Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

“Be warned, Lord Henry,” Nim said with her sword pointed at Henry.

“I’m listening.”

“You will be wise to not underestimate me or it will be your demise,” she declared. Beneath her feet was nothing but a long drop to the ground and yet, she stayed afloat in the air.

“I’ll be wise to not take everything at face value.”

“You are insufferable,” Nim growled and lunged at Henry.

She was fast but no faster than Henry’s perception. He saw the blade coming for his head. There were many ways he could put an end to the pretence but this was an opportunity that he would rather not squander. He could learn plenty from her and he already had learned something major. Vishara already had a way to counter his flames.

Henry decided to give it another go. He blasted Nim with his flames. She cut right through the blaze with her blade catching the fire. She dispelled the darkness that coated her sword and the flames disappeared along with it. She then resummoned the darkness.

Henry tutted and moved out of the blade’s way. Then, the strangest thing happened. Nim’s next move appeared to be aiming for his neck but halfway through the swing, the blade bent out of shape. Before he knew it, the blade was right beside his face.

“Holy fuck!” he exclaimed as he barely dodged the slash.

Before Henry could breathe, the blade came at him again. The same thing happened. The blade warped in unnatural ways and in the blink of an eye, the blade was upon him. This time, the tip of the blade grazed his shoulder. No blood was drawn and a faint inflamed line was written on his skin.

“Ouch,” he winced.

“As I suspect, Lord Henry. You merely possess raw strength, speed, and power. You have no substance in any of them. Her Majesty would make quick of you if you faced her as you are.”

“Thank you for your concern. I will take it to heart,” Henry said and unleashed Vacuum Breath.

The high-pressure stream of air sliced through the air but Nim’s head. She turned into a mist for a brief second as the jetstream air passed through her harmlessly. The moment she regained her material form, she moved in on Henry.

Her attacks came like a storm of blades from all sides but none struck him in a straight path. A dance of lightning. The blade flashed before his eyes. His gaze followed the sword but he was always led astray. When the truth became bare, the edge was always already inches away from him.

Nim’s blade had grazed his skin more times than he could count but not a single one had drawn blood. However, there were a lot of inflamed lines drawn across his body.

Henry tried using Gravity but it never worked on Nim. Even now, he still couldn’t figure out how she just shrugged it off. He was at a loss, a complete disadvantage… but that was only if he stayed in his current form. There wouldn’t be a battle to begin with if he went all out from the get-go but such a victory would be hollow, much like his strength, speed, and power.

His prowess in battle was all derived from his instincts as a dragon. He had no knowledge of any proper techniques. He didn’t think he would need it but he was wrong. While he didn’t know how strong Vishara had gotten, he knew enough it would not be an easy battle, especially with his lack of techniques.

“Face me with all your might!” Nim cried as she brought down her sword from overhead.

Henry caught the blade with his bare hand that had returned to its true form. “You will be wise to curb your confidence.”

Nim widened her eyes. She tried to pull her sword back but it didn’t even budge from Henry’s grip.

“My might may be hollow as you say but it is more than enough to overwhelm you, to trounce you.” Henry slowly pushed the sword back.

“Damn you,” Nim snarled and freed one of her hands. Darkness sprouted from her palm and it grew into a sword.

Henry let go of the sword as Nim slashed down with her new sword that was moulded of literal darkness. “Can you do the same with your blood as Vishara could?”

“Do you take me for a fool?” she hissed. “As if I would divulge Her Majesty’s capabilities.”

“You are already doing it, foolish girl.”

“Lies.”

“Why else do you think you are still alive?”

Nim wanted to baulk but the truth caught her words before they could escape her lips.

“Maybe you’re not so foolish. So, come on. Show me more. Show me all that you got.”

Nim growled. She tightened her grip on her swords but she stayed her hands and her legs. “If you think the display of my might and prowess can aid you in your fight with Her Majesty, you are wrong.”

“I disagree but let us not dawdle. This charade does not need to be longer than it’s needed.”

“That I can agree, Lord Henry,” Nim said and summoned hundreds of spears of darkness.

Henry laughed and assumed half of his true form. He charged straight at Nim as the spears rained down on him. Each spear crashed into him as if a boulder was thrown at him, a boulder with a pointy end. However, he shook and he flinched. That was all the spears amounted to, all hundred of them. He charged right through the barrage unscathed.

“How is this possible?” Nim grunted. The absolute defence of a dragon had been etched into her mind by the very sovereign she served but seeing it in action with her own eyes was an entirely different experience.

Henry thrust his claws at Nim. She turned into mist in response but Henry used Gravity at that moment, forcing her out of her mist form. “Ah, so that’s how it is.”

In a panic, Nim raised her sword to guard against Henry’s next attack, which was a straight punch. A simple form of offence but the strength behind that single punch was enough to launch Nim back to the ground. The ground exploded from the impact, sending dust and smoke permeating the area.

Henry folded up his wings and landed near the crashing point of the vampire. With a flick of an arm, he cleared the area of the smoke and dust.

“Hmm?”

Nim was not where he thought she would be, the centre of the newly formed crater. He spun around and shot a bolt of lightning without taking aim. Nim dodged low and rushed at him with her sword swinging.

“Your instincts are treacherous,” Nim scoffed.

“It has nothing to do with instincts,” Henry said and parried the swing with his hand. “It’s simply experience. My rear is my blindside. Where else will you attack me from?”

Nim snorted but that was all she did. Her methods had all but failed so far. Any more rash decisions would only lead to her defeat.

“Surely that’s not all you have, is it?”

“You are vexing.”

“Tell you what. Surrender now and I’ll let you go.”

Nim chuckled with a sneer. “And why would you do that?”

“I have no quarrel with you, only Vishara. But if you keep attacking me, I will have to resort to drastic measures. Or are you those who value your pride more than your own life?”

“My life is not my own. It is Her Majesty’s. She commands me to stop you and I shall die trying.”

“In other words, she sent you to your death.”

“Silence!” Nim barked and flew at Henry with her sword raised high above her head.

Henry used Gravity and dashed towards Nim.

Her face became fraught with panic. She saw the punch coming and she dodged it. Another punch came and she veered to the side. Then, she saw Henry’s throat glowing, a preemptive sign of his Fire Breath. Instead of receiving the flames like always, she dove out of the way as the torrent of fire hurtled past her.

Nim immediately gathered her bearings and prepared to face the next attack, which was a barrage of lightning. Once again, she opted to dodge the attacks instead of cutting them down.

“Although I still do not know how you resisted my Gravity spell, it would seem that you can either only resist my Gravity spell or use that dark spell of yours. How inconvenient.”

Nim growled wordlessly and stared daggers at Henry.

“Is this truly all you got?” Henry jabbed as he released his Gravity spell. “If so, then I am extremely disappointed and also relieved. This means that I have nothing much to worry about except for Vishara herself.”

“You will regret those smug words of yours, Lord Henry.”

“Words are easily spoken but actions are not so easily taken.”

“Very well, Lord Henry. I shall oblige your arrogance.”

“I’m waiting.”

The darkness burst forth from Nim, enveloping her entire body in it. But the darkness was no whimsical emergence nor a matter without purpose or form. The darkness writhed and wriggled as it gradually conformed itself into the appearance of a humanoid beast with fangs akin to tusks and an extra pair of arms with each wielding a sword moulded of the very same darkness.

“I’m still waiting.”

Nim roared and lunged at Henry in her new form. A single swing encompassed two of her arms and her blows came down on Henry like a thunderclap with the weight of mountains behind them.

Still, Henry blocked the blow with only his bare body. However, pain was felt and a grunt was let out.

Nim roared again and swung her other arms.

Henry spun away from the swords and retaliated with a Jetstream Breath. The breath attack struck Nim and sent her crashing into the trees, but she bounced to her feet in the next second, unscathed. She appeared to snicker at Henry’s fruitless attempt but he couldn’t tell for sure. Her deformed appearance had made it difficult for him to distinguish her expression.

Nim screeched and pounced at him with all her arms raised.

Henry stood his ground and allowed the blows to crash into him. The black blades failed to crave through his skin but there was enough force behind each blade to instil pain across his body. Still, he endured the blows without retaliating— until Nim became infuriated from his lack of resistance. She forewent her swords and lurched forward with her fangs bared.

When she noticed the smirk on Henry’s face, it was already too late. Before she could make her retreat, spikes sprouted from all over Henry’s body, spikes made out of his own scaly hide. Nim was far too close to avoid the spikes in time. The pikes pierced and grazed her flesh. She howled and immediately tossed herself away from Henry.

“You may be able to hurt me, but it changes nothing if you can’t hurt me,” Henry ridiculed as he retracted the spikes, all but the one on his right palm.

Nim howled in response, borderlining an incoherent scream. Not a word was spoken since she assumed this form. She leapt high up in the air. Spears of darkness manifested by the thousands around her.

Witnessing such a display of power, Henry still felt no fear. If there was any fear in him, it was not directed towards Nim but Vishara. If her thrall was capable of such a scale of destruction, Henry shuddered to imagine the destruction Vishara herself would be capable of.

Nim screeched and at her cry of rage, the spears of darkness descended upon Henry. The first ten spears bounced off of Henry unceremoniously. But as the hits accumulated to a hundred, Henry began to stagger. Once the count near a thousand, Henry was being pushed back and eventually, he was sent plunging into the ground.

The onslaught continued for more than half a minute and it was still growing strong— until a tremor spread throughout the area. A colossal shadow appeared in the clouds of smoke. When the shadow rose, all the smoke was cleared, making way for Henry in his true form, standing over two storeys’ worth of height.