138 Unfulfilled Thanks
The bandits gasped, seeing the black dragon flapping its wings, flying toward them at an incredible speed.
“A dragon!” one of the bandits cried, dropping his crossbow.
“It’s a black dragon,” Roger growled, “Leave everything and retreat to the forest. It’s probably coming to eat the horses and rob the caravan of gold,” He glared at the sky, grinding his teeth.
CLENSH! Roberta hugged Roger’s leg, biting him.
“Leave me, woman! I love your affection, but not now,” Roger growled, trying to kick her away.
“Hehe!” Roberta smiled, “Guess death is coming. You will get eaten with us,”
Roger pulled his sword, stabbing Roberta in the guts and pulling his leg, “The bitch,” He looked at the sky, seeing the dragon getting closer. “Huh?” The dragon suddenly disappeared.
Roger searched the sky with his eyes, “Where did it go?” He growled, “Don’t matter, we run,” He turned, looking back only to see the massive dragon standing there.
Arad used [Void walk] when he got close enough to reach them in one hop.
The bandits froze as Arad glared at them, a disturbing purple flame oozing from his eyes.
Gerald smiled, “Karma hits well…” He glared at Roger before his consciousness faded, “Death came for us…”
Roger stared at Arad, not wanting to move. ^The first to move will die. I can feel it in my bones,^ Roger thought, glaring at Arad’s eyes.
“Say something,” Arad growled, his voice sounding like a deep trumpet rushing from the abyss. Far away yet close, loud but akin to whispering. It gave the bandits the creeps as if Arad whispered in their ears. Void dragons and Psychic by nature.
People can hear Arad’s voice by ears and mind. And that’s why they could hear him inside their chests and head.
Roger started sweating. ^It can talk. Say something! Don’t anger it,^ He gulped, “We give up the hunt to the great dragon. Here, you can have everything,” He pointed at the carriage.
Thud! Roberta grabbed a pebble and threw it toward Arad, “Fucking…Lizard,” She growled, barely able to speak.
Roger glared down at her, ^This bitch! Do you want to get us all killed,^
“Please don’t listen to her, great dragon. I will kill her immediately…^ Roger said with a fake smile and river rushing on his face.
“Woman,” Arad stared at Roberta, “What do you seek?”
“Death…” Roberta said.
CLACK! In the blink of an eye. Only Roger’s legs stood beside her. SPALT! The legs fell on the ground, twitching. Arad looked at his bloodied claws. The void in them absorbed the blood to his stomach, cleaning his palms.
“AhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” the other bandits screamed in fear, running toward the forest.
BAM! Arad ran after them, trampling trees like an unstoppable monster. ROAR!
One of the bandits looked back as he ran away, seeing Arad running toward him with an open jaw, growling like a crazed dog. “Get away! Monster,”
The bandit pulled his sword, swinging at Arad as he got closer. CLANG! Arad didn’t even stop. He stomped the bandit and absorbed the corpse into his stomach.
“SPREAD! SPREAD OUT!” One of the bandits shouted, runny astray from the rest.
The bandits spread apart. Arad has one body, and they are many. He shouldn’t be able to chase them all.
Arad saw the bandits spread ants. For a moment, this seemed like a problem. [Worry not. As long as they are intelligent creatures with thoughts and within fifty meters of your body, they won’t be able to hide.]
BAM! BAM! BAM! Arad chased one bandit who looked to wear the best clothes. He wanted to be gentle as they might be the ones carrying valuable things.
Thud! Arad swung his claw, catching the bandit. He wanted to bite the head off, so he got the man closer to his jaw. “Let me! Let me go!” the man cried with tears, pulling what looked like a butter knife from his pocket.
Arad clenched his jaw as the man poked his scales with the butter knife. [ARAD! Don’t let the knife touch you. It has magic!]
BOOM! Blood exploded from Arad’s chest muscles in two spots. The pain caused him to fall to the ground just after he killed the bandit. “What is this?” He growled, glaring at the knife.
[I don’t know. I only saw that it has magic.]
Arad touched his chest with his claws. He was bleeding a lot, “Damn it,” He quickly healed by absorbing the blood from his stomach. That hit is nothing for a vampire, but it’s impressive an item could damage a dragon in one hit.
“What did it do? My chest exploded?” Arad asked the scales where his chest exploded.
[To be precise, your nipples exploded.] Mom replied.
“I don’t have nipples, at least not in this form.” Arad gasped.
[You have them, but they hide beneath your scales.] Mom replied.
“Didn’t Alcott say something about a nipple-exploding weapon? Was it a butter knife?” Arad growled, putting the knife and the man’s corpse in his stomach.
[He did. The knife must found its way to the bandit’s hands in some way,]
^At first, I thought the weapon looked stupid, but if affects anything, this magic item is scary.^ Arad rushed after the other bandits. ^If there is a nipple one, would there be a head-exploding weapon?^
[It could exist. We should avoid all magic items until we know what they can do.]
^Like Alcott said,^
ROARRRRRRRR! Arad opened his chaw, charging a breath behind the running bandits. They looked back, crying as the world turned black. CLAP!
The void rushed from Arad’s mouth, clearing the air from a 50-meter cone. Everyone inside, the bandits, the trees, and even the stones and dirt, started disintegrating and evaporating as they stood pressureless in the void.
Arad could see the trees and the bandit’s bodies expanding as the full weight of the atmosphere came crashing down and flattened their bodies.
“AGHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” The bandits who ran to the sides screamed in terror upon seeing the instant massacre, “Isn’t this a black dragon? Where is the acid?”
“Damn it!” One of the bandits growled, looking back, “That was my brother. Everyone run away!” He turned back toward Arad, lifting his shield and sword.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The bandit rushed toward Arad, turning his shield to reveal a crossbow. BAM! He fired a bolt.
CRACK! Arad could see the bolt slowly flying toward him. He twisted his neck like a weaving snake, smacking the bolt with the side of his face deflecting it.
“GWAAAAAAAAA!” The bandit shouted, jumping into the sky.
Arad opened his jaw. ROAR! He unleashed a fire breath.
The bandit stood on his shield mid-air, “You aren’t a black dragon!” The shield deflected the flames, splattering them everywhere. [Don’t use the fire. You will cause a wildfire,]
As the flames are deflected, the bandit lifted his sword, swinging at Arad with all of his might, [Action surge]
SWOSH! The bandit launched four simultaneous slashes, aiming at Arad’s neck. THWACK! The slashes hit, releasing a loud sound and a small shockwave as the bandit rolled behind Arad.
CRACK! As the bandit stood, his sword exploded, shattering due to the impact. “HARD!” He growled.
Arad swung his tail, smacking the bandit and sending him flying. ZON! Arad teleported above the bandit in mid-air and smacked him with his claw.
The bandit hit the ground, dead. BAM! Arad landed on him and absorbed the corpse to his stomach before rushing at the other bandits. [Dumbass, the flames!] Mom growled.
Arad stopped and looked back. Some trees were catching on fire. ^Can I use water?^
[Just do it!]
Arad opened his jaw, unleashing a burst of water. The water put the flames out, and Arad quickly turned to the running bandits.
“Why are you running?” He growled, teleporting forward to catch another two.
CLAP! Arad flattened them with a single smack.
As the ground shook, Roberta slowly opened her eyes. She could trees flying above the forest, bandits screaming, and the sound of stones cracking.
Roberta tried to move. She felt a sharp pain in her side. Looking down, Gerald has pushed his palm into her stomach wound, stopping the bleeding. And he lay there with a pale face.
“Father…” She growled, turning her head to the carriage, “Useless idiots! Get the fuck out,” She coughed blood.
Six men and three women looked at her from inside the carriage, “Did they go away?”
“Cowards, bring the healing potions!” Roberta growled. Those idiots were the workers her father hired to help haul the goods. She won’t blame them for not showing up when the bandits or the dragon came, but they didn’t even try to heal them when the danger left.
One of the men looked back, “But it’s in Gerald’s locked carriage. We don’t have the key.”
“Damn, you! Come take it from his pocket!” As Roberta growled, the ground shook violently, as she saw the black dragon jump to the sky. FLAP! He then extended his massive wings, flapping them one to fly higher.
“HAAAAAAAA!” the men screamed in fear, hiding back inside the carriage, leaving her and her father bleeding to death.
Arad flew back to the carriage. BAM! He landed in front of Roberta, glaring at her, “The bandits are dead,”𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝
Roberta smiled, “At least we won’t die alone,” She closed her eyes.
Arad extended his claws toward Roberta, pulling two healing potions from his stomach, “Take those,” He dropped them on her body, and her eyes burst open.
“What?” She gasped.
“You don’t have much time, do you?” Arad growled.
Roberta grabbed one of the potions, attempting to pour it into her father’s mouth, but he was lying on his stomach. Arad helps her flip him with his claw.
After having her father drink the potion, she drank hers and pulled his hand from her wound. She could feel the pain at ease. And she could finally breathe without coughing blood.
“You saved our lives,” Roberta gasped, “Is there any way I can repay you?”
“Nothing that I can think of,” Arad replied, “Besides paying for the potions,”
Roberta reached into her father’s pocket, pulling his purse, “This should have a few gold coins,”
Arad cut the purse open with his claw and only took one gold coin as that was more than the potions were worth. And even as an adventurer quest, he would have been paid about fifty silver coins.
Arad turned to leave, but Roberta shouted, “Wait, just one coin? What do you seek if not gold?” She saw as if took nothing.
Arad glared at her, “There is something, but it would be rude to ask for it. Considering the circumstances.”
“Say it!” Roberta growled.
“I’m looking for women to bear my eggs.” Arad replied, “See, I don’t want to take advantage of the circumstances as the child would come for me in the future for it,” Since the mother’s memories are the ones that the void dragon learns from if the mother was unsatisfied, the child could bear the same grudge at his father.
BAM! FLAP! Arad jumped into the sky, spreading his wings with a flap.
“WAIT!” Roberta shouted, but Arad was already far gone.
THUD! Roberta smacked her fist on the ground, “I will find you. Your lair must be close,” she growled.