Dragon of Swords
Dragon of Swords
And this had begun when the beast horde was well on their way, just a day before they reached the city of the Beast-kin.
Ming Yue had completed cutting through all of the roots, severing them from the spires at this moment. She floated above it, seeing her work in its entirety. It was like she dug a deep trench all around the central plateau.
"This should be enough", she thought to herself.
The young cultivator then flew off, returning back home just as night had begun to fall. It was quiet when she returned, a strange feeling filled her as she looked around.
"Where are they?"
Ming Yue walked around, looking into the house only to find it empty. Her eyes traveled from one end to the next before stopping at the waterfall.
"No, she wouldn't have tried again, would she?"
She quickly moved, flying through the waterfall and into the cave path, reaching the end in less than a minute. Stopping right before the stacked stones, Hongyu and the others were nowhere to be found but Ming Yue noticed something on the floor.
Kneeling down, she picked up a tuft of fur belonging to Liang Wei.
"This- they managed to get to the other side?!"
She looked at the stacked stones and immediately moved to touch them, transporting into the depths of the ruins. When the light dimmed, she looked around hurriedly, running through into the spiral stairs.
"Where are they? Where could they be?"
Her eyes went from one spot to the next, searching for any sign of them. And then, there was a sonorous roar echoing from the top floor, she immediately looked up.
"No!"
Ming Yue moved, ascending the stairs all the way to the top floor where the Dragon of Swords was. She practically flew up, shooting out into the large hall where she immediately scanned everything below her. Her eyes widened as she saw them.
"There!"
The Dragon of Swords slowly moved towards one corner of the hall, staring at a trembling Hongyu. All three beasts stood between her and the Dragon of Swords, staring at this fearsome existence, growling and baring their fangs and claws.
It looked at the group of four, almost narrowing its black eyes so as to ridicule this pathetic group.
Hongyu cowered in the corner, curling up and making herself as small as possible. The little girl trembled as she tried to cover her eyes, trying not to look at the Dragon of Swords. There were tears streaming down her face and her lips quivered.
She was afraid, she was scared, and most of all, she wanted Ming Yue to be here.
The Dragon of Swords growled back, a grating sound that resembled a noise from a nightmare, like rusted swords that ground against one another. It came closer and closer, opening its mouth to reveal hundreds of spinning swords, ready to shred their bodies.
Step by step, it drew closer to them, forcing the three beasts back.
Just as it opened its mouth, something forced it closed as a sword shot down, piercing through its mouth right into the ground. Ming Yue followed after, landing between the dragon and the others. Putting a hand forward, Storm Lances started to form and fire off in succession, barraging this creature with one thunderous blow after another.
Holding her other hand out, Blood Moon dislodged itself from the dragon's mouth, flying back into her hand.
The Storm Lances continued to fire off. and the ruins trembled under the power of these attacks.
Ming Yue slowly walked forward, continuing this furious assault!
"Leave! Now!"
She glanced at them and shouted, watching as Liang Wei picked up Hongyu by the back of her clothes and ran off with the others. None of them stopped for even an instant, escaping to the lower levels.
As soon as they left the massive hall, Ming Yue's attacks grew fiercer as she turned her full attention towards the Dragon of Swords.
She was silent and merciless, the Storm Lances just grew more plentiful. Dust and debris flew everywhere, clouding her sight but she didn't need to see it. She could sense it, its aura grew weaker and weaker.
It coiled up tightly trying to defend itself but it knew that its demise was coming.
The swords in its outer body slowly cracked and shattered, its defenses were deteriorating. The Dragon of Swords had to do something and so it did.
Ming Yue's eyes flashed as she noticed its aura condensing and growing.
She immediately stopped and backed off just as this enemy roared out. Hundreds of swords shot out from its body, flying everywhere and bursting into little shards!
"Is it trying to detonate its body and take me with it?" she thought.
Waving her sword, a powerful gust of wind came out, diverting the shards and shielding her from the attack. There was a glint of light as something stirred in the dust before flying out. Widening her eyes, Ming Yue realized what it had done.
"It shed its outer layer!"
She watched as the Dragon of Swords flew out and charged at her, roaring and opening its jaws to bite down on her.
It was just a third of its original size but it was far quicker and more dangerous than its previous form. Its glowing black eyes became more intense, leaving behind of trail of darkness as sparks crackled between the swords that made up its body.
Ming Yue quickly dodged, flying off before striking.
"Waning Crescent."
Slashing out, a crescent shape attack shot out, aiming to cut the dragon in half. But it was quick, avoiding the struck and turning back to chase her. At this moment, it was much faster than her but she still had several cards to use.
"Pale Moon."
Her aura suddenly burst out and condensed into her body, flowing into Blood Moon's red body. With the pale blue aura and the crimson blade, a gently purple glow emerged as wisps of energy came out.
And her armor changed, morphing into its second form. Her strength burst out as she used everything. Ming Yue suddenly turned and flew towards the Dragon of Swords, which was undaunted by her show of power.
"Phantasmal Wind."
Her body suddenly vanished from its sight and there wasn't enough time for it to react before she reappeared right above it. Stabbing down with both hands, Blood Moon dug right into the middle of its body.
"Squall Strike."
The sword's energy suddenly grew and expanded, reaching ten times its size, cutting right through its body! Its body trembled as she swung it, ripping right through and chopping the Dragon of Swords in half!
Its body fell through the air, crumbling into dust as it dropped.
"Did that do it?"
Ming Yue watched it carefully only to narrow her eyes and move.
"Damn thing, I missed the core sword."
Despite the hundreds of swords falling apart, there was still the core sword that was still alive. It moved quickly, fleeing into the spiral stairs. She gave chase, following the sword down. It went straight through the stairs until it reached the last level, finding the chained-up sword.
"It's going for the Black Blade!"
As quick as she was, the core sword was slippery, barely within her grasp. She shot out Wind Needles but it wasn't enough to take it down.
"I'm not going to make it."
As the core sword came, the Blade Blade crackled with lightning as the two swords met.