All hell broke loose. Kur reared back and unleashed a throat full of fire at the invaders. The mechanical spider lurched into action, skittering across the chamber in an attempt to get out of the way.

Wendy stretched her arm out and incanted a spell.

“Svzorvm”

A wall of air swirled around the spider, further deflecting the gout of flame away from the group. Kalli cast fireball after fireball at the dragon, the spells doing little more than aggravating him.

Kiki tugged on my arm. “You need to get out of here. I didn’t know he was going to kill you.”

I pulled my arm away from her, still a little hurt by her actions. Looking back, Kiki was wincing as if she were in pain. Did one of the attacks hit her?

Name

Kur - Lord of the Nether Realm

Class

Deceiver

Level

100

Affection Level

Wicked

Materializing my sword, I edged toward the exit where my friends were on the spider. While I wanted to test my blade and possibly make dragon steaks, it felt like a bad idea to get within biting distance if I could help it.

Kur was having none of it. Scooping up a boulder in his muscular claw, he flung it in the direction of my friends. It looked like he missed at first as the boulder sailed right past them. Then it slammed into the tunnel that led out of the mountain.

When the dust cleared, our exit had been sealed off. Kalli hurled another fireball and reached out to me for instructions. Now what?

Rummaging through my bag, I tried to reassure her.

Don’t worry. I have a plan.

While I was distracted, Kiki stormed past me and walked right up to Kur, punching him in the backside. She grunted with every punch and her face took on a pained expression. Kur roared in outrage as he turned to look at his daughter as though she were a fly to be swatted.

With a flick of his powerful tail, Kiki was sent flying into the far reaches of the cavern, where she collided with the wall kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Joe’s spider used the confusion to get as close to Kur as he dared, depositing Ravely and Rundell. The two melee fighters danced around, delivering blow after blow to Kur’s flank.

Finding what I was looking for, I pulled the business card from my bag and tore it in half. For a moment nothing happened. I stood there watching the dragon snap at Rundell who was doing backflips to avoid both his raging maw as well as the flames that spouted from it.

In a flash of darkness, the man in red appeared in front of me, saying, “I’ve got your…wait a second, where have you taken me?”

I grinned up at the blood sleuth. “You said you felt bad about how you kidnapped us, right? Now is your chance to make it up. We need your help.”

He looked up at the dragon and frowned. “You want me to help you slay a dragon? How did you even get into this mess?”

“Long story.” I snorted as I watched the dragon’s head rise while it tracked movement on the far wall.

Joe had the spider climbing the side of the cavern. The carriage on the spider tilted and righted itself so that the occupants were always level with the ground no matter which way the spider was oriented. Wendy and Kalli were casting spell after spell while Stefanie sang a song that had the effect of making the dragon sway as he fought.

The man in red took a deep breath and said, “If I help you with this, I get any loot that the dragon drops, and I am completely forgiven for what I did to you in the past.”

“Done.” I shouted, “Now save my friends.”

He let out a sigh, drawing twin daggers that dripped with a red liquid that resembled blood. He blurred for a moment and by the time my eyes could focus on him, the man had jammed both daggers into the dragon’s underbelly. Each dagger finding a chink in the hardened scales.

Kur, who had been breathing fire at the spider that was now on the ceiling, howled in pain and bent down to get at the man in red, who was already blurring again as he made his escape.

I hefted my blade and infused my heart with mana as I made a dash for the dragon. Kur saw me coming and took a swipe at me with his tail. The tail moved toward me in slow motion and I ducked under it, bringing my greatsword up into its path.

To my surprise, the blade cut through the dragon’s scales like butter, sheering the tip of his tail off. Kur roared in pain and released a deluge of fire directly at me. I cursed as I dove out of the way, regretting the fact that I had removed the flame resistance trait.

Kalli screamed at the dragon as she rained fire down on it from above. “Over here you big dumb brute!”

The man in red chose that moment to strike again, jamming his daggers into the wound I had produced on Kur’s tail. The dragon spun rapidly, becoming disoriented by the multiple attacks.

He roared with fury, “Daughter, fulfill the ancient oath. You must protect me from these heathens. I will have that mana or you shall perish with me.”

I lay on the ground, nursing a singed arm as I looked around for Kiki. She was nowhere to be found. The man in red spoke urgently to me. “Is there another dragon? You need to tell me.”

Shaking my head as though he could see me, I replied, “No, Ki is human. She is enthralled to the dragon.”

“What level is she?”, he wanted to know.

Thinking back to when I inspected her, I replied, “She’s level 43 but she’s mostly harmless. She’s a negotiator.”

Just as soon as I finished speaking, Kiki emerged from the dust and barreled into the man in red, pummeling him in a sea of fists. He groaned, “She is a very high-level pugilist. Not whatever you called her.”

Kiki snarled, “I am a negotiator. Just sometimes I negotiate with my fists.”

The man in red ducked and weaved, expertly dodging Kiki’s blows. Then he shimmered and tried to sidestep her, only to be caught in the face by a left hook. Kiki towered over the man and said, “That won’t work on me. I can see everything.”

Heavy metal spikes dropped from the spider made a whistling sound as they plummeted down on the dragon, accelerated by Wendy’s wind magic.

Unfortunately, whatever metal Joe had chosen for the weapon failed to pierce the dragon’s scaly hide. Instead, they slammed into Kur making large thuds with every impact.

The man in red, who was still locked in a deadly duel with Kiki, shouted at me, “We’re losing this fight. That dragon isn’t taking much damage and it’s only a matter of time until one of us gets unlucky. You might want to consider an exit strategy.”

After my first attack with the greatsword, Kur was going out of his way to avoid coming into contact with me. Every time I started to get close I was met with a wall of fire.

Any ideas guys?

Kalli answered first. Sort of but I’m not sure if it will work or get me eaten.

Then don’t try it.

While I desperately needed a plan, the thought of Kalli putting herself in danger was out of the question. Quetzalcoatl hissed in my ear. My cursed form is no match for Kur. If you found a way to deal with my shame, then I might be of some use. You should remove him from this place too. That might help. Even though he is trapped down here, he is drawing mana from the magic of the curse.

Byakko?

The tiger hesitated before giving his thoughts. Even with all of your mana, I would be no match for that dragon. Perhaps when you grow a bit more.

As I had my internal struggle with my guardians, Kalli took matters into her own hands. Launching herself from the spider, crimson wings appeared on her back and she floated down gracefully, raining fire down on the dragon.

Kur turned his attention to her, bathing the pyromancer in flames. I could tell through our connection that it wasn’t bothering her. However, she was slowly falling. Seiryu’s tiny wings were good enough to slow her fall but they could not keep her aloft.

Beginning to worry, I spoke to Byakko.

Do you think you could defeat him if you had more mana? Divine mana?

Quetzalcoatl roared. Don’t even think about it.

Byakko chuffed excitedly. Yesss! Do it. Feed that fake snake of the west to me. Tell him to get in my belly.

The serpent hissed threateningly. That settles it. Absolutely not. I refuse to infuse that foul creature with my divine essence.

I threw my hands in the air.

Get it together you two. This is a life-and-death situation. What happens to both of you if I die?

Byakko repeated. Do it.

Quetzalcoatl held his ground. I refuse.

Kur opened his mouth as Kalli drifted slowly toward him, blasting her with flame as though he were broiling a snack. Realizing she was in trouble, she pleaded with me. Help!

Deciding that I needed to do something, I summoned Byakko, opening him to all of the mana in my core, including a scandalized Quetzalcoatl’s. The tiger that emerged nearly filled the chamber and was the same size as Kur.

The two deities collided in the middle of the chamber, slashing and clawing at one another. Kalli managed to drift to the side where she landed on the ground, launching more fireballs at the dragon.

I turned to see who won the fight between the man in red and Kiki but the two of them had vanished into the cloud of dust that the fight was kicking up.

Now that the dragon was distracted, I made my way over to the alcove where Fina was being drained of mana and pried her out of the light. She slumped against me, breathing heavily.

I laid her gently on the ground and informed her, “You should be safe over here. I am going to free the others.”

Kalli. Let’s use the distraction to free the prisoners.

We still couldn’t use group chat because it was hard to figure out which side Kiki was on, so only the two of us were able to run from alcove to alcove, freeing the students from the light.

The beam of light shining on Kur began to flicker as we cut it off from its source. Kur began to notice even though he was still locked in a deadly dance with Byakko. He cried out, “Daughter. Protect the tributes. My meal is taking them from me.”

The strained voice of Kiki called out from the depths of the chamber. “A little busy here father.”

When the final prisoner was freed from the light, the chamber was suddenly devoid of light, flashes of magic and the dragon’s breath occasionally lighting up the room.

Run and Rave circled the battle, the large creatures thrashing about too much for the fighters to get close. With Byakko and Quetzalcoatl combined, the only voice in my head was Kalli. She was on the opposite side of the dragon asking, What should I do?

Still trying to find an opening to attack with my mana blade, I tried to come up with a good strategy.

Stay out of range and hit him with your fireball. Even if it doesn’t do a lot of damage, it could distract him. Do you know what happened to the man in red?

Kalli scanned the room and shook her head. No, I don’t see them.

Looking up at the ceiling, I saw Joe, Wendy, and Stefanie looking for an opening to attack where they wouldn’t risk hitting my summon.

Byakko and Kur were locked in combat, neither one gaining the upper hand. Even though the fight looked even, I could feel my mana depleting rapidly. It was only a matter of time before I lost him. If Quetzalcoatl was correct about Kur, he was drawing mana from his prison.

I needed to find a way to cut him off from that source of mana. Risking being heard by Kiki, I spoke in group chat.

Joe, I need you to destroy this mountain. Can you do anything?

Joe’s voice replied with the sounds of Stefanie singing in the background. I can but you might not want to be here when the mountain comes down.

Do it.

High above our heads, the spider skittered over to the entrance near the cave-in. Kalli called out to me. I found them. Kiki and the man in red appear to be unconscious over here.

Feeling my mana begin to wane, I anxiously looked for any opening to end the fight. Run and Rave also stood near me, watching the two colossal deities continued the epic battle.

A loud crack distracted Kur for a moment and Byakko used the opportunity to pounce on the dragon. I looked over to Joe to discover the spider had inserted a drill of some sort into the wall, opening up a fissure that was rapidly expanding in every direction.

Just as I rushed over to take a swipe at the fallen Kur, he roared furiously and flung Byakko off of him. The dragon was quick to capitalize on my rapidly weakening summon, landing on top of him.

As he clamped a claw around Byakko’s face, I raced up to the fallen tiger, aiming my mana blade up at the dragon. Kur towered over me, opening his mouth to incinerate me, laughing while he spoke. “Still not giving up? A good roast will take the fight out of you. Once I consume you, I will be free.”

I took a deep breath and whispered to Kalli through mate chat.

I love you. I just wanted you to know that.

She replied, but I was too busy to pay attention to the words as I de-summoned Byakko. The tiger dissipated into motes of light, reforming into the tattoo on my forehead. I quickly used the reclaimed mana to reinforce my body. Kur lurched and dropped a few feet, his perch on Byakko’s face suddenly gone.

My blade went straight into the dragon’s mouth, ripping into the flesh at the back of his throat. He gagged and spluttered, chomping down on my raised arms. I felt bones crack, held together only by the mana that I had reinforced myself with moments earlier.

In his rage, Kur threw his head back, hoisting me off of the ground in the process. Realizing he wasn’t going to die, I squirmed around until my feet found purchase on the beast’s jaw and pulled the blade up with all of my might. The mana blade cut slowly at first. Then I gained momentum and felt its brain begin to part as my sword moved through the soft matter.

The attack caused the dragon to thrash about uncontrollably. My vision blurred and my muscles burned and I felt the greatsword slip from my grip.

I flew through the air for what felt like an eternity before crashing into something soft. I looked up and saw red. Something wet dripped on my face. A soft voice said. I caught you.