POV ???:
A hooded man in a grey was hiding behind a large boulder, holding a binocular in his hand, pointed towards the tall black tower in the distance. He wasn’t even moving. His body perfectly steadied as a result of years of training.
There was no sign of impatience as he calmly waited for his opportunity.
Suddenly the clouds of dark smoke drifting around the tower whirled, and a massive silhouette of a wyrm raised towards the sky, each flap of their wings causing the smoke to spin.
The man’s heart started to beat faster, his excitement growing with each passing second as he watched the majestic wyrm lift off the tower.
Still, he clenched his fist, reigning his emotions as he moved his binoculars, observing the majestic beast in the sky.
Their whole body was gilded with gold and crystals, giving it a regal look worthy of a king. Yellow and white magma was glowing all over their pitch-black body, the air around them shivering under the immense heat.
‘Where are you going this time? Hunting or just on a stroll.’ After a week of observing the wyrm, he started to feel familiar with the beast, feeling as if he had known them for his whole life.
The wyrm drifted across the sky, their massive body surrounded by thick clouds of smoke. They moved elegantly and fluently with slow flaps of their wings. The wyrm moved in the direction of the town.
‘Huh, this is unusual; well, this whole situation with angels is highly unusual.’
Suddenly something rustled behind him. He immediately gripped the long pointy dagger from his belt. His muscle tensed as he prepared to pounce at any second. His hand in a black leather glove with a ring with glittering onyx moved at a frightening speed as he raised the dagger.
His eyes vigilantly swept over the surroundings searching for any adversary.
A person in a grey outfit with twigs fastened all over it stood right behind him.
He immediately released a grip on his dagger while still keeping it close to his hand, ready to counterattack, as he knew that he couldn’t truly trust anyone in his work.
The newly arrived figure spoke, their voice distorted so much that it was unrecognisable if they were man or woman, “Captain, an order from higher-ups came. They want us to abandon this mission. This wyrm is much stronger than we originally anticipated.”
Shudders of excitement passed through his body as he remembered the apocalyptic fight of the wyrm against the angels. His excitement grew even more as he remembered their majestic breath that cut through the lines of angels as if they were made of paper and their rough but hard armour with elegant yet near indestructible scales under it that survived the attacks of the whole angelic army.
His eyes quickly moved towards the wastelands that were still covered in hot magma that remained hot even hours after the battle ended.
The heart in his chest pounded just on the thought of robbing someone so powerful, ‘Where is the trill in robing just weaklings and fat but useless merchants! It is no fun. If I can kill all of the guards when something goes wrong, there is no suspense.’
Still, he stirred his heart, knowing that he had to keep his appearance before his underlings, “No, tell them that there is no reason to abandon our plan. We will just wait until the wyrm leaves their nest, and then we will strike. Their fighting power will change nothing about it, as we will be long gone by the time they return.”
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon flew through the air, his body soaring towards the nearby town. He leisurely flapped his wings. The ground under him, covered in swatches of the still-hot magma, turned into a blur as he quickly accelerated.
Hundreds of minuscule dots fought all over the ground, fighting against the winged beings of light.
Vesuvius ignored them all. He originally intended to ask his minions. Still, in the end, he figured out that it would be better to visit the town by himself to get a better picture of the situation.
The town was quickly growing on the horizon as he quickly closed towards it. There were no fires or smoke. It almost looked like there was no battle at all. Until he got even closer and noticed small black seared spots all over the town and holes in the roofs of buildings. People stood around the seared spots, sobbing and crying.
The wind rose up in the town spreading the dark black smoke through the sky above it as the dragon got closer, flapping his huge wings.
Huffs of people around the town turned their heads towards the dragon in the sky as his massive body cast a shadow over the streets. His golden eyes turned towards the town, searching for any magic auras of his dragonkins.
He immediately noticed multiple golden auras concentrating around a large white temple. Its tall white dome with two towers on both sides grew high into the sky, projecting its imposing image all over the town.
A cold aura of death slowly pulsed in an old-looking abandoned building, with all of the death energy around the town slowly flowing and concentrating towards it.
Still, he shook his head, ‘None of them is the soldier I am looking for.’
His golden eyes once more swept over the whole town, noticing all of the faint magical auras in the town. None of them was what he was looking for.
‘The soldier isn’t in this town, or maybe he is better at hiding than I thought. This is not good.’
Vesuvius felt extremely worried, knowing that someone possessed by the dragon god was running loose, out of his sight.
‘They can be doing anything. Who knows if their action will not cause trouble for me? They might be a god, but they are still also a dragon. Who knows if they decide to rob the royal treasury or something like that.’
More and more people started gathering on the streets, all observing the dragon above their heads. Their intense gazes watched the dragon, sending weird shivers through his body. Some of them were reeking with fear, while others reeked with curiosity or zealotry,
‘Are they expecting me to say something? Well, I may use this opportunity to farm more faith when I am already here. The church of light should be in shambles, so it is up to me to reap the fruits before some other church does it.’
The dragon opened his mouth with the smoke around his head parting, fully showing his sharp teeth. Few people on the ground flinched at sight, their eyes widening in fear.
Finally, Vesuvius spoke, his cold voice filled with magic resounding through the whole town, entering into the ears of every living human, “Humans, this what you got for worshipping these feathered fanatics. They didn’t protect you. Instead, they attacked you.”
His word immediately triggered a reaction in the people as they split into two groups. Some nodded in approval, while others angrily stared at the dragon. But most of them shivered in fear as the voice entered their ears.
“Yes, angels will protect you, but only if you are pure, someone who never sinned, never done anything bad, no anything human. Look at yourself. How many of you can say that about yourself?!”
No, one dared to argue with the dragon, as his golden eyes kept sweeping through the town, a pressing aura radiating out of his body that seeped deep into everyone’s heart.
The dragon’s cold voice swept through the people, sending waves through the crowd. “The dragon god does not require any of these. Under their might and the might of the draconic races that were born out of their blood, you can be yourself. You can do whatever you want!
“It is your choice if you want to pray to those that consider you unpure and force their ideals on you, or you can pray to those that don’t care about it!.”
Suddenly notifications filled the corner of his vision.
[+ 3 FAI]
[+ 3 FAI]
[+ 2 FAI]
…
‘Hah, it looks like these angels attacking me did me more good than bad. They gave me XP and helped me to convert more people. How kind of them. Still, I need to recruit some priests that are not players, but how… I can’t just put out recruitment notice for priests.’
Vesuvius realised that his church was dysfunctional; they had no temples, and without players, there would also be no priests.
Suddenly a loud explosion resounded through the town, and flames engulfed the whole white temple. Multiple powerful auras in the church were extinguished instantly, together with dozens of weaker ones.
Ding!
//
You are now level 49
All stats increased!
+5 stat points
+1 ability point
//
The flames were surging more and more brightly, quickly devouring the whole white building, its pristine white walls turning black with its roof collapsing into a flaming inferno.