They advanced together, and the swarm shifted, thousands of pale centipedes rippling across its surface as it turned to face them. Individual insects detached from the main body, scuttling across the walls and ceiling, probing the air with too many legs and lamprey-mouths that pulsed with hunger.
The swarm attacked without warning or posturing, just sudden explosive movent as the humanoid form dissolved into a wave of insects that surged toward them from every direction.
Aurelia's response was imdiate. Fire erupted from her outstretched hands, a sweeping arc of purifying heat that turned the tunnel into an inferno. Centipedes died by the hundreds, their bodies popping and crackling as they burned, the stench of char filling the air.
But there were thousands more.
The swarm split, portions of the mass retreating from the flas while others circled wide, climbing the walls to flank them. Noah felt individual insects land on his armor, tiny mouths seeking gaps in his protection.
[Dragon Scales] has resisted [Numbing Venom]
Resistance: 94%
Their bites were nothing, pinpricks that his Dragon Scales shrugged off, but he understood the strategy. Overwhelm through attrition.
"Back to back!" he shouted.
They pivoted, pressing their shoulders together, facing opposite directions. Aurelia's flas kept the main mass at bay while Noah's Chains of Binding erupted from his palms, the runic links whipping through the air to carve burning paths through the flanking swarms. Everywhere the chains touched, the Wyrm's Curse spread, turning healthy insects into vectors of decay that infected their neighbors.
[Chains of Binding] has applied [Wyrm's Curse] (x147)
The infected insects were imdiately expelled from the collective, their cursed forms dropping to the ground to writhe and die alone. Efficient. Brutal. This thing had fought curse-users before.
Tony is impressed. It sacrifices parts of itself to preserve the whole. Tony recomnds escalation.
"You know," Aurelia said through gritted teeth, fire streaming from both hands now, "if we die here, there's sothing I should probably—"
"Don't." Noah's chains took a dozen insects with a single sweep. "We're not dying."
"I was just going to say—"
"Later. Focus."
The swarm was adapting faster than expected. It had learned that direct assault into Aurelia's flas was suicide, so it changed tactics. Instead of one mass, it split into three smaller collectives. They spread out, circling, looking for angles of attack that wouldn't intersect with her fire.
Noah tracked them through his Abyssal Awareness, calling out positions. "Left, ceiling! Behind us, coming through the floor!"
The centipedes had found cracks in the ancient stonework, using them to approach from unexpected angles. Aurelia's flas swept to intercept, but she couldn't cover everything at once.
One of the sub-swarms reached Noah's legs before he could react, insects swarming up his armor, seeking his joints, his neck, his face—
"Dragon Shift!"
The transformation exploded outward from his core. His body expanded, wings spread wide enough to scrape the tunnel walls. His fingers elongated into claws, his spine extended into a tail tipped with bladed spines, and from his mouth ca a roar that carried the weight of Dragon Fear.
[Dragon Shift] activated
All attributes increased by 25%
The insects clinging to him fled. His Dragon Fear washed over the swarm in a wave of primal terror, and for one glorious mont, the collective's coordination shattered. Thousands of centipedes scattered in every direction, their hive-mind temporarily overwheld by the instinctive need to escape a superior predator.
[Dragon Fear] has applied [Terror] to [Hollow Swarm]
Tony approves of this form. Tony finds the wings aesthetically pleasing.
The three sub-swarms were trying to reform as they fought against the lingering fear. Noah assud they'd try to rge back into a single entity once they overca the Terror effect, using their numbers to simply outlast their prey's stamina.
They needed to end this fast.
Aurelia's next lance killed hundreds of centipedes but there were thousands more.
Tony suggests Bloodwyrm Swarm. Fight numbers with numbers.
Noah drew one claw across his scaled palm, barely feeling the pain as dark blood welled up. Bloodwyrms poured from his wound in a continuous stream, hundreds becoming thousands, each one connected to his will through the sa bond that linked him to Tony and Bun Bun.
[Bloodwyrm Swarm] activated
Oh, Bun Bun said from sowhere behind them, his ntal voice carrying genuine interest. Pretty.
Noah directed his swarm at the Hollow Swarm's remaining brain clusters. His wyrms tore through the centipedes' ablative layers with savage efficiency, each bite injecting the curse that was their birthright.
[Bloodwyrm Swarm] has inflicted [Wyrm's Curse] (x892)
[Bloodwyrm Swarm] has inflicted [Bleed] (x1,247)
[Bloodwyrm Swarm] has inflicted [Dragon Venom] (x634)
The Hollow Swarm tried to fight back, absorb his wyrms the way it had absorbed the curse before, but these weren't mindless constructs. They were extensions of his will, guided by his dragon instincts, and they simply ate any centipede that tried to consu them.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"Got one!" Aurelia's lance punched through the weakened defenses around the second brain cluster, detonating it in a spray of organic matter.
The remaining third of the swarm made one last desperate attempt to escape, the final brain cluster trying to flee down a side passage. But Bun Bun had been waiting.
The murder bunny materialized from the shadows, his own scales gleaming with reflected firelight, and pounced, his own version of Wyrm's Curse flooding through the connection.
The Hollow Swarm died in pieces. In the end, however well coordinated, they were just insects, and insects burned.
Aurelia's flas swept through the tunnel one final ti, cremating the survivors.
Silence settled over the tunnel, broken only by the crackle of dying fires and their own heavy breathing.
[Hollow Swarm] defeated
Wyrmblood Guardian has reached level 327.
Runebody Arcanist has reached level 320.
Abyssal Predator has reached level 317.
Noah let the Dragon Shift fade, his body shrinking back to its humanoid proportions. The wings retracted, waiting to be called upon.
"You okay?" he asked, turning to face Aurelia.
She was covered in char, insect remains and soot and sweat creating a grimy mask across her features. But her eyes were bright, alive, satisfied with the victory.
"Never better." She looked down at herself, grimaced. "Though I could use a bath."
Noah beca aware of his own state. Equally filthy, equally exhausted, equally satisfied. They stood close together, the aftermath of combat leaving them both still running hot, still alert, still present in a way that civilian life never demanded.
Bun Bun humd, hopping over with centipede gore still dripping from his fur. Bun Bun was instruntal.
"Yes you were," Noah agreed. "Good timing on the intercept."
Bun Bun's timing is always perfect. Bun Bun is a superior predator.
"What were you going to say during the fight?” Noah asked, turning towards Aurelia.
Aurelia hesitated. “Nothing.” She turned and started walking.
Noah watched her go, confused by the sudden shift in mood. Had he said sothing wrong?
Yes, Bun Bun inford him smugly. You are an idiot.
"Thanks for the support."
The truth is support. The truth is truth. Tony added, not at all helpfully.
—
They found shelter in a defensible chamber that had once been a beast-keeper's quarters. A single entrance and solid stone wall. The door retained enough function that it ground shut behind them as soon as Noah ran so mana into it, sealing out the darkness and feeling almost safe.
"This'll work," Aurelia said, setting down her pack. "A few hours of rest, then we push deeper."
Noah examined the space while she worked. The quarters had been designed for soone much larger than human, ancient runes carved into the stone above an oversized block of a desk. The symbols pulsed with faded power, their aning tantalizingly close to comprehension but ultimately beyond his grasp.
"Isn't my translation power supposed to be universal?"
Script predates Astral System integration. Translation unavailable.
"I bet Zax could tell us more," Aurelia comnted.
"Too bad he's not here." Noah settled onto one of the bedrolls, accepting the trail rations Aurelia handed him. "Thanks."
Bun Bun curled up near the sealed door, ears rotating periodically to monitor for threats. His scales caught the dim light, glinting with the draconic power he'd absorbed. Tony extended a tendril to touch the familiar's fur, the two bonded creatures finding comfort in proximity.
Bun Bun guards. Nothing will pass without Bun Bun's knowledge.
Tony appreciates Bun Bun's vigilance. Tony will monitor internal threats while Bun Bun monitors external ones.
"Does it bother you?" Aurelia asked after they'd eaten in silence for a while. "The symbiote, I an, living inside you."
Noah considered the question. "Honestly? He's always been an improvent." He flexed his left hand, watching Tony shift beneath his skin, dark tendrils rippling in response to his attention. "He's family now. We grew together."
"That sounds either beautiful or horrifying."
"You should give it a try yourself, pretty sure you'd never go back."
She laughed, warm and present.
Noah grinned. He hadn't fully realized before how valuable her laughter was to him. His heart beat slightly faster, and he found himself analyzing the sensation with uncomfortable awareness. Lately, he'd been over-analyzing everything she did. Maybe it was the result of his rapid-succession tier upgrades, but he doubted it.
Tony is honored by the assessnt. Tony also considers Master family. Tony would die for Master without hesitation.
“You don’t have to always call Master, by the way,” Noah murmured. “Just Noah is fine.”
Tony is… his ntal voice cut off, as he switched into his winged eyeball form and snuggled his way against Noah’s neck, reaching out to hug him with both his tiny wings. Tony will be Noah’s eternal protector too.
"Can I ask you sothing?" Aurelia asked, once their mirth had subsided.
"Always."
"What do you want? After all of this is over, I an. After the cults are destroyed, after the threats are dealt with, after you've found all the Shards and figured out what happened to you. What then?"
The question caught him off guard. "I... don't know," he admitted. "I haven't thought that far ahead. Keep fighting. Explore the world. Learn magic properly."
"You should." Her voice was serious now. "Think about it, I an. Having sothing to fight for matters as much as having sothing to fight against."
Tony agrees. Purpose provides direction. Noah could use purpose.
“I have plenty of purpose.” His quest list appeared on command, all the ways he’d promised to change the world.
“But how much of that is for you?”
To that, he didn’t have an answer.
“I’ll take first watch,” Aurelia said after a while. Get so sleep.”
“Wake when you’re ready to switch.”
She nodded.
Noah lay down on the bedroll, exhaustion pulling at him, the ancient stone surprisingly comfortable beneath his back. His Dragon's Heart slowed its rhythm, the draconic energy within him settling into a restorative cycle.
"Noah?" Aurelia's voice, soft in the darkness.
"Mm?"
Long silence. Then, "Nothing. Get so sleep."
He drifted, consciousness fading into the warm darkness of rest. Distantly, he was aware of Aurelia's presence nearby. Her heartbeat, her breathing, the subtle warmth of her fire affinity keeping the chill at bay.
Safe. He felt safe.
And then, on the edge of sleep, he heard her voice again. Quieter this ti, barely more than a whisper, clearly ant only for herself. "You make this so difficult, you know that? Every ti I think I'm ready to..." She trailed off. Sighed.
Noah's eyes flickered. "Hm? Did you say sothing?"
"No, nothing happening here," she said hastily. "Go back to sleep."
He should probably push her on it, but he was so warm and cozy, it didn't seem worth it to start an argunt. They could always discuss it another day. Whatever it was.
Noah is being an idiot again, Bun Bun observed from his position by the door.
Tony concurs but will refrain from interference.
Noah ignored the familiars’ bickering. He watched Aurelia for a mont, her silhouette against the firelight, then let his eyes drift closed and did as instructed.
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