Chapter 100: The Final Fight

ARTORIUS' POV

I've lost track of time. My entire body has gone numb. In front of me, a thousand dead soldiers lay. As lifeless as when they were raised to fight me.

The sound of Amelia's wings flapping has kept me alive so far. The fizzling hope of a dragon on your side… It keeps my hopes high.

All I can see is a blur now. Both of my swords broke. I've been fighting with my fists, using whatever I had learnt in my past life to keep me alive.

A blurry fight raged in front of me as I stood my ground. Limping and grabbing onto the hilt of my sword, or whatever is left of it. Just a broken piece of metal sticking out.

For now, I was incapacitated. I cannot fight. I would have to let Amelia take over for now.

Whatever this… monster is, it's too strong for me. Only Amelia can overpower him.

Even still, she's struggling. It's as if he has past experience fighting dragons. He has been raising minions for the whole time, keeping me busy. While he takes on Amelia. He's perfectly split the two of us in half.

My breathing has become heavy. I cannot stand for too long. I need to conserve energy.

We ran out of food long ago. My mana core is depleted too quickly. I'm only down to my last few mana crystals. I'll have to use them only when necessary.

Suddenly, Amelia lets out an ear-deafening roar. It took me out of my haze and brought me back to the battlefield.

"Snap out of it!" She shouted in my head. "I need you!"

"W-what is it!?" I replied to her in haste.

"We cannot keep going like this. I'm becoming weary and exhausted. So far, he's landed multiple hits on me while I've only managed to bite the tip of his sword off,"

"Is there a plan you have in mind?" I asked in desperation.

"There isn't much in my mind right now. All I can do is fight,"

"Damn it!" I shouted out loud. "What do we do!?"

"That's why I need you!" Amelia while landing back on her hind legs. "I need you to think of something!"

"Keep him busy!" I said before picking up the pace. "Let me think for a minute!"

"I can estimate to you 30 minutes of uninterrupted time! Use it to get us out!"

That's more than enough. All I need is a few minutes to study the battlefield and recollect my thoughts.

Whatever this enemy may be, he's strong. But he lacks agility. Such is a struggle of being so bulky and carrying a greatsword.

His sword is not sharp. It's a giant hunk of metal. A sorry excuse of a sword. It takes him time to raise and swing the sword at any of us.

As I ran around the circular room, I figured out his weaknesses. He hasn't swung at me once. He's only kept me busy with his minions.

His minions have a hard time with me because they also use greatswords. They cannot swing fast enough. That is not to say I haven't been hit. An aching pain has haunted me for a while since I fell into a blunder.

The enemy is only after Amelia. He knows that Amelia can take him on. On the other hand, I can barely break through his armour, especially after breaking my steel sword into nothing.

I cannot impale him with ice. His armour is made of such dense material. It must either be ebony or black titanium.

Titanium cannot naturally be black but there's no other answer to how tough it is. If, by chance, it is not titanium and is ebony, we might be dead.

But, if it is Titanium, I can only think of one way to take him down.

"Amelia! I need you to drench him in water!" I shouted to her while running back.

"What's the plan!?" Amelia asked as she jumped back into the air.

"I need to test what material his armour is," I explained briefly.

"Got it!'

Amelia begins to create a large sum of water in her mouth. The water pressure would be enough to blow him back and also cover him in water. This way electricity can spread easily.

She shoots the water cannon at the enemy and stops him in his tracks. He tries to fight through but the real work is done.

Without a second wasted, she shouts out a thundering bolt of electricity. The Goliath was instantly brought down to its knees. It's not titanium, it's ebony.

Ebony is not a good conductor on its own. But when it comes in contact with electricity that was generated from mana, it becomes an excellent conductor. This is true for fire as well.

The material has a magical element to it. It can easily conduct any element that has mana infused into it.

"It worked!" I burst out in relief. "It's ebony!"

"What next!?" Amelia asked as she flew away.

She came towards me and landed back down. The Goliath was on its knees, slowly trying to get back to the fight.

"You human," I said for the first time in who knows how long. "You are a tactical foe,"

"Get ready for the next attack," I said while climbing onto her. "We might've enraged him,"

"A dragon obeying a human is a sight to behold," His deep and brooding voice echoed through the dome-shaped room. "In my thousand-year slumber, I never expected to be woken up to such a sight,"

Thousand years? So he's a living being after all.

If he's living and breathing, this armour is just protection. He must be more like a human inside that layer of ebony.

"Amelia, I want you to crash into him as hard as possible," I whisper while slowly backing away on top of her.

"W-what!?" She questioned, as she should. "Are you sure?"

"He spoke of being in slumber for a thousand years," I hoped to make logic. "That must mean he's mortal inside,"

"Well, I suppose a head injury is far better than being dead,"

Amelia takes flight as I try to balance myself on her back. She prepares herself to headbutt into the Goliath once she is ready.

"Fly around and pick up the pace," I ordered. "Give me a minute as well,"

I needed a minute to fix a personal problem. The moment I was blown away by him, I had dislocated a few of my body parts. Before fighting, I had fixed my fingers and arm. But a few still remained.

My left arm was still dislocated from my shoulder. Dislocation might be an overstatement–but it does feel like it's been dislocated.

"Pardon what I'm about to do next," I said as I gripped my left arm.

Before I dwell on what I'm about to do, I begin to twist and push my arm into the socket. For the first time, I felt an agonizing pain hit my elbows and shoot across my arms.

"D-Damn it!" I shouted out in pain. "G-GO IN!"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Amelia questioned my insanity,"

"T-trying to f-fix my prob-lem!"

Clicks from my elbow guided me towards where I should focus. Even still, anaesthesia would be a serious pain reliever.

With one last mighty push, I managed to put my arm into the socket. A sense of relief washed over me as my arm moved properly in however long.

"Alright!" I exclaim in joy. "Let's finish this fight!"

Amelia lined up with the Goliath and swooped down. I managed to hang onto one of her scales before I lost my balance.

The Goliath must've realised the plan. But he cannot stand against a dragon's body weight. There was little he could do to sustain the damage he is about to endure.

"Brace!" Amelia exclaimed as a last-minute warning.

I grabbed on tighter and held my breath, ready to feel the force of suddenly colliding with the enemy.

There was a moment when I imagined this would not work. It was calm before the storm, as if I miscalculated. What would I do after she crashes? All I can do is hold on tight, right?

A sudden feeling of weightlessness came from my body. My hands became empty. I was holding onto nothing.

I was in the air.

If I don't act now, I won't survive.

What can I do?

I opened my eyes to see in front of me. Amelia had crashed into him, He tried to block with his sword but it was broken in half.

This is my chance.

I managed to control myself in mid-air and point my legs to the sky. A burst of wind propelled me towards the goliath that now lay on the ground.

He was being held down by Amelia. She stood on his body as the two halves of his sword lay behind him. His arms are unable to move, nor was his body.

With this velocity, I might break a few bones. But there's no other way.

I engulfed myself in layers of mana, whatever was left in my mana core. In the few seconds I had in the air, I took out the mana crystals from my pocket as a last-ditch attempt.

Only one is necessary. The rest fell out of my pocket and spiralled down alongside me.

Wait, this mix won't be good… There's going to be an overload!

There's nothing I could do. All I could do was wait for the pain that I'll have to endure.

I felt a burning feeling all over my body as I hit the giant head-on. My ears began to ring as my vision became dark.

When my eyes cleared the darkness, it was blurry. I was laying on my back when I opened my eyes.

"-apa! Papa!" Amelia's voice called out through the ringing.

She nudged me on my cheek as I regained consciousness. I sat upright and looked around, clearing my eyes of the blur.

"What happened…?" I asked in a daze.

"We're safe, for now," She said as she stared face to face. "Though there are a lot of questions left to answer.

The Goliath was on the floor, completely unable to move. He tries to force himself up but Amelia outweighs him.

"Haa~ Anyways," I throw my broken sword and walk towards the defeated beast. "Let's get some words from you now,"

"You've done well, warrior," He spoke out in his dark voice. "You have defeated me,"

"So, what are you?" I asked as I stood a few feet away from his colossal body.

Amelia decides to let him off the hook, moving away and letting him move. He had no sword which meant he was much weaker now.

He slowly got up and showed no signs of fighting. He has chosen peace.

"Are you… a child?" He asked me as he folded his legs and sat.

"No, I'm twenty years old,"

"Seems like we've de-evolved if that's your max height,"

"Haa!?" I growled. "What do you mean?"

He grabbed onto his helmet and began to take it off. This was a reveal I was not expecting.

His face was rotting, as if he was a zombie. Parts of his flesh near his lips had fallen out or cut. Teeth the same colour as urine were exposed from the places where he had no lips.

But one factor stood out. His face was human. He was no creature.

"Does this answer your question?" He asked as a gentle smile broke from his crusty lips.

"It gives me more questions if I'm honest," I furrowed my eyebrows and scratch my head.

"I was once a great warrior, like you," He begins to explain as if he's telling me a bedtime story.

"Do not be frightened by my facial features. You too, will have such a face if you are a warrior,"

I stopped him before he could speak further. "I'm actually a king, not a warrior,"

"A king? So the prophecies were true,"

"What prophecies?"

"Humans, elves and an unknown race would be unified. There will be no more nomadic tribes, only states that are ruled by a single figure,"

"So… you must be our ancestors," I tried to put the dots together. "You did mention you were asleep for a thousand years,"

"My future was foretold. I would be awoken a thousand years later for a fight. When I am awake, I will be met with my final foe," The giant turned his gaze from me to Amelia.

"To die by the hands of my lifelong nemesis is the only way I wish to die,"

"So what were you?" I saw the opportunity to ask.

"I was a dragonslayer, the last dragonslayer," He answered while turning his rotten head back to me.

Dragonslayer… Never have I heard of such a title in this world. There were always accounts of dragons never harming humans. But his title contradicts all of that.

"Long ago, dragons and humans did bond well. It's obvious as to why. We were titans and both had to coexist,"

"Well, that explains why we have no dragons now," I said as I took a seat on the floor.

"So they have gone extinct?" The dragonslayer asked, seeming puzzled.

"Dragons begin to quarrel amongst themselves, driving themselves into extinction. I assume when you were alive, dragons and humans both decided to call a truce?"

"Yes, we did," He said as he began to strip his armour.

Slowly, more of his rotten body was revealed. His body was not preserved well. It's a surprise that his body is not just bones now.

His body had turned green and his flesh had become rotten. Fleas had found it suitable to start feasting on his arm.

"Damn these fleas," He said as he began to scratch at the exposed flesh. "No wonder I felt this irritating urge to itch,"

As he scratched the rotten flesh, a not-so-pleasant sound came. It made me gag as the fleas began to slowly crawl out of his body.

"Let's chat more before I ask for a final request," The dragonslayer ignored the itching and turned to me. "I wish to learn of what happened since I was in slumber. I expect you to have a lot of questions too,"

"Read my mind perfectly," A smirk breaks out, revealing my true intentions.