Chapter 165: Dragon... PUNCH!
The molten metal stream cut off as the Dragons mouth clamped closed, a few of its teeth cracking from the sheer force of the upper cut as it was lifted off of the ground, almost into a standing position on just its back legs.
Just as it reached the peak of its lift, however, a familiar magic circle rapidly formed around its front feet before it slammed itself down. The earth trembled and rumbled before spikes of pure stone erupted from the ground, immediately puncturing Belladonna’s body.
Dozens of spikes tore through her body, ripping through what was left of her fancy, Ardent bear armour like it was tin foil. The smile never left Belladonna’s face, partly because her cheeks were torn so she had no choice but to smile, but also partly because her feral, blood lusted mind was loving every second of this.
The spikes dissolved into dust as soon as the spells effect ended, returning back to the earth from whence they came, leaving Belladonna’s body filled with more holes than the Pope’s cheese.
She leaned back, avoiding the claw swipe of the dragon that would have taken her head, and raised an arm to stop the stomp that followed. Even with its entire weight pressing down on her, Belladonna’s legs didn’t buckle.
In fact they didn’t even so much as wobble at all as the ground shattered beneath her. Another punch to the torso sent the Dragon flying backwards, causing a few players to scream in horror before they were crushed underneath the sudden body crashing down on top of them.
A sacrifice that she was more than happy to make for them, as it meant even more blood flowing into the [Blood Well] that hung in the air, which meant more blood flowing into her body in turn.
The flow into her body was not actually a part of the spell hovering in the air, but a feature of a separate, smaller circle she had carved into her hand just for this particular reason.
The [Blood Well]
in the sky only served as easy access, a literal well for her to dip into instead of having to gather it from all over by herself. Even better than that, it didn’t just act as a healing source. While it was useful for that, it was still constantly pumped into her body even when she was fully healed, because it acted as a fuel for her [BloodFrenzy].
Every drop of blood contained a sliver of the original beings power. A drop was nice, a litre was better. Draining the entire body however... that was perfect.
Everyone that died here did so to empower her. Keeping her alive and steadily turning the tables against this beast. So what if the more she consumed, the more she fell into her frenzy and made it less likely she would recover before she killed everyone here?
She didn’t care about that.
In this state, she had forgotten about everything. Her friends, her brother, even her Nemesis.
Whether Percy was a traitor or not, or whether he won in his fight against the irritating and creepy Revenant, Belladonna could not care in the slightest. At least not at the moment.
All she could care about was the Dragon, and drinking its blood so that its power would become her own. The [Blood Frenzy] felt good. It felt right. If she had to consume the world to stay in it forever, then she would tear the throat out of every blood sack that existed in this feeble world and drain them dry.
She needed it all. She needed the power. She needed.... She needed.... She needed MORE!
Screeching like a Banshee, Belladonna leapt towards the Dragon as it lifted itself to its feet. Seeing her flying through the air towards her, it twisted its body and whipped its tail out once more, intending to bat her away once more.
It had worked the last time, after all.
But not this time.
Her arms, ready for the tail whip, wrapped around the appendage and allowed herself to be whipped and swung through the air as it desperately tried to shake her off. Belladonna’s grip tightened in response, her arms squeezing together enough to shatter the stone plates around the tail, before her feet finally touched the ground again.
She immediately dug her feet in and heaved, getting heavy resistance and first that gradually faded as she stepped and turned.
The Dragons eyes widened in confusion and shock, as did the eyes of nearly all those watching, as Belladonna dragged the Dragon from the ground and started to swing it around by its tail.
She swung it like a toy, her feet stepping over one another as she spun and spun. It was an absolutely amazing, and even hilarious sight to many, until she started to move.
She used the dragon like a sledgehammer, swinging it around it circles and smacking its colossal body into anyone within a dragons reach. With no time to scream they became splatters of red mist on the dragons body, which then became more volume to her growing [Blood Well] and more power to fuel her endless [Blood Frenzy] as she cut down the surrounding players like a farmer reaping his crops.
Ironic, considering the destroyed ruins of where they were currently fighting.
Eventually the Dragons tail, not made for such forces, tore from its body and allowed it to fly free of Belladonna’s grasp, but not without smashing into another group of players like they were bowling pins.
The Dragon rolled a few times before finally coming to a stop and scrambling to its feet. Its head whipped to Belladonna, who tossed its severed tail to the side and let out a twisted and demented laugh that made the Dragon recoil in fear.
An emotion it had never felt in its entire life, but now completely gripped its heart that was once ruled with the ego of its own superiority. For the first time in its life, the mighty Earth Dragon felt... inferior to something. A horrible realisation even more frightening than the threat of death.
Stone crumbled and dragged against itself as the Dragon unfolded its wings, which were encrusted with the same volcanic stone that covered the rest of its body. They did not seem flexible enough to flap, but they didn’t need to.
From its back, just below where the wings met its torso, two sections of the Dragon’s body opened up and started to spew twin streams of flames. With a push of its tree trunk legs, the Dragon launched itself into the air and began to fly by the power of its flame jets, like a volcanic and bestial version of a modern jet plane.