Chương 178: Chapter 176 – Dragon Perks

His shot blasted out as a blue bolt that twisted in the air, just like the Thunderous Guard machine gun they'd taken the ammo from. What looked like a solid bar of lightning stabbed through the meat of the dragon's neck, then turned at a sharp angle, pinging between two of the warriors on its back. The dragon jerked but didn't stop. Cole fired again, recoil threatening to break his collarbone from the awkward shooting angle. The second shot went wide, but his third struck the dragon in the hollow of its throat.

The entry wound flashed, and the flesh around the puncture began to melt away. The necrotizing shot ate through the side of the dragon's neck. Black blood gushed from the wound as the heavy head flopped to one side. A massive cold rush swept over Cole, filling his body with ice down to every fingertip and toe. Next to him, Howie spasmed and slipped forward, legs sliding toward the opening. Besson caught his strap and hauled the marine back into the cabin.

Just as Cole began to recover, a second influx of power stiffened him all over again, curling him into the fetal position. He fell back, teeth clenched against the sudden cold. A roar filled his ears, almost muffling Ashfeather trying to calm the panicked troops." See how the First-form warriors of Heaven can strike down even the Thunderwinged with impunity and they flee before our wrath. Let all doubt be silenced and take heart."

"Cole, Cole! Are you hit?" shouted Roxy. She put her hands to his shoulders and he felt her burn a charge of her ability. His muscles relaxed and warmed, and he unfolded, still breathing hard.

"It's alright," said Cole. He put his head out the side of the aircraft, looking down at where the dragon spiraled, trailing blue sparks. Behind them, the other Thunderwinged were breaking off the pursuit. The remaining fighters limped back toward the transport formation.

"It was just a level-up." He considered.

"Maybe two. Wayland, you good?"

"Cheese and crackers," he moaned. He'd collapsed as well, but he held his thumb up.

"Bullshit," said Besson, clutching his shoulder.

"I didn't get anything."

"Besson, were you shot?" Besson grimaced.

"No. That second mortar shell dislocated my shoulder. I get the pain, you get the credit."

"Roxy, get him sorted," said Cole. Howie snorted.

"You want kill credit for holding a steel plate? Take it up with the salt-the-earth guy." Besson put a hand to Howie's back and pushed the smaller man slowly towards the door of the plane. Even with one arm hanging useless, he was much stronger than Howie.

"I'm sorry! I take it back!" shouted Howie. Cole shot Besson a glance to knock it off, then opened his front pouch and pulled out his LF analyzer. The screen winked on and Cole waited for the analyzer to read his details. Once it did, his eyes grew wide. <LF Enhancement detected. Primary class: Meteoric Valkyrie, Secondary Class: Arquebus Engineer. Enhancement level: 24, 31% Strength 5. 8 Dexterity 7 Acuity 10. 6 Resilience 4. 6 Speed 8. 2 Intelligence 7 Divergent Class Evolution Detected> Not a double level-up.

A triple. An entire dragon and its riders split only three ways apparently counted for a lot of juice in their veins.

"Holy shit," said Howie, checking his own analyzer. He looked down, then up at Cole, and then over at Wayland.

"Wayland, how many for you?" Wayland pulled out his own analyzer and peered at the screen.

"Four," he said.

"Jeez. I've got another evolution already."

"Same," said Cole. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Roxy muttered something to Alexa that sounded vaguely like " Should have kept that charge to myself."

"There will be more chances," said Cole.

"It's dragon city up ahead." The plane turned again. Cole caught a glimpse of light in the distance. Over the next hour, they drew closer and closer, finally getting lined up with another airstrip cut out of a dense wood dotted with tall towers, rather than sprawling stepped pyramids. The planes touched down—fewer than had taken off. Cole looked around as they disembarked. Locals trotted out to the airfield from buildings hollowed out of the bases of the massive trees.

Roxy covered her mouth and inhaled, pulling on one of Cole's sleeves.

"Cole, they're cute!" she said. She wasn't wrong. While the Saltpeak tribe were off-putting bird-hybrids, the Starlit of this island were fox-people, with orange and white fur. They looked like something straight out of a Disney movie.

"Don't let your guard down," said Cole.

"Foxes are still predators." He turned to Ashfeather.

"Where's Nakaniel?" he asked. Ashfeather bowed and moved off to speak with one of the pilots before returning with another of the black-feathered guard, eyes downcast.

"I regret to bear the news that Nakaniel's skywing went down with sixteen warriors and two of my priests. We shall mourn their loss. I must offer votive service to this land's God and beg her forbearance for trespassing in her domain. Commander Pashel has yet to appoint his new second. Please, excuse me." Cole grimaced. That was the reality of war. It hadn't been the only plane to go down and it was only Cole and Howie that had been able to prevent their own aircraft from meeting the same fate.

Ashfeather began to walk past Cole, then stopped and put a hand on his shoulder, leaning close.

"Do not go into the woods. Even the Thunderwinged fear to tread the boughs of this island." He left the starlit warrior with Cole and the others and headed toward the approaching locals from the city. Commander Pashel looked at Cole "You struck down the Thunderwinged," he said.

"That's right," said Cole.

"How?" Cole hefted his ravenous rifle.

"Strange heavenly armaments…" said Pashel, looking down at the tentacled weapon. He worried the base of his hooked beak. The commander had a pair of pistols at his hips that also carried the pearlescent sheen of otherworld armaments.

"It has been over a hundred years since a warrior has struck down a full-grown Thunderwinged with such a weapon."

"Well, my team did most of the work," said Cole, jerking his thumb at Howie and Wayland.

"That one softened it with explosive magic and the other cursed it to slow it down I just landed the final blow."

"Such modesty does not befit a commander," said Pashel.

"Your men carry out your will, and so it is your intent behind each shot and spell." His feathers ruffled as he considered, then waved whatever thought he was having off.

"But no matter. With Nakaniel gone, it falls to me to appoint a second in case my candle is lit. Would you take this honor?" Cole shook his head.

"The Starlit should be lead by a Starlit. I'll be too busy wrangling my own crew." Cole looked around and lowered his voice.

"But Nakaniel said he'd tell me more about the temple interior and the Vanished People once we were away from your island." Pashel's brow climbed in surprise.

"Surely it was a jest. Nakaniel may have pushed the boundaries set by the priesthood on many occasions, but I cannot see him committing taboo."

"Is it really that bad?" The commander made a gesture over his heart that echoed the one made by Nakaniel.

"The Vanished People have committed the most grievous of cardinal sins. So say the priests, and only they know the truth of the corruption of the Vanished People."

"Nakaniel said we'd see once we got to the temple."

"Perhaps," said Pashel.

"But I will not see, nor speak of it, nor suffer to hear it spoken in my presence."

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," said Cole.

"How long are we going to be on this island?"

"A meal and rest for the pilots. No longer. Take what time you can," he said, pointing to a set of barracks on the edge of the airfield. The column of dismounted Starlit warriors already trudged toward them.

"No doors will be barred for the warriors of Heaven."

"Thanks," said Cole. With that sudden influx of power, they now had at least three members with a waiting class evolution. If there were going to be more of those dragons up ahead, he was going to make sure that their team had every scrap of power they could muster. He whistled for his team's attention and lifted his hand above his head to point to the barracks. They headed that way. As they walked, Cole pulled out the analyzer again and took a look at the potential paths with Howie.

<Divergent evolution detected Error 94 – eldritch evolution deviation detected Alpha Path: Change Accretion Wrap and target marking functionality. Accretion Wraps error 114 anomalous property affecting projectiles. Marked targets within 96 meters stay marked longer and are visible to allies and minions. Allies and minions gain limited bullet deviation toward marked targets. Bravo Path: Change target marking functionality.

The death of a marked target applies Error 114 anomalous stacking corruptive property affecting additional marked targets. Fully realized Error 114 anomalous effect Charlie Path: Change Meteoric Leap functionality. Landing shockwave kinetic energy reduced. Landing shockwave now causes Error 114 anomalous effect to enemy charges. A second charge now allows two other Meteoric Leap targets. See Divergent Evolution Guide for details on class evolutions.

>"I think my little buddy here is affecting more than just my ammunition," said Cole, hefting his ravenous rifle. Howie looked down at the screen.

"What the fuck? What's this Error 114 thing?"

"It happens when the property is too strange for the analyzer to categorize. Saw them when we checked out this rifle. On Curahee I found a necklace from the Beast Cult that said wearing it while gaining enhancement levels caused class evolutions to move toward a bestial path. Maybe my connection with this rifle is doing the same." Howie wrinkled his nose.

"So you're going to start growing, like, Cthulhu parts in your class evolutions?"

"God, I hope not," said Cole.

"Maybe I should get rid of the rifle after all."

"Maybe not…" said Howie.

"In fact, this eldritch influence might become your shining key to an absolutely bonkers broken class build."