The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons Page 27

  “Enjoying the show?” a voice said from behind Troy. A cold spearhead rested against the back of his neck. He froze as the other demons turned around. Their expressions were dumbstruck when they realized who the man with the spear was.

  “Chad!” the white-bearded demon said. “How’d you—”

  Chad smiled. “I’m a dragoon, remember? Jumping’s easy.”

  The demons’ faces turned ugly as they channeled their mana and drew their staves.

  Chad raised an eyebrow. “You really want to use largescale magic in such a confined area?”

  “What do you want?” the bearded man asked as he gritted his teeth.

  “I just wanted to ask a few questions,” Chad said as he lowered his spear. “What I do next depends on your answers.”

  “Don’t you know who you’re threatening right now?” another robed figure asked with narrowed eyes and glowing blue horns.

  “Yes, I do,” Chad said and smiled as he sat down next to Troy, “and I honestly don’t care. I’ve always despised the royal family, hated them even more ever since Zollstock stole Mina from us. It was quite satisfying to watch him die.”

  The demon hissed. “Die!” he shouted and waved his staff forwards. A black icicle materialized and flew towards Chad. Chad snorted and swatted the projectile with the back of his hand. The icicle slid along his glove and pierced through the ship’s stern. The ship shook as air gushed out of the hole before another demon raised his staff, stopping the airflow.

  “My armor’s made out of crocodile hide from Fuselage. Anything less than a tier four spell won’t even tickle,” Chad said as he dusted off the back of his hand. “Now can we discuss this like civilized men? Or should I kill all but one of you?”

  The demon with blue horns snarled. “Insolent—”

  Clunk.

  The bearded demon smacked the blue-horned demon on the back of the head with his staff and shook his head.

  “Great,” Chad said as he leaned back and crossed his legs. “Those parasites. You send SSS-ranked adventurers to Fuselage to cull the creatures and harvest their bodies for materials. What were you thinking when you brought live ones back here?”

  The demons glanced at each other, but none of them spoke. Troy cleared his throat. “Biological warfare or, like in this case, last resort defenses. Zollstock was conducting experiments on prisoners to weaponize the worms in the most effective manner.”

  “So you do have a plan to stop them.”

  All the demons remained silent as they lowered their gazes.

  “You,” Chad said and put his hand on Troy’s shoulder. “Speak.”

  “Err… Like I said, we’ve been conducting experiments to—” Troy gasped as cracking noises resounded from his shoulder. Sweat flowed from his forehead as he gritted his teeth and clenched his hands. “We don’t. No plans except to wait it out.”

  “Disgusting,” Chad said as a white mist leaked from his mouth. It formed a layer of ice on Troy’s neck when it made contact with his skin. Chad’s eyes reddened and blood gushed out of Troy’s shoulder as Chad’s grip tightened. “You pampered dogs send us to die in Fuselage with the promise of treasure and glory. You think you can control everything from your cushioned seats—never once experiencing danger for yourselves. It seems the current generation of the royal family has forgotten why our ancestors fled to Zuer in the first place.”

  “Once we are able to control them—”

  “Nonsense!” Chad growled. “I’ve seen the ruins of Verderb with my own eyes. They tried to control the parasites; look at them now.” Chad’s eyes narrowed and Troy screamed as his arm was torn off. “None of you are fit to rule.”

  27

  Tina was standing on the edge of a building, overlooking the action in the streets. She shivered as a breeze blew past her, threatening to push her over the edge. But it wasn’t the temperature or the height that made her blood run cold. It was the corrupted elf down below. A trembling voice spoke behind her, “Too scary.”

  Hundreds of demons with various injuries and gaunt bodies shuffled through the streets, converging towards the center of the city. Red mist continuously leaked out of their wounds and floated towards the spinning crimson orb in the sky. The twenty hornless demons were underneath the orb, tearing apart the horde of zombies approaching them. Lindyss was in their midst, entangling them with spells, aiding her zombie minions.

  Tina nodded. “I’m glad we never had to fight truly fight her. I never thought a mage could kill infected ones by herself.” The demons behind her murmured in agreement.

  One of the hornless demons screeched as its limbs were torn apart by the zombies. A meter long worm burst out of its chest and burrowed into one of the nearby zombies, disappearing from sight. A few moments later, the zombie disintegrated into a black smoke which was absorbed by the orb in the sky. The worm thrashed against the ground before attempting to burrow into the earth.

  Tina frowned and waved her staff. A giant hammer made of ice materialized above her head and flew towards the worm. It smashed into the street and obliterated the worm along with the zombies surrounding it.

  The red light in Lindyss’ eyes gradually dimmed as more and more hornless demons were torn apart. Her eyes reverted to their original color when there were four infected demons remaining. She shot a glance at Tina as another ice hammer smashed into a worm by her feet. Tina nodded in Lindyss’ direction and signaled her group to advance from the roof. A flash of light in the distance caught her attention. Dustin and Mina were leading a group of armed demons, fighting through the zombies to the red orb in the sky.

  A worm burst out of one of the remaining infected demons and lunged towards Lindyss, but it was caught in midair by a black tendril. A fireball formed in Lindyss’ hands and incinerated the worm. The last infected demon let out a cry and charged towards her. Its movements were stopped by the tendrils, but the worm flew out of its body, avoiding them completely. Lindyss leapt back while forming a wall of fire in front of herself. Her eyes opened wide as a winged figure materialized behind the lunging worm. Stella! “Sto—”

  “Silence.” Stella pointed at Lindyss and said one word before her body disappeared again, leaving behind a tinkling laughter.

  The flames on the floor fizzled out, and Lindyss swung her left arm out to stop the worm. She let out a cry as it pierced into her flesh instead of being knocked away. Her skin bulged as the worm wriggled in her arm, climbing towards her shoulder.

  “Cut it off!” Tina yelled. A member of Swirling Wind released a blade of ice that flew towards Lindyss and severed her arm mid bicep. Her arm thrashed around on the floor, but wriggling could still be seen as the head of the worm continued to crawl up her shoulder and towards her heart.

  “Too slow,” Tina said as she gritted her teeth and materialized an ice spear above her head. It flew towards Lindyss and pierced through her shoulder blade, striking the wriggling bump and emerging from the other side with the worm’s head attached to it. The Swirling Wind members released their breaths at the same time.

  A roar resounded throughout the city. “AUNTIE!”

  Tina’s face paled at the winged figure with bloodshot eyes charging towards their group. “Heal her,” she said towards the white-robed demon in her group. “The rest of us, hold him off!”

  The robed figure nodded and the rest of the party dashed forward to intercept Vur. Their knees buckled as Vur approached, and one of them gasped from the sudden increase in gravity. Tina narrowed her eyes, and her robe released a white light that illuminated the whole city for a brief moment, causing the pressure to disappear. A giant ice hammer swung from behind Tina’s back and smashed into Vur who had been blinded, knocking him off into the distance. Tina grinned. “That felt really satisfying.”

  A few moments later, the area she knocked Vur into exploded. Tina’s party squinted their eyes and braced themselves as a shockwave passed through them. A translucent, golden dragon appeared with its head towering above the highest building
. It opened its mouth and let out a roar that decimated everything in the path towards Tina. Half a dome of earth erupted from the ground and sheltered the group from the blast.

  “I think you made him mad,” the woman who summoned the bulwark said.

  Lindyss’ eyes flickered as a white light enveloped her body. She whispered, “Vur…. He awoke?” She shivered as the hole in her collarbone squirmed shut. She frowned at the white-robed demon who was chanting with her eyes closed. “Why are you helping me?”

  The demon’s eyes opened. She stopped chanting and said, “Tina’s orders.” Her gaze roamed along the ground. “Where’s your arm?”

  Lindyss grimaced as she sat up. She turned towards the area where her arm had fallen. “It must’ve been blown away by one of the aftershocks,” she said as her head turned towards the five demons fighting Vur. They launched spells against the translucent, golden dragon and raised earthen shields to hamper its movements. Every time the dragon was hit by a spell, the region of impact distorted and the dragon shrank by a tiny amount. Vur was floating in the heart of the dragon with his eyes closed. Lindyss cupped her good hand around her mouth and yelled, “Vur! Stop! I’m alright.”

  The dragon’s movements stopped for an instant before continuing to assault the demons. Its tail swept through the air and crashed against a wall of earth, shattering it. Lindyss bit her lower lip and tried to stand, but the demon next to her put a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and shook her head. “Let them handle it,” she said. “We need to find your arm.”

  “Vur’s more important than my arm,” Lindyss said with a hiss as she knocked the demon’s hand away. “I need to stop him before the imprint consumes him. You don’t understand how dangerous it is to awaken a bloodline without guidance.”

  “You’re right,” the white mage said. “I don’t understand the danger. However, I do know you’re out of mana after fighting against twenty infected by yourself. I also know that one of the parasites is still alive in your arm and we have no idea where it is.”

  “Its head was cut off and impaled by an ice spear.”

  “The only way to kill one of those parasites is to pulverize its whole body or disintegrate it,” the demon replied. “Cutting off its head will only create two new parasites. You’re in no shape to fight right now. Trust me, my team can stop a child; although, we will expect some payment for this.” The demon smiled as she cocked her head to the side. “Shouldn’t be a problem for a dungeon owner, right?”

  “Delphina!” A voice shouted from behind the two women.

  The white-robed demon turned around and blinked. “Dustin!” Delphina said. “You always show up at the right times.”

  Dustin and Mina approached the two with an assortment of armored demons behind them. Their bodies tensed upon seeing Lindyss. “What’s the situation?” Dustin asked as he tightened his grip on his staff, his gaze drawn towards Lindyss’ arm stump.

  “A parasite from Fuselage is missing along with her arm,” Dephina said, indicating towards Lindyss. “Have the guards search for it and let me know when they find it. Under no circumstances are they to approach the arm by themselves.”

  Dustin nodded and faced the armed demons behind him. “You heard the woman.”

  The guards glanced at the golden dragon before nodding. A few let out sighs of relief as they dispersed. A small figure appeared next to Lindyss and tugged her good arm.

  “Auntie, what’s happening to Vur?”

  “Tafel!” Mina shouted. “Why are you here? I told you to stay at the shelter!”

  Tafel hid behind Lindyss and peered at Mina. “I followed you,” she mumbled.

  “You—I—What?” Mina inhaled deeply and held out her hand. “Come with me, we’ll go somewhere safe.”

  Tafel flinched and held onto Lindyss’ leg. Her lips quivered, and her eyes grew wet as she shook her head.

  Lindyss placed her hand on Tafel’s head, running her fingers through the child’s hair. “Vur’s awakening right now.”

  “That means?” Dustin asked.

  “The bloodline in his imprint is activating. Bloodlines usually awaken at a certain age. It takes longer depending on the strength of the beast behind the imprint—at least for elves,” Lindyss said with a frown. “I thought he had more time.”

  “Isn’t awakening normal then?”

  “Yes, but elves are guided by their elders. A little bit of power is released at a time,” Lindyss said as she gestured towards Vur, “not all at once. His mind could break if we don’t suppress the dragon aura in time. He’s already unconscious. We have to weaken it to get close enough to wake him.”

  “I can wake him up,” Tafel said with a trembling voice. “He’ll listen to me.”

  “Absolutely not,” Mina said as she approached Tafel.

  Tafel stepped backwards as tears leaked from her eyes. “Why? Why do you pretend to care!?” Tafel screamed. “You never cared before! Never listened to me! I hate you so much!” Her horns flashed green as she swung her arm outwards. A wall of wind roared into life and knocked the four adults over before they could react. She dashed towards Vur, leaving behind a blurred trail of green as she ran.

  A black tendril flew towards Tafel from Lindyss’ shadow, but fell short before reaching her. “Not enough mana,” Lindyss said as she ground her teeth together.

  “Tafel!” Mina yelled as she scrambled to her feet. “Tina! Stop her!”

  A thick sheet of ice smashed against the golden claw swiping towards Tina. She looked behind herself and frowned at the green blur running in her direction. Another crash resounded and flecks of ice sprinkled down from the sheet.

  “Catch her; I’ll stall him,” one of the demons behind her said. Her face was pale, and sweat soaked through her blue robe. A wall of light appeared behind the sheet of ice, and Tina nodded as she dashed to intercept Tafel.

  Tafel tried to maneuver around Tina, but Tina stuck out her arm and knocked her to the ground with a tackle. “Vur!” Tafel yelled as she squirmed in Tina’s grasp. The translucent dragon shuddered and stopped. Tina opened her mouth in surprise and blinked at Tafel while relaxing her grip.

  Another crash resounded, and the wall of light shattered as a golden tail slammed against it. The blue-robed demon shuddered and fell to her knees while vomiting. A golden shadow covered her figure as Vur’s claw descended from above. Before it could smash her into pieces, a white fireball flew towards it and exploded, causing the claw to disperse. The golden aura around Vur’s body shrank as a new claw formed in the air above the demon.

  Tafel slipped out of Tina’s grasp and ran in front of the kneeling demon. She spread her arms out to the side and glared at the dragon. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt me,” Tafel said, her voice shaking as her body trembled.

  Tina dashed towards Tafel.

  Mina screamed.

  The claw descended.

  A yellow blur charged out of thin air and pushed Tafel away. Her eyes widened as she flew to the side, watching the claw slash downwards at the fairy.

  Yella smiled as she gazed into Tafel’s eyes.

  “Sorry.”

  Blood splattered.

  Tafel crashed onto her side, her eyes wide open. Her already pale face was whiter than a sheet, and her mouth hung open. She tried to speak but nothing came out. Her gaze was locked onto Yella’s figure underneath the translucent, golden claw. Her stomach churned and a lump formed in her throat as Tina lifted her and retreated.

  Blood radiated outwards from Yella’s body and dispersed into the claw, tinging the golden aura black. The blood coalesced into a miniature fairy which streamed through the dragon and swirled around Vur’s floating body before disappearing inside him. The dragon trembled as Vur’s eyes flickered open. He furrowed his eyebrows and took in the scene in front of himself. His feet dangled in the air, and he lowered his head. A frown appeared on his lips before his body plummeted to the ground as the dragon aura fell onto its belly. The aura shrank as its claws dug into the ground. It
roared and strained its neck away from Vur’s body as if it wanted to escape. A constant flow of information overwhelmed Vur’s senses as the aura condensed, leaving a trail of claw marks on the ground before vanishing. Vur gasped and turned his head towards Yella’s desiccated corpse.

  “Y-Yella,” Vur said. His body trembled as he attempted to push himself off the ground. He managed to sit up before his body convulsed. His hands flew to his head, grabbing his hair as blood poured from his nose. Inside his pupils, an image of a golden dragon thrashed against his irises.

  The Swirling Wind members glanced at each other and retreated backwards one step at a time, keeping their gazes fixed on Vur. Tina approached Mina and placed Tafel into her arms. Tears streamed down Mina’s cheeks as she hugged Tafel to her chest.

  “What’s happening to him?” Tina asked Lindyss.

  Lindyss frowned as she approached Vur. “The fairy sacrificed her soul to save Vur’s,” she said, crouching over Yella’s body, staring into her empty eyes. She lowered her hand and closed Yella’s eyelids with her fingers. “He isn’t mature enough to handle the instincts of a dragon.” A sigh escaped from Lindyss’ lips as she approached Vur’s convulsing body. She lifted his chin with her hand and frowned. The dragon in his eyes seemed to notice her and stopped thrashing as it glared back.

  “Auntie…,” Vur whispered. “I’m scared.”

  Lindyss stroked his hair and leaned forward. “Don’t worry,” she said as she tilted his head back. Her lips touched against Vur’s, and his body shone with a golden light, which dimmed as time passed. The spectating demons let out little coughs and turned their heads away. Lindyss pulled herself back, and Vur’s chin drooped to his chest as Lindyss’ hand released his chin. His eyes closed as Lindyss lowered him to the floor. Her body spasmed as she coughed out a mouthful of black blood and grimaced. She crossed her legs and sat beside Vur. Two auras leaked from her body: one gold, one purple. They clashed and swirled against each other, neither side gaining an advantage.