16 C16: Nightmare Queen

The blonde-haired knight in the dark adamant armor. Lucas.

The white-haired short girl with cute looks with the Divine circle of a healer circling above her head. She was wearing blood-red today, which was surprising to see. It was Lucy.

The one dressed in tight leather clothes, the sexiest member of the Divine Five looked extra gloomy today. Tara.

Yoku was the legendary spirit tamer with long braided hair and the world's deadest expression one could pull off. He had a purple snake with spiky scales spiraling around his neck.

Finally, it was the new kid. Bloodberry, a tall guy with dark armor and crimson lines running all over as if it were bloody veins. In his grasp was a long, broad claymore with a blood-red blade.

The Divine Five stood at the other side of the gorge with a wide gap separating my Mother and me from them.

My mother was resting her soft hands on my shoulders, so I bore no fear. With the Dragonite helm on my head, I grinned with my hands crossed.

After so long, I'm finally meeting these fools.

Lucas slowly brought down the sword in our direction, sharpening his gaze. "So you are the Dragon Queen?" he asked as if it was not obvious.

"Yes. State your business with me, please." Mother replied.

"It is truly sad to lose such a beautiful being in this world," Lucas said, planting his sword on the rocky surface. "But – what to do? We are the Divine Five. We hunt the strongest there is, and prove to the world that I – we are the strongest!"

Lucas spread his arms wide with a grin.

Lucy shook her head at this. Tara patiently waited for his stupid conversation to be over. I could see from Tara's eyes that she wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible. But – they probably weren't expecting us to have a trump card in our hands too.

"It has come to an end, Melissa Flamerion," Lucas dropped his arms and grabbed the sword from the hilt.

"Accept mission." All five of the warriors said at once, accepting the mission.

I narrowed my eyes, taking a step backward.

'Mission? So it wasn't an event…?' I asked myself, gazing at the faces of the Divine Five.

That only meant one thing. It was not the destruction of the Dragon Family they were after. It was killing me.

"Die." Lucas threw his sword at a magnificent speed towards my face, and every other member shot knives and sharp spikes alongside him.

I shut my eyes and threw my hands to cover but –

Ting!

[Armour pierced!]

[-1 HP]

I took my helmet off, only to discover that enormous dark claws were covering me from the front with a dark mist oozing out of those claws. Mother's hands had shifted into these claws.

As I opened my eyes, I felt a trail of liquid slowly dripping down my nose.

"How dare you try to hurt my little boy," Melissa's voice echoed through the darkness engulfing me.

In my helm, there was a sharp crimson spike that suddenly turned into blood. I figured that it was the power of the new Bloodberry. And if his blade was the only thing that reached me, it meant that he was capable of keeping up with Melissa's speed.

"Don't move, Xar. Mother will defeat the warriors," Melissa's voice came from behind as two dark hands wrapped around my waist.

"There was a secret that I did not tell you before, Xar. Because you might've been scared if I told you earlier," her thighs wrapped around my body, her legs smoothly running over my legs. As my body lifted from the ground, I began to float inside the dark space.

"What are you saying, Mother?" I asked, gulping.

"A male dragon is the only one who could use the Dragonstone, so… you have to join bodies with me so that I can use the Dragonstone here," she whispered in my ear and suddenly turned me around.

Her body was naked, and dark veins were running across her neck.

"Join bodies?" I asked.

"Shhh," Melissa shushed me, suddenly kissing me on the lips. My clothes suddenly turned into a dark mist that joined the cloud of smoke surrounding us, and my mother wrapped her arms around my neck. Her wings spread wide open, and so did mine.

As she parted my lips, I saw her crimson eyes suddenly blazing up with a red fire.

"Hold your mother's hand tight," she said, slowly raising her hand with the Dragonstone in her grip.

I crossed my fingers with the hand she held the Dragonstone and –

A dragon made from the smoke appeared from Melissa's mouth and entered mine.

"Endure the nightmares," Melissa's voice echoed in my head as I felt a sharp pain rushing through my body.

Memories from my past came stumbling back towards me.

Jay's face before he tried to dip me in the middle of the sea.

The day Tara rejected me in real life. (Yes… I could only try her online)

A picture of my real mom hanging herself before our apartment building.

All my nightmares came crashing back to my head, and I could not help but scream – but even that I could not because of the misty dragons that were rushing into my mouth and down my throat.

I closed my eyes and endured the feeling as Melissa said.

My past life flashed before my eyes as all my sorrows came back to my head as if nothing else mattered at this point.

Tears began to flow down my eyes.

'Stop this nightmare…' my voice echoed through the dark space.

[Lvl 1 → Lvl 2]

[Lvl 2 → Lvl 10]

[Lvl 15 → Lvl 20]

My body began to burst with power.

[You have successfully attained the form: Nightmare]

///

The Divine Five dashed backwards as all of their blades were repelled by the dark claws that appeared before the Prince all of a sudden.

Lucas waited for the notification to pop out and say 'Mission accomplished' but nothing happened.

"Hm, so we failed to kill the prince, still?" He asked himself, retracting the sword and keeping it on his shoulder.

Suddenly, the dark mist that surrounded demonic claws shot up into a massive swirl as all of them were pushed back by the mere force of the wind.

Lucas narrowed his eyes.

"Guys, what's happening here?" Lucy cried out from the back, shielding the wind with her staff.

"I think the dragon is taking her full form… get ready," Tara added, summoning her twin blades to her hands.

Through the enormous whirlwind forming before their eyes, heads of dark dragons covered in smoke began to appear. Melissa's nightmares were rising to their utmost power within the swirl as they harnessed the power of the Dragonstone. It was finally time to show the world the power of the Nightmare Queen once more.