Chapter 609 Parent's Squabble
Thud! Alcott landed outside in the grass, a smug smile on his face as he watched Vasilissa run out the door to chase him down. "What's up, steel drakaina? Want my little flute," He shoved it in his bag, come and take it.
Vasilissa growled. ^The flute is a mere reason. He wants to fight.^ She took a deep breath and jumped. ^This body is a mere projection, but I can access my stomach. I can pull enough steel to mimic a steel great wyrm.^
"Don't blame me for getting rough," Vasilissa jumped, her right fist engulfed in shining metal as she swung at Alcott's face.
Alcott caught her palm with a shockwave, "You can do better, can't you?" The nails of his right hand grew longer into claws, and he swung at Vasilissa's torso. She blocked, protecting her chest and stomach with a thick layer of reinforced steel plates, but they sparked, claw marks remaining in them as she got blasted back.
^Werewolf claws, is he getting fine control over his curses?^ Vasilissa stood. ^As one of the three cogs of balance, I can't let that flute exist. Fine, Alcott. You've been a handful since I met you, and this won't change anything.^
"You really," She stood, her eyes flashing green, "Want me to send you to the grave." Steel scales started growing on her face and hands as two massive wings of countless blades emerged on her back.
Kinryuu walked toward Arad's house, "A steel drakaina? It's been a long while since I saw one."
Thud! Arad landed beside him, "Can't you tell her to stop? We only found she's a steel dragon."
"You found out? That's bad," Kinryuu sighed, "Steels hate to get exposed. Dragging her identity to the light is like stripping her naked," He looked at Arad, "Of course she'll be furious. I won't stop her, even if she's facing Alcott."
"Well, there was this flute..." Arad told Kinryuu about the flute, and his face shifted.
"Once she loses, I'll beat some sense into Alcott. We told him to destroy that cursed thing." He rolled his sleeves, getting ready to join.
"Mind control is bad, mass mind control is worse, and mass mind control that drives the user insane and drenchs them in the lust of domination is even worse."
Alcott shoved his hand into his magic bag, pulling a long sword with a wide grin on his face.
Vasilissa flew at him, swinging her palm and her claws extended, aiming for his neck.
"Slash!" Alcott said, swinging the sword, cutting her claws as she smacked him in the face, and both flew back with a blast.
Vasilissa landed on her feet, staring at him and shaking her hand. "He's hard,"
Alcott walked out of the trees with her steel claws in his mouth, wolf's fangs filling his mouth, making his dental structure akin to that of an ape. He munched on the steel claws, cracking them as he approached. As he stopped, he spat the shards away, "This taste forged, what weak steel drakaina."
^Of course, they are forged. I'm pulling steel out of my stomach, not refining it like a steel dragon.^ She's been using metal from the weapons and structures she keeps in her stomach, her treasure hoard.
"Use something harder when fighting me," With a bored face, Alcott waved the sword in his hand, sending a slash of compressed blood flying at a blinding speed.
"HAA!" Vasilissa cried, swinging her fist up and deflecting the slash, ^Vampires' blood manipulation. This gives him more range and options than he had before.^
Alcott disappeared, the ground where he stood exploding from the impact. Vasilissa's eyes jolted to the side, following the inhuman movements of that creature, running on all fours like a wolf with a blade in his mouth.
She as well lunged, moving out of his way and trying to catch up.
Arad gasped, raising a barrier to protect his house, "Was she that fast?"
"A great wyrm steel dragon. Couldn't expect less." Kinryuu smiled, "But, that bastard Alcott, how in the hell he's moving like that?"
"You can feel it, can't you?" Arad looked at him.
"I know it's the lycanthropy curse. If a human can become a dangerous monster with that curse, what if possibly the strongest human, contending with dragons and hunting them got it?" Kinryuu looked at Arad, "I wasn't looking for an answer, more surprised."
"Does levels even matter at this stage?" Arad sighed.
"The buffs gained from curses aren't. If a creature already has a powerful base, even if low level, the curse would help him close the gap." Kinryuu stared at Alcott and Vasilissa flashing around, clashing steel at a speed unseen by humans. "There is a reason why humans seek vampirism for the night, lycanthropy for the strength, and lichdom for the immortality."
Alcott dodged Vasilissa's claw, pulling a mace out of his pocket, and swung at her, "Crush!" He shouted, blasting her across the forest.
^Alcott Demorian is a weapon master.^ Vasilissa thought, landing on her feet. ^His main attacks are slash, crush, and pierce, all using different weapons or even his body. Try wrestling him, and he'll dance with you, fight at close range, and he'll pull swords or maces, get a bit away and he'll pull halberds and spears, chains even, and if you try to run, he'll snipe you with bows.^
She swung her hand, sending hundreds of spikes to cut his way. ^This projection of mine is magic-based. Fighting him physically like this is a massive disadvantage. To beat him with those limitations, I need to hit him with a massive spell, in a place where I can restrain his movements.^
She opened her mouth, sharp blades gushing out of her skin all over her body, [Steel Expansion: Barrier enclosed Blade storm]
Albeit being one of the weakest expansions Vasilissa can use, it's currently the strongest she can pull with that body, and her fake identity as a steel drakaina. It wasn't weaker than anything a steel wyrm might pull but was considered above average in their ranks, helping her blend her identity.
A massive one-hundred-meter, dome-shaped barrier traps the target within as countless extremely sharp blades infused with magic grow off the dragon scales, flying in every direction to rip everything inside the dome to pieces.
Thud! Alcott jumped into the dome on his own, smiling as he approached Vasilissa, his arms wide open.
^I see. She's similar to most steel dragons I fought. Relying on physical attacks, then trying to one-shot the target with a massive burst. Exhust and kill, a common tactic.^ He smiled, moving his hands up.
^As a physical fighter, I do not have an expansion to counter hers.^ The smile on his face grew wider as he saw the endless blades burst from her body.
^But that doesn't mean I can't blast this thing apart its weakness is the barrier trapping me and the relatively fragile body of the caster.^
Alcott's nails extended into wolf claws as the clothes of his upper torso burst into pieces due to his muscles expanding, revealing a jacked, scar-filled, veiny body.
Crimson blood leaked from beneath his claws, splashing outward as blades.
[Blood Massacre]
Kinryuu gasped, his eyes losing track of Alcott's hands. For a split second, he looked armless to him. Even a great wyrm couldn't follow the abnormally fast moves the dragon slayer unleased, reminding his old bones of the horror of being hunted.
With a burst, the barrier got dissected into small pieces, raining down with shards of steel as Arad protected his house. "What did happen? I didn't see it,"
"Neither I. He's too fast," Kinryuu growled, but he soon gasped, unable to believe his eyes. Even a steel great wyrm didn't stand a chance against the dragon slayer.
In the middle of the forest, they could see Alcott squatting beside the fallen Vasilissa, poking her face with his finger, "Wake up, do something," He said, "That kick shouldn't kill you. I held back quite a bit."
^I'll play unconscious for a while. This fight shouldn't keep up while I'm limited. I'll smite the flute later from the stars.^ She thought. ^Just wait, if I used my real body, you'd be the one laying beneath my claw faster than you can blink.^
Alcott pulled the flute from his bag, looking at it, "Wake up, it's here. Do you smell it," He started shaking it. Like a stick to a dog. "It's here, so close, you can break it."
Vasilissa didn't respond, lying down motionless. At this distance, even if she were to move, she has no chance of outmaneuvering this hulking beast.
"Well," Alcott stood, lifting her up his shoulder, "Arad should be able to dispel the side effects, even I won't want Isdis to become a sadistic enslaving witch."
The chromatic and metallic dragons watching from the sidelines stared in silence, "Who said we could gang up on him?" One sighed, "We were impressed by Arad's achievement and forget who's the real monster out there. The old hero is sharpening his fangs once again, it'll be a rough century."
^Arad,^ Vasilissa thought, ^Your dad could still whip your ass, don't slack on growing your power.^
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