Ascension of the Nephilim

Deep inside the Dark Dome...

Darako was relieved to see Qara quietly sitting there. The wyvern was not trashing about angrily but was seated quietly, not even showing the rage she did earlier.

But as Kyros predicted, it was because she was overthinking. 

Many did not learn the words of the whelp dragon that shouted in Dragon Tongue. In fact, only she understood it. And the contents of Puff's words were accurate.

Pyrestarter was angry at the Necromancer, and it had been the source of many conflicts. But what made it worse was that the Necromancer showed no remorse and kept on bothering the Pyrestarter with his flirtatious words. It was this that made Pyrestarter want to attack ahead of everyone else, hoping that the powers of the Nephilim that he would devour would be greater. And even when the Nephilim was showing powers beyond his estimation, he kept fighting.

Eredus had shown them the vision of the Blood Calamity. But the Necromancer determined that this Blood Calamity was one of their allies who was only insulted by Eredus's arrogant claims and was used by the group. Nevertheless, the Blood Calamity would be killed, and the Necromancer would devour her soul because of her assault and betrayal.

Cardinal Heralcus even concluded that the strange power of the Nephilim to grow stronger at each kill might be related to this. And so, Qara believed that the Nephilim could draw out the memories of Eredus. 

Neteri was the only woman in their group who had such power that even Qara feared her. And slowly, bit by bit, memories of Neteri's casual movements that bore no meaning suddenly had meaning. Qara was already jealous of her since she was the woman who freely entered the chamber of Cardinal Heralcus. And this jealousy had now an added dose of rage. 

Was it possible? Could Neteri have done that and their souls intertwined? Was the anger of Eredus towards her late husband really about his attraction to Neteri and not about the pride and arrogance of both men?

She recalled one night when she and her husband lay on their bed.

"I bet he's thinking about other women..." Qara angrily thought as she saw her husband chuckling. 

Pyrestarter was next to her, thinking of one battle which he lost against another dragon in their real world. The dragon was a flamboyant one, yet despite his colorful life, he was still respected and feared as he was strong. This flamboyant dragon would often say, 'time to get my drag on!' whenever he would fight.

"Does that mean that I am a 'drag off'?" Pyrestarter thought and laughed at what he believed to be a very clever pun. Qara saw that smirk and believed that her suspicions were true.

These events all heightened Qara's thoughts until she could no longer contain them.

She took a deep breath.

Darako noticed it.

"It's good that she has calmed down..." Daraka thought and turned his attention to the Cardinal and Neteri.

Neteri was concentrating but was close to succeeding. The souls of not just one Commander but four had been found and headed towards their location.

"Almost there..." Neteri smiled.

Noticing the smile of Neteri, Qara's hateful thoughts could no longer be contained.

The deep breath she took was not a relaxation technique but a preparation for the strongest attack that dragons could do.

Breath attack.

"ROAR!" With a swift motion, she fired the strongest attack she had towards Neteri.

"What?!" Darako ran and tried to stop her.

Heralcus, who was in deep meditation, sensed the danger and created a shield in front of Neteri. But the full might of the dragon's breath was not so easily blocked. Heraclus was in a meditative state, and the shield he created at that last moment broke from the attack.

"AAAHHHHHH!" Neteri was blown back from the breath attack.

The four who were some distance from the dome heard the booming sounds.

"Ah... There it is." Faye sensed the energy.

"Amazing. Even if it's against Commanders and Cardinals of great power, Lord Kyros's insane mind can do such miracles! I wonder if I followed his original advice and stole the wives of all those Champions and even of that Commander... I should have asked him to get Reptilia to be mine!" Gojirrah thought to himself.

"Lord Kyros. Your plan worked!" Martha reported.

"Good. Now go closer and say the following..."

Inside the Dark Dome, Qara had been attacked by both the Cardinal and Darako.

The attacks she received was so powerful that it caused her to revert to her humanoid form.

"You... slut!" Yet even then, her anger could not be contained.

Neteri was gravely wounded from the attack. If not for Heralcus's quick action, she would have died.

Heralcus was boiling in rage and was about to attack her again when a bright light shone on the artifact he had.

"Stop. This is the Nephilim's doing! She has tricked Qara with lies! Heralcus! Do better! Lord Destiny is greatly displeased by your lack of foresight!" A voice called out.

"Lord Chance!" Heralcus bowed. It was one of Destiny's alterations in the multiple realities. Chance.

"The Nephilim is tricking you into attacking each other and has used this to wound you for his attack further!" Chance called out. The voice died, and the bright light vanished.

Everyone was awakened from Chance personally intervening. It took great power to do so, and ye Chance intervened. They knew that if Chance spoke, it was lord Destiny's will.

"Qara. What did you hear?" Heralcus demanded.

"The whelp told me this..." Qara began to relay the exact words of the dragon. She told of how the Nephilim managed to drink the blood of Eredus and find out the memories and told of his husband's infidelity.

"You fool!" Heralcus shouted in anger.

"That is not possible! Neteri cannot bring out her soul to have sex with someone else! That's not how the soul works! Heralcus angrily explained.

"It's... not?" Qara was surprised.

"No! You idiot! And I don't even like your husband! You will pay for your-" Neteri stood up in anger. Her blood was flowing down, and her strength had weakened. 

"Stop fighting! You heard Lord Chance's words!" Heralcus reminded.

"The Nephilim has not only delayed our ritual, but he has also caused us to attack one another! I will be the first to admit that my pride in arrogance and how I dealt with Pyrestarter had led to this! Now is not the time to fight among us, but now is the time to admit mistakes and apologize least we will die before we even fight the Nephilim!" Heralcus gritted his teeth as he said this. But he knew that he needed to stop the infighting quickly. 

"I... was wrong. I was deceived. Forgive me." Qara quickly apologized as he saw the Cardinal admit his faults which displayed the severity of the situation.

"That Nephilim...!" Neteri turned her raged to the outside, and then she noticed the approaching figures.

"It's them!" Neteri called out.