~ Chapter 30: A battle between two heroes ~

[Kleo’s point of view]

 “Please… please don’t hurt me, Iolaus…” I whimpered.

Just knowing and thinking that I was alone right now with this man brought shivers down my spine. Now of all times, I had no means of defending myself, no means of fighting back.

I was... helpless.

Iolaus was indeed a former lover of mine. I loved him and gave myself to him completely, but then he changed. From a kind and wonderful lover, he turned into a monster willing to hunt me down no matter what.

It was normal… My goddess was Nocturnia, while his were Lumenya and Lumenos, those who were portrayed as the perfect lovers by the Temple of Light.

How could I be considered one worthy of his love and embrace, when I was dirty and touched by the Darkness element?

Ever since he found out, he never forgave me, he never accepted me… he betrayed me.

Now, my sister couldn’t protect me. My grandfather couldn’t protect me. Even my friend, Alkelios, wasn’t here… Who was I to rely on?

I was chained and weak. There was nowhere to hide, there was nowhere to run, so I did the only thing I could, I trembled in fear.

“Please…” I begged him with tears in my eyes, but I doubted he would listen.

Why would he?

How could he listen when all he heard were the teachings of a religion?

Still, he hesitated in finishing me off swiftly.

Why are you taking your time? I wondered.

With fearful eyes, I looked down at my chains and saw the purple characters changing faster and faster.

Did he notice this was a magic bomb? Is he waiting for me to die because of this thing? I don’t want to… I thought and bit my lower lip until I drew blood.

When in front of making a choice, did he believe that he would stain his sword if he killed me?

Is it better in his eyes if I am killed by this thing? I wondered.

My heart was beating so fast from the fear that I could barely think straight.

Seeing myself like this, without hope, without a chance for a better future… I was left to wonder what was there left for me to do even if through some miracle I survived this moment.

That’s right… there’s nowhere I can go… Nowhere to run… Nowhere to hide. I’m a necromancer… I bring only bad luck and death to those around me. I know this… yet… I still hoped for a happy future for myself. I wanted to be free and smile… Why wasn’t I allowed to do this? Why was I chased by the Temple of Light? What did I do wrong? I thought, and my tears didn’t stop flowing.

The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize how hopeless my current situation was. Even if I survived, the Paladins would certainly send message to all the Temples of Light inside and outside of the kingdom. I would be soon found guilty of breathing and put to death no matter who my grandfather and sister were.

Maybe I’ve troubled them enough? I thought as I felt hope leaving me.

Looking up, I saw him struggling with his sword in his hands.

Ah? Why is he hesitating? I looked down at my chains. He must be wondering how it is best to kill me… I smiled to my self.

Without a drop of hope left in my soul, I smiled back at him, and said “I can’t use magic… These chains will kill me anyway… If I’m to die… then at least I’d like to die by your hands…”

It was better than being slain by a bomb. At least, I would be killed by the dragon I once loved and maybe… maybe I still do a little?

“Thraherkleyoseya…” he said and raised his sword up.

I closed my eyes and waited the inevitable. I was just born unlucky… that was all. The gods never favored me anyway… unlike they did my sister, Alkelios, or Kataryna. If I had the strength, I wouldn’t need to worry about finding my own place in this world, but something like that was but a dream… a figment of my own cursed imagination.

“AARGH!” Iolaus shouted at the top of his lungs.

This is it. I thought and held my breath.

My life was at its end.

I heard a clank, but I didn’t feel pain.

Opening my eyes, I saw Iolaus leaning over, with his face at just a palm away from mine. He was sweating hard, his brow was furrowed, his jaw clenched, and his whole body shivered.

“The gods may curse me if they will, but… I can’t do this…” he said and then looked down.

I was bewildered. I couldn’t even express myself.

Did he… did he refuse to kill me? What’s he doing? I thought.

Before I realized what happened, my wrists were free again, and he wrapped a hand around my waist.

“W-what are you d-doing?” I asked in a shivering tone of voice.

“Saving the necromancer dragoness I love.” he retorted and pulled me towards him, but he didn’t kiss me, he just hid me behind his shield.

“What?” I asked.

But before he could answer, there was a powerful explosion behind me, and I saw Iolaus as he struggled to keep the flames away. The shield was eating at his Magic Energy at an accelerated rate. Considering the explosion’s strength, I would have certainly died if I got caught within it.

Those shackles were a clever trap. They seeped away at a dragon’s magic, preventing them from casting any spells, including a Magic Barrier of any sort. Without it, they were at the mercy of the explosion. Even Kataryna would have had a hard time surviving something of that magnitude.

When it was over, Iolaus was breathing hard and smirking back at me.

“If you know how to put a pair of these on a dragon, you also know how to get out of them… the metal hook between the two halves is strong against pulling, but fragile against the edge of a sword… With enough strength, anyone can cut them… open…” he said and then fell over me.

He was completely exhausted, barely keeping his eyes open and even trembling a little. Iolaus exerted the last bit of strength he had left in his body in order to protect me, not caring if afterwards I would something to take my revenge on him.

“You idiot…” I said with tears in my eyes as I looked at him. “If I’m your worst enemy… why show me this weak side of yours?” I flicked his forehead gently.

Iolaus didn’t reply, he was too exhausted and, in the end, fainted, so I let him rest.

Staying there wouldn’t have been a good idea, so I placed him down on his shield and using my magic, I controlled the shadows underneath it. Without him infusing his body and armor with magic, the Light element couldn’t manifest and burn them away.

Because my wrists were still bleeding and hurt, I took one of his potions and drank it one gulp.

“Let’s get out of here…” I said as I looked back at him with a soft smile on my lips.

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 While Iolaus was going to retrieve Kleo, I planned on luring out and fighting the black-hooded man. If I could bring him out alive, I would, but I feared that with my enhanced stats, I would crush him like a flea.

Regarding the Paladin, I was quite certain he wasn’t going to harm Kleo. If there was even 1% chance that something was going to happen to keep him from doing so, my 100 Luck would make sure of it. Thus, my only concern was the one who dragged us here.

After I announced my presence in this place, I hid behind a nearby wall and waited for him to come looking for me. The one thing I had to worry about was if he was the type to skip introductions or not. I was hoping for the latter because I wanted to get some information out of him.

Where is he? I wondered as I took a peek around the corner.

There was no one there.

All of a sudden, I felt a chill run down my back. I instinctively jumped out of there, landing a few steps in front. A sword’s blade cut into the wall, right where my neck was supposed to be.

The hell?! I shouted in my mind and saw the black-hooded man standing there.

“Lucky little lizard…” he said annoyed.

I got up on my feet and drew my sword, however, I was a bit confused about how he got there. Behind me was a dead end, so there was no way he could have sneaked up past me.

Can he turn invisible? I wondered.

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” I questioned him.

The man only smirked and then spoke in English. He had a British accent.

“If you knew, you primitive, you would be surprised!”

“What?” I replied, but I did so in the Eastern Draconian language.

The man simply shook his head and let out sigh.

I thought about using this moment to charge at him, but just then, he vanished from my sight.

This sudden display of his ability took me by surprise, and I was stunned for a moment. A flash of light was caught in the corner of my eye, and I moved out of its way, dodging his blade by mere millimeters.

“You dodged again. That’s odd.” he said.

The black-hooded man was sitting right behind me. Turning around, I was at a sword’s length away from him, but he didn’t seem concerned about it.

He’s fast… I didn’t even see him move. I thought.

It wasn’t impossible to believe that there were individuals out there who could run faster than the eyes could see, but I didn’t feel the movement of air around me, no sudden gust of wind as a result of this superhuman action. This man simply vanished and then reappeared at the same time. Only my skills and most likely Luck was what saved me from instant death.

Before he had the chance to vanish again, I looked at him and said “Status of target!”

The following information was displayed before my eyes:

[Name]: Unknown

[Species]: Human

[Level]: 264

[Unknown Stats]

When I read those details, I was surprised and astonished at the same time. This man, he wasn’t a dragon, and more than that, he was a human. Although, I should have guessed that the moment he spoke in English.

“You… You are a human?” I asked and looked back at him with big eyes.

“What? How did you know?” he pointed his sword at me.

Without a doubt, he was the same as me, a human from Earth.

“USA or UK?” I asked him calmly.

There was a moment of silence between us, and he lowered his weapon.

“UK… but how? Where are you from?” he asked me.

“Romania.” I replied.

“Ah, the land of gypsies…” he said with a bit of disgust in the tone of his voice.

“No, they are a minority there… and Romanians aren’t gypsies.” I retorted.

“In this world it matters not, so you are the same as me then? A hero brought here by the God-like? Why are you on the side of the enemy?” he asked me.

“What enemy? You are the one who attacked us!” I pointed my finger at him.

“Because I came to the wrong conclusion that you are an Unawakened dragon. But answer me! Why are you taking the side of these monsters!” he shouted.

“Monsters?”

Hearing him say that shocked me. From my point of view, none of the dragons I met could be called monsters. Some of them were idiots, indeed, but they weren’t vicious beasts who ripped apart everyone who stood in their way. Heck, my lover was a dragoness.

“Don’t you know?” he asked.

“Know what?” I replied furrowing my brow.

“Humans are at war with Dragons for countless centuries now. Dragons are brutes and monsters who wouldn’t hesitate to kill us the moment they saw us! If they let us live it’s only to toy with us!” he declared in a bitter tone of voice.

What? I know they are at war, but they never seemed to be… I mean, considering what I’ve been through, why would I ever believe such words? I thought and my resolve stood firm.

“Listen, I don’t wish to kill a fellow human, especially a hero from Earth. We all want to save our precious planet, after all… that’s why we were brought to this primitive planet.” he spoke in a rather superior tone of voice.

For some reason, he was starting to annoy me. I had the feeling this guy was one of the not-so-sane-and-polite British people. Or in other words, the type even his own countrymen would find unpleasant to hang around with.

“Lower your sword and join me! If you will continue to live together with these monsters, you will only have to suffer! They will abandon you! They will harm you!” he clenched his fist and spoke with an incredible conviction and determination in the tone of his voice.

It was almost like there was no other way besides HIS.

“I don’t believe it… I’ve met some very decent dragons who became my friends.” I retorted.

“They are just lying to you!” he scoffed.

“You never met or spoke with any of them, how can you be so biased?” I questioned him.

“Because unlike you, I’ve been on the battlefield! I’ve seen the horrors they are capable of! I know they never show mercy towards our kind! Friendship? It’s only a lie! I’m certain they wouldn’t even let you shake your hand out of disgust because you are a human!” he shouted.

Well, Kataryna tries to drag me into her bed, Seryanna kisses me, Kleo hugs me, Brekkar almost broke my hand with his powerful handshake, the lovely maids at the mansion helped me with a lot of things, and the list goes on. I thought to myself as I remembered all those moments, and among them, Seryanna’s kiss under the rain was the most beautiful of them all.

“I’m pretty certain that’s not true.” I said narrowing my eyes at him.

“You are just a fool…” he sighed and shook his head.

“Maybe…” I replied and entered my combat stance.

“Although you aren’t a dragon, I can feel that you are quite powerful. I will enjoy stealing your Magic Energy, but relax… I won’t kill you. Once you are weak and helpless, you will see for yourself how quickly these dragon friends of yours will take to abandoning you.” he smirked and then the room around us changed.

We were in an open room with a high ceiling and walls covered in strange inscriptions. On one of them, I could see a big black crystal pulsing from the stored Magic Energy inside of it. At this moment, I realized what this human’s ability was.

Teleportation… I thought and raised my guard.

“Show Status.” said the man with a smirk.

I looked at him and prepared myself for an attack.

“Such a low level when compared to me… This will be an easy win.” he then slashed the sword in the air.

“ARGH!” I groaned as I felt the cut on my left hand, forcing me to drop my sword.

What happened? I asked myself a I looked at my bleeding hand.

The cut was aimed at one of the weak spots in my armor. It wasn’t that deep, but I couldn’t hold the sword properly now.

“You have no chance of winning against me.” he declared arrogantly.

I wish I will win this battle! I wish to beat this bastard! I wish to get out of this place alive and without my power stolen from me! I thought as I quickly set the grounds with my 100 Luck.

He tried to cut me again, but I let instinct guide me. The blade came from the left this time, towards my right leg. I avoided the injury by jumping to the left. Without a weapon at hand, I was defenseless, so I tried to grab it again.

“I won’t let you!” he shouted, and the sword vanished.

This skill of his is powerful! I thought, but I already began to think of its limitations.

For once, I didn’t think he could teleport something inside my body or off of it. He could probably teleport me, but there had to be some conditions to that as well just like there were with my [Dragon Tamer] skill.

After all, it would have been incredibly easy for me to just go around making ‘friends’ and gain insane stats, but the limit imposed was the fact that it had to be a mutual and honest thing. Not anyone could be my friend, and not anyone was willing to be my friend. I couldn’t go over their right to choose.

Maybe there was something like that attached to this skill of his as well. Then there was the cost of this ability. Unlike the [Dragon Tamer], this one was an active skill which required Magic Energy. Considering the effect, it was probably a spell that needed a lot, and unlike dragons, humans had a lower Magic Energy pool.

Fortunately, I had other abilities that didn’t need a sword.

“[Air Barrier]! [Earthquake]!” I called out.

The ground began to shake under our feet, and a barrier of air formed around me, stopping his next blade attack. The tip of the sword didn’t materialize inside the barrier but outside of it.

“You can use spells too? Interesting…” he muttered to himself and then jumped back.

Instinctively, I jumped at the same time and a boulder fell on the spot I was standing just a moment ago. If I didn’t move, it would have crushed me or at the very least distracted me while I tried to get out.

“[Earth Arrow]!” I shouted and conjured the next spell.

Unfortunately, without an instant and silent cast, I gave away both the type and timing of my attack. He simply lifted his hand up and the arrow vanished and reappeared behind me. The barrier deflected it, and I was able to run to the left.

What can I do against him? I thought.

My biggest problem right now was in the way I had to use tactics. Unlike in a game, where you could eventually pause and think about what to do next or even study the battle beforehand, I had to think on the spot. With my lack of experience in fighting opponents on equal grounds, I made a lot of mistakes.

Instead of being on the attack, I was on the defensive, constantly trying to avoid his teleporting blades and my own repelled attacks. Also, for some reason, I kept attacking him with more ranged spells as if the first one wasn’t proof enough that they didn’t work on him!

In short, I was panicking and couldn’t think straight.

I was in a very dangerous position…

What can I do? At this rate, I’ll be the one defeated! Is he that much stronger than me? I thought and struggled to dodge his attacks.

Seeing that he wasn’t able to get me that easily, the man suddenly vanished and appeared before me. With a powerful strike of his blade, the barrier vanished around me and then he struck me in the face with all of his might. Worst of all, I forgot to dodge this time around.

This is going to hurt… I thought and closed my eyes.

“Huh?”

I felt a light bump on my face, but nothing else happened.

Opening my eyes, I saw him holding his fist and groaning.

Was that it?

“Did you just punch me?” I asked surprised.

“YES! What’s your face made out of? Concrete?!” he shouted.

“Huh?” his words surprised me because I didn’t fully process what happened.

Is it possible that… I thought and looked at his sword “[Identificus Processus Juridicus].” I said calmly.

(Sword of Thonbar): Legendary sword wielded by the now dead human general Thonbar. It has the power to ignore Magic Defense. Upon imbue with Magic Energy, it has the property to cut 10 times better than an ordinary Steel Sword. Being made out of Draconium, a legendary metal that can easily absorb Magic Energy and by doing so increasing its endurance, it is far sturdier than an ordinary Steel Weapon.

So the reason he was able to cut me was because of his sword… Is it possible that he isn’t actually that powerful? I wondered and to test it out, I activated [Dash] and moved in front of him.

I punched him in the face, and at the same time, I pulled the legendary sword right out of his hand.

These actions were done in the course of a split second. The man didn’t even know what hit him, but I was 100% sure my fist didn’t meet any sort of resistance when it hit his face. As a result of this, the man was thrown into the wall on the other side of the room. I didn’t worry about killing him because I didn’t use my full strength. Besides, as a level 264, I was certain he had some interesting stats, but he couldn’t compare in strength to my girlfriend or even Kleo for that matter.

He probably underestimated me by believing I had the same stats as he did when he was my level. After all… ‘Show Status’ doesn’t show my true stats, which are ridiculously boosted thanks to my friends. I thought with an inner smile.

Once again, I was glad I decided to be friends with the dragons.

“Huh? So it’s like that…” I said and then rushed towards him before he recovered.

I kicked him in the stomach. The shock caused him to drop down on his knees and vomit up his food. I had but a split second to avoid the mess, but with this, I knew the man was far too weak to fight against me. His only advantage were his skills and his sword, while I had the pure, awesome brute strength of several dragons.

“You’re done.” I said and pulled back his hood, revealing his face.

He was a blond male several years older than me, with half of his face burnt and covered in hideous scar tissue. It looked really nasty, and I could only imagine the pain and suffering he went through when he got it.

A fire accident maybe? I thought unaware of the true story behind it.

There was something else I noticed about him then. He wore a leather collar with a black lock attached to it. Several runes were inscribed on it with black ink, and I could feel the presence of Magic Energy pulsing from within them.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

He opened his mouth, but the runes on his collar started to glow yellow. Instead of telling me his name, he smirked. The runes calmed down as a result.

“What’s with this collar? Tell me!” I tried ordering him, but he wasn’t willing to reply.

At least, as long as I held him by his hood, he couldn’t teleport away, or so I thought.

“Pika Boo Blink.” that was all he said and then he vanished from my sight.

I was left there alone, holding only a perfectly cut piece of his hood. Angered, I tossed it aside.

“That coward!” I shouted.

Apparently, his skill worked that way as well. I was a fool for thinking that as long as I had my hands on the item, he wouldn’t be able to use it, but with a level of 264, he probably upgraded it a couple of times or maybe he focused only on that one skill?

At the very least, I got his sword as loot. Putting it in my scabbard, I walked over to the black crystal and looked at it.

“[Identificus Processus Juridicus].” I said, and the following information appeared before me.

(Dungeon): Difficulty rank: Heroic. Type: Necromancer.

[Level too low to investigate any further.]

I sighed and closed the message.

“During our battle, we could have shattered you, and you know very well that I have the power to do so, but I made you a promise, so I won’t do it. Just point me towards the exit.” I told the dungeon.

On the opposite wall of this room, a pathway opened up. I walked through it and left the place. All I had to do now was find Kleo and the idiot Paladin then return to the surface with them. The Dungeon was certainly not going to pose a danger to me now.

Still, the fact that I wasn’t able to get any sort of information out of that human hero was annoying me. I wanted to know who sent him here, why, and if there were others like us on this continent. Maybe there were more ways than one of getting here?

[Somewhere on the outskirts of Drakaria, the capital of the Albeyater Kingdom]

 The human hero with the weird teleportation ability appeared near the old ruins of a house. He was breathing hard and suffered from Magic Energy exhaustion. Although, he wasn’t showing it, he had three broken ribs and a lot of bruises on his body. To get rid of them, he popped the cork of a small bottle and drank its contents to the last drop.

With a sigh of relief, he sat down on an empty log and looked up at sky.

“To think there were other humans from Earth living on this continent… Too bad for him…” he shook his head and got up.

With a wobbly step, he headed towards Drakaria, the city where his master lived.