Let it be known that the Devourers were dragons of a rare specie. There could be fire dragons, stone dragons, crystal dragons, water dragons, or air dragons. But there could be no dragon that devours everything. The dragon that could end all life with a single gulp. The Devourer.
Ned knew the Devourer wasn't from Earflgard. Yes, there could be dragons coming from the gate that was already recorded in the history of humans, halflings, and beasts alike. The Devourer was the first, the first of its kind to lay a foot in Earflgard.
On his knees, Ned used the Butterfly to support his body. The swamp was supposed to be damp. But with Ned's counter of the Devourer's attack, the ground shook and turned to dust.
The Devourer, staggering and limping. Maroon liquid sipped off its broken wing. The rest of his broken wing was nowhere to be found; disintegrated, along with the forest behind him. He looked at Ned with surprise, filled its eye socket. He spoke roughly but like that of a ruler. "For a mere human, to stand against me, you're formidable, child."
"Huh, child," Ned said, scoffing. "Calling me a child is a mockery, for you yourself is a Newborn."
The Devourer fell to silence. Its face may be bones, but its gesture shows that the Devourer was surprised hearing a human knew its rank. "Pardon me, I take back what I said. For a human with a vast knowledge of Realms, who are you? What's your name?"
"Realms?" Ned said. Knitting his brows. Trying to buy time to compose himself from the strength of the recoil from the attack he just made. He stood but staggered. "What Realms?"
"Intriguing, but there's no point telling you those, you will die anyway," the Devourer told Ned. Blood slipping off his wings. Yet, it seemed to be calm. "I will devour your very soul. For that's what my kin does, devour a soul, slowly, enjoying every spark you have. Then comes your flesh, bones, every part of you, every thread of your very existence. Even your armor." It paused, looked at Ned's armor.
"I won't let you," Ned said.
"Your armor, it seemed… very familiar," the Devourer said. "Human what is your name? For you are lucky, for a ruler like me to ask your name back in my world, a world, almost like this. Humans tremble in fear and knelt, hearing just my name."
"I'm Ned, and you are?" Ned stood, looked at the Butterfly. Not a scratch or a chip. Then looked high at the Devourer. Blood still oozed from its broken wing.
"Humans in Draconheilm call me Rassus, Rassus the Devourer," he said. Growling in between his words. "So Ned it is. Tell me, Ned. What world is this? This world looked exactly mine, but in my world, humans worship me. But here, this world is weak. Mana is thin. The Knight before, when I fought him, it made me realize, this world is worth devouring for. And yet, here you came. For some reason, I cannot read you. I don't feel." Rassus paused and gazed at Ned's very existence. "An ounce of soul in you."
He must be talking about Edwin. Ned thought. "Soul, you say? It doesn't exist, I don't believe in fairytales."
"It does not matter, I will devour you anyway, it seems that your knowledge is vast. I need that," Rassus growled. Lifting its head. It breathes an ominous form of a cloud. The dark cloud then formed a figure in front of him. Seconds later, a figure clad with a dark mist, plated with thorns of bones, covering its entire body with dark dancing smoke. And stood like a human. Everything about this figure is pure darkness. "You know what to do," Rassus ordered.
Having been relaxed, Ned ran forward. To meet the minion Rassus summoned. He lifts his free hand, released part of his Mana, and throws the Fireball he invoked towards the coming summoned.
The summons ran forward, straight towards the Fireball's path. Its black eyes gleamed red, the shadow running as its entire body crawled going into its hands. The dancing shadows then formed into a blade, arming the dark figure in both hands, and slashed the fireball in half. Dissolving midair. It then jumped and dropped towards Ned. Using its weight to increase the power of its landing.
Ned raised his sword and motioned to complete the hanging right stance and block the blade of the summon. Ned glimpse at the Devourer. Leisurely taking his time to recover. Moments later, a new wing developed. Giving birth into a new bony wing.
The summon landed in front of Ned. Raised an elbow and perform a thrust attack.
The summon was quick, but Ned was quicker with his counter. The pattern was simple, deflect, then do three quick slices into the summoned's obscured and dark armor's weak spot. Ned felt the blade bite to something flesh - soft-tearing flesh. Empty eye socket glared at Ned, and fell back, kneeling. The Butterfly dimmed black after he pulled the sword off the summoned's chest.
It then jerked, fell to its face, and quivered. Followed by a light that disintegrated the very edges of the summoned body until they burned it to nothing but ash.
Ned looked back at the Devourer. But it was nothing but space. Ned heard a flap followed by a wind that fell from the sky. He looked up only to see a torrent of black clouds falling into him.
Ned flipped until the very end of the swamp. Creating a distance between them.
Rassus fell from the sky and landed and made dust of clouds. Inside the dust, Rassus coiled and jumped at Ned. Making a trail of disaster along the way.
Ned fought, parried, and evade. It satisfied him with the Butterfly's performance. The more he fought Rassus. The more he saw an obvious representation of fear in the dragon's trembling eyes. He must be disoriented. This must be his first time feeling weakened. This must be his first time encountering something he can't devour.
"This fight is getting nowhere," Ned said. Catching his breath as he evades a whip of Rassus' tail. Then lifted a hand to throw a fireball at the dragon's chest. "You can go back to the Gate and close it."
Although having a hard time, Rassus felt his enjoyment had just started. His core gleamed inside his chest from dark to blue, and vice versa. "Ho! I'm having a good time here, human," Rassus said. Overpowering Ned's fireball with his own breath of black orb. "You human, disturbed my slumber, then asked me to go back? You're human, indeed—stupid and arrogant. Together with my spawns, I will make this world a living hell."
"You're arrogant for a Newborn," Ned said. Hitting something inside the Devourer's core with his words. "Don't worry, I'll slay you just like what I did to your kind."
With that, Rassus stopped his attacks. Standing in four on the ground surrounded by grasses and trees. Arrows of sun, bathed into the holes of Rassus' skeletal wings. He stopped, breath and a combined mist of blue, violet, and black sipped out its mouth. "What are you hinting, human?!" Rassus roared.
Sensing that Ned hit something inside the very core of Rassus. He continued. "Back in the days, I've killed hundreds of you, Newborns and Ancients, alike," Ned smiled as he continues to stall time. ICE, tell me you've found something in his patterns. "Problem with you Devourers are, you don't belong in the food chain. You destroy the food chain. But, it's understandable, I know, something inside you urged you to just devour. Devour everything that fits in that skeletal mouth of yours."
[Need, there's a delay between his attacks. Exploiting it might give you a chance to injure him. I suggest attack its core.]
ICE prompted.
Ned was right, Devourers devour to keep them alive. The moment they stop devouring, their very life crumbled. Something inside them urged them to keep on devouring. They will only stop until it satisfied them, then devoured again. A cycle of endless devouring.
"How did you know this, human? All my life, I never found someone of my kin. And yet here you are. Spouting nonsense!" The light on Rassus' eyes sorrowed. He charged. His eyes turned red. And became enraged. Rassus roared and lunged itself with the help of his wings. Making himself a massive bullet approaching Ned.
"It does not matter, I will kill you, anyway," Ned said mockingly. He steeled himself. Raised a hand to invoke his bread and butter. "Igneous!" Energy compressed into Ned's hands. Aimed at the Devourer's eyes, shot it out, hitting the head, which made Rassus smirk. But it covered his vision. A suitable opportunity to attack, for his blind spots has been exploited.
Hitting nothing but the ground, Rassus shook his head, to eliminate the dust, and smoke that blinded him. A clung resounded throughout Rassus' armor. As a dragon, the rarest to say, he should not feel any pain. He felt no pain. Not until he saw the green blade stuck inside his chest. Right into his core. He felt his body was being crushed to pieces.
Ned looked at the Devourer, right into its red enraged eyes. "Told you, I've killed some of you before."
Feeling the pain for the first time, Rassus fell enraged even more. He roared, he staggered, and jerked, and moved to step backward. The ground trembles as the sky turned dark and cracked with purple lightning.
Sensing a tremendous surge of Mana, Ned jumped backward, leaped as far as he could. "This is it, his last form. I've been waiting for this."
Rassus composed himself. Feeling defeated. He released all the Mana stored in his core. His body, skeletal. Turned dark. And a mist of black energy enveloped his entire being. Spikes grew from his back. Its head formed a horn. Its tail formed a spike that made it looked terrorizing. His chest moved. Seconds later, it was now covered with a thick armor of bones. Everything about Rassus turned dark. It covered him with unlimited clouds of dark energy.
"I devour, for I can. You fight, for you're weak. That's how it should be, and it will be. For I will devour everything about you, human."