“You won’t take me down, not this easily!” Chuzuke growled, his eyes flashing red as he glared back at Arad. Blood gushed from his chest, splashing like a blade.

SWOSH! Arad sucked the knife back to his stomach, his body morphing back to the vampiric wyrmwolf.

Void Expansion

Half the forest sunk into darkness, and a dark orb glittered in the middle of the night as everyone watched from the city.

“He didn’t even use his constellations, did he?” Zephyr sighed, “I wished to see that vampire dealing with Orion.”

“Come on,” Aella stared at her, “It’s over now that Arad trapped him in his void.”

“We’re talking about a vampire lord. If I was in Arad’s place, I would find a way to deal with him as quickly as possible.” She looked back…”Isn’t that right…”

Lydia wasn’t where she was standing before. “Where did she go?”

Jack shook his arms, “She disappeared once Arad unleashed his void expansion. He must have teleported her to finish him.”

Zephyr sighed, “So he isn’t completely blinded by rage.” She looked at Aella with a smile. “You don’t have to fear anything. He’s in control.”

Gojo stared at them, “Did you really think Arad would snap like a madman? ” He looked at Arad’s void.

“We dragon rarely go into a fight without prior planning. My guess is that he planned to eat the vampire, but that failed, so he called Lydia. If that failed, he would bring Alphonse. And if that failed he would pull the whole paladin army into his void and have priests bless barrels of water as he stalls for time.”

“All those plans?” Baltos sighed, “Aren’t you overthinking it?”

“This overthinking is what makes us such a pain to fight. You can’t expect to beat a dragon in planning even if you have the power to kill it, and would eventually be overplayed.” He tapped Baltos on the shoulder, “Your kingdom would have already felt for that white dragon if Arad wasn’t there for you.”

“You’re his brother, what do you suggest we do?”

Gojo scratched his chin, “Well…If I was to think of my brother’s future…Your flag looks a bit bland, only a blue rose growing on a staff. How about you add something there?”

“Tying him down is a bad thing, even I know as much.” Baltos stared back at Gojo.

“I know, you aren’t tying him down, you’re tying the country to him. Changing your own flag to accommodate a protective beast. That would give him a rank above any noble while allowing him full freedom.” Gojo giggled, “Anyone attacking the kingdom would have to think about Arad, and everyone wanting to mess with Arad has to think about the kingdom that backs him up. You deal with small annoying things, like diplomacy, while he deals with what he knows best. The brawn.”

****

Inside the void, Arad rushed toward Chuzuke, his jaw wide open. A white fire breath charged between his teeth. Arad’s only goal was blasting his defenses away.

Chuzuke lifted his hand, creating a sphere of blood around his body. ^I need to get out of here before he reaches me.^

BOOM! The flames burned Chuzuke’s defense as if it was nothing, now that he lost his regeneration, he started getting weaker rapidly.

Unlike Arad who had lakes of blood stored in his stomach, and had his organs protected by a seemingly infinite void, Chuzuke looked, far inferior.

CRACK! From the burned blood, Lydia rushed in with her sword burning with divine magic. Arad had already tried Chuzuke’s blood and it hurt his stomach, the bastard seemed to have already planned so no other vampire could steal his power.

Chuzuke’s eyes met Lydia, “So it’s you again, that crazed paladin.”

Divine Cleaver CLAP! With one swing, she cut Chuzuke in half.

Thud! His body fell on the ground as Arad lifted his void. His blood burning in a red flame.

Lydia stared at Chuzuke with a passive smile as his body evaporated into ash, burned by the holy magic. “You’re finally down, blood-sucking fiend.”

“You dance with death, mortal.” Chuzuke giggled, “One day, you will meet a horrific end, paying for dancing with immortal monsters.”

CLANG! Lydia stabbed Chuzuke’s skull, evaporating his head with holy magic, “We paladins never expected a nice end. With blade we live and with it we die.”

****

DRIP! A red blood droplet fell from a corpse, landing in a wine glass under the faint fire glow.

The man sitting on the throne hummed, staring at the blood surface as he waved the glace around. “Chuzuke, you have finally met your end. This what happens to all dogs that bite the hand that feeds them.” He smiled.

The large scar extending from his forehead to his chin tingled, his blinded eye still ached as he saw Arad’s figure in the blood.

“Even so, your opponent wasn’t so bad, was he?” He touched the scar on his face, “My blood remembers the scares you gave me, Alcott. To think your mere blade could injure me so badly, even if you lacked holy magic.”

He giggled, “You know, even I get angry when my rabid pets get put down.” He looked forward, a woman watching him with an emotionless glare. “What do you say?”

The woman slowly approached the wine glass, her crimson hair reflecting the firelight like it was a red ruby.

“He failed to teach his son manners, did he?” She said, “As expected from someone like him,”

“So, what do you say? Should we kill him?” The man asked with a smile on his face.

The woman shook her head, “Lord Vlad, we already have enough in our hands. We don’t need a dragon after us.”

Vlad sighed with a sad look on his face, “I too want revenge, you know? And seeing him, I only get the urge to kill him and see if Alcott would cry.”

“Don’t just, Alcott might display a warm nature, but his violence and lack of empathy even puts monsters like us to shame. Instead of crying, his first reaction would be coming to kill us.” The woman replied with a slight anger in her face.

“But, he would bring my daughter with him, won’t he?” Vlad looked at the woman with a sad face, “I wonder how she’s doing, is she still practicing implement as I taught her?”

“Lord Vlad, you’re courting death by picking a fight with Alcott. I suggest we leave him and his son alone until we get our shelter demi-plane ready to survive the dracorage mystics.” She growled, pulling a cube like the one Gojo had.

Vlad looked at the cube, “Where the meteor flies across the sky, the wyrms would fall into a blood rage. I’m not sure that cube would even help.”

“The mage’s tower is keeping a bunch of those for research, soon, we will get answers about their nature and if they are useful.” The woman hid the cube with a swift move.

“I hope so, I’m already getting bored from only searching.” Vlad stood from his throne.

“We must keep a low profile, Alcott still thinks you’re dead.” The woman approached Vlad with a smile, “The day you kill him will surely come.”

The next day, early morning.

Arad woke up at dawn, yawning as he stood in a white bed in the royal castle. He looked at his side, seeing the bed already empty. Aella seems to have woken up before him and already headed out.

He stood and looked around, scanning the castle.

Only Eris, Lydia, and Aella were awake, the rest were still asleep.

He walked toward the door after changing his clothes. Aella had gone to the kitchen to cook something for Arad, while Eris was training in the stone mountains beside the city to perfect her plasma expansion, and Lydia seemed to be praying in the castle’s church.

As Arad walked through the castle hallway, he noticed maids bowing as he walked past them, the nobles either approaching him for a quick greeting or steering out of his way.

“Lord Arad,” A maid approached him with a smile as she saw him standing with two nobles.

Arad’s head turned in an instant. He couldn’t wish for anything more than an excuse to get away from those nobles.

“They seem to need me,” Arad said with a smile, “See you later,” He started walking toward the maid, then stopped.

He looked back at the noble, “Wait a moment, forget about the land or prospect, I don’t know much about those. But I know one thing that could help you,”

The noble smiled, “And what it is the wisdom of a dragon?”

“Well, first, I doubt your wife hates your balding head, I think she likes it. So, focus on ruling your land first, you can expand your wealth later.” Arad smiled, “Don’t stress over land or money, that could also help with your hair. And…Yeah, there was a dead rat in your eastern well, clean that up and it should solve your stomach pain plage thing,”

Arad then rushed to the maid, leaving the noble puzzled.