EPIC: Path of Demons and Dragons-Chapter 310: Shift

"Onward! Smash straight through...!" exclaimed Bonney, smiling broadly and pointing an ornate cutlass at a pair of icy stone gates nearly 200m in height. It would have been easier to fly over them, but upon hearing her shout, Vahn, in his more than three-kilometer-long Dragon form, sped up and barreled through them headfirst.

BOOM

As Vahn crashed through the colossal gates and slid across the icy promenade beyond, hundreds of elf-like figures with bright blue skin, white eyes, white hair, and long ears poured out from blue stone spires resembling carved termite mounds. Unlike traditional elves, these had garments comprised of fur and bone, and in place of bows and arrows, the majority of the swarming creatures wielded jagged swords, daggers, and axes as they leaped onto Vahn’s body like fleas.

"Come at me, you knife-eared pricks! The Dread Pirate Empress Bonney of the Sorbet Kingdom will be your opponent!" bellowed Bonney, smiling from ear to ear as she put her cutlass away and made a beeline for one of the elves that had leaped atop Vahn’s head—the pale yellow, almos white text above its head denoting it as a C-Rank Ice Elf Soldier.

Though she was fast under usual circumstances, Bonney felt a rush of adrenaline as she used Bukujutsu to accelerate several times faster than she normally could. The nearly two-and-a-half-meter-tall Ice Elf Soldier reacted by brandishing a jagged scimitar with three prominent teeth, but midway through its swing, Bonney backhanded the blade with her right hand, shattering it while simultaneously burying her left fist deep into the Soldier’s diaphragm.

THOOM

Unable to resist the force of Bonney’s Haki-infused fist, the Ice Elf Soldier was sent flying through one of the termite-like mounds with such velocity that the upper half of the structure collapsed.

"This is awesome! I feel invincible...!" exclaimed Bonney, striking a pose with her arms flexed and her legs raised as if she were sitting on empty air. Two additional Ice Elf Soldiers and a crossbow-wielding Ranger tried to ambush her, but the first two were scattered to pieces and swept away by the wind pressure of Ghislaine’s tempestuous slash. The latter tried to snipe her from one of the mounds, but she sensed it with her Observation Haki, produced a custom, long-barreled black and gold-trimmed revolver from her Inventory, and pulled the trigger before it could finish taking aim.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Unlike a conventional revolver, the one in Bonney’s left hand had a barrel that flared like the horn of a trumpet. And instead of discharging ordinary ammunition, it fired explosive cannonballs that rapidly expanded from two to more than twenty centimeters in diameter as they traveled through the air. As such, the three projectiles she fired in quick succession produced a trio of sizeable explosions as they met their mark.

"Fuuu—"

Satisfied with the destruction she had caused, Bonney blew on the end of the pistol with a smile before returning it to her Inventory. Then, returning to the top of Vahn’s head, she pulled out her cutlass and aimed it at what looked like a megalithic cathedral, bellowing, "These small fries are hardly a distraction! Take me to their leader...!"

"Very well," responded Vahn, spreading his seven sets of wings to level the surrounding mounds in the area before gradually accelerating forward with his belly dragging across the ground. More than a hundred Ice Elves were taken along for the ride, but they could scarcely do more than hang on as their weapons failed to pierce his scales and hide.

"Nó rëgë sigbë(Kill the invaders)!" exclaimed a particularly well-dressed Ice Elf adorned in thick robes and a multi-layered fur mantle. In his right hand was a twisted staff that appeared to be formed of an alloy of dark blue metal covered in ice, and with him were thirty trophy-adorned warriors forming a defensive line at the base of the cathedral’s steps.

’That’s odd...’ thought Vahn, continuing forward but frowning slightly as the monsters within the training room shouldn’t be able to speak. They might resemble humans, live in settlements, and even develop tactics at higher difficulties, but their behavior was patterned with monsters of the same species forming a structured hive mind. They shouldn’t have a need for speech.

(It’s possible they’ve evolved after someone triggered their spawn and left them for an extended period, but it’s more likely the result of a Skill to boost morale or empower those that hear it) reasoned Sis, pulling up the status of the well-dressed Ice Elf.

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Name: [Og’dahl]

Title: Temple Warden[B-Rank]

Race: Ice Elf

Age: 318D Height: 218cm Weight: 118kg B/W/H: 109/85/108

Origin: [-]

[Parameters]

Power Level: 204

Strength: D

Dexterity: C+

Constitution: B

Intelligence: C+

Wisdom: C+

Charisma: D

Luck: F

[Skills]

[Ice Elf Physiology(B)], [Ice Resistance(B)], [Commanding Shout(C)], [Ice Magic(C)], [Focus(C)], [Swordsmanship(D)], [Blessing(D)], [Singing(E)]

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’It’s 318 days old...’ noted Vahn, suggesting that the Ice Elf, which had somehow acquired a name, had been alive since Bonney’s Party ventured into the area nearly a year prior. With decently high Intelligence, it wasn’t inconceivable that it had developed a sense of self with months to reflect on the nature of its existence.

As Vahn reflected on the implications of spawned monsters developing egos, Bonney leaped from his head and charged headlong at the group without a moment’s hesitation. All that mattered to her was that Og’dahl and his followers had wiped her and her Party out nearly a year prior, and for that, they would pay.

"Ailin’ni enyalie, quentel naur(Spirits of ice, become a wall)...!" exclaimed Og’dahl, brandishing his staff to produce a sizeable ice wall between his group and the charging Bonney. The latter punched it full force, but even with her Haki-infused fist, she only managed to send spiderweb fractures through its surface.

"What the hell!? I put all my strength into that punch...!" shouted Bonney, looking indignant as she leaped back to evade spears of ice raining down on her position. At the same time, a sword-wielding Ice Elf adorned in full, black, fur-lined plate armor with a cape and horned helmet leaped at her with a jagged claymore resembling a flamberge coated in ice.

Sensing the B-Rank Ice Elf Knight despite its attempts to attack from her blind spot, Bonney used Bukujutsu to dodge back and take to the air as it swept through her previous position.

"Eat this...!" shouted Bonney, equipping two long-barreled pistols and rapidly discharging them to bombard the Knight, his surroundings, and the ice wall with explosions. Thanks to the Equipment Function’s Ammo Slot, she didn’t need to reload between shots, allowing her to discharge nearly a dozen cannonballs per second.

FWOOM

"Whoa—!"

Emerging from the cannonballs’ fiery plumes with no visible damage to its body or armor, the Ice Elf Knight attempted to skewer Bonney, only for her to dodge to the side. Unfortunately for the former, while it was able to leap hundreds of meters in a single bound, it couldn’t fly. As such, Bonney had a fairly massive advantage so long as she remained airborne.

"Aaaaagh! These things are useless...!" complained Bonney, dodging the attack of an Ice Elf wielding a dual-sided crescent blade and shooting it in the back. The explosion knocked it off course and sent it crashing into the ground, but it immediately recovered and joined its brethren in leaping up to attack her from multiple angles.

Increasing Bonney’s frustration even further, Og’dahl waved the head of his staff in a circle, chanting, "Ailin’ni enyalie, naethar na vëa(Spirits of ice, become a tempest)!" in a voice that resonated through their surroundings. Even before he was finished, a massive funnel began to descend from the overcast sky, rapidly congealing ice on every surface affected by its frigid winds.

Instead of resisting the suction of the resultant tornado, nearly a hundred meters across at its base, Bonney—rapidly aging and veiled in bright pink energy—flew directly into it and up to the clouds from which it originated. Moments later, thick bands of black, pink-hued lightning rippled across the surface of the clouds as she spread her hands wide and discharged a cloud-scattering shockwave of indignation-fueled Conqueror’s Haki.

’Clever...she used her Devil Fruit to adopt a form that has mastered life essence conversion and funneled it into her Haki...’ noted Vahn, ignoring the many Ice Elves futilely stabbing at him with their weapons. Og’dahl even sent a train-car-sized spear of ice at his exposed throat as he raised his gaze skyward, but it fragmented into countless pieces without leaving so much as a scratch on his ivory-white underbelly.

"Shall I be rid of the Mage...?" asked Ghislaine, veiled in pale green as she hovered near the right side of Vahn’s head with a calm, borderline callous expression—her shimmering green Demon Eye and white, reticle-like pupil focusing on Og’dahl.

’This is Bonney’s revenge. We shouldn’t intervene too much...’ responded Vahn, using a broadcast form of telepathy that transmitted through space rather than manifesting within a person’s mind.

"Understood..." responded Ghislaine, brandishing her sword in a relaxed, lightning-swift arc to functionally atomize an even larger spear of ice, this time aimed at her. When Og’dahl saw this, Vahn couldn’t help but notice the blue-skinned Elf’s expression darken, ostensibly in grim resolution at the realization that there was nothing he and his subordinates could do to prevent their imminent destruction.

’He’s definitely self-aware...’ noted Vahn, exhaling from his nose as he watched Bonney descend from the sky like a meteor, producing a large pink shockwave that could even give Garp a run for his money. Og’dahl erected a hemispherical barrier to protect himself and those closest to him, but it held up for less than a tenth of a second before shattering like glass, causing him and his allies to be pushed away as the focal point of Bonney’s attack cratered and compacted the ground.

Unfortunately for Og’dahl and his kin, self-awareness didn’t change the fact that they were monsters. Their basest instinct was to target and try to eliminate anyone who entered their biome, and if they were allowed to evolve freely, they could potentially break free of the biome’s constraints and invade others. The conclusion left a bitter taste in Vahn’s mouth, as it ultimately wasn’t their fault, but he determined that the correct course of action was to eliminate the sapient Ice Elves before they could become a threat to the training room and its inhabitants...

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"Aaah! I feel so refreshed...!" exclaimed Bonney, triumphantly raising her fists and stretching her body after besting Og’dahl’s force and collapsing more than half the cathedral in the process. There were still plenty of Ice Elves and other monsters inhabiting the three-hundred-square-kilometer tundra biome, but none nearly as powerful as those who spawned within the frozen fortress and its cathedral-esque center.

"Make sure to collect your loot," said Vahn, approaching in his human form with Ghislaine trailing close behind. To make things easier for her, he used his domain as a medium to have most of Bonney’s drop items float toward her, prompting her to playfully remark, "Oh? You’re pretty useful when you choose to be..."

"Happy to be of service..." responded Vahn, forcing a smile as he stopped where Og’dahl had dissolved into icy motes, took a knee, and touched the area with his fingertips. Bonney and Ghislaine noticed this, but instead of asking what he was doing, the former focused on inspecting and stowing away her loot while the latter remained on high alert for possible surprise attacks.

’I don’t know if you had developed enough to obtain a spirit or a soul, but if you did, I pray you find peace between this and your next incarnation...’ prayed Vahn, closing his eyes and bowing his head for several seconds in sober acknowledgement. Og’dahl never should have obtained the level of self-awareness he had, but that didn’t change the facts. And now that he knew it was possible, Vahn had to acknowledge there was a chance that monsters inhabiting the Tower and its instanced Dungeons would develop in a similar direction...

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