Chapter 698 - The Last Moonless Night (Patreon)
Content
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Dungeon quest discovered. The Change.
Protect the last sane Wyvern from the other creatures who went mad due The Change
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"Mom? Dad?" Luna asked again, her voice made her parents snap towards her, staring the wyvern down with angry red eyes. They jerked, moving as if they were about to strike but stopped themselves for some reason, "You can still hear me, right?"
As she spoke again, the parents of Marron growled at her, but Luna's parents stepped forward growling back at them. There was a tense moment where all the draconic beings on top of this pillar were just threatening each other for a moment. Suddenly, the chaos started. The larger dragons started attacking each other, biting at their necks, using their claws to cut open their skin and using any sorts of spells or skill that were available to them.
The smaller ones also fought amongst themselves, but with the battle of titans on the backdrop, their struggle looked like nothing more than a squabble between children, which was the reality of the situation.
"What is going on?" Luna gasped, tears forming in her eyes.
"We need to get out of here," Hera grabbed the Wyverns by the wing and pulled her to the edge of the pillar.
"No, I need to help them!" Luna tried to pull back, but Helena joined in.
"Luna, we can't help them if we are dead. Let's get out of here first and try to figure out what is going on, then we can help."
"But… my parents,"
"Do you think they would lose here?" Blue asked.
"No! They are the strongest!" Luna turned to the controller who just smiled.
"Then we don't have to worry. Not to mention that staying here might get in the way. They can't fight properly while protecting you."
Luna stopped for a moment, which felt too long for the rest of the party as the giant 15 meter tall dragons were fighting right beside them, but eventually, she nodded, "Ok, there is something wrong and we need to figure out what. Let's go!"
Everyone just jumped from the pillar and waited a few moments before starting to fly. Those fights seemed to be going on everywhere, and being a group of people splitting off would surely attract attention.
"Where to? Should we go to Luna's cave?" Bonnie asked.
"Maybe, we need to hide first so we can think about what is going on," Shane dove to fly closer to the water.
"Why is it so dark anyway?" Alex grumbled in a low voice, not wanting to yell here.
"The moon…. Where is it?!" Luna gasped, realizing that it wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"It will take a while for it to show up, won't it? I mean, we usually don't see it right away," Bonnie turned to the Wyvern.
"No! The day after the moon dies it always shows up high in the sky the moment the sun sets!" Luna gasped, but her voice was a bit too loud and attracted the attention of a few small Wyverns and a Lung Dragon that was just about two meters long. They all had the same pitch black scales which made them even harder to see coming in the night. If it wasn't for the noise they were making and the glowing red eyes, it would be impossible to notice the incoming attack.
"Shit! Shane, can you Enchant our eyes? We need night vision!" Hera dodged to the side, calling out her entire court, minus Nimbus and Lurize, 'Guys, don't use anything that makes a light. That will be a beacon for the dragons to come after us.'
"I don't know. I never tried that before. Cover me for a moment while I figure something out," Shane replied and touched her temple, trying to make her enchantment work.
One of the Wyverns dove towards Hera, seeing the small glimmer created by her court. It was a very soft glow that the Empress herself never realized that happened, but this was the first time she called her blades in such a pitch black darkness. Thankfully, she had already triggered a Sensory Net spell around her and the group, allowing Hera to see the incoming attack. The Wyvern tried to grab her with its talons, but was only able to catch Frost, who intercepted and pulled the legs down. Following that up, Dao and Ooze came slashing the neck of the creature, creating two deep cuts that were already spewing blood.
"Wait! Don't kill them," Hera gasped, and turned to Luna who now had cold eyes.
"No, if a dragon attacks you wanting to kill, they should be ready to die. That's the law of this place," the silver Wyvern said before beating her wings and flying towards the Lung Dragon who was right in front of her. In a flash, she went around the creature and grabbed its body with her legs before biting the neck, killing the crazed monster almost instantly, "I hate this… but I won't die. Not here!"
Another Wyvern came at Hera, who was unable to see it coming now that her spell ended up getting left behind. After all, they weren't standing still, but still flying at high speeds. Like before, her court intercepted it, but even Armory took too long to realize and the monster just lost its aim, but was still able to headbutt Hera's ribs. Her armor stopped the sharp scales from damaging her skin, but she still felt the impact and fell to the side, momentarily too stunned to be able to fly. She was only stunned for a brief moment and managed to fly before dropping into the ocean, but the rest of her party was also struggling.
The dragons all could see in the dark perfectly, or at least, that's what it felt like. Fighting an invisible enemy was hard, and using the sounds to see where they were coming from was just a waste of effort. Growls, roars, snarls, and cries were echoing from each pillar, making even a simple conversation a struggle. Blue and Mylo were the only two who seemed to be able to defend and dodge the incoming attacks, everyone else was getting hit. Even Shane who was being protected by most of the party. The biggest problem for both Helena and Bonnie was that most of their spells would create light. Not to say they didn't have options, but even Helena, who could remove the sight of others, wasn't used to fighting when something like that happened to her.
Hera took another hit on her back. It was an attempt at a clawing at her lower spine, but her armor blocked thanks to Armory's warning. The Empress took advantage of the proximity of the black Wyvern and grabbed its neck before firing several poison needles at point blank range. Each strike of the spell made that pitch black scales regain some of its color, but it was only a momentary effect. Almost like a pulse with each of her attacks.
To finish it off, Viper and Crimson came flying from the sides and pierced the monster's eyes. Making it drop like a log, almost bringing Hera down with it.
'Thanks,' Hera smiled at the double daggers.
'We are here for you, Empress!' Viper announced proudly.
'It just sucks to not be able to see anything. That's why we are aiming for the eyes,' Crimson said with a happy voice.
"Hera!" Shane called from behind her, "I got it. Here," she touched the side of Hera's face and suddenly, the pitch black night changed.
Now everything was in shades of green. Shane herself was still dark, but now it was possible to see her properly. Looking to the side, the Empress saw the fight taking a turn. It seemed like she was the last to get the buff, and everyone else was able to quickly dispatch the monster that was coming after them. When the last dragon was killed, everyone turned to Luna, but before anyone could say anything the silver Wyvern spoke.
"I think I have an idea where we could find some clues. There is a pillar where the moonlight is strongest. Maybe we can still see the moon there," Luna's voice was hopeful, but Hera had some doubts about it.
"Are you sure? Don't you think it might be better for us to go back to your place?" Bonnie asked.
"No, we need to figure this out, now!" Luna yelled as she flew away. The rest of the party followed along, trying to call to her but the silver Wyvern was either ignoring the or she wasn't hearing their voice.
After about half an hour, everyone just flew low and tried to keep themselves hidden. When they were getting close to the pillar that Luna was talking about, a Dragon roared from above. It flew down stopping in front of the group growling in anger and bearing its teeth.
"Tola…" Luna whimpered seeing her old mentor with pitch black scales, blood coming out of a few fresh wounds.
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Crazed Dragon - Tola - 30
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"Luna, I don't think they can understand you," Hera whispered.
"I know," Luna blinked and her eyes returned to that steeled cold expression, "We need to take her down."
Tola roared and created some green flames inside her mouth before spewing it out towards the group. Everyone dove away, but the heat was intense even if no one got hit. To make things worse, the bright fire was almost a flashbang to them, thanks to Shane's enchantment. However, that also came with a benefit. The light didn't attract any other dragons. It seemed like no one wanted to take their chances and get near Tola, which made them stop worry about their spells and just go for it.
Helena started firing a mix of shadow and light arrows, each could deprive or overwhelm one of their senses. The light arrows would do the exact opposite of the shadow ones. Flooding one of the target's senses so they would be incapable of using said sense. Mylo flew forward, trying to use his staff to pin don the Dragon's mouth.
Blue used her gauntlets and started to punch Tola with all her might, the electricity coursing through both of them, in a way that it was hard to tell who was getting injuries by it. Shane fired a couple of projectiles that attached to the Dragon and started to siphon mana. This made the scales around the area where the attachment was located regain their colors, but they would quickly go back to that pitch black color. It seemed like some sort of mana was affecting the dragons, but it would be hard to understand what it actually was in the middle of a fight.
Tola pushed Mylo away, and swatted Blue like a fly using her tail, following that, she almost bit Alex in half as the assassin attempted to go for a sneak attack. Adriel started firing some lasers to at least distract the creature, but it didn't even seem to notice the incoming energy beams.
"Hera, can you buy me some time? I'm going to use my staff," Bonnie got close to the Empress.
"I'll do my best. Everyone, let's go!" Hera called as she and her court flew at Tola, Viper and Crimson used all their skills, making poison, and blood claws as fast as they could. She also put some 200 thousand mana inside her Aquaflame pendant aiming at the Dragon's chest. The mixture of fire and water spiraled from the repentant and flew off in a high pressure jet. Slamming Tola who just growled and clawed at the Empress, missing by a hair, but the wind that followed the blow was enough to make her spin around uncontrollably.
Before Hera could steady herself, Bonnie flew towards Tola swinging her staff like a club and hitting the creature's arm. Just as that happened, an explosion that looked like a miniature version of the big bang appeared, making the Dragon shudder and seem momentarily stunned. Luna appeared high in the sky, diving at a staggering speed. After a sonic boom, she did a flip and slammed both her feet against Tola's head, knocking the dragon out and letting her fall into the ocean.
"Let's go!" Luna called and continued to her destination. They arrived at the pillar in question but it was just the same. The dragons were killing each other and there was no moon in sight. After 10 minutes, the silver Wyvern gave up her search and agreed with the group, "Let's just go to my cave and wait.
They moved quickly, but before arriving at Luna's cave, they saw something different. Another cave, the one where her parents lived was burning. As if the large dragons had breathed fire there. Inside, two giant silver Wyverns were burning as all the pitch black dragons had stopped fighting and were now looking up to the sky. Luna stared at the flames, and the bodies of her parents for a moment, still flying with the group. Then, she turned around with a smile, "I understand now. I know how to fix this."
"How?" Hera asked.
"I have to do a thing. And don't worry. Everything will be fine. Thanks for everything, and I'm sorry," with those last words, the spell that Luna casted on the party vanished and they all plummeted to the ocean. Blue wasn't even able to call her cloud, just as Alex was unable to walk in the air. They all watched as Luna flew up to the sky and started to glow, becoming brighter and brighter until forming a sphere as big as the moon in the sky. An explosion of light washed over everything, hitting the black dragons and turning them all into dust just as Hera and the others fell harmlessly inside the cold and dark waters of the dungeon.