"FIRE!" Izuku shouted, batting aside a Basilisk with Nightbringer as an explosion loud enough to deafen him rang out from Thorn's back.
[You have been afflicted with Debuff: Paralysis.]
[Skill: Longevity has activated and cleared all Debuffs.]
Izuku looked around, doing his best to assess the situation. A good third of his Army had been paralyzed by the flying Basilisks and only the Commander or General Grade Shadows could resist it fully. Tusk was doing his best to use the Hymn of Rage to clear or lessen as many Debuffs as he could, but he could only target a small group at a time.
Izuku knew that the difficulty would steadily increase as he cleared Domains, but he didn't expect the next Domain to become so difficult so fast. Almost the second they stepped into the boundaries, the Dragon Lord Aeolus and all of her minions attacked them at once. And with a decent portion of the army instantly becoming paralyzed, Izuku couldn't rely on them to clear this entire area.
Though Aeolus was flying through the sky out of reach, flinging blades of air down on them without any break in between the volleys and more Amphipteres were rushing them, Izuku considered the Basilisks far more deadly. Aeolus may have been stronger and the Amphipteres may have been faster, but the Basilisks didn't even need to touch you to inflict their Debuff, you just had to make the mistake of looking into their eyes. While the Shadows were immune to the poison of the Amphipteres, they were apparently not immune to the Basilisks' gaze.
"DIE!" Thorn shouted as innumerable projectiles shot out from the cannons on his shoulder and the railgun-like gun on his back. Izuku's mood soured even further upon hearing that all too familiar yell.
True to her moniker as the Lord of Air, Thorn's sister refused to be hit by the attacks. Just one would've been enough to kill her, they were that powerful, but her movements were just too fast to follow.
[Mana: 33618/39812]
Izuku had plenty of Mana to spare, but with the way this battle was going, and how fast his stores had suddenly dropped, he didn't want to prolong it any further. "Wyverns! Impede the Boss's movements!"
The 120 Wyverns free from paralysis turned their attention to the Air Dragon and leapt into the sky, leaving their frozen comrades behind.
Their wings beating steadily, they climbed higher and higher, quickly approaching the Dragon Lord as Thorn continued to send his fiery flak throughout the sky. Of course, Aeolus was no fool. Immediately sensing the approach of the Wyverns, she gave her wings a single beat.
[Dragon Lord, Aeolus is using Skill: Maelstrom.]
With seemingly no warning, five separate tornados popped into existence, each spewing out dozens of wind blades, sharp enough to cut a building in half. They began tearing through the pack of Wyverns, dissolving their bodies into small Shadowy bits and because of that, Aeolus assumed that she was safe from that avenue of attack. She figured that all she had to focus on now was dodging her brother's volley. What she didn't account for, was Izuku.
Using the Wyverns as stepping stones, Izuku picked his way through the air, running up a "hill" of Shadows and pushing off the last one hard enough to blast a hole straight through its back.
[Skill: Infinite Strength has activated.]
Izuku closed the distance between himself and Aeolus in mere moments, swinging Daybringer right into its jaw.
As the Dragon Lord was discombobulated, Izuku continued to fly past her, being caught by Ifrit and clearing the area as quickly as possible.
Aeolus quickly righted herself, finding that she was now alone in the sky, the blow to her head so powerful that she forgot about the main threat. Suddenly, she felt an immense amount of heat and Mana building in the air and realized her mistake. Looking down at the ground, she saw a miniature sun forming, her Basilisks and Amphipteres attempting to get in its way, but they dissolved immediately upon getting anywhere near it. Furiously beating her wings, Aeolus attempted to build up speed to escape the attack… but it was too late.
[Dragon God, Thorn is using Skill: Elucidator.]
The railgun on his back surged with energy, spitting forth a pure beam of red heat that cut through the sky like a divine sword. Upon coming into contact with the green Dragon Lord, the energy expanded into a sphere of white-hot plasma. It was an attack that was comparable to a condensed nuclear strike and Aeolus's charred corpse was falling out of it.
[You have defeated the third of the Six Dragon Lords!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have obtained Key Item: Key of Air.]
[You have obtained Ingredient Item: Wing Membrane of Aeolus.]
[You have obtained Item: Storm Claws.]
[Item: Storm Claws.]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Claws
+400 Attack
Made out of the condensed Air Magic and Talons of Aeolus, these claws, worn over the user's fingers, are capable of slashing through the air itself, negating any wind resistance and increasing the user's speed.
Izuku looked over the claws, knowing that they would be absolutely perfect for someone like Beru. "I'm sure he'll be happy to know I got him a present while I was gone!"
"Arise, Firnen," Izuku commanded, having already picked out the Dragon's name.
[Shadow Dragon Lord of Air Commander Grade has evolved into Shadow Dragon God of Air General Grade Lv. 25]
[Firnen General Grade Lv. 25]
Izuku scowled at the System message. Even though Aeolus was noticeably stronger than Vulcan had been, she Extracted at the same Grade and Level as Thorn and Glaedr. "I see how it is… even if I wait for them to become stronger, they're going to extract at the same strength."
"What a poor shot, brother. You had to rely on our Liege to stun me in order to even hit your target." Right out of the gate, Izuku understood the relationship Thorn and Firnen were going to have.
"I- Someone like you wouldn't know that it's incredibly hard to hit a moving target! Even more so a moving target moving at mach 1!" Izuku knew that was an exaggeration, but said nothing. "All you do is flap your wings and fly away like a little b…"
They continued to argue as Izuku looked up at Glaedr, "Are they always like this?"
Glaedr looked down in shame, "Unfortunately my Liege… this is what my family would consider a "good" day between them."
"What a disappointment you must be to our Liege. A truly good Shadow Soldier would let him sit back and watch as his army did all the work."
"You say that as if you weren't the one causing the trouble!"
Firnen scoffed, "That was not the true me. Therefore, I cannot be blamed for those actions. The blame rests-"
"Hey! Newbie!" Izuku shouted out at Firnen, "I get that you two are siblings and… well… you're siblings, but I'd prefer you not call one of my strongest Shadows a disappointment."
Firnen eyes widened, as if realizing she had been doing all of this arguing in front of her new Monarch, "F-Forgive me, my Liege!" She flung her head and body to the ground, allowing Izuku to examine what the evolution had done for her.
Thankfully, she still had her wings, so Izuku finally had a General Grade flying mount, but it looked like she had lost any semblance of her legs. In fact, Firnen was now the spitting image of a ginormous Amphiptere. A long snaking body and two wings where her front legs would've been. Compared to her brother's, some may have thought her to be unimpressive, but Izuku saw her potential immediately. She had immense speed and her wings were like massive blades. Aside from being a mount, she'd be of great use to the Shadow Army.
"S-So then I was not a disappointment my Liege?!" Thorn asked with urgency, nearly causing Izuku to roll his eyes.
"You performed excellently."
Izuku heard the clunk of armor as Igris walked up to him and kneeled, "My Liege. It seems that some of the Shadow Army are able to Rank Up. I have brought those Soldiers before you."
Izuku's eyes widened, "Really? This many?"
Cha Hae-In was not a fan of this tower-sized portal. Not only was it threatening her entire country, but it was preventing her from taking on any other Gates that were appearing. She was forced to leave those dangerous Dungeons to her Agency members. And it wasn't like she didn't trust them, she knew they were very capable people, but to Hae-In, it was her responsibility to make sure they didn't get hurt.
Suddenly, Hae-In felt a giant hand resting on her shoulder. She didn't need to look up to know that it was Ma Dong-Wook. "They'll be just fine Miss Cha. For now, you would do better to worry about yourself. If you waste your mind worrying, you won't be prepared for whatever comes out of that thing."
"A-Am I that easy to read?"
Ma smiled, "Well, I can't say it was hard to glean that much."
The five remaining S-Ranks of Korea were gathered in a pop-up tent that many would consider a small house. Their country had ordered them to stay near the Gate at all times, even though only four days had passed and a Gate needed seven to open.
"Did you hear about the Korean Association reaching out to Yuri Orlov?" Lim Tae-Gyu asked, joining the conversation.
"Orlov?" Baek asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "That attention hog from Russia?"
"Yeah. According to him, he could've held the Gate closed for as long as Korea wanted… so long as they paid him twenty million American Dollars every day and thirty billion up front."
"What?!" Baek roared, parts of his beastly transformation taking over, "That little piece of-"
"The deal was not taken, I can gather," Choi interrupted, his normal calm and cool demeanor somewhat disturbed by the slight of their country by Yuri.
Lim shook his head, "It's too high a price, especially when you consider that Izuku Midoriya is coming here free of charge."
"Why would Go Gun-Hee even approach him at all?" Baek asked, using the name of their country's Association President, "He knew that someone like Yuri would ask for a sum like that!"
"He probably wanted to cover all of his bases… just in case Midoriya is not everything that we've made him out to be," Cha butted in. "We've all seen him in action, or at least felt his power, so there's no doubt among us, but for someone who has never seen him… to believe that he alone would be enough to change the outcome of an entire S-Rank Dungeon, it sounds insane."
"Honestly though… is he even gonna be enough?"
Choi nodded, "I believe that he will be more than enough. In fact, he just proved himself worthy of clearing SSS-Rank Dungeons by himself. Imagine what he can do with the Summons from that Gate." He took a seat and relaxed, knowing that there wouldn't be much to do for some time, "Besides, if his powers are anything to go by, whatever comes out of that Gate is only going to turn into a weapon for him to wield. That sort of power is almost scary."
Baek took a deep breath, "I hate to have to ask this but… are we certain he's just gonna come here out of the goodness of his heart?"
"I don't see why he'd suddenly become the greedy type," Ma answered, "Even after taking down Jeju Island single-handedly, he left all but one of the Magic Cores for us to take. With his Summons, he could've recovered each and every one and sold them to become one of the richest men on earth, but he allowed us to take them so we could rebuild. Something tells me that a man like him won't do something because it pays well, but because he believes it to be the right thing to do."
Choi nodded, "Despite my misgivings about Japan as a whole, I certainly believe that we can put our trust in someone like him. Personally… I'll feel a lot safer when he arrives tomorrow."
"Not to be ungrateful… but why isn't he here now? Clearing the Dungeon before it can break?" Lim asked.
"His friends and family were all attacked by Villains in separate locations. His mother, sister, adopted daughter and her caretaker, as well as his Agency, where his girlfriend and other friends were." Cha Hae-In apparently had been doing her research.
"Adopted daughter?!" Lim wore an expression of confusion, completely ignoring the fact that basically everyone Izuku knew had been attacked, "I thought Izuku was only 18?!"
"He's actually 16."
"What?! What's he doing with a daughter at that age?"
"The girl is Eri, the one we were meant to rescue from Jeju. She formed a bond with him and his Shadows. Without them around, she refused to sleep or eat. He had no choice but to take her in."
Ma raised a finger in excitement, "Which only serves to reinforce my point about him being the type of person to do the right thing, instead of the prof-"
"IT'S CRACKING!"
The shrill shriek stunned the tent into silence as they exchanged glances with wide eyes.
"No…"
"It's impossible…"
A man came barging into their tent, the Korean army's General, "The Gate is beginning to open! We need you five combat-ready and out here immediately!"
"That can't be!" Baek shouted, "It's only been four days!"
"Well tell that to the Gate!" The General shouted back, "Whether we like it or not, it is opening!" He left without another word, unable to see the color drain from the faces of all five Heroes. Perhaps it was better that way, because if he had seen them, he would've known without question that today was his day to die.
18 Hours Earlier:
The Shadow Infantry, Angel Archers, Obsidian Beetles and Lava Golems, all of the Elite Shadows, were knelt before Izuku, as well as all of the Shadow Nomu, High Orcs, and Shadow Bears, many of the Knight Grade Shadows. In front of them, the Elite-Knight Grades of the Angel Mages, Angel Knights, Shadow Magicians, the Six Human Hero Shadows, the three High Orc Bodyguards, and Smokey bowed before him.
"All of you are ready for Rank-Ups?!"
Igris nodded, "They are ready my Liege. And would know no greater honor than to be given your permission to become stronger."
Izuku gave his Shadows a huge grin, "It would be my pleasure. Rank-Up."
With those two words, Izuku took his army to new heights. Now, even the weakest of Shadows were comparable to mid-level A-Ranks and his roster of Captain Grade Shadows expanded greatly. Each and every one of the Shadows acquired new found power, but the one Izuku was greatly drawn to, were the Shadow Magicians. They were six of the first Shadows he had acquired and they were now at Captain Grade. Their Fire Magic had gotten exponentially stronger, but what Izuku really cared about was their new type of Magic.
[Summoning Magic: Monarch's Honor Guard. The user can call upon any number of permanent Shadow Infantry. The limit is drawn at the Monarch's Extract Shadow Number.]
Level: 130
Strength: 289
Vitality: 221
Agility: 272
Intelligence: 365
Sense: 218
[Mana: 36671/40126]
[HP: 53574/53574]
[Shadows able to be extracted: 2062]
[Shadows able to be saved: 1150/1512]
Izuku had taken an additional 20 Basilisk Shadows, which had evolved into 20 Captain Grade Quetzalcoatl, bringing his total Shadow count to 1150, meaning he could technically have the six Shadow Magicians call upon an additional 912 Shadow Infantry. "That's 48 times more Shadow Infantry than I have now!"
The Shadow Knights were still one of, if not, the weakest Shadows he had, but they were great for simple man power and now, they would be perfect for overwhelming numbers. He could dismiss the ones he needed to when Extracting more Shadows.
[Shadow Magicians are using Summoning Magic: Monarch's Honor Guard.]
And just like that, 362 Shadow Infantry, Knight Grade were added to his Army. He could add more, but he wouldn't be able to save them, so he would wait to max out the number until they were in battle.
"If I didn't have the System to keep track of them, I'd totally forget how many Shadows I had."
[Shadows: Total count: 1512]
68 Lava Golems - Knight
49 Angel Archers - Knight
40 Obsidian Beetles - Knight
34 Greater Fire Spirits - Knight
33 Yetis - Knight
381 Shadow Infantry - Knight
15 Ice Golems - Knight
282 Shadow Nomu - Elite-Knight
63 Shadow High Orcs - Elite-Knight
25 Shadow Bears - Elite-Knight
21 Lava Titans - Elite-Knight
10 Amphitians - Elite-Knight
6 Ice Foxes - Elite-Knight
Stain - Elite-Knight
154 Shadow Wyverns - Captain
149 Dragon Knights - Captain
30 Angel Mages - Captain
30 Draconian Cannons - Captain
20 Earth Hydras - Captain
20 Quetzalcoatl - Captain
20 Angel Knights - Captain
20 Fire Serpents - Captain
6 Magicians - Captain
6 Heroes - Captain
3 Shadow High Orc Bodyguards - Captain
Smokey - Captain
Slice - Captain
Twice - Captain
Chimera - Captain
Tank - Captain
Esil - Captain
Hyo - Captain
Tusk - Captain
Karkinos - Captain
Igris - Commander
Ifrit - Commander
Pektra - Commander
Beru - General
Glaedr - General
Thorn - General
Firnen - General
A/N: Since the list was getting so big, I figured I post my count from my Google Docs into here for you guys.
"It looks like you guys are close to Commander Grade as well," Izuku remarked, looking over Tusk, Hyo, Karkinos and Tank. "The next Dragon should definitely get you there." Izuku already knew what Tusk and Hyo would sound like, since their living counterparts had spoken, but he was nonetheless excited for them to be able to speak. "Speaking of the next battle, let's get going, I've got to be in Korea in about one day and I want to get all Six Dragons before then."
His Shadow Army rose to their feet, the clanking of their armor filling his ears as he smiled with satisfaction at how orderly they were, completely unaware that in just 18 hours, the Korean Gate would break open, releasing death and destruction on their country.
Izuku almost felt bad for the Water Dragon Lord, Neptune. Its minions, the double-headed water Dragons and the Wyrm-type water Serpents were easily bashed away by the upgraded Shadow Army and the Dragon herself was having no luck dealing with her siblings. Firnen chased her through the air with her asinine speed, almost toying with her as Thorn launched barrage after barrage of projectiles. Izuku was pretty sure that, by now, Glaedr was beginning to feel pretty useless next to his brother and sister.
[Dragon Lord, Neptune is using Skill: Dragon's Den.]
Knowing that she stood no chance without using her abilities, Neptune wasted no time conjuring a sphere of water that would've been unbreakable to anyone else on Earth. It even had dozens of tentacles lashing out from it, making it an excellent form of defense and offense simultaneously. Unfortunately for her, Thorn was there.
[Dragon God, Thorn is using Skill: Elucidator.]
Neptune's shield was turned into steam in seconds and the force of the explosion sent her flying backwards, straight into her sisters awaiting Skill.
[Dragon God, Firnen is using Skill: Jetstream.]
Firnen's wings glowed with green energy as she shot forwards, this time truly at mach 1, cutting her sister's body entirely in half.
[You have defeated the fourth of the Six Dragon Lords!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have obtained Key Item: Key of Water.]
[You have obtained Ingredient Item: Magic-Rich Fangs of Neptune.]
[You have obtained Item: Kraken's Staff.]
Thanks for reading! I realize I sound like a broken record at this point, but sorry this chapter took so long! School, among other things, has been doing its best to drain me of motivation! Anyways, I know that the Air and Water Dragon battles were pretty short, but by now I feel like there's not really a whole lot more to do with them and I'm not trying to waste your guys' time, so I hope you'll forgive me for that! Next chapter will be the last two Dragons, Light and Dark and I plan to do something a little bit more with them, so keep an eye out for the next chapter! See you then!
