Zara’s whole body shook with anger, but she didn’t say anything. Her silence was scarier than any scream.
At last, the Archon looked at Liora. "Oh, the High Priestess."
"What a disciple you are for the gods, but that only makes you look like a fucking mutt to your gods."
"Where were they when Zork fell? Where was your divine help when corruption hit?"
"Did your gods care so little to save him? Or my words were correct that you and all of your priestesses are nothing but mutts..."
Even though her hands were clenched at her sides, Liora’s face stayed calm. "Archon, your words are just noise."
"The noise that was made to annoy and take your mind off things."
"We can see through your tricks."
"Oh... do you?" The Archon’s voice changed to a humorous one. "Then let me be clear."
"This fight doesn’t matter."
"What will you have done if you three can destroy this corrupt shell? You will have killed a Demon King who was already dead."
"You will have worn yourselves out fighting one corrupted being, but I have thousands more ready to go."
The Corrupted Zork spread its huge arms wide and pointed to the chaos around them. "Check out this demon camp."
"It’s already coming apart, and your escape routes are blocked."
"All of the lines of defense are falling apart. A lot of those worthless demons are dying. And this is just one small battle in a war that is going on all over the world."
The Archon’s voice got deeper and more threatening. "My troops are attacking Valdris right now."
"The corruption fire burns in the Elven Matriarch’s forest."
"The Witch Covens are now fighting each other, just like I wanted them to."
"The Ocean Empress is still alone, and her defenses are getting weaker every day."
"And your beloved useless hero, Rick Rolland, is unconscious and broken, unable to even get up."
"His journey trying to gather all the Seven Major Powers is only going to break him little by little because of his trauma and anxiety!"
"A lowlife like him isn’t worthy of being kept with the stupid system that powers him up through affection and connection!"
Sylvia stepped forward, ready to fight, but the Archon wasn’t done yet. "Shut your fucking mouth!"
"Don’t you fucking dare talk about my Rick like that...!"
"Hahahahaha! Did I touch a nerve for the queen...?"
"Do you want to know the beautiful irony of it all?" The corrupted form leaned in, as if to share a secret. "I’ve already thought of every move you’ll make."
"I learn from every bond Rick makes."
"Every major power he brings together gives me more people to corrupt. He isn’t the answer to this apocalypse."
"He is the one who will speed it up."
The purple eyes sparkled with evil intelligence. "Now, enough of all this yapping bullshit, fight me!"
"Put everything you have into it. Use all of your strength to kill this one corrupt vessel!"
"When you become weak and defenseless by exhausting all your energy on this pointless victory, my real forces will arrive to finish what you started."
The Archon’s laughter rang out across the battlefield. "You can’t win."
"You were never supposed to win at the start! Long before Rick Rolland came along, the stars foretold the end of this world!"
"You’re just putting off the inevitable..." The Archon’s eyes glowed with pure corrupting energy.
There was silence on the training grounds. Everyone there felt the weight of the Archon’s words.
The demon warriors’ hearts began to fill with despair. Their chanting stopped, and they began to whisper in fear.
Then Liora laughed.
"Heh... hehehe..."
It wasn’t a mean or mocking laugh. It was real, and it sounded like pity.
"Hahaha! Archon, you talk too much," she said, her voice cutting through the darkness like a beam of light. "All these pointless big speeches and showy behavior."
"Do you know what it means to me?"
The corrupted form tilted its head and was quiet for once.
"It tells me you’re scared." Liora’s smile was calm and perfect. "If you really couldn’t be stopped, why bother with all this theater?"
"Why bother trying to make us feel this way? Why not just attack and show that you’re stronger than any of us here?"
She moved forward, and the divine light around her grew stronger. "You talk about Rick lying broken and unconscious like it’s a bad thing."
"I know something you don’t, though."
"That man has died once already. He’s faced dragons, corruption titans, and his own mortality more times than any human should. And every single time, he gets back up."
Zara’s face grew hard, and the fire returned to her eyes. "The Archon is afraid of what Rick stands for."
"It was not his power, but his connection. Not every bond he makes is a weakness."
"It’s another link in a network that you can’t break because it’s based on real love of affection and trust."
Sylvia’s laugh was harsh and full of dragon-like pride. "You think that fighting this corrupt puppet until we’re exhausted will make us weak?"
"You obviously don’t know what a Dragon Queen can do. I could fight for days without stopping, and this fucking warm-up won’t even make me drop a sweat!"
The three women stood together, putting aside their earlier grudges and selfishness. They were not friends, but they were united by a common goal and a strong will.
The Archon’s presence faded away from the corrupted Zork’s body, leaving behind only the mindless beast. But before it completely disappeared, one last whisper rang out across the battlefield.
"Your hero will die screaming, and then we’ll see who’s right."
Then the monster roared, signaling the true battle had begun.
Sylvia was the first to move. Her huge dragon body flew into the air with powerful wing beats.
Fire built up in her throat, a controlled blaze rather than the wild flames of rage. This was concentrated dragon fire, capable of melting stone. With a powerful breath, she unleashed it in a straight line aimed directly at the Corrupted Zork’s head.
The creature raised its arms in a futile attempt to shield itself, but the dragon fire surged forward relentlessly. It sliced through the monster’s corrupted flesh, incinerating layers of its defenses. Black ichor hissed and evaporated in the intense heat.
Zara took advantage of the opening. With the speed of a demon, she ran forward, her twin blades catching fire.
She aimed for the creature’s legs, more specifically the joints where the corruption hadn’t fully covered the flesh.
The first blow cut tendons in the left knee. Her second hit cut through the muscle in her right thigh.
The corrupted Zork tripped but didn’t fall. Its huge hand came down to crush Zara, but Liora was ready.
Divine walls of holy energy appeared in the air, golden walls that absorbed the blow. The creature’s fist hit the barrier hard enough to break it, but it stayed up long enough for Zara to roll away to safety.
"Coordination!" Liora yelled out, getting ready for her next spell. "We need to work together, or we’ll just be wasting our energy and mana!"
"I don’t take orders from a priestess!" Sylvia yelled back and dove in for another attack.
"And I don’t need help from an arrogant dragon that thinks it’s better than everyone else!" Zara yelled and jumped to the other side of the creature.
Both Zara and Sylvia attacked simultaneously from different directions, but neither communicated with each other. Sylvia’s claws scratched the creature’s back while Zara’s blades looked for its chest. Each attack was strong and did a lot of damage.
But the corrupted Zork changed.
Its huge tail, which had grown bigger because of corruption enhancement, swept out and caught Sylvia in midair. The blow knocked the Dragon Queen through the air, and she smashed through a few empty tents before she could get back on her feet.
The creature’s hand shot out with surprising speed, seizing Zara by the leg and hurling her to the ground with enough force to shatter her bones. It struck her three times before Liora’s holy lance forced it to release its grip.
Both women rose to their feet, wounded yet unyielding. They glared at one another from opposite ends of the battlefield.
"Your timing was wrong!" Sylvia growled.
"MY timing? You attacked me out of the blue!" Zara shot back.