Cole gave a tired sigh, he had not been able to take care of his stat page. Apparently organizing a glade full of people was earlier said than done. Ultimately it was now time to go hunt the dragon.
If he had to be honest with himself he was a little bit anxious about this hunt, he had to do this with people he absolutely did not trust, perhaps he could give Farida a bit of leeway, but as far as the others were concerned he was not sure he would be able to do this with them behind him, which was why he had decided to hunt the dragon himself. They were only coming along as bait and a bit of politics, plus he would delegate them as a council to handle and take care of a few things that he really couldn't be bothered to handle.
They stepped past the Glade and walked into the forest proper, Cole had designated that they all waked at least 10 meters apart to cover more ground and make a bigger bait for the dragon to take. Cole pushed his awareness to absolute limit, he wanted to absolutely make sure that he was not caught off guard, and not just by the dragon but by the darklings that roamed the forest. But ultimately the dragon found them before they found it, and in a most shocking move, the earth in front of Cole blasted upwards, unleashing itself upon Cole.
[Spectral Rover]
This was enough to get Cole out of it's range and at the same time observe the creature and plan a counter attack. Fortunately Cole being the dragon's target had given the others a chance to press their attacks and take advantage of it's failed ambush. A black beak of light blasted out of the hands of Raven Nightmoon, the flesh of the dragon sizzling upon impact as it let out a desperate roar of pain. The rest began to press their attacks as Cassandra took the trees and began petering the dragon with arrow after explosive arrows.
Farida had her rapier out and thrust it forwards, releasing a smattering of lightning that bounced of the scales of the dragon, but there was still enough that went through as the dragon let out more pained roars. Soon enough it was Thunderbolt-Jack throwing in his own two cents along with the final member of their party. But ultimately Cole had no attacked yet as he was bidding his time. He had shifted Black Malakai from his basic longsword shape to a gladius.
He ran up the side of a tree making sure he had the vantage point that he needed, before using [Spectral Rover] slowed thing down enough for Cole to fly into the air as he summoned every last shred of negative energy in his body. He shaped it, taking control of the skill for the first time since he obtained Black Malakai, and just as he shaped it he utilized [Black Cut] the greyish black aura costing the sword was now vertical rather than a crescent that shot forwards.
The extension of energy from Black Cut stabbed into the back of the dragon, right at its shoulder blades. It was already screaming in pain before Cole landed on its back, stabbing the gladius into the recently treated hole. Then he immediately shifted the sword into a Naginata. Then he used the Naginata as a conduit and released [Chaos Blast] after Chaos Blast into its body, creating multiple explosions that completely shredded the insides of the dragon as it careened to the side trying to smash its body against the tree line.
But in that moment Raven Nightmoon pulled off a move that completely ripped the hind legs of the dragon sending it crashing to the ground as it's suddenly arrested momentum dragged Cole down to the middle of it's back, causing a more garish wound than what had been there before. In that moment Cole immediately used [Sin Eater] and [Sin Reaper] this was enough to cause the dragon to lock up, but it was taking a lot of effort from Cole just to keep the skills active.
But this was the opening they all needed as the rest of them unleashed on the dragon while Cole kept it secured. Even though it was missing two of it's legs and was behind drained by Cole who unleashed a bevy of [Chaos Blast] using the dragon's own energy as fuel. It was poetic in a way, but until this bloody beast was dead there was no letting go or stopping. And then suddenly the dragon shuddered and dropped dead, 8ts massive bulk raising up a small cloud of leaves and forcing some trees to shed something from their branches.
[1st Circle Boss Slain: Corrupted Woods Dragon, +100k exp per person, +50k for highest damage dealer, +1 Silver Ranked Prism of the Woods]
It was at that point that Cole let out a satisfied breath, honestly speaking the right had been extremely short but ultimately it would never have been able to he pulled off if each and every single one of them had not gone all out against the beast the very moment the fight started. Cole looked at the notification one more time and saw that he got the biggest contribution reward…naturally, these guy were deadly in their own right, and with a little growing in their stats and battle acumen they would probably e able to match up to him.
The prism reward found itself straight into his inventory, and as Cole slid down from the side of the dragon, he noticed that there was a particularly set of eyes upon him. He raised an eyebrow at Raven Nightmoon and waited for what ever confrontation he was preparing. Instead the Raven head humanoid walked up to Cole and held out his hand.
"That was a good raid, in fact I think I understand better now why you would be the better leader for our glade rather than me. It is not just the wisdom 9f a strategist, it's resourcefulness of one. I don't know what you might have gone through to get the kind of power you have right now, but I know it must not have been easy. Butt through that adversity here you stand a true warrior that I will be proud to call my equal and follow into battle."
Cole raised an eyebrow so high it was almost disappearing into his hair, he couldn't believe that truly the devil really was in the details. At first glance it might seem as Raven Nightmoon was trying to make Piece with Cole and acknowledging him as a capable leader he could follow, but instead he had to say the word equal, which means that regardless of whatever arrangements they made, Cole would not have all the power.
Cole's reaction to what was said would go a long way in determining his standing with the rest of them, especially now that he had decided that he wanted have them become a ruling council that voted on what they had to take of or on any matter on Ground. But ultimately Cole would be the deciding vote on account of being the Mayor, but never the less while it might seem like an Oliver branch to the others saw it for what it was…. A power play.
And Cole had already developed some goodwill with the rest of the team… at the very least he hoped so. They had all seen their abilities and had seen risk life and limb to end the dragon once and for all. Nothing brought people together the most than a conflict…. Or it was something else but Cole did not remember right at this moment, but never the less he gave Raven Nightmoon a polite smile before his hand flashed out and his head went into the air.
"What the fuck did you just do!" Thunderbolt-Jack asked as he took a few steps back and got his weapon at the ready in case Cole was planning on killing them all. Cole on the other hand chuckled as he waved his hand as if to dismiss Thunderbolt-Jack. Then he turned to the others, Farida and Cassandra were calm, they obviously saw this coming, or maybe they didn't , but at least they expected a violent reaction never the less.
"He was making a play for power…. I really don't have patience for unnecessary politics, which was why I did what i Did. No questions asked, my regime is a dictatorship not a democracy, the sooner the rest of you realize it and conform to the way things are going to be now, then the easier it will for you both. Let's head back to the Glade and see how everything else is going."
Not a word left Cole's as he bounced forwards expecting them to follow behind him faithfully. And probably much their own surprise they actually found themselves doing so. In the end it seems Cole has established his authority.
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This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦