The Star Of Annihilation

The Star of Annihilation

Chapter 25 – Ifrit (3)

Written by : eleven

* * *

– Don’t squeal too loudly, you ugly lizard. You’ll wake up the kids.
<AHHHHHHHHH!>

Argenta screamed desperately.

The black and red flames melted into his skin and started to reach into his internal circuitry.

‘I can’t…. Is it really him?’

Argenta’s thoughts raced.

There was only one being whom he knew of that contained this much frightening power and this distinct flames that was not a part of his race.

– It seems you’ve noticed something.


Ifrit smiled cruelly as he noticed that Argenta was distracted in thoughts amidst the pain of his hellfire burning his scaly skin.

<I-It…can’t be….!>

– But it can.
<Impossible! Lord…. Lord almost destroyed your soul back then!>

– You truly must be one of the lowest of the ranks amongst you Lizards if you truly think that.

Ifrit had his soul burned, of all individuals, by the Lord of the Dragon Race.

Ifrit’s body was made of Hellfire, yet his soul, which was made up of the hottest fire known to man, had burned to the Lord of the Dragon Race.

Argenta was not a simple Dragon though.

He may be of the lower ranks within his own kind, but that didn’t mean the Dragons were to be taken lightly.

Suddenly, the mana within his body started to fluctuate and tremble.

– …!

<Bastard. You’ll regret this.>

Argenta spoke as he kicked at Ifrit’s hand, causing Ifrit to jump back.

<Meteor>

Large magic circles appeared in the sky as Argenta spoke the simple spell.

Roy knew of this spell, but was blinded in pain at the moment to even tell what was about to come about.

– …Interesting.


Ifrit spoke as he glanced at the sky.

The night clouds started to part as the circles in the sky glowed.

It happened then.

BOOM- BOO-BOOOM!
BOOM BOOM BA-BOOM!


Large rocks, each the size of a small town, started to fall from the sky.

The red heat glowing from the descent barraged the destroyed earth.

“How is that possible?”

“I’m not sure either, but I think this is something we need to start looking into if we can survive this.”

Tubel discussed with the other Arch-mages as they teleported over to the Princes’ side.

Magical science did not go so far as to develop such a spell of mass destruction. Tubel was already looking at the magic circles in awe and wonder.

Howard, Desmond and Michael all looked at the battle unfolding with complicated eyes.

‘That child….’

Desmond looked at Roy incredulously. Strictly speaking, before this, he did not think Roy was more valuable than Nate to the Kingdom, but he knew now. The only problem was that looking at the reactions of his other two brothers, Desmond knew they would become even more greedy to attain these children under their wing.

“Sir Tubel, if I am not mistaken… is that a Spirit King?”

“….I’m not too sure about that, Prince Howard. It has the distinct spiritual remnants of the Spirit Realm attached to its body… but not only is it more powerful than any Spirit King I have seen to date… it also has traces of Demonic Energy.”

“Demonic Energy?”

“Yes. I’m not sure how, or what that thing is, but what is clear is that it was summoned here by that boy.”

Tubel nodded in the direction of Roy and then widened his eyes.

“Wait here please, your highness’.”

Tubel immediately blinked over to Roy who was in a pitiable state.

“Roy-Roy! Honey, wake up!”

Mathilde was shaking her son’s shoulders as she brought him limply into her arms.

“Ma’am. I’m sorry to ask-”

“…!!”

Mathilde flinched in shock at the sudden words spoken behind her as Tubel appeared right behind her with a blink.

“May I see your boy? I may be able to help.”

“….”

Mathilde looked at him with skeptical eyes. She did not know who this man was but she did know he was part of the kingdom and was fighting against the beast in front of them not too long ago.

“I can vouch for Sir Tubel. He may not be a healer, but it looks like a problem regarding his internal circuitry which can be looked at by him.”

“En.”

Tubel nodded as Lucius appeared behind him and spoke as Lucius had caught on to the sight of his new disciple in pain.

‘What in the world did he do?’

Lucius pondered as his eyes looked at the blood seeping from Roy’s orifices and the broken glass vial next to him.

Mathilde looked at him nervously but then laid Roy down for them to look at.

“Hm..”

Tubel closed his eyes, putting his hand on Roy’s stomach; right above his mana core.

[What is it? I’ve never seen this kind of thing happen before to a Wizard in all my years on battlefields and in the academies.]

[I’m not too sure, but…. I think this boy is suffering from an extreme overload of mana capable for his body right now. His internal circuits are constantly exploding and reconnecting themselves in a brutal fashion.]

Lucius asked Tubel in a telepathic conversation to not worry Roy’s mother, Mathilde any more than she already was.

[Are you able to do anything about it?]

[I can try. It’s unlikely that it will stop the pain, but I can try and inject my mana into his body and coat the circuits in a protective membrane. There’s a lot of problems with this, since it won’t do anything about preventing them from bursting, but it will allow them to stay stable for the time being until he regains consciousness.]

[…Please do.]

Tubel looked at Lucius with a raised eyebrow as he heard Lucius pleas.

Lucius was a Swordmaster from the Empire, one who was prideful and yet humble in front of the Emperor. He rarely asked others for favors, as anybody would try to take advantage of a favor from such a man, but Lucius’ eyes were completely sincere.

[I’ll do it. But, we will need to talk about this later…. that is if we can get out of here alive.]

Tubel looked into the distance of where Argenta and Ifrit were.

[He summoned that thing didn’t he?]

[Yes. I’m almost certain that even the High Elves of the Helvaheim Council can’t summon something that powerful.]

[….]

Lucius felt odd.

His new disciple truly was someone incredibly mysterious.

The way he coldly analyzed things, his incredible perseverance…. That cold and pent-up rage hidden in his eyes.

There were only so many secrets.

It didn’t make sense how some rural countryside boy could have so many things about him. His mother was completely normal and yet the child was like a walking circus that was full of surprises.

Tubel then continued.

[What does seem certain, is that….. That thing is here to save us.]

[This is a mess.]

Lucius replied bluntly, stating the facts.

* * *

Nate felt a thumping in his heart, watching the incredible battle before him.

‘What is this…?’

– Watch carefully. Even I, Varpulis, did not see this happening. He…. Ifrit, is not someone to be trifled with.
‘Ifrit…? You mean the thing that is battling that… Dragon? And Varpulis?!’

– Yes.

‘You… you’re the god of thunder aren’t you?!’

– Yes. You know well boy. You’ve been chosen as my apostle. I hope you understand well. But watch carefully. That level of power is something you will need in order to save the ones you love in the future.
– The future? Do you mean….

– Silence. Watch carefully. We will be in touch. You have much training to do before you become able to channel my powers correctly. Just know… Do not trust anyone blindly. Even others of my kind or yours for that matter.


Nate was confused. He learned of the events that had happened while he was.. Unconscious.

Varpulis, the God of Thunder, and one of the few neutral gods had descended into his body, naming him his apostle. Nate had very little knowledge of the Gods as he grew up in a such a rural place with no education, but what he was certain of, what that deep inside of his core, there was a very powerful spark that was hiding and if felt as if Varpulis had indeed left his mark for Nate to grow stronger.

“How much more… do I have to grow to reach such a place?”

Nate was only 8 years-old, but he couldn’t help but feel in awe of the might of the two Transcendental beings in front of him duking it out.

More than all of this, Nate looked to his friend who was lying next to Tubel and the 4th Swordmaster of the Kingdom.

“Just who is he….”

Nate had never questioned Roy. He had complete blind faith in his friend still, but it was all too odd. How did he know so much? They had grown up in the same village, hadn’t they?

Nate turned his head and looked at Roy’s mother Mathilde.

“Hic….. Roy…. hic…”

She was sobbing in utter disbelief and shock at her son’s comatose state.

She definitely didn’t know about Roy either.

Much had to be revealed.

* * *
Ba-boom. Da-da-da-da…. BOOOM!



Ifrit threw a flurry of blows at Argenta’s large draconic body. Each blow contained the dark flame of hellfire, embedded into it’s blows.

<Urk….>


Argenta was flung back and crashed onto the dirt, shockwaves shaking the entire ground and trees miles back.

– It seems you can definitely take quite a beating for a lowlife lizard.


Ifrit mocked Argenta as he smiled cruelly. Ifrit was not even revealing half of his strength. This may be a lower-rank Dragon of the race, but there was no way this Dragon had been sent by the Lord if he was not capable.

Not only that, Ifrit had no intention of finishing this fight quickly or quietly.

How long had it been since he had been able to fight against one of these damnable beasts or been released from his seal? He had no intention of finishing this enjoyable fight so early, and he knew Argenta still had much more to show.

<Bastard…. You… >

Argenta raised his large body up, shaking the dust from his wings. His beautiful black and violet scales melted and healed unnaturally.

‘Do I have to…? Lord said never to use this power unless our lives were at stake.’

Argenta thought as such before coming to a decision.

He had learned this technique thanks to the Lord teaching his ways to him after his several travels across the many realms they had conquered.

Argenta and the other Dragons, including the Lord himself, detested the form of unleashing this power, yet there was no better way to unleash this power in such a destructive manner.

Dragons may be arrogant and forceful, following their true instincts as warmongers, but based on the magical sciences they had studied, including the biology of such a form, they knew it was a powerful technique that also allowed their magic to become much more powerful.

<Polymorph.>

Argenta’s body started to shine in an eerie black light and Ifrit smiled as he saw this.

-Finally getting serious now are we?


Ifrit knew of this form. It was something the Lord had used against him in their fight against each other when Ifrit had been sealed.

Though… even in this form, The Dragon Lord had defeated him, and Ifrit also knew that the Lord had another form after this… maybe even more after just one that he did not show him.

Nonetheless, it was about to get much more interesting.

The black light started to dim and Argenta’s figure shrunk considerably. In fact, it was a form that astounded all those who saw the fight from afar.

“A… human? No…”

Desmond, the First Prince muttered under his breath.

Argenta’s hair started to sway in the cold winds of the night. His black hair fluttered in an odd visage as his dark scales and skin had disappeared and a beautiful man of pale complexion took his place.

Dark armor covered his lower body as robes covered his upper body that did not do a good job of hiding his lean and muscular body underneath it.

Argenta had polymorphed into his draconic human form.

The reason the Lord had researched this and had experimented with this form was simple. Their Dragon Hearts were the biggest thing standing in the way of completing this form, yet they had found a way to use the polymorph magic to change the nature of their hearts…into a human magic core.

The only difference was that their core was oddly different in the way that mana flowed from their bodies, as it flowed in the reverse direction.

When Argenta had spotted Roy, he had noticed this boy having a very similar figure and body structure to a polymorphed one of their kind. Hence why he thought of Roy as a Draconic Human; an incredibly young and weak one at that.

In this form, their mana was compressed, much more violent and explosive. Allowing their powers to multiply two-fold.

Argenta, by human standards, was like a 9-star Grand Magus, but had explosive power that nearly doubled that due to the nature of this flow of mana and improvised heart. All Dragons were also commanded to learn several martial arts from the realms they plundered and had become able to wield a power known as aura over the hundreds and thousands of years of practice they used.

Each aura had its own unique characteristics, different from any other and was based on their own concepts of power.

Argenta’s aura took on the form of something quite unique, even within his own kind.

Flow.

He found flow in every living and inanimate thing. That flow was something that could be swayed, followed and used towards victory. He could even read the flow of other’s techniques as it followed a much greater power than any concept or Law of the universe.

<Get ready… you fucking monster.>

– That’s rich coming from you.
Ifrit didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence as Argenta’s figure suddenly disappeared.

When he reappeared, he was in front of Ifrit, swinging his polymorphed fist at Ifrit’s side.

– How interesting. You’ve mastered aura, and the use of mana and yet you still have much to learn.


Aura, the pinnacle of mastering a martial art or weapon, was only another power along with mana or ki that was part of the universe’s several powers.

But Ifrit had lived much longer than a young dragon like Argenta despite being the youngest Spirit King.

There was a reason the Dragons had not waged war back on the Spirit Realm. And that was because the Dragon Lord did not leave unscathed from his fight from Ifrit.

– Don’t piss your pants boy.


Suddenly a very ominous power erupted from Ifrit’s body.

The dark night sky turned blood red and the very atmosphere shook.

Ifrit turned serious.
– Time to end this little charade.


Argenta’s fist landed on Ifrit’s body… but when it did…. His entire arm burst into a mess of flesh and blood, mangled beyond recognition.

<What…..?!>

– Try not to die too quickly, otherwise this wouldn’t be too fun for me.


Ifrit’s canines were revealed as red fire and lightning swirled around him.

Chapter 25 – Fin