Chapter 4: Shadow Dragon

"AAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

That was the sound of a troll choking on his own blood. When Michael had removed his sword from his throat his gash did not heal as expected. Excalibur, apart from dealing devastating holy damage, cancelled out regeneration and low-level healing spells. The troll died after a few seconds of agonising pain.

That should be the last of them, Michael thought to himself as he looked around. The entire village was dyed red with blood. There were massive bodies littered everywhere, Michael counted at least forty of them. As his father had ordered, all the trolls who were too young to be considered dangerous to those they had freed were spared. They were only six in total, four males, two females. Michael did not think they could not survive on their own if left behind.

"Chichi-ue, what do we do with about the younglings?"

When Michael had slain the Trolls he had done so without hesitating and felt no remorse for what he had done. It was not because the trolls were monsters, only humans and their ilk viewed demi-humans as such and if one used the same kind of logic then Michael, a heteromorph, was an even bigger monster. No, the reason he felt no remorse was because what he had done was justice. The trolls had been practicing a despicable act worse than slavery. Even farmers did not treat their life stock so inhumanely. However, Michael was not someone who believed the sins of the parent were inherited by the child. The troll younglings did not deserve to suffer because of their parent's mistake.

The ruler of Zion gave him a faint smile, one that did not reach her eyes. "You truly are a kind-hearted person Michael. I'm glad you turned out to be the person I intended to create."

These words made Michael's heart leap with joy. To be told something like that to by his father, his creator, there was nothing that would make him even more proud. He was so shocked and so happy at the same time that he stuttered for the first time.

"I- I'm- your words honour me Chichi-ue."

"I'm glad they do," his father replied. "We'll take them along with the humans and the beastmen. The orcs and goblins are too dumb to take along. They can take care of themselves."

Originally Shiva had intended to leave the young trolls with them but after Michael voiced his concern she realised that the younglings wouldn't survive minutes after she and Michael left. The goblins and orcs were lacking in the intelligence department, but they were not dumb enough to not know what revenge was. As soon as she and Michael left the trolls would have been slaughtered and they would have been the ones roasting over a spit fire instead.

But damn, Shiva thought to herself as she looked at the cowering figures of the trolls. Although they were still young for trolls most of them were taller than her. And they're so ugly!

As a former human Shiva had a human sense of aesthetics. To her elves were beautiful, goblins were ugly and dragons were majestic. Creatures like trolls were much worse than goblins and added to that they smelled really bad. I can't have such a smell polluting Zion. She searched her memory for and appropriate spell to rid herself of their foul odour. The only one that that came to mind was a 4th Tier spell called [Purify]. It was a spell that dispelled poison gas. Angels were immune to the effects of poison, however, a druid like Shiva needed such a spell in case she encountered someone who used plant killing poison. It had happened before, and she would have died if not for her guildmate Echidna.

This should work like a charm, she thought as she cast it.

However, [Purify] was a spell that purified the air and got rid of toxins. It could do nothing against a natural stench like that of the trolls as long as it was not harmful. After a minute of going through her spell list to see if there was another more promising spell she acknowledged that such magic did not exist in Yggdrasil. There was no sense of smell back in the game so such magic would be useless. I guess there's nothing that can be done for now, she thought with a sigh.

"Let's get back to Zion," she said, and opened a [Gate].

"Aaaaaahhh!" sighed Uriel in obvious pleasure.

She was currently resting in a hot spring somewhere on the first floor. For someone as hyperactive as she such an activity had never appealed to her, until her older sister had decided to drag her and Sariel to Eden for a bit of relaxation. When they had explained their reason for visiting the gardens Kuro, the sacred beast in charge of the water sources in Eden, was not happy. He probably would have complained if it were someone else, however, he did not have the guts to say no to Jophiel. Of all the beings created by the Elohim the only one who did not cower before Jophiel was her older brother Michael and his control on her was shaky at best.

"We should do this more often," Sariel muttered with her eyes closed.

Originally she had been reluctant to go anywhere with Uriel, who always made fun of her at every opportunity, but her big sister assured her that Uriel would not be bothering her. Even the rowdy Uriel wouldn't dare disobey their older sister so in the end she decided to come. To say the least she was glad she tagged along.

"Didn't Shiva-sama leave Zion in your care Archangels-sama? Are you sure you should be here?"

The person that asked that question did so in a playful voice. She had incredibly pale skin with short shaggy white hair and shining emerald eyes. On top her head was a pair of feline ears and her hands, which rested atop a pair of rocks, were covered in short white hair that ran from her elbow. At the ends of her fingers were claws instead of nails. Her most prominent feature was the black stripes that covered her skin and hair.

"Chichi-ue said we can slack off as long as we want," Jophiel said. "As long as we are ready when trouble comes it's fine, so there's no need to worry Shiro-san."

"I know Shiva-sama told you to relax but won't she be mad that we're slacking off this much?" Shiro asked, starting to get worried.

"Relax Shiro-san," Uriel said cheerfully. "Chichi-ue is not a strict person. It's more likely that Killjoy will have a tantrum than Chichi-ue."

"Seriously," Jophiel muttered in agreement. "That guy doesn't know how to relax."

By Killjoy they were of course referring to Michael. Perhaps it was because in the absence of the Elohim he was in charge of Zion, but the leader of the Archangels really had no idea what the word relaxing entailed. He was always so serious about everything. All who were present tried to picture him taking a break; almost everyone snickered. It was just wrong.

"By the way," Jophiel continued by changing the subject. Her attention shifted to a woman with reddish skin and really messy looking red hair. If one looked closely they would see that the hair was actually feathers. Much smaller ones covered the entirety of her arms. "I've always wondered Akai-san. With your different physiologies, how do you and Ao-kun do it?"

And suddenly Akai's already red complexion became even redder. Everyone else soon followed after when they realised what the Archangel meant. Shiro had an awkward smile that was trying to hide her embarrassment. Uriel was gaping at her older sister in shock, her face tomato red and Sariel's face was heating up. You could practically see steam coming out of her ears.

"Onee-sama!" Sariel exclaimed. "How can you ask something like that, and with such a straight face?"

At the same time she had begun to speak Akai was already denying Jophiel's intention.

"Tha- tha- that- It's personal!" she yelled with her eyes closed. A second later she submerged her whole body up to her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like, "We've never done it before."

The shocking revelation almost immediately had everyone asking questions nonstop after a few gasps. Poor Akai was constantly looking left and right, her eyes desperately screaming save me! Luck for her a moment later Jophiel held up her hand to silence everyone. However, the playful mood was gone, for the Archangel now wore a serious air around her. It seemed she had gotten a message, which she silently listened to. After a while she ended it by saying, "I'll be right there." Then she stood up, revealing her exquisite nude body to all.

The name Jophiel meant Beauty of God and it was no wonder she was recognized as the most beautiful being in all of Zion. When Shiva created her she took all the compliments she knew and applied them to her. She gave her large round sparkling eyes that made starlight look dim, long indigo hair with a silky texture, a perfect hourglass figure and a face that made flowers ashamed to bloom in her presence. Basically she had imagined the most beautiful woman she could think of, so beautiful that even the female members of her guild could do not but stare in wonder. If Jophiel's serious mood had not transferred to the other females with her they would have probably lost themselves gazing at her form.

"Raphael just messaged me," she revealed. "It seems he caught something interesting. Why don't we go outside and see for ourselves?"

Blacker than Night. Scarier than Death. He who casts a shadow on Darkness itself. These were the words used to describe Niahoggr D'zar. Whenever his wings darken the skies nations fell to ruin, his roar reaped fear from even his own kind and whenever he used his breath there was always death. That was why he was dubbed the Shadow Dragon Lord. Even among his own kind he was among the strongest.

And then one day two fleas entered his lair wearing the most valuable garments he had ever sniffed. Apparently all they wanted was information. Being a dragon, he offered to answer all their questions if they gave him their garments and when they refused he became forceful and told them they had no choice if they wanted to leave the place alive. That was when he discovered that those fleas were more powerful than anything he had ever seen. Not only did they manage to survive his lethal breath attack, the female had nearly killed him with one hit from a flaming sword that appeared out of thin air. Then she dragged his over thirty metres and twenty tonne body out of the cave onto the open plains where more of them waited. Unlike the two who came had entered his lair these were the size of giants. Each of them were over three metres wearing white robes and with either a glowing sword or a sceptre. They carried him of eastwards until they came upon a flying castle. Niahoggr had seen a flying structure before, but it had been a monstrous structure, nothing compared to the radiance of this castle.

"Let's drop him here," the male he had first encountered said. "Onee-sama is on the way and I've already informed Gabriel to meet us here as well."

The next moment the male's six wings and the ring floating atop his head disappeared. The bright light that had encircled him vanished. His appearance was now simply that of a human. Similarly the four black wings of the female vanished. The feline ears atop her head disappeared and a pair of pointy ones grew out of the sides of her head. She looked like a Dark Elf now.

The transformation of the two beings completely shocked Niahoggr. Although he had never met creatures like them before he had come into contact with similar beings before. He could tell by their looks and smell that they were angels. The thing that shocked him about them was the fact that could adapt a humanoid appearance so easily. Can angels do that? The humans of the Slane Theocracy claimed angels were the messengers of their gods and they often used them in battle. However, no matter how many of their battles he had observed, some which he had participated in, he had never seen an angel turn into a human. Today was also the first day he had heard them speak. His eyes moved to the other nine angels, however, they remained hovering around him and no change came over them.

The next moment something unprecedented happened. First Niahoggr felt it, a distortion in the air. It was as if the wind was gathering at a single point before violently dispersing. Space was bent where the air gathered and before his eyes a rip appeared and widened like some sort of gateway opening. Inside this gate was complete darkness, such that even he, a king among the world's strongest race, could not see a single thing beyond it. However, there must have been because in the next instant a figure appeared from the gate.

It was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Unlike some dragons, Niahoggr preferred to consort with the females of his own kind and saw no beauty in the other races, but the woman who had just stepped out of the gate radiated with a beauty he had never seen before. It was clearly not of this world.

Behind her appeared four other females with beauty of a lesser quality. There was one with a beastly smell about her. She had white hair with and was covered in stripes. The next smelled like ash, a peculiar smell for someone with feathers for hair. The third girl, who appeared to be younger than the rest of them, wore a white mage's robes and the last person had giant sword on her back and hunger in her golden orbs. Among all who appeared before him he regarded her as the most dangerous of all.

"Well... this certainly is interesting." The first woman's voice was what you would expect from a creature that possessed divine beauty. Her gaze turned to the creatures that had caught him. "However, I must wonder why you have brought him here?"

"Chichi-ue has charged us with learning more about this world," The male, who had introduced himself as Raphael when they had first met, replied. "I have searched everywhere within three hundred kilometres of Zion."

"So you want me to get information out of him?" the beautiful female said in understanding. Her gaze scrutinized the dragon for a while. She frowned a second later. "Why have you hurt him so badly?"

"That was my doing Jophiel-sama," The female who had introduced herself as Penemue spoke up. "I tried to subdue him and overdid it."

"No worries," Jophiel said calmly, her face returning to normal. "I assume you have already informed Gabriel?"

"Yes Onee-sama," Raphael answered. "He'll be here shortly."

With a nod, Jophiel walked past him and approached Niahoggr. She stopped before his head, which was wider than she was tall, and patted it. Then she bent over and looked into his gigantic eye, trying to ease him with a gentle smile. It did not ease the dragon's tension though. Gentle her smile might be, nonaggressive her posture might be, nonthreatening her eyes might be, Niahoggr's instincts senses screamed DANGEROUS when she he gazed at her.

"My name is Jophiel," she said softly, her smile getting warmer as she let go of him and curtsied. "We'll be very good friends for the next hour so please take care of me."

There was a darker meaning to her words. Niahoggr's veins froze at the thought of being left alone with this woman.

At that moment a creature that by human standards was very young appeared. The attire he wore was just as valuable as that of everyone present. The white priest robes he wore told the dragon that this person was a healer. This must be the person Raphael had called.

"Ralph-niisan, Pen-san, Uri-neesan, Sari-neesan, Shiro-san, Akai-san, Onee-sama..." When he was done greeting everyone his eyes shot over to Niahoggr. "Ah, Dragon-san. That's why you called me?"

"Yes," Jophiel said. "We plan on getting information from him. Can you please fix him?"

"Hai," the young boy replied with a nod. He raised his hand and chanted a spell. [Grand Healing]. The pain Niahoggr felt since Penemue had struck him disappeared. His body, which had been too numb to move, regained feeling. Niahoggr was amazed. He had never heard of a healing spell that was able to completely heal injuries in one go. Magic of this calibre was only encountered in stories. The fact that this small creature was able to cast it so easily scared him. They all scared him. These creatures were not of this world, the last time creatures from another world appeared in Niahoggr's world nations were crushed and all races banded together to repel the vile existences, those known today as the Demon Gods.

The moment the glow of the young boy's spell faded he spread his wings and took off the ground. He was not going to remain in the company of these monsters. While he rose into the air he was already planning on his next step. Once he escaped from these creature he would head straight west, to him, the most revered dragon of all. Then he would tell him about these creatures who had the potential to wreak as much havoc as the Demon Gods. If there was someone alive who could do something about this situation it would be him.

Unfortunately he never rose above a metre. His body had hardly left the ground when he felt a huge weight on his back. He felt claws dig into his back as he was dragged back to the ground. Then ,suddenly metal came from the ground and restrained him, preventing him from escaping. Niahoggr struggled and broke free. He opened his maw to unleash his breath attack. Before he could however, the female with the giant sword landed on his snout and thrust it downwards, impaling him. This was the most pain he had experienced so far and he tried to writhe out of it but he was hit with another dilemma. His body would not move. No matter how many messages he sent to his muscles they remained still.

"Uri-chan, Shiro-chan," Jophiel's voice came from in front of him. "Everything is under control. You can leave him alone now."

The woman pulled her sword out of his snout and jumped off. The the weight on his back disappeared as a gigantic white tiger landed before him. It stood at least four metres high and was about twice as long. There had been reluctance in the action of both of them and the way they looked at him screamed murder. The looks ceased when Jophiel stepped in front of them. Niahoggr spotted thin transparent threads jutting out of her fingertips, extending to him. Without being told he knew that those strings were the ones restraining him.

"Please forgive them," Jophiel said with a slight bow. "Uri-chan was made with an urge to kill dragons and apart from our resident dragons Shiro-chan can't stand any of your kind. Your species are natural enemies. Now..." She stepped even closer. There was something he did not like in her expression. "Let us beg-"

"What is going on here? "

The new voice attracted everyone present. Before Niahoggr could make out what was happening everyone present knelt and bowed their heads, even the nine angels that had been floating in the sky, while muttering "Chichi-ue" or "Shiva-sama." Apparently this creature, a female, was someone's father.

In front of him a gateway like the previous one had opened and out spewed a female in a white suit. Behind her was a male in white armour followed by various races; humans, trolls and beastmen. Each of them was stared at the scene that greeted them in bewilderment. The female, who had asked the questioned, regained her composure. She sighed loudly and shook her head, interrupting Jophiel who was about to respond to her question.

"You know what, forget it," she said. "I'm going back to Zion. I expect a full report of this."

The next instant she vanished. Everyone got up after that.

"Since you all have so much free time you can take care of them," the male said, pointing at the people behind him. " Sariel and Gabriel, you will handle the humans. Raphael and Penemue, the beastmen are your responsibility. Akai and Shiro take care of the trollings. Chichi-ue doesn't like the way they smell so be sure to wash them. Jophiel, I assume you're busy with that dragon so I'll leave you out of it. The rest of you return to your posts immediately. I will not tolerate slacking off." He frowned and looked up at the fortress. "That fool is sleeping on top of Ramiel's tower when he should be on duty," he said in with an angry tone.

Just like the female before him he vanished, leaving them in silence.

"You were right Jophiel-sama," the feathered girl said in wonder. "He really needs a vacation."

Jophiel smiled and told them to get to their tasks. Then she turned to Niahoggr, an evil glint in her eye.

"Now, where were we?"

"So what have you learned?"

Shiva sat on the Throne. She was in her true form and was again enduring her feathers poking into her back. Seraph's Lance rested on her lap.

"Chichi-ue. By questioning both the dragon and the humans and beastmen we have gain a lot of knowledge about this word," Jophiel said with her head lowered.

In front of the throne the Archangel Jophiel knelt. She had been tasked with linking all the information they had gotten from the dragon, the humans and the beastmen so she could present clearer picture to Shiva. On the sides of the throne, as always, stood Michael and Ein.

"I would like to hear what you have learned," Shiva pressed on.

"Certainly."

According to what Jophiel had learned they were in located in what was known as the Gratis Plains. Apart from scattered demi-human tribes here and there were no major civilizations. East and south-east of the Plains the Troll and Minotaur Kingdoms lay. In the south-west there was no mountain range and there the Beastman Kingdom and the first human kingdom, the Draconic Kingdom could be found. Why a kingdom a humans was called Draconic Kingdom was apparently because it was founded by a dragon and even though that dragon had left long ago they still continued to call it so in reverance to him. Apparently the two kingdoms had been warring for a while. While listening to Jophiel Shiva made a decision.

It had not even been a day since Zion was transported to this world and she was already tired of ruling. She had been straining herself all the time, imitating hers sister and characters she had read about in fantasy novels. However, it was tiring to maintain a regal appearance. And these stupid wings, damn you Onee-chan! This was the first time she had ever cursed her sister and it was all because of this completely four dimensional- no tenth dimensional situation. She was going to run away from her duty once more, but this time she would leave the person most suitable for rulership in charge.

"I would like to visit this Dragon Kingdom," she declared. "Inform Ramiel and tell him that he is to accompany me. Jophiel, have one of your subordinates monitor me and station five angels that can use [Lack of Presence] near me. However..." she turned to look at Michael, he needed to hear what she was going to say more than anyone. Everyone considered Uriel a hard case, but he was the most stubborn person she had created. He was unbendable. The only reason he would back down from trying to keep her safe was because he was somewhat satisfied she with her protection detail. Somewhat, never wholly satisfied "No one moves in until I say so."

"Yes, Chichi-ue." This reply came not only from Michael and Jophiel but from Ein as well. Jophiel further posted a question. "What should we do about the dragon and the others?"

"Hm," Shiva thought for a while. A minute later she exclaimed in what appeared to be a eureka moment. "If the humans want leave I'll drop them off on my way. Shiro will have to drop off the Beastmen though." From what she had just heard the creatures of this world were prejudiced against other races. In order to avoid conflict Shiro, the only person remotely resembling a beastman had to escort them. "The young trolls have nowhere to go so they'll be staying with us. As for the dragon, he'scoming with me."

"Understood," Jophiel responded.

Of course she would not be taking the dragon in its true form. From what he had gathered the average strength in this world was so low the dragon was considered a godly existence. Unfortunately the dragon was unable to take a human form, but apparently had an ability that would come in handy in such situations.

The thought of going visiting the Draconic Kingdom excited Shiva. I wonder how the humans of this world live.

-END-

Character Stats

Heteromorphic Races

Ramiel: The Calm Spear of Destruction

Job: One of the Seven Archangels, Virtue of Patience

Alignment: Great Good, Sense of Justice: 400

Racial Level: Angel 10

Archangel 5

Power 10

Seraph 10

Job Level: Warrior 10

Spearman 15

Master Spearman 15

Knight 15

Warlord 10

Racial Level: 35, Job Level: 65. Total Level: 100

Ability Charts

HP: 100, MP: 10, PHYATK: 95, PHYDEF: 95, AGI: 80, MAGATK: 5, MAGDEF: 80, RESIST: 90, SPECIAL: 70

####

Heteromorphic Races

Gabriel: The Light of Zion

Job: One of the seven Archangels, Virtue of Kindness

Alignment: Extreme Good

Racial Level: Angel 10

Archangel 10

Dominion 10

Seraph 10

Job Level: Priest 15

High Priest 15

Caster 10

Healer 10

Master Healer 10

Racial Level: 40, Job Level: 60, Total Level: 100

Ability Charts

HP: 65, MP: 100, PHYATK: 10, PHYDEF: 90, AGI: 80, MAGATK: 80, MAGDEF: 95, RESIST: 100, SPECIAL: 100

I've tweaked chapter 3 a bit, nohthing to concern yourself with though. Thanks for the insight PervageSageChuck