Chapter 73:  A Cornered Dragon

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As if Titania's premonitions had prophetic powers about them, just when the fight between the Lunarian Dalyon and Count Reverscar under the influences of the mysterious being, deep in the underground cavern a tall man whose clothes looked to have suffered a lot of punishment, cuts of various sized, while his body was also full of wounds.

His ink-black hair was disheveledly giving him a haggard appearance, and unlike the usual style he was wearing which gave him a scholarly look, now it looked akin to a lion's mane, ready for battle. The signs he was given were of a cornered beast, a tired man who went into a head-on war against a large group.

The atmosphere around him could bring total dread, as he was facing a small army of frozen people, all wearing knightly armor giving off a strong energy, with a gigantic man of 286 cm wielding a spiked club weapon considerably aged being in his late 50s, containing a dignified appearance about himself.

Left and right, and encircling him were armored people numbering about 26 of them suited in the style of the Royal Guard of Sorbet Kingdom.

They were constantly pressuring not giving him a chance to rest his tired body and senses, but he didn't allow himself to get bullied by the numerical advantage of the enemy, something that was marked by a large number of dead bodies around himself, counting 25 thus far, and still dropping since those puppets didn't feel any fear against the cornered beast.

Their advance started again with the right and left flank of puppets beginning their attack, forcing Vlad's observation to be on point each time he would dodge, parry and counterattack. This was his strategy, a hit-and-run tactic that would conserve his energy that was leaving his body.

'How long has it been … I've been fighting those puppets for thirty minutes or even more … I am too tired to keep track of the passing time, just remembering the count of bodies that dropped dead is enough for now.'

Surprisingly, Vlad was calm even when facing this large number of enemies, even if his escape pathway has been sealed by this mysterious being puppeteering those bodies, he didn't panic, as if he had another trump card ready.

He was conserving all the benefits he gained from the < Elysium Serum > whose effect stopped showing efficiency, but he felt that his heart was beating so fast that it gave the impression it would explode inside his chest.

Clash after clash, using precise strikes that only targeted the vital points of those Royal Guards, which would destroy portions of the Icy Armor enveloping the puppets, giving him full access to those vital points, and shortening his fights by destroying the puppets from inside.

"Are you enjoying the spectacle Atlas?" shouted Vlad from the top of his lungs with an unyielding aura around himself, while the bodies of two Royal Guards dropped to the ground, returning to a natural complexion, but clearly dead.

Breathing heavily while dodging the club swings of the gigantic man with the grace of his Observation Haki that he had under his control beginning to understand the principles of this unique power to the Human Body.

'I can't allow this person to touch me with his club. He has that annoying Armament and even Observation making it harder to land strikes on him.'

'It should be related to that deranged fuck watching from the shadows.'

His fight and question was heard by the mysterious being who released a deranged laugh that spread around the entire Dark Chamber, a location that had a sinister aura about it, filled with all sort of murals depicting fear-inducing acts, from pillagings, to mass killings, to tortures, all the dark emotions of the Human mind was filled in this room.

"KAHEHAHA! You are weak! Not worthy of my treasure!"

"Just like many others who tried to steal my treasure before you, they failed my challenges, just like you will fail this challenge of mine. What is amusing is that you'll forever be at my side, serving as my best puppet to face all the fools trying their luck."

It was an androgynous voice commanding fear, but Vlad only began laughing in a similarly deranged manner, surrounded by the puppets who took their stand as the conversation between both deranged monsters was taking place.

"You say I will be your puppet? Ridiculous, you aren't the first or the last person to tell me such words."  mentioned Vlad while his tone was calm, then suddenly raising up along with the anger building up in his chest.

"What's more? You say I will not be worthy of the treasure? Who says so? You? A coward, using other people to fight his wars?"

"You are too weak that I don't need to be bothered with you." remarked the androgynous voice ringing in the entire dark chamber without giving Vlad an exact location to where this voice might come from.

Stepping closer to the gigantic man who had the club lowered, with an emotionless appearance, he told the mastermind of this location, placing focus on the Impaling aspect.

"Then remain hidden in this Cavern and wait for me. Once I kill all those puppets of yours, when we meet face to face, and also defeat you … "

"Heed what I will say to you. YOU WILL BE IMPALED!"

"Kukuku, you can't even defeat my best puppet to date, and you think of defeating me? Me, FEAR INCARNATE? ME? THE GREAT ATLAS! RIDICULOUS!"

The large man wielding the spiked club started moving, but before it could do something Vlad utilized his <Phantom Steps> and tried to pierce a weak spot in his chest area using his Kilij, but before he could do any damage, one of the Royal Guards appeared in front of him, receiving the blunt of the attack.

His Observation screamed to retreat, as the large man enveloped his club into Armament Haki and swung at him, but before he could move, the Royal Guard held onto his body, not allowing him to flee this attack.

'Again? Whenever I would try to break some of the armor on his body, one of those bugs would pin me down. Hah, it's getting annoying that I even lose my calm. To top it off, I can't even focus my attacks on the big guy, instead have to deal with the smaller guys.'

To escape from this encirclement, he morphed the Kilij into a Halberd which he later on dragged in a swinging movement typical to a peasant swinging with his scythe on some grass pesky weeds that would cause trouble on a farm, such that while placing all his strength into the move, he cleaved off the hands of the Royal Guard puppet.

Retreating with a <Phantom Step> barely escaping from the club swing which squashed the Royal Guard pinning him down, and understanding what happened using his Echolocation, it gave him a strange idea that sounded too crazy to implement.

'To think I couldn't come up with such an idea from the start … The way I see it, this puppeteer doesn't care much about the pawns, instead only likes his strong chess pieces, then let's make sure no pawn gets promoted to the next stage.'

Adding another layer to his Hit-and-Run strategy, he charged at the giant man unleashing a piercing attack so fast that the giant man barely managed to cover his Icy Armor with Armament Haki, the shockwave created by this Halberd attack pushed many rocks in all directions, some hitting the heads of the Royal Guards.

His piercing attacks were basic without any flashy movements that would expose him, hitting in a fluid way the large man who blocked all of the attacks with its Armament Haki, preparing his own attack on the blind man who would remain in the pocket to chip at the Icy Armor.

Whenever, the large man would swing his large club weapon the atmosphere in the chamber would shift into a heavy one, but that was the exact moment, Vlad would either drop to the ground and roll to safety or jump to safety, using a shameless fighting strategy focused only on his survival.

Even though he was consuming his energy, the sound of the bodies of the Royal Guards dropping to the ground with each of the giant man's swings was like music to his ears.

"Enough playing around. While your spirit is commendable, you have already taken a step at Death's Door." mentioned the androgynous voice, having the large man stop all movements, similarly to the Royal Guards who shrank to about 12 of them thanks to Vlad's sneaky movements that would profit over the large and telegraphed attack of the older man.

"..."

"Try to hide it as much as you can, but your heart can be heard. You have it hard staying awake, right? Just give up on this fight, and I will promise you to make the strongest piece I've ever placed my hands on. We will bring Fear into this world. Everyone will know about your powers."

Vlad, who just like this cold voice mentioned, began experiencing hardships in staying awake, thanks to the nasty effects of the <Elysium Serum> that strained his body to the extremes.

"No point in negotiating with me. Either way, I would be dead if I surrender, there's no point in a Dragon surrendering, especially at the feet of a nobody. At least, I die knowing I tried my best to achieve my dream and desire."

There was no comment from the androgynous voice, only the movements of the Royal Guards who began retreating from the battlefield, leaving only the gigantic man and Vlad to stand in the spotlight. With this confusing action of this mysterious being, it soon explained itself.

"There's no point in losing my puppets over a cornered beast. I've lost plenty, and I can't afford to lose all of them. You will face his Majesty, the King himself, Taelar Cormac, to settle down this challenge."

His echolocation told him that each Royal Guard Puppet disappeared from this chamber, and from nowhere without any warnings, the large man appeared in front of him swinging his club in such a fashion that even a monstrous being would be pulverized, thanks to the Armament Haki coating and extreme strength.

After dodging, he pierced the Halberd before morphing it back into a Kilij as he swung at the large man's knees, resulting in the imposing man jumping to evade the attack before unleashing his counter with a blow that grazed Vlad's forehead and then as he dodged even his nose with one of the club spikes, beginning to cover his entire face in blood.

Following up his evasive movement, he attacked again at the large man creating another small crack on the Icy Armor, retreating in advance without any wasted breath. That was his strategy of dealing with the nasty armor which put a break to his further advances.

Nonetheless, as the fight kept on going with Vlad hanging around against an enemy which looked far superior on paper, wielding Observation Haki and even Armament Haki all combined into the shape of a gigantic man, he was consuming his own energy with small gains.

'I've weakened enough the armor to allow me to break it … '

Thinking that while dodging the attacks of the large man using his Observation Haki, his appearance looked worse compared to when he was fighting all of the enemies. Even his own speed and responses slowed down, resulting in getting involuntarily hit.

'This needs to be a perfectly timed attack. Patience is key, once I take down this large man, I will be able to get my third shot of the Serum.'

While moving around the large man who kept up with his pace continued his assault, when it moved for another devastating swing of the spiked club, it was the awaited time to strike down with everything he got, like a cornered beast lunging to attack.

Morphing his spear into a large shield that he used to cover himself in case there were some attacks from behind, he dodged the swing and pushed ahead.

His veins and muscles all over his body were tensing up, pushing all the energy and strength available in his body, the last drops of force straight into his hands which took the shape of a Maw.

The Dragon's Maw which he executed perfectly on the large man's chest, where he targeted the Heart Area it was the location he worked tirelessly for about one hour using his Spear and Sword Strikes. All of his bets for his future were placed on this plan, based on his observation with regard to his enemy.

'I need to take your heart, puppet! Once I crush it, it will be over. That vermin will no longer have control over your body.'

Once the Icy Armor torn off from the large man's chest, Vlad stabbed inside the man's chest which was protected by the Armament Haki, and the clash between the seemingly impregnable armor and the willpower and entire strength inside Vlad's body all placed in his right hand sent off some sparks of Crimson-Red energy lights.

"You are too weak. There's no way you'll be able to break my Armament Haki, you are just a puny human."

"..."

His abyssal eyes were dead cold in that moment shining with some crimson-red energy light as he was pressing all his strength in the stab, and each second while he was experiencing excruciating pain from his flesh being torn apart on each of his fingers, the sound of cracks coming from both ends ringed in the entire Chamber.

"ARGHH! YOU HUMAN, DARE?!"

Cracks appeared on the dark coating on the large man's chest who rebounded with his club striking with a lot of velocity the black-haired man who was breathing heavily, a strike which got covered by the large Black Shield which he prepared in advance.

*Crack*

The sound of bones crushing from the impact of the club with the shield was foreboding of something bad to happen to the young man.

'ENDURE! I GOT TO ENDURE!' growled Vlad in his mind just so he could wash away some of the pain he was experiencing in those moments.

Another cracking sound started propagating in the Chamber, with various bones inside Vlad's hand breaking apart from the resistance they received in the Armament Haki of the large man.

"Break, you stupid wall." called out Vlad who couldn't feel his, only two fingers, his index and middle finger, which finally touched the flesh of the man, digging deeper in the flesh like a hot knife against cheese.

'A bit more!'

He was approaching to the heart with his long fingers only to be grabbed by the large man who abandoned holding his weapon, grabbing Vlad by his throat while he was going forward with his killing blow.

"You are truly a perfect specimen. However, I can't have you kill a good puppet that I spent decades creating." said the androgynous voice echoing in the entire Chamber, while Vlad could feel himself distancing away from the heart.

Vlad saw how his target started leaving him behind, and in an animalistic body language, he started shaking around while the crimson-red energy around his eyes shifted from all his body sending a strong energy wave clashing with the large man, who didn't budge at all sending him flying, crushing straight on the sturdy walls of the Dark Chamber destroying one of the murals.

'Have I failed again?' thought Vlad while he tried to get some response from his body where only his right side of the body reacted, where his face was burning him sending an agonizing electroshock.

'I can't give up now, I got one more dose which will recover my broken bones.'

Thinking that, moving his mangled right arm in a slow manner, he brushed past the golden pendant on his chest that had a young lion engraved with moon and sun symbols standing to watch over the lion, getting to a hidden pocket of his tattered clothes were he took his last vial of Elysium Serum.

"I don't care if I die with this one, at least I know I will kill you damned fuck."

When he was about to inject himself with his last dose of Elysium Serum a shadowy projectile hit the vial from his hand, resulting in him slowly getting claimed by the limits of his body.

With another shadowy projectile that looked more akin to a sharp thorn wounding him, Vlad collapsed on the ground, squeezed out of all his energies, landing face-first bringing along a large impact from his collapse, akin to a giant who was defeated.

"There's no point in further harming yourself, human. Let it be, don't fight it. You'll be my perfect creation."

Going into a deep sleep as he got knocked unconscious, he wasn't aware of what was happening around him, and the large man who was bleeding from his chest revealed two finger-sized incisions straight where his heart was located, yet instead of squashing Vlad, he stopped abruptly.

A large crimson-red eye the size of a large man, reminiscent of a nightmarish creature appeared on the ceiling of the Dark Chamber gazing at the black-haired man who was full of wounds, and bruises from the fight he gave him, before shifting its attention at the weapon next to him who morphed into the black longsword filled with runes.

"Your presence … Distant … Yet familiar, yes. Yes, I remember it now, Anathema. Ohh, pitiful spirit, to be wielded by such a weak human. It must hurt your ego a lot."

"…"

There was no response from the black sword, only a small buzz of the blade, which was enough to tell the crimson eye a lot.

"I will not hurt him, Afterall, I found the perfect candidate to awaken the Master. Just remain quiet and watch. There's no point in struggling, we both are the same, his creations, his desires, and dreams, used to light his path, to usher in his return."

While this androgynous voice spread around the chamber, the weapon Vlad used returned to its default form of a longsword with various runes imprinted on it, beginning to suffer new changes, now pulsing with an energy that Vlad wasn't even aware the sword possessed, as the voice of this monstrous Crimson-Eye was spreading over the room.

Not long after this devastating battle where many souls have been claimed by the Impaler, deeper in the Underground Cavern, inside a particular Altar Chamber, there a gigantic amalgamation of flesh with various large spikes that granted this being an abomination-like appearance, with a large crimson eye giving the impression it could bring terror into one's soul only by a glance.

This abomination was inside a gigantic tree trunk planted at the end of the Altar Chamber, a tree whose roots and branches looked twisted and deformed, pulsing with a crimson-red light while the ones closer to the eye were moving around like tentacles.

All around the room large roots were situated around the room where inside of them twelve Royal Guards that looked to be the ones who fought Vlad were now placed under a particular ritual.

From inside the sitting area of the roots reminiscent of a hyperbaric chamber, various liquids akin to what was spewed on Dalyon with the exception it looked to have freezing properties and also regenerative ones.

The monstrous creature's breathing could be heard from every single root, and it only stopped when the gigantic man returned with Vlad in his hands, where the black sword remained strapped on Vlad's waist, the abomination in the corner started showing signs of activity with the eye beginning to blink slowly.

"Such a marvelous pawn, already showing signs of fully awakening his Conquerors Willpower. I only had to face him for some hours to get a proper read of him, and I can tell he is perfect for Master's plans."

"This time, I will finally receive a humanoid body instead of lurking inside this clone of the Adam Tree."

*Buzz*

The sword seemed to respond to the abominations' claims, releasing a frigid crimson-red energy that looked to be deeper than what the abomination inside the tree truck was showing passively. And yet, this wasn't all of the actions of the sword proceed with in response, beginning to envelop the Altar Room in its energy.

"Anathema, instead of being happy, ushering in the return of the Master. Being happy for one of your brethren that at last after almost a millennium it will receive a humanoid body? Don't tell me you've grown weak since the Master's forced departure?"

"..."

The energy released by the sword started dying down and didn't react when the large man picked it up from Vlad's waist as it got placed on the Ritual Table, giving the impression it was held in high regard even by the mysterious abomination.

"No worries, I will not tell the Master anything about this incident. However, I want you to share with me your experiences with this human for further investigation."

*BUZZ*

"Fine, but I warn you. It will not be nice when the Master awakens. Now, let's take care of those worms so they don't interfere with the plans to light the path to the Master's return."

"KUHEHAHA, Fear will once again Reign Supreme in the World."

*Buzz*

"Indeed, I am also surprised that the pawn chose to go to the last stop before the Awakening Ceremony. How? I can't explain myself. I doubt you interfered, right? Nonetheless, it's unimportant, no one can stop the Inevitable."

"What will be important following this is to receive the keys of the rest of the piece holders. But those defective weaklings will be far too easy to destroy once I finish my job."

From the underground, a slimmer root giving off an intense crimson light akin to what the Black Sword released earlier, appeared inside the altar room, and without further waiting the large man placed Vlad inside an opening of this root which immediately released a gas around him, followed by various substances which were coating his body into a lair of icy.

From there on the Abomination continued talking in its androgynous tone, going with a rather analytical speech, remarking all the procedures completed on Vlad's body.

– General Anesthesia completed.

– Proceeding connection with the Host  … Connection Successfully Established

– Host Parasitic Infection will proceed – 1% … 8% … 25% … 46% … 69% … 81% … 99% – Host has been infected

– Proceeding Body Composition Analysis: 1% … 53% … 72% … 86 … 99%

– Complete Analysis of the Body Composition – Results: The host Body requires further enhancements to reach the marked parameters desired by the Master. Various missing nutrients and hormones necessary will be transmitted

– Proceeding Health Status Analysis: 1% … 11% … 27% … 38% … 41% … 48% … 54% …

The pupil on the large crimson eye dilated, becoming larger as if this analysis took far too longer than it expected, and it took an entire 45 minutes compared to the quick 2-5 minutes procedures executed on the black-haired youngsters body.

– Health Status Results:

– Severe Malfunction Zones: Brain Area – Trigeminal Nerve has been damaged – Low-Risk Operation

– Cranial Nerve 2 - Optic Nerve has been damaged – Severely Damage – Commencing further Analysis.

– Vital organs affected by high toxicity dosage – The substances belonged to the identified plants: Belladonna, Hellebore, Bahun Upas, Monks Hood, Maggris Worm Intestinal Juices

– Trivial Broken Bones: Duration of healing one day.

While the androgynous voice of this abomination talked about various scientific and medical terms, Vlad was injected by different sharp roots of a needle size, while another larger root morphed into the hand of a human before the black sword flied in the hand, morphing into a pair of scissors, which began cutting Vlad's long hair.

"Based on Master's Data, Trigeminal Neuralgia doesn't kill a patient, but the pains one suffers will be excruciating, akin to being electrocuted with the Lighting Creation Fruit powers. Surgery has a 84% success rate, with chances of the affliction firing up being presented at 0.5%."

Vlad, who went into a deep sleep realm, was even encouraged by the full anesthesia to sleep, otherwise what began to happen to him wouldn't sit too well with him since his skull was opened by the moving tentacles of the abomination that showed a lot of care and mastery with the black sword taking various shapes.

He was made to be a guinea pig, or there were different reasons altogether in the mind of this monster, who started treating his neurological defects that have been trying Vlad since awakening in this world.