Volume 57 Chapter 7.3: The Sculptural Creatures' Resolve (3)
The Phoenix and Fire Giant retaliated, but finally were swallowed up by the spell and disappeared.
- Now, for you humans that slaughtered my brother!
Landony roared at the players on the ground.
- Humans and dwarves. Worthless scum that caused my brother to die here... You will pay the price!
Weed gripped the Dragon Slayer Axe and the others prepared for battle.
The sculptural creatures had brought enough time to allow them to recover substantial amounts of health points, stamina and mana.
- Fools. Your resistance is futile.
Landony ridiculed the players. Then an incantation circle spread wide across the sky. It was a spell that consumed a great amount of mana, even for a dragon.
- Disappear without a trace. Summon Flaming Meteorite.
"Ah..."
"That's..."
It was an ultimate spell that trampled the hopes of Weed and the players to the ground.
The Hermes Guild was capable of summoning meteorites, but the spell used by a dragon was vastly superior. Magical power that could easily turn an entire city into ashes was being harnessed. This dragon was different from Kaybern that fought physically on the ground.
The Red Dragon was one that enjoyed complete destruction with the utmost power.
The spell was seconds away from being fired.
- Landony!
The Blue Dragon could be seen flying in from the south.
Ratuas with ocean-like blue scales was incoming.
- For you to surrender yourself to be an underling of demons and disgrace us dragons.
- Ratuas, this is not the place for you.
- You fool. Open your eyes to the truth. Destroying the world is never the right solution.
- Don't lecture me. I know everything. For a dragon like you to be protecting humans is plain absurd.
- It seems words will not get through to you. As long as I live, you will never harm humans.
Ratuas took a deep breath and exhaled with force.
Aqua Breath!
The water element breath pumped towards Landony.
Landony summoned a lava wall like before and guarded against the attack, but the breath broke through and knocked Landony far back.
- Ratuas, if you protect the humans, I will kill you along with them.
- A dog of the demons is better off dead.
Ratuas commenced the first attack with its breath, but Landony charged rapidly and began to engage in melee combat.
"A melee fight between dragons."
Weed watched anxiously. Fortunately, the 'Summon Flaming Meteorite' spell had been interrupted.
Landony possessed extreme strength and magic power. It was deemed the more powerful over the rest of the dragons.
"Ratuas may be the underdog, so we need to prepare to fight as well."
- Pale: Roger that.
- Calcus: I will recover our forces and have them on standby.
"If we must fight, it will be an aerial battle."
- Calcus: Won't we be at a disadvantage?
"We will be. However, judging from the situation moments ago, it is possible that the Red Dragon will not descend to the ground. So, have all the mages get ready to cast flight spells."
- Lamifter: They are ready. With all the mages on it, about 50,000 players can take flight at a time."
Weed prepared the players and observed the clash between Ratuas and Landony.
The two dragons repeatedly charged into one another and disengaged.
They kicked, smashed and whipped with their tails, tangling and chomping on the nape of their opponent. Landony had great strength, but seemed to be an amateur in combat. It charged recklessly and was roughed up by kicks and wing slaps while trying to take a bite out of the enemy.
"It seems Ratuas is actually coming out ahead!"
- Pale: It looks that way in my eyes as well. It seems more experienced in battle.
The two dragons exchanged close range magic spells and it was Ratuas the older dragon that seemed to possess more powerful magic.
- I will tear you up before I slaughter those humans!
- Foolish child. Without Kaybern, you cannot hope to defeat me.
Ocean of Life, Origin of Water, Guardian of the Sea and more recovery spells seemed to give Ratuas the edge. Even if both dragons took similar amounts of damage, Ratuas could drag out the fight with healing magic and enhancement spells. After about ten minutes, Landony began fleeing with heavy wounds.
- I will return. When I do, I will exterminate all of you.
- Running away? You continue to disgrace us dragons.
Ratuas immediately began the chase and the battle continued south of Morata.
Both of them had high magic resistance, rendering the battle mainly melee combat, but the start of the chase turned it into a burst of ultimate magic spells.
- Aqua Wave.
- Hand of Ruins.
- Star Dust!
- Hellfire Incineration.
Ultimate magic spells fell upon the earth, creating lakes and breaking down mountains.
The southern region of Morata was transforming drastically.
Ratuas kept on hunting down Landony and came across a crucial opportunity at the border touching the Central Continent.
- This will truly be a shameful end for dragon.
- Ah, no!
Ratuas mounted the back of the wounded Landony. Its teeth sunk deep into the nape and drove it to death.
- Krraaaaaaagh!
Ratuas roared.
It was the ending signal of the long battle in Morata.
***
Weed stood on top of the ruins and looked around.
"Ha..."
The most impressive city of the Northern Continent, Morata had become a total wreckage with little remnants of its past.
"The castle is gone too."
The Black Giant Star had crumbled without notice.
Approximately a hundred concrete buildings around the Light Townsquare barely survived through the battle with even the Art Centre being destroyed in the end.
Debris and waste piled everywhere, covering the roads, town squares and the building lots,
The trees were all burned down and the traces of broken bricks and buildings were spread wide.
- Mapan: I transferred all the artworks to a safe location beforehand. It will not be that difficult to rebuild.
"Okay. What about the Great Library?"
- Mapan: Several pillars fell and the walls were cracked, but Miblos-nim assessed that it will hold for the time being. It will be alright once they begin the reinforcement.
"That's a relief."
Weed felt it was pointless to calculate the losses.
"Morata has to be rebuilt."
Morata was a complete ruin. The war against the dragon left not even a fifth of the city intact.
It felt like a time travel to the past, but it was only a moment of emotions.
"We really won!"
"We slayed Kaybern and... Landony too."
"Peace on Versailles!"
"God of war, Weed!"
The sounds of cheering could be heard easily over the piles of debris.
"Did we manage to win?"
Kaybern's body laid like a mountain.
Its bones, blood and flesh. Everything was precious magic ingredients, and they would not disappear until players dismantled its body.
**
< Seeing a dead dragon reduces your fear of monsters.
Fighting Spirit increased by 9.
Strength increased by 5. >
**
The effects applied permanent rewards to the spectators.
A message alert informing of the quest completion popped up for Weed.
Blink!
**
< The dwarven race quest is no longer required to complete.
The dwarves of the continent do not have a purpose to rally anymore. The pride of their kind, Weed and the dwarf warriors have slain Kaybern. >
< The dwarven race has been freed from the tyranny of the Black Dragon. The dwarves will purge the Norn and Ulta Mountainpasses of monsters and raise their kingdom of fire and steel. They have regained their lost dignity and unlocked the limit of their growth.
The dexterity, blacksmithing, sewing, sculpting and shipbuilding proficiencies of all dwarves increase by an additional 10%. >
< The hero of his race!
The name 'Weedhand' will be engraved on all dwarven made weapons and armor for a year in respect of the majesty of his achievement. - Reputation increased by 100,000.
The completion of the race quest increased all stats by 8.
Effects of Dexterity increased by 5%.
You are now able to interact with blacksmith master dwarfs and darkiron blacksmith master dwarfs.>
<The Secret Potion of Sabrina Lake Quest has been forfeited.
The return of Kaybern to eternal darkness has lifted the duty of the hero.
Your courage slayed Kaybern and saved the continent.
The demon king, Cletta's plan failed, but you must not be careless, for the seeds of the sly demon may be quietly biding their time somewhere in the continent.
Savior of the world... You must become stronger through more battles and adventures.
When the darkness swarms the world, the only one who can spread light is you. >
< Quest completion rewards 10 points to all stats. >
< You will be welcomed by fairies, elves and the dwarves. >
< You must seek out the seeds left by the demons. The gods and the people of this world are watching. Your duties will carry on. >
**
Weed suddenly felt a rush of fatigue. He had many things to take care of, but he decided to leave it for tomorrow.
"I need to take a warm bath and to feast on a whole chicken."
Weed logged out and soon Morata was filled with an enormous crowd. Players residing in the city all came out to the streets and even more players streamed in from outside the city.
"This is Kaybern."
"They slayed something this big? That's extraordinary, seriously..."
"Victory to the Arpen Empire!"
It was like a festival on every street. On the other hand, the Hermes Guild members and high level players who participated in the battle began chatting in the peace granted after the battle.
"So, who ended up killing Kaybern?"
"Who is it? I bet the guy who killed the dragon got incredible combat achievements."
"According to KMC Media's analysis, the effects of the combat achievement would at least grant 10 or 20 levels easily."
"The Dragon Blood? Dragon's Heart? I heard only the one who slayed the dragon can obtain them, and cooking those ingredients provides a great amount of health points and Endurance."
"I heard you gain the Fighting Spirit of the Dragon as well."
"Lots of titles too."
"Those are nothing. Health points and mana would be increased."
Hundreds of magic spells had struck Kaybern each second.
"Wasn't it the Hermes Guild that killed the dragon?"
"I think it's a given. They are the ones with the highest possibility..."
"They're probably keeping their mouth shut after taking the loot. I mean, who would blabber about such a thing?"
"Wouldn't the mages be more likely? Bard Ray and the guild members were dying along with the dragon, so it would have been difficult for them to stay alive until the final strike."
"You can't cross out the possibility of it being someone completely random. Even players of level 200 jumped in."
"The chances are extremely unlikely, but not impossible..."
The players who participated in the battle of Morata all obtained the title, 'The Heroes Who Confronted The Dragon'. Based on their contribution, they had a significant increase in Strength, Mentality, health points, Fighting Spirit.
The gains far exceeded what they would usually gain from hunting in relatively safe dungeons.
Therefore, a rumor spread as the investigation about the one who slayed the dragon continued.
- The one who rid the world of the dragon is the Assassin of Darkness.
- Versailles' top assassin. He slayed the dragon.
- The one who landed the final strike is the one who destroys souls...
Anonymous rumors instantly spread among the players of Morata.
"An assassin?"
"Ah... That's right. The assassins are made for last hits."
"But, this is the dragon we are talking about."
"It's all the same even for a dragon. They pop a burst of critical strikes... I don't know about frontal attacks, but their attack power is insane."
"The Assassin of Darkness, destroyer of souls... That's really familiar."
"It's Seasoned Crab!"
The rumor was spreading and it was more than plausible for players to accept.
- Seasoned Crab slayed the dragon.
- The player who killed the dragon is Seasoned Crab!
***
"How many of us survived?"
"I'm not sure... We lost many. But, we did succeed in the dragon hunt."
The high rankers of the Hermes Guild sprawled out on the ground and rested.
The battle had crushed them, leaving them with extreme fatigue and tension.
"It's a miracle that we survived."
"I know, right? Kkk."
"The combat achievement we got at the end... Not half bad."
"We fought well. That's all that matters."