!" He whipped the chain at Van, but Van was able to raise his warhammer to block it. The chain wrapped around his weapon and the words Grapple: Successful floated in front of him. He saw a grapple meter hovering above him, but before he could pull back, his weapon was yanked out of his hand and thrown to the ground.
"You're really gonna sell out mankind?" Van asked as he leapt to the side, avoiding the chain as it came flying at his head.
"What's mankind ever done for me?" Bruno replied as he began to reel his chain back in. Before Van could attack the man, Jet leaned down and swallowed the thug whole.
"Oh man!" Van shouted as he patted Jet on the snout. "That was cool!"
"Van!" Sang called out as she rushed up to him and unloosed a swarm of arrows upon a few players who were rushing toward her. "What's up?"
"The Emperor is running the whole show!" Van said. "Everything is more or less done by his direction. He's the planner, the strategist, and the leader. If we kill him, it's all over for everyone. Draco won't be able to keep doing all of this to the other worlds."
"Did you figure out how to stop him from starting the meltdown?" Sang asked, her eyes wide and frantic. Behind them, the Emperor was laughing as he grabbed players and began to devour them.
"No, he wouldn't share that. But he's the one who gives the orders," Van said. "If we kill him, he won't be able to tell the rest of the people what to do."
"Very well," Jet said. "Leap atop me. We shall leave your army to handle the rabble."
Van nodded and scaled up over Jet's back, making sure to grab his warhammer before he climbed. Sang was soon sitting directly behind him, arrows at the ready. Jet let out a roar and unleashed a torrent of fire upon the few players who had jumped in front of him. They were burned to a crisp, eliciting a laugh from Van. Barring the end of the world worries, this was probably the coolest thing he had ever done.
The chambers were wide enough for Jet's wings to flap, and the black dragon began to generate momentum as he flew toward the Emperor.
"Ahahahah, the humans taught a Xevov to be violent? What a testament to their power to cause strife wherever they go!" the Emperor shouted as he flew forward to meet Jet.
"Now!" Jet roared as Van scrambled atop the flying dragon's head and waited for the right moment. As the Emperor winged towards them, Van leapt off of Jet's head and went sailing through the air. Arrows flew past him as Sang fired shot after shot towards the monster. Van swung his warhammer hard as he activated his Fierce Rage power. Fierce Rage would last for 20 minutes, and made his attacks bypass any kind of damage reduction an enemy might have, but his defense rating was zero, meaning that he would be a sitting duck when attacked. Fortunately, the Fierce Rage was like an advanced version of the Berserk power, so he would be able to continue fighting no matter how low his hit points dropped.
As the magical power of the rage coursed through him, he swung his hammer down hard and cracked it against the dragon's skull. Momentum Bonus +50% 225 damage floated above the dragon's head, and Van could see the Emperor's health bar drop down from 6,000 to 5,775. That little a drop was extremely disheartening for him, though.
"Gahhh!" the Emperor roared. "You hit me! Haha, you actually did some damage to me. Not bad, Van."
Van landed atop the dragon's head and began to run down to the creature's back. The dragon was bucking and roaring hard as it engaged in claw-to-claw combat with Jet, but Van quickly pulled a hook from his belt and threw it at one of the little holes in the Emperor's wing. The words Success! You have hooked the dragon appeared as the hook snagged the hole. There was a rope attached to the hook, allowing for Van to scale up and down the dragon without fearing being dismounted by a sudden jerk or shift.
The back of the dragon was enormous, and Van couldn't see what was happening on the other side. But he could hear Sang shouting orders and the agony in Jet's voice as he roared. Van slid down the back of the dragon, making his way to the first wing. According to Jet, the wings of a dragon were pretty weak at their base. He placed both his feet against the back of the Emperor, hanging as if he were mountain climbing, and swung away with his hammer. The hammer smacked against the base of the wing violently and the words Weak Spot x2 damage! 400 damage appeared over his head.
"Yes!" Van shouted as he watched the Emperor's health drop down a little more. The Emperor let out a roar and shook, but Van held on. According to Bidane, most of the team had been equipped with potions of weakness spotting, meaning that this dragon would be in real trouble as soon as the rest of his army was ready to go. They were holding back, in case reinforcements were to arrive. Van was skeptical that the Emperor would be willing to fight this battle alone.
"You fiend!" Jet shrieked as he collapsed to the ground in a heap. Van glanced underneath him to see that Jet was writhing in pain, down to only 25 hit points.
"Hahahah, you may have the willingness to fight, Xevov," the Emperor said, "but that doesn't mean you have the skills for it. These players have spent years earning their ability to fight, and you? You come along and put on a dragon costume, thinking it will make you strong. You've got to earn the right to be strong."
Van felt the dragon shift as it began to descend towards Jet. He was extending his gigantic foot toward the fallen Xevov's head. If Van didn't so something to distract the Emperor quickly, he would finish off their most important ally.
"Rarrrw!" Van shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran along the side of the dragon and then leapt forward. The rope tightened as Van reached the end of the its length, and it carried him forward, allowing him to swing around the dragon's body. He had been on the back, but now he grabbed onto the scales of the soft underbelly of the Emperor. This was, of course,
a terrible idea, because the Emperor would grab him, but Van hoped it would be enough of a distraction for someone to heal Jet.
"Ahahahaha, you're honestly trying to attack my weak spot?" the Emperor asked as it seized Van. He was lifted high and, for a moment, Van could see that the carnage in the banquet hall was slowly subsiding. The Iron Dragons were emerging victorious.
"Let me go!" Van said as he felt the boney talons around him begin to squeeze. It wasn't enough to damage Van, but perhaps it was meant as a reminder that the dragon could easily kill him.
"Last chance," the Emperor said as he held Van high enough to make eye contact. "Join me or die!"
"Never!" Van grunted. He took a deep breath then and activated his No Bonds Can Hold Me power. A powerful surge of strength rippled through his body as he forced the dragon's claws open. He dropped down and swung wildly away from the Emperor. He was unable to control where he was going due to the nature of his fall, though, and so he began to swing back to the front of the dragon.
"Crap!" Van shouted as he saw another claw coming at him. He drew his dagger and cut the rope which has been holding him, electing to fall instead of dangle helplessly in front of the Emperor again. He sailed towards the ground, but fortunately his ring of Safe-Falling would protect him from any fall damage.
As he fell, he saw a torrent of flames come flying right towards him. The flames were bright orange, and he could hear the laughter of the Emperor in the background. Van grimaced and braced for maximum pain. A claw reached up then and snatched him from midair, pulling him away from the flames. Van looked behind him to see that Jet was the one holding him, and their ally now back to full health. Bidane was hanging from the side of his right wing and muttering prayer after prayer.
"Come on!" Sang shouted as she rushed up and began to fire arrow after arrow at the Emperor. Her shots kept bouncing off of the enemy dragon, and informing her that her damage rating was insufficient. "I can't seem to kill this bastard!"
Jet placed Van on his shoulder and began to fly backwards, allowing the Dragon Emperor to come right towards them.
"You ready for round two, Van?" Sang asked as she uncorked a potion and began to drink from it. Van could see the bonuses beginning to stack up next to her.
"Yeah," Van said distinctly and climbed atop Jet's head. He steadied himself then, and prepared to leap at his foe again.
As he waited for the Dragon Emperor to attack, the wall to the left of them blew open as two yellow dragons came crashing in. They roared angrily at the crowed. The other wall, on the eastern side, also blew open as a blue and a green dragon emerged.
"Hahaha," the Dragon Emperor laughed. "Now this was the kind of last stand that I was hoping for. These four are my strongest allies, and the most capable of the Draco."
"We shall consume you!" the four dragons all said in unison.
The threat elicited a sigh from the Emperor. "Of course, when you are the strongest of a Draco, you are also the simplest." Nevertheless, he turned to command them. "Kill these fools! Every last one of them, your Emperor commands you!" As the four dragons roared in unison, the Emperor floated away from Jet and merely hovered above his throne.
"After him!" Van ordered, but before Jet could swoop towards him, one of the yellow dragons flew up and bit Jet on the neck. Jet turned his own body in mid-air and began to fiercely claw at the yellow attacker.
Van lost his balance immediately and fell off of Jet. He smacked the ground hard, but fortunately he wasn't too far from the floor, so the damage was minimal at best.
Sang landed next to him, gracefully touching down to the floor with both feet.
"Dragon Force!" Van bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Go!!!"
The wall where Jet had originally emerged echoed with cheers as the real Iron Dragon force came pouring out. Nearly a thousand had been waiting for the go-ahead, and as they swarmed toward the enemy dragons, the Emperor laughed heartily.
"Do my eyes deceive me? What effort, to mask all of those soldiers with invisibility!" He boomed, "You really want to keep your planet, don't you?"
"Screw you!" Van shouted back at the dragon as he pointed his warhammer at the Emperor. "I'm coming for you next!"
"I am trembling with terror," the Emperor gleefully shouted back. Before Van could run over to make good on his promise, though, the blue dragon landed right in front of him, hissing loudly.
This dragon was smaller than the other two and looked more like a Komodo dragon than a traditional dragon. Its wings were small and its body was squat. Being so low to the ground also meant that it would be hard for Van to attack its underbelly, where it would be weakest.
"You are an affront to ussssss," it hissed. "We will consume your bones!"
Van grinned and raised his hammer high. "I'd like to see you try!" he taunted the creature. Sahara rushed up to his side. She was carrying a long trident, which was glowing bright red.
"I'm right by your side, Van!" Sahara said as she flourished her weapon.
Van began to circle to the right of the blue dragon and readied himself for an attack. It had a high amount of hit points, nearly 4,000, but it wasn't going to be as buffed up as the Emperor. And Van's Fierce Rage power was still going pretty strong, so he knew he could make short work of the dragon. He tightened his grasp around his warhammer and rushed toward it.
As he ran forward, the dragon let out a massive shriek that pushed him backwards, interrupting his charge. You are dizzy his UI informed him as the world around him started to spin rapidly. Van tried to continue moving forward, but each step that he took only made him more confused on where the dragon actually was.
"I've got your back!" Sahara called out as she lowered her trident into a spear form and charged at the blue dragon. It shrieked at her, as well, and she dropped her weapon to the ground. "Ahhh! My head!" she cried as she slipped and fell to the ground.
Van could see that the blue dragon was walking towards him, and he swung his hammer a few times, only to hit empty air. He staggered forward then, but was unable to stop the dragon from biting down on his body, hard. Van's armor soaked up the majority of the damage, but he watched his health drop down to 2,400 points. That was a high hit.
He felt the jaws tighten around him as he was lifted into the air. The dizziness was still being applied and, as he was being lifted, he felt like vomiting. You are being crushed came a notification from the UI, and Van's health began to drop by 50 points every few seconds. He tried to activate his No Bonds Can Hold Me power, but it was still refreshing from the last time he had used it. It would be nearly 3 minutes before it was available, and he would be long dead from the crushing damage by that point.
"A little help here!" Van shouted as he struggled in vain to break free of the tight jaws of the dragon.
"Coming!" Sang replied. He glanced over to see two copies of her running toward the blue dragon. He wasn't sure if it was the dizziness or if someone had used the Mirror Self spell on her.
She ran up and began to fire arrow after arrow at the dragon, but it merely growled at her and swiped at her with one of its claws. The arrows were bouncing off.
"I can't see any weak spots!" Sang shouted to Van, who was still trying to break out of the grip. The jaws were tightening even harder now, and really starting to hurt.
"It's gotta be the stomach," Van said. "Get it to rear up or something and shoot it."
"How? Politely ask it?" Sang shot back.
"Focus on solving the problem and not criticizing me!" Van gasped as he heard his armor starting to break. He flailed his legs and realized that, while his arms and armor were being tightly pinned by the jaws, his legs were relatively free to move around. This gave him an idea, at least. He very slowly tapped his foot upwards, trying to remember the facial structure of the dragon. He remembered that, like a Komodo dragon, the blue dragon's eyes were on the sides of its head. He could probably reach one with his foot. He slowly tapped around until he felt a sharp twinge as the creature began to tighten its grip
even more. His health was down to 2,000 now, but he knew he had the right idea. He kicked with all of his might and heard the beast hiss and snarl, but it refused to let go. He kept kicking over and over again, though, until, finally, the beast snapped its head back and forth, letting go of Van.
"Haha!" Van said as he crashed onto the ground yet again. Was he going to fall every five minutes? He quickly rolled over and stood to his feet, preparing his hammer to repel the blue dragon. It narrowed its eyes and hissed at him.
Sang was standing next to Van and was holding her bow high. "These dragons are a nightmare," she said. "But our guys are holding their own against them."
"Are we gonna hold our own against that?" Van asked as he felt the dizziness finally wear off. The dragon had retreated about 40 feet away and was hunched down, waiting for them to make their move. Sahara had managed to recover, as well, and was staggering back towards them.
"What's the plan?"
"That thing wants us to come to it," Van replied. "As soon as we get within range, it'll shriek and dizzy us."
"Maybe we should put something in our ears, to block the noise," Sang said. She reached into her satchel and began to fumble around. "Maybe this would work?" She was holding up a few earplugs.
Van shrugged. "Not a bad idea." He grabbed the earplugs and put them in. "Alright, let me go first. If it works, put yours in and charge after him. If it fails, don't let it bite me again."
"Roger!" Sahara said as she grabbed the earplugs and popped them in. She squatted low to the ground and readied herself to charge.
Van's footsteps were extra loud with each step that he took as he approached the blue dragon. It was glaring at him with contempt. As soon as he walked within thirty feet of the dragon, it let out a roar that caused him to slide back a few inches, but otherwise he was unaffected.
