The forest smelled of excrement and pauperism.
Fankel always knew this day would come. That day, pitchfork-wielding farmers, fairies, and striking minions, jealous of his well-deserved wealth, will gather in a ragtag horde to try and bring him down. The Emperor of All knows that in this time of need, he will be called upon to serve as the last bastion of dragon civilization against the forces of rebellion.
"Have you seen him?" asked a beggar leading a small group of sword-wielding knights of Manlin. Winkle immediately recognized her as the Pegasus Knight. The weather harms them as much as the dragon itself, forcing its prey to advance through the snow. Each of them has that strange halo around their head. "I couldn't see anything through the hail, but I saw him crash nearby."
These lawless savages had treacherously stolen his servant and cut him off from his master; now they began to surround him.
It's time to show them which species won the class war.
"Sudden attack!" Winkle said as he crushed a knight to a bloody pulp. Thanks to his blinking ring, he managed to blend in with the snow, slinking through the trees like a cat. The magical shield conjured by Storm Cornelia made Manling harder to chew than usual, but the dragon was hungry enough for it to chew hard.
"We're under attack!" the Pegasus knight shouted, firing her pilot weapon haphazardly, causing Vacker to bite her in half.
"Why...can't see!" One of the remaining Manlins failed to recognize Winkel and cursed: "He is invisible!"
"A dragon cannot run away from an unseen ambush!" answered another. "They're as stupid as bricks!"
Fankel twitched with rage. "I have the intelligence of sixty-four humans!" he corrected them before using his tail to throw Manlin into a tree, causing the plant to fall on their backs.
Much to his dismay, the four troubles reappeared after death, albeit wounded; when they immediately tried to retreat, Winkle bombarded them with a fireball. His fire withstood the hail and spread to the trees.
"Fankel routed Eric's forces in the north!" Cornelia's voice echoed through the woods, and snow fell from the leaves. "The Golem is coming soon. Green Boy, Drake, Waits, catch him!"
Winkle snorted at the words, then noticed the Ice Dragon Knight flying above him, and exchanged his weapon for a strange crimson rod, which he lit on fire. Unlike the dragon, his winged serpent seemed unharmed by the hail.
Vankel opened his mouth to attack him from below, but the knight dodged the attack. "Here!" cried the knight.
The entire forest shook as tree roots emerged from the ground and snow. The tendrils immediately sought to ensnare Wacker, who burned them with his fiery breath.
The drake knight above throws his crimson clubs to the ground near where Vacker is; each one detonates on contact with the ground or the dragon's fire. One of the blasts hit the dragon on the left side, tickling its scales.
The damage you take is weak. It reminded him of Grasshopper's Wind Spear, only much weaker.
To make matters worse, a magical circle appeared on the ground near Winkle, and a giant black sphere fell from it, leaving a large crater where it got stuck. The beggars sniped him from a distance!
As the attack and bombardment of roots became more and more violent, Winkle let out a roar and charged into the forest in search of a better battlefield, knocking trees to the ground and trampling anyone unfortunate enough to be in his path.
A few minutes later, Winkle walked out of the forest and came to the shore of a frozen lake. He slipped on the ice before he could stand still. Hail struck its scales and wings in the wilderness.
You were hit by [very heavy hail]. Winkle looked around his position and was pleased to see his flames engulfing the forest and blackening the horizon with smoke.
"Come to the lake!" commanded Cornelia the Grasshopper, and soon her tribe emerged from the burning forest to confront Wacker on the battlefield.
A total of thirteen creatures followed him, including the Drake Rider; Vai
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Recognizing the mages, thieves, and knights among them, a true band of adventurers, they banded together to die at his hands. Most are human spirits, but there are also elves, a dwarf, a beast, and even a green-skinned, fleshy orc.
At the far end of the rear, Winkle noticed an elf woman with pale skin and blue hair riding a unicorn; clad in a heavy bearskin cloak and an icy crown, she looked like a leader.
Beside her is a fairy in disguise.
Winkle recognized the frail-looking insect as he took the form of a man with a white beard and a crimson cloak and hat. The guy smiled crookedly and played a song on a pipe made of bones.
"Lin intervenes!" Winkle recognized the wretched liar. He should have known he was the mastermind behind this ragtag uprising. "Are you looking at the back of my hand again, Pied Piper?"
"Dispel magic!" A mage wearing a robe full of symbols pointed in the direction of Fankel, removing his invisibility. Many in the adventuring army gasped at the sight of his crimson scales.
"He was huge! One of the mages, dressed like a ghost in a sheet, gasped in awe at the dragon's majesty.
"Audi, don't stand there and summon an elf," the elf on horseback ordered, revealing herself to be Cornelia the Grasshopper.
"On the left of the equal sign! The ghost on the sheet made some strange movements, but Fankel reacted first. The evil dragon opened its mouth and tried to destroy the entire expedition with flames.
"[Reinforced Rune Barrier]." The Symbol Wizard responded, creating a yellow shield covered in symbols around the army. Although it cracked, the shield blocked Winkle's breathing, much to his annoyance. The fire began to melt nearby snow and ice, although not enough to destroy the lake.
"(Summon Snow Dancer)!" The sheet ghost finished his ridiculous dance and formed a white magic circle around him. A lithe ice statue with hair made of mist. On the surface, the creature looks like an elf, with blue crystal blades hanging from her arms and a white mask covering her face. Strings tied her limbs to the sheets, like a puppet.
"Minions!" cried Winkel, anxious to see his chief of staff; if they summoned reinforcements, the Emperor would summon them too. "Slave! Come back to me!"
"He's calling Dalton!" Cornelia warned as the barrier was dispelled, sending her warriors and ice monsters charging towards Winkle.
"[Ninjutsu: Sealing Skill]!" A man wrapped in black tights made a gesture, and the evil dragon immediately felt weakened.
Your [Summon Messenger (Victor Dalton)] was sealed by Ninja Jay!
You will not be able to use the Pe
k, as long as Ninja Jay Chou stays at the scene!
"Everyone adopt the Azincul formation! Rune Master stays behind to protect the buffer zone!" Cornelia ordered loudly. "Cardinal, heal our tanks and damage vehicles!" According to my strategy, we will definitely win. !”
Her minions let out a cry of enthusiasm and Winkle scoffed. He's crushed insect hordes in the past, and he'll do it again; even if he has to kill them twice.
The adventurers split into different groups to surround Winkle. At the front, the dragon faced Snow Dancer, a muscular behemoth with a giant hammer, a knight with bronze armor covered in runes, and a dwarf dressed as a priest. Drake Knights joined them, providing air support.
Ninja Weeb and a pig-like orc that smelled of herbs and dung came to his left; a mounted elven archer flanked him from his right.
The elf Cornelia stood in the back, flanked by Merlin the Pied Piper, the Rune Master, a ragged Catkin, the Summoner and a mage in a black cloak and wizard's hat.
"Magical Purification!" Fankel activated his favorite Pe
k, rushing towards Cornelia, ready to crush anyone who stood in his way. The scantily clad catkins began to dance, the fairies sang, and the Rune Master erected a barrier to protect the rearguard.
Dancer Felix's [Witchcat Tango boosts the magical power of enemy mages!
The frontline troops intercepted Winkel, and the hammer-wielding Manlin raised his weapon and rushed towards the dragon. The dragon poked him away from the path, but surprisingly, the monkey dodged the blow, fell to the ice, and quickly stood up. The "Snow Dancer" skated on the ice at incredible speeds, scratching Vankel's ankle and quickly dodging the opponent's counterattack.
[F
The ostblade deals a super effective blow! You take moderate frost damage!
"Waifu
o Raito
!" Ninja Weeb put his hands together and made a strange gesture to Vai
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A bolt of lightning was fired, and the orc breathed a storm of petals. The dragon's scales blocked both attacks, but the emperor backhanded the Bronze Knight instead. "You can't penetrate the dragon's defense!"
"Sneak attack, the druid will switch to support," Cornelia instructed, turning to the dark wizard beside her. "Witz, use your strongest spell; full attack!"
"Little Demo
ba
e!" As the Snow Dancer moved to attack again, Winquel hurled it at her, striking her. Both the creature and its summoner stumbled, leading Fankle to wonder if the latter possessed him. before he could act, the Archer Rider fired an arrow at him from the side, while the Drake Rider prepared to drop more bombs. The Archer fired first, and Vankel raised an arm Blocked his path and let out a cry after being hit.
[The dragon-slaying arrow causes double damage!
Moving with extraordinary speed, Winkle caught the horse and the archer before they could run away, and threw both at the Drake Rider. The shocked knight could not dodge the simple shell, and the fighter plane crashed on the frozen lake.
Their bombs exploded, blowing them apart and causing the partially frozen surface to collapse; the orc mage was trapped in the explosion and fell into the icy water.
The archer and the drake rider, both wounded, reappeared on the icy lake, next to the hammer wielder; the halo above their heads disappeared. "[Multi-Heal]!" The dwarf priest stretched out his hands and released a golden energy around himself. The wounds of the warriors around him healed immediately.
Realizing that their magical protection protected them from his physical attacks, Winkle used his breath instead, cooking everyone in sight. His breath reduced drake knights, archers, and barbarians to ash, killing the first two and sending the third running around screaming in agony. The dwarf managed to get out of the way, while the Snow Dancer and the Bronze Knight stabbed his legs like needles. Enlightened, Winkle threw the Bronze Horseman into a crevice in the lake and watched him struggle to stay afloat before sinking.
After casting a spell, the dark wizard Widge threw an orb of evil black energy through the protective barrier, and the projectile hit Vankel in the back. His whole body started to itch, but not as much as when he was fighting Maul.
You took moderate evil damage!
You have lost 25% of your HP!
"The druids and rune knights haven't appeared yet, boss." Catkin Dancer panicked. "He's tearing us apart!"
"Half our team is missing!" the summoner panicked, while Vankel kept trying to burn his ice minions. "What is Hilda doing? She should have killed that servant long ago!"
"Knight Baine has lost more than a thousand health points and cannot recover!" Cornelia shouted, as if this was something worth boasting; only the fairy did not panic and played her flute happily in the chaos. . "Keep weakening him! This is a matter of life and death!"
"Yours!" Winkle taunted them between fierce attacks. The ninja Weeb, who had escaped his attention, appeared again, lunging at the dragon with a sword in his hand.
"Goodbye, reptile!" The blade was inserted into Wacker's head...
and broken.
Before Manlin could choke up his own incompetence, he was bitten in half by Wankel.
He reappeared a few feet away, but Winkle didn't mind. He tasted like fish food and couldn't wait to eat it again. "Invincible! The evil dragon boasted and became happy. "Venquier, Wenquier, Wenquier!"
Then the ground shook and a new challenger emerged from the forest. Fankle turned to face the newly suicidal adventurer, only to find that he was facing a puppet.
A giant golem, almost as big as a dragon. This is a mechanical giant, wearing heavy knight-style plate armor, wielding a long sword as long as his tail, and a round shield with a strange hole in the middle. Its face is a skull-shaped helmet, used to intimidate the Manlin, and it smells like a fairy tale.
"This is the best challenge you fairies can offer?" Vai
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laugh at. He hoped killing the walking tin can would result in a good thing.
The golem ignored his words and charged towards him with his shield raised. The dragon responded by humming, then spraying it with dragon fire...
It goes on and on.
Winkle increased his output, eyes wide with shock; yet the golem continued to charge, its shield blocking the fire.
A huge thunderbolt struck Winkle from behind, causing him to fall and interrupt the attack.
You are hit with [Imcoming Doom]!
Before Fankel could stand still, the puppet rushed towards him and slashed at his chest, cutting his scales and drawing blood.
[D
ago
slaye
The machete did serious damage!
how can that be possible?
His fire is brighter than the sun!
Meanwhile, Victor is fighting for his life; dealing with his enemies and poison.
You took passive [Poison] damage!
You lost half your HP!
The vizier ignored the message, concentrating on anticipating the Archmage's onslaught. He ducked, but could not avoid the Crusader's weapon aimed at his chest. A sixth wound opened beneath his nipple, and he barely dodged the knight's spear aimed at his head. The knight opened another rift before Victor could counterattack, disappearing again.
With the help of summoned undead, he once successfully killed the Crusader, only for the Tin Man to return from the dead and heal. That warrior is less dangerous and more resilient, making it easier for Ares to hit him in the chest on his flanks.
Any blow from her would kill him.
Only his [Fright Knight] skill saved his life, weakening his enemies and allowing him to resist so far. so far.
"The killing blow! Ares braced herself, smashing a tree into pieces with each of her blows. Victor summoned another bundle of Will Spirits as a buffer, which the Crusaders destroyed almost immediately.
Warning: You will run out of SP quickly!
"I know!" shouted Victor, finally finding a breach in the Crusader's defense and blasting his face with hellfire. This time, the samurai was scorched by his armor and fell dead.
Vitality check successful! You lose your [Poison] status.
Well, only the God of War and the Knight are left. He can do it! Victor fires another fireball at his enemy, but the woman jumps away; he prepares for another shot
You ran out of SP.
…
Mana exhausted!
With no chance of survival, Victor rushes toward the bodies of the other adventurers he's killed.
To be more precise, a bazooka.
Unfortunately, the horrific feeling of ice spears piercing his back dashed his hopes, causing him to collapse into the snow.
A super effective blow!
Warning: critical health!
Your HP has dropped below 25%!
"Finally!" the Nightmare Knight declared, standing before Victor with his beast, both spears raised. "I thought he would never sink!"
"He killed Sven." "We must kill him and help the others. I can still hear the sounds of fighting in the distance."
"Yes, yes," replied the rider, preparing to trample Victor to death with his horse. "Meet you at Happy Paradise, kid——"
"We're
udo!”
In an instant the knight was reduced to dust, his spears fell to the snow, and his horse halted in confusion.
Victor's eyes widened as a black lich suddenly appeared between the God of War and her prey. "Mine!" the undead roared before casually killing the Hammer Warrior with a flash of crimson light, "Mine, mine, mine!"
"Fu
ibo
?" Victor couldn't believe it. "You saved me?"
"Mine," the Lich replied, and he slew Ares and the Headless Horseman again as they rose from the dead a second time. Unfortunately, he sounded more angry than friendly: "[Enhanced Binding Cold]!"
As the Lich spoke, chains of ice appeared around Victor, binding him to the snow like a ham.
"Now, I can kill you with my own hands."
Of course, he won't save him. The minister cursed under his breath and tried to melt the chains with hellfire.
You ran out of SP.
damn it!
The Lich repaired Victor's scythe with a spell, grabbed it, and raised it over the previous holder's head, "Just like before...except I have to carry you around so you can't Endure eternity.”
"You're kidding," Victor pointed out. "The soul trap will only work if I deliver the final blow"
"Oh." The lich sounded disappointed, but quickly recovered. "Well, I guess I'll just kill you the old fashioned way."
"Wait!" Victor insisted, "Don't I have one last request?"
Charisma check…
Failed!
"This violates Strategy 14."
Oh, come on!
Fu
ibo
Lowering his scythe, he prepared to behead his former prisoner. Victor waited for the end, but the blade stopped less than an inch from his neck. "Aren't you screaming?" asked the undead.
"Oh, you know, this is my third time." Victor shrugged. "It still sucks, but you get used to it."
"Try harder." Fulibang ordered. "I didn't save you just for our relationship to end like this."
Why would the lich drag him to death? Unless...unless...
Unless he doesn't want to do it.
"You have Stockholm syndrome," Victor realized.
"…No……"
"You have Stockholm Syndrome!" Victor was happy because the Lich couldn't carry out the execution. "I knew it was contagious!"
"Shut up!" Freeborn growled, trembling, but unable to finish the kill. "I don't care!" I'm not...I'm not sick!"
"When I caught it, I wanted to die too," Victor comforted him. "You get used to it after a while."
"That's it!" the Lich cursed him in an ancient language, angry that he couldn't kill Victor for good. "I've had enough of you and that giant flying dragon! I want you both to become leaders!"
After saying the final curse, Fu
ibo
The scythe carrying Victor teleported in a flash of light.
The chains that bound Victor soon disappeared and he was disarmed, lying in the snow facing the nightmare horse, now riderless. The vizier glanced at the bodies of the adventurers—mostly their equipment—and then at the beast.
No, that...that's ridiculous...
…
He couldn't resist.
