Chapter 117: Leaving

Taemin threw Probus’ body to the side as he spun around, his arms coming up into a guarded position.

Not a moment later, several small explosions of light blasted out, knocking him several steps to the side as the Shades reengaged him. Taemin agilely deflected or blocked attack after attack, but the sheer power of the barrage forced him to stay on the defense. The Shades were going all out, expending their full strength while holding nothing back.

“Probus! No!” Trajan’s body blurred as he dashed forward, catching Probus before he hit the ground. He instantly jumped backwards after he grabbed him, flipping through the air as he retreated towards the tents.

The cratered ground had broken apart most of the tents, scattering beds, random supplies, and furniture upon the plateau. Trajan rushed towards one area in particular, where the other Vampires were resting.

“Carten! Quickly! Heal him!” Trajan’s voice was frenzied as he landed down hard in the midst of the other Vampires, motioning at one of the elderly Blood Wizards that was accompanying them.

Immediately the elderly Vampire stepped forward, wiping a sheen of sweat off his forehead as he looked over Probus.

Probus’ entire neck was crushed, the extreme strength that the Diamond Wizard Taemin held unremitting in its ferocity. His movements had held a certain ferocity, imbued with whatever Law the Wizard studied, one Trajan didn’t recognize.

An attack like that was one that would overwhelm a body on a cellular level, not allowing the natural regeneration that Vampires possessed to work.

Blood red light flashed as the elderly Vampire began casting a spell, pulling out several small white Pills. His hands moved and flowed as he went to work, trying to heal the grievous injury.

“Probus… please.” Trajan’s hands trembled as he looked at his comrade, his battling companion, his best friend.

Off to the side, just moments prior, Helena had been in a staredown with the Anomaly Veritas.

“Out of the way, Vampire. The Truth cannot be stopped.” Veritas’ voice was cold as it ordered Helena aside.

“I want to talk to you, Veritas. You stole the sight from one of my comrades, as well as the arm of another, through some mysterious curse.” Helena had begun, her voice calm despite the chaotic scene around her.

At the same time, she held the Capitoline Wolf Bracelet, an ancient Magic Artifact, ready in her right hand. She was ready to activate it at a moment’s notice.

Her plan had collapsed around her with the unexpected arrival of the Borrel Autarchy Wizards, as well as the presence of the Holy Prince alongside the Shades. Neither of these things had been predicted by the Aurelius Fate Wizards, the abstruseness of Fate too difficult to parse through.

She had opted to try to continue the plan, however, making use of the infighting between the forces of the two Major Powers.

Right after Helena finished speaking, a huge explosion of force rippled through the air as the Diamond Wizard cratered the ground, and everything began to unfold at an incredible pace.

Probus had his throat crushed by the Diamond Wizard and was ruthlessly tossed to the side. Trajan rescued him and retreated, falling back.

Originally, Trajan was supposed to cast his Rain Magic: Time Chained Torrent. This would buy her enough time to talk to the Anomaly, while helping stall off the other Shades.

The tents and supplies they had set up had been sent flying, revealing a startled Arial who’d been watching the battle from the tent flap.

Veritas, upon seeing her, had begun to rush forward, the Anomaly’s ethereal form trailing behind her as the Anomaly brought forth a glowing sword of light.

Helena had rushed to put herself between the two, still trying to convince the Anomaly to talk. Her plan was falling apart around her, but she was determined to at least talk to the Anomaly before they fled.

At that exact moment, however, a ferocious, blood-curdling roar shook the air.

The Holy Prince of the Church of Light Isaac had rushed to pick up the second Anomaly, Aron, after securing Xaphan. When Isaac appeared in front of the trembling Aron, however, he was met with a deadly blade strike.

The Holy Prince had dodged the attack effortlessly, his body giving off small particles of light as he punched forward, intent on knocking the Anomaly unconscious.

It was at that moment that Aron seemed to realize Xaphan was being carried by the Holy Prince, slung across the man’s back casually.

Aron’s entire body shivered. The metallic wolf armor he wore seemed to vibrate for a brief second.

And then, without any other warning, Aron seemed to explode outward, his body expanding and growing at lightspeed.

Aron transformed into an enormous grey skinned wolf, one that had a large, metallic blade pierced through its mouth, from the base to the roof, pointing upwards. His body stood roughly 5 meters tall, covered in rippling fur and muscles. It was an extraordinarily odd appearance that was both intimidating and ferocious.

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An odd appearance that Helena happened to recognize from legend, from tales told about the ancient beasts of old.

A myth of an immortal, undying wolf, cursed by the heavens with a blade pierced through its mouth. This wolf held within it terrible power, able to create massive slashes of energy and devastate the landscape.

This wolf breed was extraordinarily rare. Only seven were ever recorded to exist, over hundreds of thousands of years.

They were known as the Langshen. The Divine Wolves.

“HOWWWLLL!” A loud wolf’s howl ripped through the air, carrying with it a momentous force. Everyone on the plateau, regardless of Class, shuddered.

The huge wolf’s body blurred as it vanished and then reappeared, right next to the Holy Prince.

BOOOM

An explosion rippled out as it attacked.

A huge, almost invisible slash of force materialized and blazed out, instantly bisecting the entire plateau.

WHOOSH

“Woah!”

“Careful!”

Immediately, the stone outcropping where they were all standing began to collapse, shards of stone and rock flinging into the air. The ground began to slide together and down, slowly picking up speed.

“No… No…” Helena muttered, her eyes widening further as more and more things went wrong. The Anomalies were supposed to help them convince Veritas, not go on an insane rampage fighting. She couldn’t blame Aron, seeing that his companion had been captured, but it was still throwing off her plan.

She kept her footing as the ground slid, readying herself to jump.

“Probus!” In the background, Trajan’s urgent shout raised the tension even further.

Helena closed her eyes for a brief second, frustration and stress slamming into her.

She then opened them and took one last look around.

The Shades were still fighting the Diamond Wizard and the other female Wizard that studied some type of Water Magic, despite the ground collapsing beneath them. Veritas, in wake of the huge attack, had actually retreated, putting its own safety paramount instead of pursuing Arial. The Holy Prince was currently dodging Aron’s attacks, his body teleporting around.

It was a chaotic scene.

She had a mission and she had failed.

She didn’t allow herself time to regret as she clutched the bracelet Artifact.

“The Retreat of Capitoline.” Warm grey light covered her as she chanted a command to start activating the Artifact. A small dot of grey light touched her forehead.

This dot of light then shot off, following her will as it touched Arial, and then soared through the air to touch each of the Vampires. The dot moved and tried to touch Aron but was rebuffed. The same thing occurred when it went to touch Xaphan.

It then came back towards her, the light landing on the small bracelet she now wore on her arm.

“Activate.”

The warm grey light flashed out to a crescendo.

And all of them, Vampires and fox girl, vanished, instantly teleporting away.

Leaving behind a huge, unfolding battle and her own failure to achieve her mission.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Dorian looked at the large, blue and white striped Pill he was holding, scanning it up and down.

It was a Shorn Soul Repair Pill, made perfectly by the Aeth Vampire Alchemist he’d met, Lord Ru.

The journey across the ocean had been a relatively uneventful one. They had made record pace, sailing through the sky all the way to the northern side of the continent of Pashal, where they’d been dropped off in a large city hidden away in a large forest.

Lord Ru had given him the Pill half an hour before they landed. He’d also bowed and given Dorian a formal goodbye, stating that the karma he had sown had been resolved. The Aeth Vampire had promptly vanished to his cabin, completely ignoring Dorian.

He’d been a bit rude, but a decent person overall, Dorian had decided, as he looked at the Shorn Soul Repair Pill the Aeth Vampire had handed him.

After they’d touched down, Dorian had done a bit of shopping, picking up some clothes that wouldn’t shred themselves every time he transformed. After that, he and Leader had gone off to grab some food.

It was then that they’d run into the pair of Dragons.

“Show me my Growth Stage, Ausra.” He commanded aloud as he sat down on a long wooden bed.

He was currently sitting in a small inn room he had rented out, temporarily resting and refreshing here before he left for Magmor.

–

Wise Jade Dragon – Growth Stage: (1

/5) Jade Dragonlet –

Growth Progress – 3,482

/5,805 –

–

He smiled.

It had truly been too easy to gain this form.

After he’d gained the Bloodline, he’d instantly transformed, proving to Mira that he had an Inheritance, of some sort, from her grandmother. He had very little Growth energy remaining, not even enough to grow past the first stage, but it was still fine. The Wise Jade Dragon went almost into complete shock as Dorian became a member of her own race, almost unable to accept the reality of the matter.

She had recovered quickly, however, and became completely convinced. Dorian’s ability to completely replicate her race, down to the innate sensation of recognizing each other as Wise Jade Dragons, had won her over completely.

It had been a tense moment and a risky plan. After all, it was possible Mira wouldn’t believe him and would think his power to transform came from something else. Thankfully, the piece of Ausra that Mira seemed to sense helped convince her of his legitimacy, and things had worked out in the end.

His Fate had been in luck.

After becoming a Wise Jade Dragon, Dorian had another conversation with Mira, this time in his baby dragon form. He explained that he had to stay in the form for about an hour, due to certain magic limitations.

They talked and talked, and eventually reached an agreement.

Mira wanted to enlist his help to find remnants of her grandmother’s soul on Magmor. According to her, she could detect the presence of her grandmother there.

Mira explained that Dorian’s soul appeared to have an innate connection to her grandmother. If he came along with her, it was possible that this connection would help draw out or find the remnants of her grandmother, wherever that should be.

Dorian had agreed. He had no reason not to, after all. He also had a sneaking suspicion that what the Dragons were looking for would be at the Ascension Ruins.

A set of Ruins that were extremely dangerous. Having a pair of King Class Dragons by his side when he went exploring sounded like a much bigger positive than any of the negatives the pair might bring along.

Thus, they agreed to journey together. They were about to leave right now, in fact.

Dorian had returned to the city with Leader to ensure that all the damage they caused was being repaired, and to pick up a few last odds and ends. Enough time had passed for him to return to his human form, adapting completely to the Wise Jade Dragon form.

“Well. Let’s get to it.” He put the Shorn Soul Repair Pill away and then stood up, stretching his human hands.

Without looking back, he left the small inn room, walking down a set of wooden stairs and out the front entrance.

Standing on the paved stone street, waiting patiently, was Leader. The calm looking woodsman nodded as Dorian appeared.

“I am all prepared, Great Lord, though I must say, again, that I think it’s a bad idea to trust the Dragons.” His voice was calm as he warned Dorian,

“Our kind has quite a bit of history with their kind.”

Dorian waved off his warnings, smiling instead,

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He wasn’t at all sure, but he was confident that they would prove more useful than not, especially considering he was still being hunted by various groups.

“Let’s move out. We’ll meet the Dragons on the outside of the city.” He clenched his fists lightly. It was time he achieved his mission and resurrected William. It felt like it had been so long ago that William had sacrificed himself to save him.

And now, he was just a step away from bringing him back. He smiled wider.

“By tomorrow, we’ll be on Magmor.”