Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals
The Abyss keeps spreading. It's been a week since the attack, and we've only been lightly probing it and trying to keep the growth in check. It isn't working. It's spread a few miles so far, and we're running out of options. Nuclear force isn't currently on the table, since the cavern is just so deep that the blast wouldn't be able to really affect whatever that thing at the bottom is.
Well, officially they've only been probing and setting up perimeters, at least. From what I can tell, absorbing souls and gaining strength from them is the most effective way of fighting the Abyss. And since the watchers aren't around anymore, that makes things a whole lot easier.
Of course, fighting darkwraiths is still absurdly dangerous, and I don't want anyone dying. At least, not permanently.
"So, where are we going again, man?"
I ducked under a tree branch, Kirishima following behind me.
"Remember how I said I got my powers from a bonfire?"
"Yeah? What doe- Oh. Ohhh..."
"You said you wanted to fight back the Abyss, and it's just so damn dangerous to do it without some sort of safety net. From what I can tell, the only downside of becoming undead is that you lose your emotions and "humanity" when you die, which isn't really a problem since the Abyss is made of the stuff. I'd say it's our best bet."
"Alright then, count me in!"
We reached the bonfire, and sat down in front of it.
"So... what now?"
Uh... I just realized I don't actually know how this works. I didn't thing this through enough...
"Um, well with Ochako she just reached into the fire, and-"
"Wait, wait wait, she reached into it? And it didn't burn the heck outta her?"
"Nope. It's not all that hot, even inside the flames. Just pleasantly warm, all the way through."
"Man, this thing is confusing." He said, as he reached forward. He slowly moved forward, his hand shaking slightly as he got closer, until he touched the edge of the flames.
"Heh... you weren't kidding. It really isn't hot... what even is this thi-"
He stopped. He stared at the flame, and his eyes widened, and though I couldn't see what he was seeing, I had a guess. He pulled his hand out of the flame, and with it came a little white wisp of flame, dancing in the still air above his palm.
"What... is this?"
"A soul. Something we don't seem to have, but the old world the flame comes from did. Crush it in your hand, and you become an undead. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what does it. It worked for me and Ocha, at least."
Without a word, he crushed it in his hand. His eyes lit up, literally, and he gasped for air as the white light traveled across his body. The light died down, and a ring of orange light emanated from his chest.
"I-I-"
"I was speechless too. With a soul, you feel more... yourself. Weird at first, but it's definitely a good thing. Just... don't think about the implications much."
"Heh, probably a good idea. I got a soul now, and that's what counts! So, anyways, why is it you brought me here, made me an undead, like you?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask that... well, we both know the Abyss is spreading, and it's not stopping."
His bright smile turned to a straight-lipped stare as I spoke.
"Nothing seems to really work. Not guns, or quirks, or fire, nothing. The only thing that works... is directly fighting it. And that's just too dangerous, I died twice when I first fought a Darkwraith. So, we need a safety net."
I turned away from him, and looked back at the flame again.
"I can't see a better one than this."
"So... fighting the Abyss head-on works the best, and you made me an undead to remove the risk... well, can't say I'm complaining. Not even death can stop me now, that's like, the paramount of manliness!"
Heh, there it is. What a catchphrase.
"Now, are we gonna go fight it? Or are you gonna get more us us to become undead?"
"Later. I'm sure not everyone will enjoy becoming a zombie, especially with the risk of losing their emotions, even if there is a solution. For now, let's get you stronger. The government, thanks to principal Nezu, has allowed me and everyone else that was part of the attack full access to the perimeter around the Abyss zone. Well, except the villains. I've still got the second bonfire set up out there, and I've figured out that I can kinda teleport between them-"
"Wait, WHAT!?"
"My reaction exactly! Haha, yeah, that was a fun day. So, go and get yourself ready, and come back in a little while. I'll see if Ocha wants to come with."
"Alright, see ya later!"
A blast of warmth and a whooshing sound came from behind me.
"Oooh wow, I am... really dizzy now..."
It's been a few hours. Kirishima just came through the bonfire, and from the hero costume and Abyss Watcher's greatsword, it seems he's gotten fully geared up.
"Yep, that'll happen. Sorry I didn't warn you."
"Eeughhh... Don't be so hard on yourself, man, no worries... anyway, where's Uraraka?"
"She said she'd sit this one out, had some schoolwork to catch up on. And speaking of her..."
I pulled out my phone, and opened up the texting app.
AllKnight
Kirishima's just gotten here, I'll be back in a few hours
Kirby
Try to be back by 5, my mom's coming over and she's been wanting to see you more often
"Alright, let's go."
We passed through the checkpoint and made our way into the corrupted forest. It didn't take long for the sky to turn black, and for the first Darkwraiths to start appearing.
"You ready?"
"Hell yeah!"
He gripped the greatsword, and charged forward. The swords of the darkwraiths, despite the strength of their wielders, couldn't do much more than chip his massive set of stone armor. And any damage was regenerated after a few minutes anyways. Of course, the Darkwraiths aren't all too powerful, but still, fighting the Abyss like that at all is something to behold.
"Whew! Really working up a sweat under here!" He said, as he blocked the strike of a Darkwraith with his forearm, and then caved its face in with the same arm.
"Must be like a desert in there!"
"Yep! Haha!" He said as he retracted his armor, the area around us cleared out.
"Notice anything different?"
"Huh? Like what?"
"Well, I've gotten this strong by absorbing the strength of the things I kill. A bit morbid, I know, but it's helping fight the Abyss, so all's well. Should he the same for you."
"Hm..."
He picked up the greatsword and gave it a few swings. As I thought, the swings were noticeably faster than before, and definitely stronger as well.
"Yeah... I am stronger than before. Heh, I could barely use this thing with both hands before, now one's all I need!"
"Good, good. Now, how about we press on? We're only just at the edge, there's still miles of corrupted land ahead of us. Or are you ready to go back now?"
"Like hell I am! Let's go!"
"One, was a wayfaring knight, on an endless, forbidden search."
Huh? What was that?
"Only the Abyss granted closure, if not reunion with his beloved."
I turned around in circles, and eventually saw a white, human-ish face sticking out from the surface of a dark swamp.
"Fear not the dark, my friend, and let the feast begin."
What? What is this thing talking about? What feast?
I raised my sword slowly, and stood my ground. Who knows if this thing could be dangerous.
"Many of us are by the fire forsaken. I speak of thine kind, and mine. Look around at the darkness. There is peace here, is there not? Fear not the dark, my friend, and let the feast begin."
"Peace? There's no peace in this place. Just corruption, death, and destruction with no sense to it at all. How could you call that peace?" Kirishima's voice rang out across the dark swamp, just before his armor grew out.
The white face stared at us for a short while, the blank stare seemingly judging us on the spot. Then, the swamp water around it began to ripple and shift around. A thin, lanky hand reached out, and pulled the rest of the man-no, creature out of the swamp. It had a face similar to a man's, but the body was like a gigantic insect's, nearly as tall as All Might. It was... unsettling, to say the least.
"Corruption, death... only when irked by flame, does the dark retaliate. It is why the Abyss first spread, and why it spreads now. Why would the dark turn on its own children, if not to free them from their corruption? Fear not the dark, my friend, and let the feast begin."
"It's just talking us in circles, Kirishima. Put your guard up."
Kaathe said the same stuff this guy is. None of it made much sense to me, but maybe... no, it's just trying to corrupt us. Can't let it get into my head.
"Hm..."
It reached outwards to its sides, and out of thin air, 2 blue, ethereal sticks materialized in its hands.
Is that Ocha's sorcery!?
The insect charged forwards at frighteningly high speed, and stabbed straight through me with the magic sticks, raising me into the air
"I shall partake!"
It lurched forward and bit at my armor, tearing through the surcoat and tearing up my skin. Agonizing pain, my old friend...
It suddenly stopped, as red splattered across the ground.
"Get away from him!"
Kirishima had stabbed straight through the insect's abdomen, and right as he did, the magic sticks disappeared. As I fell, I turned my sword upside down and stabbed through its face, killing it on the spot.
"Damn, that looks like it hurts!"
I took a drink of estus.
"Not anymore. Keep your guard up, who knows what else is out there."
"Hey, is that a person?"
To the right, shambling through the swamp, was a man. An emaciated, zombie-like man, thin and pale with hollowed-out eyes. Seeing him gave me a sense of familiarity... and one I didn't like.
He turned, stared at us, and then let out an ear-piercing shriek. He ran towards us, dark mist spewing out from him, and when he got close, he was blown open from inside, releasing an undulating snake of darkness.
"WHAT THE HELL-"
It slammed its head into Kirishima, sending him flying away. It charged forwards, narrowly missing me as I rolled away, but it twisted itself back and bit into me.
Mother of all stomachaches today's going to give me.
I slammed the pointed bottom of my shield into its glowing red eye, and it let go immediately, slinking back into itself. It coiled up like a spring, and I raised my shield just in time as it slammed its head into me. It didn't stop there, it repeatedly bit at me, but it wasn't fast enough. I dodged a wild bite, and ran towards the original body, cutting it in half with one swing and killing the snake.
Now that I was done with the snake, I could find Kirishima.
"KIRISHIMA!? WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"I-I'm over here..."
I ran over to where the voice came from, and saw Kirishima missing an arm, another snake lying dead at his feet. He was bloodied up, both his own and the black blood of the snake. He was clearly on the verge of death, so I grabbed my flask and put it up to his mouth.
"Drink this. You're an undead now, it will heal you."
He groaned, and grabbed the flask with his remaining hand, as I put his severed arm to the torn stump. He drank, and in seconds it was good as new, minus a few bruises and scratches around the point where it was torn off.
"Holy shit... that was the worst thing I've ever experienced..."
"You ready to go home now? That was pretty bad..."
"Yeah... yeah, let's go..."
I lifted him to his feet, and we started to walk back. We were quickly interrupted by a massive, earth shaking roar from near the center.
"W-what was that? I can't deal with any more right now..."
In the distance I heard a rhythmic whooshing sound, almost like a drum, and it was getting louder. I looked up and saw a dark silhouette in the sky, massive wings propelling it through the sky at the speed of a bullet train, spreading dark mist as with every flap.
Coming right towards us.
"RUN!"
Without another word, we set off towards the Bonfire. We couldn't outrun this massive flying thing though, and it caught up in no time. It didn't land though, instead the massive creature opened its mouth and let down a torrent of flame, tinged with darkness.
"NO NO NO NO- AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
The flames engulfed us, burning Kirishima away until not even ash remained almost instantly. I lasted longer against the inferno, which only meant I felt it for longer. Seconds later, I was burnt to cinders as well.
I woke up. Kirishima's next to me. His breathing's uneven and panicked, and he keeps grasping at his skin, now wrinkled and reddened.
"I-I can still... feel it..."
"That thing's going to find us soon, get back to U.A. before that. The bonfire's right here, you can-"
The ground around us shattered as the massive flying thing landed beside the bonfire. The force of the landing sent us both flying away from each other, and I was sent through a tree before finally landing. I looked up to see the massive claws of the creature tear into the ground, destroying the bonfire... and our only way out of here.
A torrent of flame lit up the area, finally revealing what was attacking us.
"IS THAT A DAMN DRAGON!?"
Kirishima had appeared next to me, armor fully out and greatsword in hand. The fire wasn't able to reach us, at least not enough to damage us, but I don't think it was meant to. No, that was just to intimidate us. It sent out another burst of flame, this time straight forward, and charged right at us, tearing apart the landscape with every swipe.
"Dodge the flames!"
We avoided the flames, but we dodged in opposite directions. The incoming dragon only made it impossible to regroup, so we had to either fight it or get away separately. Not ideal.
I narrowly blocked a claw swipe, and as I was knocked away, I saw the dragon turn around, its tail whipping backwards... and right into Kirishima.
"NO!"
He was sent flying into the corrupted woods, and disappeared. It's just me and the dragon now, and it's not about to let me leave alive.
It flew upwards and sprayed down flames again, but I ran out of the way and avoided being incinerated like last time. It landed behind me and slashed wildly, the claws close enough to graze my armor as they passed by as fast as a bullet. The wild strikes finally died down, and the dragon's head hung low enough for me to hit, so I ran forwards and stabbed. It connected, but the sword was stopped only a few inches deep by the scales, which are easily as strong as steel.
It flung me away, and I landed on my feet but still slid away. It pounced at me, taking another swipe which connected with my side, shredding my left arm and throwing me into another tree. Before I could recover, I felt something grab ahold of my leg. The dragon bit down on me, reeled its head back, and flung me into the sky. I stabilized myself, and looked downwards to see the dragon jump into the air with its mouth open, clearly intending to devour me whole.
As it reached me, I stabbed right into its mouth, and this time the sword plunged into its flesh all the way to the guard. It let out an ear-splitting roar, which quite literally destroyed my ears as I was right on its mouth, and an orange light emanated from inside its pitch-black maw. I tried to pull my sword out and escape, but it was in too deep to pull out before the flames consumed me, burning me alive once again.
Burning is my least favorite way to die.
As soon as I woke up, I grabbed my phone.
AllKnight
Get everyone out of the city
Kirby
What? What happened?
AllKnight
DRAGON.
Kirby
I'm on it
Right as the last message was sent, that same roar rang out from the distance. The dark silhouette of the abyss dragon stood out like a frostbitten thumb against the blue sky, and it was coming closer at insane speed. Alarms rang out across the city, and military vehicles were everywhere, all aiming at the dragon. As it let out another roar, they let out a barrage of lead, the sound of the fire deafening the bellows of the dragon.
But the bullets just bounced off its hide. They could do nothing to stop the incoming monster, but kept firing anyways. The dragon opened its mouth as it flew over them, and rained fire once again. The fire engulfed the military vehicles, and the buildings behind them as the dragon kept flying.
Oh shit.
I ran towards the dragon, away from the ashes of the forest around the bonfire, and didn't stop until I was at the edge of the fire. The dragon still circled above, far out of my reach.
It's too far up, I can't get to it. How am I going to- wait.
I jumped upwards, and latched onto the side of an apartment building with my sword. I must have cleared 20 floors with that jump alone.
I keep forgetting, I'm really freaking strong now.
I made it to the top of the complex, and saw the dragon above. I could jump my way to the dragon now, but there's no guarantee I would make it, or that it wouldn't see me... I looked around the apartment, and saw a flagpole to the side of me, one with a long rope.
This is the craziest idea I've ever had.
I cut the pole down, and pulled off the rope. I tied the rope to the hilt of my sword, tied the other end around my wrist, and waited. The dragon flew nearby me, the city burning below it, and I reeled my arm back, lined up the shot, and threw the sword with all my strength. I don't know what I was expecting, but I definitely didn't expect the force of the throw to blow the flagpole back a few feet.
It seemed like as soon as the sword left my hand, the torrent of flames ceased and the dragon roared in pain. One of its wings buckled, so I must have hit the joint where the wing connected to the body. This was only confirmed as the dragon fell down to the blackened ground below, screeching in pain and rage as it spiraled downwards.
I pulled on the rope, dislodging my sword from the wing, untied the rope, and then jumped off the top of the building. I landed hard, hard enough to leave a crater in the concrete below, but besides my foot hurting I was in good condition. Wow, I remember almost dying from a 50-foot fall during the entrance exam, and now I can jump off of an apartment complex and come out of it pretty much unscathed. How far I've come...
Now isn't the time to reminisce. Focus on the fight.
I stared down the massive dragon in front of me, and it did the same. We simply stared at eachother for a while, taking eachother in and assessing the threat ahead of us. But in the dragon's eyes, I swear I could see something... the eyes didn't look like a wild animal's, they looked intelligent. Almost human-like, in fact, even through the corruption of the abyss... and there was something else, it looked at me like it had seen me before.
Or did it recognize the armor?
We broke eye contact, and the dragon rose to it's feet. It stood up and roared, before charging me once again. It let out a breath of fire, which I dodged, but right behind it was a wildly swinging claw. I barely managed to block it, which knocked me away, but it followed up before I recovered with another slash which hit me dead-on in the leg. Luckily, nothing was taken completely off, so a drink of estus and I was fine. By the time I put the flask away, it had turned around and was glaring at me with the animalistic fury of the abyss.
It swiped its tail at a collapsed building, shattering the concrete and sending chunks of it flying at me. As I weaved my way through the hail of stone, it pounced forwards and tried to bite me. I managed to backstep away from it, but it just bit again and again, until it caught me in its jaws. It grabbed ahold and bit down, piercing my armor and crushing my bones, and then it threw me away into a building. I bounced off the side, concrete shattering where I hit it, and fell to the ground. I could barely even feel my body anymore, and I definitely couldn't move it. Every single bone in my body was powder, and it wouldn't be long before I died. The dragon walked forwards, raised a fist, and slammed it down on me.
I woke up again, and after taking a second to collect myself, I drew my sword and ran towards the dragon again. I reached it a minute or so later, and readied myself for another fight. The dragon turned to face me, but instead of attacking normally, it instead unfurled its wings and jumped upwards. Despite its injury, it was still able to fly, at least enough to stay out of my reach. It passed over me, spraying down flames, which I barely managed to run away from. It landed far away from me, and once again pounced forwards, claws outstretched.
It missed and drove its hand deep into the ground, and seeing an opportunity, I stabbed my sword into the back of its hand and rode it as it pulled back. It flailed its hand around, trying to fling me off, but I stayed on, gripping the hilt of my sword for dear life. It finally stopped wildly swinging around, and instead looked at its hand, and opened its mouth. Right as the flames began to flow towards me, I jumped over them and landed on the dragon's head. I latched on and raised my sword above its eye, but right as its eyelid closed, I stabbed below, right into its mouth. The stab dislodged a tooth, which I grabbed, pulled out, and then drove into the dragon's head.
It reeled back in pain, and I fell to the ground. I stood up and ran forwards in an instant, and this time I attacked as the dragon was recovering.
My turn.
I slashed at its hand, which it pulled away and swung around wildly, but I ran under it, grabbed my sword with both hands, and stabbed right into its Achilles tendon. I twisted my sword and pushed it out the back of the tendon, severing it entirely and rendering the right leg useless. Now the fight will be a lot easier.
Or at least, I thought it would be, but then it slammed its tail into me and sent me flying into another building, which I crashed straight through the wall of.
Why did I ever think this would be easy?
I pulled out my estus flask, took a drink, and got up, my shattered ribs healed enough for me to move without much pain. I went to jump out of the building, but a giant scaled hand crashed through the wall before I could. I had nowhere to dodge, and I was grabbed by the abyss dragon, which pulled me out and held me in front of its face. Its grip was far to strong for me to get out of, and I was helpless as it opened its mouth and prepared to blast me with fire.
And then a mass of blue light hit the dragon in the face.
It dropped me and looked over to the side the soul spear had come from. No one was there however, just the ruins of a collapsed building. Then out of nowhere, rocks shrouded in purple light slammed into the wings of the dragon, tearing holes into them and stripping the dragon of its flight.
It roared and slashed all around it, and after a short while it hit something invisible. Blood splattered across the ground as the now-visible Ochako was batted away, a gaping hole in her stomach from the dragon's claw.
"OCHA!"
I ran towards her, completely ignoring the dragon, and held up the estus flask to her mouth. She drank it, and the gash healed almost immediately in a flash of soft flames.
"Are you alright!? That was really-"
"DRAGON!"
I turned and saw the dragon charging at me, mouth wide open and ready to bite down on both of us. I pushed Ocha away, but was caught by the dragon's bite. This time, as it reared its head up, I wasn't entirely crushed to pieces, only my leg was, as the gap where I had torn out a tooth was large enough for me to pull myself through. Well, after knocking another tooth out. I had barely gotten myself out when flames erupted from the gap between its teeth, burning my already shredded leg.
I stabbed into an eye while it was distracted by the pain, and as it roared in agony Ocha shot it with several soul spears. It tried to shake me off, which didn't work, so it instead rammed its head into a building, sending it crashing down on top of both me and the dragon. It worked, and I was knocked off and sent crashing into the rubble. But my sword wasn't. It was still stuck in the dragon's eye.
I crawled my way out of the rubble, and shouted to Ochako.
"I LOST MY SWORD! DISTRACT IT!"
"Will do!"
She casted some gravity magic on rocks and lifted herself into the air, where she flew out of the dragon's reach and shot it. Despite being her strongest sorcery, the soul spears weren't doing nearly as much damage as I would've liked. Still, a distraction is a distraction.
I took a drink of estus and got up, ready to go again. I ran to the blind side of the dragon, carefully avoiding the tail, and jumped onto its back. I ran across its spine, which it clearly noticed if the angered roaring and thrashing was any indication, but it was too distracted by the constant barrage of magic to be able to shake me off. I made it to the head, and pulled my sword out from the eye. Deep red blood stained both the dragon and the blade, and it was clear that this eye was done for.
Another torrent of flames was unleashed by the dragon, and this time Ocha was grazed by them. They burned away part of her hero suit, and she lost balance, causing her to fall from the rocks she was levitating, and onto the hard ground below. It was a long fall, long enough that it definitely broke several bones, but I couldn't get to her right now. I need to deal with the raging dragon first.
It swiped at me again, and the swipes came fast. I blocked the first one, ducked under the second, and sidestepped the third, and in the short time after the third swing I noticed that the dragon would take a second to recover after an attack like that. It would hang its head down low and breathe, and if I'm careful, I bet I can use that to my advantage.
The dragon stood up on its hind legs, leaning to the left, and balled up its hands. It slammed them downwards into the road, shattering concrete and making a crater in the ground. It stayed there for a second before unfurling its hands, and I took that time to stab under one of the claws. It jerked its hand back, but the claw had already began to come lose. It swiped at me with the same hand, and this time I blocked the swing, and the loose claw connected with my shield. The force of the blow tore the claw straight off, showering me in blood, and as the dragon roared and grabbed its hand, I grabbed the severed claw and threw it right at the dragon's throat as hard as I could.
The claw cut into the neck, but not enough to cause any serious damage. It did stun it however, and that was what I was really going for. I ran over to Ocha, flask in hand, and gave her another drink. She healed within the second, and slowly sat up.
"Ow..."
"It's alright, it's alright. Here."
I handed her the flask.
"Keep this. You're probably going to need it more than me if you get hit again."
"What? No, you need it more, you're the one fighting the-"
"No time to argue. Keep the flask. I can take a hit or two, even from this. I know we come back from death, but I still don't want to see you die."
"...alright. But I don't want to see you die either."
She stood up, and readied her staff.
"If the situation gets bad enough, I'll toss you the flask. Ok?"
"Ok."
She raised her staff and shot another spear at the dragon, and I ran towards it. It charged forwards again, but instead of going after me, it jumped right over me and went towards Ocha. She dodged to the side however, and released a burst of flame into the destroyed eye, sending the dragon reeling.
Did I mention she learned pyromancy?
The dragon put its hand on the ground, still in pain from the fire, so I ran over to the hand and stabbed downwards. Its hand shot up to its side instantly, but the speed of the movement combined with me pulling on the sword cut straight through the middle of its hand. The hand was cut straight between its middle and ring fingers, rendering the hand nearly useless.
The dragon turned towards me, anger in its eyes, and looked downwards. Flames covered the ground, but even after I was out of their range, it kept breathing the flames. But then, the flames started getting darker, more concentrated. Before long, the flames had turned into a single concentrated beam of unimaginable heat, which boiled the concrete below it. It looked skywards, the laser cutting through everything in its path, and then flailed its head around, destroying everything in its path.
We were both hit by the beam, and it did serious damage to us both. I was blasted towards Ocha, and she took a drink of the flask. But then, it lost the familiar orange color, and became the same dull green as when I originally got it.
"Huh? What the..."
"It's empty. We've drank all it held. We'll have to fight without it."
I could barely speak through the pain. The laser had melted part of my armor, and it was searing into my skin as we spoke.
"No way. You're not doing that, you're too hurt-"
"We don't have a choice, do we?"
"...No. I guess we don't."
Her face was somber and hurt, but she relented.
I tried to run, but it was just too damn painful. So I just raised my shield and hoped that I could last. A single tail swipe dispelled that notion. I was sent flying into a building, and I could barely even think through the pain. All I could see was that Ocha started to fight on her own.
She sent soul spear after soul spear at the dragon, narrowly avoiding swipes from the remaining useful hand the whole time. The dragon reeled back and let out another breath of flames, and I thought it was the end. But Ocha rushed to my side, grabbed my shield, and surrounded it in blue light. She was pushed back by the force of the blaze, but stood her ground and protected both of us until the flames stopped.
When I can move again, I'm going to kiss her.
She caught a small bit of the dragon's flames, and as it ran towards us again, she threw the fireball into its damaged eye. Then, to hit it even harder, she shot a soul spear into the fireball, and when it connected, the fireball exploded in the dragon's eye, which knocked it onto the ground in agony.
She dropped her staff and kneeled down at me.
"No, no, no, don't die, don't die..."
She grabbed my limp hand and held it with her own, her grip stronger than I remember it ever being. She closed her eyes, and let her soul flow through her hands. I did the same, and they met right there. The energy of the magic was behind her, and when it met my soul, it consumed it. I was bathed in a golden light, and as Ocha held me tighter, I could feel my bones begin to knit themselves together. I was being healed, not by estus, but by Ocha's magic.
There really is nothing she can't do, is there...
I pulled myself off the ground, and looked into her eyes. I was going to say something romantic, but then the dragon roared and that was the end of that.
The dragon was roaring into the sky, half its face shredded, and giant purple humanity sprites came up from the ground and flew towards us.
"Grab one!"
Ocha coated her hand in pyromancy fire, grabbed one, and the darkness was repelled by the flames. I dodged through the sprites and made it to the dragon, which was noticeably slower and more sluggish now. Still, it was dangerous and powerful, as evident by the buildings that collapsed whenever it swung its claws.
Another burst of flame was concentrated into a laser, and it thrashed its head around even more violently than before. But this time I made it through without being hit directly, only being singed a bit. The dragon overheated and lowered its head, which gave me the perfect opportunity to hit it. I slashed away at its head, and before I pulled away, I stabbed at its eye. It closed its eyelid right before the strike landed, but it didn't stop it all the way. The dragon reeled back, roaring all the way, and I ran under it as it was disoriented. Another slash to the right leg sent it crashing to the ground, the leg completely useless, and its head lowered again.
It wasn't quite done though. It let out another breath of flame, which I was caught by, but it didn't have the same heat that it did before, and I made it through. I ran to its head, thrust my sword into its eye, and kicked it away. Its limbs started to give out as blood streaked across its face, and with the last remaining strength it had left, it stood up, roared into the sky, and then fell to the ground, finally dead.
"Huff... huff... haaah... we did it..."
I fell to my knees, exhaustion setting in. Ocha was by my side not long after, but she's just as tired as I am.
"That was... something else... are you alright, Izu?"
"Yeah... can I have that humanity? I'm a little hollow right now..."
She pulled out the humanity, the tranquility normally present returned to it as the corrupting purple of the abyss absent with the death of the dragon. I crushed it in my hand, and as my body returned to normal, so did my mind.
And the destruction the dragon had caused finally set in.
Musutafu was a smoking ruin. Hundreds of buildings were nothing more than piles of rubble, and... tens of thousands must be dead. At least. Artorias hadn't even come close to this. This... is something else.
I'm going to destroy the abyss, no matter what. It can't exist any more.
"Izu? Are you alright?"
"No... it destroyed so much... the abyss... wait..."
Kirishima.
"WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE ABYSS!!!"
"What!? Why!?"
"Kirishima, h-he came with me, I made him an undead and we went to the abyss, we got attacked and the bonfire was destroyed and he's still out there and-"
"Whoa whoa, calm down, calm down. We'll get to the abyss, save Kirishima. But first, stop at the bonfire."
Alright. We can do that.
We headed towards the bonfire, and as we reached it, emergency services arrived at the scene. The body of the dragon was still there, they're going to have a hell of a time dealing with that.
We made it to the bonfire. It's burning brighter than normal now. Something's not right.
"Why's it..."
We walked up to it, and it flared up even more. Oddly enough, something was inside of it, just like before with the coiled sword, and my armor. This time, it was something else. I reached into the fire and grabbed ahold of the thing. It was heavy, but still rather soft, almost like a weird rock. I pulled it out of the flames and saw that I was actually pretty close: it's a white, somewhat triangular stone with a long golden ribbon wrapped around the thick end of it.
"What's that?"
"I... don't know."
It just seems like a normal, everyday rock, just weirdly soft. I looked around the rock, and nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. Then I unraveled the ribbon and was met with a little infographic.
It was a small series of pictures that showed someone with the stone in hand writing on the ground, touching the writing, and then someone appearing above where they wrote.
What?
It's confusing to be sure. But there is something else on the ribbon: a symbol. A line of symbols, to be exact.
"Um... I think I'm supposed to... write with it? And that can summon people, or something..."
"Well, I have a magic stick and can control fire, so I guess a writing and summoning rock wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've gotten so far."
Good point. I looked at the symbols, and carefully wrote them onto the ground. When I finished, the symbols went from white to a bright yellow, almost gold. I slowly reached out my hand and touched the sign. For a second, nothing happened.
And then a flash of light came from the sign, and someone rose up from it. It was a knight, his chainmail armor and shield decorated with a drawing of the sun with a face, a lot like old medieval art. A bright red feather stuck out of the top of his square metal helmet, and he seemed to emanate a golden light, almost like the sun.
"Why hello there, my friend. You must be the one who got my letter."
God DAMN I was not expecting this chapter to be so long
SOLAIRE'S HERE! He was the one who sent the gear and stuff through the flame. How exactly will be explained in... like 15-20 chapters probably, which is a rough estimate of how much longer this story has to go.
So to wrap it up, we've got a new undead, a crazy long dragon fight (seriously it's longer than half the chapters so far) and our boi sunbro. Quite the rollercoaster, huh? Now, this chapter was full of a lot of owies, but be prepared for just about everything bad that could happen to happen in the next chapter... which will likely come out next year.
Also, Merry Chrimsas.
And also Praise the Sun \[T]/