Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Hiegaurd the giant stomped through the horde of undead with only the dragon locked in his sights.

Aniketos flew higher in the air and unleashed another breath attack towards the oversized foe. The giant raised its arms as mithril shards struck his forearm, only appearing as tiny splinters in his flesh.

Comparing the size of the giant to the dragon was like comparing Lucan to Adrestia. Seeing the two close to each other, it was clear that Aniketos was still just a young dragon.

Hieguard swung his massive greatsword down from overhead. The dragon rolled through the air, barely missing the blade. When the sword struck the ground, it created a large 20-foot-deep gash in the ground.

The players fighting the undead were awed by the destructive power of the giant.

Anikteos did not flee, he dove straight towards the giant and latched onto its shoulder, tearing, scraping and biting.

The giant released a hand from his weapon and snatched the dragons from his body, throwing it face first towards the ground.

*Bang*

The dragon created a a crater in the middle of the undead.

"Aniketos! Come back!" Silent called out.

Just from watching their initial exchange she didn't like the dragon's odds in the fight.

The dragon flew into the barrier and landed on the tower wall.

"Mistress, I do not believe I will be able to defeat this giant. I will buy you as much time as I can." He said, preparing to return to battle.

"Who gave you permission to return to the battle?" She snapped at him.

"Mistress, there is no other way. The soldiers will be decimated if they try to defeat the giant."

"Major General Santine. Use the soldiers to defend the barrier. Commander Gear, you will be in charge until I return."

Silent leapt into the air and landed on the back of the dragon.

"I will fight with you Aniketos. Now take to the skies." With a single flap of its wings the dragon was airborne.

SuperSleuth captured the scene of the variant shadow elf flying towards the giant on the back of a dragon. He anticipated his livestream getting busier now that things were heating up.

***

The internet message boards on the livestream were getting lively.

-"What the hell kind of battle am I watching? Why is there such ma big fight going on?"

-"How are you here if you don't even know that the powers of the shadow realm are fighting it out?"

-"That elf sure is cute, her riding a dragon is going to be my new screensaver."

-"It won't be long till I make her my woman, you guys can just back off."

-"Hey up above, are you dumb?"

-"PSh, must be. She is always with Lucan Quildrake. You don't stand a chance."

-"Lucan Quilldrake, who is that?"

-"Where did all these people come from who don't know what is going on?"

-"Lucan is the sixth Hand of Raze. That is his fortress."

-"Oh… where is he?"

-"Umm…."

-"Err…."

-"What a piece of shit. He runs away and has his lady fight a losing battle for him."

-"How despicable."

-"Why does a goddess like that hang out with a piece of trash."

-"Hey, you guys may not know this, but a friend from the Cloud Saint Guild told me that Silent Night is Heaven's Kiss's sister."

-"What!?!?"

-"No way!!"

-"And that crumby warlock just abandoned her?"

-"He really is garbage."

Like normal, when it came to the internet message boards, Silent was admired and Lucan was drowned in hate.

With the announcement that Silent was related to Heaven, a message soon was posted on Heaven's Kiss's fan site. The quickly rising popularity was lifting Super's mood. Even if they lost the fortress, at least he would earn big today.

***

Silent aimed her bow from the back of the dragon and fired. Unfortunately, even her strongest arrows with her highest-level skill didn't take away hardly any of the giant's health. Aniketos did his best to stay out of the giant's reach while unleashing breath attacks whenever he was able too, and Silent kept firing her arrows regardless of how little damage they did.

Unable to get its hands on the dragon, Hieguard thought of a way to provoke it. Gripping his sword, he took another step forward, raised it high overhead, and brought it down on the barrier.

*Shatter*

A portion of the barrier protecting the fortress walls crumbled. The giant's sword cleaved a section out of the wall. A number of undead didn't miss the chance to enter. When the sword was pulled out, the barrier slowly began to reform and close up the hole. It was complete but much weaker than before. Even less damage would be required to shatter the barrier again.

Silent realized that if they didn't move in to fight the giant it would keep destroying the barrier and allow the walls to be overrun with undead.

Already, close to a thousand undead had breached the barrier before it closed. Arrows and spells came from above but with a large gap in the wall where the giant's sword had cut, the zombies and ghouls were able to clamber in.

Major General Santine had his men meet the undead and force them from going further into the fortress.

Aniketos was unwilling to sacrifice the fortress to protect his life. He flew straight for the Giant.

Anticipating his action, a large hand clamped around Aniketos. The dragon wasn't going to give up. He opened his mouth and unleashed another breath attack. This time the shards of mithril were launched towards the giant's face.

"ARGHHH!" The giant flung the dragon towards the ground with unfiltered furry. Creating another crater in the undead, this time several of Aniketos's bones were broken.

The giant's left eye managed to receive a part of the attack. The large eye had a few pieces of metal stuck into it but Hieguard was still able to see… barely.

Without hesitation Hieguard pierced his sword straight down towards the dragon, sending the massive longsword deep into the ground. Dragon's blood sprayed through the air.

Aniketos had barely managed to crawl to the side at the last moment, but one of his wings had been severed.

Silent had gone unnoticed as she clung to the shirt of the giant. She telepathically ordered Aniketos to retreat. If he died, they would have no one to control the formation.

The rogue summoned Queeny and her swarm of blue butterflies. The queen of the swarm activated the second ability she had received after evolving. The small butterfly landed on Silent's back. Her wings lost their metallic edge, capable of cutting through flesh, but they began to grow.

Two large butterfly wings appeared on the back of Silent. With a flap, she flew upwards, followed by the swarm.

***

The Plague Baron watched the projection of the battle from the tent.

"Their barrier will not last much longer. Send the travelers to assist the undead along with the soldiers. Their defense won't last much longer."

***

In the distance, Silent could see more forces approaching. If something didn't change soon, the barrier would be destroyed by the time they arrived.

'Silent Night, I have an idea, but I need you to buy me some time if you are willing to pay me for the effort. Can you stall the big guy for a minute, so I don't get squashed?' MILOCARA asked her.

'I will do my best.'

She really had no idea how she was supposed to stall a giant. She racked her brain, but no ideas were coming. Then she saw something that gave her hope. Flying towards her, inside of her swarm was a small dark figure. She would recognize Adrestia anywhere.

The shadow drake landed on her shoulder.

"Lucan! You're back."

"No." Said his voice coming from the shadow drake. "I am still undergoing my evolution, but Little Brown and Adrestia were able to return."

Silent was disappointed, but it was better than nothing. She quickly gave Lucan a run down of everything that was going on.

Knowing the situation, he instructed Adrestia to take action.

Aniketos had managed to crawl into the formation's barrier, but the giant wanted nothing more than to kill the dragon.

He was about to reach from his sword when the air in front of him split apart.

A being of his own size reached out from a crack in the fabric of space. Unable to retrieve his weapon in time, Hieguard raised his arms to block the sword that was striking down towards his head.

*Bang*

There was a loud crash as the sword meet the giants forearms, but the illusionary blade continued to pass through its body.

Giant Lucan, whose upper half was sticking out of a crack in space laughed.

"HA, Ha, ha. Plague Baron, you send such cowards to try to take my territory. How pathetic." He said, trying to anger the giant.

The giant realized he had been tricked and attempted to swat away the illusion before him, disrupting the magic. To his surprise he hit something solid. His hand crashed into 50 layers of telekinetic walls. The unexpected resistance caused him to wobble on his feet but he didn't fall.

Back inside the barrier, Aniketos passed his control of the formation to Adrestia so Lucan would be able to directly control it. Lucan took another swipe at the giant, even though it may be worthless, Hieguard still chose to block as the sword passed through him doing no damage again.

'I am ready.' MILOCARA said to Silent.