Point-of-View: Terrastra

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Well...this is bad. If this barrier replicates the effects of a full moon, then these two are currently about three times stronger than they were just a moment ago. I’d likely be evenly matched against one of them, but since it’s two on one, I’m at a serious disadvantage.

I formed some dirt over the deep wound to my left side to stop the bleeding, before I raced across as Jevera fired out a rapid explosion at me, which erupted with immense force as it struck the ground where I’d been standing, bits of dirt and grass flying out as a small but intense shockwave burst out...no doubt about it, her explosions are much more powerful now.

I then turned my gaze to the right as Jagger came charging in rapidly, closing in and grabbing the middle of my right forearm before I could react, the dark energy flowing around his hand intensifying upon contact.

I gasped in pain as my scales and skin around that spot rapidly decayed, sprays of blood bursting out as the effect spread to my flesh, before I gritted my teeth and extended out a burst of earth spikes below him.

In the blink of an eye, he launched himself up with a powerful flap of his wings, a couple of the spikes grazing his feet before he flew away and got some distance, as the upper half of my forearm fell off and hit the ground with a thud, immense pain throbbing across the stump that was left of my forearm.

I then formed a thick earth wall to my left as a barrage of explosions came shooting towards me, deep cracks spreading out across the wall as the explosions struck it and erupted fiercely, before it shattered to pieces with a devastating shockwave, sending me hurtling back through the air.

Jagger appeared several meters behind me, raising his hands forward, before I sharply spread out my wings to come to a halt before I entered his reach, and then burst out waves of earth spikes all around me.

The two of them quickly flew up as the entire ground around me within their barrier burst out into sharp spikes, before I detached the spikes from the ground and sent them shooting up towards the Vampires with immense speed.

I then raced away as fast as I could, heading for the boundary of the barrier closest to me, aiming to get out of its range...I extended out an angled earth pillar towards the barrier as I closed in on it, a chain of explosions erupting across the air above me, before my eyes widened slightly as my earth pillar slammed onto the barrier, but had no effect on it.

Ripples bursts out across the dome upon impact, but there wasn’t so much as a single crack across it. I fired out a barrage of drilling earth spikes at it, peppering the dome, but again, it had no effect, my spikes bouncing off of it.

"That’s not going to work! Not only does this barrier power us up, but it’s also near-unbreakable!" Exclaimed Jevera as she fired out a rapid explosive arrow towards me.

I raced away as fast as I could, an intense explosion erupting as the projectile struck the ground, the resulting shockwave knocking me off balance and sending me skidding across the ground before my eyes widened in alarm as Jagger came swooping down towards me with immense speed, driving his right hand towards my head as he closed it, the dark energy swirling around it.

I quickly rolled across to my left as fast as I could, the side of his small finger grazing my right cheek as I evaded a direct hit and sprang back onto my feet, backing away as the scales around that spot crumbled and fell off, trails of blood running down the side of my face.

The Elder Vampires, for the most part, have much of the same abilities, but they each possess a single unique ability, and his is one of the most dangerous...I believe it’s called Senescence, anything he touches rapidly ages and decays.

It’s even effective on us Dragon Kings, beings who are functionally immortal and do not age...and since we do not possess the ability to regenerate, that power is a serious threat to us.

At this rate, they’ll kill me...I have no choice but to swallow my pride here...

"Now, then, it’s time for you to die!" Snarled Jevera, as a massive barrage of explosions came shooting down towards me...

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Point-of-View: Jevera

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I stared down with a smirk as my countless explosions closed in on Terrastra, before exploding fiercely one after the other, chunks of dirt flying out as clouds of dust erupted across the ground, the lizard undoubtedly getting blasted to pieces.

"What was it you said!? If we insist on continuing to fight, you’ll kill us, was it? Hahahahaha! So much for that! Die! Die! Die! DIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!!" I exclaimed gleefully, as I unloaded another volley of explosions down towards her, the space within the barrier filling with dust as my explosions tore the ground apart.

"I think that’s enough, you’re kicking up way too much dust," Frowned Jagger, letting out a cough as he flew over towards me.

"Tch, way to ruin my fun. You’re so boring," I sighed, as I stopped firing.

"Let’s make sure that finished her off," He replied, before flying down as the dust began to settle.

"Come on, don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way she survived that," I scoffed in response, before we both landed and looked around.

"Hm...strange, I see no trace of her," He remarked, looking around warily.

"I probably blasted her to pieces, there’s bound to be little chunks scattered about...ah, over there!" I replied, as I spotted a puddle of blood with chunks of flesh and bones scattered around it.

"No, that’s the arm I severed with my Senescence. It seems she got away."

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"

"She must have burrowed into the ground and fled that way right before your explosions hit...and with all the dust your attacks kicked up, not to mention how loud they are, she was able to make her escape undetected. This barrier doesn’t extend underground, it only forms a dome above ground," He pointed out.

"N-no, that can’t be, she...she got away?" I uttered with a shake of my head.

"It’s almost certain that she did, yes."

"W-wait, but...right, there should be a tunnel or something on the ground if she escaped like that! I don’t see any holes in the ground, so-...!"

"What are you, stupid? She can manipulate earth at will, she could easily have closed the tunnel behind her while burrowing forward, to prevent us from following her through it. She’s likely covered a great distance by now, and since we have no way of knowing which direction she fled in, it would be pointless to follow her. We have no choice but to head back and report our failure to Lord Dracula," He replied with a quiet sigh.

"Damn it...he isn’t going to be the least bit pleased about this...," I muttered with a sense of dread...

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