As Uddroth was looking at the fireball, he sensed incoming from his flank. It was too fast to dodge. He used his wing to block just as another fireball slammed into him.
His body tumbled in the air from the impact. He got a good look at this second fireball then. It was Suzaki in her fireball form. She turned around in the air and came back for him like a flaming comet.
When Uddroth prepared himself to catch her, the other fireball also came at him from his back. Due to the interruption, he couldn't properly deal with the attacks. The two fireballs took turns hitting him.
The repeated attacks caused Uddroth to cover himself completely with his large wings. He had gone into a total defense. Or so Suzaki thought. When she was about to hit him again for the umpteenth time, the two wings opened abruptly with a burst of fierce flame.
She was smacked by the sudden blow. The force even canceled her fireball form as she rolled uncontrollably in the air.
Uddroth's whole body was covered by flame. It was similar to Leavemealone when he activated the Fire God Suit. Uddroth turned around and caught the second fireball that was about to hit his back. He grabbed the fireball tight. The fireball wriggled, trying to break free. Uddroth clamped down on it.
He tried to break it with brute force, but the fireball resisted. Not only that, it was even expanding.
"What…?" Uddroth noticed his fire suit was shrinking. Its flames drifted into the fireball in his hands as if they were being absorbed.
"Argh…!" He felt pain in his back. Suzaki had pierced him with several flame lances. The fireball in his hands broke free. The fireball flew back to Suzaki's side.
"You… I see now… No wonder you are called the empress of fire," Uddroth said. "I admit in terms of the fire element, I'm not your opponent, but don't think this means I will lose! Haaahhh…!!!"
Uddroth's body trembled as it shone.
Suzaki sensed the mana intensifying in Uddroth. She wasn't going to just sit still and watch. She shrieked with a disrupting mental cry as hundreds of fiery feather darts shot out of her. At the same time, her fireball flew toward Uddroth again.
Aside from taking out a few HPs, Suzaki's cry didn't do anything to disrupt whatever Uddroth was doing. Uddroth also ignored the flame darts that stabbed his body. His sturdy and thick scales gave him incredible defense.
The fireball slammed into Uddroth. Uddroth jerked from the impact, but Suzaki sensed Uddroth's aura continued to spike. The fireball came in another time and it was stopped by Uddroth's hand this time. A slightly different hand. One that was covered by sharp scales and some small horns jutted out at the wrist.
It was not only the hand, Uddroth's entire body had changed. Aside from becoming sharper, his scales had also turned darker. It was no longer the bright red color of a burning flame. It was now dark red with many black spots. Little horns covered his body, especially his spine and tail. The two straight horns on his head were now crooked and another four had sprouted out beside his two original horns. His body was also larger.
"Demonization…?" Suzaki uttered. "Impossible… Dragons shouldn't be able to learn this skill."
"Hehe. I thought so too. But it seems that if one is determined enough, one can learn the impossible," Uddroth said. He strengthened his grip on the fireball. The fireball trembled heavily before getting crushed into flame dust.
"If I can't beat you with my flames, then I will just rip you apart with my claws!" Uddroth exclaimed and his body shot forward.
Suzaki used her flame burst. The area around her was covered with raging flames. Flames covered everything, Suzaki was not visible among this sea of fire. Uddroth was unflinching. He rushed straight into the fire.
*
Inside Balgadur, Jeanny organized her guildmates to aid Thelgrun's soldiers in holding the choke points. These chokepoints came in the form of tunnels that connected the multiple cavity halls within the mountain.
Mount Sedgebare might have lost its defensive rune diagrams, but it was still a colossal mountain. Liguritudum's siege weapons might have broken its surface with their attacks, but the rock wall was thick. It didn't affect the capital inside except for causing a few tremors.
If they wanted to blast through the thick rock wall to create a hole, it would take them years of constant bombardment. That's why the invading army had no choice but to use the tunnels to advance deeper into the capital, and these tunnels were where the defenders set up their choke points.
Thelgrun's native soldiers formed the barrier while the players provided firepower. Jeanny organized so the different guilds she had brought from Themisphere covered the multiple choke points. For her own guild, she divided them into three divisions and covered three different choke points. This was because her guild had the highest number of high-level players.
She had Fierce Flame, Giant Steve, and Trinity Dawn with her. Giant Steve was with the native soldiers serving as barricade while Fierce Flame and Trinity Dawn supported from the back.
Giant Steve and Trinity Dawn were level 71. They both had three new skills from the first-class special classes Jack bestowed on them.
Giant Steve received a skill called Curtain Wall when he became the Royal King's Guard. Curtain Wall erected a wall in front of the user that lasted thirty seconds. This wall blocked damage equaled 700% of the user's HP. All damage received by the wall was reduced by 50%.
The second skill he received when he reached level 60 was Fortress. This skill increased his defenses by 500%, his elemental resistances by 50 points, and reduced all received damage by 30%. He also became immune to status effects and movement restrictions. Skills that normally passed through a target were blocked if they hit him. Using this skill reduced his movement speed by 50%. This skill lasted five minutes.
The third skill he received at level 70 was Field Bastion. This skill gave the same benefits as Fortress but half the values. However, it affected not only himself but every ally in his vicinity. Giant Steve couldn't move if he activated this skill. If he was somehow forced to move, then the skill ended.
With these skills, he contributed a great deal in holding the choke point even when his HP couldn't compare to the native soldiers around him.
