The Dragon of Dreams

Chapter 49: A Beating

Late Afternoon - Mid Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

- Shir ~

*Thud* *Thud*

Two guards limply fell to the ground as my group and I removed our cloaking magic.

"So does anyone know exactly what floor they will be on?"

"The second floor has the secure torture rooms, Captain." Number 3, the youngest of the group, was quick to respond.

“Alright, don't hold back and leave no witnesses."

"Yes sir."

Immediately making our way down to the second floor, we were met with a huge metal door.

We used fire magic to heat up the edges of the metal before kicking it in.

*Bang*

Inside was a hallway lined with prison cells that my group was sweeping through, being sure to kill each prisoner. -The rooms must be at the end..-

When I looked to the end of the hallway though, I saw a young demihuman boy.

His facial features were simply perfect, beyond what could be considered human but above all, I could feel the 'child's' presence.

Although it wasn't too heavy, it felt more tempered and controlled than anything I had ever felt.

Somehow though, I seemed to be the only one to notice.

"Hey kid, get out of the way or else." Number 3 was totally oblivious to the ‘child's’ presence.

"Or else what?" Although his demeanor was calm, his voice carried an overwhelming confidence.

"Haah.. kids these days.." Likely annoyed by the ‘child’s’ confidence, Number 3 sprang at ‘it’ full of the intention to kill.

Seeing the ‘kid’ not even reacting, I started second guessing myself. -Maybe I just misunderst..-

Before my thoughts could finish, ‘he’ finally moved. "Awe come on, don't use such boring magic!"

*CrUnCh*

Number 3's head was crushed like a grape on the ‘kid's’ knee.

The scene sent a massive chill down my spine. -To kill an S rank.. so effortlessly..-

"Wow you just let your comrade die like that? What awful people."

As Number 3's lifeless body was tossed to the side, I did my best to calm my nerves. “Hooh..” -I can't lose my cool in a fight like this..-

But the others in the group couldn't do the same. The other two immediately sprang at ‘him’, blinding him and taking him out together.

"Uh oh, watch out for friendly fire!"

The light subsided and revealed a poison coated knife stabbed into one of their hands. -These idiots! He is playing with them like toys..-

"Why didn't I think of that before?!"

*CrAcK*

Number 8’s neck snapped like a twig as the ‘kid’ hit him in the face.

Although most people would likely mourn the loss of their comrade, my thoughts were elsewhere.

-If I made him a slave.. how much would I be able to sell him for?!- Although he was physically strong, it wasn't nearly enough to give me a challenge.

As I was lost in thought though, ‘he’ caught number 9’s punch. "To interrupt my thoughts, how rude."

Almost immediately after, a clear liquid formed around ‘his’ hand.

-Wait.. He can use magi..-

*psh-FWOOOOSH*

My thoughts were cut off by a blinding blue flame that vaporized number 9’s upper body.

Seeing such ferociously strong magic, my previous uneasiness that I couldn't get rid of suddenly became more pronounced. -This might.. Be troublesome..-

In a flurry of thoughts, I quickly made a change in plans.

-He needs to die here.-

- Vasilias ~ (skips their small convo)

"Hooh? Two runes at once?"

Lunging at me, the assassin reinforced his body with earth magic.

-Close combat with fire magic? I guess I'll play along!-

Helping close the distance, I darted up and threw a kick into his side, completely smashing through the stone he used to shield himself.

*Crunch*

Seeing an opening, he grabbed my leg and swung his heel around to clock my face.

-He’s pretty quick!- As I casually leaned back to dodge, I noticed a decent bit of powder on his shoes. -Oh..-

*Crackle-Bang*

An explosion erupted out from his foot, but I managed to push his leg up just enough to make it miss and make him lose his footing.

Before he could rebalance himself, I pulled him into a heavy punch.

*WHAM*

The impact from the punch shook the whole building and knocked him out of my grip, but he didnt fall over.

That didnt mean he was okay though, his breathing was already heavy and he was gritting his teeth from pain or frustration.

"Really? One exchange and you're done?" A little disappointed, I relaxed my shoulders. -How underwhelming..-

Seeing another opening he lunged towards me and stomped the ground.

*Crunch*

The ground shattered as a wall of blazing fire was lit around us. "Now you can't run" A crazed smile appeared on his face as he believed the flame could keep me in.

-Its a hot flame but for a dragon it might as well be a candle..-

While I was thinking, he threw a punch followed by a blast of flames which I dodged with a back handspring. In the same motion, I threw a kick into his wrist to dislocate it, but he pulled his hand back just enough for it to miss.

His smile turned crazed as he gripped onto my ankle. "Got you!"

Getting serious for a moment, I used thruster magic to reinforce a kick with my other leg.

*RUMBLE-CrAcK*

Feeling his forearm get blown to pieces, he let go and jumped back.

Not giving him a chance to recover, I got back to my feet and threw a thruster-backed punch into his chest.

*RUMBLE-BANG*

His rib cage shattered as he got launched through the wall of fire and into the opposing wall.

-Tch.. I didn’t let it heal enough..- I gritted my teeth a bit as I refractured my hand. -What a mood killer… At least he should be out of commission now..-

*Crumble..*

-He's alive?!-

Falling out of the wall, he took a wide stance and cupped his remaining hand, using a fire rune on each finger to create a small ball of light.

I knew it was stupid to let your enemy charge up their trump card, but at this point I was more curious than anything. -What a resilient human..-

Just as I finished my thought he repositioned his feet and threw his hand forward.

*Bang-WOOOSH*

A ridiculous beam of fire left his hand and blasted towards my face.

It was both several-fold hotter than the wall of fire earlier and was too big for me to dodge. -Uh oh.. this one could actually hurt!-

*FWOOSH*

The flame blasted past me and melted everything it touched, only sparing the area it couldn't reach because of my vacuum magic.

-That was a little too close for comfort..- The flame from his magic was so fast I could barely get my vacuum magic up in time.

*crackle*

As the blaze died down, the room was left filled with smoke.

"Is he.. dead?" The man spoke to himself as he staggered to his knees.

*tap* *tap* *tap*

Hearing me walking across the still nearly molten floor, his face paled further.

With my now released aura, I made all of the smoke vanish and looked the man in the eyes.

“That was a good final attack. You can take pride in it being your last.”

His eyes went wide as I picked him up by the neck and set my other hand on his stomach.

*tink-CRACK*

Using a huge amount of mana, I blasted his reserve and blew it apart.

“Ugh-blugh..” He immediately threw up blood as I dropped him to the ground.

Reading my aura I could still sense his heartbeat, albeit faintly. -Count your lucky stars that I'm leaving you alive..-

Although I wasn't able to get any information out of him yet, he seemed to be high up the ladder so he was a good source.

"Awoo!" Ilios let out a joyful howl as he ran up to me with a wagging tail.

"Haha, thank goodness you're alright." I was quick to lean down and pet him.

I was a little worried that the beam of fire hurt him but it was a needless worry.

Where he was sitting was the only other spot on that half of the room where the floor looked untouched.

"Uhm.. is everything alright now?" Helen peeked her head through the now slightly melted doorway, being sure to keep herself cool with a temperature control fire rune.

-Thankfully she’s alright as well..- "It should be fine now."

"Phew.. so what happened?" She carefully walked out, being careful to not step on any of the still molten sections of the floor.

"Well there were some people that, I'd assume, came to rescue the assassins we captured but the 4th managed to put up a decent fight so I took my time to enjoy it.."

Although it didn't look like it, I was totally fine with the exception of my hand. -All the blood on me isn't mine after all.-

Helen’s worry was aimed elsewhere though. "Where are all the bodies?"

"Well.." As I looked around, the only corpses on my half of the hall were scorched prisoners who got caught in the crossfire. "I think that guy's last attack got rid of the bodies of the other three." I casually pointed to the guy covered in blood on the floor.

"What?! Was he a Nation Rank then?!"

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