As the golden light swallowed the dragon with him, materializing back in his divine kingdom, a sudden jolt of energy passed through one of his fingers.
"My gold! It is my!" The dragon suddenly stirred as whispers came out of the ring on his finger.
'Is that ring truly evil?'
Suddenly water poured straight out of the ring, hissing as it evaporated in the heat, the flames covering him. The water kept pouring out without any break, forming thick clouds of steam around him.
'The gold from the sea!" His eyes went wide as he connected the few dots.
Immediately shining golden coins poured out, each glowing with the golden glow of draconic divine energy.
Water mixed with darkness and resentment kept pouring out, turning into a thick black liquid that looked more like oil than water.
With a panic, Vesuvius stepped back, staring at the coins going berserk. An ancient and powerful aura blazed around them with a crooked old grudge.
'So it truly belonged to a dragon!' It felt the same as the curse that once covered the entire mountains, but this one was much more potent, older, and even more vile and crooked.
A dark shadow flowing as if made of water rose from the pile of gold, its neon-red eyes spinning like hurricanes staring right at Vesuvius.
"A dragon lord? So it was your aura that awakened me. You wanted to take my gold?!"
The dark black water exploded out, pouring into the fire of the dragon's divine kingdom in an attempt to douse it.
"Fight me!"
// New inheritance mission:
Objective: Subdue the anger and resentment of the long dead dragon
Reward: The inheritance quest line continues; The rest of the rewards will be calculated upon the completion
//
The black tsunami roared and thundered as it rushed through the black islands of the dragon's divine kingdom. The ice crystals rained as the water froze, and steam hissed as it evaporated in mass under the scorching heat from the sun blazing below them.
Even though the aura and force of the wave were terrifying. Vesuvius was shocked at the sudden turn of events.
The world slowed as he entered his focused state, every single droplet of water moving in slow-motion.
'More profit for me...' he long planned to collect the grudges of the dead dragon, and now that one appeared right in his divine kingdom, it was like a symbol to him.
He flapped his ginormous wings, and a shockwave of wind-carrying black frost and purple solar corona exploded out, rolling straight toward the incoming tsunami of grudges.
Both waves collided with the elements raining everywhere, smashing the islands into dust.
"My gold! My gold! My death changes nothing!"
More and more liquid darkness rose, accompanied by howls of the souls of the dragon's victims that tried to steal its gold after its death. The bone-chilling howls made even Vesuvius stagger as they carried the pain of tortured souls.
Vesuviuse's soul swiftly moved, and the entirety of his divine kingdom responded to his command; the stats and effects affecting his body spread to every single molecule within his domain in the kingdom, transforming them into supernatural materials far beyond their normal properties.
The darkness was raising and concentrating, but Vesuvius took the initiative this time. His horns and eyes flashed with light, the blazing sun beneath him convulsed, and a tremendous solar flare exploded and smashed into the gathering grudge.
The darkness and gold clashed, and an even stronger wave swept through his entire kingdom, pushing the islands back like a wave pushing ships on a sea.
Instantly all the shadows were gone, only the brightly glowing golden coins remaining amidst the flames licking them.
"Graaaaaaaa!" A rage-filled roar shook the world, and the golden light flashed within the shadows. The gold and black mixed, repelling the dragon flames. In the blink of an eye, they arranged into the form of a dragon weaved out of the dark liquid with speaking gold and neon-red energy.
Its long serpentine body, long claws of shadow, and massive wings quickly expanded as if threatening to devour the sun beneath it.
"I am the dragon king of water, ruler of seas, Jormungandratius! How can a mere, new dragon lord dare to take what is mine? I might be just a lingering shadow of my former self, but I will not let this insult go without punishment!"
The shadow expanded, and the soul space of the sea lord pushed back and merged with Vesuviuse's divine kingdom. The water and fire clashed, and the black grudge and frost collided around them.
The two dragons remained the sole pillars of order within the chaos of the two worlds fighting against each other.
Vesuvius didn't just wait while the golden energy gathered and spun in his mouth, the mana and a droplet of divine energy mixing in his maws. The barrier formed and expanded with more than a dozen lenses forming in his mouth and another dozen magic arrays reinforcing the barrier of elements orbiting around him.
He could feel every cell of his body itch to fight, 'King, lord, or whatever, but this my kingdom and they are long dead so they should submit.'
Instantly the sea dragon coiled and rushed towards the dragon with the explosive force of a tsunami and the elegance of a flowing river. In the blink of an eye, its gaping mouth filled with red and golden glowing teeth of energy closing on the Vesuvius barrier, like a bird ready to devour a small seed.
His instincts kicked in, all the nerves in his body flaring to react as he flapped his wings, the fiery explosion of energy blazing from them pushing him to the side.
Just a second later, the shadow slithered past him like a hypersonic missile, its dark blur already cooling to strike again. The energy kept gathering and glowing within the mouths of both dragons, expanding and compressing, one shining like a golden sun while the other dark like a black hole.
Even with it, Vesuvius moved forward, the blade of his tale igniting in golden, purple, and black. The concentrated destructive energy arced like lightning, burned like a flame, and froze like the coldest winter while flowing fluidly like water and being solid like metal swished through the air.
Lightning crackled around him as he accelerated faster and faster. The sonic bangs formed circles behind him as he smashed through the black barriers and walls, quickly closing towards the awaiting open mouth of the second dragon closing to him.
They sped up, the world becoming a blur of various lights flashing around as the domains and worlds clashed in their war.
A beam exploded from the sea dragon's mouth, a stream of pitch-black water with golden sparks tearing through the space.
'Now!' The space vibrated, and at the last second, the world warped around him as a portal flashed before him and swallowed his form.
The next second he emerged above the second dragon, its darkness still blasting forwards like an unstoppable armored train powered by a nuclear reactor.
'Its momentum is too great now, now is my chance!'
His tail angled, and the apocalyptic blade cut into the beast's shadow and flesh. The explosions shook the world, and shrieks of the beast ruptured the metal islands.
They both moved forwards with their momentum, Vesuviuse's tail cutting and cutting like a can opener through his foe.
Finally, his eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he opened his mouth, and the concentrated sphere of energy burst through the dozen of magic arrays and transformed into a huge beam that carried the glowing heat of the sun, the reality stopping the coldness of the absolute zero and voltage of electricity able to fry almost anything.
In a blur, both kept moving in opposite, carried by their momentum even as the dead dragon slowly coiled to avoid it.
The beam and tail cut through everything spitting the beast into half along its entire length. The black body formed of grudge disintegrated under the force of the divine-charged attacks.
Only the silence remained as the dark world retracted, leaving only Vesuvius and dissipating particles of the dragon's anger.
Finally, he breathed in relief while the world around him slowly reconstructed.
'What was this? Only some lingering emotion left on their gold? How terrifying would they be left where they died? No, how powerful this dragon was when they were alive?'
"Well maybe you have the right to inherit what was mine... but this wasn't a fair fight." the last remaining cinders of grudge pulsed one last time.
"If you want my recognition, gather more of my gold lost in the seas and put them on the island that used to be my body. Then fight me and we will see if you truly dare to challenge me."
Finally, the darkness fully vanished, leaving only the floating and glowing coins behind.
'Typical, they wouldn't simply accept their defeat.'
Ding!
//
Quest accomplished!
Rating: A
Reward: Instant Level UP X 3, 185 Coins of divine gold; The quest lines continue
//
Ding!
// New inheritance mission:
Objective: Collect enough gold and summon all the resentment of the dead water king
Reward: The inheritance quest line continues
//
'Nope, I will not do that now.' Even though his victory was fast thanks to his small trick, he wasn't not even near confident to face the stronger version of the dragon.
'Even this fragment had more divine energy than my entire reserve. Luckily, I ended it fast enough. On top of that this body had no defense, but if I give them a physical body... nope, I should start with weaker dragons. This would be asking to get beaten up.'