by Cobyboy
Looking towards Lucy and Adrian's confrontation, Destrian gained a boost of confidence as he could clearly see that this was going to be a one versus one between him and Feihren. He should have the advantage as he had now fully regained his health thanks to his True Dragon bloodline. He expected that Feihren had tanked every attack of the draconian Imperial soldiers back then and should have sustained considerable damage from all of it.
'Pshh… Still, have the guts to act tough eh. You're obviously just bluffing'
Destrian thought to himself as he opened his wings wide, as his buff new body emitted a terrifying aura. He threw a devastating punch towards Feihren as the impact kicked out a sonic boom in the surroundings, breaking some of the walls of the fortress as the balcony shook from the tremendous force of the impact.
...
Destrian stopped in his tracks as the daunting figure of Lucy landed in front of him. Although she was still a few meters away, knowing what this crazy lady knight could do, Adrian did not dare lower his guard.
Silently casting a spell, a blue magic circle rotated around Adrian's hands as an icicle spear appeared between them. The spear glowed with a mystical aura as it emitted frosty smoke. Aiming it at the motionless Lucy, Adrian threw it with all his might, gaining more power from all the momentum as the spear spiraled its way towards its target.
Lucy calmly raised her hands as she opened her palm, catching the speeding spear between her fingers. The spear slowed down by the second as Lucy flipped it, pointing the spearhead towards Adrian and threw it back towards him.
Adrian hurriedly chanted a defensive spell, partially blocking the speeding spear, and shattering it upon impact. But it seems that the barrier he formed was incomplete as the shattered icicle still made its way unto Adrian, causing a few cuts here and there on his yellow robes, slowly staining it with blood.
Lucy's wings opened as she rushed towards the now flustered Adrian, who was trying to put up a fight, "Not bad, it seems that we can have a little fun before my king arrives here to deal with you."
Chapter 76: Feeling so Inanimate
The impact from the powerful punch shattered the surrounding walls as the balcony trembled from the pressure. A confident smile appeared on Destrian's face as he immediately followed it up with another punch directly on Feihren's face, who was not currently equipping the [Crown of the Hell's King].
A barrage of ground-shattering punches was rained down towards Feihren, who was calmly receiving each and every single one of them. The salvo of attacks did not stop until the balcony finally collapsed from all the immense pressure that it had sustained.
Feihren could not immediately change to the [Titan Armor] for the slate as the game system considered his current state as 'still in battle'. He fell from a considerable height, although the squishy forehead of the dead dragon fortress broke the impact of his fall.
On the other hand, Destrian could easily fly. He was floating overhead as he glared at Feihren's calm expression while he was free falling. Destrian charged forth as the claws on his dragon foot grabbed Feihren's face. The momentum of the attack was so strong that it slightly buried his head in the scaly skin of Gyora.
"Base HP: 2,276,530 (-87,650)"
'It didn't even reach a hundred thousand, huh? Well, it would be quite a bit more if only the damage absorption from the bonus armor did not exist... Which means this guy is really strong!'
Feihren checked his status page to see how much damage Destrian had caused him so far. It seems that the largest portion of the damage must be from that last attack? But... It did not matter. The damage from that hit didn't even amount to 5% of the health he currently has.
'I should avoid attacking directly until I'm finished with the interrogation...'
Feihren let out a sigh as he pondered about the difference between the HP of this barbarically attacking Destrian and his calm fist that was doing nothing at the moment...
...
"Base Damage (Fist): 575,500"
"[Berserk Dragon Destrian] (2 star Saint Class)
"Base HP: 15,000"
...
'If I accidentally "pat" this guy on the head... he'd evaporate into yellow lights...'
Feihren smiled as he mellowly started talking to Destrian, who was still currently clawing and punching while Feihren was being 'laid back' on the spiky yet squishy 'ground'.
"Could you stop for a moment? I have something important to ask you about... Besides, you haven't answered my first question yet. So, you'd better stop throwing those tantrum punches or else..."
Feihren acted tough as he stomped the 'ground', which was the skull of the Dragon Fortress Gyora, as to threaten the now confident Destrian. The stomp did not create any noise at all... which surprised even Feihren. Instead, the entirety of the fortress started sinking to the ground as the fat belly of Gyora widened even more... before its entire body started glowing with faint yellow radiance, as it slowly turned into bright dust...
'Oh yeah... right... I was the one who killed this dragon in the first place...'
The people within and atop the fortress, including Feihren and Destrian, fell from a considerable height after the sudden disappearance of the dragon fortress. Although the fall couldn't be considered lethal, some of the people had still suffered from minor injuries. Panic and confusion had easily taken their attention more than the physical pain that they were feeling.
Feihren did a 'superhero landing' from the fall as he sustained a bit of damage from the recoil
"Eh... It is really impractical to do that huh."
The sudden burst of General Exp pinged within Feihren's consciousness after he claimed the kill for the Mythical grade dragon fortress... But what caught his attention was not the amount of General Exp that it gave... But the single item that was dropped together with it.
Within his Inventory under the Familiars tab, which was now empty due to Samael now being Lucy and all, a badge with a dragon skull imprinted on it could be seen. Tapping on the said icon, a notification appeared in front of Feihren.
"Congratulations on acquiring [Azoic Dragon Fortress]"
"Would you like to give it a name? _ _ _"
"What the... what is... wait, azoic? It's... Undead?!?"
Of all the things that happened today, this was the only thing that surprised Feihren. What is it with giving this one a name anyway? Feihren dispersed the thought of giving this new 'Familiar' a name for now as he closed the notification. It was akin to adopting a dog that was already dead... And then giving it a new name… In a sense... it was indeed weird.
A sudden punch landed on Feihren's face as it pulled his attention back to reality...
'Oh right... I was still fighting this guy'.
The figure of Destrian does not seem very rational right now as his face looked frenzied from all the 'smiles' while he was continuously attacking Feihren.
"Did you not notice that I am literally not being affected by your punches and all that?" Feihren coldly said to Destrian as he caught the punch that was approaching his face. It would not be literally attacking Destrian if...
Feihren grabbed the arm of Destrian as he gripped it tightly, lifting his figure as he smashed him on the ground, leaving a shallow crater as debris flew up all over the place.
"Base HP: 13,500 (-1,500)"
"Tsk, it still did that much damage huh..." Feihren inspected the figure of Destrian that was unmoving within the crater, but in the next instant, it stood back up as it rushed back towards Feihren, repeating the entire process of him barraging attacks at him while Feihren would continue ignoring the damage...
'This is really pointless... and is taking too long'
Clenching his fist, Feihren decided to end all this now. It was futile to ask logical questions to someone being irrational and just wildly attacking... Nothing proper would come out from all this talk...
*Boom!
A single punch ripped a gaping hole in Destrian's body, which was still in mid-air... Soon after, D
estrian's figure was nowhere to be seen as the yellow flickering lights closed into Feihren, turning into pinging notifications as Feihren inspected the additional loot he acquired.
He was still curious about what had brought the New Dragon Empire to interfere in this battle. His arrival was highly coincidental and was obviously on purpose, but it was still too bothersome for Feihren to try and talk with someone who was obviously not willing to listen.
Turning his gaze towards Lucy, he found that she was nimbly floating over Adrian and toying with him even though he was already in a mildly bloody state. Feihren walked in their direction as he muttered...
"Hopefully this guy can shed some light on all this. This was supposed to be a war avenging the Wolfenstein Kingdom against the Garudia Kingdom... Why the hell did these two Empires intervene in our business...?"
Chapter 77: Keep your Enemies Closer
Adrian was now profusely bleeding even though he tried to recuperate his wounds every time Lucy gave him a slight 'break'. Flying around him was a mockingly powerful lady knight that was torturing him to no end. Adrian's pride may be high, but this was definitely too much.
He was a proud Ice Mage of the Bainzen Empire, renowned for having rare affinity within the Shodan Continent. He was definitely the cream of the crop in his generation, and it was one of the reasons why he was one of the more important members of the 14 Night Crows.
But at this moment, he was utterly helpless. Not even a single spell that he could chant would do anything against his enemy. Every single one of the attacks he could muster was rendered useless. His sorry figure started to slump to the dusty grounds as he did not bother moving anymore. His figure was kneeling in surrender as another figure approached.
"I do believe that you're the much wiser one? Now, I have a few questions for you."
Feihren calmly started to ask as he sat cross-legged in front of the slumped figure of Adrian. Barely looking up, the flawless face of Feihren was all Adrian could see as he attempted to sit back up.
"Heh, it seems that I have underestimated you too much. You are definitely not someone ordinary..."
Wiping off the blood on his lips and face, Adrian smiled as he replied.
"It seems that our young Emperor was not wrong about you? Oh well, It might be too late for me to regret everything that I did anyway"
Adrian continued as the figure of Lucy walked quietly beside him. Turning his head, his eyes were full of fear and surrender. It was as if he had already accepted his fate. He had never thought that his life would end this way.
"Don't be such a sissy. I'm not killing you. Well, not for now that is."
Lucy smiled as she kept walking, standing beside the squatting figure of Feihren, who continued the 'interrogation'. Although he was acting calm, Adrian breathed a sigh of relief. Even if it was just for a brief moment, it was nice taking a break from all the pointless beatings of his sadistic enemy.
The sudden change in the atmosphere made Adrian a bit uncomfortable. It seems that this enemy was actually reasonable? His mind was not in the least bit focused as he was deeply pondering his next words. It seems that it is possible for him to get out of here unscathed? Well, relatively unscathed that is, and only if he answers some questions.
"Now. Why is the Bainzen Empire involved in all this anyway? And what is with you mentioning your young Emperor?"
Feihren calmly asked, as his gaze towards Adrian was not in the least bit impure. It was off-putting for Adrian to lie as he was trying his best not to answer directly and get something out of all this in return. It was not that he did not care for his life anymore, he was just aiming for some leverage for him to use when he returns home and would need to explain himself.
"...Fine. I did this on my own accord. I proposed the alliance of the Bainzen Empire and the Garudia Kingdom. This is my own decision and does not involve the Imperial Highness in any way...!" Adrian started spilling the truth, in detail even. There was no point in lying anymore if he wants to return alive... it would be useless to gain something for leverage if he couldn't even keep his life for himself.
Mentioning the unknown reason as to why the New Dragon Empire had suddenly involved into all this, and as to how the two Empires were related, Feihren had then discovered the truth of what was really happening within these two juggernauts.
"So... The New Dragon Empire, throughout its history, is supposed to be ruled by an Empress? So the gender was a necessity?" Feihren interjected a question as Lucy added.
"Not only that Your Majesty. The ruler of any kingdom which bears the insignia of the Ancient Dragons is supposed to carry their true bloodline."
Adrian nodded as he continued "That is everything I know of regarding all this."
Feihren nodded as he raised his hands slightly. Green lights started swirling on his hands as they formed runic circles with seemingly unknown origins. The power within the lights was definitely not something to joke around.
He stood up as he walked towards the squatting figure of Adrian, who was starting to sweat profusely,
"Wait... No, please... I swear on my Empire's name that that is all I know!"
Closing his eyes as tears started to flow, Adrian kneeled as he begged for mercy. Feihren creased his brows as his hands slightly tapped Adrian's head.
Within mere seconds, the green light coated Adrian as his wounds started closing up, the blood drying and flaking from his skin as vitality started to surge back into his face that had been getting pale a few moments ago.
"Wh... What happened?"
Slowly opening his eyes, Adrian started inspecting his body as he noticed the changes... He felt livelier, stronger even. So... that green light wasn't actually meant to kill him, instead...
"You... actually healed me?"
Blinking a few more times to check whether or not he was dreaming or in an illusion, Adrian confirmed that he was indeed in a better state. It was as if his body had never undergone the torturous bullying from the dark lady knight!
The psychological aftereffects were still evident, as he trembled and shifted his attention as Lucy walked towards him...
"Are you not grateful for what our Majesty did for you?"
"It's fine Lucy, are you feeling better now? Then, if you don't have any more business within this place, leave immediately. Besides, this is now considered the territory of the Wolfenstein Kingdom, and as such, a dignitary of another state shouldn't just be butting in without an invitation." Feihren jokingly laughed as Adrian replied with a faint smile full of uncertainty.
"It seems that our young Emperor Jason is not wrong about you... You are not someone... ordinary."
Walking towards Adrian, Feihren lightly patted his shoulder as he continued.
"It's fine, then. Tell your Imperial Highness… Jason, correct? That I'd be paying a friendly visit soon, as long as you settle the argument you'll be having when you return."
Feihren faintly laughed as he dismissed the discussion.
Walking away from the commotion, Adrian released a sigh of relief as he quickened his pace.
...
"There is no way that you're letting him go that easily, Your Majesty... Should I chase?"
Lucy inquired for the seemingly uncharacteristic decision of her Master.
"Don't, it's fine. This is all according to my plan."
[Spy Drone (Status: Planted)]
Feihren smiled as he opened an illusory image of a map, within it was a pinging dot, which was telling the exact location of Adrian. Lightly tapping the speck, a clear image of what Adrian could see was shown on the screen.
"Jason huh... It seems impossible, but is it? I am in this world in the first place... might as well be sure about it."
"Well, I do trust in everything you plan Your Majesty... But what about these people?"
She pointed towards the numerous people that were sitting on the dusty ground as they froze in place waiting for Feihren and Lucy to disappear. The normal people within the New Dragon Empire's
fortress had a look of despair as they awaited the words that Feihren would utter.
Walking towards them, Feihren then opened his Inventory and swiped to the Familiars tab.
A gigantic dragon skeleton with an ominous looking castle on its back suddenly appeared overhead, but the flapping of its wings did not carry a hint of air that was blowing. Instead, a terrifying aura could be felt as the empty sockets of its skull stared towards the people below.
"Eh? No... No, don't be afraid."