POV Alesia:
The previously majestic palace of the black marble was now in ruin. The cracked and split pillars collapsed on the ground, forming bridges between islands of the ruble in the vast ocean of lava.
The short elf stood on the largest island, her hair covered with ash and snow. A pillar of light was pouring from the hole in front of her, connecting the black ground with the black sky.
‘Why is everything destroyed?’
Like a king, the dragon throned on an island of pure gold, the light reflecting off the shiny golden coins, making the hoard appear on fire. His body was obscured by thick clouds that even she couldn’t see through them.
Like honor guards, the monstrous war draconids stood their guard all over the charred islands of the ruble, their golden eyes curiously observing each of her moves.
She gulped down, her heart almost leaping out of her chest as she stared at a pit in the ground filled to the brim with liquid glowing so brightly that it made her eyes squint.
The reality was contorting around it, the energy beaming out of it, making the light bend and refract and the air shiver and move.
‘Is it pure mana? How many mages would be needed to produce this? One could probably fuel up a fleet of sky ships with it.’
“Step in. You need to build more resistance.” The dragon’s voice brought her back to reality, making her take a step forward, her knees weakening.
She gaped with fear at the bath of energy, her mind alerting her against even approaching it.
‘Mana in it must be enough to blow off an entire town. Yet, I am supposed to dip into it?’
“Don’t worry, my minion; it is all my mana. And you are my minion. You will survive and grow stronger.”
The words of her master were enough.
She jumped straight into it. Her eyes went wide, her entire skin feeling weird and incomprehensible as she crossed the boundary of the energy pool.
At once, she felt freezing cold, blazing heat, and a shocking electric current all over her body.
The pain brought tears to her heterochromatic eyes, but she gritted her teeth and closed her palms into fists.
She didn’t even cry, refusing to shame herself in front of the dragon that was willing to go as far for her as to bleed himself.𝑜𝗏xt.𝗇t
‘It is a gift. It would be an insult if I let my pain keep me from taking it.’
She felt all the energy flow through her body, her cells absorbing it and releasing it as if her body had turned into a conductor. With each cycle, the pain subsided by the tiniest amount possible.
“Resist that pain; you need to build resistance against my mana. You need your body to absorb it to become stronger and more durable. That is the only way you can survive.”
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon silently watched his minion silently suffer. Her face was calm, with only a few tears flowing down her cheeks, but he felt it. He felt the pain she was going through, with the help of their connection through blood.
Yet she calmly stood amidst the energy blowing past her and burning around her skin, her hair moving as if someone reversed gravity.
‘It is necessary.’ The dragon hated to let his minions through so much pain, but it was what he needed to do. He was blindly attempting something that no one had ever done. So he refused to take any risks, ‘I will take all precautions, no matter how small the chance; they will help.’
“Come!” The dragon turned towards the nearest war draconid, genuflecting in the shadows, their large body looking weak and pathetic compared to the majestic dragon.
‘I am still the best here….’ His heart throbbed with pride when he compared himself with his lesser brothen.
The dragon bit his tongue, and glowing red blood, liquified mana, and golden glowing blood leaked out.
The air moved, separating the three liquids from each other into three separate blobs, each shining in different colors.
The beasts and the elf froze, their eyes dilating as they watched the small blob of golden blood hover in the air.
The divine energy perpetrated through the entire island, the faint golden brilliance showering everything in its perfect light.
“Come take it!” The blob shot straight towards the wide open mouth of the draconid, its eyes shining in joy, its magmatic saliva leaking on the ground, and loudly sizzling.
The golden blood vanished in the depth of its throat, and its divine presence subsided, freeing the elf from her trance, the jaws closing right behind it.
The golden light enveloped the draconid, the golden lightning and fire swirling and orbiting around its body, sucking in all the elemental energy into it.
‘Still no explosion… that is better than expected.’
Just as he wanted to celebrate, the beast froze as if it had become a statue. The golden energy exploded and intensified. Its armor shattered, its scales bending and slowly disintegrating, with a layer of white frost slowly creeping all over its body.
“Enough!” The dragon’s horns pulsed, and the golden energy dispersed from the draconid as if it had never even existed.
The beast immediately collapsed to the ground, its body still shivering with blood leaking from its eyes, mouth, and even nostrils.
‘Just as I thought… the divine energy is too potent.’ Vesuvius frowned, knowing that when even a resilient beast such as the draconid couldn’t handle it, the chances of the elf surviving it were close to nil.
‘Maybe diluting it? Or alternatively, prolonged exposure to smaller concentrations could work. Damn, this will need more experiments. And I didn’t even get to the soul part yet. Also, I should give it more of my regular blood. It needs resistance against frost.’
The dragon looked one more time at the injured war beast lying on the ground.
Its body was battered, with magma flowing all over it, slowly repairing its broken armor. The beast looked as if it had just come from a war.
‘I was too rushed. Letting it slowly absorb tiny amounts of my divine blood will likely be safer. Also, I likely need to actively control it all the time to prevent it from going berserk and destroying its body.’
He already knew what he needed for his next experiment, so he turned to the next beast and said, “Come, now is your opportunity!”
The beast left its spot, its golden eyes burning with greed. Its eyes showed no fear even though it just saw its kin ravaged by the blood.
“Me, blood! Me, power!”
‘Hopefully, it will make you at least a little bit smarter. Or my army will turn into a joke the moment one of them speaks.’
POV ???:
A small crowd gathered in a square, their eyes on an official standing on a small raised podium.
The tall kobolds in their heavy enchanted armor stood like sculptures around the stage, the runic blades of their polearms threateningly looming over the crowd.
“What insanity will the new administration announce this time?”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
The official in black raised his hand, and the crowd quieted down. His voice bellowed across the square, ringing with magic.
“From the decisions of our great council of ministers, the new crown law was signed! From this day on, all the temples and churches that are not aligned with the kingdom’s official religion will lose their tax exception, gaining the duty to pay taxes from their income like everyone else!”
The murmurs rose within the crowd, but the official continued, “From this day on, all the activities of the priesthood not aligned with the official faith of the kingdom will also be taxed.”
The mutters were getting louder and louder, but no one dared to raise their voice under the aura of the armored sentinels.
“Every healing, every blessing, and every spiritual service will contribute to the state coffer to help us with reconstruction efforts after the great liberation war!”
Finally, the shouts of outcry resounded through the square. The women cried while the men waved their fists in outrage.
“You sold out!”
“This is tyranny!”
“Blasphemy!”
“Fuck you!”
The official didn’t even look at them as he continued in his monotone tone, the guards in black, heavy armor giving him all the assurance he needed, “From this day on, Dragon Church will be considered to be the one and only official faith within the borders of the kingdom!”