Chapter 290 - A Violent Family Reunion (Part 1)
The sky was painted by a lively green color which poured out of a point in the middle, and partially veiling the planet.. making it appear like an infinite expanse of moving grass. However, for how beautiful the scenery was, the strongest cultivators within the planet could feel the danger that this stunning green sky brought along with its beauty.
In the point in space where these waves of green colored flames gushed out from, was Xargy, whose size was at the largest he could expand his body to.. Sign that he was going all out.
Floating in space just a few kilometers away, were two individuals covered by black hooded robes. Xargy's flames were unable to reach them, as when they would reach the hundred meters away from the two, they would stop.
To an inexperienced cultivator, it looked like there was a shield that was protecting the two cultivators.. But to the eyes of an expert, it was clear that some sort of power was corroding Xargy's flames the very moment they reached a certain distance from these two individuals.
"To think that I would see a dragon today.. I was hoping for it.. But I did not expect that you would be following him. I have always wondered why my brother was so obsessed with your kin.." Said one of the two cultivators from underneath his large, and dark hood. The power that was defending him and his companion from Xargy's flames was his, and it did not appear that its constant usage was exerting him in the least.
Xargy looked at these two black-robed cultivators with narrowed eyes, and said "I have no idea what you are talking about. I am just your usual dragon.. Floating around in space. What is so odd about that?" He then turned to look at the more quiet cultivator, and added "If we were to be pick an odd scenario.. What about a children of Iewah that travels along with one of the natures of poison?.. That sounds much more interesting to me."
The fact that Xargy could recognize the faction of an individual instantly, was always a surprise at first. The sense of smell of the Dragons was legendary, but in truth, it was much more powerful than people imagined. So much so, that he had smelled the scent of the old woman he had fought months before on the body of the quiet cultivator.. And that was despite the fact that the two members of the Garden of Death had only briefly met once when he was a kid.
"We are looking for your companion.. Dragon." Said the quiet cultivator while taking his hood off, and showing his face. He was, of course, the son of the man that lead the highest members of the Garden of Death.. While his companion was the chosen of Iewah that wielded the poisonous system, and was known as the Toxic.. His real name, however, was Kennah.
Xargy knew perfectly well that he was at a disadvantage. While he was extremely resistant to poisons, and he would probably be able to face the powerful poison of the cultivator of the Garden of Death, he was not so sure about the strength of the two, which was higher.. As well as the magnitude of the powers that Kennah could wield.
For now, the two observed as Xargy covered the area with his flames in an attempt to prevent his surroundings from filling with their poisons.
"I got tired of the two, and ate them. What can you do.. Hehe." Said Xargy while huffing and puffing clouds of dark green smoke, which immediately dissipated in the surrounding space.
"Very well.. Allow me to check the content of your stomach then.." Said the Toxic as a large green bow appeared in his hand.. He then moved it in front of his chest, and without even putting an arrow in it, he pulled the string as much as his arms allowed him to.
The more his right elbow moved backwards, the more the poison in the surroundings was compressed in the shape of an arrow.. And reducing the size of the area which was protecting them by Xargy's flames.
Right when the protection was only a thin layer of impenetrable poison.. The Toxic let go on the string of the bow.. Causing the arrow to explode forwards with enough power to dissipate the flames in its path.
Despite the power of the arrow, its advance was relatively slow. The existence of the poison was unable to live with the existence of the flames, so its advancement was slowed by them. Nevertheless, the flames had no chance to resist.. And were corroded into nothingness in moments.
Unsure whether he could defend or escape from this arrow, Xargy breathed in deeply, increasing the heath inside his massive lungs, and causing the crevices in between his scales to glow with a bright green color.. And breathed out a concentrated column of fire directed at the incoming arrow.
While the arrow had found no obstacle in the surrounding flames, this attack was different.. And was able to slow the arrow down greatly.. But not completely. Xargy could feel the state of his flames.. And he knew that their heat was simply delaying the attack, and not countering it, instead of nullify it.. He was in trouble.
The arrow was commanded by the poisonous system, and it was not something that could be put to an halt.. Even if xargy was able to slow its motion, the moment he stopped interfering with it, the arrow would regain its lost speed, and reach him in the blink of an eye.
This opposite game of tug of war was quickly coming to an end, as Xargy was unable to breathe out any longer.. So after a few seconds.. The arrow managed to push through his defence, and head towards his main body.
Fully avoiding the arrow was impossible, so in a desperate attempt, he waved his wing with enough power to shatter the space in front of the arrow's tip.. Unfortunately, the only effect that this action had caused, was for the arrow to be deviated slightly.. Causing it to penetrate the thumb of his wing.
While Xargy had survived the attack, he wasn't completely unscathed. The part of the wing touched by the arrow was rotting at a speed visible to the eye, and it would reach the rest of the body in about a minute.
Of one thing he was certain.. If his body wasn't made of extremely hard scales and flesh, the spreading would have taken seconds.
With no time left to waste, Xargy looked with hate at the hooded son of Iewah, and growled out "You want it.." He then turned his head around, and bit the base of his wing.
*CRUNCH* *SQUELCH* *SNAP*
With the immense power of his massive jaw and sharp teeth, he directly ripped his own wing off from the base.. Causing enormous amounts of blood to float in space like head-sized beads. He then threw it away with a snap of his neck, and said "..Take it then.."
Kennah, slightly taken aback from Xargy's determination, looked at him with respect, and said "Truly worthy of being a royal dragon.. Do it again." His hands then moved one more time, and as the string of the bow was pulled once again, five arrows appeared in it.
Xargy's massive yellow eyes opened in worry, and instead of attempting to counter the his arrows, he disappeared within the massive field of green flames.
"I thought dragons were too proud to run away.." Said the Toxic while looking around.
"Most dragons aren't as intelligent as I am.." said a voice that came from multiple directions around the two.
The Toxic smiled from underneath his hood, and said "If you were so smart, you would have tried to escape already.." He then pointed his arrow upwards and let go of the string of the bow, causing the five arrows to be shot at a speed that easily broke the limits of what sight was able to perceive.
A moment after being shot, these five arrows curved and dashed towards a specific point in space. There, a slightly more compact clump of green flames was hiding.
"Fuck.." muttered Xargy after noticing the approaching arrows. He then used all of the power he possessed to avoid them, but as he moved, the trajectory of the arrows changed as well.
Left with no other choice, Xargy moved his only remaining wing in front of him massive body, and prepared for the impact..
But that impact, never happened.
When he moved his wing out of the way, he noticed a massive portal which separated him and the two cultivators. Floating in between him and this portal, were the familiar figures of Daniel and Aeron.
The arrows had disappeared into the portal, but as they dashed through, they had left a portion of the poison in it, which spread in seconds and turned the the dark patch of space into a pool of colorless poison.
"I assume you two are looking for me.." Said Daniel after letting go over the control of his immortal essence, and force it to dissipate. He was ready to use Karmic Retribution of the two individuals at any time, but unfortunately, while the one who he suspected to be one of Iewah's children possessed a terrifyingly high negative karma, the other was closer to neutral, and if he were to use Karmic Retribution on him, he would spend half of his karma in order to force an event that could possibly do nothing to him.
The three of them needed to escape, and talking was the only way that Daniel could think of to earn some time to formulate a plan.
"We actually never looked for you.. I knew exactly where you would be.. If you know what I mean." Said Kennah in a teasing manner. Just like Daniel, he was in the possession of one of Iewah's gifts, and therefore, was extremely resourceful.. To a point where finding each other was completely possible to all of them if they wished to. The only reason why he hadn't attacked yet, was because he did not know what Daniel's power was.
The true problem with Iewah's gifts, was that they would work regardless of how powerful their enemies were. For example, Daniel's system was able to exploit a person's karma.. And while that action's effects could be prevented with the target's power, the magnitude of the effect was beyond anyone's control.
For that reason, some of the children of Iewah were deemed terrifying beings.. The ones who appeared in the nightmares of their enemies were those whose gift had something to do with powers outside of a person's control.. Powers from which nobody could escape from, like time, and death.
"What can I help you with, brother?" asked Daniel calmly, pretending to be Sewah.
"I have heard that you like alchemy and poison making.. So I thought that we should meet.. I could teach you something.."
"So nice of you. However I will have to pass.. I left a soup on the fire, and have cleaning to do.." Said Daniel while feigning a disappointed expression.
Fed up with the messing around of the two, the elite of the Garden of Death finally burst out in rage, and shouted "ENOUGH! You have already caused enough problems for my faction.. You are coming with me.. Willingly or not."
After he finished speaking, two black knives appeared in his hands, and he teleported just a few meters away from Daniel. His spatial comprehension was not as deep as Daniel's, and therefore, he wasn't able to take control over a space he couldn't understand.
Xargy immediately breathed out a wave of green flames in order to prevent the member of the Garden of Death to get any closer, but this column of scorching hot flames were forced to dissipate by an arrow that pierced through it, and reached his talon.
"I am still your enemy.." Said Kennah with a threatening tone.
Daniel and Aeron were too weak to put up a fight, so aside from trying to keep their distance, there was nothing that they could do. At the same time, Xargy used his sharp claws to cut off his poisoned Talon before the poison could spread.
Their retreat only lasted for a few moments, after which the member of the Garden of Death managed to get to arm's reach from Daniel..
However, just as he moved his arm forward, and was about to grab his Daniel's arm and inject his poison in his body, a shadowy hand came out of his own sleeve, and grabbed his neck.