POV Wyrm Venenumius:
The dragon stood on all four, the huge mass of armor, magma, and crystals towering above the sea of magma. Mana swirled and spiraled around it, the bright blue light passing through the black clouds.
The wyrm hovered in the sky as if contemplating whether to turn back or continue.
Until now the wyrm felt undefeatable, its memories of how it slaughtered large groups of mortals still vivid in its mind.
They were its pride, but now the wyrm felt weak and insignificant in the presence of the huge and majestic dragon.
The wyrm’s shiny, elegant-looking, silvery scales looked slightly blurry as if they were covered in a thin, microscopic layer of water.
Two long, straight-growing horns crowned its head, they looked unstable and ethereal, as if they were made of unimaginable pure water.
A long, transparent spike made of material that looked like solidified water stuck out of its tail’s end, with ripples of energy passing through it.
Venomous-looking green and purple veins-like lines branched within it, pulsing in the faint light.
The dragon on the ground raised their head, the two reptilian eyes looking straight at the wyrm.
Its whole body shuddered as the instincts encoded within each of its cells screamed at it to bow.
A terrifying aura came from the dragon’s direction, the whole air rippling and vibrating under its intense radiance.
The aura steamrolled through the whole sky, and the surrounding mountains, with nothing able to even slow it down.
The wyrm couldn’t even react before the aura reached it, flowing and surging around its scales.
Waves of mana and heat were passing through its body, its scales almost feeling as if they were on fire.
The amount of mana radiating was so large that it was like drowning in the sea, its mana-sensitive senses getting totally overwhelmed.
Still, the wyrm flapped its wings, gliding straight toward the valley with the dragon. It refused to turn back like a coward, ‘Such a shame would haunt me for the rest of my life!’
The wyrm flew against the aura that was constantly pushing against its body, it was like swimming against a current, each flap of its wings tiring it out at an unprecedented rate.
The dragon and the ground quickly grew closer together with the wyrm’s caution. It landed straight on top of a tall cliff, far from the burning seas of magma.
Without even thinking about it, Venenumius lowered its head in respect, “Your Draconic Highness.”
The two huge golden eyes turned towards it once more, glowing like a pair of reflectors. Now the wyrm felt even smaller, the presence of the golden eyes growing even more terrifying from the close range.
The heat was quickly growing stronger and stronger, the mana and immensely hot volcanic smoke constantly surging and flowing around its scales, smashing and burning against their sleek and smooth surface.
However, the wyrm refused to show up any sign of weakness as it moved the mana through its body with innate proficiency.
Its aura exploded out, pushing back against the unending tide of the dragon’s aura, the burning hot smoke getting deflected as if there were some invisible barrier.
The heat immediately subsided, Venenumius’s confidence quickly returning as the dragon’s pressure subsided, ‘I can face a true dragon and stand. I will not falter, and I will not retreat even a step back.’
“Why have you entered my territory? What do you want?” The words were simple, but each of their syllables carried an unimaginable authority and energy. All of the cells in its body reacted, forcing the wyrm to speak.
At that moment, it finally realized something that sent jolts of surprise and shock through its brain, ‘No, this is not an ordinary true dragon. This is a dragon lord.’
The wyrm was shocked, not even expecting to stumble upon a being sitting so close to the peak of the whole draconic authority.
There were only a few beings in the whole world that stood above the dragon lords, only the dragon kings reigning above the main elements and the dragon god.
‘Angels, demons, reapers… they are all powerful, but nothing can face the might and majesty of dragons.’ Each of the four races was calling themself the greatest but the wyrm knew the truth and everything else was just lies!
The wyrm collected its resolve and spoke in a confident, yet respectful voice, “I wish to gain land within your territory, in exchange, I shall guard it and protect it.”
The dragon didn’t respond, instead, its powerful aura retracted, making the wyrm subconsciously breathe out in relief.
The immense pressure that felt like it would crush its scales was finally gone.
“That is acceptable. In that case, go into the arena and crush the mortals. Prove your superiority and gain more territory, lose and you will gain less.”
The wyrm’s heart blazed in anger and humiliation, its golden eyes brightly glowing, ‘Me, a wyrm, and loose to a mortal? That is ridiculous! It might be a dragon lord, but this is looking down on me way too much!’
The wyrm spread its wings as it bent its legs and launched into the air, its eyes still glowing in anger. Yet it didn’t dare to go against the words of the dragon lord.
Nor could it afford to leave and refuse, ‘This is my best option. Where else can I safely build my territory? The whole world is already split between different powers.’𝑶𝔳𝗅xt.𝒸𝑶𝐌
“Wait, let me test your power!” The dragon’s stern voice caught up to the wyrm as if there were no distance between them. Its whole body froze, and then the powerful aura exploded once more.
The wyrm, however, refused to just give up or show any fear, its pride not allowing it to show such cowardly behavior, its eyes and sharp claws glinting in the bright blue light of the mana.
In the meantime, the dragon spread its huge wings, their size so massive that they obscured the whole sky, but it remained firmly on the ground, showing its superiority and provoking the wyrm.
It was like saying, ‘Look, I don’t even have to move from my place to beat you.’
The whole sky rumbled, the black tsunami of clouds and smoke rolling through the sky. The blue electricity crackled within them, the lightning loudly rumbling and thundering.
The next moment, a bright light flashed within the black canvas with a massive bolt of lightning condensing right above the wyrm.
It knew that it couldn’t move away in time, the running from lightning was an idea worthy of an idiot.
Venenumius fed mana into the horns crowning its head, both of them shining in bright blue light. A large magic circle formed above its head, quickly spinning and pulsing.
Water materialized out of nowhere, flowing around its body.
The aura of the dragon swirled once more, the blue magic circles flickering and destabilizing. The mana was leaking all over it, the glowing magic letters flickering as if they were going to collapse at any second.
‘What the…’ The wyrm in panic increased its focus, its mind working in an override to stabilize it, patching one hole after another.
It was like keeping a boat riddled with holes afloat with just a bucket. It was possible, but at the same time, it required effort and attention that could be used for something else.
It was a disgrace, its whole pride getting hurt, ‘What is this? I am a wyrm, I should be able to cast such basic magic without any effort!’
However, it had no time to think about it as the lightning bolt had already formed within the black clouds and was hovering above its head like the sword of Damocles.
In the next moment, the magical circuit pulsed, a bubble of water expanding out and enveloping the wyrm’s form in the protective barrier.
The wyrm’s never had powerful bodies like dragons that could just tank hits and attacks without care, they had to always rely on their magic to defend themselves.
The blinding flash of light illuminated the land and the lightning smashed against it, the blue and golden light brightly glowing, the electrical tendrils slithering along its surface, the bubble safely directing it away from Venomius’s body.
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon felt like laughing, with the fire of greed burning within him. He felt like laughing, knowing that the wyrm would disturb the balance of both the upcoming tournament and the war.
Players and natives blinded by their own greed were already working, setting their betting rings.
‘I will let my minions register the wyrm as a random participant, and then I will bet on their victory. With almost everyone betting against some unknown participant without any reputation, I am bound to make some easy gold!’
Just thinking about that gold made his heart beat louder and faster, and then he erupted into laughter.
“Hahaha” ‘However for that, I need to make sure that the wyrm will not fail.’ He wasn’t some musclehead that would fight without any reason, but now he had to make sure that his investment was safe.