The golem held its ground against the black dragon, each clash of scales against stone sending tremors through the chamber. Despite the turmoil, Kain’s focus remained on the search for the core of the relic.
“Over there!” Jin shouted, pointing toward a darker recess in the cavern, away from the central altar where the dragon was wreaking havoc. “I think I see something!”
They rushed toward the shadows, their breath quickening with hope. The closer they got, the more Kain felt a faint thrumming in the air from an intensely powerful spiritual power, at a level far beyond what was restricted by the relic.
He rounded a corner, and there it was: the core of the relic. Nestled in a rocky alcove high above, the core appeared to be a smooth, crystalline orb that shimmered with a rainbow of light. It was approximately the size of a head and had a translucent shield surrounding it.
An electric blue eagle, the contract of another second-year, flew above to try and grab the core but was violently repelled by the shield.
“Sigh,” Alexei said, shaking his head. “It may only allow humans through. The contracts can’t retrieve it.”
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“Then I’ll go,” Kain decided, before boarding the back of one of his Vespirae while several others surrounded him. Determination flooding through him as he ignored the screams and chaos behind him. As he neared the core, the shield flickered, as he reached his arm in, allowing it through. freewebnvel.coɱ
He reached out and grasped the core, its energy coursing through him like a torrent of electricity. A surge of warmth flooded his senses, momentarily banishing the fear that clung to him.
“Got it!” he shouted, holding the core up high so the others could see as he removed it from the shield, but his triumph was short-lived.
The black dragon roared, its body tensing as it prepared to unleash a devastating attack. Kain’s heart sank as he realized the dragon was likely to perform its greatest attack yet. “Get back!” he yelled, but the words were drowned out by the dragon’s growl.
Before anyone could react, the dragon’s form began to swell, dark energy coiling around it like a storm. Kain’s instincts screamed at him to flee, but he was rooted in place, core in hand as what felt like an invisible hand of evil energy had a vice grip on him to prevent his movements.
With a final surge of energy, the golem stepped forward, its massive frame moving to shield the group. It thrust its arms upward, summoning a barrier of rock to encase the dragon. The ground quaked as the blast erupted, the force shaking the cavern.
Kain shielded his eyes as the explosion detonated, a violent wave of energy erupting from the dragon. The golem’s rock barrier expanded outward, struggling to contain the blast. But the strength of the explosion was overwhelming, sending chunks of debris and rock flying in every direction. Kain felt himself thrown back, the core slipping from his fingers and rolling away.
As the dust settled, Kain staggered to his feet, scanning the chaotic scene. The golem had been utterly consumed by the explosion, its rocky form reduced to rubble. The air was thick with the horrid scent of burnt stone. However, its sacrificed prevented anymore of the 9 students and their contracts from dying.
A stillness fell over the cavern. Kain turned, his eyes narrowing as he searched for the dragon. There was no sign of it, no growl of fury. No pull from his affinity either. However, he didn’t feel reassured by the absence of the pull.
“Is it… dead?” a second-year asked, his voice trembling.
Kain shook his head, unease creeping in. “No. It’s too quiet. It shouldn’t be this easy. Even a group of 9-star beast tamers hadn’t been able to completely eradicate whatever was inside the dragon.”
His instincts flared. There was no sense of relief; instead, a chill of dread settled in his bones. The remnants of the golem were all that remained, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the ancient enemy had escaped in the chaos.
Likely taking advantage of the moment the core was removed from the shield where it couldn’t access it, it sacrificed the body of its host to form a terrible explosion.
There were already cracks in its cage, as evidenced by the fact that Kain found an egg contaminated by it, and its minions are running around in the areas of the relic outside of this cave.
Therefore, it likely used the blast to exacerbate one of the cracks after the core was exposed momentarily, just wide enough so that the portion of whatever was controlling this dragon and was stuck in this relic could escape.
Kain shared what he sensed with Serena. After all, he was the only one that could sense what was controlling the dragon and could confirm that it was gone.
He was worried that the terrifying microorganism had managed to escape.
“I don’t think it’s truly escaped.” Serena said coldly. “Although whatever was controlling the dragon is an unusual creature, it still has a soul, otherwise you wouldn’t sense a pull from it. Its soul was divided and sealed with its dragon host in a variety of relics. When it exploded the dragon, it didn’t just destroy its host, it also completely abandoned its material form as well.
I could sense its spirit for a fraction of a second. Normally that spirit would also be trapped within the relic, but taking advantage of the explosion the spirit escaped, and as an incomplete spirit it can’t exert much power. Most likely, the portion of the spirit will make its way towards the nearest relic containing another portion of its soul with the aim of eventually becoming whole.”
‘She could sense it for a second? Does her affinity have to do with the spirit or souls? But based on the contracts of hers that I know of, that’s not quite right…’
“Although this is just a theory, I do have a method of confirming for sure. But it will come at a great cost. It’d be better to just inform the school and have them investigate for themselves.
After all, if this portion of the soul is added to another relic, it’d suddenly strengthen the trapped creature within that relic, meaning that another one of these prisons would likely re-emerge in the future.”
Hearing Serena’s explanation, Kain was a little more reassured. If it had taken the opportunity to start infecting everyone in Dark Moon right now, Kain would have thought it’d have been better to not even try to get the core.
After all, although the relic was clearly beginning to fail and it’d likely have escaped in the future anyways, it’d have still been better if its escape was far off rather than now.
However, if their entrance into the relic resulted in it damaging itself enough to escape that it was only the powerless remnant of a soul until it joins with another piece, then he could say that they’d at least accomplished something worthwhile.