Erend looked at Eccar with a flat gaze. Perhaps he had come to regard Eccar as his friend, but Erend also realized that something was off in Eccar's mind.
At times, he could grin savagely like a beast ready to pounce on its prey, and he actually slaughtered enemies before him. But sometimes he could throw strange questions or wear a confusing expression. Erend didn't know whether Eccar was just joking or if there was something wrong with his head.
'Whatever. No need to think about it. Maybe he's like that because he's been in the Chaos Realm for too long. I might become like that too if I stay here for too long.'
Ragna, the skeleton giant holding the great axe, stared at Erend and Eccar with his eyes that were nothing but a dark void with no end. Erend could immediately tell that this skull creature wouldn't answer Eccar's question. He only had one goal now, given to him by his master, and that was to prevent anyone from approaching his castle.
Ragna swung his great axe towards both of them with a powerful sweep. As a result, Erend and Eccar could easily dodge it.
*BOOM!*
The great axe struck the sand where they had been standing, its blade sinking into the dark sand. Erend and Eccar saw this as an advantage and swiftly charged toward Ragna, flapping their wings to increase their speed.
In the blink of an eye, the two Dragonborn were right in front of Ragna's feet, immediately attacking the giant skeleton's legs simultaneously.
*BUAGH!*
*BUAGH!*
Their combined attack made Ragna stagger, but the giant skeleton showed no sign of falling.
"Oh! You're quite the sturdy skeleton," Eccar remarked with an amused smile.
Erend didn't feel like there was time for amusement. He was about to strike Ragna's leg again, but the skeleton giant realized what he intended to do. With greater speed than before, he swung his great axe towards Erend.
*BOOM!*
The force of the axe's impact sprayed sand around due to its immense power.
"He's getting faster."
Erend looked up and was met with a sight that was quite surprising. The two void-like dark eye sockets of Ragna's skull were now filled with swirling red and bluish light; it resembled what Erend had seen in the eyes of the giant flesh wolf he fought before.
This sight confirmed that this skeleton was indeed a follower of Svaros. Erend's hatred for the creature who claimed to be the god of the Fallen Beast still burned within him, so he used it as fuel for his attacks.
Erend flapped his Dragon Wings and shot toward Ragna's head with incredible speed. Ragna's eyes followed Erend's movement, but they weren't quick enough to stop what he was about to do next.
Erend hurled a fireball toward the void that served as the giant skeleton's eye.
*BOOM!*
The fireball exploded within the hollow of Ragna's eye socket, causing the skeleton's head to be pushed backward. He let out a scream that Erend couldn't fathom where it came from.
Ragna collapsed, falling onto the sand and bones beneath, while Eccar, who had been waiting, swiftly dashed forward and stomped the ground beneath him. A moment later, a dozen earth spikes pierced Ragna's head. Some of the spikes managed to pierce the skull, but most couldn't penetrate its hardness.
Nevertheless, Eccar didn't appear worried. He continued to wear a grin full of excitement on his face. As Eccar prepared for his next attack, Erend shot down from above and once again showered Ragna with fire.
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
...
The fire struck Ragna's body, entirely composed of bones. Some of the bones, originally white, began turning black and charred due to Erend's continuous onslaught of fire.
Meanwhile, Eccar, positioned below, spread his arms forward. After that, earth emerged from beneath the sand and enveloped Ragna's body.
"HAHAHA!" Eccar laughed while continuing to manipulate the earth, causing it to rise and cover Ragna's arms and legs, rendering the skeleton giant immobile.
Erend paid no mind to Eccar's laughter, which sounded filled with madness. For now, Eccar's madness was something beneficial to him. Erend continued to rain fire upon Ragna.
The earth that binding Ragna also absorbed Erend's fire and trapped the heat from it. The concentration of heat accelerated the burning of the bones covered by the fire. Not long after, the bones encased in the earth started to crumble.
Eccar intentionally used his earth to cover most of Ragna's limbs. He knew that his earth would absorb the heat from Erend's fire, and with his earth, those limbs would break faster than the others.
Loud wails of agony poured from Ragna's mouth. Erend landed on the skeleton's ribs and asked, "Where is Svaros?"
Ragna didn't answer immediately. The swirling red and blue light in his eyes dimmed as if indicating the pain he was experiencing. However, Erend paid no heed to his pain. Instead, he approached Ragna's eyes and unleashed a torrent of fire at one of them.
"GRAAAAA!" Ragna let out another wail. "(I WILL NOT TELL!)"
"He said he won't tell," said Eccar.
"Is that so?" Erend activated [Dragon Claw], then pressed his claw against one of his remaining eyes and began thrusting it. He felt as if he was touching something jelly-like when he touched the swirling red and blue energy.
Ragna continued to emit cries of intense pain, making Erend more certain that he was hurting the right part. After a few moments, Ragna just kept screaming without showing any sign that he would say anything. So Eccar thought that what Erend was doing was futile.
"He won't talk, Erend," Eccar said, accompanied by a sigh. "We better kill him quickly and search elsewhere."
Erend snorted in frustration after hearing Eccar's words. But he also felt that continuing this torture would be in vain. So Erend destroyed Ragna's eye, making it empty again like a black void.
The cries of the giant skeleton stopped. All of its bones ceased to move, indicating that it was dead.
Erend leaped down from atop Ragna and then said, "Let's go inside the castle."
"I think Svaros isn't inside. If he was, he would have come out earlier," Eccar replied.
"Are you sure?"
Eccar gazed at the bone castle and pondered for a few moments. "Not really. My intuition tells me we should check, even though I believe the chances of Svaros being inside are slim."
"Then let's get in first." Erend walked ahead toward the castle's entrance.
"I guess so," Eccar followed behind him.
Erend blasted open the door with a force stronger than necessary, causing the door to fly and hit a wolf that was ready to ambush them behind it. Erend didn't spare them a second glance and immediately walked to search for Svaros.
"SVAROS!" Erend shouted as loudly as possible to attract Svaros' attention.
However, what came towards him were dozens of wolves leaping from the doors in the corridor.
Erend killed them with his fire and claws, leaving behind torn flesh in the corridor. Eccar, who was walking behind him, looked at all the destruction and slaughter that Erend was causing with an amazed expression.
"He will fit in well here," Eccar murmured.
Erend and Eccar walked through all the guards and monsters waiting in Svaros' castle. Or actually, Erend was the one doing most of the work while Eccar hardly did anything but walk behind the destruction Erend was creating.
Eccar was more than happy to just witness it all. He loved seeing the devastation happening to the inhabitants of Chaos Realm who had also caused him suffering.
Eccar didn't immediately destroy them because that would waste a lot of time. No one ever knew how many gods and goddesses were created in the Chaos Realm due to the fusion of all Chaos Magic formed in the multiverse. He stopped hunting them after killing the god who had murdered his wife.
"Erend, wait! Don't take all the fun for yourself!" Eccar shouted and then chased after Erend.
Once again, they arrived in front of a large door. Without wasting any time, Erend burst through the door with incredible force, causing it to fly to the other side of the room.
What was inside the room was truly unexpected. The figure of Svaros was present in this castle, sitting on his throne with his eyes closed, seemingly unaware of his newly broken-open door.
In front of Svaros, there was also another figure. This figure appeared human-like, standing two meters tall.
Initially, the human-like figure was also oblivious to Erend's presence, but after a few moments, his eyes opened, revealing a pair of black and white eyes just like ordinary human eyes.
Upon seeing the arrival of Erend and Eccar, the male figure immediately shot up and raised his spear.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm The spear, which seemed to be made of bone - like everything else in this place - shot at high speetowardds Erend. Due to its speed, Erend couldn't dodge it, and the spear struck his chest, sending Erend flying back out of the room.
~~~
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