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| Sargathos the Dracolich (Dragon Lich or Draco Lich) |
And here they come! A great flock of harpies along with
winged demons, imps and giant bats are flying in high speed towards the city!
The enemies are fewer from the north and south because the griffin riders
intercepted them. But they are still far too many, a great number of them spot
Chris and attack! There’s no escape!
Avariel, I need your help right now, desperation
invades Chris’ mind. But, I’ve heard that
you were severely injured from your battle with Arachus, so you won’t be able
to use your powers in a year or so. Guess I have to rely on my own power alone
now.
Avariel’s telepathic answer comes almost
instantly. That’s right, Chris. You’re
Vadis’ Heir and the power you need is already inside you all along. Just use
it. Unleash the divine power within you.
Cristophe’s aura grows stronger and
stronger. The dark monsters fly closer, and...
Genesis Supernova!
Long range rayblasts shoot to all angles and
directions, tearing the blue sky with slash-and-thrust hyper combo with great
accuracy. The skill displays some sort of a Big Bang, the genesis of universe
from one great planet that exploded and scattered, forming stars and planets.
The beginning of all creations came with an
ultimate destruction, and that’s what happens to all who are strong and
numerous enough to challenge the Heir of Vadis.
Chris and
Acavela fly here and there, and many monsters fall in their passing.
CRRASSH!
CRASH! CRAKKH! ‘SHAA!!’
Shrieks of
severed monsters fill the air, though many are already dead before they can
even shriek. The death count is – for curious minds – hundreds.
The beastly
monsters’ instincts tell them at once to move away and attack the city instead,
and Chris just steers his griffin steady in the air after finishing his move.
However,
something tells him to... watch out!
A Dark Bolt comes very quickly and Chris
blocks it with the Shield of Faith. PYAAARSCH! He feels a shiver on his hand
and turns his griffin back, facing the opponent who shot him.
‘My, my,
hiding your face behind your helmet this time, Your Majesty?’ comes a familiar
voice from a familiar face, a fiendish foe, the Succubus Queen. ‘You know, how
many times we stumbled upon each other already? This must be fate, no?’
‘I’d say
it’s an ill match, and today I shall purge that illness,’ Chris answers.
‘Well, I’d
love to, but you see, this time I brought along a friend who is itching to have
a spar with you.’
The
she-devil blows a strange whistle, and from the air behind her comes a creature
that resembles a dragon with a man-like skeletal face. His body looks strange
too, more like a skeletal centaur with skeletal dragon wings. Long thorns cover
his body like a porcupine, and his blackened skin signifies a powerful, dark
being. His four arms are swiping menacingly with long, beastly claws. One thing
for sure, it’s really a huge monster created solely as a killing machine: a
fusion of man, dragon and lich – mandracolich.
‘This is
Sargathos, defiler of the pure, devourer of fleshes. He came all the way from
the underworld with multitudes of his minions to help the Dark Overlord get rid
of Vadis’ Heir.’
The
mandracolich adds, ‘And now that I’ve found you, my primary target, I’ll gain
my satisfaction by adding your head into my collection!’
Chris
prefers fighting the she-devil than this overgrown necro-monster, because he
knows the she-devil more, but the opponents don’t give him a choice.
‘Well, you
two, enjoy your play!’ The Succubus Queen flies away in high speed. Cristophe
tries to chase her, but the mandracolich blocks his way, saying,
‘I’m your
opponent. Trying to run away, coward?’
‘Coward.’
Sargathos is going to eat that word as his opponent turns in a blitz and
slashes rapidly to chop his head off – and misses! He taunts again, ‘You need
much more than that to finish me off!’
To that,
Chris only says, ‘That’s just a warm-up.’ And he zooms again to his foe.
CLANK!
CLANK!
The
mandracolich’s skeletal arms are as tough as steel, blocking each and every
blow Chris delivers without much effort. On the other hand, the Heir of Vadis
moves extra-cautiously, observing this new foe he never had an info before.
From that
first impact, he knows that he cannot hurt this mandracolich directly. He must
first search for a weak point, a way to hit it and exploit it for his benefit.
And then he realizes that the mandracolich is observing him as well, aiming for
the same thing but with a different method.
‘Humph,
this is far less than I expected. Vadis’ Heir is a cowardly weakling who knows
nothing but hit-and-runs. I really should thank Vadis for choosing this idiot,
so I’ll be his nemesis.’
Chris is
about to ignore Sargathos’ taunts when suddenly a question pops up from his
mouth.
‘I must say
mandracolichs are fascinating, strong creatures. I’m just curious, are you one
of a kind?’
‘I don’t
know if there’s another like me in Eternia, but in the underworld, there are
some of my kind and I am the strongest one.’
‘So, how come
you became a mandracolich? Wasn’t that... hard to attain?’
‘Is that a
trick question? Or, are you considering on becoming a mandracolich yourself?’
‘That
depends on your answer.’
The
duelists fall silent for a while, just exchanging blows. And then, the
size-wise superior duelist stops his attacks and speaks. Chris listens and be
on guard.
