I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

Commanders and Kings

"He went into the temple!" Sera shouted as she watched Emric enter a large sandstone building that was completely covered in crude orcish banners. However, they didn't have only Emric to worry about anymore as his men that had been stationed inside of the city finally started arriving on the scene. A group of ten of them gathered to block any entry into the temple, and Sera was preparing to dispatch them when she suddenly heard Asal chanting behind her. Only an instant later, what looked like a wall of wind shot past her and collided into the soldiers, sending all of them flying to the sides before continuing on and bursting through the temple's heavy wooden doors.

"You can use magic?!" Sera asked in surprise as she had been dreading the prospect of having to defend Asal while fighting Emric.

"Of course. I am the Demon King, remember?" Asal replied in a way that sounded as if he was offended. "Don't worry about taking care of me! The sooner we kill Emric, the less casualties we'll have from the battle!"

Soon the two ran through the now open doorway of the temple to see that the inside was brightly illuminated from the torches on the walls. Any chairs or any other furniture appeared to have been moved outside of the building, and now Asal and Sera found themselves standing in nothing but a gigantic empty room. However, calling it an empty room wasn't entirely correct as Emric was standing directly in the center of it between to large glowing circles on the floor.

"A ritual?!" Asal asked in surprise when he was the circles.

"Of sorts, though you were never supposed to see it." Emric sighed, shaking his head slowly before drawing his sword and walking forward towards them.

"Just what are you planning?!" Sera demanded as she moved in front of Asal.

"I've already told you what I'm planning." Emric replied. "This is nothing more than... I suppose you could call it a 'key'.

"A 'key' to what?" Asal asked.

"The gate that will take me to the World of Gods, of course." Emric answered. "Now really, you two shouldn't be here, so I'll have to kill you now."

"Sera!" Asal shouted before he started chanting.

"Right!" Sera replied before she charged forward, swinging her sword at Emric only for him to disappear as soon as the blade would have connected. However, even though her attack missed, Emric shouted slightly in pain as a burst of fire detonated behind her.

"You casted an elemental mine... knowing that I would bypass Sera and try to kill you." Emric said in a low tone as he reappeared back in the center of the chamber. However, even if Asal had managed to make a successful attack, there was nothing to show for it as Emric still seemed perfectly fine.

"Do not underestimate the Demon King!" Asal shouted while somehow casting magic without a chant at the same time. A large ball of fire suddenly erupted out of Asal's staff, illuminating the room even more before Emric held up his own hand and the fireball hit him. And while they had been expecting a large explosion, both Asal and Sera were surprised when the fire was somehow absorbed by Emric's hand. And as soon as the last of the first disappeared, Emric casted them a sinister smile as he relaxed.

"Don't underestimate the Hero." Emric chuckled softly to himself before suddenly disappearing again. And despite her hold on it, Sera suddenly found the shield on her arm moving forward by itself in a blur, moving in front of her face before a bright light flared in front of her as the sound of colliding metal filled the room. And only after it had happened did Sera realize that the enchantments in her equipment had moved by themselves to save her, blocking Emric's strike that she hadn't even seen.

"That's some nice equipment you have there, but it won't save you from me!" Emric yelled, suddenly behind her as Sera quickly attempted to turn around. And despite her shield moving again to protect her, the tip of Emric's blade still managed to cut Sera above her eye right where Ergen had cut her previously, making a sort of cross there before her shield blasted him backwards and into the nearby wall. At that time, Asal finished another spell and a bolt of lightning suddenly struck right where Emric had been standing before.

Unfortunately, Emric had managed to disappear again, appearing directly behind Sera. He might have been able to kill her then and there, though Asal had casted another mine behind Sera and it detonated when it sensed him. While Emric was distracted with the mine, Sera quickly spun around, cutting blindly at her incredibly fast opponent and catching him on his right thigh with the tip of her sword. The enchantments activated, and Emric soon found himself flying across the room, once again hitting the sandstone wall only this time hitting it with enough force to shatter a large portion of the temple.

"I've planned for this moment for over a hundred years!" Emric suddenly yelled furiously with his armor and weapon shining. "I will not be defeated! Not when I'm finally so close to bringing true peace to Ligan!"

"Your plans will end here and now, Emric!" Asal yelled, holding up his arms while his entire body glowed dark-orange. "For my parents, my people and even all of your own citizens that you've hurt! I'll end you now!"

Holding his hands out in front of him, Sera moved out of the way just in time for a large beam of what looked like magma to suddenly erupt from Asal's hands before splitting apart as Emric charged directly through it. And as Emric neared Asal while running through the magic with apparent ease, Sera rushed forward to protect the Demon King, making it just in time before Emric's own shining sword swung and hit her shield.

With both enchantments flaring light, Sera was completely shocked when something that sounded like glass breaking suddenly filled the room and her shield shattered into a thousand pieces. The enchantment inside of it erupted, sending Emric staggering backwards and flinging Sera through the air until she hit the nearby wall with a loud smacking sound.

Despite her equipment that had managed to allow her to survive for so long, Sera herself was only human, and she almost immediately blacked out when she hit the wall before sliding down it and landing on the floor. Blood was already present in her mouth, and Sera was terrified as she didn't even seem to have the energy to cough it up anymore. Her entire body was limp, and all she could do was look through tunneled eyes as Emric walked close to Asal and backhanded the Demon King  while laughing. Even though Asal held a high position and appeared to be a confident mage, he was still only a child, and now Asal rolled to the floor after flying several meters through the air until finally laying still.

'Both of us...' Sera thought as her consciousness continued to deteriorate. 'So... easily...'

"And it appears that the stars of today's performance are about to arrive." Emric stated before starting to cackle while looking up at the ceiling. Ergen's roaring and the griffin's screeching growing louder and louder as they grew closer to the temple, and Sera wondered just what Emric had planned for them before she lost the last of her sight and consciousness.