Allaryx had destroyed the palace in two swings of his weapon, sparing only the throne room.
"You took enough from her," — Allaryx scratched the floor with his glaive — "yet you tried to disturb her peace."
He swung his heavy weapon, and the knights—surrounding their king in a phalanx—fell like crumbs, cleaved in two.
Trellise could only hazard a guess as to what had transpired, and the sudden quiet was not encouraging.
"What have you done? Do you not understand where you stand? If you believe—"
His threats were cut short as Allaryx grabbed him by the jaw and tore it off its hinges.
The screams that emerged from the disfigured king sounded inhumane, as his tongue flopped around in the air like a fish out of water.
Allaryx grabbed the slippery organ and tore it out.
As the proud king of a burning kingdom hit his head on the floor out of pain, the knight in black slammed his foot down.
Brain matter flew as Trellise became nothing but a headless corpse.
Noa, who watched it all from a distance, took a step back. But it was far too late. Allaryx’s eyes were already set on him.
The cutscene ended, and their fourth battle began.
Allaryx set down the blade of his glaive and ran at a speed that set the floor alight.
Seven steps away, he swung his weapon, flinging embers at the unsuspecting Noa.
The latter raised his shield, only to be pierced through his stomach.
"Shit!" screamed Noala.
It was his fifth death.
And so, his attempts continued.
It had been an hour since he last came close to landing a hit.
"Surviving is hard enough. How am I supposed to deal damage?"
As if to answer his query, the fight was interrupted by a cutscene.
The dust clouds gathered in the heavens shook as a chilling roar pierced through the air.
Disregarding Noa, Allaryx looked up, tightening his grip on his weapon.
An enormous shadow loomed over the clouds.
A second roar reverberated through the air, and Allaryx lost what little interest he had left in Noa.
This wasn’t the first time he had heard that roar.
Breaking the surface of the clouds descended a giant avian with red scales and fiery breath.
One of its eyes was missing, and the other—golden with a green vertical slit for a pupil—glared at Allaryx.
"Filthy Vampyr!" it screamed in an infernal voice that boomed through the air.
The red dragon, Valacry the Vermillion, had descended from his faraway abode.
Allaryx spun his glaive. "It seems today is a day of vengeance."
With quick strides, he dashed forward as the giant of the sky gathered his breath.
Claws and blade met as the winds of the dragon’s wings swept the fire and dust away.
The battle that ensued was on a grand scale.
Flames erupted from the jaw of the scaly avian, sweeping the land in destruction.
But against Allaryx, it had no effect.
No matter the heat, his armor would not melt. It was difficult to deduce whether he could even feel the pain.
The two fought fiercely, sometimes on land and sometimes in the air.
It remained at a deadlock until Allaryx slashed one of the dragon’s wings, plunging him to the ground.
"Cursed be your lineage, Vampyr!"
Noala regained control of Noa, who was watching from the sidelines. He took the opportunity to rush the distracted knight in black.
For the first time, his weapon connected, and a little of Allaryx’s health was chipped away.
"Yes!" Noala yelled, jumping up from his seat as if he had won gold at the Olympics.
In the next moment, Noa’s head was slashed into a hundred tiny pieces as the death screen flashed in front of him.
- Lol, got so excited, you fucking lost.
- Again. Do it again. I want to see you be miserable again.
"I lost another sword..."
- Do you even have a good weapon anymore?
- Can’t buy anything. Everyone is dead.
- What if you travel to the nearest town?
- The dragon will be dead before that. You think this idiot will be able to fight Allaryx one-on-one?
After returning from death, Noala equipped a crossbow.
"This one is enchanted with quick reload. We will get him this time, boys."
The battle between Valacry and Allaryx remained heated, and more often than not, the latter found himself at an advantage.
Unable to soar into the sky, the dragon’s offensive was limited.
Seeing Noa rush in, cinders of hope lit anew in his heart.
"Come, human. We shall slay this filthy blood!" he proclaimed with a roar.
But his hopes were misplaced.
Noa died in one hit again.
- You are not only a disappointment to your parents but also to the dragon.
- If he knew this man the way we know him, he would not have given such a gallant roar.
- Today, I feel dragon. Today, I feel embarrassed.
But Noala kept trying restlessly.
With each death, he inched ever closer to perfection. He received fewer hits and dealt damage more often.
An epic battle was unfolding as Valacry and Noa fought together to take down the Vampire Knight.
"Half health! Come on, we are halfway there!"
Allaryx swung his glaive in a wide fashion, prompting the pair to retreat.
He plunged the weapon into the floor and rested his hands on the collar of his chest plate.
As if shedding snake skin, he tore the black armor from his chest. It opened a large hole in his defenses.
"Has he lost it?" Noala muttered.
But the dragon jumped back. "Get back!"
On the chest of Allaryx, visible through the hole in his armor, was a gnarly vertical slit.
"What Lovecraftian horror is that?"
The slit opened, and a large golden eye with a green slit unblinkingly stared at Noa.
It was the eye he had stolen from Valacry decades ago.
"The filthy creature!" cursed the dragon. "How has he stitched my flesh to his? What horror has he given birth to?"
The horrible eye sent electrical signals through Noa’s brain.
It shattered his perception of reality. He hallucinated about the horrors that lie beyond the sky.
When he returned, disenchanted by the hallucinogenic eye, he was lying on the ground.