The beast was done waiting and passively letting us take the initiative. For a short moment, it flexed the muscles on its rear leg before pouncing, running at full speed into our ranks. It was about to reach our lines, most likely causing colossal damage, but, just before that, we heard one shout.

“INCOMING!” Right before the sound of a mechanism released a huge bolt into the air.

The ballista was once again fully operational and had joined the battlefield, sending a gigantic metal rod right at the dragon.

The creature, seeing the projectile flying towards it, dug its claws into the ground, losing some of its momentum and twisting its body and narrowly avoiding a direct and what likely would have been a lethal hit. Still, its advance was ruined and now it was standing with its side towards us.

Godrick’s single yell was all it took to make the knights start charging onward again, ready to avenge their comrades who were mercilessly slaughtered a few moments ago. The creature once again started getting ready to defend itself, about to make another twist of its body and whip us with its tail. ages from the backlines of the army started raining dozens of weaker spells, targeting its head - not to cause it any significant damage, as the creature was resistant to all weaker spells, but to merely obstruct its vision and thus delay its actions. It did work. Partly, at least.

Some of the knights brought heavy chains and were now swinging it a few times above their heads, having them gain momentum, they tried throwing it over the beast's head, backs and legs, and as soon as the chains were locked firmly around the monster’s joints, several knights started pulling, dragging the monster to the ground.

The task wasn’t easy taking into consideration it was a bloody dragon they were struggling with, but, then again, the advantage of numbers was on the knights' side. The creature was thrashing, pulling the other way, dragging knights along until demolishers armed with war axes and hammers once again started to massacre the monster’s legs. One such hit - executed by a colossal warrior carrying a two-handed hammer landed from the side of its joint, on already damaged scales. There was a sound of bone being dislocated, and the drake collapsed on its side.

Then again. Even now, the creature didn't remain truly defenseless. Remembering to keep its mouth opened as little as possible, its thin, few meter long tongue once again bolted outward piercing through the armor of one of the Lions as if it was parchment. Red blood began to pool under his feet, but the man only shifted his sword and grabbed it with both hands instead while yelling:

“Now!”

Instructing his comrades to strike. And they did - raising the blades above their heads and cutting down from above. Purple blood splashed all around as part of the tongue was cut off the body, making the colossus roar in pain.

Then, the carnivorous flower growing on its back, as if seeing that its host was being overpowered by simple knights, changed its behavior pattern. Until now, it was attacking random knights who tended to stay alone - the vine would tangle around them, lift them from the ground and carry them towards the “second mouth”, though usually with rather a poor effect, for whenever mages saw that one of their comrades from the first line was being dragged away, they would quickly redirect their attack onto the mentioned ‘limb’, cutting it off and causing the captured knight to fall onto the ground without any damage worth mentioning.

But now, it stopped ‘kidnapping’ knights, instead, it started quickly raising and dropping its tentacles, lashing the chain holders. Its attacks were far weaker than that of the dragon, yet were more than enough to make them wince in pain, and make a few of the knights lose their hold of the chain.

Sensing weakness from the knights, the drake thrashed again, releasing one of its limbs, getting up and regaining its balance, enough to be able to strike a few more knights with its paw.

“Mages! Focus on the plant! Fire magic!” Captain ordered. “We can’t!” yelled one of the mages “... to cast a spell strong enough to destroy it, we would have to give up on attacking its head! And if we did that…”

Using the moment between the spells falling on its head and a brief moment of clear vision, the dragon jerked to the side. It reached towards one of the knights, catching it with its horrifying mouth and turning them into a bloody pulp before swallowing the poor man whole in one go as if trying to reinforce the mage’s point.

“May the seventh plague blast it!” tactician cursed. “That explosive powder!” I yelled “... the same one Agnes threw earlier into the Viperrus’s mouth, would it be sufficient? Do we have more of it?” “We do, but we don’t have a way to get close enough to it with the poison and…” “Just give it to me!” Annoyed, I yelled at the mage, stretching my hand towards him.

Muttering vulgar offenses as he clearly disliked the idea of a mere cadet ordering him around, he grabbed a small pouch from his belt and passed it to me.

“It reacts to mana, so avoid transferring any directly to it. Dragons are literally overflowing with it, so it should explode on mere contact, I still don’t see how you could get close enough to…”

But I wasn’t listening, instead, I turned around and started running towards the nearest group of knights holding the beast on a ‘metal leash’. Running past them, I patted one on the shoulder, yelling directly into his ear.

“Hold it tightly…” “The fuck you think we are doing right now. Taking it for a walk?!” Red all over his face with veins popping on his forehead, he grunted with more than just an annoyed and angered expression. “Even tighter!”

I yelled back, strapping the pouch with explosive powder to my belt, grabbing the chain… and starting to climb.

“NIAAA! HE IS DOING THAT THING AGAIN!” “NOT NOW AGNES!” “ALABASTER! IF YOU DO WHAT I THINK YOU’RE DOING, I WILL STOP BEING FRIENDS WITH YOU, YA HEAR ME!? OI!? YA HEAR MEEE?!”

Ignoring her cries, I kept on climbing onward.

You have suffered [0] [slashing] damage Armor rating reduced: 73.1% ➝ 71.8% You have suffered [0] [slashing] damage Armor rating reduced: 71.8% ➝ 70.6% You have suffered [0] [slashing] damage Armor rating reduced: 70.6% ➝ 69.2%

One of the tentacles desperately kept on trying to throw me down, I saw it coming for the fourth time… at the very same time as I heard another “INCOMING”, and a huge ballista’s arrow pierced the monster's side. It yelled, stumbling even more, and for a short moment the flower “froze”, seemingly confused.

Eventually, I managed to climb all the way to the top, entering a small jungle-like garden growing atop of its back, and I had to admit - from a distance, all these plants looked smaller. I noticed one more thing - most of the plants were already withering - most likely as they kept on sacrificing themselves to inject the dragon with more of their purple sap, even if it meant that they themselves would die.

That didn’t matter now. Its movements were restricted, and after getting rid of that last symbiote, it would be doomed once and for all.

The other plants moved again, trying to hide the carnivore plant in the middle of its back away from me, still, the blade which I held in my hand was more than sufficient to carve my way through. The plants were spraying me with all manner of fluids and mists, none having any real effect on me.

You are now in the radius of effect of [Sleeping powder] [User]'s race nullified [Skill]'s effects You are now in the radius of effect of [Paralyzing spores] [User]'s race nullified [Skill]'s effects You are now in the radius of effect of [Poisonous sap] [User]'s race nullified [Skill]'s effects

Its body kept on shaking under me, making me stumble more than once, but, eventually, I managed to reach the center.

From below, it was impossible to see what the plant actually was, all you could notice were flower petals and tentacles growing underneath the bud. I presumed that within it, there would be a second pair of mouth or some sort of ingesting liquid.

What I actually saw managed to shake even my undead mind.

The flower was “burrowed into” a part of the monster’s body; within, there was a single chamber made partly from plants and partly from the monster’s tissue - muscles, bones, and organs. But, within, laid bodies and skeletons of dozens of monsters - Lava’razes that I killed right after my ‘evolution’, and one human - a knight who must have been caught by one of the tendrils during the battle.

He wasn’t dead, instead, some more vines had dug into his body, which started darkening around the openings. The vines appeared to pulsate, drawing fluid from within him out and into the surrounding plant and monster tissue. His skin had become pale, veins black, his bloodshot eyes were now inhumanly yellow, and looking at me with an expression of unspeakable agony, he only managed to mutter:

“K-kill me, brother. I b-beg you.”

He didn’t scream. He didn’t yell or shout. He didn’t cry, for his eyes looked sickly dry.

I hadn’t noticed until taking a closer “look” at him and the attached vines but my sight was telling me his actual life essence, a vivid red to me, was being drawn from him.

This thing… was harvesting him. Eating him from within, turning him into a factory producing this purple mush.

… Just like an undead, it was feeding on his life essence, but, instead of just killing him, it was slowly draining him in the most agonizing way.

To have your very essence sucked away from you, feeling with every passing moment as there is ‘less’ of you left.

Just what kind of monstrosity was this unholy mutation?

“B-brother…please.” his lower lip was trembling. “No.” I said with a calm, reassuring tone “... I will not deprive you of the privilege of doing that yourself.”

I passed him a bag with the powder.

As I started leaving, I could see him smile. Not with joy, not with relief. But with a sick, twisted smile filled with the knowledge that he himself will be able to deliver his vengeance. It was a smile of a mad zealot.

After I took a few steps away, I heard and sensed a powerful explosion behind me, ripping a piece of drake’s body away.

I began taking a slow walk towards its head, singing again.

“To you, I pray,

Oh Lord, of Flesh and Bones

You, who once proudly carried the name of a man,

effortlessly scratching the wall of dreams,

without knowing the sins…” Empowering chant recognized Your next spell will have an increase in effect

Your next spell will have an increase in Mana Cost

Start another [Spell] in [00h04m59s]

The hunter’s responsibility is to quickly, painlessly finish its prey. One should kill only because he must, taking pleasure in denying a creature its life is one of the filthiest, twisted sins in this damned world. This should be a grim duty, not a pleasure!

And so, I will let you taste the helplessness of your victims.

“As the Guardian, I command thy,

Bow, Break, and Die like you're destined to,

for you are nothing but dust before the Tyrants of Time.

May your spirit crumble, your body snap, and your flesh rot,

As I proclaim you my offering to Him, who slumbers beneath the veil!”

100 mana used You are using [Cursed Touch: Weakness [Low]] Successfully bypassed target’s [Lowest Magic Resistance] Target is already under the effect of [Cursed Touch: Weakness] Skill’s [Effect] timer is being refreshed

Skill’s [Effect] is being empowered

Ah, the curses CAN stack. Great. I hoped that would be the case.

I grabbed on one of the withered trees as the beast completely collapsed, hitting the cold dungeon's stone with its head. Then I continued my march onward.

The rest of the knights were already cheering, raising their weapons in the air as I walked over its body and stood over its head, right above its third eye.

Raising my sword, blade facing down, grabbing its handle with both hands, I waited a few moments, letting it savor the fear.

I wanted it to know that its life was in my hands.

I wanted it to know that whether he lives or dies is up to my whim.

I wanted it to know, what does it feel like to look at Death itself walking towards you, and you can’t do anything to stop, or even slow down, its terrifying march.

Its “crazy eye” was constantly moving in all directions as if trying to jump off the body and run away. Only when it saw its helplessness did it once again look directly at me. Without waiting any longer, I lowered my blade.

I pierced the eye, I pierced the brain. It squirmed a few more times as its body shifted in agonal convulsions, before eventually stopping completely.

The feeling of satisfaction after killing a dragon quickly perished, replaced by dull sadness.

We lost many good men. Again. Casualties that could be avoided if we knew what we were getting into - an S rank dragon-filled dungeon. If we only took heavier armor and more ballistic weapons then maybe…

And if I was stronger.

I fought with them side by side. As a shield-bearer, their life was my responsibility. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I had failed them.

“Alabaster…” Captain Godric approached me.

Since the time I ended the dragon’s life, I had kept on standing on top of its head, perfectly still.

Slowly turning my head in his direction, I only nodded weakly, drawing my sword back, shaking off the blood, and putting it back in my sheath in a single motion.

I stepped off of the creature and joined the rest of the knights. As I took my place in the line of soldiers, I was patted on my shoulders by each knight I passed.

“Lions. Great work today! Great work, to fell another dragon in combat! Pride fills my heart knowing that I can call you my brothers and sisters! Today, we once again lost our dear brothers in arms, prideful warriors that didn’t hesitate to die fighting for what they believed in! I tell you now, do not weep! The time will come for us to mourn this loss. For now, we need to honor their sacrifice, and continue our work! Rest now, for tomorrow we dive deeper… and with the blessing of the Mother, we will purge this devil’s pit!”

Captain continued his speech, lifting morales of other knights for quite some time, yet, I didn’t listen to him, I was too busy feasting on the essence of dragons and fallen soldiers.

With your blessings, become one with me, brother and sisters whom I failed to protect. Fill my arm with the might of your existence, so I would never again fail anyone else.

I will carry you within me, and I will let you see this dungeon burn.

This, I promise.

You have gathered [Flora’ Chimeric Drake] essence [7350] [811/3750] ➝ [3750/3750] ➝ [Level Up] [0/4000] ➝ [4000/4000] ➝ [Level Up] [0/4250] ➝ [411/4250] [411/4250] ➝ [1632/4250] Name: Asteruse Race: Skeleton Knight [Undead] [Self-aware Variant] Level: 4 [1632/4250] Attributes: STR: 71 (+8)

VIT: 72 (+8)

END: ∞

RFX: 55 (+5)

DEX: 57 (+5)

INT: 31 (+2)

WIS: 25 (+2)

SPI: 9 Skill proficiency increased Skills:

[Sword Usage - Journeyman level 24 ➝ 25] ➝ [Sword Usage - Advanced level 1]

[Shield Usage - Journeyman level 14➝ 15]

[Bow Usage - Apprentice level 1]

[Nature Magic - Novice level 1]

[Mana Sense - Low - Passive]

[Life sense - Medium - Passive]

[Combat Maneuver/Team tactic - Apprentice level 6 ➝ 8]

[Heavy Armor Usage - Apprentice level 9 ➝ 10]

[Hand-to-hand Combat - Novice level 4]

[Stealth - Apprentice level 2]

[Mind Magic Resistance - Low level 1]

[Dark Arts - Curse Words - Novice Level 8 ➝ 10]

[Dark Arts - Necromancy - Novice Level 6]

[Tracking - Novice Level 2]