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754: The World Shivers (2)

Two hooded figures walked the rocky and snowy path leading up the peaks of the Skyborn Mountains. Once they reached the edge of a certain mountain overlooking the expanses of the Labyrinthian, the two females stopped as they watched what went on underneath.

"Those Dragon's won't know what hit them." Said the first woman.

"You sure about that? I once saw the extent of his power but ten Dragons is still too much." The second woman frowned.

"Once one reaches a certain level, the world is seen from a whole different view. Power, glory, money, and all of that… nothing will be the same." The first woman said and contemplated.

"You learned that the hard way, huh?" The second woman asked.

"Sure. I've seen many people walk that path, but only some reach this far." The first woman said then turned away, "But we have guests to entertain now, why don't we say hello?"

The two women turned to a direction not too far from them and the first thing they saw were two other women. Those two women didn't seem to have noticed them yet, but the former didn't bother hiding themselves.

As soon as they were noticed by those other two, however, everyone stood still, frozen with anticipation, worry, curiosity, and fear.

Vittoria looked at the two women who stood atop the mountain and watched the faraway peak as it was getting struck by the storm. No matter how violent it was or how strong the current moved, that storm remained in place and so did everyone else.

"What should we do?" Unable to hide her fear, Idgord's hands trembled and 

"When I tell you to run…" Vittoria aimed her crossbow at the two women atop the mountain and waited for the right time to act.

The sight of that one woman in front of hers gripped her heart with worry as she had slain many of her kind in the past few days.

Vampires, the scourges of life and any good in the world.

"Mother, should I deal with them?" On the other side, Serana asked the woman beside her.

"No need. Calm down, children. This is no place to fight, you might disturb the others." The woman whom Serana called "mother" spoke and lowered her hood.

What appeared under the hood was someone who made the world dim with her beauty all by itself. She smiled warmly and faced Idgrod the Younger and Vittoria. Her skin was so white and fair it could be mistaken for pure snow and her hair was platinum like the riches of silk. She had a very strong presence that couldn't be ignored by anyone but her eyes told a completely different story.

The eyes that hunger, red eyes of pure gluttony and bloodthirst, nothing natural or beautiful about them.

"Who are you?" Idgord the Younger spoke with a shaken voice filled with fear.

"Me? I am no one important really. A gathering like this one can make the most significant one of us, be it a Jarl's daughter or an Emperor's cousin, to be rather insignificant." The woman spoke and made a warm smile before shutting her eyes.

"They are just two mortals, mother." Serana said and looked at the two with dangerous bloodlust.

"Enough, child. Those two in particular have their fate knotted tightly with this one. Don't make enemies when you can make friends." The woman said and walked to the other side of Serana while patting her swollen belly.

Being not attacked by a vampire on sight, Vittoria was somehow distrustful of this situation but those "others" the woman just mentioned made her keep her wits about her. She can't face many unknown enemies just with her measly level.

"Is that Vampire… pregnant?" At this point, Idgord raised a good point which made Vittoria eye Serana with a strange gaze.

"Or she just drank a whole bloody lot." Vittoria replied with a nervous tone.

"Hmph!" Hearing them, Serana just snorted in disdain and looked away.

Vittoria put down her crossbow and nodded for Idgord to follow over the mountain before looking down at the Labyrinthian from above. The wind was going wild but it wasn't dangerous where they stood and it seemed that some action was going on down there.

At the fortified area at the front of the Labyrinthian, three individuals were fighting an army of people while the Cultists tried to attack them from every corner. Dragonknight Jonrad Firemane was the one holding the line and incinerated as many cultists as he could before leaving them to the killing machine, Wulfur.

Using all sorts of bizarre weapons, Wulfur was waving axes on chains, throwing javelins through lines of cultists, and pulverizing bones and limbs with his heavy armored charge alone. Though undefeatable in direct combat, the majority of the cultists were dealt with by the terrifying spells of the Crimson Moon Witch, Alina Moonblade.

Alina cast spell after spell and magic after magic, freezing the enemies, shattering their flesh, and turning them into shards of ice which she uses again to attack their comrades.

The killing spree was intense and even with the appearance of many elite cultists, few could even last more than five seconds when they approached those three.

"Like a moth to the flame." The woman commented with a smile and looked at the woman in the red dress, killing off hordes of enemies with her spells.

The gaze of that woman attracted Alina, and the two met eye-to-eye with intense glares. Never in her life did she meet someone with the same eyes as her.

The woman closed her eyes again and her presence disappeared on top of the mountain again, leaving Alina with a frown.

"It seems we have an audience." She said and pointed towards the mountain.

"There are the ones over there too." Jonrad replied and pointed toward a faraway mountain, "I am not sure about a third group but I am feeling it over there as well. That feeling, however, is far better."

"That's a lot of them." Wulfur said and threw his whirling great axe at a group of cultists.

"Since Jon activated that divine lightning, those people started to gather. I assume they are the ones Jon warned us from." Alina said.

"We just need to buy enough time for Bjorna to retreat with Thor and Idun before we start getting back as well. Let's buy enough time for now!" Jonrad said and released the largest flame wave he ever created covering an area the size of a Saarthal's main plaza on his own.

As for Jon, the situation was rather more complicated than ever.

« Attempting to break through level 99! »

«Hostile Entities Detected! Deploying Countermeasures! »

RUMBLE!

"Jon Dare! Is this your grand plan? Sitting down while we are aiming our swords and fangs against you?" Kendov said as stood far from Jon after receiving a strong spell that made a large hole in his chest.

"…"

Jon, however, was attempting to focus and didn't give any heed to whatever Kendov said or did, after all, Hecate of Pride was back after sending the kids out and she was absolutely unstoppable.

"JON DARE, YOU COWARD! FACE ME!"

Kendov descended into a state of madness and rage as he charged at Jon, with all his might. Hecate stood in his way and with a snap of her fingers, Kendov's gravity was reversed and he took a freefall towards the ceiling of the chamber.

The Dragons could stand still and act as support no longer. Their plan had no such thing as Hecate in it and she was an absolute menace to deal with. Once the first dragon flew towards her and tried to test her abilities, a telekinetic force stopped him mid-flight and he was flung to the side like a helpless puppy.

"Shout with me! VIIK MAH THAAR!"

A dragon stepped forward leading the others and attempted to shout the overpowering shout at Hecate but with a twisted smile, Hecate tightened her left fist and the shouts that traveled towards her dissipated.

"Vokorasaal!" (Impossible!)

The Dragons couldn't believe that their mighty shouts were canceled and even struggled to understand how Hecate did it. In truth, all she did was to create a vacuum in the air and almost all the shouts were rendered useless.

RUMBLE!

The chamber shook once again and the Dragons felt it getting nearer than before. Whatever Jon Dare was summoning from outside, it was shaking the entire mountain above the Labyrinthian and they felt threatened by it.

With how Hecate was staying at his side and defending him, the Dragons found it difficult to attack Jon and now that their weapon, Kendov, was struggling to rejoin the fight, they had to be innovative with their attacks.

They split around the room evenly and surrounded Jon from all sides. They were planning to attack from all sides and try to distract Hecate. As soon as they did that, they started shouting from all corners and started shifting their positions many times. Hecate was barely keeping up and whenever she tried to counter-attack, another fast and sneaky shout tried to harm Jon which left her no time to deal with the Dragons one by one as she was planning.

Now this was troublesome. Hecate of Pride may seem overpowered but her weakness is how she drains Magicka directly from Jon and at an insane rate on top of that.

If used by normal mages, a staff like Pride would drain all their Magicka in a single spell but since it was Jon, he was a living Magicka tank but even he had limits. On top of that, Hecate of Pride was the only sin artifact that could directly tap into Jon's Magicka even without his permission, unlike every other sin artifact, this posed serious trouble if she was forced to keep casting magic at such an insane rate.

Ten dragons were not something to scoff at easily after all.

RUMMMMBBBLLLLLEEE!

But at this time and in this unfavorable situation, the rumbling from above the Labyrinthian was closer than ever and all the dragons realized that whatever Jon was doing was now taking effect.

"Don't give any heed to your lives! Glory to Alduin!"

The Dragons knew that this would be bad if they were to get caught in Jon's trap and they no longer gave heed to safety or strategy.

"MUL NAH GAAR!"

"MUL NAH GAAR!"

"MUL NAH GAAR!"

"MUL NAH GAAR!"

Every dragon shouted the Dragon Rage shout on themselves and their bodies started glowing with all sorts of powers. Some were engulfed in flames while others were crackling with lightning and others were glowing or becoming larger than before.

Each Dragon took to the air and from the sides, they all descended at Jon with their maws open, claws brandished, wings spread, and breath flamed.

Surely Hecate wouldn't be able to handle them all at once like that and as she was about to do her best…

RRRUUMMBB…

CRACKLE!

STRIKE!

The chamber's ceiling broke by the might of Aetherius and lightning poured in like it was the end of the world. The gigantic bolt left a hole in the ceiling and tore the body of Kendov in half as it descended toward Jon…

And the entire Labyrinthian collapsed!

From outside the Labyrinthian, those who stood watching could see the lightning storm brewing its strongest bolt and descending once again over the highest peak in the Skyborn mountain.

After that, the Skyborn mountain was no more.

« WARNING!!! »

« The Aetherial Tribulations of Lightning have begun! »