Death Notice

“Let go of me!” Hasheed shouted. After the first shock, he finally snapped back. Seeing the demonic figure before him was only a Moon Elf, he grew furious, his pride hurt.

“Where’s the core? Undead should have a core!” Joey ignored the Necromancer’s struggles. He grabbed its neck with his right hand while his left hand fumbled over the Mage’s dried corpse-like body.

“Found it!” The black and red target in the youth’s left pupil flickered. His left hand flipped over, and the Dagger of Sin plunged towards the Necromancer’s chest.

“Hmph!” Brilliant soul fire blazed in Hasheed’s empty eye sockets. His body trembled, then vanished from Joey’s grip, appearing over twenty meters away.

“Huh? Space-flashing ability?” The Dagger of Sin struck empty air. Understanding dawned on Joey. The Necromancer must have used a space-flashing magic similar to “Flash”.

“Heh heh, you carry quite a few nice things!” Joey’s eyes narrowed. Earlier, the “Death Cloud” shielding the Mage’s robe had kept his hand from truly grasping it. Otherwise, the Necromancer couldn’t have escaped using space-flashing magic.

“Forget it! Destroy the ancient teleportation array first!” Robin clutched her head, fighting against a terrible headache as she scrambled up from the ground and yelled.

“Why should Lord Joey listen to you?!” Joey muttered under his breath. He glanced at the distant Necromancer, then reluctantly stomped towards the brightly glowing array.

Joey acted on impulse, but he wasn’t stupid. The Necromancer was clearly at the end of his strength and could be caught later. If the array caused more trouble now, they really couldn’t handle the consequences.

Thud! The moment Joey got near the array, its edge flashed with colorful light. A force slammed into him, hurling him backwards.

“Heh, Uvaeren’s Elven teleportation array isn’t so easy to destroy.” Hasheed leaned against the cliff wall, breathing heavily as he scanned everyone in the valley with malicious eyes. “Once Lord Rendy’s Ghost Beast arrives, you all die!”

“Damn it! The array has a protective shield!” Philip staggered to his feet. He grabbed his head hard with his right hand and spread his left palm flat. Chanting rose from his lips, and a huge transparent ice spear began forming above the array.

Boom! The ice spear crashed down, slamming into the array. As it fell, a semi-circular transparent shield shimmered into existence above the array, barely holding the spear back and stopping its descent.

Ice shards slid down the shield. The array strained visibly. Elemental crystals along its edge crumbled into dust as their magic drained away.

“The Uvaeren Magical Array lives up to its reputation! To break its defense, you must exhaust its crystal’s power.” Milleras’s lips were bloody where he had bitten them, the pain sharpening his foggy mind. His hands trembled as he drew a Fine Iron Long Arrow from the quiver on his back and fitted it to his bow.

“Let’s attack too!” Robin shot a look towards Idria nearby. Picking up her greatsword from the ground, she charged at the array.

Just as everyone prepared to attack the shield together, it flickered unsteadily. It dissolved into specks of elemental fragments, vanishing entirely. At the same moment, a wave pulsed above the array. A terrifying presence descended like a mountain, crashing down, pinning everyone flat on the ground.

A colossal dark shadow slowly took shape above the teleportation array!

“What is that?” With widened eyes full of terror, everyone stared at the flickering dark form above the array.

“Hahaha! Oxyros! Lord Rendy actually sent it!” Looking at the huge dark shape above the array, Hasheed’s soul fire blazed brightly. Joy filled him as he scanned his enemies. “You’re finished! It’s too late to destroy the array now. With Lord Rendy’s spiritual power, as long as the array’s coordinates are accurate, he can send Oxyros here directly!”

“Firal…”

“Iristin, you’re awake?” Milleras bent down and helped the weak Elven Druid to her feet.

“Yes, the Necromancer woke me!” Iristin weakly lifted her hand, pointing at the shadow above the array. “What is that? Oxyros… I think I’ve heard that name…”

“Of course we’ve heard the name Oxyros!” Milleras forced a smile uglier than a sob. “Iristin, as a descendant of Kaeldomo Elves, how could you forget the King of Kaeldomo?”

“The King of Kaeldomo… Elf King Tethyr? Oxyros… it couldn’t be…” Iristin shook her foggy head hard. Her beautiful eyes widened slowly as shock spread across her face. “Impossible! It should have died long ago!”

“The Ancient Dragon ‘Red Wing’ – Oxyros is dead. It should be a mindless Ghost Dragon now!” Staring at the dark shape slowly revealing the outline of a Dragon, Milleras’s face was grim. “Iristin… I fear this is the end for us.”

“Are you talking about that ancient Red Dragon killed by Elf King Tethyr’s dragon-slaying arrow?” Lorlin and Elr had somehow arrived beside them, faces curious. They were the weakest and only now recovering from the “Fearful Scream”.

“Yes. Unthinkable that its remains became a Ghost Dragon!” Milleras said bitterly. “Even without its mind, this Legendary Red Dragon’s death breath is more terrifying to the living than its fiery breath.”

“Oxyros! I’d love to stay and see. Studying a big toy like this would be far more interesting!” Joey’s eyes gleamed. He licked his lips as he watched the Dragon figure become clearer, his voice tinged with regret.

Oxyros, ancient Red Dragon, the eternal Nightmare of the Kaeldomo Elves. One of the chief villains of the first Dragon War. Its fiery breath split the Great Kaeldomo Forest into the Tethyr Forest and the Darter Woods, destroying 11 Elf settlements and killing thousands of Kaeldomo Elves.

If Kaeldomo’s Elf King, Tethyr, hadn’t used Divine Artifacts brought from the Faeriel Elven plane and the last few dragon-slaying arrows to kill it, this demigod-level Dragon, having formed its divine realm, might have ended the Elven civilization three thousand years early along with other Ancient Dragons. The five Crown Wars wouldn’t even have been necessary.

Recalling the information from the Ancient Inheritance, even Joey had to admit they couldn’t handle Oxyros, even as a mindless Ghost Dragon.

“What a pity!” Joey pouted. In a flicker, he vanished, reappearing behind Milleras and the others. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

“Firal, are you okay?” Iristin asked excitedly.

“Huh? Fine!” Joey’s eyes flashed red. He grabbed the Elven Druid’s small hand roughly, then turned his head and grinned at Elr behind him. “Get closer! Since that kid promised your teacher, Lord Joey will save your little life!”

“Firal, can you get us all away?” Milleras raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“Heh heh, I have a way… but I can’t take many!” Joey clicked his tongue, glancing dispassionately at Robin and the others in the distance.

“But Leader Robin and her group…” Iristin and Milleras exclaimed together.

“Guess they’ll die!” Joey shrugged carelessly.

“Then I’ll stay to help them! You take Milleras!” Iristin gasped, pulling her arm free from Joey and staring at him resolutely.

“What a pain!” Joey frowned. His crimson eyes lingered on the Elven Druid’s swan-like neck, considering just knocking her out. However, a figure glimpsed in his peripheral vision made his eyes shift thoughtfully. A new idea formed.

“Fine then. Consider this the last help I give them. Whether they live depends on themselves!” Joey lifted his left hand. The Dagger of Sin shot like lightning towards a corner of the valley.

Hasheed saw the black dagger flying towards him. Alarm flickered. It aimed straight at his Heart Core – also his phylactery. For a Lich, the soul fire of lesser undead was no longer his weakness, but damaging his phylactery would cripple him.

Wracked by spiritual backlash and after desperately activating the array multiple times, the Necromancer was still paralyzed, his reactions sluggish. He couldn’t muster magic for defense.

Hasheed strained to shift his body, moving the part hiding his phylactery away from the dagger. He couldn’t protect everything else. As long as the phylactery stayed safe, he could find a new body later. Besides, he didn’t believe the dagger could penetrate his robe’s Protection and harm his Lich body.

“Heh, you think that’s enough?” Watching the Necromancer’s tortoise-like movements, Joey twitched his finger slightly. Obeying, the Dagger of Sin nearing Hasheed suddenly twisted like a snake.

Thup! A dark light flashed on the Dagger of Sin. The “Death Cloud” on the robe’s surface parted like cheese. The blade plunged into Hasheed’s Lich body almost without resistance.

“Impossible!” Hasheed’s soul fire jumped violently. He looked up, disbelief turning to understanding as he saw a black cord trailing from the dagger’s hilt to the youth opposite him.

“To Lord Joey, nothing is impossible!” Joey snarled viciously. He gave the dark cord a savage yank, pulling the helpless Necromancer stumbling towards him.

After the Dagger of Sin achieved the Thousand-Kill Slayer rank, the Soul Chain it could create finally proved useful in battle. The dagger’s Soul Devour power not only consumed soul energy but also absorbed aligned elemental forces. It was the perfect counter to dark magic like “Death Cloud”, something proven before in Joey’s fight with a Witch.

“Without you, the lesser undead in this valley are just headless flies. Besides those three Death Knights, they can’t swarm Kelly and the others…” Joey’s eyes gleamed. He plunged a hand into his clothes and pulled out a thin card.

With a sharp crack in his fist, Joey crushed the card. White light burst around him and the few close by, including Hasheed bound by the Soul Chain. Their bodies shot skyward.

“A long-range teleportation item!” Robin’s pupils shrank to pinpoints far away. “You’re—”

“Sorry, darling. Guess that kid fooled you for so long.” Joey grinned wickedly. He pressed his right index and middle fingers to his lips, sending a playful kiss towards the beautiful Leader. “Well then… see you later!”

ROOOOAAAAAR! Just as Joey and the others ascended, the Dragon form above the array finally became solid. Skeletal wings unfurled, unleashing a mighty, authoritative bellow.

“Robin!” On a mountain path far off in the valley, several small figures leaped and stumbled wildly towards the commotion. Behind them, a tide of undead surged in pursuit.