391 A grin, Against the Odds

Dave let out a wrathful roar of anger, indignation and rage. He couldn't do anything but see the dragon disappearing on the horizon, headed toward Urburg.

His army was still in Qin territory, and the only one that Dave thought was strong enough to stop the dragon was Nick, the undeath god. But the deity, for all its immense power, could do nothing but stare as Urburg was burnt to the ground by black abysmal flames.

The gods of Coquets, the real one, the powerful ones, like Asmodeus, god of hell, or Demiurge the world's architect, Death, or the Undeath God, for all their might, ability, power beyond one's imagination, could not, and were not supposed to interfere in events made by mortals.

It was infuriating, what's worse, Dave was in the middle of enemy territory, in their capital, where he was more than certain that it seethed with a number of soldiers, and elite soldiers strong enough to tear him to pieces in a matter of seconds.

He couldn't take to the skies, his ability, [Demonic Ascension] needed several more hours to be available, the only mean in his arsenal that could help him in catching up to the dragon for whatever he thought, a futile effort and a vain attempt at trying to stop the flying death.

Dave, for all the abilities, the fame, the prestige and power he had, was utterly, and completely powerless against the current situation. He will fail, that he knew. And Urburg will burn due to his lack of ability to change the current situation.

A horn blew in the midst of the city, and several armed guards, donned in blue and green armor—the elite Soldiers of Qin—came rushing toward his location.

Even more wyverns riders surged in the sky, closing the gap on Dave, and surrendering him in tides of man and steel.

Dave was about to let out another roar of indignation, simple as it was, Dave knew that today, he would not get out of this situation.

Then, as if the world had given him a second chance, though improbably, and nigh impossible to complete, he thought of a solution. "Tiny!" Dave roared and the small slime bobbed up from his side bag.

"Throw me! And make damn sure you don't miss!" Dave said pointing at the sky.

The slime understood and hopped out of Dave's side bag, transforming into its massive sized form. The giant Grave Lord grew to dozens of feet high, and while it was transforming, it had grabbed at Dave with one hand and threw him to the skies away from the infantry that was running toward him.

Dave flew like a bullet, both his hands at his side and he faced up, he was going at neck-breaking speed toward one of the wyverns.

The riders noticed Dave's surge toward it and guided the wyvern away, it was all the rider needed to do to dodge the incoming undead, then if he let it to fall back to the ground, the undead would have succeeded in killing itself all on its own.

However, Dave had other thoughts.

The moment he flew past the rider, Dave twisted his body, his hands now gleaming in a baleful red as he had donned his Sword Stalwart's gauntlets.

He activated [Dragon Kick] and prayed to whatever luck, lord, or god that it would work.

The skill, surprisingly, stopped Dave's flight and pushed him toward the rider like a comet.

The rider hadn't even considered that a projectile, thrown in a straight light could ever do a ninety-degree turn and come charging toward hi. The rider was caught off guard and was barely able to put one hand forward in a defensive position to stop Dave's flying kick.

Upon contact, a draconic shaped gout of flame surged from the rider's back , startling him and dealing a massive amount of damage.

-260,100

The rider however, held to the reins of his saddle and wasn't thrown off, but the wyvern, now feeling that it's back was crowded with more than its capacity to carry began to sway, barely able to keep flight as it fell slowly toward the ground.

The wyvern screeched from the weight of the two on his back, but it couldn't do anything without its owner's command which came immediately afterward.

The rider whistled and the wyvern did a barrel roll. Dave, unbeknownst to even himself, had predicted such a tactic, he had already secured a foot that he shoved hard under the saddle of the wyvern, and both his hands were gripping tightly at the rider, saving himself from falling to the ground.

The world spun as the wyvern spun with it, but Dave had to grit his teeth, then with a roar, Dave activated the ability that he obtained from [Dortha], Herculean Strength.

The beast of the legion knew well how muscles worked. And Dave was shown the wit of such a man as he activated his skill.

Dave's muscles bulged and pressed hard against his armor until he almost swore that he heard the material making his gear groaning in protest against his inflating muscles.

Dave's more than one thousand points in strength doubled, and he used the additional power to rip the rider off of his saddle and throw him off the ride in one smooth motion.

Dave didn't spare a second glance at the falling and screaming rider as he was in as much a predicament if he didn't correct his course.

He grabbed at the reins hard, now his mind was mildly disoriented by the continuous spins, he thought that he didn't have much time before he would meet the ground unless he changed the situation.

He jerked the reins toward him, causing the wyvern to screech in protest but stopped its descent, saving the two of them from a grim death. The wyvern flapped its wings hard and took to the skies.

Dave looked down and noticed that the Qin's army was going to surround tiny in seconds. He couldn't spare the Grave Lord's life right now, he still needed it alive if he was to complete the second part of his crazy plan.

Dave roared, "Tiny! COME!"

And almost immediately, the gigantic form twisted on itself and disappeared from the ground. Only to appear in front of Dave on the saddle.

"Good," Dave said to the small blob, which quivered as if happy for Dave's compliment.

Dave was leading the wyvern high up the sky, while more of the wyvern riders followed closely behind him. They would reach him soon and he will be in bow range. What's worse, Dave realized that he wasn't a good wyvern rider. His 'mount' seemed to be struggling against the wind, while the rest of the riders used wind currents that he clearly couldn't see to propel themselves toward him.

They were closing the distance fast, while Dave's mount looked to be struggling.

"I'm sorry bud," Dave said then swapped his gauntlets with his sword, the strongest, heaviest sword he ever used, the Cursed Sword of Durandal. Then he swung it down along the nap of the wyvern.

The creature never saw the strike coming, and it immediately stopped moving and began a free fall. As its head flew away from its body. Its mouth moving soundlessly as it spun down falling a few feets next to its torso. Dave was holding tight on the reins and the saddle, and the blob of dark slime was quivering as they fell.

"Tiny! EAT!" Dave said to the small form that immediately expanded and covered the wyvern and the falling head.

The Qin soldiers had reached Dave's position and dropped down chasing after him. Dave drew his shield forward and activated a skill he hadn't used since his beginner days.

[Death Grip] the remaining skill from his failed Death Legacy quest, the Death Apostle Legacy.

The demonic eye emerged from under the expanding metallic jaws making the roundness of the Cursed Shield of Ajax. The enormous demon eye shone brightly in a red glare of light that shook and froze the incoming riders, giving Dave a small breather in which Tiny had finished his meal.

The ground was coming in fast, or it was Dave that was going to meet it like a black splatter of gore and old rotten bones if he didn't do anything to change the situation.

"Tiny, I hope you enjoyed the food, change! Wyvern!" Dave growled.

And the small blob transformed into an enormous bone and flesh wyvern that halted Dave's descent and flew upward in one single motion, bypassing the still dazed riders. Some of them weren't able to regain their senses fast enough as they crashed into the ground, some were lucky enough and slow enough that they managed to wake up from [Death Grip] and pulled their rides away from the ground.

Dave hung tight on the still transforming tiny. The creature discarded all sense of aesthetic for pure functionality. The wyvern-Tiny discarded the saddle and transformed its back by making bones for Dave to sit on, it elongated its tail for better balance and grew its wings twice the size of the wyvern while making its bones even thinner, but at the same time studier than the wyverns. Dave could feel Tiny's bones snapping, locking and dislocating as it changed its shape to garner Dave the greatest speed it could.

The undead creature looked like a black triangular sail as it moved through the sky, the pure embodiment of Function Over Form.

Dave was glad that the Grave Lord knew what he wanted it to do and it bolted out of Qin as fast as it could head west, toward Urburg.

A squad of Wyvern Riders was hastily chasing them, but Dave knew they would never reach him. By the speed Tiny was going at, he would leave them in the 'dust' in no time. And even if they could match Tiny's speed, they would never match his infinite endurance. The undead Never Tier!

Tiny made its way toward Urburg at storm's speed. But Dave knew there was a lot of time and distance before he would reach, and finally, it dawned on him. He looked back, and then looked at his hands, he was not but a moment ago in the most desperate situation he ever was in as he played Conquest, and somehow, he managed to find a way out of that mess.

He escaped captivity, managed to flee the chase of the Qin Elite Soldiers, survived the chase of the wyverns, and still had time to think up a plan on how to rid himself of the enormous threat that was going toward his city, HIS CITY!

Dave never went out of his way to bother anyone, but he never tolerated anyone trying to harm or take away what was his. Be it bullies from High School, a Mafia Lord, even companies and pressure from Super Guilds that always wanted him to bend to their will. He endured and kept enduring, but now, the game, Conquest, had taught him, that even against the grimmest, darkest and worst of odds, if he struggled hard enough, wriggled hard enough, and used his head enough, there was always, always a way out.

Dave grunted, he didn't notice his lips curling into a wide grin, nor did he notice his hand that went stroking his beard, Dave knew, in his heart, knew that no matter what was going to happen, HE WILL PREVAIL!

Not even the Black Dragon, even the Chosen One of the Ash King would stop him because he—and now he truly believes it--was the Legendary, Kis'Shtiengbrah.

"Damned Reptile! I'm Coming for you!" Dave roared as he goaded Tiny to increase his speed even further.