Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan x Kaelallan Border
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*Crunch* The ground shattered beneath me as I stopped using magic to distribute my weight.
It was a noise that made the halfies' expressions darken and turn serious, but it was already too late. -Now you're really f*cked…-
Once the light finally faded to reveal my dragon form, the younger halfie
turned anxious, but unlike him, instead of getting nervous, the leader's expression washed with confidence.
"It seems my eyes have gotten worse as I have aged. To think I wouldn't recognize a fellow dragon in their human form. In the 400 years that I have lived, I have never run into someone like you, so I hope you will forgive me for my mistake."
His endless confidence made me feel sick to my stomach. "You must have lost your f*cking mind…"
"Woah there, man. Look, I have a good offer for you." His smile grew even smugger. "Seeing how dark your scales are, you must be a half-breed, right? So why are we fighting? Once Kaelallan inevitably falls, those pure-dragon bast*rds won't be able to continue to suppress us! All that's left is to kill that pesky royal family, so why don't you join me?"
As the walls of my reserve thinned and my aura rushed forward, the leader twitched.
-This f*cker…- Having already toned out his insane ramblings, I looked him in the eye with eyes of rage. "Since you don't seem to understand your place, how about I show it to you…"
Having lost a bit of confidence after sensing my aura, he responded with a tad of hesitation. "What are you-"
*flash* Cutting him off, a wall of blue flames appeared behind my spread wings.
*ZIP* I closed the distance between us almost instantly, smashing through the sound barrier severalfold before opening my mouth to clamp onto his neck.
*crackle* The sound of his scales shattering under my teeth was like music to my ears. -But I won't give you such an easy death…-
Without turning down the thrusters, I drove him through a kilometer of forest and slammed him into the ground. *Cr-r-r-r-rack-WHAM*
Feeling my teeth puncture through his scales, the dense bast*rd finally realized the kind of situation he was in and tried to dig his claws into my body.
But seeing his claws couldn't puncture my scales, I completely ignored him and flew into the air.
His face finally started to wash with fear as the ground grew smaller and smaller before I finally turned around. -How does the fear of death feel?-
*FWOOOOSH* The atmosphere looked to catch fire as I darted back toward the ground, and the halfies fearful expression only grew.
*WHHHAMMMM* The ground shattered for hundreds of meters in all directions as my teeth were driven even further into his neck.
All I needed to do was bite down, and I would kill him. -But you don't fear me enough…-
Before he could catch his breath, I reactivated the thruster magic and spun myself to hurl him at a large rock I saw from the air.
*RUMBLE-fwip-CR-R-R-R-R-ACK* *CRUNCH-crumble* The sound of him smashing through countless trees before finally hitting the rock quickly brought me a smile of satisfaction, but even though I wanted to enjoy it, I didn't want to give him any time to think.
*pshh-FWOOOOSH* Launching myself at him again, I lowered my head and slammed it into his chest.
*CRUNCH* The first thing to break was his ribs, but.. *crackle* The rock he was embedded in couldn't handle it either.
*BANG* The rock, spanning nearly 100 meters in all directions, was hopelessly blown apart after attempting to absorb some of the impact.
*THUD* *THU-UD-D-D* As the halfie limply ragdolled through the forest, crushing trees and continuing to break his wings, I finally thought he might be dead.
-A collapsed chest, crushed organs, shattered limbs, and bleeding everywhere… What a pitiful sight…- But even though I thought that, my eyes were devoid of pity or mercy.
*cRaCk* A sonic boom rang off in the distance as I finally walked up to his body and looked down at his face with an unamused expression.
But then, thinking I didn't notice, he turned his head to look at me. "C-CAUGHT YOU!" A bright orange spark could be seen when he opened his mouth.
But even though I had plenty of time to dodge, I didn't move a muscle.
*crackle-FWOOOOSH* A colossal amount of fire, hot enough to melt steel instantly, enveloped my body in a blanket of comfortable warmth.
Seeing the confidence still lingering in his eyes, my smile widened. "Was that really something you took pride in?"
The instant he heard my voice, his eyes lost their will to fight.
But that didn't make me hesitate in the slightest. "You know, I've decided..."
Deep within my chest, a colossal amount of mana began to move.
It was an amount bigger than everything contained in most dragon's entire reserves, but I moved it as if it was nothing.
As the halfie's breath slowly ran out of juice, I moved over and slammed my foot down into his neck.
*crunch* "Ack!" His face paled and washed with fear as I lowered my face toward his and looked him in the eye.
My smile widened before I finished adding to what I made during the fight. "I'm going to make you disappear." With a crazed look in my eyes, I opened my mouth over his face.
The next instant likely felt like an eternity for the halfie as the purple glow between my scales turned yellow, and a heat fundamentally different from anything he had ever felt filled the air.
It was the instant I forced the 5 kilograms of plutonium and uranium within my breath gland to critical mass. [1]
*flash* As if a new sun was created, the sky, previously orange from the sunrise, turned blue, and every tree within a kilometer instantaneously turned to dust.
*BAAAAANGGGG* The shockwave that followed the blast of heat decimated the trees of ash, smashed apart the melting rocks, and mercilessly took the lives of every living being it touched before traveling another 5 kilometers, leveling everything in its path.
But the wave of destruction continued to travel even farther, with people in nearby towns, some 50 kilometers away, seeing the flash over the horizon and feeling the planet tremble beneath their feet.
It was a scene that made thousands tremble from fear and start to worship the gods they previously abandoned but little did they know, their prayer could only land on deaf ears, as even gods would have watched the scene in awe.
"Hoooh..." Letting out a deep breath while waiting for the dust to settle, I looked down at a 30-centimeter wide mana core that was slowly sinking into the molten ground. -Not even a bone left, huh…-
Still unable to shake off my lingering anger, I bent down and plucked the core off the ground, before throwing it down my throat without a second of hesitation.
"Blegh…" I cringed from its horrific, lingering taste before eventually leaning down and taking a mouthful of the lava to try and drown out the taste. -He really was disgusting inside and out…-
But at the end of it, I figured it would help refill my reserve so I pushed past the taste, but instead of feeling like a cup was poured into a bucket, it felt like a drop fell into a lake. -To think my reserve expanded so much…-
As I idly thought about it though, I finally remembered something insanely important.
-WHAT ABOUT ILIOS?!- In a flurry of panic, I leapt out of the several-dozen-meter-deep crater and scanned the area.
But that was only a few seconds before I saw Ilios staring at me while wagging his tail a couple kilometers away. -Oh, thank the Lord, he's okay-
Quickly flying over to him, I finally noticed a blood-covered, and half-charred halfie laying behind him that, surprisingly, was still alive. -Did Ilios accidentally tank the blast for him?-
Finally landing in front of them, Ilios wasted no time getting up and jumping on me, completely ignoring the ground-melting heat still being exuded from my body. -He's just as much of a freak as I am, isn't he…-
As I thought that, Ilios somehow got more excited and jumped up on my neck to lick my face.
His excitement was so contagious it finally made my lingering anger melt away. "Haha, I'm glad you're alright too, buddy!" Unable to get an arm around to pet him, I just moved my head over and rubbed my face into his fur. "You really grew quite a lot, didn't you?" Just a day ago, before my dragon sleep, he looked like such a puppy, but now he had grown to be a big grown wolf. -I guess I don't have to worry much about him anymore then…-
I felt a bit nervous as I thought of the possibility that he would eventually leave me, but as if to give some reassurance, Ilios gave me a serious look before giving a single strong lick against my cheek.
It made me want to laugh, but it made my heart melt first. "Damn, you're so f*cking adorable!!!"
Quickly losing track of time, I spent several minutes just loving on him.
It wasn't until I heard a groan that I finally stopped myself.
"Ugh…" The halfie that was shielded by Ilios let out a groan as he tried to move.
"You're really resilient, aren't you?" Thankfully, my anger had long since melted away, so I was able to walk up to him with a clear mind. "Since you're alive, how about we have a little chat? If you answer all the questions I ask, I'll let you live. Maybe..."
Scared sh*tless by my slightly crazed grin, he hastily nodded with a pale face.
"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point." Looking him in the eyes, I pressured him with a bit of aura. "Is the tower the one funding the rebellion?"
"..." Without responding, he stared at me with a look of surprise.
Thinking he just didn't want to talk, I slowly raised my foot over his head for a little extra 'encouragement'.
He cracked immediately. "YES! YES, THEY ARE! PLEASE SPARE ME, MIGHT ONE!" He closed his eyes and braced himself for my foot to crush his skull.
-Oh, someone who actually knows something?- Enjoying the pleasant surprise, I looked down at his pitiful state and thought about what to do with him. -Would he count for the concrete evidence Father needed? Unlike everyone I've talked to so far.. He actually seems to know some details…-
But while I was thinking about it, I saw something silver crest the not-so-distant horizon. "Huh?" Looking up at it, I had a gleam appear in my eye. -What perfect timing!-
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[1] - 5kg of plutonium/uranium (in the conditions Vasilias created) would yield somewhere between 25 and 35 kilotons of yield (explosive power). For reference, the Fat Man, dropped on Nagasaki, was around 20 kilotons.