About time!
After a long battle with cover design, pandemic troubles, and Amazon, I am proud to announce the long-delayed release of Vainqueur's second volume on Kindle Direct Publishing (covering chapter 37 to chapter 67). Cover art by Gharbi Zouhayer.
Link towards the book: https://ww...
2020-10-01 10:40:46 +0000 UTC View PostWhen the locals said that Rust Town was walled off, they weren’t kidding.
As he drove as north as possible, Ryan began to see the fortifications separating the district from the rest of New Rome. They weren’t so much walls as a mix of tall steel cylinders, wired fences, mounted cameras, and surveillance systems. Occupying concrete watchtowers, trained Genomes pushed back clouds of pollution away from the touristic areas and into Rust Town with wind manipulation, so rich peo...
2020-09-29 09:46:02 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone,
So, Vainqueur is done, NDT will be next month with its final chapters prepaid, and a new story is slowly being written, but has yet to become public nor does have a full buffer on Patreon yet. As expected, this Patreon will face some changes and an update.
First, as forewarned, the billing will be suspended for October due to the transition; so current patrons won't be charged for that month. Note that I keep the upfront payment feature ac...
2020-09-28 20:46:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you.
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The end had come.
The sight couldn’t be more cataclysmic. The countryside around Lyonesse was ablaze for miles; a sea of fire and smoke consuming even snow. Hordes of monsters and men converged towards the walls, giant runes, and wards activating as they closed in. Some simply detonated, blasting the battle lines apart, but other, yellow signs, drove the...
2020-09-26 11:18:08 +0000 UTC View PostNot to change a winning day, Ryan redid everything like last time. He arrived at Renesco's place, waited for Ghoul to get in, then smashed the Psycho with his Plymouth from behind.
However, as he opened the trunk to grab his baseball bat and finish the job, the courier felt a pang of guilt. Could he live with such laziness? Beating an old bag of bones the exact same way, over and over again? Wasn’t there a way to give this moment a little more dignity and uniqueness?
Mmmm…&nbs...
2020-09-26 11:18:02 +0000 UTC View PostBugs Bunny.
That was Ryan’s most beloved character in all of fiction, and he had consumed every single piece of media related to that rabbit during his endless wandering. He always laughed at hunters’ failure to catch the wily rabbit, their rage growing with each missed bullet.
So it must have been very frustrating for these two.
“Stop it!” By now, Ghoul fumed so much that it became difficult to see through the cloud of white mist surrounding him. The who...
2020-09-25 12:14:58 +0000 UTC View PostIt was May 10th, 2020 for the first time, and Ryan hadn’t blown up something yet.
Frankly, this surprised him. Seventy-two hours were almost a hard cap for him for non-destructive behavior; although he didn’t always cause it, he just had a knack for getting into exciting situations. Ryan wasn’t drawn to adventure; adventure was drawn to him, and he couldn’t wait for a new rush of adrenaline.
Driving at night up north, the courier and his Plymouth left the we...
2020-09-24 11:45:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs per the name, the Bakuto was a Japan-themed casino.
Having parked his car in a private parking spot nearby, Ryan glanced up at the building with amazement. The architects had recreated a perfect copy of an oriental pagoda tower, as large as a mall; a red carpet led to golden, ostentatious tori gates with the casino’s title plastered on them. Hordes of gamblers walked inside, some dressed like straight out of an Asian fair, others in tuxedos and expensive gowns. Of...
2020-09-23 12:26:54 +0000 UTC View PostRyan always did science in his underwear.
He did it because it helped him think better and as a political statement. Clothes embodied society’s restrictions upon the human spirit; the crushing power of civilization attempting to domesticate the individual, to make him fit into the mold. But being mostly naked, Ryan reconnected with his creativity, unbound by conformity; while his boxers represented his lingering attachment to his mental stability, preventing him from going compl...
2020-09-22 10:08:34 +0000 UTC View PostIt was May 8th, 2020 for the third time, and Ryan had already caused two traffic accidents.
He blamed the people of New Rome for this. The city’s inhabitants were as nervous as coffee addicts in the morning, and drove their cars like monkeys out for his blood. Moving on the walkway would have been safer.
Thankfully, he had saved right before passing the ‘Welcome to New Rome’ sign at the end of the highway linking the city to the rest of the Campania regi...
2020-09-19 13:04:33 +0000 UTC View PostThis chapter was sponsored by you.
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The last Convergence was due tomorrow, and Asclepius had returned in defeat.
In response, Tye gathered his elites, both undead and living in Nastrond’s cathedral in order to make plans. Hagen, Asclepius, even Mockingbird—who was wise enough to understand what was at stake—stood next to Lady Yseult and Annie around a large table, covered in maps of the Lyonesse region....
2020-09-19 13:04:30 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you.
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One evening, Walter Tye had retired to his shop, meditating behind his counter in human form. He had sent Laufey’s ghost away and even asked Hagen not to bother him unless Medraut attacked.
The alchemist thought best in isolation, and the constant noise annoyed him.
Outside, the windows had turned icy. Temperatures dropped at an alarming rate, snow was falling on the...
2020-09-15 10:36:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you.
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In the end, Walter Tye walked out of Hel’s dungeon carrying Asclepius’ phylactery in his hands, and nothing else. Hel had vanished alongside her servants, probably intending to wait out for Medraut to strike first.
The necromancer’s followers hadn’t said a word for the entire trip, mulling over what they had learned. Tye, considering the situation critical, hadn’t held an...
2020-09-12 12:15:19 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, so here are the two novels I'm considering writing next now that Vainqueur is done. I would like your opinion on which one you prefer, with both being long serials and a major project (far longer than NDT at least). Now, cast your vote!
1) The Perfect Run: a sci-fi superhero comedy.
"Hey, I'm Quicksave. I'm immortal, but don't tell anyone." - Quicksave to everyone he meets.
In an alternate Earth, things went off the ra...
2020-09-09 13:04:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you.
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Tye gave Annie the cold shoulder after they left Loki to his eternal confinement.
She had vexed him.
“Tye…” his apprentice said, keeping the black gem containing Gwenhyfar’s soul in her pouch of spell components. “Are you sulking?”
“No,” the necromancer replied.
“He is,” Hagen chuckled.
“You will take responsi...
2020-09-08 11:42:08 +0000 UTC View PostIt is finished.
As I write these lines, Vainqueur the Dragon officially ended at chapter 153, a Game Epilogue (couldn’t resist ending a LitRPG with a RPG-styled slide epilogue detailing the fate of every major character + gamelike credits). It’s been a year-long journey, an attempt to blend a One Punch Man-like satire of LitRPGs with a cohesive storyline about a greedy dragon’s personal growth. Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the final result, and astonished by the success it...
2020-09-05 12:19:24 +0000 UTC View Post[Character Epilogue]
Jolie Dragon - Dragon Empress
Jolie Dragon, first of her name, spent half her reign adventuring, and the other half ruling justly over the V&V Empire. She especially focused on improving the living conditions of minions, even those living beyond her empire’s borders, and never stopped advertising her cattletarian views. While this earned her scorn from other dragons, her subjects adored her; in time, she...
2020-09-05 12:17:56 +0000 UTC View PostThe Second Edition would start tonight at midnight.
In preparation for this moment, Vainqueur Knightsbane, Great Calamity of all Ages, supreme god of the Outremonde Pantheon, King of the World—-and the Albain Mountains— gathered his twelve godlike minions in his planar realm.
Also known as the [Dragotopia], it was the most beautiful place in the universe, and the dragon would not let anyone tell him otherwise. A world-sized hoard, worthy of his newfound greatness. For si...
2020-09-05 12:17:44 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you.
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Death.
Gwenhyfar had prepared her whole life to face it. She knew that as a princess of Avalon, her only hope of an afterlife was to die in the service of the gods or in battle with honor; ideally both. Although she had served Tyr as a [Paladin], it had only ever been a trade arrangement, a patronage to further her ambitions of modernizing. Gwen did not believe in Tyr; she believed in th...
2020-09-05 12:16:50 +0000 UTC View PostVictor awoke with his back against the sand, to the sound of saltwater and crashing waves.
He rose up back to his feet, his wounds closed, his armor fully repaired. From a cursory glance at his surroundings, he had been teleported onto a Prydainian beach, perhaps a few miles away from the site of the final battle. The V&V Army had taken over the heavens, chasing away the last remnants of Odieuse’s armies.
It took a few minutes for Victor to fully regain his composure, and re...
2020-09-03 11:24:40 +0000 UTC View PostMell Odieuse’s core exploded in a shower of light.
As Vainqueur’s breath died down, the [Dracolich]’s skeletal body crumbled to dust, the death she had spread to others finally claiming her. The core’s remains widened, taking the shape of a screaming woman of purple energy; the vile artificial soul of Mell Odieuse, straining from the destruction of her vessel.
The cruel ghost let out howls of agony as her body grew, and grew, and grew…
Until at long last, with a fi...
2020-09-01 10:39:18 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you!
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The creatures of the night had gathered before Nastrond’s cathedral, preparing to invade the afterlife.
In the shape of a giant Calamity, Walter Tye called upon the dark forces of the city to tear a hole in reality, his undead forming a large circle around the emerging rift. Annie observed the ritual with attention, while Lady Yseult remained anxiously silent.
Strangely, Annie had taken ...
2020-08-29 10:18:35 +0000 UTC View PostVictor had done drugs once.
It had been a surreal experience, which broke a friendship, made him a hero of Happyland, and allowed a mortal to access the realm of gods. Higher understanding of the universe through mushrooms.
It didn’t prepare him for his current trip.
Victor felt his soul separated from his body, his flesh taken over by alien sensations as the universe twisted and folded. The black hole which swallowed him, Vainqueur, and Crom Cruach transformed into ...
2020-08-29 10:18:26 +0000 UTC View PostFighting on a true dragon’s back was a dream come true for Victor.
Fighting a [Dracolich] was a nightmare.
Vainqueur had already informed the Vizier of Mell Odieuse’s true form, but to see that horror in the flesh was something else entirely. The fomor had transformed into a half-rotten skeletal dragon the size of Vainqueur, her bones animated by unholy energies. The [Black Crests] covering her core only enhanced her menacing aura, a ghastly armor to match Vainqueur’s ...
2020-08-27 17:53:29 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by Armocalypsis.
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Walter hadn’t dined with someone since… since he was alive. Unless you counted draining living creatures to death.
He didn’t remember dinner time being so awkward though; his guests hadn’t spoken a word since they all sat around his table in his apartment. Was the food terrible? Walter was not fond of seasoned deer, even while alive, but the cook had prepared a meal straight f...
2020-08-25 10:32:33 +0000 UTC View PostVainqueur had always disdained wyrms letting their minions riding them as cattletarian, unworthy of calling themselves true dragons.
But as he carried Victor through the skies, their army unable to keep up with his sheer speed, Vainqueur realized he had been mistaken. His loyal friend didn’t feel like a false master on his back, but as an extension of the dragon emperor himself.
Now having fully recovered from his previous wounds, Vainqueur had used his ring to [Hasten] hi...
2020-08-25 10:31:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you. Next one will be posted on Tuesday.
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Tye hated grocery trips.
“This is insane,” he complained, helping Lord Medraut pull a crate of bread on a cart. Locals, including the merchant who sold them the food in the first place, stopped to look at the undead horse with a mix of contempt and curiosity. “Useless, worse than useless.”
“I am discovering a new side of you, Walter,” Medraut m...
2020-08-22 09:29:21 +0000 UTC View PostAs the missiles exploded in the skies, Victor watched a new sun in the heavens above. A sun of golden light containing a massive explosion, with a dragon at its core.
It flashed bright and then exploded into shards, the echo of the explosion spreading through the atmosphere, all glass for miles exploding at once. The sea itself rippled, and the skies were cleared of all clouds. The heavens turned crimson, as Crom Cruach's weather effect overcame Victor's own.
A smoking...
2020-08-22 09:29:08 +0000 UTC View PostSo big…
Buzz Jelly looked at the world’s map with light in his tiny eyes. The Empire’s territories were painted gold because it was the best color, and everything else in silver, because they weren’t rich enough.
The Empire was so small… but it glittered true. One day, Prydain would belong to the Empire.
One day, the whole world would be the Empire!
Buzz Jelly couldn’t wait to invade everyone else, especially Gardemagne. Excalidad would be...
2020-08-18 14:13:27 +0000 UTC View PostChapter sponsored by you.
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Sitting on a massive throne of stones built from the remains of Hel’s temple in Lyonesse, Walter Tye gave an audience, surrounded by an undead court. A dense fog obscured the sun above, casting the ruined city in an eerie twilight. Hagen remained at his right, while Mockingbird and her fellow assassins awaited for their turn at his left.
A terrified, silent couple of living humans stood befo...
2020-08-18 14:06:29 +0000 UTC View Post