The huge wyrm hovered above them, a bright yellow glow radiating out, passing through the thick dark clouds that whirled with each flap of their leathery wings.
“So you want to serve me?” a thundering voice resonated through the forest, causing trees to creak.
“Yes! We are ready to become your servants and minions! We will fight for you.” Zeus bowed his head, followed by the whole group of fifty players falling on their knees in tandem.
Times were changing. It was no longer enough to just interact with NPCs as if they were unfeeling lines of code. One had to act and talk with them as if they were real persons. Making the before useless skills for gamers, such as acting, an essential part of a player’s skill set.
“Hahaha, in that case, go and prove yourself, go and kill all of these demons that dared to step with ugly feet on my territory! Protect the base, and don’t let any of them enter!” the wyrm flapped their wings with immense force, launching towards the red sky, all of the trees bending under the sudden gush of air.
The dark figures slowly started to appear on the horizon, moving in the shadows of trees, keeping a distance from the new groups, their hostility visible.
‘It looks like we will have to show them who is the boss here!’ Hera and her brother smiled innocently at the incoming masked figures.
POV Vesuvius:
Sometime later, with his mana recovered and with his new minions reinforcing the perimeters of his hideout, the dragon soared across the red sky. The high fortress of rough stone radiating pure red light and tall white peaks kept getting smaller and smaller as he distanced from the forest. Refreshing winds kept blasting around him as he soared at tremendous speed.
Small distant lights of the town kept growing. Thick columns of smoke were rising towards the sky, with red fires surging all around it. Loud shrieks kept piercing through the night. The red haze surrounded the whole town.
‘As I thought with how out of hand this whole thing went, the town is under attack…’ usually, he wouldn’t even care about the lives of humans, but the greed in his heart blazed brightly, even outshining the sun, ‘With the barony in my hands, their taxes will be mine!’
The town was his… no, the whole barony was his, but if he let the demons attack the town, then there would be nothing left for him, ‘They will be grateful to me, paying me their gold with smiles on their faces after I safe them from the hands of evil demons!’
As the town got closer, Vesuvius immediately noticed signs of battle all over its perimeter. The town walls were packed with people, the pungent smell of fear and dead bodies, carried by strong winds reaching all the way to the dragon.
Swarms of arrows kept flying from the town, harmlessly bouncing off the demons outside of the town, and flashes of brilliant white light occasionally blasted from the towers around the town, disintegrating some poor demons.
The walls were red, the defenders’ blood flowing down the grey stone blocks.
‘What are they waiting for? With their force, they should be able to storm the town and kill… wait, that’s it, they are demons, and their goal is not just to kill them. They want to let them boil in their own fear, to let the terror soak through their souls! They are waiting for their meal to be finished!’
The dragon’s eyes fell upon the large castle in the middle of the town, the giant glowing bubble of light shielding it. Its tall towers with big gothic windows on the top floors towered above the town. Tall walls with battlements and a large spherical keep in the middle were throwing their shadows on a square under it.
‘Time to find out if she really betrayed me!’ The dragon braced his wings, gliding above the town, his altitude quickly dropping, the dark smoke easily hiding him, with only a few people noticing blue and yellow streaks in the sky.
The dragon landed on the empty square right under the large castle. His long-clawed hand reached towards the shield, gently poking it with his glowing claw and sending ripples through its surface.
It didn’t take long, and the sound of dozens of boots on the stone came from all directions as squads of soldiers rushed in from all directions, pointing their spears at the dragon, their armour clinging.
Their bodies were trembling, the spear in their arms unsteady. Their eyes were lifeless as if they had lost all of their hope.
“The wyrm has come to rob us as our town burns! But we will not die without a fight!”
Their spears were trembling, but they had no fear of death as they were already sure of it, so they took a step forward, ignoring the heat radiating out of the dark clouds hiding the dragon.
Suddenly heavy rain started, drops of water drumming on the roofs of houses and the stone roads, the droplets looking under the red light as if they were made of blood.
“Hahaha, are gods punishing us! Demons and now wyrm!”
The soldiers took another step forward, their spears no longer trembling as they had already made their peace with the death.
“Stop! I don’t think that the wyrm came here with ill intentions.” The beautiful human woman with long brown hair appeared on the castle walls, most of her body hidden behind the dark grey battlements. Her long hair was wet, blood staining her clothes.
A high bald man stood to her right, wearing a heavy-looking full metal armour with silvery ornaments. Heavily armoured knights with capes flowing down their backs immediately surrounded both of them, pointing their weapons at the dragon.
Vesuvius could see ethereal horns on her head, semi-transparent red reptilian eyes blending together with normal human eyes.
“Speak wyrm, what do you want! If you are willing to offer us your assistance, we are willing to richly reward you!” she sounded unwavering and full of confidence. However, Vesuvius, with his sense, still felt slight hesitation and worry in her voice.
The silence fell upon the square, soldiers holding their breath, waiting for the dragons’ response, knowing that it would likely decide between their life and death.
The ethereal voice entered directly into the dragon’s head. He immediately recognised it as a simple communication spell, ”Your highness, it is bad, very bad!”