Chapter 10 — Round Two
"Damn pests!" The black dragon screamed incinerating a group of gargoyles, the dragon flew close to the battleships, destroying the gargoyles that attacked them, this allowed the ships to fire their cannons.
The black dragon flapped its wings, throwing itself backwards, dodging a series of crossbow bolts, looking towards the source of the darts, the dragon spotted several gargoyles pointing crossbows in its direction, the gargoyles reloaded their crossbows, but before they could fire , the black dragon darted towards him, his big body collided with the gargoyles, tearing their bodies to pieces.
Another group of gargoyles approached with rapiers in hand, the dragon grabbed two gargoyles in its paws and crushed them to dust, then spun its body, using its tail as a whip and tore apart three approaching gargoyles.
One last gargoyle flew towards the dragon's head, hoping to pierce it, the dragon flew to the side, dodging the blow, then bit the gargoyle hard, reducing it to dust.
"Isn't there anyone here to offer me a challenge?!" The dragon roared.
"Get out of the way!" A childish voice called out.
The black dragon looked at the source of the voice, its eyes widened as it saw a mass of gargoyles clinging to something, the dragon moved out of the way of that thing and flapped its wings, creating a gale and blowing the gargoyles away.
The thing the gargoyles were clinging to turned out to be a 'small' white dragon. The dragon reoriented himself in midair, now that the gargoyles were no longer attacking him, and looking around, he noticed the large black dragon staring back at him.
"AAAHHH!" The white dragon screamed in fright.
"Why the surprise? Never seen a dragon before?" the black dragon asked with amusement in his voice.
"No sir! Wait, I mean… Yes, sir!" The white dragon answered nervously.
"HAHA! What are you doing here boy? This is not a place for children like you."
"I am not a child, I am Mikhail, a big and strong dragon!" Mikhail replied as he puffed out his chest.
"And what are you doing here, Mikhail?"
"I'm here to get stronger so my friend will finally call me by my name."
"Serious?" The black dragon asked doubtfully.
"Yes! She always calls me 'dummy' or 'hey you!' but never by my name, she said she will only call me by my name if I become a real dragon, and for that I need to get stronger my friend said I should start by sinking these ships!"
"Well, that would be a problem as my… associate asked me to help those ships." The black dragon responded as he approached Mikhail, fangs bared.
Mikhail recoiled in fright. "Hm! I… I don't want to fight with you, but I need to do what my friend asked me to do."
"A complicated situation, but I have a proposal for you."
"A proposal?"
"Yes. You want to get stronger, don't you? Then how about you help me destroy these gargoyles that cover the skies?"
"Yes, I accept, everything to get stronger!"
"Then follow me young dragon, I will show you how to be a real dragon! RRROOOOAAARRR!"
"Yes sir! Roooaaarr!" Mikhail roared, only his roar was more like a child's scream.
"Wait a minute! But what about my friend? She will be mad if she finds out I left!" Mikhail asked.
The black dragon looked towards the beach "Don't worry, I think your friend just met with my associate, they both seem busy."
"Oh! So it's best not to interrupt them."
"I agree, so without further ado, come with me!" The black dragon darted swiftly through the air, past Mikhail.
"Hey, wait for me!" Mikhail shouted as he flapped his wings rapidly, trying to keep up with the black dragon.
Zero's sword collided with Edric's shield, the impact sending a shockwave across the beach.
"Why do you always stand in my way?!" Zero demanded with anger in her eye.
"It's not my fault I'm here, I just wanted to visit the beach, swim a little, get a tan, go to war. The gargoyles in the sky are a nice addition, they blend in with the landscape." Edric replied as he took a step forward, trying to push Zero away.
Zero gripped her sword with both hands, applying strength and keeping Edric in place.
"War?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Zero asked as she and Edric backed away from each other, dodging an invader who lunged at them both, trying to slash them with his Zweihander.
"Don't you know the news? Three and One have declared war on each other." Edric replied as he punched the invader in the chest and Zero slashed the invader in the neck, the invader disappeared into red particles.
"HÁ! It looks like they've finally gone mad!" Zero said as she kicked Edric.
Edric shielded himself, but the strength of the kick sent his feet skidding across the beach, leaving lines in the sand.
"Look around you, this is no laughing matter, people are dying! You talk as if Three and One going mad is expected!" Edric spoke as he reached into his bottomless bag and pulled out a series of throwing knives, hurling them at Zero.
Zero got out of the way of the knives, but one of them managed to make a cut on her cheek and cut some of her hair, the knives ended up hitting an invader who held a dagger behind Zero.
"Don't go where you don't belong, there are things going on here that have nothing to do with you!" Zero screamed running towards Edric, dragging her sword in the sand and raising it as she approached the knight, with that Zero threw a cloud of sand at Edric, blinding him.
Edric swung his shield, dispersing the cloud of sand, but it was too late, Zero approached and slashed at Edric's chest.
"AAAHHH!" Edric screamed in pain, but he endured it and thrust his sword forward, piercing Zero's shoulder, the two fighters backed away from each other again.
"Bastard, you are hard to kill!" Zero screamed.
"Same for you, but I don't know if you noticed, I'm wearing armor, unlike you." Edric responded as he advanced towards Zero and tried to pierce her in the chest.
Zero quickly took a big leap, going over Edric, seeing that Edric stomped the ground, stopping his advance and turned around in time to protect himself with his shield, blocking Zero's blow.
"Armors are nothing to me, I can tear through metal like paper." Zero responded as she slashed at Edric's shield repeatedly, putting him on the defensive.
"So you've never found armor made by a real blacksmith." Edric countered as he found an opening in one of Zero's strikes and tried to pierce again, Zero moved out of the way and Edric's strike hit another oncoming invader.
Edric used his shield to block another blow from Zero.
"Argh! What are those things?" Zero asked as he watched the invader get up again with a hole in his chest.
The invader hit by Edric's throwing knives also got to his feet as he removed the knives in his body.
"Vengeful spirits that have come back to life and people that inhabit another world." Edric responded as he dodged the invader's ax blow.
"What do you think I am? A five-year-old?!" Zero asked as she dodged a dagger strike from the invader hit by the knives.
"You have the maturity of one." Edric responded as he blocked an axe-wielding blow from the invader.
Simultaneously Zero and Edric finished off their opponents, Zero cut off the hand that held the dagger and then cut off the invader's head.
Edric, on the other hand, deflected a blow from the invader's axe, then struck two blows to the invader's chest and pierced his heart.
Zero and Edric faced each other again, but unfortunately for Zero, she was turned to Edric's catalyst, Edric casted Ignite, unleashing a short-range blast of fire in Zero's face.
"AAAHHH!" Zero screamed in pain as the flames ripped through her body.
Taking advantage of the opening, Edric approached Zero and delivered a series of blows, covering Zero's body with cuts, one of these blows was aimed at Zero's neck, but Zero ducked at the last second and tripped Edric's legs, knocking him backwards.
While Edric was on the ground, Zero jumped and landed with her foot towards Edric's head with the intention of crushing it, Edric rolled out of the way getting on his hands and knees, Zero's blow created a small tremor. on the beach and kicked up a cloud of sand, but before Edric could get to his feet, Zero came running out of the cloud of sand and landed a mighty kick to Edric's chin.
Edric was brought to his feet by the strength of the kick, the noise of the kick hitting the helmet being similar to a bell, the blow ended up leaving Edric disoriented, which left him unprotected to Zero's sword piercing his heart.
"Can you finally die now?!" Zero screamed with her body covered in wounds and blood, but the wounds were already healing due to her Intoner regeneration.
Edric winced as the sword pierced his body, he dropped his sword and shield, both of them falling to the sand with a heavy 'thud'. The answer to Zero's question was unexpected, instead of dropping dead Edric grabbed Zero's sword arm and pulled her closer, driving the sword deeper into his body.
Zero looked at Edric in surprise and horror.
"I would shame all the hardships I've been through and friends I've lost if I died to this!" Edric screamed as he grabbed Zero by the shoulders and head-butted her, knocking Zero back with blood pouring from her nose.
Grabbing his talisman, Edric casted Recovery, healing most of his wounds, the magic ring taking care of the rest.
"What are you?" Zero asked as she got up.
"A Slayer of Demons."
"A Slayer of Demons? Is this what I am to you? A demon?" Zero asked as she looked at Edric.
"So far you haven't proven the opposite." Edric answered.
"Considering my situation, maybe I am one." Zero replied as she ran her hand over the flower in her eye.
"Are you talking about the flower?" Edric asked.
"How… How do you know about it?" Zero asked in surprise.
"A dragon told me."
"But of course, who else would know, apparently you haven't been sitting around doing nothing after what happened in the cathedral."
"I would be a fool if I had. Listen, this fight is pointless, there's a war going on, the Land of Seas is under attack and there are Invaders everywhere, let's stop this and find out what's going on here."
"HAHA! Don't give me that hero talk, you're just waiting for the right moment to kill me. What do you want? Fame and glory for killing the terrible Intoner Zero? Money? Or do you want to hand me over to my sisters? Take one of them to your bed perhaps?" Zero said mockingly.
"No, I just can see the bigger picture, plus I made a promise."
"Promise, what promise?"
"That I would give your sisters a chance, a chance for them to show that they are not a threat to Midgard."
"What an idiot, you made a promise impossible to keep, because I will kill all my sisters, no matter what gets in my way."
"I won't let you do that, I need to find out what's going on and I would hate to kill your sisters and find out I was wrong in the end, but I also promised that I would act if your sisters showed themselves to be a danger."
"Meh! It looks like you gave some thought to what you were doing."
"Unlike you. So what do you tell me? How about we stop and find out the truth behind all this chaos?"
"An interesting proposition, but I'll have to turn it down, you'll stand in my way and I can't allow that, I'll kill my sisters, and nothing will change my mind." Zero said as she pointed her sword at Edric.
"Too bad, for a moment I thought you were reasonable." Edric answered as he retrieved his sword and shield.
"You will find that I am anything but reasonable." Zero said as she took a step.
"It's not the first time I've dealt with people like you." Edric answered as he walked forward.
"Seriously, and who was the first?"
"Why don't you come over here and find out?"
Before Zero and Edric could continue their fight, a number of invaders appeared on the two beach ramparts, all invaders aiming bows and arrows at the two fighters in the middle of the beach.
"Shit!" Zero screamed.
"Certainly." Edric completed.
The invaders drew their bowstrings.
"Mikhail/Dragon!" Zero and Edric screamed simultaneously.
Suddenly a series of fireballs came from the sky and hit each fortification, turning the invaders to ashes.
"Hey Zero! I made a new friend!" Mikhail shouted as he hovered above the beach.
"Are you done with your little fight, human?" The black dragon asked as it hovered.
"Are you guys done killing each other yet?" Eupherbia asked startled as she stepped out from behind a rock on the beach.
"You bastard, do you have a dragon?" Zero asked Edric.
" 'Have' is a very strong word, he only accompanies me as long as I feed him." Edric answered.
"Mikhail, get away from that dragon, he is our enemy!" Zero screamed.
"But Zero, he's so cool, he helped me fight those stone things in the sky and helped me get stronger." Mikhail answered.
"Patience young one, this rush will end up killing you on the battlefield. And you, human, don't talk about me like I'm a pet."
"Yes sir!" Mikhail answered.
"Whatever! I've wasted enough time! You, tin head! I will allow you to accompany me, but get on my way and I will finish you!" Zero said as she pointed her sword at Edric.
"I'm glad you finally heard the voice of reason." Edric answered.
"Stay with me long enough and you'll see that reason is not my strong point." Zero said as she walked past Edric and headed towards a tent on the other side of the beach, which didn't match the war scene around her.
Zero took a note stuck in the tent and read its contents.
"Dear customer"
"Welcome to the Patches Wondrous Emporium, where you'll find all the items you need to venture into these perilous lands, all legally acquired of course."
"Unfortunately I cannot be there to offer you the best service, I have to take care of my dear sick mother."
"So place your order for the items listed below and leave the required souls at the counter, your item will be delivered immediately."
"Signed Patches the Hyena, The Trusty, The Spider, The Unbreakable, The Untethered"
"Item List"
"Half Moon Grass"
"Late Moon Grass"
"Full Moon Grass"
"Fresh Spices"
"Archstone Fragment"
"New Moon Grass"
"Dark Moon Grass"
"Sticky White Stuff"
"Stone of Ephemeral Eyes"
"Heavy Dart"
"Heavy Arrow"
"White Arrow"
"Cat Ring"
"Fragrant Ring"
"Barbarian Clothes"
"Barbarian Gauntlets"
"Barbarian Leggings"
"Souls? Is this some kind of joke? I've also never heard of anything this person is selling." Zero said after reading the contents of the note.
Edric read the letter over Zero's shoulder, then approached the counter and raised his hand with an open palm, small blue particles gathered in his hand, forming a bright blue sphere, Edric placed the sphere on top of the counter , the sphere disappeared and in its place were pieces of grass of different colors and vials with strange liquids inside.
"What is that?" Zero asked.
"Grass to heal wounds and spice to restore magic." Edric replied as he stuffed the items into his bag.
"Hm! It works?" Zero asked as she crossed her arms.
"Yes, I would be dead if it weren't for these items. Here, eat this." Edric said as he offered Zero a piece of grass.
"Are you calling me cow?"
"You are fat like one." Edric replied, only to receive a blow to the helm, sending him flying across the beach.
"HAHAHA! Worth it!" Edric screamed through the pain.
Zero ate the grass with an angry frown.
"It's not that bad after all, it tastes sweet." When Zero swallowed the grass, she saw that all of her wounds had closed.
"Who knew, you were speaking the truth, I hope you don't mind if I need more." Zero said as she stopped beside Edric on the ground and gave him a sardonic smile.
"As long as you pay me later." Edric said as he got to his feet.
"Keep dreaming. Tell me, what did you use to pay for these things?"
"Souls."
"If you don't want to tell me, just keep your mouth shut, but I can't judge, we're anything but normal."
"This is one of the few times I agree with you."
The gate across the beach opened and a horde of invaders entered.
"Look who's back for more, hope you can keep up." Zero said as she sang, activating her Intoner Mode.
"Don't underestimate me, I rarely get tired." Edric responded while casting Cursed Weapon and Warding.
"I will put that to the test tonight." Zero replied as she ran towards the invaders.
"What do you mean by that?" Edric asked.
"You'll find out, I just hope the thing underneath that armor is as big as the sword you used in cathedral city."
Edric gave a grunt of irritation, finally understanding what Zero meant.
So the two allies? Maybe, maybe not, moved on, destroying the horde of invaders on their way to Five's sanctuary.
Report Number 4: Edric and Zero have finally found each other, the branch strays more and more from its original form, none of the other Recorders claim to know anything about the Nexus, the Monumental or what the title of Slayer of Demons means. The option to confront Edric directly still stands, I wonder if I should do that.
On another note… Who the hell is Patches and what is he doing taking over my shop?! When I find him I will...
Black Phantom… Bartholomew Steelfist invaded this world.
Black Phantom… Slaughter Vyktoria has invaded this world.
Black Phantom… Shatterer Martron has invaded this world.
Continuing the report, beings known as invaders are appearing in droves, from what I hear from Edric's conversation with One, these invaders are spirits of the dead, or people from different worlds/timelines/branches. From what I've heard from the knight, these invaders shouldn't appear in abundance, something is calling them here.
Dark Spirit…
Dark Spirit…
Dark Spirit…
I will end my report here, for some reason the presence of invaders prevents me from leaving this branch, I will have to eliminate them as before.
End of report.
END OF THE CHAPTER