Chapter 88 - Double Alpha
"No" Elliot whined.
"Just do it!" Connor cheered, snorting as he watched his friend approach the large reptile.
"I just can't do it," Elliot whined again. "Not with all this slime!"
"Quit whining and get to work!" Lance couldn't help but hold his stomach while laughing.
"How about you do this?" Elliot glared. "You can burst too!"
"But I would then pierce their belly," Lance smirked. "I'm just too strong, man."
"But you could just not pierce their belly though." Elliot could only sigh as he prepared himself in front of the 10-foot tall frogs. He readied himself, bending his knee and letting his thoughts go. The others were holding the first frog by the side while exposing its large stomach.
The green beasts had their stomachs plugged with the rubber-like fruit a stranger gave. She said that it would increase the workload of the frogs by four times so the owner had fell right into her trap.
"So, let's start," Lance said. "Elliot, just blast yourself and kick the frog in the stomach. It will, if we're lucky, spit out the food."
Elliot scoffed, "What do you mean 'if we're lucky?'"
"Well, if we're not lucky, then we have to think of other ways," Connor said.
"You mean this wasn't a full-proof plan?" Elliot crossed his arms. "Now I'm angry."
"Good work," Lance whispered to Connor.
"He's a simple guy," Connor shrugged. "Just one small push and he could wrestle the gods for all I know."
"True," Lance chuckled.
"Hasty Aspire!" Elliot blasted himself and put his foot forward, slamming his metal boots on the frog's stomach. When the frog felt the pressure, its throat bloated and it spewed out all the contents of its belly.
Lance had a fortress that covered Elliot from the stinky puke of the frog.
"Thanks!" Elliot shouted.
They moved on to the next frog until they finished all the frogs that were on queue. The owner had bowed repeatedly, saying he'll provide the lodging and the food for them.
"What do you use the frogs for anyway?" Elliot asked.
"Err, I don't usually disclose this information just to anyone but since you guys saved my business, I'll tell you," the owner said. "The frogs secretes special mucus that I use for my candy."
"C-Candy?" Elliot said, pausing from eating his sweet treat.
"Yeah," the owner said and pointed at Elliot's hand. "That candy specifically."
"You what?!"
His friends couldn't help but laugh at Elliot's reaction. He handed the candy to Connor and ran to the bar of the inn where he ordered the strongest beer. Drinking the beer, he felt instantly sleepy.
"Why does it feel like I'm getting…"
"Elliot?" Lance walked over and couldn't see Elliot there. "Guys, have you seen Elliot?"
"Wasn't he here?" Ed asked.
"Look!" Hope pointed at the back entrance and saw a man carrying Elliot. "Hey!"
The four of them chased the man but couldn't catch up with him.
-
"Where am I?" Elliot woke up with a raging headache. "My head is breaking, what the hell?"
He was inside a what seemed to be an abandoned house. There was rotten wood everywhere, and the moonlight through a large hole in the ceiling was the only thing that illuminated the room.
'Non-human detected.'
<< Vanessa >>
Race: Part Vampire
"Hello," a woman with a rather deep voice said. A girl walked over and sat on the chair opposite of Elliot. "Why did you make the frogs puke my Rubber Gum?"
"So, you're the mysterious woman the owner was talking about," Elliot said.
"I expected for you to know that much," Vanessa said. "But didn't know why you're asking a girl like me would do something like that."
"You're no girl," Elliot smirked. "You're an old lady. Almost immortal?"
"H-How did you…"
Something inside of him clicked and he lost all his sense of humanity.
"Part Vampire?" Elliot scoffed. "So, you're with the Demons, aye?"
"Demons?" Vanessa started to tremble and walk back, feeling a strong and dark presence coming from Elliot. "I'm not a demon."
"But you're part of their race," Elliot replied.
'Kill.'
Elliot barely used his strength to break the rope around him and kicked the wooden chair, breaking it into several pieces. He smirked and tilted his head, eyes locking with the woman as if he was seeing through her soul.
"W-What… How?!" Vanessa could only gasp as she watched Elliot walk towards her. "But I reinforced that rope with magic!"
"Your rope's quality is bad," he grinned, teeth showing with an intense anger. "Try getting a new one."
Elliot kicked the woman in the stomach, making her roll to the ground a few times. "Fortify it with stronger magic, maybe?"
'Kill.'
"We're alone here, see?" Elliot let out a devilish chuckle. "No one can hear you–"
"Devil's Vines!" the witch pointed her wand at Elliot and raised it.
Five glowing purple vines grew from the ground and wrapped themselves around Elliot. His hands were securely tied behind his back and his foot were also coiled with the vines.
'Kill.'
"Is this right?" Vanessa pouted and made a puppy eyes. "You're not as strong as you think you are, little man. Try respecting your elders."
The vines started to wrap around Elliot's head. His neck was already covered in them, and his face were about to be covered too.
"Kill."
A bright red light flashed inside the cocooned vines. It exploded into different pieces as Elliot emerged from it. He dashed towards the woman, his eyes were red as blood and they were glowing brightly like the sun.
"Kill," he whispered before recoiling his hand beside him. "Send my regards to the Queen of–"
"There you are!"
Elliot awoke from his trance after hearing Hope. He was on the broken-down door of the abandoned house, not even squinting his eyes to see better considering he could clearly see everything in the dark.
"Mr. Moon, everyone is looking for you," Hope walked in, eyes widening as he saw Elliot about to pierce Vanessa's chest.
"H-Hope?" he asked, a tear slipped from his eyes. "It wasn't me."
Elliot looked at Vanessa and could only see a pale woman who was frozen in spot. Her eyes were wide, almost rolling at the back of her head. Her skin was white as paper, and her hair was slightly graying.
"W-What happened?" Hope asked, running to Elliot and catching him when he was about to fall.
"I-I don't know," Elliot confessed. "I was talking to this woman and I was just messing with her when someone whispered in my ear."
"W-What? Mr. Moon, what did it tell you?" Hope asked. He slung Elliot's arm around his neck to guide him, taking Elliot's sword from the table just a few meters away from the chair Elliot was tied to.
"He said to kill," Elliot muttered. "And I lost my consciousness. The moment you spoke was the moment I woke up."
"Mr. Moon, let's get to dad and tell him–"
"No," Elliot pulled away. "Don't tell them about this. This had been going on for a few times, Hope. I don't know what to do."
"Mr. Moon, calm down first," Hope said, trying to do his best to make Elliot clam down. "First, let's get you calm down and relax, okay? We'll tell dad about this, but only dad. But, I think it's unfair to the others if we don't tell them, Mr. Moon. You were the one who said it. We're a party. We're a group, a family. Should family lie to each other?"
'What do you know?'
"No," Elliot replied with a sigh, keeping his mind away from the voice.
"Let's recollect ourselves first and not panic," Hope said, clearly panicking by how he was trembling and how his voice was high-pitched and seemed forced.
'You don't know anything.'
"Okay," Elliot breathed. "Okay. I'm calm down."
"Right," Hope nodded, thinking desperately for something. "Now, we need to go back to the inn. I'll call the others to tell them I found you."
Elliot didn't verbally responded, instead he just nodded and sighed. Walking over and gripping Hope's shoulders.
Hope gave him a comforting smile. "Let's go."
"Grayson."
They both stopped after seeing Kian in front of them. He looked like he was being chased by a mob of deadly goose by how he looked.
"Grayson, you need to come with me," Kian said. "Couldn't you hear the calls of your brethren?"
"W-What?" Hope's face was contorted with confusion. "I don't think–"
"The Supreme Dragon Emperor is back and he already a quarter of the dragons and he ate them all," Kian muttered. "We need you as a protector of Dracon, Grayson. Your race needs you."
"We can help," Elliot said.
Kian looked over and shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Elliot. But the dragons are proud creatures. We do not want other races to interrupt with our–"
"He's back!" A loud voice echoed from the sea. The three of them ran towards the shore and saw Florian, the Green Dragon there. "Metallion, Grayson, he's back!"
The sky darkened and a gigantic object loomed over the cloudless skies. The people got out of their houses after seeing the dimmed earth and there they saw the biggest dragon they could ever see.
'Feature unlocked.'
'< Cataclysmic Malice Detection >'
// When a presence that has the capacity to wipe out an entire kingdom appears, this feature will be activated.
'Cataclysmic Malice detected.'
<< Supreme Dragon Emperor >>
Level 100
Following the appearance of the dragon was the sound of bells ringing.
"Strike Warning! A giant dragon is floating over the city."
"All Adventurers on standby, please report to the Greenbay Shores. All Communications Adventurers, call every city nearby. The Guardian is coming, delay the threat until she arrives!"
"Strike Warning Level, Double Alpha!"