Board & Conquest 134: Dragonblast

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The center of the board turned into a massive warzone. 

Wepwawet watched on as Victoire and the dragon squad engaged Kronos’ summoned monsters in battle, dodging a rain of boney spikes thrown by Primordial Being Valos or destroying them with their elemental breaths. 

Insupportable and Glatisant flew straight towards Kronos’ Altar, knowing their draconic physiology would protect them from the titan’s Providence. Insupportable tackled the golden skeletal mammoth defending it, shrugging off the pachyderm’s icy breath and pummeling it in a vicious brawl of horns and claws, whereas Glatisant coated herself in lightning and circled above Valos faster than most mortal eyes could see. The monstrous rocky insect tried to hit her with its pincers, but Victoire had stabbed its only eye earlier and left it blind. It hit nothing and only received thunderbolt bombardments in response. 

Meanwhile, Soumis and Victoire otherwise danced with the mechanical angel Prayala in the sky above, dodging rings of light and retaliating with rains of fire or shield-beams. Pralaya proved as fast as the dragon and kept up with them above the clouds.

Wepwawet wanted nothing more than to help them turn the tide, doubly so since the Timecrash Hole would soon pull Pralaya back into the rift and summon another creature in its stead. He had to hope the tradeoff would result in a weaker creature. 

His next turn should change things. Alexandrite and the Mimicfleet had claimed two more Altars, bringing Wepwawet to a total of three on top of his own Idol. He should have enough mana to cast powerful Miracles even with Pyramid Pension Scheme taking away half of his mana. 

Meanwhile, Kronos’ machine trio had begun their assault on Artemis’ troops. Machinedragon took position on a hill while Atlantean Colossus began to trade blows with her Mezozoic Emperor in a clash of titans that shook the very earth. Machine Emperor prepared to bombard smaller werescales with missiles when her giant worm, Skitter, erupted from the ground without warning and attempted to grapple it, forcing it to back away. 

“Your time is up, Old Man!” Artemis said once Kronos’ counter hit zero and her own began. She drew a card and received a surge of six mana, which Pyramid Pension Plan cut in half. “And your angel goes bye-bye!”

Indeed, Pralaya’s time on the board came to an end. The angel was dragged back into the rift midattack, with another creature flying out of the spacetime hole: a small, winged orange reptile as tiny as it was adorable. 

A baby dragon, with the number three floating above its head. 

Wepwawet suppressed a smile, as he knew exactly how things were about to go. 

“Nice draw, here’s my Rank 3 Medieval Young Dragon,” Kronos chuckled, unaware of the danger, “but since youth is wasted on the young, I’m now going to age him into Rank 7 Wizened Dragon!” 

Kronos’ Providence caused the tiny dragon to grow in size tenfold until it could rival Soumis and the others. Its vivid orange scale became thicker and darker, while a small goatee appeared beneath the monster’s jaw. It surprised Wepwawet that dragons could grow hair at all, but he blamed its titanic origins.

“Now!” Kronos pointed a finger at Victoire. “Kill that youngling! Eat her!”

The Wizened Dragon looked at Victoire…

And then it turned its head at Valos and fired a breath of hot wind at the giant crab. 

Kronos stared in utter shock and disbelief as his own creature unleashed a hurricane’s worth of stormy winds at its fellow fighter. The surprise attack toppled Valos off to the side, its legs helplessly wriggling in the air. 

“Look at me, young princess!” the dragon roared with a male elder’s voice akin to earthshaking avalanches. He was showing the youngsters, alright. “That is how a mature dragonwind blows!”

“Once again, princessness proves to be righteousness!” Glatisant boasted. “It unites all!”

“It seems your dragon harem has a new candidate, Victoire,” Wepwawet teased his Champion through telepathy. “You might end up collecting all the elements at this rate.”

“I hate you,” Victoire replied without really meaning it. She raised her spear to help finish off Valos. “I hate you because it’s true.”

Victoire threw her spear at Valos and managed to open a crack in its rocky shell. Glatisant and their new dragon ally joined their breaths together with Soumis, focusing their attacks at the wound and cooking the primordial bug inside its own shell. Smoke arose from Valos as it breathed its last.  

Not to be outdone, Insupportable grabbed the golden zombie mammoth with his immense strength, then flew straight into Kronos’ Altar and smashed the beast into it. Stone and bone shattered alike, with the flow of mana now disrupted. Insupportable’s Commander status let him claim the area for Wepwawet, who raised a new Altar on top of it. 

“What are you doing?!” Kronos snapped at his own dragon, his voice so loud as to shake the board. “I am your master, your creator! You cannot choose me over some…” He glared in disgust at Victoire. “Some barbarian princess of loose virtue!”

“How can a crusty old bastard like you be so behind the times?” Artemis complained. 

“I’m not behind the times, you’ve degraded! Do you know what they called the time when I ruled?” Kronos didn’t wait for an answer and didn’t want one either. “The Golden Age! The literal Golden Age! Everything went to shit after I left, everything!” He clenched his fist in annoyance at his own creature’s rebellion. “Argh, this is exactly why I replaced all my Champions with machines!” 

“It is a poor leader who cannot convince his own followers to fight for him,” Ganesha noted wisely. 

“You, the cow-lover, you shut your trunk!” Kronos glanced at another side of the board where his soldiers still remained loyal to him. His Machinedragon had taken up a spot atop a hill and now aimed at the Mesozoic Emperor. “Your Cancel Attack no longer affects my Machinedragon, who can now bombard my granddaughter’s critters to death!”

“Not so fast!” Artemis replied by using a Miracle of her own. “I cast my Rank 3 Artifact, Kaijuscale Shield!”

The next sequence of events happened within seconds. Machinedragon gathered immense amounts of mana within its two cannons until they shone like twin suns, then fired two cataclysmic beams of searing light that rivaled Beelzebub’s own city-destroying magic. 

A colossal carapace that Wepwawet recognized as an old shell from Artemis’ Village-Turtle materialized at the very edge of her werescale army in response. This shield, whose size rivaled that of an island, received the full brunt of the attack. The massive explosion that resulted from the impact shattered the shell across the landscape, killing dozens of werescales and blowing dust across the battlefield. Pieces hit all combatants from the Mesozoic Emperor to Kronos’ own Atlantean Colossus, throwing them onto the ground.  

A crater filled with hundreds of wounded werescales and dozens of corpses remained when the dust settled, but the death toll paled compared to the apocalyptic slaughter that would have resulted otherwise. 

“Phew,” Artemis breathed in relief. 

“You’re too hasty to rejoice,” Kronos taunted her. “My Machinedragon is already recharging!” 

Wepwawet cursed. He was right, Machinedragon was already aiming for a second volley, while Artemis lacked both the time and Miracles to protect her troops from it again. Wepwawet had already sent Margrave Boltro and other Champions to assist them, but what could they achieve against a near-divine creature?

“My turn,” Wepwawet said as he drew. His Champions had claimed four Altars on top of his Idol and given him a record nineteen mana from all the mana surges, which Pyramid Pension Plan unfortunately reduced to ten. Nonetheless, he reached a total of twelve mana in his reserve and drew a card that could make use of it.

Dragonstar Fire. 

I have enough to cast it, Divine Avatar, or Antimagic Lock, Wepwawet thought as he quickly analyzed the situation. Antimagic Lock might be able to suppress Kronos’ machines, but he would need to bring them within his Influence first, and he lacked the reserve to maintain Divine Avatar for more than a turn. Dragonstar Fire would wipe out everything within ten miles, which is a third of the board… the risk of friendly fire is too– 

The board shook once more as immense waves of mana erupted from the rift. 

Wepwawet looked up in horror as a dark shadow crawled its way into reality; something as large as the Machinedragon and just as abominable, with slimy tentacles and a squirmous surface leaking poison. Something spherical like a small planet, and with the number three floating above it. 

“Here comes my second-best time-displaced Champion!” Kronos boasted. “Precambrian Genesis Ooze!”

A horrible, eldritch abomination floated above the board’s center; a blob the size of a hill floating through the might of its magic alone, its surface shaped like a skull glaring down on all other creatures with malicious hatred. Its mere presence fouled the air. 

The dragon squad immediately flew to intercept the creature, unleashing fire, lightning, ice, and wind in an elemental storm that would have wiped out a small town, but hardly fazed the ooze. Its surface rippled from the various impacts like jelly absorbing pebbles into itself before bouncing back. Tentacles surged to try and catch the dragons, sweeping across the clouds with enough strength to whip up the winds. 

“Our attacks do nothing!” Victoire warned Wepwawet as she recalled her spear to her hand after throwing it into the creature, an assault which had been about as successful as a mosquito stinging the likes of Slimon. 

We have to take that thing and the Animism down, or Kronos will keep pressuring us by occupying the board’s center, Wepwawet thought while quickly trying to figure out the best way to win this. But Artemis is facing overwhelming odds. Maybe I should give up the center and focus on helping her instead–

“Don’t you dare worry about me,” Artemis said.

“What?” Wepwawet protested. “But Arty–”

“Wepy, just focus on victory!” His girlfriend insisted. She knew him so well she could anticipate his thoughts. “All of my Champions and I walked into this battle knowing the risks! Take what makes the most sense militarily speaking, not what helps me personally!” 

“That’s right,” Kronos taunted her. “Trust the man to know better.”

“I trust my boyfriend!” Artemis snapped back. “Same way I know he’ll trust me!”

Wepwawet looked at his girlfriend, then at the board. Her werescales shamans had summoned enormous vines to prevent the Atlantean Colossus from rising back to its feet by keeping it anchored to the ground, which had allowed Mesozoic Emperor to begin melting it to scrap with his mighty fiery breath. Champions riding pterodactyls and other flying dinosaurs stormed Machinedragon’s position like a swarm of bats harassing a giant while Skitter continued to brawl with the Machine Emperor. 

Artemis’ army had won victories against the Brood and many other foes. She was right, he had to trust her to pull through on her own. 

He analyzed the rest of the board in an instant. Ganesha’s giants had claimed their second Altar on the north side of the board, and one of their contingents would soon join with Wepwawet’s mimicfleet to attack Kronos’ land dreadnought.

“My Champions will be in position to exchange fire with the dreadnought by the time my turn comes,” Ganesha informed Wepwawet. Unlike his allies, he had been careful to avoid battle so far and secure the northern hills to achieve a better tactical position. “If it helps.”

“It does,” Wepwawet confirmed. The Genesis Ooze, having realized none of the dragons could even harm it, had begun to float towards Wepwawet’s Altar to retake it for Kronos. 

Wepwawet couldn’t allow that for a multitude of reasons. Keeping control of the board’s center would allow his soldiers to better assist their allies and do more effective pincer attacks. Kronos’ monsters were so powerful individually that only numeric superiority would let them win. 

And there was only one way to achieve that. 

His choice made, Wepwawet began to assign orders. “Victoire, Soumis, I will need you to split up. Victoire, leap into Glatisant’s hands.”

“What?!” Soumis protested after barely avoiding a tentacle. “Why?! Soumis is the best throne Mistress Victoire ever had!”

“Soumis…” Wepwawet tried to find a way to word his request in a way the dragon would understand and agree to. “You have been a very naughty dragon, and I am going to give you the ultimate punishment.”

Okay, that sounded even worse in his head than he had expected; doubly so when he could feel Soumis quivering on his end of the telepathic line. “The ultimate punishment?”

“The ultimate punishment,” Wepwawet confirmed, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Of which being separated from Victoire is but the prelude.”

Victoire immediately guessed what was going on. “You’re going to endanger him?” she asked with deep concern for her mount. 

“He’s the only one who can both reach our target and hope to survive what’s coming,” Wepwawet warned, his eyes checking the counter. “We don’t have much time, and I have a Miracle to revive him if needed.”

He could sense Victoire scowling on her end of the telepathic line, but she trusted him with both her and her mount’s life. “Understood,” she replied before addressing her dragon out loud. “Soumis… please come back alive.”

“Do not worry, Mistress Victoire,” Soumis reassured her. “Soumis was born for this!”

Nodding at this, Victoire stood up on Soumis’ back and leaped off into the void at Wepwawet’s command. A forewarned Glatisant caught her in midair while Soumis followed his god’s telepathic guidance and began to ascend up into the sky. 

“Glatisant, Insupportable, abandon the Altar and retreat south,” Wepwawet ordered. “I will take care of the slime and let you handle much worthier foes.”

“About time you did your job, minion!” Insupportable replied arrogantly, which Wepwawet reluctantly let slide for the sake of efficiency. He and Glatisant abandoned the fight with the blighted ooze, leaving only Kronos’ renegade dragon to fight it. The creature hadn’t gotten the memo, and Wepwawet was pretty sure it would soon be banished from the board anyway. 

Five miles, six miles… Wepwawet calculated Soumis’ altitude as he ascended towards the Timecrash Hole. Less than two minutes remained before the end of his turn, and the plan he had in mind would hit everything within a ten-mile radius. Victoire and the others might be caught in the blast even if I cast it at the last moment. 

“What are you trying to do, you foolish youngster?” Kronos asked with a frown that swiftly turned into a look of concern. His terrible eyes turned towards the Timecrash Rift. “No way…”

“That’s right, Kronos,” Wepwawet confirmed. “B&C rules allow you to start a battle with a Rank 12 Animism in play… but nothing says it can’t be destroyed!” 

And whatever horror lurked inside that cursed rift would soon regret ever befouling Elphion with their presence. 

I can’t wait any longer, Wepwawet cursed when his counter reached below one minute. Kronos’ blob had reached his Altar and begun tearing to pieces, and Soumis was swiftly approaching the rift. Victoire and the others will be far away from the epicenter, but still within range… let’s hope they won’t take much damage. 

“Here it comes, the fires of victory!” Wepwawet raised his newest Miracle and cast it with all of his remaining mana, selecting Soumis as the epicenter. “Dragonstar Fire!” 

A flash of light illuminated the board, casting it all into an otherworldly sunset. For a second, it seemed like a new sun had risen to replace the old as a colossal fireball materialized right above Soumis; a town-sized chunk of burning blackstone radiating more heat than any volcano and whose mere existence caused the very air to ripple as if trying to contain it. It filled out the center of the Timecrash Hole like a plug of fire. Almost all Champions of all the competitors stopped their battle to look upon it, holding their breath as time seemed to freeze between two ticks of the clock…

The explosion came without warning, and the sky howled as space itself was torn asunder by a dragonstar's birth. 

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