V57C5P2 – Red Dragon Landony

[NOTE ] Thanks to Armada, Dumba.s.s & Jasla for the proofreading!

– Humans, your final acts of resistance are laughable.

Kaybern stood high among the ruins and took on the attacks of thousands with its bare body.

Even while taking immense damage, it prepared the offerings for his dark magic magic ritual.

– You will never prevail! Evil Divide!

It was one of the most wicked dark magic spells.

It was activated through a sacrifice on an ordinarily unimaginable scale as well as the offering of the caster’s own body.

Kaybern’s enormous figure dissipated and split into three. Then heaven and earth became shrouded in dark auras and the earth itself was consumed by the growing storm, surging toward the dragon’s form.

Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild members were thrown off their feet and the players who were unable to escape had their health points siphoned off.

“Our attacks aren’t working. Fall back!”

“Do not become an offering to the dark magic!”

The guild members at once retreated to a safe distance. Then Krobidyun’s terrified voice alerted the chat screen of the Morata defense force.

Grovidun: Evil Divide. What the h.e.l.l. Have you read about that spell?

Bard Ray: What is it?

Grovidun: To put it simply, it’s a cloning ability.

Jean: Is it a recreation of the Sword Cloning Technique?

Grovidun: It is similar, but it’s on a different scale. Kaybern has divided into three copies of himself.

Arkhim: What do you mean by three?

Grovidun: Until that spell ends, Kaybern is not a lone being. Attack, defense, health points, magical abilities; every one of them is identical in ability to his original form.

A long silence drowned the chat screen of the defense force.

It was a statement that no one wanted to believe, but it was soon confirmed by Mapan.

I have read over the information from the Great Library. I had gathered info on dark magic spells in advance. Evi Divide is said to be able to create a minimum of two clones up to a maximum twelve.

“…”

The Hermes Guild members froze in their spots, and so did Weed who was standing beside the Brazier of Sacrifice.

Bard Ray: What about their weaknesses? Do the clones have any weaknesses?

Grovidun: There is no such thing. We must kill all three.

Calcus asked hoa.r.s.ely as he witnessed the dark storm get pulled into the dragons.

Calcus: No weaknesses at all?

Krobidyun: As with all powerful dark magic spells, it does have a drawback. I’ve read that after the spell ends completely, the caster could suffer from hysteria or suffer loss in maximum health points and mana.

Weed sighed after hearing the explanation.

The Red Dragon’s flight had already produced one crisis on top of another, but now they had three Kayberns to deal with.

“This is outrageous.”

The situation had become so dire that maybe they had to consider abandoning Morata and retreating.

***

“Extremely powerful indeed. Hermes Guild! I want to give them a round of applause.”

“The forces led by Bard Ray still remain strong. They confronted the dragon valiantly.”

“They may commit to a final throwdown before the Red Dragon’s arrival. Joo-wan-ssi, what makes this battle different from the one back in Garnav Plains?”

“It is all in the preparations. I noticed especially the warriors and their equipment. They went all-in for attack damage and magic resistance for this fight.”

“Isn’t it bad with such low melee defense?”

“They compromised on what they could. In exchange, the s.h.i.+eldbearers took on the role of the tank and maximized the guild’s hunting efficiency.”

The commentators of KMC Media broadcast the battle stream against Kaybern and turned up the heat. It was the battle between the players and the dragon with Morata as the backdrop! There was much to see and many spectacles to draw in crowds and create commotion.

Via the players on the ground, the broadcasting cameras were capturing the live footage of the Red Dragon mid flight.

“That is the Red Dragon with its wing spread wide. Its a.s.sumed destination is said to be Morata.”

“We are receiving news that Kaybern’s health points are near depletion. If they fight strategically, they could take down Kaybern.”

“As you all may know, victory is not the issue. The fate of Versailles depends on this battle.”

Just when there was hope of the Hermes Guild members valiantly hunting down the dragon, the viewers saw Kaybern cast a spell and watched the live stream be obscured by the aura of darkness that it rolled over the earth and sky.

“What is that spell?”

“It seems to be dark magic. It doesn’t look so good.”

“We have an urgent report. According to the reporter on site… It is a dragon multiplying spell.”

“Multiplying?”

“Yes. Until that spell is gone, there will be three Kayberns.”

“That is just ridiculous…”

“Magic? Physical abilities. You can’t tell me they are all identical.”

“They are… We are literally dealing with three dragons.”

“If three dragons each cast their own spell during the battle… That is absurd.”

“The duration could be short.”

“It is said to last until the end of battle.”

“…”

As Kaybern became three beings, the commentators were at a loss for words.

Just one was tough enough, but now they saw no hope whatsoever.

The viewers discussion board was also in an uproar.

Crazy. What in the world…

Versailles is finished.

Dragons… They are beings that should have been left alone.

This is the worst situation ever caused by the Hermes Guild. This is their fault for destroying the dragon’s egg.

That is not important anymore. If we can’t stop the dragon, Morata is finished.

It’s all over. The real estate of this great city will plummet!

Is Royal Road going to disappear?

I am on vacation at Bellenos. It should be relatively safe here, yes?

If the monsters multiply, no place will be safe.

Let’s go to the port city where we can hold our ground.

The answer to this are the islands. Building a house on a lone island and living alone.

The atmosphere was that of despair!

The prices of items on every auction site crashed and so did the prices of homes.

***

The fog of dark magic lifted, and the three Kayberns simultaneously triggered Dragon Fear.

– Humans, your time in this world is over.

– Beings that do not deserve to exist. Disappear.

– Only annihilation is left.

The dragons roamed independently and unleashed their AOE spells over the cities and players. Even the Hermes Guild members were quick to flee whenever they cast a fire magic spell or unleashed dark magic.

“d.a.m.n it…”

Even Bard Ray grit his teeth and couldn’t process this unreal situation. However, they had come this far and were out too far in the water to turn back now.

“Hermes Guild, attack! Do not back away.”

The Hermes Guild bet everything on the battle against time. The 300,000 guild members in Morata all sprang into battle.

“We too will a.s.sist the Hermes Guild.”

The a.s.sault squad led by Pale also eagerly joined forces and began fighting against the three Black Dragons.

***

Weed was uniquely relaxed after the appearance of three Black Dragons.

“Hmm. It isn’t easy as I predicted. Yeah. Nothing is free in this world.”

Once the dark magic spell activated, he was astonished but quickly composed himself.

Mapan: Evil Divide. According to the records, this is an ultimate spell of dark magic. What’s for certain is that in using that spell, Kaybern had depleted his sacrificial offerings for dark magic and should have consumed a great amount of mana.

Krobidyun: They each have 16% mana left.

“A dragon should put up this kind of struggle. If it died like that, I would have been disappointed.”

Weed thought optimistically and ended up tossing all 50 levels into the brazier.

From level 539, he reached a temporary level of 1,039!

The Brazier of Sacrifice has set aflame your hidden potential.

When the fire goes out completely, your level will be decreased by 50.

It was now all or nothing.

As the Hermes Guild and the a.s.sault squad committed to an all-out offensive, the field could not be missing the Arpen Empire’s emperor.

“Yeah. This way, it’s more exciting. This scale is appropriate for a dragon.”

Weed ran to the scene of battle. The three Black Dragons were skirmis.h.i.+ng with almighty presence. The region was reduced to dust and unrecognizable. The dragons pressured the Hermes Guild members and the a.s.sault squad.

Weed shouted.

“I will take command of this battle from here on out!”

One shout was enough to draw the attention of the Hermes Guild and take charge of the a.s.sault squad. He could have just utilized the dedicated chatting channel for the core commanders, but he had to grasp the minds of even the common guild members and the squad.

“It’s Weed!”

“The G.o.d of War, Weed has appeared.”

Their expectations for Weed was nothing less than victory!

Weed wanted to pull up a song to further boost their morale, but with the race against time he refrained and shouted quickly to make consecutive call-outs.

“These are three Black Dragons that are weakened with low mana. The a.s.sault squad takes the one on the left and the Hermes Guild takes the center.”

His first command was designed to restore organisation.

If the squad and the Hermes Guild cl.u.s.ter over one another, having to be mindful of another group could hinder their combat abilities.

On top of this, he added a comment that would set fire to the public.

“a.s.sault squad to victory! You all have rested until now, so you must hunt this near-death dragon before the Hermes Guild.”

“Let’s go!!!”

“If Weed-nim leads us, of course!”

“Waaagh! What a good day to die!”

The a.s.sault squad members were tempered through h.e.l.l training. With Weed’s presence, they were full of courage in their advance towards the dragon.

They who had felt hesitant and lacked faith in the future of the Central Continent, were reinvigorated by the chance to win against the Hermes Guild in combat achievements.

With that said, the eyes of the Hermes Guild members also changed drastically.

“Hunting down the dragon before we do?”

“Even if Weed leads them. We are the ones who fought until now and yet these schmucks…”

They had scratched the pride of the most powerful force, the Hermes Guild.

It was a childish taunt, but possibly the most sensitive.

“All attack. We will slay the dragon in the middle at once.”

“Commence the attack.”

The guild members began the a.s.sault.

They spent their saved mana and stamina, activating their skills with pa.s.sion.

It wasn’t about the success of the hunt, but the concern of not losing to the other party.

“The dragon is also exhausted.”

“Concentrate the magic spells at its head!”

Kaybern’s stamina also declined and its mana was spent.

The Hermes Guild members climbed aboard its wings ruthlessly and also attacked its tail and back.

“Whoo…”

Bard Ray was a bit uncomfortable seeing the Hermes Guild follow Weed’s command, but soon jumped into battle himself.

What they needed was victory and what was more important was maintaining his t.i.tle of the G.o.d Warrior.

“Their reaction is just too good.”

Weed was quite surprised to see the Hermes Guild follow his orders so well.

“As they say, the smart and strong know how to behave.”

If it was himself, he would have tried to trick his way out of this mess. But these players were serious and doing the best they could to prevail.

“We did get off on the wrong foot, but it doesn’t seem like they’re that bad in nature.”

Weed decided to take on the dragon on the left with the dwarves.

“Alright, it is time to slay Kaybern. Still, take care of yourselves. We must survive at all costs. For the children and wives waiting back home.”

“What? You mean my grim faced wife and good for nothing children?”

“Well then survive so you can enjoy as much beer as you want.”

“If it’s for that, I will be careful.”

(To be continued…)