Divine Beast Ascension

“Well... That’s twenty small fractures, each on a different bone.” Inka’s nature essence scanned over Brak’s body but offered no healing. Laughing, Inka shook her head, “A deal’s a deal. From Scale City, the Iron-body Gorilla clan will be receiving two hundred thousand gold. Any lack in the full payment will then be covered by the Tempest Prefecture.”

Also laughing, Treeda commented, “I didn’t think you’d actually break anything. What sort of technique was that?”

“It was... Dioro’s. I made the hammer... the same way Dioro punched through... that trash’s scales...” Ania answered, still struggling to stay on her feet.

“Ahh... So this is just a taste of what happened when Dioro fought Brak? Does that mean Dioro almost killed Brak?” Treeda asked, looking at Inka for confirmation.

Inka stated, “Those weren’t just rumors. According to reports, including Brak’s personal report of his return, Brak was left critically injured and assigned to bed rest for many moons. The damages included a punctured abdomen, crushed internal organs, dozens of broken bones, as well as a gravely damaged soul. It was no wonder why we believed him when he claimed it all happened while training in the Forbidden Mountains.”

“Excuse me, but I must ask. May I take a crack at him?”

.....

Chuckling, Inka glanced at Brak. “Hmm, I’m sure our tough dragon is confident in his defenses. Right?”

“This wasn’t part of the deal!” Brak snarled. “We agreed twenty hits, and she did-”

“My strikes won’t count toward the money you owe us,” stated Vloz. The leopard sauntered toward the dragon king, unblinking. “I’m merely a high-perennial. I won’t be using soul arts. And I guarantee that you’ll be left alive.”

“Please, Inka?”

“How can I say no to you, Lord Treeda... Three strikes. If you must blame someone, Brak, blame yourself,” Inka sighed and nodded to Vloz.

But before Vloz could take another step, Brak shouted, “And no crippling my cultivation!”

“True. We can’t have that, not without Lord Zrand’s permission, sadly...” Inka groaned, sad that Brak spoke up.

Vloz shrugged and chuckled deeply. He walked slowly. With each step, Vloz’s bloodlust oozed out a little more, and a little more. The leopard’s unblinking gaze was hypnotic, lulling the dragon into silence with Vloz’s rhythmic steps and pulsating bloodlust.

SLIT!

“AAAaahhh...” Brak groaned and panted, forced out of the trance. Throwing up blood, Brak struggled to breathe. Then, he realized what had happened.

“Interesting... Your heart isn’t as cold as I’d expected,” Vloz commented. “Did you know, an expert assassin is so precise that one can pierce the chest and rest their hand or paw between your lung and heart? It’s quite interesting, really. The victims barely bleed, so long as their arm remains inserted.”

“H-Huh... H-h-huh...”

Vloz snickered as panic overtook Brak. “Calm down. I’m not allowed to kill you... this time.”

Yanking his paw out of Brak’s chest, Vloz returned to his slow, sauntering stride, circling Brak.

Feeling both shock and awe, Treeda and Inka couldn’t look away. Even if they’d heard such rumors about assassins, seeing such a feat performed so casually was fear-inducing, even for them.

“Did you know, that without a shield of essence, true assassins can kill kings easier than children? Don’t believe me? Let me explain...” Stepping closer, close enough to breathe on Brak’s face, Vloz brandished the devil’s grin. “Children are too hyperactive and must be distracted properly to target. But people like you? Well... I could walk right past you, on any street or in any hallway, and... well... it’d be too late for you.”

CRUNCH!

“AH!! AAhhh! Ooohhh...” grunting, Brak collapsed. He fell to the ground, unable to have his legs support him.

At the same time, the leopard that was breathing on him a second ago faded into the gentle breeze. Brak painstakingly looked all around him but failed to see his attacker.

“Don’t forget... The same moment you defend... or retaliate with essence... is the same moment... your fate is given to Lord Treeda...” Vloz’s voice teased Brak, coming from different directions every few words. “Is that what you want? Oh, great champion Brak? I wonder how Trada would feel... seeing you like this... like you deserve...”

Inka looked to Treeda for a moment, seeing if she was the only one shocked by Vloz’s abilities. Treeda quickly gave Inka the same look. Together, with a hint of a shiver in their spines, they reveled in the show Vloz was putting on, almost as much as Ania was.

“What? You can’t stand?” Vloz appeared in front of Brak, squatting on his hind legs and looking down on the dragon with that same fiendish grin. “It’s only a broken pelvis... Don’t worry. It was a clean break. I don’t want you crying and whining to Inka, ruining her time in Iron Territory...

“What’s wrong? I thought you were the confident, mortal champion, thick-skinned dragon! I’m just a little kitty cat compared to you... Aren’t I? Go on. You can say it.”

Brak hesitated. He looked to Inka for respite but found nothing but a loathsome stare. Brak didn’t bother looking to Treeda or Ania. That left only the leopard. Shouting to speak over his nerves, Brak roared, “You pathetic, pussy cat! You’re merely lucky I’m forced to endure this! If they weren’t here, you’d be dead! Deceased! Lifeless!”

“If they weren’t here...” Vloz’s voice suddenly whispered into Brak’s ear, cutting off the dragon, “I would rip out your core and offer it to Ania as recompense. And I’d have done it faster than you can blink...”

CRACK! CRACK!

“AAA-”

Before Brak could try and let out his pain through a scream, Vloz’s tail gagged the dragon. “Bite down, and I rip your heart out... Good lizard.”

Done with his toy, the real Vloz appeared and walked over to Ania, letting his false copy fade away.