Chapter 25
When Zmaug sees that Melody is in danger, he fires a dragon breath at Ariach, and that gives Melody enough time to retreat, managing to dispel part of the poison. But she is still getting weaker and weaker because of it.
Then she speaks:
"Poison immunity."
"Poison repelling."
"Poison shield."
Then around her and Zmaug, a fine film appears, protecting them a little bit against the poison. Then she continues to speak:
"Gravity 1000X."
"Space Swamp."
"Space Lock."
"Confusion."
And Ariach feels the weakness from Melody's words.
And Melody sees that she can't fight with Ariach in close quarters, so she starts to use her roots.
Then all around Ariach, roots start to appear, but these roots are golden with spikes all over them, and stronger than steel. They are like whips that eat flesh when they hit.
But around Ariach, the poison aura starts to become even heavier and deadlier, and the roots begin to lose their golden color. But then Melody feeds them even more 'Nature Power,' and the roots start to glow with life again.
For a moment, both parties are in a stalemate. Zmaug flies next to Melody and asks her:
"Do you have a plan?"
Melody turns her head to him and says:
"I don't. I only know we need to resist until Ark arrives, then it's our win."
Zmaug looks at her and nods.
Then Ariach starts to get really angry, and the poison aura starts to become heavy like a liquid around her. The stalemate is broken, and the roots start to die.
Then Zmaug says when the roots disappear:
"I am the Patriarch of the Drakon clan. I am the one blessed with the 'Dragon Vision.' No lies can fool my eyes. Your little tricks don't work on me."
Ariach looks at Zmaug and answers.
"I am Ariach Roo'van, the Poison Ruler. And the Master of Mirages. I am interested in your eyes. I will take them out of your dead skull and experiment on them, so that I will know their limits, and how much they can really see."
Zmaug looks at her with a 'not understanding' look on his face.
"Why do you call yourselves 'Ruler'? Because there are even stronger beings than yourselves with those powers and abilities."
Ariach looks at him with a condescending look on her face:
"For you weaklings, we are the 'Rulers.' With those powers and abilities, no one from these 'Lower Dimensions' can hold a candle to our powers. So we can call ourselves however we want."
And while they talked, the fake body of Ariach reached the wall. But the thing was that the fake body didn't look so fake anymore. In a moment, she sends a wave of poison all the way to the weapons on the wall, and they start to melt.
Zmaug and Melody turn their heads to the city wall and see that the fake body is slowly melting a hole in the wall, with her heat from the wings, together with her poison.
Then they hear Ariach speaking:
"What is a 'Mirage'? Is it fake, or does it look like a real thing from afar?"
Then a satisfied smile appears on her face.
"You weren't the only ones stalling for time. Now I will show you hell."
Then the fake body passes through the hole made in the wall, and once inside, she raises her hands above her head and says something in her language:
"ymnerdlihc, tratsgnideef."
And an even stronger wave of poison starts to spread inside the city, and the mutants seem like they wake up suddenly. They look toward the healthy people with hungry looks on their monstrous faces.
The big players know that they made a big mistake when they thought the body was fake and couldn't do any harm. Now they have to fight against an even stronger poison, the mutants, and the fake body of Ariach, all the while with no cure found for the poison.
The big players are starting to feel that 'Fate' is plotting against them. And still, no sign of Ark.
Then Kyle says:
"Me and Ellion will go and stop the fake body. Niobe and Leah, you are in charge of the mutants. Try to keep them inside the barrier and put the ones that transform inside."
Then they split.
Back at the real body of Ariach, she starts laughing and tells them:
"Now I only need to wait for the poison cloud to spread inside the entire city, and it will be my win. Ha Ha Ha!"
Melody and Zmaug look at one another and see the hopelessness in their eyes. It seems that this 'Royalty' doesn't like to fight head-on; she likes to let her poison do the job while she watches from afar.
That's why they are still alive. Ariach is not a direct fighter.
But that doesn't mean that she is weak. Her fighting with both of them, and especially blocking Zmaug's dragon breath and the spear's sure hit, is proof of that.
But Melody says:
"Let's trust our friends that they will manage to stop the poison and the fake body."
"We will concentrate on doing as much damage as we can to the real body."
Zmaug answers with a smile on his face:
"Yes, that is right. Our friends will manage to do something. And maybe if we manage to hurt the real body, then the fake body will actually disappear, making things easier for them."
So they both nod at the same time and then disappear from their spot.
Zmaug appears on Ariach's left side, and Melody on the right side. For now, they manage to resist the poison, but not for long. They need to hurry.
Zmaug thrusts his spear toward her head, and Melody slashes toward her belly, while roots are appearing from the back and piercing toward the back of Ariach with light speed. The roots are just a golden blur.
But Ariach just blocks Zmaug's spear with her sword. And she thrusts her hand, with nails like knives, toward Melody's head and sends a concentrated wave of poison to her back.
If Melody doesn't retreat her sword, then she will lose her head, and the roots are already starting to rot.
When Zmaug sees that, he tries to pull the spear back and fire another dragon breath while Melody keeps the sword's trajectory. It seems that in this exchange, Ariach will be on the losing end, taking a hit from the sword and Zmaug's dragon breath. It seems like Melody is ready to give her head for a hit.
Everything is happening at light speed, not even one complete second passing since they disappeared from their spot.
This is the level of monsters fighting: every move made is to kill the fastest and with the least injuries. But it seems Melody gave up on the part with the least injuries. She is ready to give her life to give the others a chance at winning.
But before the nails, like knives, reach Melody's forehead and make a hole through her head,
A frail hand appears in front of her and grabs Ariach's hand from the wrist.
The hand stops just before piercing her skin. A little blood appears on her forehead. So close she was to losing her life.
Then it's like time almost stops. It's like everything is moving in slow motion. Then Zmaug and Melody disappear from their spot and appear a few hundred meters away. Then, from the spot they were a moment ago, an explosion is heard, followed by a scream.
Ariach took a part of the dragon breath with her body, but not before she put a barrier around her, so the damage isn't severe. The scream was more of an angry scream.
Then she looks toward the newcomer who made her lose this exchange. She was just a millimeter away from piercing Melody's head.
She sees a frail-looking young man, with black hair and half red, half black eyes
.
Then a name comes to mind with those eyes:
"Are you Ark? Why are you here so soon? The 'High One' said that you would take at least one day to return. It's too soon. He left a big problem inside the cores. How did you manage to solve it so fast?"
But Ark just gives her a look, then turns toward Melody. He flicks her forehead and says:
"What were you trying to do? If I wouldn't have come, you would be dead right now. If you want to die so bad, I can send you myself to the other dimension."
But Melody just says, with wet eyes like she wants to cry:
"No, I don't want to die, big brother. I want to live another billion years at least, at your side. So, thank you for saving me."
Then she smiles with the most relieved and happy face that she has ever made in her life.
Now she won't have to worry about a thing.
Ark has arrived.