IDWTBTHQ Chapter 90 - Don't look at an angry dragon in the mouth

By the time Blueskin reached the ruins, his pursuer had almost reached him. He had been slowed down considerably when he had ended up in a patch of particularly nasty brambles with huge thorns who had tried to tie him up as he passed through them. The Oni had taken quite a while to free himself, and when he had finally emerged from the forest he was covered in bruises and small cuts, with dozens of thorny branches still coiled around his legs. However he had made it, and there were no more plants in front of him now, just that waxy grey stuff that covered everything around the ruins.

As he cautiously stepped foot on that substance, fearing what it could animate like the forest and the ground, he was surprised to find it perfectly still. Not only that, but as he entered more deeply in that alien-looking territory the terrifying presence of the dragons got significantly weaker.

“Uh... interesting.” Blueskin thought. “Seems like that the lizard's powers do not extend to this gray stuff. I can certainly use this to my advantage.”

He looked up and saw a large group of orcs and ogres staring at him with surprised expressions on their faces. As he looked, Tiny-Sneaky emerged from their ranks and approached him.

“What is happening, boss?” She asked. “We heard noises coming from the forest, and there is fear in the air...”

“An enemy is coming.” The Oni interrupted her. “Prepare for combat immediately. Put the troops in combat formation. We don't have much time.”

“But... What kind of enemy is coming, boss?” Tiny-Sneaky asked. “Is it the humans? Or more of those bug things?”

“No!” Blueskin replied. “It's just a single huge lizard. But it's strong.” He stared at his lieutenant with annoyance. “And now stop asking stupid questions and follow my damn orders. Everyone must prepare for combat! Now!”

“Yes boss.” The ogre said, turning away.

“Oh... and another thing!” The Oni added, almost as an afterthought. “Make sure that everyone stays on this gray stuff. Do not make them wander off in the forest. Understood?”

“Yes boss.” Tiny replied. “We all have to stay on this gray stuff and do not wander in the forest.”

“Good.” The Oni nodded. “Now go!”

Luckily most orcs were already subconsciously alarmed because of the presence of the lizard and the noises coming from the forest, so it didn't take much time to deploy them in battle order. After only five minutes, they had formed a concave line towards the direction where the noises where coming from, ready to attack and surround whatever would emerge from the forest.

Most of the soldiers were simple orcs, equipped with only rudimentary weapons of wood and stone, but they were led by heavily armored ogres brandishing humongous weapons like axes, maces and heavy cleavers. With the ogres spearheading the assault and the orcs providing cover for their flanks and rear, this battle formation had proven to be nigh-unstoppable on the battlefield and the Oni felt confident that it would work against the lizard as well. Sure, the orcs probably wouldn't be too effective, but their sheer numbers coupled with the strength of the ogres would certainly defeat a single enemy, no matter how tough it was. And then there was also Blueskin himself, who alone was stronger than any other ogre. With all of these forces combined, the Oni thought, it was impossible for them to lose to a single enemy, no matter how tough.

Then another powerful roar shook the air and all of a sudden Blueskin felt much less confident.

Some sort of tunnel opened at the border of the forest, with the plants and the ground making way for something huge that was arriving, and a few seconds later the lizard emerged from it, shaking the ground itself with every step it took.

The humongous creature stopped as it noticed the army that was facing it, though it didn't look scared or even intimidated, just mildly surprised and annoyed. Four yellow eyes scanned the area, passing over the orcs and the ogres and ignoring them, until they finally landed on Blueskin.

The Oni immediately felt the anger behind that gaze. It was the fury of someone who had found out that thieves had trespassed in their property, killed their dog and pissed on their bed.

The lizard thing was pissed. And it was coming for him.

The terrifying aura of the creature suddenly surrounded Blueskin, trying to paralyze him once again, but it was much more feeble and unstable than before and the oni easily shrugged it off. The air and the mold-wax on the ground also remained completely still, something which apparently confirmed Blueskin's suspicion that the gray stuff somehow managed to block the creature's powers.

In response to that failure the reptile let out an annoyed growl and stepped forward, entering the clearing covered in mold wax. As the beast approached the orcs looked more and more uneasy, until finally one of them snapped and charged at the enemy while screaming, quickly followed by the others.

“Idiots!” Blueskin cried. “Don't break formation! Stay in line!”

But it was too late. The orcs were too excited and bloodthirsty to pay attention to him, and more of them charged at the lizard, with even some ogres joining in the reckless attack.

Then, as the army got close to it, the lizard attacked.

The huge creature suddenly leaped over ten meters, diving right through the orcs' forces and sending them flying as if they were a pile of dead leaves. The reptile didn't even directly attack the orcs, it just ignored them while trampling anyone unfortunate enough to be in its way, while the orcs couldn't do anything to stop it, as their blows harmlessly bounced off over its thick scales.

Then, the first of the ogres also reached the enemy.

The ogre in question was Smasher, one of Blueskin's strongest subordinates. He was a hulking behemoth clad in plate armor which made him look even bulkier and armed with a colossal spiked mace that looked like it could smash boulders like candies.

Smasher charged straight at the lizard, raising his mace up in the air to strike at the reptile's head, but before he could deliver his blow the creature jumped forward with incredible speed, opening its maw to an incredible extent and biting the ogre at the waist. The reptile's beak cut through both the metal armor and Smasher's tough muscles as if they were made out of paper, and as the mouth closed like a bear trap it bisected the ogre warrior in two.

Seeing this display of power, the other ogres became quite more cautious. Two of them, Bigjaw and One Eye, tried to flank the creature, each attacking from a different direction and aiming at its seemingly vulnerable sides, but once again it was in vain. Without even looking, the lizard moved its long tail like some sort of whip, cracking it down on Bigjaw with a loud snapping sound, and the ogre's torso literally exploded, sending his upper and lower halves flying in different directions. At the same time the beast turned its head towards One Eye, opening its mouth and making a weird gagging sound. Not even a second later, it puked a stream of greenish bile, hitting One Eye in the chest and pushing him on the ground. The ogre then started screaming while smoke rose from his body, but those cries quickly turned into a disgustingly wet gurgling sound as he melted into a puddle.

Similar fates befell all the ogres who tried to stop the lizard, which continued to advance. As all attempts to stop it seemed useless, the orcs’ attack faltered as fear spread amongst their ranks, and finally the army started routing, with orcs running away in every direction.

“Cowards!” Blueskin howled angrily. “Get back in line! Fight! Fight the lizard or I’ll fucking bite your heads off, you sons of bitches!”

But no one was listening to him, and more orcs started running away from the fight, followed even by some ogres, and this allowed the lizard to advance even faster, making a beeline for the oni with a murderous expression on its four eyes.

“Shit!” The oni thought. “I gotta get out of here. That beast can’t use its power over this clearing, so maybe I can get airborne in here, get very high and hope that the powers of that creature have a limited range!”

Not having a better plan, the oni immediately started growing his wings as fast as he could, before finally leaping in the air.

He didn't make it very far.

As soon as he was about to take altitude, the lizard started running at incredible speed and, when it was directly under him, leapt with its beak open. The humongous body flew into the air for a good ten meters and the tip of the creature’s beak closed on Blueskin’s left wing, who felt a sharp pain before being dragged down by the huge weight of the creature.

The oni and the reptile landed with a deafening boom, and the latter immediately tore off the former's wing to make sure he wouldn’t escape. Blueskin cried as he felt the sharp beak severing his flesh and bones, but he forced himself to work through the pain and get up immediately since he knew that standing still even for one moment would spell his own doom. And he was right since the lizard, after ensuring that its target couldn't fly away, immediately pounced at him.

The oni jumped to the right, barely dodging the humongous mass that would have otherwise crushed him, and immediately shapeshifted into his default combat form. His muscles bulged, his nails turned into vicious talons, and he himself grew into three times his previous size in barely a second.

Despite this, however, he was still ridiculously small compared to the reptile that just turned back and charged at him again.

What ensued in the following minutes was something akin to a corrida, with the lizard blindly throwing itself against Blueskin while the latter tried to dodge and counterattack at the same time. Luckily for the oni he was far more agile than his opponent and had no trouble avoiding its attacks, but sadly his own attacks failed to deal any significant damage. The lizard's scales were so tough that Blueskin's overgrown talons bounced off them harmlessly, while the creature's sheer mass absorbed the strength of the blows, making them ineffective. In fact, the only thing that the oni achieved was making the reptile more pissed.

“Goddammit!” Blueskin thought. “Where are the others? Why aren't they helping me?”

He took a quick look around, and what he saw made him feel quite disheartened. Most of his army had run off and only a handful of orcs and ogres were still present, observing the fight in silence and from a safe distance.

“Help me!” Blueskin called for them while dodging yet another attack from the reptile. “Attack this damn lizard! This is an order damn you!”

After hearing this the group looked even more uncomfortable, and despite having received a direct order they still didn’t move… something which infuriated Blueskin.

“Useless fucking cowards!” He cursed in his head. “I'll deal with them later! I'll make them wish they had never been born!”

Right now, however, he had more pressing concern than coming up with suitable punishments for his underlings. Mostly, trying not to be killed.

The lizard had stopped blindly charging at him, but now it was doing something else. Turning it's body to 45 degrees towards the Oni, it started moving its tail like a whip, bringing it down on its enemy with a cracking sound.

Blueskin dodged to the left as the ground where he had stood a moment before exploded, sending fragments of mold-wax flying everywhere.

He kept dodging, with some difficulty as the creature's tail moved so fast that even the oni struggled to follow it, but luckily each attack was heavily telegraphed and all Blueskin had to do was timing his dodges. The only downside was that he couldn't counterattack anymore, but since he wasn't doing any damage anyway it wasn't really a problem. He just hoped that the reptile would tire before he did.

The oni kept dodging, jumping left and right to avoid the whip-like tail of the lizard... until, when he jumped backwards to avoid another strike, he hit something big behind him. He quickly turned and with horror saw that he had his back against a mold-wax covered wall.

The reptile, with all of its seemingly random charges and tail attacks, had actually herded him towards the ruins at the center of the clearing, where he wouldn't have enough space to dodge.

The lizard pounced at the oni, opening its jaw to finally bite its enemy down, and this time Blueskin knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of the way. So, without any other option left, the only thing he could do to survive was to stop the attack.

He raised his arms, which had suddenly grown up to twice their previous size and had gained incredibly huge bulging muscles, and opened his now gigantic hands. As soon as the creature was about to reach him, Blueskin grabbed its beak, trying to keep it from closing on him, and, thanks to his incredible strength, he actually managed to do that.

However, despite his physical power, Blueskin didn't possess nearly enough mass to stop the momentum of the creature, who just rammed him through the wall, causing an explosion of debris and mold wax.

However, neither the lizard nor the oni let that distract them and they kept struggling, ignoring the rocks that fell on them while the reptile tried to close its mouth and the leader of the orcs tried to prevent it from doing that. However the lizard had a distinct advantage, since it’s sheer mass was enough that the oni couldn’t really hope to stop it no matter how strong he was, and it kept running at full speed, pushing Blueskin against yet another wall. Cracks appeared on the mold wax, but this time the wall wasn’t destroyed, and having a hard surface to pivot his strength against the Blue Terror finally managed to stop his enemy’s advance.

Sadly, he didn’t know how long he’d resist like that, since his whole body was hurting after the impact against two walls, not to mention that the muscles in his arms felt as if they could snap at any moment from the sheer effort of keeping the lizard’s mouth open. So, in order to gain even a small advantage, he started using his knee to hit the creature’s head, delivering many strong blows to the side of its head.

Once again, the only effect he achieved was making his opponent even more mad, and it decided to finish the fight.

A gagging sound came from the reptile’s throat, as if he was going to throw up. Remembering the acid bile that had melted his subordinates into puddles, the oni started panicking. If he didn't do something right now, that was the fate that awaited him.

Fueled by desperation, his mind started working at full steam... and a possible solution suddenly dawned on him.

Focusing his shapeshifting powers on his shoulder, he quickly growed another arm... a long and thin arm that looked more like a cancerous growth than a natural limb. The hand at the end of it was equally misshapen, with only two fingers with long, talon-like nails on them.

That arm kept growing until it reached one meter and a half of length, developing two joints in the process, and then Blueskin took aim and swung this limb directly against one of the lizard’s eyes.

The reptile howled in pain as its eye was stabbed by the long nails of the newly grown hand and momentarily stopped pushing the oni, who used that moment of distraction to slip away, jumping on top of the beast's head and starting to try and poke the other eyes out. However, the lizard reacted immediately and it slammed its head against the wall, catching Blueskin in the middle. It repeated this process multiple times while trying to shake off its opponent, until finally, after being smashed against the hard mold-wax one last time, one of the oni’s arms broke with a crunching sound. Incapable of holding on anymore, the Blue Terror was thrown away, landing on top of some fallen debris with an impact that took the air out of his lungs.

Blueskin immediately got up, but at this point he was so beaten up that getting on his feet and staying still was basically everything he could do. He was so wounded that not even his regenerative powers could keep up, especially because he now had several broken bones, including a rib that had pierced his lungs and made it difficult to breathe, and every single movement he made caused him intense pain. He would still recover in a few minutes if allowed to take a break, but sadly the lizard wasn't going to give him such a luxury. The beast was absolutely furious, and with its remaining three eyes it shot the oni a glance full of hatred before moving in for the kill, charging with its mouth open to bite him in two.

Blueskin felt his whole body going numb as he realized that he wouldn't be able to dodge or stop the attack this time. A cold fear drowned out every single thought from his consciousness except for his desire to survive, and from the depth of that despair a mad, reckless plan was born at the last possible moment.

Instead of trying to dodge or run away, Blueskin moved forward, intentionally walking towards the huge beak ready to bite him. Meanwhile, he also used his shapeshifting powers to alter his size, becoming as small as he possibly could.

As a result, when the creature's jaws closed on him, the oni completely entered inside the mouth without being cut in two... mostly. His legs had actually been bit off, but what really mattered was that he was still alive.

Still, he was still in a desperate situation. He could be swallowed, chewed to death or suffer many other unpleasant fates at any moment right now... but maybe, just maybe, he also had a chance to kill his enemy before it could kill him.

It all depended whether or not the creature's insides were as tough as its exterior.

Concentrating all of his remaining power in his right arm, Blueskin used his claws to stab upward, towards the lizard's palate. For a brief, terrifying moment, the attack was stopped by bone, but then, after the oni used all the strength it could muster, his hands finally went through, digging deep into the squishy brains of the lizard.

An agonizing howl rose from the creature's throat, deafening Blueskin, and the reptile started jerking and twitching spasmodically, trying to spit the oni out. But Blueskin refused to let go and simply drove his hand deeper and deeper until, after a final convulsion, the creature finally stopped moving.

Breathing frantically, with his mind completely blank, Blueskin took out his arm from the creature's skull. The limb was entirely covered in greenish, gooey fragments of brains, and without even thinking the oni licked them off.

As soon as that grey matter touched his tongue, Blueskin felt an incredible energy surging inside of him, completely revitalizing him. Instinctively he started eating more of the brains that were leaking from the wound in the lizard's palate, and with each bite he gained more and more power. His regenerative abilities kicked into overdrive, quickly healing all of his wounds, and he also started experiencing brief flashes that showed the reptile's memories, although they were extremely faint and fragmented, probably because the dragon was already dead.

“Amazing!” Blueskin thought while gorging himself on the brains of his enemy. “Usually I have to eat creatures alive in order to absorb their power and memories, but this lizard was so powerful that even dead it has more power than anything else I’ve ever eaten in my life! I can feel its power coursing through my body! It's... incredible!”

He kept eating even after the flesh finally lost its aura, lost in the contemplation of his own power and the lizard’s memories. Quick flashes of centuries spent in the forest passed through the oni’s mind, interrupted from time to time by some titanic fight against the other terrors that roamed the forest. But there wasn’t really anything useful for Blueskin, so, after a while, he finally decided to stop eating and crawl out of the creature's mouth.

As soon as he had stepped out of the damp, smelly darkness of the dragon’s maw he used his shapeshifting powers to grow up to his usual size, and then looked up. The sun was shining bright, almost as if celebrating Blueskin's victory, and he basked in its warmth, feeling more alive than ever.

“Man, I feel as if I've been born again!” He thought, while enjoying the feeling of power he was experiencing. “The only time I felt something similar was when I evolved from an ogre to an oni.” He smiled. “Who knows… maybe I've managed to evolve once again. From what I've heard there is no further evolution for the orcs after oni, but defying the logic of the world is exactly what a main character is supposed to do!”

While he was silently gloating like that, he felt a presence coming from his left. He turned and immediately saw Tiny-Sneaky peeking from behind a wall. The ogre had a weird expression on her face, looking surprised, shocked and even a tad disappointed for some reason, but as soon as she realized that Blueskin was staring at her, she immediately regained control of herself.

“Are you alright, boss?” She asked, while cautiously stepping out in the open.

“Yes.” The oni replied, in a harsh voice. “But not thanks to you. None of you cowardly bastards came to help me, not even when I asked for help.” He narrowed his eyes threateningly. “That almost seems like treason to me.”

That thinly veiled menace actually made Tiny-Sneaky flinch, as she knew far too well how her boss dealt with those he was displeased with.

“I-I tried to help you, boss.” She stuttered, trying to make herself as small as possible in a gesture of submission. “I stayed hidden near the lizard and waited for an opening to attack, but I didn’t find one. And there was nothing else I could have done!”

“Really?” The oni asked in a dubious tone. “Nothing at all? Couldn’t you have, you know, distracted the oni somehow?”

“No I couldn’t!” Tiny protested, suddenly getting very  incensed. “You saw that the lizard simply ignored the blows of the orcs, and I’m barely any stronger than them despite being an ogre. This form you made me take...” She pointed at her own cleavage and curves. “It’s just not good for fighting. It’s weak and vulnerable. I have to sneak around and use surprise attacks to actually win fights. And if I can’t do that, then I am useless!”

Blueskin raised an eyebrow, surprised by his underling's reaction. It was really unusual for her to get this emotional, and he pondered what could have caused this outburst.

“Oh, I get it!” He thought “She was worried about me! She is basically cursing her own powerlessness, because she couldn't do anything to help me! That's a classic Isekai trope!” He smiled. “And she is probably a tsundere, so she can’t actually spit out that she loves me… how cute!”

“Well, you do have a point.” He conceded in a magnanimous tone. “After all, it is kind of my fault that you are weaker than other ogres.”

“Thanks boss.” She said stiffly, and then she asked, in a hopeful voice: “Oh... but I could take a stronger form if you let me. That way I would be more useful to you.”

“Nah. I already have many hideous mass of dumb muscles in my army, but you're the only one who looks good.” The oni replied with a chuckle. “Besides, I have gotten much stronger after eating that lizard, so you don't have to worry about me. Right now, I doubt there is anything in the forest I couldn't beat!”

A brief flash of disappointment and anger appeared on Tiny-Sneaky's face after hearing these words, but it disappeared before Blueskin could even see it.

“That is good, boss.” She said in a neutral tone. “So... what do we do now?”

This question actually gave the oni pause, as he remained silent for quite a while. In the excitement of the fight  he had completely forgotten about his plans... but now he could focus on them again.

“Well... I've discovered many things from the human I ate.” He said, though he was more thinking out loud than actually explaining things to Tiny. “They know about us. The goblins have made an alliance with the humans specifically to fight against us... so we have to change our plans and adapt them to the current circumstances. I need to get back to our HQ and organize our forces from there.” He paused and made an angry, dangerous-looking smile. “But first, I'm going to chew some of those cowards who stood still while I was fighting the lizard!” He gestured towards Tiny. “Come. We've got some work to do!”

And he walked away from the ruins and the corpse of the reptile, followed by Tiny who, while the oni had his back turned on her, kept staring at him with open hostility.

Arag felt his heart sink.

From his hiding place at the border of the clearing, he had assisted at the fight between the oni and the dragon, and for a while he had actually thought that his plan was going to work. The King of the Ashwood Hills had easily overpowered and outmaneuvered the Blue Terror, and when they had entered the ruins the Spider Goblin had taken for granted that the oni's fate was sealed.

He had been wrong.

An incredibly loud, agonizing howl had risen the ruins, and after a few minutes of silence, two figures had emerged from the mold-wax covered walls.

One was the feminine looking ogre and the other was the Blue Terror himself, who looked not only completely unharmed but somehow gave the impression of being much, much stronger than before. Even at that distance, Arag could clearly feel the aura of power that surrounded the blue-skinned humanoid.

As unlikely as it was, it seemed that the oni had been the winner. Not only that, but he had also absorbed the power of the dragon. Which meant that the goblin's gamble had not just failed, it had actually backfired in a spectacular way!

Forcing his emotions down, the spider goblin tried to decide what he should do next. The Goblin General needed to be informed about what had happened at the outpost as soon as possible, but in order to do so he would have to personally go back to report to him, meaning that he would have to stop surveilling the oni at a critical moment.

Arag pondered for a while, and then, with a sigh, he decided to make a compromise between the two positions. He would follow the Blue Terror for a little more in order to have an idea of where he was headed and then he would get back to report to Trakk… even though it was perfectly possible that the General would punish him harshly for his actions.

Not that it really mattered. He had made a gamble, and he had lost, so he would have to live, or die, with the consequence of his failure. Such was life.

Having decided what to do, he set aside all of his worries and went back to work.