Chapter 458 Blood Offering
Legend spoke of a mighty dragon that fell in love with the giant beautiful plant as it was said that the Planesworld was the most beautiful tree planted by the great Plant Ancient, Dentro.
It was said that the spirit of the Ygdrassil also fell in love with the great Land Wyrm and their union led to the formation of the Ygdrassil.
The union of the two gave birth to one of the strongest dragons that later became a mighty champion among the Heretic Army. The dragon was so strong it could contend with the Greater God of Fire and the Greater God of Lightning.
In the many attempts to defeat the powerful Heretic, the Ancients and the Fallen sent their warriors but were all defeated by the Defender Dragon. He had terrifying earth energy and could create the power of Tremor. It was only later, that a son of Hyperion Steel was tasked lay waste and decimate the great land and the battle occurred at Airom.
Yet the legacy of the Defender Dragon lived on. For he had loved the people of the Highlands as they were seen as the son of her mother.
And the bloodline power of Tremor was left with them. Forever, the descendants were bound to serve the king.
The power of the Defender Dragon was a legacy that was kept hidden from many. Only the King of the Highlands knew of it and the corresponding Supremes that served him. But unknown to all of them, Pyrekaiser Fafnir dotted on her daughter so much that he gave her this very legacy.
Not all born of the Fafnir family would have this. But only the most trusted and suited would be entrusted with this legacy.
Such was the legacy of Angelica.
Her Force contained the power of Tremor and she hid her ace well, and only used it in the most unlikely of scenarios.
"I am Angelian Fafnir! A descendant of the Defender Dragon! And I will defend the Planesworld from your ilk, vampire!" Angelica roared as she revealed her true self.
The crushing and collapsing power continued to explode out and Nightwing was being blown back.
Nightwing quickly harnessed the power of the shield to push forward the attack.
"[All Push]!" The power of Gennaios Steel was harnessed and the tremor that began to quake through Nightwing was being pushed back.
The shield endured the many tremors and Nightwing held on tightly to his sword and risked it. The attack of Angelian had critically wounded him and he had no choice but to even the odds.
"[Balefire Chaos Sword: Grudge of a Thousand]!" Nightwing triggered the attack of the sword and the bitterness and defiant anger of all who died under the castle came alive and attacked Angelian.
BOOM!
The explosion occurred deep within the scale of Angelian and she felt the coursing hatred and balefire.
"Ahhh!" She screamed as the attack seeped through and attacked her body and soul.
She saw darkness collapsing and all the horrors and evil eyes of men that have ever laid eyes on her. She saw many strange things and the whispers and gossip about her.
The rumors of what her father planned to do to her and how she would be used as a political tool.
She felt the lust of the people who died in the castle and the many secret grudges that she had even when she hid her identity.
The pain ragged hard. She felt alone as she sensed the dark emotions of everyone and so many more who wanted to do evil things for her.
"Mother..." She began to weep in pain as her heart was covered in darkness.
But as she turned to the side, she caught sight of Nightwing who was also in dire straights.
She saw him and could not help but stand up.
The Slime teleported out and the Hydra approached as its massive frame was shown.
The two gathered around Nightwing.
"Master! This is bad! You\'re dying!" The hydra exclaimed.
"You don\'t say?" Nightwing sighed.
"What do we do?! What do we do?!" The Slime panicked.
"You can\'t do anything. The battle has yet to be decided. And you can\'t intervene, because my idiotic self set so many rules about it."
"Is it true?" The Hydra asked the Slime.
"Yeah. Clause three of Article twenty-three. If master dies, he dies." The slime read.
"...Master. What were you thinking?" The Hydra asked.
"I\'ll never know, will I?"
"But master, why did you spare her? Were you thinking of drinking her blood? That surprise beam attack. You could have used more energy but you didn\'t."
"... I don\'t know. My idiotic self must have been a sadist. But you saw the memories of everyone. And I have tasted her blood and seen her thoughts. I... pity her." Nightwing sighed.
"Pity... me?" Angelian was wobbling as she walked but her sword helped her walk. She had a half-dragonic form as she wobbled over.
In her deepest and most fearful state, she fell into terrifying despair. But this all made her desire to kill Nightwing all the more. She gathered the last of her strength as she moved over towards Nightwing. But she trembled as she heard those words.
"Why...?" She asked. She suddenly felt the magic of the darkness disappear. She realized that this was correct! The second magic that attacked her from behind wasn\'t the same sword-stabbing star magic. It was drastically weaker.
Had it been the same type of magic, she would have died.
Nightwing glanced at the beaten, but a beautiful woman and smiled.
"Maybe it\'s because you\'re cute." Nightwing laughed.
"Cute?! You...!" She moved closer and stood over Nightwing.
"Because I\'m cute you decided to waste that attack? Were you dreaming of doing... evil things to me? Were you hoping to make me your servant so you can enjoy me forever?!" Angelian roared.
"My companions are slime and a hydra. I\'ve seen the memories of others and yours as well and I know what you fear. But if I were to pursue that... I\'d prefer that you\'d be willing and happy in giving yourself to me. Well, no matter. You win. Kill me. Sadly, the castle and these two idiots won\'t be yours. But I can command them not to harm you as the last order."
"Why are you suddenly so generous?"
"Call it sympathy from a kindred spirit. I sense that I have the same curses and fate that you struggle with. Mine was definitely worse. Even right now, I sense that the curses you bear aren\'t worth comparing to my own. But someone like you who has suffered a lot, and with no place to turn to, isn\'t it better to pretend to die here? Don\'t you want to be free?"
"No place to turn to? What do you mean?!"
"The memories of Menks and the rest. You were already suspected to be someone important. Many of the kingdoms planned to capture you and arrest you should you have gone home. You see, the infiltration of the Eldrich was far more than you hoped it would be. You could say, that half of this region is controlled by them. And you don\'t have any hope of escaping. Several people with the strength that could challenge what you and I just showed are coming here."
"No! You... lie!"
"Why would I lie to you? That\'s why I said, pretend to die after this. You could flee. The slime and the hydra can remain here as proof of everyone\'s death."
"No! It can\'t be true!"
"Menks\'s sacrifice. Didn\'t you feel it? Don\'t you understand why he gave you so much? In the last moments of his life, he hated being a chained bondservant of the Eldrich. He gave you that power, and that amazing life energy so that you would have the chance to fight your way out of this region. Didn\'t you feel it?"
Angelian froze. She then recalled the warmth and concern of sacrifice and the last vision of him.
When the sacrifice spell occurred, Menks appeared in her vision.
Menks stood there and smiled at her around a field of bright white.
"Sorry for everything, Angelian. I am bound to serve. But honestly, I\'m not the cruel guy that I show myself to be. Anyway, this energy should be enough. With this, you can beat that being and even have the strength to get out of this cursed region. Goodbye."
Remembering these words, Angelian\'s heart began to quiver. She collapsed and lost strength.
"Why? Why is it... like this?" She began to weep. She had many ups and downs in her life. And whenever she would find the chance to soar, fate would rage against her and make her fall from the great heights she once had.
"Well, there is a way out. Blood Offering. The same magic of Sacrifice can be made. I... am too confused... and tired to continue anyway. I\'ll give you all my blood. And you will be stronger."