"A voice?" Lucian said aloud as he looked at the Wyvern, "It's speaking to me?"
Lucian moved to the side as black ooze sprayed by him, the liquid having acid-like properties and melting the stone and dirt as fumes began to emit from the spots it landed in. Lucian was perplexed, a bit taken aback by this.
"I can hear the voice of wyverns....who are lesser dragons?" He thought to himself, "Is this an effect of my Calamity? I mean, yes, it has to be."
The wyvern let out a pained roar as trashed around even more, creating shockwaves and tremors that shook the ground. Lucian braced himself through the tremors and looked at the beast, it's eyes were completely white, the black ooze bleeding from them.
"This is some sort of infection...." Lucian said, "It probably made it hyper-aggressive while in pain....but why did it come here? Well, it doesn't matter."
He took a step closer and without warning, the dragon head shot straight at the Wyvern, which surprised Lucian.
"What?" He said as he stopped
The dragon head clamped its maw on the Wyvern's neck, which staggered the beast as it let out a shriek. The dragon's neck was extended, almost like it was made out of rubber, and connected to Lucian's shoulder.
Suddenly, the neck sprouted out black swirling tendrils that shot straight at the the wyvern's body, piercing through them and drawing blood and black ooze that sprayed out.
"Wait, what are you doing?!" Lucian exclaimed as he buckled down
The Dragon's head then distorted itself into the swirling black ether which surprised Lucian, even though it had already happened again. The black ether then expanded massively, dwarfing the beast and engulfing it, covering it completely.
Lucian began to feel an incredible amount of pain throughout his body, every fiber of his being was being hit with a jolt of lightning as the golden electricity passed through the ether like a powerful current.
"A-Aghh!!" Lucian said as he got to his knee, "F-Fuck!"
Lunaris was seeing this, "His Calamity is absorbing the Wyvern!" She said as she began to take off, "But if it takes the corruption, it'll be bad! We have to stop it!"
"Shit." Brodin said as his sniper disappeared and he took into a sprint, "That's not good at all!"
Back to Lucian, the ether fused itself into the Wyvern, the beast's becoming visible once again, with massive tendrils of black ether lodged into its body. The Beast looked like it had calmed down, almost as if its pain had stopped, his eyes returning to normal and looking at Lucian who was wincing in pain.
"T-Thank you...." Lucian heard the faint voice say before fading into silence
As Lunaris approached in flight, Brodin behind her in a sprint, Lucian felt an odd sensation coming from the Wyvern, feeling it through his connection via the Ether.
"W-What?" He said
Suddenly, the Wyvern's entire body shattered, exploding with blood and black ooze as pieces of its flesh, scales, and plates were swallowed by the black ether. The force of this sudden implosion was so powerful that it blew both Lunaris and Brodin away.
"W-What?!" Lunaris exclaimed as she covered her face with her arms, trying to brace herself in midair
Lucian had his eyes widened as he felt a surge of power flow through the black ether and into his body, causing him to stumble back in response. The Black Ether was still connected to pieces of the wyvern's body, the remaining legs, wings, and even its head. It was slowly absorbing them, converting the organic matter into pure ether and taking it into itself as the blood and black ooze remained on the ground, boiling up into a disgusting mass of ominous power.
"Shit..." Lucian straightened up as he began to focus, quickly accepting what was happening, "Come on..."
The remaining of the Wyvern's body parts were then fused into the ether as Lucian felt more power flowing through the connection, fueling his entire body and giving him a blissful feeling. As the right wing and head remained, Lucian noticed that the blood and black ooze began to react violently, pulsating and splashing upwards as it formed itself into tendrils that slowly reached for the black ether.
"Lucian!" Lunaris yelled at him, "That's demonic power! It had corrupted the Wyvern, don't let it get to your ether, it will corrupt you!"
Lucian willed his ether to retract, pulling the head and wing forwards as the mass had shot for the ether, missing wildly.
"What a terrifying thing...." Lucian muttered as he felt the wyvern's wing be fully swallowed by his ether, leaving the head
The mass then began to steam as it pulsated more and more. Lucian could feel an immense power emanating from it, confirming his suspicions of a demon being behind this.
Suddenly, the mass was replaced by a massive beam of dark purple light fired by Lunaris, resulting in a bright explosion.
Lucian turned to see Lunaris in the air, her hand pointing at where the mass was. When the smoke dispersed, a small pool of black ooze remained, trying to form itself into a mass; it had managed to resist the sudden attack from the Paladin Knight.
"That is quite the powerful corruption..." Lunaris said as she fired off another black of purple light
The blast hit the ooze and caused another explosion, completely eradicating the rest of it, leaving nothing.
Lunaris then turned to see the wyvern head be completely swallowed by the swirling black ether. As this happened, the ether shot right back at Lucian's shoulder like the first dragon head did just earlier. This hit Lucian hard he jerked backward, wincing in pain.
"A-Ah!" He exclaimed, "That hur-"
He then buckled down to the ground, his entire body glowing brightly as he began to yell in pain.
"Lucian, are you okay?!" Lunaris asked as she flew towards him
Lucian then began to release golden lightning from his body, massive bolts striking all around him. This caused Lunaris to stop in caution as she looked at him with nothing but surprise.
"His Calamity took in the Wyvern....it is converting it's lightning into Lucian...." She whispered, "I can't believe it could do that, it's only at the First Seal!"
Suddenly, Lucian's entire body cracked, the cracks emitting a bright blue light as his eyes were completely white.
"A-AHHHH!!" Lucian yelled in pain
Lunaris widened her eyes, "His Second Seal?! Already?!" She exclaimed
The cracks shattered, releasing a massive wave of pressure that blew everything away from the vicinity, pushing the Paladin Knight further into the air as she covered her face. Brodin had kept his distance, a few dozen meters away, but even he was sent reeling by the pressure. The Golden Lightning had crackled for a couple of seconds more but immediately disappeared, almost as if it was done with its display.
"His Second Seal is undone???" He said with surprise, "But.....that means...."
Lucian then collapsed, trying to get back up almost immediately, his Dragon Aspect form becoming undone. He struggled to get up, his entire body feeling like jelly, merely trembling when he exerted the minimum amount of effort.
"His Calamity burned out..." Lunaris said as she landed next to him, "Taking the Wyvern in must've burned through its power....Lucian, are you okay?"
Lucian slowly looked up at her, "No." He said, "My entire body feels like shit."
Lunaris crouched down and placed her hand on his shoulder, immediately flinching due to the heat that emitted from his body.
"Okay...." She said as she shook her hand, "That's interesting.....I didn't think you'd be capable of assimilation so early...."
"Huh?" Lucian said
Lunaris snapped her fingers, surrounding Lucian in a bright golden circle of healing magic.
"Most creature-based Calamities allow the Cursed One to take in their respective creatures into them, absorbing their powers." Lunaris said as Lucian's body began to slowly be restored, "Typically, it's a high-level ability, not showing until past 10 Seals for those that have the 64 Seals of Infernis on them. But you? You took one in, and undid the Second Seal....."
Lucian blinked, "What does that mean?" He asked
"You're a monster." Lunaris said with a smile
Lucian slowly got up to his knees, his entire body feeling numb but no longer being in pain.
"Shit..." He said, "I heard the Wyvern's voice....it spoke to me, it was in pain, it wanted me to end its misery."
Lunaris nodded as Brodin approached, "It was corrupted." She said, "By a powerful Demon, Royal Wyverns aren't typically affected by the corruption of Demons."
"That's why it was weakened." Brodin said as he looked at the small crater that emitted smoke, "If it was at its true power, you probably wouldn't have won, Lucian."
"Yea, it was strong." Lucian said, "But I felt like I would've won without taking it in."
"It was in pain...." Lunaris said as she looked at the crater, "The Corruption probably put in it so much suffering it sought out a way to end itself...."
Brodin looked at her, "You don't think...." He started, "You don't think the Wyvern sought out the Calamity?"
Lunaris crossed her arms, "It's a possibility." She said
"It called me master." Lucian said, "But it was still aggressive and hostile towards me, despite wanting me to put it out of its misery."
"An effect of the Corruption." Lunaris said, "Makes the victim hyperaggressive and violent. But as expected of a Royal Wyvern, it was able to resist it long enough to seek out the Dragon Calamity to save it.....interesting....."
"The only worry is what Demon was able to corrupt it." Brodin said, "That's the issue."
Lucian stood up and rubbed his neck, "I don't know much about Demons to give an input." He said, "But my guess would be the one who pulled the big four-armed one back into the hole back at Rivertown."
Lunaris narrowed her eyes,
"Tryke....."