Extra's Sign In System: The Hero's an Idiot!

Chapter 185: Chapter 185: The Coward’s Gambit

Chapter 185: The Coward’s Gambit

The heat inside the ruined Council of Harmony was suffocating.

The King Level Beast thrashed wildly in the boiling pool of magma. The searing heat of the earth’s core rapidly dissolved the thick layers of Miasma protecting its monstrous body.

The glowing emerald vines summoned by the High-Warden pinned the giant shadow spider firmly to the floor. The holy light burned the dark matter like acid.

"Is the fire too hot for you, insect?!" Forge-King Thorgar bellowed. His deep voice echoed over the roaring flames.

Thorgar stood perfectly comfortable at the edge of the liquid rock. His rune-hammer pulsed with a blinding orange light.

"You whispered lies into every crack you could find," Thorgar growled.

"But mountains are not split by whispers. They swallow them... along with the fool who uttered them."

High-Warden Sylveth stood beside him. Her green eyes were completely devoid of mercy.

"The night never wins," Sylveth said, tightening her fist with measured precision. The emerald vines crushed inward, splitting the spider’s shell inch by inch.

"You should have remained buried where even the sun refused to remember your name."

SKREEE!

The King Level Beast shrieked in genuine agony. It snapped its horrifying, jagged jaws at the air.

Dozens of demonic, overlapping voices spilled from its throat.

"Arrogant mortals," the beast hissed. The sound was wet and metallic.

"You act as if you have already won."

The giant spider stopped thrashing. It went completely still within the boiling magma. Its dozens of glowing red eyes darted around the ruined chamber.

It looked at the massive, intricately carved marble pillars holding up the towering ceiling of the grand estate.

"I will grant you this," the Beast said, countless voices speaking as one.

"You are predators worthy of respect. But even the mightiest predator starves when it insists on carrying the wounded with it."

Thorgar narrowed his eyes. He tightened his grip on his hammer.

"What is it babbling about?" Thorgar asked.

The beast did not answer. It initiated its desperate, cowardly gambit.

The giant spider violently convulsed. It did not try to pull its trapped legs free from the holy vines. Instead, it forcefully severed its own limbs.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

Six massive, shadowy scythe-limbs tore cleanly from the beast’s main body. The dark blood spraying from the stumps instantly vaporized in the heat.

The severed scythes launched through the air like massive, jagged javelins. They bypassed Thorgar and Sylveth entirely. They flew directly into the four corners of the grand chamber.

THUNK.

The shadowy blades embedded deeply into the central load-bearing pillars of the diplomatic estate. The dark magic within the severed limbs began to pulse with a volatile, blinding purple light.

Sylveth gasped. Her emerald eyes widened in sudden horror.

"The foundations!" Sylveth shouted.

The King Level Beast grinned with its hundreds of jagged teeth.

"Die with your people," the beast whispered.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The severed shadow-limbs detonated simultaneously. The concussive blasts were deafening. The massive marble pillars shattered into thousands of jagged pieces.

The structural integrity of the entire estate vanished in a single second.

The towering, vaulted ceiling groaned loudly. Massive cracks raced across the beautiful painted frescoes. Giant slabs of heavy stone began to peel away from the roof.

Panicked screams erupted from the hallways outside the chamber. Hundreds of innocent royal guards, junior diplomats, and servants were trapped in the corridors.

If the roof collapsed, they would all be crushed into paste.

Thorgar cursed loudly in his native tongue.

The Dwarf King instantly slammed the butt of his rune-hammer into the ground. He completely dropped the [Valor of the Molten Core].

The bubbling magma rapidly cooled, hardening back into solid, cracked stone.

Thorgar thrust his heavy hands upward.

"Hold the line!" Thorgar roared.

He channeled a massive surge of pure earth magic. Four towering hands made of solid, reinforced bedrock erupted from the floor.

The stone hands reached the ceiling just in time to catch a massive, collapsing section of the roof.

The sheer weight forced Thorgar to his knees. The stone floor cracked beneath his heavy iron boots.

Sylveth did not hesitate either. She abandoned her offensive posture entirely.

The glowing vines pinning the monster instantly dissolved. Sylveth raised her arms high above her head. She unleashed a massive, sprawling canopy of solid light.

The emerald barrier spread rapidly across the chamber, catching the falling debris and shielding the vulnerable doorways where the guards were trapped.

Both Level 200 leaders were completely immobilized. They were using every ounce of their immense magical reserves just to hold the collapsing building together.

They had saved their people. But they had left their own backs completely exposed.

The King Level Beast crawled out of the cooling stone. It was severely wounded and missing most of its legs, but a wicked, triumphant laugh echoed from its maw.

It dragged its bloated body up the nearest ruined wall. It clung to the masonry directly behind the struggling faction leaders.

The beast opened its jaws incredibly wide. A terrifying, hyper-condensed sphere of pure black Miasma rapidly gathered in its throat. The toxic energy crackled with lethal intent.

"Now," the beast hissed.

"You fall."

Thorgar gritted his teeth, his arms shaking under the weight of the stone hands. He saw the black light gathering behind him.

He could not move. Sylveth closed her eyes, preparing for the lethal impact.

Draven stepped out of the shadows.

He moved with calm, terrifying precision. His human host body was screaming in agony.

His ribs felt like broken glass. His lungs burned. But his mind remained perfectly cold.

Draven raised his left hand. He aimed his palm directly at the hyper-condensed sphere of Miasma currently leaving the monster’s mouth.

He tapped into the deepest reserves of his cosmic power.

[Vector Manipulation]

Draven did not try to block the blast. He grabbed the raw kinetic momentum of the deadly attack. He locked onto the gravitational pull guiding the beam toward the leaders.

He violently snapped his wrist upward.

VWOOM.

The laws of physics completely shattered.

The massive beam of concentrated dark matter was mere inches away from Thorgar’s back. Suddenly, the beam stopped in mid-air. It bent at an impossible, sharp right angle.

The gravitational pull on the Miasma was entirely reversed.

The lethal black beam shot violently upward. It missed the faction leaders completely. It struck the already weakened center of the ceiling with the force of a meteor.

CRASH!

The dark magic blew a massive, gaping hole straight through the roof of the estate. Thick gray clouds and morning sunlight poured into the ruined chamber.

The King Level Beast froze. Its demonic voices silenced in pure shock.

It slowly turned its dozens of red eyes toward the heavily scarred human guard standing near the doorway.

It sensed the lingering trace of Draven’s power. It was an energy completely alien to this world. It was cold, mechanical, and infinitely vast.

Fear finally pierced the monster’s mind.

"What are you?" the beast whispered, shrinking away from Draven.

Draven lowered his hand. He stared at the monster with cold, unblinking gray eyes.

"Your executioner," Draven replied softly.

The King Level Beast did not wait for another attack. It used its remaining shadow limbs to violently launch itself off the wall. It shot directly through the gaping hole in the ceiling.

The giant spider escaped into the sky above Thaldrasil, fleeing like a frightened rat.

A heavy, ringing silence fell over the Council of Harmony.

The structural collapse finally settled. Thorgar slowly lowered his arms.

The massive stone hands crumbled into dust. Sylveth dropped her glowing canopy, falling softly to one knee as her exhaustion caught up with her.

The leaders were safe. The guards outside were alive.

Nyx and Lucien stepped up behind Draven. They kept their weapons drawn, watching the hole in the roof.

"The target is in the wind, Captain," Lucien reported calmly.

"Let it run," Draven replied.

Draven turned his attention back to the center of the room. He walked slowly toward the exhausted Dwarf King and the kneeling Elven High-Warden.

He kept his posture perfectly straight, hiding the blood leaking down the back of his throat.

Thorgar leaned heavily on his rune-hammer. He looked at Draven, his eyes wide with profound, heavy respect.

"You saved every one of us," Thorgar said, exhaling heavily.

"I’ve stood on battlefields soaked in dragonfire and watched legends carve mountains apart. Never once have I seen someone catch death itself and throw it back."

"Power means little when you understand its nature," Draven said.

"The outcome was decided the moment it was cast."

Sylveth stood up gracefully. She wiped a smudge of ash from her pale cheek. She looked at the black blood still staining the peace treaty on the broken table.

"We were completely blind," Sylveth whispered.

"We spent years preparing to slaughter each other. We let the real enemy sit at our table."

Draven stopped a few feet away from them.

"The King Level Beast used your hatred against you," Draven explained flatly.

"It poisoned your minds and your roots. It wanted you to destroy each other so it could simply walk into an empty city."

A loud, terrifying screech echoed from the sky far outside the estate.

The sound was answered by hundreds of different, monstrous roars echoing from the lower valleys of the mountain. The ground beneath their boots began to vibrate gently.

Thorgar gripped his hammer. His face hardened into a mask of pure, royal fury.

"The beast is calling its horde," Thorgar realized.

"The time is up," Draven declared, looking between the two powerful leaders.

"The King Level Beast has completely failed in it’s plans. Now it is going to throw everything into a single final attack directly at the gates of Thaldrasil."

Thorgar and Sylveth exchanged a long, heavy look.

The centuries of engineered hatred between their races evaporated in the span of a single morning. They had bled together. They had protected each other.

Thorgar stepped forward. He extended his massive, calloused hand toward the Elven leader.

"We will hold the mountain together," Thorgar rumbled deeply.

Sylveth reached out. She clasped the Dwarf King’s hand firmly.

"For the World Tree," Sylveth agreed.

Draven watched them settle their differences. Misunderstandings were cleared and it was time for them to stand together to fight a common enemy they were sent to fight for.

"Gather your armies," Draven commanded, turning his back on the leaders to walk out of the ruined chamber.

"We have a siege to win."

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