Glitch vs Dragon

What to do?

Kai drummed the clanker in a trance. All eyes were upon him, watching him, staring at him for the idiocy he had just shown by asking for the clanker. 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15… for how long could he feign this awed expression on his face at the sight of this magical device? he wondered.

'Not for long,' the voice within him replied.

"OK," the High Goblin said. "Give it back."

Kai crawled towards Mr. Gilson at a snail's pace. Now the condemning eyes were turning into that of questioning. And that wasn't any good sign. He must return it, Kai knew.

20th second…

23rd second…

25th…

BOOM!

The entire platform of the cliff they were standing on shook as if it was a clanker itself, clutched by some unseen, monstrous hand. A shockwave travailed its way up, lifting dust and stones as if they were twigs. Thunderous noise echoed in the maze-like tunnels as heavy boulders, held by the tiniest frictional grip before, came tumbling down from their home, falling into the deeper holes of the abyss.

The wizards fell, losing their footing.

The Blood Demon had stopped the drumming long ago.

30th second…

ROAR!

The dragon, not hearing the appalling sound, cried out its lungs at the puny things in front of its eyes. Pillars after pillars of red-white fire got belched out over them. The wizards scampered off, searching for any shade they could find.

Solanky wasn't lucky enough.

It was as if the fire had taken a human outline and was dancing in the madness, singing a heart-wrenching song of death and destruction. The cries that Solanky let out that day, burning in front of the dragon, were bound to echo for years to come.

"Stupefy! SHAKE THE BLOODY CLANKER!"

The High Guard kept shouting, firing magical blue balls at the dragon. Kai was already slithering from the dragon's blind spot towards it. There was a madness within him too. Power was just dozens of meters away from him.

He would get it. He would make it his own. This power, this dragon, and this blood essence were his and his alone.

45th second…

The dragon let out fiery cries, trying to shake itself from the iron grip which the chains had on its throat. The wizards kept firing stunning spells at its mouth, trying to get that sweet spot before it burned away their mortal flesh.

Kai grinned. The horned tail was in his sight. Over the fallen pillar, down the opening, slithering around a boulder, and at last, Kai had it. Yes. He had it.

55th second…

[

Beast Proximity: 3 meters

Glitch Condition matched

Contestant Kai Stormborn is qualified to awaken his Glitch

Do you want to awaken it now?

]

"Blood Devour!"

[

Calculating Worth…

Glitch 'Blood Devour' is now awakened for 35 minutes in this World

]

Red hotness erupted and instantly got overshadowed by the fire shot out of the dragon's mouth. As the steam blurred Kai's figure, and the shouts of the High Guard and Sord got intermingled, now almost begging for the sound of the clanker, the thing inside Kai's chest ripped his skin apart.

A long, narrow slit opened on his chest as if some ancient being had opened its single vertical eye to peer into the futility of the diminutiveness of the mortal world. Whatever was in there, which Kai couldn't see but only sense churned manically, and for the first time, hysterically.

It wanted it. More than Kai could have ever wanted the dragon; it desired this colossal being. The hunger had never been so vast and crazed before.

[

Your Title Status is updated

Title: Novice Collector

…

]

The Ukrainian Ironbelly smelled the danger, Kai could tell, for the dragon had stopped thrashing its tail and vomiting out flames. Its ferocious draconian mouth snapped towards him. But Kai knew it was too late for the dragon in the same way it had been too late for the Blue-tailed Boa Constrictor, and the Pokemon Koffing. In the next moment, his Glitch would break it down, turning its massive body into the purest blood essence, and then it would devour it.

'No need to follow any plans,' Kai told himself. 'With it, I can do the rest of the mission single-handedly.'

The thing that happened next smothered Kai's confidence.

[WARNING: Glitch 'Blood Devour' is incapable of devouring this beast's blood essence]

'It must be my imagination,' Kai told himself. 'The Glitch can't possibly fail, can it?'

But the survival instincts that were engraved over his very soul screamed a hideous warning in his ears. The Dragon snarled, opening its mouth, and as the gurgling fiery breath was just about to come out of its throat, Kai's body moved as if it was possessed.

Tak-tak-takkkk!

The clanker rang, and the dragon trembled, howling, baying, and cowering from the expected deathly pain that had been imbued in its thoughts.

"I GOT IT!" Kai shouted, running for the High Guard who was hiding behind a pillar. There was deep pain and anger in Kai's eyes, and his body shook, thinking of the loss. But it was his chest that throbbed in a mania that could never be from this world. The Ghost Serpent had always avoided passing through his chest, and now she had moved to the sole of his feet, shaking, trembling, and fearing the unbearable and unnatural rhythms.

She was scared.

"I got it," Kai said, throwing it to the High Guard, who immediately started to drum it. "It fell out of my grip and rolled over to the dragon's tail. I had to get it from there."

All wizards, and the High Goblin, looked at him with sheer gobsmacked expressions. Sord approached him and wrapped Kai in his arms. His body trembling from excitement and forgotten relief. "Thank you," Sord said. "If I only knew you were so brave…"

Sord shook his head. There was deep regret in his voice, which hadn't gone unnoticed by Kai, no matter what unknown emotions were going through his mind.

"Are you hurt?" Sord asked, his brows furrowing.

"It's nothing," Kai said. "My elbow hurt a little, I think."

"What was that blast?" Kai asked, panting for air, clutching his left hand as if it had been injured.

"Yes," the High Guard said. "It came down from the deeper Vaults."

The High Goblin then lifted his hands and looked at his palms. "Oh!" the goblin gasped. "It's Vault No. 999. Someone just tried to break into it. But… What a coincidence! Mr. Gilson, isn't that the next Vault you meant to show the recruits?"

Mr. Gilson nodded, his face expressionless.

"We must check it," the High Guard said. "I am sending a cart back to call for the backup. They must have felt the blast, but still, it's best to come down prepared and in numbers."

"What about Solanky?" the recruit, Baken, asked. He looked rather shaken from the incident.

The High Guard scowled at him. "Get a grip on yourself," he rebuked the wizard. "Even a squib has shown more bravery than you, a wizard. Solanky is gone. Even his ashes are not there to gather them up. Think of living and go back with the cart. Useless!"

With a pale and ashen face, Baken somehow slumped down into one of the two carts. The High Guard, High Goblin, Sord, and Kai hurried for the other one, where the cart operator was crouched low with his head down.

"To Vault No. 999," the High Goblin said. "Hurry!"

As they cramped themselves up into the cart, Kai looked back at the dragon. For a moment, it felt like the beast was looking at him with plain mockery.

Kai had failed. He had been defeated thoroughly. But he hadn't come out of this ordeal without a lesson. Though, the lesson was harsh.

His Individuality wasn't as invincible as he had given it the credit for.

Time left to the hibernation of Blood Devour - 30 minutes