Chapter 24
The rest of the big players are trying to find the culprit, while Niobe is restraining the poison and helping the people. But more and more are starting to mutate, they are losing themselves.
Then Niobe hears Melody's voice in her ear, because Melody gave everyone an earpiece so they can talk freely even from afar.
"This is the work of someone really powerful; we didn't even manage to feel the poison before everyone was affected."
Then Kyle answers while searching for the culprit on the west side:
"Do you all think that a 'Royalty' is here? Because only they would be so powerful, and it seems this one specializes in 'Fighting from The Shadows' with poison."
Then Zmaug answers from the front of the city:
"Yes, there is a 'Royalty' attacking, but not from the shadows. She is in front of the city, but the robots can't see or hear her; it's like she is part of the landscape. But she can't fool my 'Dragon Eyes', I can see her perfectly well."
All big players stop on the spot, and then they start flying towards Zmaug, not believing that another attack came so soon, and only one 'Royalty' attacking, no army, no backup.
When they reach Zmaug's position, they look to see the attacker.
But they don't find anyone. Everything is how it's supposed to be: the robots doing their job, the land still a mess from the previous fight, and the forest all around them still peaceful. Not a sign of anybody in sight, especially someone who can kill everything around them with poison.
But they don't see any signs of poison being used or plants dying from poison.
Then they turn their heads towards Zmaug, and Kyle asks him:
"Are you sure you saw someone? There is nothing there."
Zmaug turns his head towards Kyle and smiles. He doesn't say anything, just takes his spear out, and transforms into his 'Dragon form, stage 1.'
Then the others know what is going to happen next, so they make room for him and back off.
Then Zmaug takes his throwing stance and locks his eyes on a place in front of them. The spear starts to roar, then he throws it with world-ending power.
The spear looks like it teleports in front of a 'Tree' near where the devastation from the previous fight ends, but just when the spear is almost to hit it, the 'Tree' starts to change its form, like a mirage in the desert.
Then a She-Devil appears, and a sword forms in her hand. She hits the spear head-on, then an explosion like a 'Supernova' destroys everything around them.
The spear and the sword are in a stalemate for a few seconds, then the She-Devil starts to scream and her aura flares. The stalemate is broken, the sword starts to push the spear back, and the roar of the spear is broken. The sure hit fails.
Zmaug watches the whole thing and says:
"We are out of luck. This She-Devil Royalty is powerful like a Universe-level 7 fighter. We don't have a chance to beat her in a fair fight."
Ariach used quite a bit of her power to stop this spear strike. Her aching hand and the hard breathing are proof of how hard it was to stop this spear.
Then the spear appears back in Zmaug's hand, and the big players now see the new enemy they must face. In front of them is a She-Devil, five meters tall, with brown skin and white tribal tattoos all over her body. Her hair is silver, long just over her butt, and her silver eyes are a stark contrast against her dark brown skin. Her mouth is filled with razor-sharp teeth, with no lips, and her head is also round and human-like. Her body is lean, and her hands are long, reaching her knees. Behind her are a pair of silver-colored wings.
After blocking the hit, Ariach also watches the big players, and what she sees doesn't impress her.
"Moloch really was a fool for losing against you all. But don't think that by killing him, you have the power to fight against us... 'Royals'."
Then she flares her aura, and all around her the trees, the plants, and the earth start drying up. They begin to decay and die. In just a second, the area of about 100 meters all around her is dead. Everything around her looks like a real scene from hell, as if everything is dead for millions and millions of years.
Then she starts to walk towards the city. But on the walls, there are still functioning weapons, and they start firing lasers, energy balls, arrows.
But before the bullets reach her, she disappears from her spot, and the bullets hit empty air. She appears in a spot a few hundred meters to the right. Then the weapons turn again towards her and fire. The bullets hit her, but they go right through her.
The bullets fly through and just make ripples through her body, like she is made of water. And like that, she keeps on walking forward towards them, and with every step she makes, the more the earth dies around her.
The big players look at her approaching, and Zmaug says:
"That is not her real body. She didn't move from her spot near the Tree where I tried to hit her the first time. It seems that I am the only one who can fight her. Only my dragon eyes can see her real body."
"You all go inside the city and help the people. Niobe can't do it alone."
The other big players are looking at Zmaug and don't say anything, but Melody turns her head back to where Ariach is and says:
"I agree with Zmaug. You go back and help Niobe so that the city doesn't become a mutant's hive. I will go with Zmaug and buy as much time as we can."
Then the 'Dimension Destroyer' appears in her hand.
She turns to them and says:
"Don't worry, we won't die. We will go to fight."
"Don't forget, Ark is going to come soon."
Then she smiles and looks towards Zmaug and nods.
Then they both take flight towards the real body of Ariach.
The rest of the big players look towards them and say:
"We will save the people. You two also stay alive so we can celebrate again together, all of us."
Then they fly back into the city and try to dispel the poison.
Inside the city, Niobe is trying to keep the mutating people to a minimum, but there are too many of them, and more are turning.
She sees that the first ones who mutated are starting to turn again, but not into normal monsters like the Dark Beings, or the ones that Moloch made.
These mutants are turning into things like trees with hands and legs, and heads that are only a big mouth, with vines-like tongues coming out. Some are turning into combinations of animals, with bodies like chimeras. Some are turning into flowers like people.
Niobe doesn't have any idea what kind of poison it is. This is the first time in 100,000 years that she has seen something like this.
But the good news is that the ones who are mutating are not attacking anyone. They just stare into empty space, like they are waiting for something.
Then Niobe sees the other big players and asks:
"What happened? Where is Melody and Zmaug? What about the enemy? Is it a Royal?"
Then Leah steps forward and tells her what happened.
Afterwards, everyone tries their own ideas about the poison and helps Niobe gather the people inside a barrier to keep them far from the other healthy people and to keep themselves safe.
Outside, Zmaug and Melody are flying towards the real body of Ariach, but they see the other body still going towards the city, with no care in the world, even as the weapons are firing rounds after rounds at her.
They look at each other, and for now, they can't worry about that, so they go at full speed toward the real body.
Zmaug reaches first and thrusts his spear towards her head, but everything that Melody sees is a tree. Then the spear is again stopped by a sword, and Ariach's body appears. She looks at Zmaug with an angry look.
"This is the second time that you've found me. Who are you? And how do you see me so easily?"
After Zmaug's spear is stopped, he jumps back, and Melody goes forward with her sword ready to cut a leg. She goes for Ariach's leg with a side slash so fast that even light seems slow. Ariach is surprised for a second because she sees Melody's sword and knows that it can really hurt her.
So, she flares her aura, and poison even stronger than before attacks Melody.