blueteamnovel Chapter 126: The Archfiend Yaulwembor Part 2
Chapter 126: The Archfiend Yaulwembor Part 2
chapter 126: the archfiend yaulwembor part 2
yaulwembor, the legendary monster of mattarglos said to be a dragon, has proven that it can go toe-to-toe much more than just a single dragon. even though its race is likely not a dragon, since it doesn’t seem to be sentient, it has readily demonstrated an ability to use advanced magic most professional mages would be envious of.
and, three of the mightiest mages known throughout the continent were only able to knock it out of the sky.
sir helbeit of dryrun, one of the knights of the stalvaltan grand duchy, is holding the key to victory.
a human sorcerer from another world created a tool for slaying dragons; a tool that can be granted to even the weakest of goblins and make them as powerful as most mages, and with the right version of the tool, among the strongest warriors in the world.
the staff in the knight’s arms is the latter. it is heavy and menacing, seemingly made of solid iron with a couple of moving parts.
helbeit has never used a demon staff before, and he’s only seen them in action during battles, what few he has witnessed. he’s not sure how it works, but it seems to have a stock and trigger as a crossbow would, though the configuration is very different.
the knight mimics daniel when he used the demon staff not long ago. he kneels with one knee up, resting the heavy weapon on his knee and leaning back, giving him a higher angle to aim. he braces the stock against the ground, pointing the other end towards the draconic fiend.
he takes a breath, bracing himself for whatever terrible thing will come out of the mouth of the otherworldly weapon.
the simple knight of the grand duchy pulls the trigger.
nothing.
he notices that the rectangular opening on the side has nothing in it, other than some mud and debris. but, the size of the hole and the length of the rectangle all seem suspect.
the knight looks at the ‘gloom arrow’ as he refers to it, knowing only enough from tidbits that he has gathered. this thing is the ammunition to the demon staff in the way an arrow is to a bow or a bolt to a crossbow.
helbeit slides the gloom arrow in with the point down the hole. the projectile slides in fairly freely, but slides back out when he releases it.
let’s try it, thinks the knight to himself, having very little to lose.
he aims again and pulls the trigger.
damn it! should i find one of daniel’s companions? what if he hasn’t taught them this staff? it seems different than the ones they’re using.
he glances over his shoulder at resken and veiranoei, who are standing, but also waiting on helbeit.
if she knew, she would have used it when daniel tossed it to her.
the ground quakes again, flinching all three of them.
grah! i have to figure this out, now! there’s no time!
neith, the grey dragon, falls from the sky in his true reptilian form, slamming down on yaulwembor and pulling it to the ground. the impact throws up a new splash of mud mixed with dust, and the enemy beast snarls and roars in frustration.
that’s when he spots her.
neith, in his attack, managed to toss hekate into a run on her feet, and she stumbles to a stop to rejoin the fray. the little fox beastkin is a powerful mage in her own right, possessing the greatest mana of anyone helbeit has ever laid eyes on, but she lacks experience and training. she can use several advanced spells, like she dedicated all of her energy to learning those in a hurry, but lacks effectiveness and variety with the standard array of offensive and defensive spells.
however, so far as helbeit has heard, she is the one who helped daniel conquer the citadel, which would have been when he was using his dragonslaying staff to slay dragons.
and, that very same mythically powerful weapon is now resting on helbeit’s knee.
if anyone knows how to use it, it has to be hekate.
“hekate!” shouts helbeit, trying to get her attention over the calamitous noise.
“lady hekate! your grace! hey!”
he waves his hand and shouts, adding, “help me get her attention!”
“empress hekate!” shouts resken. he takes a deep breath and howls, eerily carrying over a great distance. this startles hekate a little, and she finally whirls to look.
all three knights wave her down, and she glances once at the raging battle between dragons as yaulwembor tries to use magic on neith again, but he continuously disrupts her with quick fireblasts from his fire breath, as well as short and powerful spells of his own intended only to interfere, since he’s the only one with the needed mana and experience to be able to handle yaulwembor while the others find a way to regroup and recover.
the young teen empress of an upstart yet powerful nation jogs towards the three knights. she asks, “what is it!? we’re in the middle of...”
“pardon, your grace, but i need your help,” replies helbeit without even waiting for her to finish. she can scold him later for his impudence. “how do you use this staff?”
she looks at the staff for a moment. her helmet hides her expression like all of the others wearing full face armor helmets, and it even restricts her expressive ears by protecting them. but, it’s clear she’s pondering something very important; where the owner of the staff is. she glances around, suddenly more worried than she already was. “daniel?”
“your grace, please! i’ll help you find the emperor as soon as yaulwembor is defeated.”
“that’s...!?” starts hekate, surprised to be hearing this.
did she really not know? after all this? no matter!
“please...!”
“i got it!” snaps the young girl. she jogs closer to the human knight as the other two loom over the pair, watching as well.
hekate looks inside of the opening, remarking, “good. you have a bullet. now, you have to slide this thing all the way forward and lock it down.”
she points at a small metal arm with a rounded end.
“but, how will it fling the arrow forward?” asks helbeith, not understanding the otherworldly weapon. for a bow, you pull the string back, release, and the forward return of the string launches the arrow. he thought that was what that mechanism was for on the demon staff.
“no!” shouts hekate. “just... just do it! i don’t know how it all works!”
good enough. can’t argue with that. he nods, doing as she says. he can see the ‘bullet’ go into the hole and disappear as the arm closes the opening and locks it shut.
hekate says quickly, “good! it’s ready to fire! aim carefully! daniel is the only one with big bullets for this rifle.”
meaning this is the only one we have, i take it. noted.
she moves behind him, leaning on the knight’s shoulder. “make it count, sir knight.”
he nods again, confirming her faith in him. he realizes she could have easily demanded that he hand the weapon over, or made someone else come to take over, someone who knows how to use the weapon.
the feldrok empress adds, “it’s not a bow. don’t aim so high. that’s a polonium bullet. even if it doesn’t penetrate, we’re better off than now.”
he’s a little iffy on her instructions still, but he has to trust her. she knows the weapon and its maker far better than a random knight from the grand duchy chosen for a completely different mission.
helbeit watches for an opening. the two draconids, an actual dragon and the legendary fiend, are once more ducking, slashing, quick-casting, and slamming each other with forces helbeit could never hope to withstand.
and, neith, the well-aged greater dragon, is losing.
his scales and skin are being torn away more than those of yaulwembor. the archfiend is also three times larger than the grey dragon, by the looks of it. and, her skin seems to be as tough as mithril, if not tougher.
just as he’s about to pull the trigger, his instincts seem to tremble. he wavers and holds fire, and thankfully so. at the moment that he would have pulled the trigger, yaulwembor vanishes, reappearing behind neith and gripping the back of his head and neck with vicious claws. it then bites down on his neck in between, causing him to roar in pain.
she’s about to finish him.
and, even as it has the grey dragon at its mercy, yaulwembor tilts its piercing eyes to look at the three knights and one powerful fox-eared empress.
magic circles appear in front of its face, aimed at them. seeing the spell forming causes a chill to run down the human knight’s spine. his life starts to flash before his eyes, even as he hears his partner shout out what they both know all too well; “explosion!? it’s casting explosion! how!? th-that’s imp-...!”
she immediately perks up with sad eyes, nodding.
it’s a good thing she doesn’t need to breathe... does she?
“{she doesn’t. elementals are manifestations of energy. pure souls.}”
thanks, kaeralegier.
“alright, hana. i’m counting on you. see that big shadow? when it comes this way, i need you to use the armor flash, alright?”
she nods vigorously, giving her ‘leave it to me!’ gestures. she watches diligently around them, and daniel begins removing his armor. it could save his life from impacts, but it’s keeping him at the bottom of the lake. he stores the armor pieces one at a time, flinching when his whole body flashes brightly. it doesn’t hurt him, but he manages to dive in a slow jump to the side, narrowly avoiding the blinded monster as it slams into the silty lakefloor.
i should have kept the blaster intact. the silt will ruin visibility for them as much as me. next time. i’ve got a lot of equipment to replace now.
the mechanic climbs back to his feet, trudging through the water slowly as he makes his way towards shallower water. he’ll have a more solid sense of direction once he can reach the surface, but for now, he needs to remove armor.
once he’s down to his helmet and boots, daniel can tell that he’s lighter already. but, once he’s in open water, he’s a sitting duck and doesn’t have the protection of his armor any more. he searches his magic bag, finding one of two remaining elemental blasters he has on his person; the fire blaster. water is still in the early prototype stages, and ground makes a better sand blaster than a weapon.
regardless, the fire blaster will do the job for now, if only once.
the otherworlder emperor spots the shadow stalking him once more, and he starts trying to ‘run’ as hard as he can. varskahana gives him a look of nervous fear.
“i know, hana. you bought me enough time to formulate a plan.” daniel keeps working, taking a deep breath so he can use both hands. he retrieves one of two yarn-knitted objects from his forearm bracer, stroking it affectionately as he looks at it sorrowfully. he has to act without delay, or he’ll lose everything, including the one who made this sentimental little charm. he quickly pulls apart the small, knitted trinket that looks like a baby goblin. he feels disgusted that it’s the best source of a few feet of string on him, but it’s going to save his life. he’ll plead with shek and skloe to forgive him when he gets back, and he’ll help them make new ones.
with the string freed and the shadow looming closer, daniel ties it to the trigger of the blaster, readying for his risky move.
as rohgattabor races towards him, daniel tosses the blaster behind him. he turns to run backwards, feeding out the string.
just as the monster is passing the blaster, daniel yanks the string, and the blaster flashes and lurches.
pure, concentrated fire in a magic sphere was never going to travel through the water. daniel knew this, so he didn’t want to be holding it at the time.
kwakaboom!
as he hoped, the blast is much like a torpedo exploding underneath a ship, creating a massive bubble of steam from the destructive blast and heat.
rohgattabor recoils away, rolling through the water as it desperately flaps its pectoral fins and vanishes in a swirl of silt and muck. the concussive blast batters daniel’s ears and flinches him, but he is able to stay on his feet.
he returns the wind crystal to his chin, breathing quickly to catch his breath and calm down.
there is a significant red hue staining the sunlight piercing through the surface of the lake to reach him, and daniel feels a small sense of safety.
rohgattabor may not be dead, but there is enough blood and debris in the water to suggest it will retreat for now to lick its wounds.
hopefully.
for now, all he can do is try to return to the battle.
he resumes his march towards shallow water, keeping his breathing supply in one hand while he removes the last few pieces of his armor and stores the yarn that saved his life.
just as he’s ready to move to the next stage, varskahana does an excited little dance.
she waves farewell, disappearing in a small magic swirl that then changes forms into a new figure.
before he can make sense of it fully, daniel finds himself taking a bad step, like walking up stairs without paying attention and trying to take a lifting stride on a level that isn’t there. he falls forward as if the water is no longer there, face planting in sticky mud.
luceniel silently laughs at him, covering her mouth with rather beautiful sleeves that remind him of a transparent butterfly. and as he looks at her, confused about what just happened. her appearance overall is very different from the rain elemental that was summoned when rohgattabor first attacked.
where the little fairy-like being summoned by falling showers looked like a translucent water nymph of small and cute proportions, this version of luceniel looks like a humanized cuttlefish or jellyfish, though the neon lights of bioluminescent trails flicker and stream along its cape-like ‘wings’. she also has glowing ‘freckles’ on her face underneath what appears to be somewhat of a mask on her face, like a raccoon. but, as tiny as she is, they could be glasses for all daniel can tell in the water.
regardless, her appearance reminds daniel of a monster in a video game, though only slightly. he states, “i’ll keep your second name simple. how does nami sound?”
the little pixie’s cheeks brighten and actually glow as she cups them with her hands. she nods happily.
“glad you’re always easy to please, lucy nami.” he keeps his crystals close to his chin, carefully climbing to his feet.
what the emperor of the fievegal discovers is that, quite obviously thanks to the mysterious magic of his charming little elemental, there is almost no resistance to him in the water. he can move almost as freely as he does on land, walking at a normal speed. he can see the water rush around him as he moves, rapidly accelerating and even cavitating on the corners and pockets of his clothing and boots. when he kicks off of the floor of the lake, he has a strange level of control that doesn’t match floating or swimming, but somewhere awkwardly in between.
his flailing motions cause bubbles to form, since the rate of his motion is high enough to form little vapor pockets behind his hands and feet specifically.
again, nami giggles as she swims effortlessly around daniel, but things are still serious. he needs to get to the surface.
“i appreciate your power, nami, and i swear i’ll learn more about it, but for now, i need to get to the surface.”
he takes a deep breath from his air stream, sighing. “here goes nothing.”
he carefully holds the crystals together with one hand, taking a breath one last time before he grips the collar of his jacket firmly. he’s still negatively buoyant, but he can almost move at will through the lake’s volume.
but, since he’s still not sure how that works and he needs to figure out which way to go, he places the magic crystals at the waist of his jacket, giving himself just enough inflation to achieve lift. it only takes a few seconds, thankfully, for him to reach the surface, and he breaches, gasping for air.
the human mechanic then uses the same trick to inflate his jacket more to ensure he keeps himself at the surface. it’s still a lake filled with monsters, and the diving elemental pokes her head above the surface curiously. daniel looks, finding the battlefield rather easily. there is smoke, destroyed landscape, and the sounds of battle, assuming the titanic reptilian wasn’t enough of a clue.
“thank you for your help, nami. you’ve helped me once again.”
she smiles and nods, though she’ll be with him until the conditions change her into one of the other elemental forms.
“{i must say, you’re pretty crafty, daniel. got a trick up your sleeve to get back to shore?}”
“think you can turn into an actual oar, kaeralegier?”
nami giggles, but daniel already has his plan, even as the perturbed goddess retorts, “{very funny. i’ll stop granting you my blessing, mister. you want to see how fast i can put you back on the bottom of this lake?}”
“my apologies. but, i think i’ve got it. let’s...”
still holding his jacket collar, daniel angles his back so that a big bubble forms at his chest and stomach while keeping his head above water. it’ll be a bit of a balancing act, but if it works, it’ll be faster than kicking all the way.
thankfully, daniel still has the magic crystals. though it’s not jet ski speeds, he is able to keep dumping air into the waist of his jacket, which just as quickly forces itself back out, propelling him. it undoubtedly looks as goofy as it feels, but he’s successfully propelling himself back to shore with minimal fatigue on himself.
he doesn’t go straight towards the shoreline where yaulwembor is, since he’s dead if the dragon spots him and attacks. he heads towards the right, where the gatonines fled to. he’s not sure if they’re still in the area, since the intelligent thing to do would have been to retreat, but the ancient fiend didn’t give them any time to make sense of its attack.
once he’s back in shallow enough water, daniel makes sure he doesn’t see any wakes following him, and he digs through his magic bag to find an insurance policy.
he grabs a bundle of dynamite and finds his lighter in a belt pouch. he quickly lights the fuse, tossing it into the water and jogging away with his ears covered. he unfortunately doesn’t have the time to warn anyone else, but they should be far enough away. and, quite possibly, it might distract yaulwembor.
boom!
the water erupts from the blast, which should deter rohgattabor or any of the other mantaroucks from attempting anything for a bit. sound travels much faster in water, after all, meaning the blasts should be especially painful for them.
now... to deal with the nightmare dragon in the room, thinks the mechanic to himself as he sizes up his options.
at this point, not losing anyone is the victory he’s hoping for.
***