Chapter 167: No Escape
Revenants heart palpitated in his chest and for one brief moment, he considered that his actions and outbursts could indeed have unexpected consequences that could mean that things might not go his way.
But that was a realisation that lasted only a second, before shooting itself in the foot then throwing itself out of the window, as a moment later he saw the direction that the Dragon was flying. Based on where they were now, and the information he had in mind, he had absolutely no doubt that it was heading back to its lair to hide and recover.
As far as he knew, no one else knew where this lair was. So he could get his issues sorted out with these people, even if it mean trusting the Prince of Traitors for a time being, and set up a proper, organised raid on the lair.
They could get lair loot and kill the Dragon without having to rush because of the army. Honestly, it was perhaps the best possible outcome, which really did not help with his understanding of consequences and self control.
It was a wonderful plan. A brilliant plan. Probably the best plan that had ever existed in the history of plans, if he did say so himself. It was just a shame that he never got to the stage of telling anyone about it.
The Feral Belladonna let out a deafening, ear piercing screech as her prey flew away. The thought of not getting to taste this beasts blood, and losing out on the power it would give her, was a most heinous sin in her blood lusted mind.
"MINE! MINE! MINE! MIIIIIINE!" She screeched as she lowered herself down to all fours before launching herself into the air. The ground exploded from the force of the leap, a crater being carved into the earth as she shot through the air like a cannon ball.
She didn’t so much land on the Dragon as simply slam into it head first, tackling it out of the air. Its natural jets sputtered at the collision before starting to spew out twice as much flames to readjust its course.
The jet-like dragon swerved in the air because of it, its flight path leading it straight through Belladonna’s floating magic circle, which shattered like glass the moment the Dragon charged through it.
The suspended sphere of blood, having lost the force drawing it in and keeping it in place, immediately popped like a water balloon and doused the pair in blood. The torrent continued to the ground, splashing down and flooding outwards in a macabre red wave as the Dragon climbed higher and higher into the air.
Belladonna’s claws dug into its back, finding purchase between the cracks of its craggy scales. She licked her non-existent lips, eagerly cleaning herself of the blood that stained her body, before starting to climb.
She was like a parasite, latching onto the colossal Dragon and slowly moving along its massive body, with her eyes locked onto the scar across the back of its neck. The result of Lilith’s orbital axe drop, which still hadn’t healed.
Her pitch black eyes gleamed with feral hunger as she leapt up to it, and immediately sunk her teeth into the unprotected flesh. The dragon let out a pained roar, as Belladonna ripped the chunk of flesh out.
There it was. In the newly created wound, a single droplet of blood oozing out of hole she created.
Belladonna wasted no time in slurping it up, as if she hadn’t eaten in months. But it was just a single droplet. It was no where near enough.
"MORE! MORE! MOOOREE!" She roared, her claws gleaming as she used one hand to keep her grip while the other sliced into its flesh. She slashed, clawed, bit and tore at its unprotected weak point. Desperately licking up every droplet of delectable sanguine that leaked out.
She became so focused on ripping apart the meal in front of her, it felt like nothing in the world could ever distract her from it. Yet something did.
A flash of power, easily ten times greater than that of the dragon she was so obsessed with, rippled through the air behind Belladonna. Her head immediately whipped around to the source of the power, completely forgoing the meal in front of her, as her pitch black eyes widened.
For the first time, her feral form experienced something other than hunger, gluttony and sadistic glee, as its pitch black eyes reflected a silver gleam that drove the sense of fear deep into her heart.
Belladonna quickly leaned back, as a wave of pure silver energy passed just in front of her face, cleanly slicing off the tip of her nose, before it cleaved through her hand and into the Dragons weak point. She let out a cry of pain as the fingers of her hand were perfectly sliced off, causing her to lose her grip and start to plummet through the air.
She watched in confusion as the Dragon continued to rise, carried only by its momentum, as the flames on its back sputtered before dying out completely. When it reached the pinnacle of its arc and began to fall, it took a second for its head to follow its body as the two separated completely.
The three of them, Belladonna and the two parts of the Dragon, plummeted to the ground and landed with earth rumbling explosions of varying sizes.
Within the pit of her bodies making, Belladonna’s broken bones snapped and cracked as they repositioned themselves and glued themselves back together, still benefiting from the still active [Blood Frenzy], as her severed fingers grew back anew also.
Once she was whole again, she pulled herself from the pit, breathing heavily as anger, greed and gluttony still clouded her mind, as well as the wounded ego of any Apex Predator forced to feel fear.
Fear was the emotion of pathetic little prey. It had no place in her mind, and yet even still it had wormed its way in.
She let out an irritated, monstrous growl, before the rumbling of her stomach drew her attention once more. Yes... Hunger. She was still hungry. There was still more to feast upon.
The Dragon was dead, its life force gone. The blood would still feed her, still strengthen her, but life force was still best - and more importantly the most delicious.
If she was to face whatever had created that wave of light, she needed to be stronger. Much stronger, and more life force was always the way to do it. Then, and only then, would she make it feel fear in her presence.
Her eyes, full of malice and hunger, drifted around the destroyed battlefield. They leered over everything still living, all of the miserable sheep still lingering around and waiting on their chance to be slaughtered for her power, until finally she locked onto the sheep that had the most lifeforce.
It was overflowing from them, and it smelled delectable.
Climbing out of the pit, Belladonna started to slowly advance, basking in the feeling of fear flowing around her from the worthless sheep as she stalked the adorable, pure white Fox-kin priest and licked her teeth in anticipation of his taste.