The skies were bright with explosions, but Vainqueur’s light blinded them all. “[Shining Majesty]!”
The dragon radiated the holy light of the hoard on the Sablarian heathens, incinerating those closest to him, and melting even their mighty war golems. A shooting star made wyrm, he pulverized everything in his path, creating a golden road for his fellow dragons to follow; behind him, Grandrake and Genialissime led the reptilian charge, raining elemental breaths on their outmatched ...
2020-08-15 08:40:38 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by you.
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Darkness choked the air of the crypt, an overwhelming evil taking hold of the area. Bleeding and wounded in her flesh, Gwenhyfar felt the pain in her soul too.
As a [Paladin of Tyr], she always shared a nonverbal, ethereal bond with her patron deity. As the god of justice and fairest of the Aesir, Tyr had empowered the princess in her quest to make this broken world right. For years, his presence a...
2020-08-15 08:40:33 +0000 UTC
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Vainqueur felt it in his bones. The Fairy Queen Mell Odieuse was near.
Her foul stench filled the air, carried by the wind.
After crossing the dense forests of Prydain, Vainqueur and his mighty army had reached the island's western shores, destroying its defensive walls from behind. Thousands of minions and dragons had lined up, as dawn appeared behind the clear, crimson horizon. Sharkmen and their giant fish master had occupied the sea, to help carry troops on the oth...
2020-08-11 10:41:20 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by you.
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Another arrow bounced off Arthur’s skin, repelled by his [Chosen One] Perk’s fate protection.
The invincible prince could barely see clearly, even with the lights summoned by his mages. The fog of war had spread through the mausoleum, as the living clashed against the armies of the dead. His sword [Excalibur] cut through the flesh of zombies and the bones of fiends, as he forc...
2020-08-08 10:24:22 +0000 UTC
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“How do you make holy water?” Victor’s [Fetch] asked the original. “You boil the hell out of it!”
Sitting on a tooth chair inside around a tongue-shaped table, the Vizier raised his eyes from his scrolls and maps to look at his clone, who expected approval. Cait Sith was sleeping on a cushion in a corner, having been granted milk and a steady supply of food for his help in reaching Odieuse’s lair, while blood boiled inside the [Black Grail] nearby.
Victor would r...
2020-08-08 10:24:10 +0000 UTC
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Tree. Tree. Tree.
Oh, another tree!
“Minions, the fairies know nothing of landscaping!” Vainqueur snarled, flying above a gigantic, impenetrable forest of oaks and alders. Minion Victor followed him on Gorynych’s back, while Knight Kia trailed them while riding her griffin, having traded her [Plot Armor] for her normal clothes for the day when she couldn’t stand the artifact's terrible lines anymore.
It had taken Vainqueur some effort, but he had convinced Joli...
2020-08-04 11:59:13 +0000 UTC
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As per the title, since Vainqueur's final arc has started, this will be the last chapter poll for this story. Since the final arc is rather serious, the final interlude will be an humorous stand-alone.
1) The Truck Conspiracy
Reincarnated as a part-timer in Japan, Timmy (aka Orknoob) is worried. All around the world, unemployed students are dying in mysterious car accidents... all caused by the same truck. Timmy is worried, for he knows he might be ...
2020-08-03 08:43:17 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by you.
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Three hundred.
Between the soldiers Arthur and the Academy brought to protect Lyonesse, the Watch, and the city’s priests, Lyonesse’s defenders could gather a fighting force of three hundred to invade the dungeon. Every single church in the city had received a divine order to participate, the gods determined to see the undead wiped out for good.
The force only accepted people with...
2020-08-01 13:16:30 +0000 UTC
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Nothing could harm him.
Bullets, mortar, and cannonballs bounced off Vainqueur’s thick [Hoard Armor], as the dragon tore down the island’s walled fortifications. None could stand before the power of a true hoard.
“I am the gold that haunts your lead!” the dragon boasted loudly, as he pushed a watchtower down, stones crashing on the shores and crushing the tiny doppelgangers manning it. Behind him, minion ships landed on the beach, singing Vainqueur’s name while his...
2020-08-01 13:14:39 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by Kyle Reese.
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To her credit, Laufey was a fantastic actress. This must have been the ultimate stress test, and she perfectly feigned confusion. If he didn’t have irrefutable proof of her betrayal, she might have made Tye doubt himself with charm alone.
“Something cruel, Walter?” she asked mirthfully, with no hint of tension. “You do know my tastes.”
“Tell me, did you plan ...
2020-07-28 09:16:43 +0000 UTC
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- The Hoardnational, Lyrics.
Stand up, minions of the Earth!
Stand up, prisoners of fear!
Greed thunders in its volcano!
This is the golden eruption!
Of the lead let us make coins,
Loyal slimes, stand up, stand up!
The fairies will lose everything!
We are minions, we are the Hoard!
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2020-07-28 09:15:21 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored and chosen by you.
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- Decades ago, Year of the Hawk.
Walter Tye, a nineteen years old Pale Serpent apprentice, spoke the ancient words of power from his grimoire. He suffocated under his dark robes, the very air suffused with the putrid stench of death.
Gathered in an underground chamber, in the bowels of their Black Citadel, twenty necromancer apprentices surrounded a white-haired dead w...
2020-07-25 09:41:39 +0000 UTC
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In Murmurin, the day before the invasion of Prydain, the dragons played a very loud game.
“Open fire!” Vainqueur declared, as two dozens true wyrms unleashed their breaths at a crater. [Fire], [Frost], [Lightning], [Poison], [Earth]… almost every element known to dragonkind was used, turning their target into a delightful show of light and destruction. The ground trembled for miles, minions fled in all directions, and a single figure stood in the middle of the destruction, unmoved...
2020-07-25 09:41:16 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by you.
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Trapped inside Nastrond’s cathedral, Walter Tye applied a spell tattoo to a living black rat’s hide; in the background, his [Athanor] device distilled hydra’s blood and transferred the result to his new batch of elixir.
Nastrond had been protected from prying eyes by godlike magic, but even its wards paled before those shielding the cathedral. While Hel may have managed to detect Tye’s ...
2020-07-21 09:43:18 +0000 UTC
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After many joys and triumphs, Vainqueur and his minions finally made it to the ‘boss room,’ or so Manling Victor called it.
Unable to unlive past his crushing defeat in the War of the Hoard, the Forgotten One had recreated his old throne room down to the very last detail. The dragon recognized the ghostly candelabras, the armored statues on each side, the chains hanging from the ceiling… ah, the nostalgia.
Furibon observed the group smash their way into his lair,...
2020-07-21 09:42:42 +0000 UTC
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Hi everyone,
A few things happened on my end, necessitating a slight change in my update schedule.
1) I'm finally visiting my family/friends in France after four months in confinement abroad (because BLEEP Covid). I said that I might take a week off in that case, but... frankly I would prefer to keep my momentum going. So I'm still going to publish, but at a slower pace.
2) a seventh chapter of Never Die Twice has been privately funded this month, which means th...
2020-07-20 08:00:15 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by you, dear patrons.
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Camelot.
The birthplace of mankind, and the center of Midgard. Built under the shadow of the world tree Yggdrasil by Ask and Embla, the first humans, it was the origin and the end; the capital of Avalon fated to survive until Ragnarok.
Everything in the city sprung from Yggdrasil. All the buildings had been shaped from its bark, reshaped by druids in the form o...
2020-07-18 09:35:12 +0000 UTC
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'5000 gold coins per person.’
“Never!” Vainqueur roared almost immediately, his head hitting the ceiling and causing the entire hall to tremble. “Never!”
“That’s evil,” Friend Victor added, a flying mirror floating near his face, as he examined the barrier preventing them from accessing the dungeon’s depths. It was a purple replica of the shield around the Murmurin castle. “I’m sure he raised the price somehow.”
Vainqueur had thought the Forg...
2020-07-18 09:34:23 +0000 UTC
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“So, if I understand right, you want advice on how to change mortals’ perception of you?” Victor asked the goddess Cybele, scribbling notes while they sat on fungi thrones around a mushroom table.
“Most mortals only remember me for the pleasure aspect of my portfolio,” the goddess complained, her face and body hidden beneath a white cowl. “I cannot shake the stereotype and it bothers me. The few times mortals acknowledge my focus on nature and forests, they only imagine wild...
2020-07-16 10:24:04 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by... you.
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Walter Tye’s teleportation spell didn't bring him to Nastrond, but to his old sanctuary, deep below the shop. None could teleport directly to the city itself, and while most of his equipment had been transferred deeper underground, there was one exception.
“You look terrible, human,” Beli the fiend mocked him as the necromancer entered his prison. He alone, among the furniture hadn...
2020-07-14 11:46:18 +0000 UTC
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“Minion! MINION!”
A frown on her face and dark circles under her eyes, Allison opened her house’s door to face a large group of thirsty dragons.
Even if she lived with Rolo in the farms at the city’s outskirts, the entire area was overcrowded by all kinds of dragon types, from recently awakened true dragons to talking wyverns. Most of the newcomers had slept below Murmurin’s countryside, only to emerge when Vainqueur's Conclave started singing their awful music.
Su...
2020-07-14 11:34:24 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by Armocalypsis.
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- Decades ago, frontier with the Feylands after the Niflheim Convergence.
A day after the massacre, his village reeked of blood. The grass had turned red.
Entrails and limbs splattered the grass, the villagers torn to shreds by the jaws of giant wolves; not even for food, but for pleasure, as a cat would toy with a rat. Most of the houses had be...
2020-07-11 09:31:01 +0000 UTC
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It was evening, and he was high on love!
So thought Victor Dalton, as he worked on a new mixture in his lab, his heart full of happiness. He had never been so productive, so energetic, so thoughtful! The warmth in his chest had fueled him through the day, finishing years-long research projects in hours while he awaited for Vainqueur’s summon.
“I’m so happy!” Victor shouted, out of nowhere.
“Me too!” his [Fetch] clone replied with the same enthusiasm, whi...
2020-07-11 09:30:42 +0000 UTC
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It had been eons since Vainqueur had seen so many dragons gathered in one place. This assembly made his Bragging Day look like a small family gathering!
Everywhere, as far as his eyes could see, dragons from all corners of Outremonde feasted in a great brotherhood of scales; not only the majestic true dragons, but armies of their lesser cousins, such as brutish wyverns, tiny drakes, zmeys, and even the wingless linnorms.
A Life Dragon talked with a Poison Dragon, the former ...
2020-07-09 09:13:21 +0000 UTC
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Since Vainqueur is approaching its final arc and five chapters of Never Die Twice have been funded by patrons this month, I thought we could shake things up a bit. You get to decide what one of the Patreon-funded NDT chapters will be about (probably the last one of the month).
1) Life After Death
Walter Tye killed many adventurers over his career; some he sent to the golden halls of Valhalla, others to the darkness of Helheim. Follow the souls of Tye's decea...
2020-07-09 09:13:09 +0000 UTC
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And so, the Dragon Conclave started, with the arrival of the fashionably early guests.
Vainqueur, Grandrake, Manling Victor, and Gorynych had gathered at the meeting point right outside Murmurin, a grassy [Plains] field vast enough to accommodate a dragon army. Thousands of minions were already at work, preparing the food and drinks for the guests while flying wyrms could be seen flying towards their location.
With the vile Mell Lin defeated and the Earthgate destroyed, the new fo...
2020-07-07 12:15:53 +0000 UTC
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Chapter sponsored by you.
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Spell failed. Level insufficient.
???
The same message. Over, and over again.
“So, chief?” Hagen asked as he entered Nastrond's cathedral, finding his master casting spells on a giant serpent’s bones.
“I have run every magical test possible, every divination spell I know, searched every book available,...
2020-07-04 10:05:05 +0000 UTC
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“[Elemental Burst],” Manling Victor cast spells on his master with his scythe, geared up for war, “[Veran’s Acid Mantle], [Delayed Hasten]...”
Your [Fire], [Water], [Earth], and [Wind] attacks will be greatly strengthened for half an hour. You will receive the benefits of a [Hasten] spell wit...
2020-07-04 10:04:14 +0000 UTC
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His castle! His beautiful castle!
As he flew high in the skies with Gorynych after him, Vainqueur’s heart was filled with concern. Concern for his beautiful, hard-won lair, the elite minions staffing it, and his marvelous hoard in the vaults. Not necessarily in that order.
Thankfully, as he passed over the mountain’s summit, he found his castle unscathed, shielded by a crimson barrier. The same protection which once safeguarded the Forgotten One from the dragon...
2020-07-02 09:03:55 +0000 UTC
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This may be the toughest battle Vainqueur had fought yet. While he had the greatest hoard, his enemies were strong, and his minion was weak.
“Zmey!” Vainqueur snarled to Gorynych, who couldn’t decide which Monster Poker card to play. “What are you waiting for?!”
“Gorynych is anxious,” the zmey replied, his field empty of any defense to protect his last coin against an army of vicious [Carrot Warriors]. “Gorynych hates vegetables!”
“You can do it!”...
2020-06-30 10:44:49 +0000 UTC
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