The response to the dragon's roar was immediate. The goblins who were already walking back their front line out of the pit, began a full retreat. This was a turn and run moment. From My high vantage point I could see that our convoy was still in a long line. That would be an easy target for the dragon to strafe and burn.

The ictheys also shifted priorities hard. Elijah's horrifying fish face had a strangely relatable 'ah shit' look twisting its feature. The giant abomination shook its head as it seemed to absorb energy from all the monsters around it. power flowed into its lantern eyes. Eventually its entire skull burned bright. It radiated colors like an ominous aurora borealis. Then the kaiju reeled back and hucked a phlegmy wad of glowing goo at Pinky and I.

The Mechana-Beast avoided the roughly car-size blob fairly easily. I realized a split second afterward that it wasn't an attack and it wasn't aimed at us. The target was the hole leading into the Dark and Deep beyond. An escape route the dragon couldn't follow easily. The blob congealed, contorted and finally formed into a towering fishman. It had the four arms and eyes its smaller brethren enjoyed. This thing had some extra bells and whistles. It had two wing-like fins that it used to sail gracefully out of sight. It also appeared to have all of the magical power of this army. I felt the energy radiating off of it as it passed us. That was the biggest reason I mistook it for an attack.

Expend Free Action? Yes/No

Note: You must select the total number of seconds spent before activating.

I selected one second and hit yes. Time stopped. I sat on my vantage and looked around. All of the ictheys soldiers' elemental weapons had vanished. The tremendous jellyfish no longer crackled with electricity. They were currently suspended in the air due to the time stop, but they were falling from the sky. Then there was the kaiju thing. It was still a looming fish-head tower of muscle and terror, but the light had gone out of its bulbous eyes.

I gazed at the new escaping big fishman. It gazed back at me. In its eyes was calculated concern. That was Elijah. I was pretty sure killing that thing would end this part of the fight.

There was still the dragon to deal with.

Please select an action…

I nocked the last ice arrow and took aim. I then pulled the string back and let loose.

The arrow flew quickly toward the target. I had just enough time to worry that this collection of hopefully vital bits would actually die from this attack, when Elijah dodged time stop be damned. Its body flowed like water and bent around the arc of the arrow's flight.

Attack… Failed!

I am hesitant to admit but for a brief moment, I thought it was unfair that the terrible fish monster kept moving when I stopped time.

Even as time started Elijah was already moving. It leered at me for an infinitesimal instant before vanishing into the Dark. I didn't have the opportunity to give chase. The kaiju struck. Its neck elongated like a snapping turtle and the massive fang filled maw surged toward Pinky and me. Pinky deftly avoided the attack. The metal bird banked to the side hard. This turned us almost instantly to a new vector. The horrifying fish bit down on nothing but air. As Pinky turned nearly sideways. I had to grab hold of the handle to stay balanced.

That was when the dragon struck. It is incredible how fast the thing was given its size. In a fraction of a second the dragon surged past us. Its taloned foot seized one of Pinky's wings and then clamped down. The metal crushed under the dragon's grip. Pinky's wing pulled free. The Mechana-Beast shrieked in agony as we immediately began falling. The ground rushed up to meet us as it spun around wildly. Maybe we were spinning. I was distracted my the terror from the rapidly approaching impact.

Destruction Check… Successful!

The ice immediately beneath us turned into water. I hit the surface first. Pinky's bulk slammed me down to the bottom of the bowl I had made. The impact with the water hurt exactly as bad as the last time I hit the water, that fall into the Dark. Both instances didn't inflict the damage they should have. Not even a broken bone slamming into the surface of the water. Pinky crushing me into the ice at the bottom of the bowl did do three damage and pinned me under the big bird.

Pinky got us out of the water. The bird collapsed a few steps later. I pulled the harness back into my inventory and hopped my big ass off Pinky's back. Sparks shot out of the torn joint. Some of them were hot pink.

"Are you okay?" I asked Pinky.

Pinky shook its head no. Of course not, their whole wing was gone. They weren't holding my idiocy against me though.

"Are you dying?" I asked, looking at a fluid leaking out Pinky's side.

Pinky shrugged. This caused more sparks to shoot out of the injuries.

A quick Craft check and I had manifested a layer of ice over Pinky's wounded side. The Mechana-Beast wasn't leaking any more. I checked in with Pinky. The bird nodded like this was forward progress.

Celeste touched down next to us, "The ictheys changed. It's like they went feral."

I didn't have as good of a view on ground level. The fishmen were climbing the side of the ice cliff and trying to swarm the goblins. I say trying because between a hail of arrows, and small arms fire my army was keeping them at bay.

Goblins may not be OSHA compliant but they were natural born survivors. The convoy had gotten the vehicles going, thrown everything in reverse, and were backing the fuck up. This made the dragon's arrival more of a call for urgency rather than a major change of plans.

Speaking of the dragon it was an equal opportunity menace. The terror had landed on the ice opposite me. The hole was more than a mile wide but it didn't feel that far right now. The dragon did what dragons do. It unloaded an apocalyptic gout of flames. Night turned to day as flames blanketed the area. We were far enough away that the heat of the attack was just oppressive. The ictheys within range were incinerated. The fish men crumpled into ash. The giant jellyfish boiled before bursting and boiling.

The big kaiju didn't take all of its buddies being roasted alive lying down. It struck. Again I need to make this point. The dragon and kaiju were truly massive creatures, but the threat they posed was compounded by how fast they moved. What happened was a blink and you missed it kind of event. The kaiju's jagged teeth seized the dragon and pulled it into the pit. They both crashed into the ground, smashing several buildings. The sound of the impact was deafening. The force of it caused ice to shatter and the ground to buckle. The world heaved and tilted toward the battling monsters.

That was bad. What was worse was the Dragon had done some sort of great wyrm jujitsu and shoulder thrown the colossal fish monster… directly at us. Celeste thinking quickly grabbed me and got the hell out of there. I didn't think and just on reflex grabbed Pinky by the hand hold. He just cleared the tower of flesh as the Kaiju slammed into the ice.

They say the bigger you are the harder you fall. I am not going to argue that because the kaiju's acute meeting with the ground went about as hard as it is possible to go. Celeste, Pinky and I were launched into the air. Which was probably a good thing because everything around us fell as the tunnels in the Dark collapsed.

I am from the midwest. The ground isn't supposed to shake except for the occasional 3.2 earthquake every decade to scare the shit out of everyone that was aware it happened. This was probably a bigger number on the Richter Scale at least locally. …I don't know how the Ritcher scale works.

Celeste was physically stronger than me, and could fly at almost impossible speeds, but she didn't actually have as much lift as I had hoped. She couldn't stay airborne trying to lift both me and a truck sized metal animal. We didn't really crash to the ground but the landing was fairly rocky. I had let go so she wouldn't cash too, but Celeste held fast.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Our Draconic interloper wasn't one to waste time. It charged up and blasted fire the moment it pulled free of the kaiju's jaws.

The wall of burning steam hit me like a giant pillow going seventy miles per hour. I greatly appreciated being encased in an armor of ice as it was knocked backwards. I should do the same for everyone.

Construction Check… Successful!

Ice Wall Created

Construction Check…Successful! Ice Wall repaired

That prompt kept flashing in my eyes. I willed a wall of ice over Celeste, Pinky and me. Then I had to put everything into mentally maintaining the barrier. Every second the wall of ice was reduced to a liquidus membrane before solidifying again. I could see through our makeshift defenses. The ground melted and flowed toward us as the dragon burned the giant fish monster.

The creature didn't scream in agony. Instead it mindlessly tried time and again to right itself and try to attack the dragon. It died -no broke- like an automaton that suffered too much abuse.

I looked over to find Celeste and Pinky, both gazed at the dragon through the wall in the ice.

"I would have my prize," The deep thunderous voice spoke. "Don't make me crack your little shell to get it."

I got to my feet, and willed the ice away. The acrid smoke laden air hit me. I eyed the tremendous dragon standing on the red hot, still glowing ground. Ah shit it really was a big fuck off dragon.

I walked to the edge of the ice. Rivulets of water ran past me and boiled on the ground. "Hey, I am Doug."

"You will be dead if you do not hand over what I demand," The dragon threatened with a rumbling growl.

I felt my right hand clench into a fist. The knuckles popped. Why can't just one of these assholes just talk to me like a person? These petty power moves would be tiring if people didn't die when some maniac threw a tantrum.

I kept my tone neutral, "What do you want?"

"Give me the metal bird. I claim it as salvage," The dragon lumbered closer. It towered over me, "Now!"

"What do you want with Pinky?" I asked, making it a point to not show fear.

"You do not question me!" The dragon roared. Its fang filled mouth was very close to me now, and it was quite obvious I could fit inside his jaws. I also saw that his neck was covered in deep tears from the giant fish monster's teeth. None of them were bleeding anymore. "It is my trophy and I will have it. Out of my way or I will take everything from you, ice giant!"

I hesitated for a moment. Not a long moment but it was big enough for me to feel it.

You have activated Voice of the Titan

"No! Fuck off!" I shouted. With the backing of Voice of the Titan. My words literally knocked the dragon on his ass.

It studied me for a moment. A lot of nonverbal communication happened all at once. I had surprised the dragon, I saw that flash in its eyes. The look in the dragon's eyes hardened near instantly. It knew I had seen it rattled. It hated that, and by extension me.

It righted itself and loomed over me. It was still within its striking distance but it wasn't as close as before. "You are very loud for a little giant." Its eyes flashed. I think it hit me with the Analyze skill. Some oppressive, invasive and upsettingly intimate. "Too loud for level ten."

"I don't want to fight you," I declared. Thunderous volume did a pretty good job of implying if pressed I still would.

Trouble is the dragon didn't seem too impressed, "I wouldn't want to fight me either, not with ice. This has been an interesting diversion, giant, but I will be taking what is mine."

"Pinky, Do you want to go with the dragon?" I didn't look away from the fire lizard.

"They are shaking their head!" Celeste shouted.

"That means no," I informed the Dragon.

The temperature of the air rose noticeably as power began to burn under the dragon's skin. "Last chance!"

"I said, fuck off!" my rebuke again hit the dragon like a slap in the face

Intimidation check… successful

Tuliwyrm will remain silent for 20 seconds.

"I am going to give you one last chance," I warned the dragon, "I am a violent man. Not a bad man. Not an evil man. I am a violent man. Attack me, and I will defend myself. Threaten my friends and family again and I will put everything I have into killing you."

I didn't expect that to work and was actively pulling up my menus as I spoke. That said, Tuli was still faster off the mark. He struck faster than I could even react. His claw arm lashed out. It crashed down and hit me hard enough to shatter the newly frozen ground.

Attack from Tuliwyrm successful.

You phased through the attack. No damage taken.

Thank you Tenebrous Form. Keep this up and you will be right up there with Mental Resistance and Titanic Regeneration.

Expend Free action? Yes/No

Note: you must select the total number of seconds spent before activating.

I selected ten as debris exploded around me. I wasn't going to half ass this but I also didn't want to completely burn through one of my most powerful resources. Tuli froze in place. He was preparing to unload fire on the goblins. I warned him. To be honest I was gonna try and kill him for attacking. I just wasn't going to feel bad if I succeeded now.

I pulled THE knife out of my inventory. Frigidus Mortus was heavy and impossibly cold. I felt the veil twitch in anticipation. I looked at the damage in Tuli's neck. Too far away. Besides, I knew what I needed to do. I jumped into his mouth. That was an odd sensation. It was ominous standing -well crouching- inside the fangs of the massive monster. The blazing hot ball of flame in the back of Tuli's throat would have been unbearable, except Frigidus Mortis's aura of deathly cold pushed it back.

The roof of the dragon's mouth was not armored. It does look tough like leather boots, but certainly not like tenfold shields.

I checked my Mistic well. Brunhilda and I had been trying to fill it up and had made pretty good progress. Before this battle started it was over 32K worth the MP. now though it was just over twenty-nine-thousand. I was going to drain further.

I read the description of Death Mark and Eitrkaldr, while ignoring the text related to the knife.

Death Marked.

This condition heralds the end of most bearers' lives. Any being below Divine Scale cannot heal while this condition is present.

Note: Condition lasts for a number of hours equal to the number of steps difference in scale between the attacker and recipient of damage, minimum 1

Eitrkaldr

The cold that poisons. On a successful use of this skill the user may spend a number a mana points. For each point of mana spent inflict [damage dealt] Cold damage onto the target.

Note: Note beings that are immune to cold damage will not be harmed unless damage is higher scale.

I was going to pump 1000 MP through Frigidus Mortis and hopefully. Kill Tuli dead over kill be damned. This was also my plan to deal with Grond. While I hated to use a trump card early -Angelica did warn about spectacle creep- other people were in danger.

Activate "Empowered Critical"? Yes/No

This was the risky bit, but honestly I didn't want anymore Narrator fuckery tonight. Yeah, there was a risk that Lindsey and Grace could get wise to me. That was a risk I was willing to take.

I hit yes. Activated Claws of Darkness, and then stabbed upwards.

Attack… Critically successful.

Tuliwyrm takes 84 damage

Eitrkaldr triggers. 1000 MP spent

Tuilwyrm takes 84,000 cold damage

Tuliwyrm resists 99% of cold damage.

Actual cold damage 840.

Tuliwyrm has been slain.

I felt it.

The moment Tuli's soul crossed the veil. The instrument of death in my hand pushed it right through the barrier. It was a close thing actually. The veil resisted at first before parting, and the soul really didn't want to go. In hindsight the dragon had a point trying to kill something that breathed fire with ice was silly. That said, I committed to the bit, so who's laughing now?

Not me.

New Achievement!

Serial Killer

You have killed people on three separate occasions. Mina, Travis, and now Tuliwyrm. I am guessing you thought this was a monster, but you need to understand. Every dragon is the descendant of people who chose the Dragon race when the system came. They are people. That was murder, and at this point it's a pattern.

Keep this up and maybe one day you can snag the Mass Murderer Achievement. Follow in Nadia's Footsteps.

…

"We need to have a talk, Doug," Debbie said. She stood next to me. Behind her I could see Tuli's wraith take flight with a draconic duplicate of debbie.

I closed my prompt. I wasn't sure how Empowered Critical interacted with time stops but guessed it wasn't in my favor. "Can it wait. I need to check on my people.

"Six hundred and forty-three goblins died in the fight," Debbie told me. "I will make sure they get where they need to be."

Shit… that was so many dead. The reality hit me even as a heavier thought pressed down on me. It could have been worse. It will be next time. Wilson said it a long time ago. The audience likes blood.

"Thank you," I mumbled numbly.

Debbie put a hand on my shoulder, she wasn't smiling, "Let's have that talk."

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