The shadows gathered and clad Dun to form a dark, incorporeal armor around his cloak. He looked more and more like a black specter of death rather than a Dark Elf. He didn’t have an aura like the approaching dragon, but he was an assassin. Stealth was a given when it came to him. And he was going to employ that advantage to slice the neck off that overgrown lizard.

The blood-red ball of scales soon arrived to the battlefield and crashed into the ground with tremendous speed. The shockwaves were strong enough to send waves of upturned dead trees, mushy soil, and stone spreading in all directions. The fleeng belligerents screamed as they were overwhelmed by these waves of destruction. A humongous, cracked crater, kilometers wide, marred the landscape. The dragon gave another ear-piercing roar before a booming voice rang out in the minds of the remaining creatures nearby.

The Orb of Obscurity. I had not known it contained this much power. Those Elders had hidden something quite powerful. Now, which one of you ants has it一

The snarling behemoth was suddenly stopped when a giant black blade emerged from the shadows underneath his long neck. It rose rapidly and drove itself into the neck before becoming obstructed a few meters in. The blade had easily sliced past the hardened, ruby scales but receded after having entered the lizard’s neck. Dugos, the Great Dragon of Blood, roared in pain and a viscous red liquid gushed out. The beast started to flap its gargantuan wings to escape the sudden ambush.

The wind pressure ravaged the already decimated land and pulverized the remaining debris of stone and soil. The survivors that remained in tens of kilometers all around were blown away like twigs in a raging storm. However, countless black, hooked spears flew out with black chains attached and pierced into the wings, jerking Dugos to a rough stop and rendering him flightless. Dugo was shocked at such a sudden attack, and one directed to him no less! Dugos’s slitted eyes dilated and he quickly blew out a red miasma from his mouth. Dun’s black creations, which had only taken damage to the extent of a crack so far, now rapidly corroded!

Suddenly, a figure in misty, black armor rose up from the shadows underneath the Great Dragon’s underbelly. Wanting to slowly savor a battle with a being more powerful than he had ever faced, Dun used a portion of his gigantic mana pool to summon a giant black hand holding a butcher's knife. The hand swung from underneath and the tip of the knife dragged along the lining of the belly, slicing it open and spilling a mass of blood.

Dugos’s overwhelming anger was tempered by a mild anxiousness towards this enemy’s power. His regeneration rapidly mended his stomach but the surrounding shadows spat out hundreds, thousands, and millions more hooks! They pierced his wings, his stumpy legs, his tail and his neck. Innumerable spasms of pain sprouted throughout the dragon’s great body and he struggled ever more fervently, spitting out more red miasma.

The giant black hand swung a second time and the healing belly was once again sliced open! Dugos roared again and again as the blade gutted him repeatedly. Two more giant, misty hands emerged with butchering knives and joined in on the fun. Dun’s attacks and Dugos’s regeneration competed with each other. Dun stood there with his hands high in the air like some conductor of death. He teleported through the shadows whenever Dugos swung his tail or his claws, much to the dragon’s annoyance.

Finally, Dun decided to stop playing around and withdrew the hands, spears, and chains. Dugos was hovering high in the air and was left in a pathetic state. Patches of cuts and large holes could be seen throughout his once majestic body. However, they had already begun to rapidly regenerate. He had been taken by surprise and was furious that someone would dare ambush him just when he arrived.

You bastard…who are you! I’ll kill you一

Dugos was once again rendered speechless when a giant black guillotine shot up from the ground and trapped him midair. He was stunned by how fast it appeared and it was far harder than before. He once again spat out the red, corroding miasma but it failed to melt the black thing. Dugos flailed his body wildly but was unable to escape and his giant head was protruding outwards, like a prisoner being put to death. The dragon tilted its head upwards and saw a large blade just as wide as his neck.

No! I’ll kill you and erase your bloodline, your family, your一

“I have no family, lizard!” Dun had finally spoken for the first time in their clash and laughed maniacally. “This was too easy.”

Dun stopped Dugos’s rambling for the third time as the blade fell, cleanly slicing off his neck! The Dark Elf decided to use a bit more mana and end it quickly after detecting tens of auras like that of Dugos. The dragon’s eyes dimmed and its upper and lower body dropped down separately from the guillotine in opposite directions. They tumbled down through the air like giant boulders and rains of blood accompanied the severed body. The bisected beast landed with a crashing thud and a dust of pulverized dirt and stone flew everywhere from where the body parts landed.

The first ancient to appear in such a long time had died in such a ridiculous and quick fashion. The Great Dragon of Blood, Dugos, never would have expected that he would be sliced in half in his appearance in Solvenheim after thousands of years.

Dun recalled his guillotine and faced in the direction of the arriving opponents. The whole time he had been salivating and trembling in excitement throughout the battle. His pure black eyes were wide open as if he had taken drugs.

“Stress. Yes. I need to vent it. Master is right. Kill. I, I need to kill,” Dun stammered with drool and frenzied anticipation, very unlike his usually dull nature and composed bearing.

Meanwhile, Em sat comfortably in his iconic striped seat with his trademark snacks in hand. He had witnessed the brutal battle from a distance. Em gave a long whistle when he saw Dun’s abnormal state.

“The dude’s not right in the head. Glad I got rid of those disgusting Elders. Don’t wanna know what they did to him. I think fighting with the ancients of Solvenheim will clear his mind a bit,” he thought out loud.

He took a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into his mouth.

“It’ll be fun to watch too.”