Chapter 40: Dead Arisen

Lune was the first to move.

She dragged Axel’s crippled body out of the way, right as the Giant wrestled the feral dragon to the ground. The slithering drake crawled and moved with an insect’s skittering agility, turning the Giant’s strength against it as it scrambled all over his body and raked Ymir with a dozen burning lacerations — courtesy of its acidic, scythe-like appendages.

The two titans roared and fought each other with earth-bending fury. Ymir bodily seized the dragon with one hand before flinging it away, causing it to smash hard against the canyon wall.

There was a thunderous crack. The rock surface shattered, and an audible snap echoed across the canyon as the Fae Dragon’s spine snapped under Ymir’s incredible strength.

Axel received a notification.

[Lv 40 Undead Fae Dragon Eliminated]

[Reviving…]

The dragon’s corpse violently twitched. The bony protrusions of its back moved under its flesh, snapping back into alignment. The gaping hole of its throat belched acid as the drake shakily got to its feet once more.

Surrounding the rotting flesh of the dragon, an ethereal — and utterly unholy — silver fire began forming over its wounds, manifesting the vague shapes of flesh, muscles, and bones to compensate for its injuries.

It could not be called healing — the dragon was still a corpse, heart stilled and breath lifeless. However, an otherworldly energy had seized the monster, giving it renewed vigour and a bestial echo of its former fury.

The hollow green eyes of the dragon flickered to a burning pale, reminiscent of the silver from a morning star.

Ymir cursed as he realised the danger, dashing with incredible speed to pick up his iron pillar. 

A silver lance came from the side, spearing his right hand to the ground and cooking the flesh into blackened sores.

The headless and reanimated corpse of the Eldarin Prince twisted the lance further — his body wordless in undeath, when he had been so full of indignant arrogance in life. A burning ball of silver fire existed above the stump of his neck, seemingly fuelling the dead Heir’s movements with unnatural life.

The Giant raised his other hand to slap aside the follow-up thrust and leapt back. Before Ymir could examine his wounds, four lesser shadows fell upon him.

The Giant looked up to see the mangled corpses of Fae-Hybrids wordlessly latching on to his back and elbows, the slamming weight of their heavy descent driving Ymir to his knees. Their reanimated carcass spewed vile acid over him, liquifying his skin rapidly as Ymir struggled to get them off.

A glint of silver light caught his eye, and Ymir narrowly ducked to avoid the killing lance aimed for his neck.

The headless Dragonrider turned and sped towards the Giant again for a second pass. The vaulted speed and accuracy of the once-Heir of the Wild Folks was not lessened even without his head or eyes. 

From within the silver fire above its neck stump, two pale orbs manifested. No killing intent, no anger — only the gaze of a puppet ordered to kill.

In the corner of Ymir’s vision, the Giant saw the Dragon rearing up again, despite its spine being broken under his hands mere seconds ago. The drake howled a monstrous screech before awkwardly charging forth, its severed head held by tortured flaming sinews as it dangled and swung around its elongated neck.

Four Fae-Hybrid Zombies. A revived Dragon. A high-level headless Royal Prince.

And the newly healed White-Haired Demon, brought back by potions and renewed determination. The human wielded the golden halberd in his hands once more, ready to chop the Giant’s head off.

For the first time in the fight, Ymir began to worry for his own survival.

~~~

Axel’s body was burning hot.

It was not a heat comparable to fever or fire. The agony washing over him was inflicted upon his very soul. He felt as if his own life force was being devoured to fuel the existence of those unholy corpses now assaulting the Giant.

[I would suggest not allowing this fight to go on for more than a minute. Your nascent soul is not yet ready for the upkeep. Any longer, and you might burn yourself out of existence entirely.]

“I thought… You wanted me to die?” Axel panted as he swung his weapon. The halberd bit deep into the Giant’s ankles, severing bones and tendons. Ymir growled before exhaling violently. The gust of wind tore apart one of the Fae-Hybrids swooping down to claw at his eyes, entering through its mangled maw and causing the body to rupture into a dozen bloody chunks as it exploded from the inside out.

[Lv 20 Undead Fae-Hybrid Eliminated]

[Reviving…]

[I can’t really collect upon a burnt-up soul, Axel.]

The soldier coughed a tired laugh as he dodged Ymir’s errant swing. The iron pillar came around and collided with the Fae Dragon’s semi-detached head. It tore off completely upon impact, flying off to splatter against the canyon’s wall.

[Lv 40 Undead Fae Dragon Eliminated]

[Reviving…]

Silver fires bloomed upon the stump. The now-headless dragon was undeterred, smashing into Ymir and using its body to pin one of his arms in place while it vomited acid from its neck stump all over the Giant’s torso.

Axel staggered as the burning in his body intensified. A dark silver wave burned over the Dragon, mending over its wounds with flesh of pale fire and giving it a new head of sorts in the form of a shadowy maw. 

Nearby, the chunks of the destroyed Fae-Hybrid burned bright as a new body tore its way out of the ruptured carcass. A fully-made, burning silver monster in the vague shape of the original Fae-Hybrid shakily got to its feet, experimentally buzzing its half-corporeal wings before it took to the skies and charged the Giant once more, its body blazing in pale mist-shadows and semi-ethereal flames.

So even if the body is destroyed, Reaper’s Piety still brings them back to functionality. But…

Axel struggled to move. His body felt heavy. He narrowly avoided an errant stomp by the Giant as Ymir called upon the winds to assist him. Axel tried to swing his halberd again, but the attack was much weaker this time. The whistling blade of crimson barely even broke the Giant’s skin.

The more I have to support the summons, the weaker my body becomes. Is this the consequence of using Reaper’s Piety at a lower level?

Even so, the results were arguably worth the cost. The balance of the battle was tilting slightly in Axel’s favour. Ymir could not hold off so many attacks at once. The undead Fae were working together with a hive-mind-like efficiency, chaining their attacks one after another relentlessly without even a word of communication.

Ymir’s wounds were mounting rapidly. The Dragon’s scything claws, the Prince’s mighty lance, and with the Fae-Hybrids spitting acids into his wounds to further exacerbate them, the Giant had to be reaching his limits.

However, the same applied to Axel. His physical wounds were healed by the potion, but whatever was taxing him from the summons was killing him on the inside. Axel could not maintain his summons’ strength for much longer.

Now it was a question of who would give out first: Axel or Ymir.

Evidently, Ymir realised it too. With a mighty sigh, the Giant’s body curled in on itself as he was attacked from every direction.

“Very well,” Ymir growled, his voice steady despite his melting flesh. “I was hoping to save this for the Tyrant, but you have given me no choice. I shall meet your sincerity in kind, Demon.”

[Sky Titan Ymir Activates ‘The Last Giant’s Burden’!]

[Sky Titan Ymir Activates ‘Scion of the Blood Dragon’!]

Great gales of wind exploded from Ymir’s body, sending all flying back. Axel smashed against a rock somewhere in the ravine. When he looked up, Ymir was glowing.

The pressure that settled upon the ravine was incredible. A whirlpool of power was felt emanating from the Giant. His many terrible wounds remained, most of which were crippling, but an armoured frame of solidified wind was holding the Giant upright, giving him back a semblance of his former mobility.

Axel was still inexperienced in the Great Game, but he could recognise a last-minute power-up when he saw one. He had been using ‘Last Stand’ and ‘Heroic Isolation’ to significant effect, after all.

And so, seeing mighty Ymir now empowered beyond the realm of reason, Axel only had one thought:

Oh, that’s not good.

The dragon reared back, its blazing phantom jaws yawning wide, and unleashed a stream of acid — a pressurised torrent of sizzling green that hissed as it tore through the air. It struck the ground around the Giant in a furious blast, melting rock to bubbling sludge, devouring what little life still clung to the landscape.

Despite the crippling wounds to his limbs and joints, Ymir moved with expert efficiency. The wounds to his legs hissed with burns, but somehow the severed sinews were closing up and expelling the acid spat within by the Fae-Hybrids. 

With a roar like splitting mountains, he swung the pillar upward in a sweeping arc. It caught the edge of the dragon’s acid spray and parted it like fog, the sheer force of the swing displacing air in a shockwave that shattered what remained of the ruined outcroppings nearby. The tip of the iron pillar clipped the dragon’s flank as it swooped past, sending moulted scales flying like shrapnel and wrenching a shriek from the beast’s silver-fire throat as the drake was flung away like a toy.

The Prince came in from the side, lance poised to impale Ymir’s heart. The Giant’s entire body disappeared into mist, displacing air as he inexplicably materialised beside the undead Prince before slamming the butt of his Iron Pillar right down upon the Prince’s body.

Axel gaped. He can teleport?!

Even though the Prince was already dead, Axel winced as whatever remained of the Fae Royal’s corpse was smashed straight into the earth. There was a wet, stomach-churning sound as Ymir twisted the pillar with his enormous strength, grinding down the dead flesh into a juice-like pulp.

[Lv 38 Undead Eldarin Prince Eliminated]

[Reviving…]

[ERROR: Insufficient Tithe]

The guttering flame within Axel worsened momentarily before disappearing. His burden was lessened as it no longer supported the continued manifestation of the Prince, but that did not reassure him in the slightest.

Ymir’s wounds were healing rapidly as the rancid blood-flesh mixture of the Fae Prince was sucked into the Giant’s injuries, glowing briefly before they made his body whole once more.

He can heal from his kills?

The dragon wheeled in the air, tail whipping through the haze as it returned for another round. It spat its draconic breath again — smaller, concentrated jets of explosive acid now, precision strikes meant to weaken and blind. One struck the Giant’s shoulder, and steam exploded from the point of contact. Rather than flesh sizzling, however, the armoured wind around him took the blow. Ymir grunted, staggered, but did not fall.

With almost casual grace, he seized the pillar in one hand, twisted his hips, and hurled the enormous block of iron forth like a spear.

Twenty tons of metal screamed through the air — an impossibly heavy spinning mass of death — and hit the dragon’s wing. It was more of a graze than anything; just the lightest touch. Yet the membrane tore with a sound of ripping skin, and the beast faltered in the air, banking hard to avoid a crash. It circled, bleeding blood-acid from its wounds, its silver-fire eyes glowing with fury.

The Giant snorted. Ymir’s hand reached out, right arm outstretched and palm open, before directing his fingers down.

Axel saw, but the Dragon did not. Before the soldier could yell a warning, the tossed pillar that had flown past the drake earlier inexplicably halted its momentum in midair and flew backwards, rapidly spinning end over end as it rushed towards the unsuspecting Dragon’s back.

The poor drake stood no chance as the tip of the pillar punched itself entirely into the dragon’s spine and burst out of its stomach. It dragged the surprised drake down, crashing and twisting into the earth with wind-shattering speed. 

The dragon’s body exploded on impact, acidic chunks of wet flesh raining all over as the canyon’s walls were painted green.

Axel ducked behind cover. Ymir simply stood, uncaring as acid dribbled against his invisible wind armour. The pinkish remains of the Dragon splattered all over the valley began to dissolve into a red haze, before they flooded forth in rushing crimson gales towards the Giant. The blood-flesh mix was absorbed into the Sky Titan, swirling around him in a red, chunky tornado.

The visceral mess was sucked into Ymir’s injuries. When all of it was absorbed, not a single wound remained on the Giant. He stood, healthy and whole, and absolutely brimming with power.

[Lv 40 Undead Fae Dragon Eliminated]

[Reviving…]

[ERROR: Insufficient Tithe]

The four remaining Fae-Hybrids paused, as if they themselves were stunned by the sheer power and violence of the Giant. Then, one of them — the one who was reanimated twice and was now a flaming silver-shadow phantom rather than a flesh beast — turned to Axel.

“You know, I think we have to call this one a loss, Boss.”

The ghostly — and almost sheepish — echo of the summoned Fae-Hybrid caught Axel completely by complete surprise. “You can talk?!”

“My sisters and I will rid our burdens from you now, since there’s not much else we can do. It would be dangerous if you sustain us much longer,” another one spoke, voice raspy, given that it still inhabited a decaying body. 

“Good luck!” A third giggled. “Try not to die!”

“And thanks for killing that bastard prince for us.” A fourth softly hissed through her mangled mouth, her sincerity and gratefulness clear despite the haunting, corpse-maw the words came from. “Now, maybe the souls of our mothers and sisters can rest…”

The phantom body of the leading Fae-Hybrid burned bright for a moment before disappearing into pale mist. The other three reanimated corpses shuddered as the pale light within them died. As one, all three fell to the ground, like puppets with their strings cut loose.

[All Lv 20 Undead Fae-Hybrid Self-dematerialised]

[All remaining Tithe expended]

The burden upon Axel’s soul flared briefly before it disappeared. A phantom pain still wrecked his insides — damages from his stunt, he presumed — but it was no longer worsening.

He could barely move, however. And so when Axel struggled to stand, and a shadow fell over him, the man simply sighed and slumped back down against the wall.

The Demon looked up, grinning against the Giant glaring down at him.

Still think I can bring you his head? He thought.

[I’m adjusting my expectations accordingly.]