Chapter 158: Prelude to Grim.

Chapter 158: Prelude to Grim.

[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Moderate)] [Sanctified Blaze] [Stage Fever (Moderate)] [Various Spell Buffs] [Insatiable Glutton] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Scattered around the entrance of the cave, my scale-dust was ready to detonate at any time, especially with the flames roaring from [Dragon Fire]s fire arena effect so close to the scale-dust. Preventing the dust from exploding prematurely required me to spend mana on [Aerokinesis] and [Pyrokinesis] to keep the heat from detonating it.

But, the result was quite worth it, almost as if I had a demolition fetish. The moment any peaceful option was off the table, I snapped my fingers and caused all my scale-dust to go boom. The shrill cries of goblins and kobolds echoed at first but were quickly muffled by how intense the explosion was. Making the grimgarian choose either to suffocate or to retreat back from where they came from was a pretty aggressive idea, but better than nothing.

Smoking them out in the first place was a pretty good plan from Saori, something that I should have thought of myself, but didnt. It drew them out from their cave, so I didnt need to fight them inside their territory where they had the advantage with ambushes, traps, and other devious shenanigans, and brought them into my playing field outside where the sun shone.

Strange, I still feel quite a lot of signals. Did my blast not hit them?

Honestly, it was hard to believe that any of those goblins, kobolds, or orcs could survive my scale-dust explosion without fireproof armor or something. Even then, I dont think it should be sturdy enough to survive a point-blank explosion.

And my doubts were immediately answered as the smoke faded away. Two giant trolls with shamanic accessories and clothing appeared, both holding their staves and hands up in the air. A wall of water stood before the grimgarians, shielding them from my explosion, even as the water was boiling and evaporating away.

GRAAAARRGHHH! the two trolls screamed out in agony, dropping their staves as they stared at their carbonized hands.

[Dragon Fire] had the effect of reducing all water and ice spells effectiveness by 50%, a trait literally created to counter my weakness to those elements. Sure, the trolls might have protected their companions, but it didnt mean my attack didnt affect them at all. A few goblins and kobolds did burn to death, while some orcs had pieces of armor melted into their skin. [Water Wall] wasnt a hard counter to my firepower anymore.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

Tch, of all the things to find, trolls? And two troll shamans?

The last time I met a troll shaman was when Saori and I rescued Tasianna. He was able to use both earth and water magic in order to protect himself against fire, the element trolls were the weakest against since it hampered their natural regeneration power, the source of their superior endurance.

Back then, I was only a C rank and had only recently gotten used to fighting with my dragonewt body and scale-dust. With how I am now, I could beat the past me easily. Still, I didnt like the fact that two C rank troll shamans were here, supporting the grimgarian army like this. The last time I had to fight one, it was guarded by five troll warriors and it was able to do some really annoying things, including shooting me with a mana cannon.

Saori was right, jumping into this rescue mission without any information would have been idiotic. It would have sucked so much if I had to fight these things inside the cave where my explosions could just suddenly create a cave-in. In a way, Saoris plan stopped me from making the most basic of mistakes most novice adventurers make entering a monsters cave.

Yeah, fuck caves! The last time we entered a trolls lair, the mountain caved in!

Ggugniak! Attack! a blue hobgoblin shaman shouted once the explosion died down. It was the same one who woke up all the grimgarian from my [Draconic Aura].

The first ones to charge forwards were an E rank hobgoblin and a number of echikobold spearmen. The G and F rank goblins and kobolds were cowering behind them and trying to sneak back into the cave to avoid fighting, but they were found by their taller companions and pushed forwards to their death. I wasnt exaggerating with that point.

[Dragon Fire]s automatic flame attack targeted any of my enemies within the flame arena and scorched numerous grimgarians as they rushed towards me. Any who didnt die to my songs effect were mowed down with [Wind Cutter]. A level two wind spell with my stats was enough to slice their heads off. Quick to cast and deadly. They stood no chance before my non-stop casting.

In the back, I could see an orc warrior and hobgoblin shaman shouting commands in whatever language they were using before ending it with aGgugniak! Before the explosion, the orc warriors as well as the more seasoned hobgoblins and echikobolds looked like savages as they rushed at me in rage, but now all of them seemed to have recovered their bearings. The trolls [Water Wall] gave them a chance to get back their focus and catch a second wind, huh?

With renewed discipline, the grimgarians used the time gained by the fodder they sent out first to act as a distraction to enter into formation and advance. Tall, brawny orc warriors clad in armor any newbie warrior from the adventurer guild would be jealous of held their shields up to form a shield wall as they moved, protecting the more vulnerable members from my arenas flames.

The troll shamans hands had recovered to the point where they could carry their staves again, as well as taking out talismans from their belt. With two catalysts, they began reciting what seems to be a fire-warding spell. Meanwhile, a couple of hobgoblin shamans led by that same female hobgoblin shaman from the start began reciting dark elemental spells.

They sent out [Dark Bolt] and [Dark Slash] attacks at me to catch my attention while using a custom spell called [Black Wall] to block any attacks targeting the flank of the unit. They were organized, and it showed when they blocked and outmaneuvered my attacks.

Flinging a few weak wind and earth spells at them did nothing as the orcs shields and the shamans magic walls kept them at bay. The moment I realized this, I decided to switch over to my more impactful spells.

Lightning Bolt! Lava Ball! Banishment Beam! Lightning, lava, and holy clashed against the shields of the orcs. Pain coursed through their bodies as the lightning was conducted through their metal armor, the heat of the lava melted through their shield and gauntlets, and the laser beam of light pierced through the [Dark Wall] and bored a hole through their armor and flesh alike.

As I bombarded them with multiple spells, the frontline began to falter as their members died. Although there were more orc warriors behind the ones who died, the grimgarians did not advance forward with this same strategy. No, the reason for that was cause their reinforcement had finally arrived.

Wrooooo! The howl of wolves escaped the caves entrance, and numerous wargs riders emerged. The cave entrance itself was quite wide, even if it was barely tall enough to let a troll enter without having to duck through.

Ggugniak! Aside from the warg riders, more grimgarians appeared, as well.

I did not know how many of these grimgarians were stationed inside this cave, but regardless of how many could come out, my [Dragon Fire] arena made it quite cramped for my enemies. Nevertheless, whether they were sweating while trying to circle around along the edge of the flames or by forcing their way through their comrades, they did not hesitate to charge forward with religious zeal, shouting something about Marsven and Aurena.

With the help of the warg riders and the reinforcements, the shield wall dissolved and their members spread apart to reduce the number of casualties my spells could cause. As I bombarded one target with spells, a warg rider or orc barbarian would rush at me when I had my back to them. However, with skills like [Detection Sensor] and [Foresight], these tactics couldnt work.

Either through [Terra Wall] to obstruct their attacks or simply by dodging them, I always came out of them unscathed, but that was when the echikobold archers and the spellcasters initiated their set of attacks. Arrows and spells shot me, among which were water and dark elemental spells.

Panzer! A brown magic circle appeared on my body as I saw the incoming attacks before purple flames erupted around my body. My custom spell [Panzer] was made with [Corrosive Fire] as the spell base, which meant the flames had the same properties as an earth spell when they cooled down and formed a crystal. And this crystal was obsidian.

Clink and Dum were the sounds of arrows and spells being blocked by an obsidian armor covering my entire body. The appearance of the armor was designed similarly to the dragoon armor from the same game my white mage robes came from, and it gave me an entirely different vibe now that my adventurer outfit and crimson scales werent visible. Only my robe, part of my hair, the underside of my tail, my claws, and my mouth were visible.

My [Draconic Barrier] could block most conventional attacks easily, including arrows; however, due to my natural weakness to water and dark caused by [Bearer of Kargryxmors Blood] and [The Light] respectively, it made my barrier unable to fully block spells or attacks infused with those elements. Thats where [Panzer] came into play. Named after the German word for shell and inspired by the tank of the same name, this armor was made to complement my defenses when I was wearing my robes or idol outfit.

As I was retaliating against the archers and mages, an orc barbarian and berserker pair came charging at me, holding their axes high in an attempt to cleave me in half. They might have looked imposing, but their movements were too slow to catch me.

Twisting my body around, I took out my [Bonepecker Bladeclaw Spear] from my storage and pinned the barbarians leg into the ground with it before jumping on the berserkers back. Leaving the spear below, I dug my left set of claws deep into his shoulder to stabilize myself to then rip his skull in half with my right. As blood was spraying from his exposed head, I instantly used my tail to decapitate the barbarian.

The extremely gory display seemed to have scared the hobgoblins and echikobolds, causing their morale to wane. Noticing this, I jumped off the tall orcs back and pulled out my spear before throwing it into the head of a warg, killing it instantly and sending it tumbling on the ground with its rider. I then used [Wind Blast] to close the distance between us before ending the warg rider with his own spear.

Time to end this. Purple Flash!

[Dragon Fire]s strength lay in imprisoning enemies in an arena, preventing their escape and reducing the effectiveness of all water and ice elemental attacks, not in the random flames attacking those trapped in the arena. So, with everybody stuck in a single area, what was the best course of action then? Of course, a large AoE area-of-effect attack.

Symphonie des Feuergottes! A huge red magic circle immediately materialized in the sky, attracting the attention of all my enemies. The threat of an incoming grand spell was clear to all the mages and seasoned grimgarians.

Tusul! as my spell was about to be unleashed, the hobgoblin shaman from the start suddenly called over the rest of the hobgoblin and goblin shamans to her. With a single command, each shaman raised their hand to the sky, an onyx ring shining on each of their ring fingers.

My intuition was telling me something was off, as using [Mana Eyes] showed me they were concentrating their mana into those rings. Using [Pyrokinesis], I commanded the flames produced by the arena to target them while also conjuring up some [White Fire] to interrupt whatever they wanted to do.

Unfortunately, it seemed I underestimated the sheer religious fervor of the grimgarians as orcs, goblins, kobolds, and trolls suicide jumping in between my fire and the shamans. It protected the shamans even as it was also the last action of their lives.

In the meantime, my spell circle glowed bright red for a second, before an inferno cascade fell upon us. However, that was when the rings on the shamans hands cracked and a large amount of shadow or whatever black thing it was came flowing out of them, shooting itself into the air to form a massive black shield.

The black shield and my spell clashed against each other, where the inferno sea leaked from the side of it; unfortunately, it went completely outside the arena and began burning down the forest.

Oi, I planned not to set a wildfire again! Verdammt!

Clicking my tongue, I turned my gaze over to the leading hobgoblin shaman and materialized a brown magic circle under her; the spell [Terra Wall] burst from the ground and sent the shaman into the air and over to me. She shrieked as she flew through the air at first, but then clapped her hand together and began reciting or praying. As a purple magic circle formed in front of my hand, our eyes crossed each other.

She was the one who triggered her grimgarian brethren to attack me simply cause I had my white robe, and I could kinda understand it due to the fear the lizardmen had for Aurena. Humans didnt see grimgarians as people, but monsters well, I treat them the same way, although I know the truth. It wouldnt be unreasonable to assume these grimgarians were fighting me simply cause they hated Aurena.

Enemy or not, the moment I saw the sheer fear she had in her eyes, instead of her religious hate, was when it felt like something tugged on my heartstrings. The memory of the kobolds and orcs Id encountered in the Belzac mountain came rushing back into my head, reminding me what I did back then.

However, hesitating before somebody who would not show me the same courtesy would be foolish. I stomped out the empathy I would have had and shot out my spell. Lightening appeared before my fingertips and roared towards the hobgoblin, shocking her mid-flight. Her screams of agony eventually died out as she crashed onto the ground next to me, tumbling lifelessly further away from me like some fallen debris.

As that happened, the black shield above me seemed to tremble a bit, breaking apart to let my flames through. It would seem that removing that one shaman from the group made the spell unstable. However, despite what happened, my [Symphonie des Feuergottes] did not reach the ground. And so, I did not get my spells buff.

Are you kidding me?! I wasted all my mana for nothing?!

I guess this experience did teach me that my custom spell wouldnt provide me its valuable buff if the inferno sea couldnt reach me. Id have to be more careful in the future, but how should I have expected that those shamans could create that black shield or that it was strong enough to block my spell?

However, for the price of being able to conjure that spell, the skin of those hobgoblin shamans seemed to have changed from blue to purple. Was it arcane corruption? They dropped their staves and collapsed on the ground like stringless marionettes, breathing heavily as they struggled to push themselves back up, but, unfortunately for them, their bodies wouldnt let them. In exchange for protecting the army, they sacrificed themselves.

I should take them out.

Conjuring up multiple [Terra Wall]s under the shamans, I attempted to fling them into the sky for an easy kill, but it seems the grimgarians caught up to my plan as the trolls picked the shamans up before my walls materialized. Without further ado, the army once again let out a rumbling war cry, invigorated to see my [Symphonie des Feuergottes] fizzling out against the shamans black shield, and they charged forwards once again.

I apologize to everybody for the late release. I had to take a break for health reason as two days ago, my hands and shoulder began to feel numb while writing, which I believed was due to me writing a bit too much without stretching enough.

This chapter should have come out two days ago but I had to stop midway through and I then took the next day off to rest. My hands still felt numb today so I took more breaks than I usually do in between sessions, that's why it took so long.

Anyways, hopefully you guys enjoy the chapter!

If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 15 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr!

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Thank you for reading this chapter.

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Sunday, May 2, 2021 3:00:11 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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