Chapter 44: 44: Siege (6)
Harley had only ever heard rumors about the sorcerer king from the underground camp. A lot of people described him as a madman; some said he was a sentimental fool.
Of course, all of that didn’t concern Harley, whose goal was to try somehow to kill a dragon.
Seeing a black-haired man on top of the massive dragon, Harley could only frown.
’First the mad pirate and now this.’ He nodded his head.
In the real world he had heard of wardens being able to control beasts of the otherworld through magical contracts. And now Harley had seen two of such creatures.
All of a sudden, a new dream formed in his mind.
’I want one of those.’ He smirked.
He could imagine riding atop a huge creature soaring through the skies, or galloping on the ground like a bullet.
"Harley!" Vernox’s voice reached Harley’s ears and he snapped his head sideways to see the young man pointing at the girl in his arms.
’Oh... What was her name again?’
It had only been a short time, but Harley had forgotten her name already, having much bigger things to think about.
"Call the dragon." Harley gripped the young woman by her neck, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.
The dragon, who had its eyes on the crowd of warriors below, suddenly snapped its head towards the kingdom.
There, in front of one of the streets, was Harley and Vernox with the princess.
"Kekekeke..." The elderly man atop the dragon’s head smiled, seeing the true princess reveal herself. "Princess Marcella!"
The dragon moved towards them, diving at great speeds. The winds roared furiously around them as the dragon flapped its massive wings.
It opened its mouth, and a loud bellow shook the world itself. Harley could barely keep his footing, falling on his back. He looked up with horror as the massive figure hovered over them.
"Release her immediately!" The king shouted, pointing at the young girl that stood in the midst of the attackers.
However, none of them responded. The constant squirms of the young girl reached the ears of the king on the dragon and he gritted his teeth.
All of a sudden one of them moved.
It was the elderly man amongst them, the one that Harley hadn’t seen before now. The man walked up to the hovering dragon, seemingly speaking a different language.
It was kind of mesmerizing.
"W— what’s he doing?" Harley asked, looking at Rachel to see both her and the princess smiling.
Vernox on the other hand also seemed confused but kept quiet.
The dragon’s eyes, which were slit like a serpent’s, seemed to calm down under the loud voice of the young man in front of them.
"A dragon Lord?" The man leapt off the dragon’s head, walking towards Marcella.
"I will deliver your death myself." He unsheathed a sword which sat on his waist, and then Marcella ran to the other street.
The king looked at the young girl standing in front of Harley and then looked at the princess who was running away and he gritted his teeth, running after Marcella instead.
"It’s distracted." Vernox spoke as the dragon finally landed on the ground.
The wings spanned over thirty metres wide each, and it blocked out the shine of the stars upon them.
"Ruin, answers ruin." Vernox whispered under his breath, and the black blade he held seemed to change.
The runes inscribed on the surface of the blade shone a bright red, and the air around the sword vibrated.
Harley immediately stood up; however, he found himself falling back down as he lost power in his legs.
"Damnit, my essence!" He shouted, and Vernox immediately understood what he was about to say.
Using his last power, he threw the silver sword at Vernox, and he caught it, nodding silently at Harley.
There was only one thing to do now. They... I mean, Vernox... Had to kill a dragon.
Although it was distracted, he didn’t know how it would react upon feeling pain.
Right now only two things concerned him. The fact that the king and Marcella were battling someone else—the strange seer girl who was smiling behind them didn’t concern them.
All that concerned them was this stupidly tough creature in front of them.
Vernox ran forward, stepping on the creature’s front paw before leaping high in the air. He easily crossed over twenty feet, landing on the back of the massive beast.
The back alone was a span of space itself, so he ran towards where he was most likely to get the kill.
"ARGHHHH!" Vernox made one more jump, raising both swords in the air.
They blazed hot, each shining a glowing red that made them lethal to any normal person.
Vernox stabbed both swords into the head of the creature. The one Harley gave him did not pierce deep. But the black blade went deep into the head of the monster.
*ROARRRR!!*
The dragon let out a bellowing roar as it raised its head, shaking around to get Vernox off. It seemed like it was under a trance previously by the strange man.
Harley gritted his teeth, looking at the battle commencing between the dragon and Vernox. If the dragon managed to hold Vernox, then it would be game over.
How was he supposed to escape the grip of such a creature?
However, it seemed that Vernox had other plans. A bright light shone from the place he stabbed, and Vernox shouted at the top of his lungs as he extended all his essence, blasting fire into the center of the dragon’s head.
The dragon thrashed violently, its colossal head whipping from side to side like a serpent caught in a storm. Vernox clung to the black blade buried deep in its skull, his body slamming against the armored scales as the beast tried desperately to dislodge him. One massive clawed hand—the size of a horse cart—swept upward in a blur, talons gleaming like curved scythes as it aimed to crush the tiny human who had dared wound it.
Vernox’s eyes narrowed.
In a single fluid motion, he ripped the silver sword free from the shallower wound with his left hand and whipped it across in a vicious arc. The blade met the descending claw with a deafening clang of steel against scale and bone. Sparks exploded outward as the enchanted silver edge knocked the claws away.
The sword didn’t do any damage but there was a cracking sound on the paw of the dragon.
The dragon roared in agony, the sound so deep and primal it rattled windows for blocks around. Its injured claw recoiled instinctively, but the other hand came slashing in from the opposite side, even faster, determined to smash Vernox into paste against its own skull.
Again Vernox moved. He twisted his body mid-air, using the black blade as a pivot, and brought the silver sword around in a blinding backhand slash. The second sword whipped through the air with a high-pitched whine, catching the incoming claw just below the wrist joint. The sword couldn’t tear through, but the force alone caused some of the bones to damage.
The dragon’s entire hand went limp and flopped uselessly against its neck, nearly tearing free.
"Fall!" Vernox snarled, pouring more essence into both blades.
The dragon staggered, its enormous wings flaring wide in panic, battering the surrounding buildings and sending gusts of wind that nearly knocked Harley flat.
It tried one final desperate lunge—snapping its jaws sideways while both ruined claws flailed—but Vernox was already moving again. He yanked the black blade free in a fountain of dark blood, leaped off the thrashing head, and landed hard on the dragon’s neck.
The beast’s legs buckled. It crashed sideways into the street, its massive body carving a trench through cobblestones and earth as it slid. Smoke and dust billowed around them.
Vernox stood atop the fallen dragon’s neck, both swords raised high once more. The runes on the black blade pulsed like living fire. He drove both blades downward with every ounce of strength and essence he had left.
The silver sword sank into the softer scales just behind the jaw. The black blade, however, punched straight through the dragon’s throat and clashed against a bone deep inside.
Its entire body went limp as life drained from the monster’s red eyes.
