Death Guns In Another World

Chapter 1715 - 1532: Lich 1

In the inky depths of the ocean, far from the chaos engulfing the surface world, a monstrous entity pulsed with a malevolent hunger. Here, in a realm of crushing pressure and perpetual twilight, lurked the Golden Beast, a creature of colossal size and insatiable greed.

The recent skirmish with Hyperion, the self-proclaimed humanity strongest weapon, had left its mark. Though not a crippling blow, the searing magical energy had singed the Golden Beastʼs scales, leaving behind patches of raw, exposed flesh. Yet, these wounds were a mere inconvenience compared to the burning ambition that consumed the creature. It craved more, a hunger that gnawed at its very being.

Here, in the abyss, the Golden Beast found a temporary haven. The crushing pressure that would crush lesser creatures was a mere annoyance to this leviathan. Its colossal form, a grotesque parody of a serpent crossed with a dragon, dwarfed even the mightiest whales.

Scales, once a shimmering, sun-kissed gold, now bore a dull, tarnished sheen, reflecting the faint bioluminescent glow emanating from the ocean floor.

The Golden Beastʼs movements were slow, deliberate, as it weaved through the bioluminescent forests of kelp and coral. Its serpentine body, easily the length of several galleons strung together, undulated with a predatory grace. Its multiple eyes, glowing embers in the perpetual darkness, scanned the murky depths, searching for anything that could satiate its insatiable hunger.

But the Golden Beast wasnʼt merely seeking sustenance; it craved power. The very lifeblood of the ocean, the raw mana coursing through the currents, was being devoured by the creature at an alarming rate. Glowing plankton, drawn to the Golden Beastʼs immense aura, swirled around it like a golden vortex, their bioluminescence dimming as their energy was siphoned away.

Glowing fish, once vibrant denizens of the deep, were drawn into the beastʼs maw, their life force fueling its insatiable hunger.

With each passing moment, the Golden Beast grew. Its scales, once dull, began to regain their luster, a malevolent gold that pulsed with a sickly, unnatural light. The raw mana coursing through its veins fueled its growth, its power increasing exponentially.

The ocean floor trembled with each pulsating beat of its monstrous heart, a tremor that echoed through the water column, a silent harbinger of the terror to come.

The Golden Beast, wounded and emboldened, continued its gluttonous feast in the abyss. It was a monstrous anomaly, a ticking time bomb fueled by greed and malice. And while the surface world reeled from the monstrous incursions, a far greater threat festered in the inky depths, waiting for the opportune moment to rise and claim its dominion.

He had ordered his subordinates, the other emperor level monsters to wreak havoc while he was strengthening himself.

°°°

Near Sunholdʼs City.

A bone-chilling wind whipped Mariaʼs white hair around her face as she faced the monstrous apparition. It wasnʼt a creature of flesh and fire, but rather a skeletal embodiment of draconic terror. The skeletal dragon, easily three times the height of the surrounding buildings, loomed over her, its colossal form casting an oppressive shadow that swallowed the street in darkness.

Each bone of its massive frame gleamed an unnatural white, the moonlight reflecting off its polished surface like a thousand ghostly eyes. Its cavernous ribcage, a twisted parody of a skeletal birdcage, rattled with each ragged breath it drew, the sound akin to wind whistling through a graveyard.

Razor-sharp ribs protruded outwards like deadly spines, each a potential weapon capable of skewering a human in a single thrust.

The dragonʼs skull, a monstrous facsimile of a reptilian head, was devoid of any flesh or musculature. Its empty eye sockets were bottomless chasms of darkness, radiating an unsettling emptiness that seemed to pierce Mariaʼs very soul.

Razor-sharp teeth, like jagged stalagmites protruding from a cave entrance, lined its jaw, each one dripping with a sickly green ichor that sizzled as it dripped onto the cobblestones below.

Massive leathery wings, once vibrant and powerful but now reduced to tattered remnants of translucent membrane stretched between the skeletal fingers of its forelimbs. These wings, though tattered and torn, were still large enough to create a hurricane force wind with a single beat, capable of sending debris flying and knocking even the most stalwart warrior off their feet.

Its tail, a serpentine extension of bone, lashed back and forth with a bone-jarring crack, leaving gouges in the already damaged buildings bordering the street. The tip of this skeletal appendage was adorned with a wickedly barbed spike, a macabre harpoon capable of impaling anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its path.

Despite its skeletal form, the dragon emanated an aura of decay and death. A sickly green mist clung to its bones, a miasma that reeked of rotting flesh and long-dead magic. This monstrous apparition was a creature of undeath, an abomination that should have remained buried in the deepest tomb, now brought forth to wreak havoc upon the living.

Maria floated in the air. Her white hair, a stark contrast to the decaying dragon, danced wildly in the wind whipped up by the creatureʼs monstrous wings. With a resolute glint in her eyes, she muttered the incantation, her voice unwavering despite the danger.

”Ice Petals!”

A dazzling display of magic erupted from her outstretched hands. Countless crystalline ice flowers, each sparkling with an otherworldly light, materialized in the air. Like a miniature blizzard, they swirled around Maria before launching themselves towards the skeletal dragon.

The monstrous creature, its empty eye sockets seeming to widen in surprise, roared in defiance. But its defiance was short-lived. The ice flowers, imbued with potent freezing magic, struck the dragonʼs skeletal frame with a delicate touch that belied their deadly effect.

Each blossom, upon contact, bloomed in a burst of shimmering light, instantly encasing the bone it touched in a layer of thick, opaque ice.

The dragonʼs roar, cut short by the rapid encasement, turned into a chilling screech that echoed through the devastated city. Its massive wings, once capable of generating hurricane-force winds, became weighed down by the growing ice, their frantic flapping a pathetic attempt to break free. Panic flickered in the empty sockets of the skull as the creature realized the inescapable grip of the ice.

Within seconds, the once imposing skeletal dragon was transformed into a grotesque sculpture of frozen bone. The sickly green mist that clung to its form sputtered and died, replaced by a layer of shimmering frost. The monstrous roar was silenced, replaced by an eerie stillness that settled over the battlefield.

But the battle wasnʼt over yet. With a final, earth-shattering roar, the dragon, its entire body encased in a tomb of ice, slammed into the side of a nearby mountain. The impact sent tremors through the ground, and a plume of dust and debris billowed skyward.

BOOM!

The sound echoed through the ruined city, a testament to the power of Mariaʼs magic and the final, desperate act of the skeletal dragon. However, Maria remained suspended in the air, her expression unreadable.