Minerva rushed over to her fallen ally whose eyes were struggling to stay open. Goliath spat out some of his teeth in a mess of blood with Minerva had to avoid.
‘R-Run.’
He told her while he was still on the ground. Attempting to get up was failing him and for some reason his entire body refused to move. Maybe it was because he had never known so much pain in his life. It felt like he really should have died from that one hit.
KINK. KINK.
The black knight’s armor clanked as he approached Minerva to see who had come. He was shocked to find the albino goblin and dismissed her existence immediately.
‘Leave, little one. Goliath does not wish for me to destroy others, is that not so?’
He sent the message directly into her head so that she could hear. With his attention towards Goliath, he rubbed Goliath’s mouth.
“I was certain you could tank that. I see, all you’ve been doing over the centuries is lazing about with that supposed “Mental Meditation” crap that human taught you.”
Fafnir scratched his chin then moved towards Goliath’s chest.
‘I think, plucking out his heart would be the easiest way for him. He still hasn’t accepted this as his loss so the ritual is still act-’
‘KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! MINERVA MUST KILL HIM! MINERVA WILL KILL HIM! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!’
Fafnir’s thoughts were interrupted by the sheer intensity of Minerva’s murderous thoughts and aura. He looked at her. She was fuming, her nostrils flared and the ground was shaking. A deep red aura had engulfed her whole and her eyes seemed to burn with all the hatred in the world.
‘Hmm? This blood lust… Now that I think about it, the goblin’s kind of strong.’
He scanned Minerva with his [Dragon God Eyes] and realized that she possessed something of godly origins in her system.
‘Oh my… Larm fed her that substance too? I thought we burnt all of those to the ground. That human must have hidden some. Ah well, at least I know she’s the last one of those twos experiments.’
He shooed her away and continued to reach out for Goliath’s chest. His eyes had found where the dragon’s heart was, so he could end it quickly.
Minerva jumped at Fafnir, as fast as lightning and with all the strength she could muster so that she could kill Fafnir in punch. This was all futile though as Fafnir took the punch to the face without flinching.
“I hope you can see this, Goliath. I just wanted you to know before you died, that this is how dragons take punches.”
Minerva’s fist was completely shattered right after punching Fafnir.
“Go sleep somewhere. It will heal in a day since you’ve taken that substance.”
His words fell on deaf ears however. Minerva punched his face with her other hand and Fafnir sighed.
“Listen here, kid. J-“
Minerva punched his face once again with the fist that was once broken.
‘Huh?’
Then she punched him again.
‘I thought her fist was broken?’
She punched his face, roaring wildly like some wild animal.
“SINK!”
At her command, the ground swallowed him up in an instant.
“SPIT!”
He shot out of the ground like a bullet out of a gun. Minerva managed to punch him while he was off ground and send him quite the distance away from Goliath. Without hesitation, she jumped towards Fafnir’s location. Goliath’s tail smacked her down into the ground though.
‘Run away, Minerva!’
Goliath ordered her.
‘No! Minerva will not!’
She replied underneath his tail.
‘Now is not the time to be hot headed. Flee lest you die.’
“Mmnga!”
She managed to lift the dragon’s tail off her body and charge towards Fafnir.
‘Minerva will never let Goliath die!’
“LIFT!”
The earth rose up to form a large wall Fafnir hit. Minerva came in with a punch, shoving Fafnir deeper into the wall. She grabbed him by the neck and looked into his eyes with both of her demon eyes.
‘Useless.’
He told her, making her drop to the ground after having attempted to get him. His [Dragon God Eyes] were basically anti-demon eyes. Anything godly was a bane for devils, including the gaze that came from a god. Even if the god was a fallen.
‘Huh… I wonder how you developed such an ability. Are you related to a demon? Or did you make a deal with some devils? Whatever. You’re not what I even came for.’
Fafnir stomped to the dragon’s side.
Minerva could only stare at him from the ground. Her vision kept fading in and out on the ground. The world was a mess all of a sudden. The smoke was choking her, the scent of blood disgusted her and darkness was scary. But she couldn’t resist it. Eventually her eyes closed.
***
When her eyes opened, Minerva was under a tree. The sun was setting and the trees were swaying like an averagely boring day. This was not so, for today was the day a new Tyrant of Larm was going to be officially introduced.
The hob goblin picked her nose then turned over to sleep some more. She had planned on not going for the meet up. There was no point in getting to know any of the others. It didn’t take for night to come and Minerva to wake up to go hunting.
This time however, Goliath had been staring at her for a while. Minerva felt uncomfortable having the astral projection of the strongest being present following her all around.
“What?”
‘Why did thou skip the ceremony?’
“Minerva was not interested.”
‘Thou does realise that dragons have this instinct for telling truth apart from lie, right?’
“Minerva did not lie.”
‘Oh yes, Minerva did. Or maybe, thou simply phrased your thoughts differently to throw myself off the truth.’
Minerva clicked her tongue and walked away faster, trying to increase the distance between her and the dragon. Goliath shortened the distance and got right behind her. The difference in height was so much so that it looked like Goliath was walking next to a child of sorts. Minerva grumbled to his side and Goliath put his hand on her head, patting her.
‘Thou does not need to fear making allies. Not all will pass as easily.’
Both continued to walk in the eerily quiet forest.
‘Mine name is Goliath and is spread throughout the world for a reason, Minerva. The Great Sleeping Emperor, albeit a boring name, is one that shakes entire countries to the bone. Mother told me of your past relationships. Fret not, for I will not die like the those before. Same can be said of the other tyrants. Thou art not a curse.’
“Whatever.”
***
Minerva’s eyes snapped open. Her eyes rattled about in her eye sockets before settling on the black knight. Like a rabid animal, she got on all fours and charged at the god. Ignoring any care, her feet devastated the ground with each step she took.
The skills [Hyper Mobility] and [Maximum Output] had been activated, giving her 300% of the speed and power that she would normally possess. The bump on her head had grown a bit and her hair was floating due to aura and blood escaped her nose and mouth; her body was being ruptured.
“Ugh, haven’t you had enough?”
Fafnir side stepped, grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the ground. When he raised his hand, his claymore flew into it and he stabbed both of Minerva’s hands into the ground. The sword then produced a black substance that spread into the ground like roots or veins.
“Kyyyaaaaa!”
She moaned in pain as the veins spread over her hands as well.
“Don’t try moving. That thing saps the strength from you and the ground to keep you stuck there. You’re basically fighting all of Larm to free yourself now.”
The god swaggered to where Goliath was and put his hand on Goliath’s chest. There was a growl and Goliath’s head had been craned to face Fafnir with his mouth wide open.
“Are you seriously going to do this?”
In response, Fafnir observed white molten magma escape Goliath’s mouth like drool. The dragon’s mouth just shut close, it’s body incapable of doing anything anymore. This was because Fafnir had managed to rupture most of Goliath’s internal organs with mana waves.
“I remember naming you Goliath, because I wanted you to be a giant on this world. Like Zett or Zoe. But like Eren and Erin, it seems all of my children are fated to die due to my actions.”
Fafnir increased the pressure he was sending to the dragon’s heart.
‘Sorry Minerva.’
Goliath sent a message to her.
“Please, do not hate me on the other side, Goliath. Farewell, my little giant.”
‘Goliath promised! Goliath promised that Goliath would never die!’
‘D-Did I do right, mot-ACK?!’
