Chapter 118: Kill Drake
The drake charged before anyone could move farther back.
Its injured foreleg struck the ground awkwardly during the first step, but the weakness disappeared before the second. Thin red markings had begun spreading from the open wound along its shoulder, crawling beneath the scales and across its chest.
Xingluo raised Heavenfall.
"Something changed."
The markings reached the damaged foreleg.
Ruan Mei immediately noticed what happened next. "Its leg."
The twisted joint straightened with a series of heavy cracks, while torn flesh around the shoulder pulled together beneath the spreading red lines. Even the deep wound Varkhiel had opened along its neck began closing.
Xiaorou stared at it. "You've got to be kidding me."
The drake's scales darkened as the markings continued spreading. Their rough surface gradually became smooth and hard, reflecting the sunlight with a dull metallic shine.
Wuxia moved closer to Xingluo.
"Don't block this one."
The drake reached them.
Xingluo jumped aside as its head smashed through the stone behind her, while Ruan Mei and Xiaorou separated toward the opposite ridge. Varkhiel struck immediately from the side.
His greatsword hit the drake's shoulder.
The sound was completely different.
Instead of breaking scales, the blade bounced away with a violent metallic crack.
Varkhiel slid backward several metres.
Xingluo stared. "That wasn't happening before."
The drake answered with a tail strike that caught one of the Twin Demon Flood Dragons and threw it across the valley.
Xingluo rushed toward its flank and swung Heavenfall with both hands.
The blade struck between two red markings.
Sparks flew.
A shallow line appeared across the scales.
"Seriously?"
The drake twisted toward her.
Yue folded the space beside Xingluo and moved her away before the jaws closed.
Ruan Mei attacked the restored foreleg from behind, striking the same joint she had broken earlier.
The drake barely shifted.
She immediately moved away.
"That became much harder."
Xiaorou slashed across the hind leg and reached the same conclusion when her sword left almost nothing behind.
"We spent all that time breaking its armour for nothing?"
"Apparently."
The drake slammed one claw downward.
Xiaorou jumped away while the impact shattered part of the path.
Wuxia watched the creature move.
The healing had slowed, but the red markings remained across almost its entire body. Every strike against the metallic scales produced little more than small cracks.
He stopped holding back.
Dark soul light spread behind him.
Dozens of Soul Soldiers appeared across the valley.
Xiaorou almost missed her footing when the rocky path around them suddenly filled with armed figures.
She looked toward Xingluo.
"How many of those do you have?"
Xingluo moved toward the drake again. "Enough."
"That answer is becoming increasingly suspicious."
The first group of Soul Soldiers rushed forward.
They did not attack randomly.
Half moved toward the drake's legs while the others spread around its sides, forcing the creature to divide its attention.
The drake crushed two beneath one claw.
Their bodies scattered into soul mist.
Five others immediately replaced them.
Varkhiel attacked the shoulder again, while one of the Flood Dragons wrapped around the drake's rear leg.
Xingluo followed behind him.
Heavenfall struck exactly where Varkhiel's greatsword had landed.
A crack appeared.
Wuxia noticed it.
"Same place."
Xingluo did not need another explanation.
She attacked again.
The drake turned toward her, but Yue twisted the space beneath one of its front claws. The limb landed farther sideways than expected and threw the creature slightly off balance.
Ruan Mei moved in during the opening.
She struck the cracked scale once, then immediately jumped away as the drake's head swung toward her.
Three Soul Soldiers attacked the same section.
The first weapon broke.
The second bounced aside.
The third widened the crack.
Xiaorou finally understood what they were doing.
"You're trying to break one section again."
Xingluo blocked a claw with Heavenfall and was thrown backward anyway.
"Got a better idea?"
"No."
Xiaorou rushed past her and drove her short sword into the existing crack.
The blade entered slightly deeper than before.
She twisted it once before retreating.
"That works."
The drake roared and smashed its body against several Soul Soldiers surrounding its flank.
More shadows scattered.
Wuxia summoned replacements before the gap could remain open.
The number surrounding the drake continued increasing.
Twenty became forty.
Then more appeared across the rocky slopes and lower forest.
Xiaorou looked around while avoiding another tail sweep.
"I take back what I said yesterday."
Xingluo landed beside her. "About what?"
"You don't carry a party."
A group of Soul Soldiers rushed past them.
"You carry an army."
Xingluo gave her no answer because the drake charged again.
This time the Soul Soldiers met it first.
Several were thrown aside immediately, but enough struck its legs from different angles to slow the charge.
The Twin Demon Flood Dragons attacked together.
One wrapped around the restored foreleg.
The other coiled around the drake's neck and pulled sideways.
The drake resisted both.
Varkhiel came through the centre.
His greatsword struck the damaged scale.
The crack finally split.
Xingluo reached it immediately.
Star Energy flowed along Heavenfall as she drove the blade into the opening.
The metallic scale broke apart.
Blood appeared beneath it.
The drake roared and threw its shoulder toward her.
Monarch Threads tightened around Xingluo's waist and pulled her backward before the impact landed.
She slid across the stone.
*Again.*
Wuxia remained near her.
*Give me an opening.*
Varkhiel and the surrounding Soul Soldiers changed direction.
Instead of attacking everywhere, the shadows began concentrating upon the drake's damaged side.
The creature responded quickly.
Its tail tore through six Soul Soldiers before turning toward Varkhiel.
Yue moved him away.
Two more Soul Soldiers attacked the opening.
The drake crushed one beneath its jaw.
Ruan Mei slipped beneath the neck and struck the exposed flesh twice.
The drake snapped toward her.
Xiaorou attacked its rear leg.
That pulled its attention back again.
"Senior Ruan, move!"
Ruan Mei jumped away just before the drake's claw reached her.
The fight had become increasingly difficult to follow from inside the mass of Soul Soldiers, but the drake was being forced to react constantly.
Every direction contained another attack.
It could destroy the ordinary shadows easily.
It could not destroy all of them quickly enough.
Wuxia raised one hand.
Another wave joined the fight.
The drake roared and charged through them.
Soul Soldiers scattered across the valley.
Varkhiel remained directly ahead.
His greatsword struck the exposed shoulder.
The blade entered.
The drake stopped.
One Flood Dragon pulled its foreleg outward while the second struck the opposite side.
Ruan Mei attacked the same joint again.
This time it bent.
Xingluo saw the opening.
She rushed forward and drove Heavenfall beneath the broken metallic scales.
The blade entered almost halfway.
The drake screamed and slammed its body sideways.
Xingluo released the sword and rolled away.
The red markings around the wound immediately brightened.
Flesh began closing around Heavenfall.
"No you don't."
Wuxia's shadows attacked together.
Ten Soul Soldiers struck the wound before it could fully heal.
The drake destroyed several with one violent swing, but more replaced them.
Varkhiel pulled his greatsword free and struck again.
The wound reopened.
The red markings flickered.
Wuxia noticed immediately.
"The healing is weakening."
Ruan Mei heard him and kept the reaction from reaching her face.
Xingluo recovered Heavenfall while Xiaorou moved beside her.
"Please tell me that thing has a limit."
Xingluo looked toward the flickering markings.
"We're finding out."
The drake attacked again.
Its movements were still powerful, but they were no longer as clean.
The restored foreleg dragged slightly.
Several metallic scales had cracked along the ribs, shoulder and neck.
The Soul Soldiers continued wearing it down.
One group attacked the legs.
Another forced it to keep turning.
Varkhiel and the Flood Dragons targeted the damaged areas.
Yue repeatedly shifted attackers away before the drake could crush them.
Xingluo waited.
The drake turned toward Varkhiel.
Three Soul Soldiers struck its rear leg.
It twisted back.
One Flood Dragon caught the neck.
The other pulled the damaged foreleg.
Wuxia tightened Monarch Threads around the same limb.
"Now."
Xingluo rushed in.
Heavenfall struck the open shoulder.
The blade tore through the weakened flesh and continued deeper than any previous attack.
The drake threw its head backward.
Ruan Mei came from beneath its chest and struck the injured leg with everything she had.
The joint collapsed.
Xiaorou cut across the exposed underside as the beast fell forward.
Varkhiel raised his greatsword.
The drake tried to push itself upright.
The Twin Demon Flood Dragons pulled in opposite directions.
Varkhiel's blade came down across its neck.
The metallic scales cracked.
The second strike broke them.
The third entered flesh.
The drake roared and tried to turn.
Wuxia's Soul Soldiers rushed it from every side.
Several were crushed immediately, but the mass held the creature down long enough.
Xingluo jumped onto the broken shoulder.
She raised Heavenfall above her head.
Star Energy gathered along the blade.
The drake's head turned toward her.
Xingluo brought the sword down.
Heavenfall entered through the damaged neck.
The blade stopped halfway.
Varkhiel struck beside it.
The drake's entire body dropped.
Xingluo pulled Heavenfall free and struck again.
The roar that followed shook the nearby forest.
Then the drake collapsed completely.
Its head struck the stone hard enough to crack the ground beneath it.
The red markings flashed once.
Twice.
Then they disappeared.
The metallic shine faded from the scales, while the wounds across its body finally stopped closing.
The surrounding Soul Soldiers remained ready.
Nobody moved closer immediately.
The drake released one final low roar.
Its body went still.