by J. J. Pavlov
"We need to be much more careful from now on." I take a deep breath and announce.
On the other side of the trapped corridor was another metal door, but it was open just like the one to the cellar. Beyond that was a spiral staircase that led deeper into the bowels of the fortress. There was a strange gutter on both sides but elevated from the ground, which led me to believe that this may be part of another trap.
The entire thirteenth step down the staircase turned out to be one big pressure plate which released a rolling boulder behind us. But I wouldn't have any of that and ran back up the stairs to stop it with my full Crawling Chaos strength before it could gather any momentum. Then I used earth magic to transform it into sand - which turned out to be a mistake as the sheer amount washed over us like a wave.
With sand inside everybody's clothes, we reach the bottom of the stairs in a disgruntled mood. There were no other traps along the way, but feeling the grains with every step is bad enough. There's another corridor before us, and it's quite apparent what the next obstacle is going to be.
There are half a dozen metal pillars with blades sticking out from them at different heights each, placed on rails in the ground and the ceiling. They're unmoving now, but I'm sure that they will start up one way or another; there's just no avoiding those pressure plates, it seems.
"Don't you think a trap-maker's craft is a curious one?" Adano suddenly asks while looking ahead through the corridor, where another metal door marks the end of this obstacle course.
"What do you mean?" Asoko asks before I can.
"He doesn't get to witness the efficacy of his own work." Replying with a wry smile, he turns his head and shrugs.
"Quite philosophical, but what do we do about that?" I ask while pointing at the traps that will most definitely turn into whirling blades. It's most definitely possible to navigate through them because I don't think the traps were made with the intention to keep out intruders. The five pillars outside are one piece of evidence for that, as an unpickable mechanical lock with a key only the owner holds would have been far more effective.
They seem to serve as a selection process as if looking for somebody worthy to make it through. Who knows, maybe the reveal will be that the final trial is a sword stuck in a rock, and whoever pulls it out is the rightful Emperor of Terminus? It would be a hilarious turn of events if I were to be that person.
Leaving the idle thoughts aside, I look around to see if I can spot the activation switch so I can tamper with it. But as if to mock my very idea of attempting to cheat again, the machinery activates, and the pillars start swirling while moving across their rails. A suspicion that there's clear intent in this timing creeps into the back of my mind.
"Create a shield for them, sister." I ask of Asoko, and she immediately casts the wordy light barrier spell, encompassing Hestia and the two dark elves. Once I know they're safe, I focus my thoughts on my target and start chanting. "Mico Effero Flammis."
The wave of fire hits the first swirling trap and clings to it, but does nothing other than that. This spell is supposed to be a burst of napalm-like flames that stick to the target and stay until they're burned up completely. I should have known that it doesn't work on metal, though.
"Good job. Now it's no longer a swirling blade of death, but a burning swirling blade of death." My other half's snarky comment feels like a dagger stabbing into my back.
"If you're so clever, why don't you try it?" Snapping at her, I point at the trap to cast a water spell for putting out the flames. "Pilos Aquos."
Asoko undoes the light shield, and Hestia beats her wings to disperse the steam the collision of fire and water created. We exchange places, and my other half steps forward while pulling up her sleeves as if intending to physically stop the traps.
"Watch and learn, sister." She says while glancing back with a smirk. Then she lifts her fists and covers them in bone before throwing a punch at a blade.
I cover my face with a palm when I see her forearm get sliced off, fly through the air, and bounce off the light shield I erected. She stumbles back to avoid the same happening to her head, then turns around and looks at us with a sheepish expression. There's no way I can joke about her failure when that was exactly what I wanted to try next, though.
"Your turn..." She comes back toward us, picks up her severed forearm and reattaches it, and tags out with a meek nod. I undo the light barrier and sigh.
"Do you need a tip?" Hestia suddenly leans on my shoulder and whispers in my ear. The sensation brings back the memories of last night when she did the same but spoke different words. "You have already used the answer to this problem. Twice even, when counting between the two of you."
"Oh?" I turn to look at her, but she brings a finger up to her lips and winks impishly. It takes me a moment to understand, but then I realize what she's talking about. Both Asoko and I used this spell to protect those who are more fragile than we are from potential shrapnel when we tried to destroy the traps just now. We were already trusting in the strength of the light barrier.
My other half erects that very same barrier once I'm outside its range, unwittingly showing me what to do. I walk straight through the spinning blades, avoiding getting anything sliced off but not worrying about cuts as those can be healed quickly. Once I'm in position, I cast the spell, expanding it to the size I did back in Rathgolim when it encompassed our entire party of seven plus Senka.
The blades spin into it and as if hitting an immovable wall, bend or snap off completely. I hear the sound of gears breaking and machinery stopping under my feet, and eventually, all six swirling pillars come to a complete halt.
"That was pretty clever." Asoko commends me with an impressed look. I hold myself back from making any comments here and wave the party over so that we can continue.
Chapter 68 - King Of The Monsters
Our path led us deeper and deeper underground, as we easily passed through an area infested with skeletons - people who may have challenged this place before us - by using the Libera Animar spell. I had to wonder about others making it this far, but opening the gates to this place isn't as difficult as I was thinking earlier. And a millennium is a long time that allows people to figure it out repeatedly.
There was a series of rooms with walls shooting bolts at regular intervals. Asoko and I used earth magic to plug the arrow holes and walked through without an issue. We could have done the same in the corridor with the spikes emerging from the floor, but I didn't think about it back then.
Following that was a narrow walkway across a room of lava, and bladed pendulums swung at us from both sides, which the light barrier made trivial. I had to wonder how deep underground we were, but when we eventually reached a corridor where half the wall had crumbled away, it was revealed that in all of the meandering we did, we were about halfway down the cliff behind the fortress.
This could have served as another entry point, but it's moot now.
That corridor eventually curved back underground, and we came into a massive hall reminiscent of Rathgolim. Of course, it's nowhere near as magnificent as the city of the dwarves was, but this may also be dwarven handiwork.
But if it is, it's not visible because the floor is covered by a mountain of treasures. The vast majority of it consists of gold coins, next come gems both polished and raw, and lastly, there are a few goblets and trinkets here and there.
This is more than I could have even dreamt of. Something doesn't feel right about this amount of riches just sitting in an underground hall without anybody knowing. Adano said that nobody cared about this place in a long time, but there should have been historical records of what was hidden in its dungeons.
"It feels like a dragon could appear here." My other half voices the one concern I didn't want to speak out loud. From experience, I know that putting it into words is a jinx in this world.
And as if to prove me right, a mountain of treasures comes alive. Coins and gems begin shifting like sand, rolling down the slope as some
thing underneath them pushes itself up. First, a dark golden tail with a spiked bludgeon-like growth separates from the piles of gold. Following that, a ridge of jagged bony plates rises like a multitude of shark fins. Powerful arms break out from the sea of gold, sporting three long claws and leathery wings. Then, the massive back is unearthed before an elongated neck comes into view. Finally, the head rears itself, revealing an appearance reminiscent of eastern dragons. Its entire frame is powerfully built, with the bulging muscles clearly visible even through the coat of golden scales.
It looks almost twice as big as the one Dregana turned into, so it's safe to assume that this is a full-fledged dragon; she was a dragonkin, which might explain the size difference. In other words, this one most likely can't transform into a human but is undoubtedly more powerful.
"Uninvited guests, huh? How long has it been since we last had visitors?" A deep and rumbling voice speaking Imperian with an unexpectedly sophisticated inflection emerges from the dragon's throat, as his yellow eyes fixate on us. It doesn't look like he's talking to us though. "What should I do with them, I wonder."
"We're not here for your treasures." I raise my arms to show that we're coming in peace. Then I hear metal clanging behind me and turn my head to find Asoko with an armful of gold, looking like a thief caught in a police searchlight.
"Oops." She makes and drops her spoils with an innocent expression that appears feigned no matter how one looks at it.
"Is that so." The dragon brings his head around and eyes us more closely. He alternates his gaze between me and my other half, then smells the air as if to confirm. Drawing back in surprise, he turns his head to look at me with his other eye.
This situation is bad. All my expectations regarding this world's fantasy standard have been fulfilled, if not surpassed. That means dragons should be immune to magic and possess scales harder than steel. Unlike sandworms, I will most likely not succeed in making him swallow a fire explosion spell. And even if I did, I doubt it will have much of an effect on him.
"An angel with black wings." Even though it seemed like he wanted to comment on us, he turns his attention to Hestia instead. She shrinks under the intense gaze of a being that could swallow her in one bite and doesn't dare to blink.
But even under the tense circumstances, I calmly analyze the fact that he spoke the word 'angel' in an English-sounding pronunciation, while all his other words are in perfect Imperian. I'm sure Senka would be able to explain to me what this means, but unfortunately, she's not here.
"Please, great dragon-" I start, causing his glowing eyes to shift to me.
"Kiamedras is my name, child of the stars." He introduces himself and drops another tidbit that surprises me. The only other being in this world that seems to think I'm not a demon but an alien being is the doll girl, referring to me as a Cosmic Horror.
"Please, great Kiamedras, we only want to use the transportation circle here." I try to mend the situation exacerbated by Asoko's thoughtless actions by telling him our intentions. "There's no reason for us to fight."
"Oh, I see." He draws back slightly and lifts his head to look down on me with an angry glare. At least that's what I think his mostly expressionless face suggests, as a shiver runs down my back at the sight of it. "You suggest that if I decided to devour you, you would be able to put up a fight - that what would happen then could be considered a fight rather than a one-sided slaughter."
Not good. My words seem to have offended him, even though they weren't meant to sound like I was picking a fight. I'm confident that a single belch of fire would reduce me to ashes, even before I have the time to put up a light barrier, so it wouldn't be much of one.
"That wasn't my intention." I quickly explain, eliciting a chuckle from the giant dragon. For some reason, that's more terrifying than if he had roared at me.
"I know. But as you have your reasons for being here, so do I have mine." Kiamedras begins to circle around our group, a hint of sadness in his voice. Glancing at us in passing, he then continues as if speaking to himself. "These treasures are not mine, even if their owner gifted them to me. Even an elder dragon such as me is but a test."
"Test?" I had such a suspicion before when I thought the traps had too many exploitable gaps to be strictly for keeping out intruders, but with his comment that has become a certainty. "What for?"
"That, you will have to find out yourself." He replies while turning his head to look at us. Stopping his pacing where he started, he then positions himself right in our way and spreads his massive wings in a menacing gesture. "It is unfortunate, but we will have to fight."
His emphasis on the last word makes it clear that he's still hung up about my choice of using it earlier. But he doesn't sound spiteful at all; his regretful attitude makes it clear that this isn't entirely his will.
"Can't we solve this peacefully?" Now that I know that he can not only be reasoned with but also seems reluctant to fight, I can't go all-out. Of course, I don't see how we can win if he's really immune to magic - although that's only a theory that I don't want to have proven right in the middle of a life-and-death battle.
"You cannot run, and you cannot continue onward without defeating me." Kiamedras nods his snout toward the place we came in from, and I turn around to find that a golden door has appeared where the normal one was before. Can this dragon control gold?
"Please, I don't want to fight you!" I raise my arms and plead once again.
"Enough! Prepare yourself!" He raises his head and roars. Then his neck lights up, and flames erupt from between the scales leading up to his throat as if there are slits to let out the excess heat.
"Scatter!" I shout and drag Hestia sideways behind a mountain of gold. One of her wings is sticking out, so I grab and pull it into safety just in time when a wave of fire blows past where we just stood. The two dark elves seem to have gone into hiding on their own, and Asoko was able to get behind cover as well.
"Did you not say fight? Are you going to keep running, hoping that my flames die out?" In a tone oozing with snideness, Kiamedras roars while walking toward us. The gold doesn't melt under the heat of his flames, so at least it's comforting to know that the arena won't shrink with time. Though from the wording of his rhetorical question I can tell that he won't ever run out of flames to breathe at us either.
Maybe I do have to resolve myself to fighting after all. First, I'll have to see whether or not he really is immune to magic. Can't give up without trying.
"Hasta de Lumin!" Asoko appears from behind her cover and chants, summoning a spirit spear that flies straight at Kiamedras' neck. He doesn't have enough time to dodge, but when the projectile hits the scales, it disperses without causing any damage. It turns out my theory was proven right in the middle of a life-and-death battle after all.
"There you are." Turning his head toward her, he belches another stream of fire. She rolls sideways, but her clothes are set aflame anyway.
"Pilos Aquos!" I chant with one hand pointed at her to help her put out the fire. Then I stomp on the ground while raising my other hand in the direction of the dragon. "Pilum Gradum!"
From underneath the gold, a pillar of stone rises right as Kiamedras opens his maw to fry me. It hits his lower jaw and forces it shut just in time, causing the flames to spew from every hole in his neck instead. Even though it wasn't a strong impact, having his breath stopped, and the heat forced through the much smaller openings seems to affect him after all.
"Asoko!" Seeing the opportunity, I extend a hand toward my other half, and she immediately follows me while ripping off her burnt clothes. "Bone Hammer!"
"Size?" Without even questioning my request, she asks for specifics.
"As big as you can go." I start to grow in size while running toward Kiamedras, as he shakes his head and takes a deep breath to regain his bearings. "Maximum penetration!"
"Got it!" She grabs my hand and starts transforming her body to match me. Within a few steps, I grow to nearly ten meters in size while Asoko
turns herself into a sledgehammer with a pointed head. Jumping into the air before either of us are finished, I swing the bone hammer down at the dragon's head.
My other half impacts the side of his face, the force sending him tumbling sideways. However, even the hardest bone template we have is weaker than dragon scales, causing the hammer to crack.
Kiamedras quickly gets back on his feet, far less shaken from this attack than he was from swallowing his own fire. For some reason, his expression seems to suggest that he's having fun in this battle to the death.
"Eyes." Asoko and I say at the exact same time, and she transforms herself into a bone spear while I stay quick on my feet and run behind a pillar to avoid a stream of fire coming toward me. Rounding the cover, I get on the other side and perform a lunge with the living spear, aiming straight at the yellow eye.
But he sees us coming and turns his head, causing my other half to slide along his horns instead. The thrust causes me to lose my balance, and Kiamedras uses the opportunity to rush at me with his wings spread. I let go of Asoko and twist my enlarged body so that he doesn't get to catch my arms with his claws.
He still tackles me to the ground and tries to bite off my head. I turn my arm into a vertical bone and stick it between his teeth to keep his maw open. Even though I've grown to almost ten meters, the elder dragon still towers over me when standing on his hind legs. And his musculature is stronger than even the Crawling Chaos body underneath my still human form.
Then I see flames rising from inside his throat and turn my other arm into a spike to stab into his open mouth. His claw catches my elbow and pins it down, and I already see myself get burned like I did when Aldebrand burst out from inside me.
Suddenly, Asoko appears over his shoulder in her real appearance. It's the first time I'm seeing her like that, and now I know why; unlike me, she has a blood-red body that looks far thinner than mine and has tentacles trailing from all over it like a thick liquid dripping down but never separating completely. Maybe she hasn't shown it so far because she didn't want to remind herself of the fact that she's not the original one. After all, before we split, our real appearance had a rather buff form consisting of black tentacles wrought like ropes to recreate muscles.
