Vondaire scratched his beak and swore. It itched like it was still his nose, but no amount of scratching was fixing the issue. What he needed was some time in front of a mirror to adjust to the reality that he had the Phoenix's head.

Or rather, he was the Phoenix just like Althowin was the Kitsune.

The Storm King was still overhead, waiting with surprising patience. Vondaire had napped, eaten, and rested to the best of his ability. Resting in a dungeon was never great. There was a reason Vondaire usually forced himself through with haste.

Fusions tore at the body. Every muscle had ached, just like it had during his repetitive training sessions in his youth. After some food and rest, he was feeling ready to move. There was some testing to do. Some new limits to check.

Vondaire stretched and walked alongside the massive glass window. The storm still raged, as it always would. He strolled down the halls until he reached the grand stairs leading to the top of the palace.

Lightning flashed overhead. Its thunder shook the floating island.

Before, he might have been intimidated.

Vondaire climbed the stairs and bowed politely to the massive dragon.

The Storm King stood upon seeing him. Its eyes glowed blue like lightning, and bolts arced between the spines running down the length of the dragons back to the tip of its tail. Great horns curved from the top of its head down toward its snout like part of a protective helmet.

The Storm King opened its mouth and the sound of crackling electricity filled the air.

"I was expecting some type of conversation," Vondaire said. He shoved down his annoyance with the difficulty he had speaking. It was rather complicated to form words, but he was already growing used to the sensation of having the beak rather than a normal mouth.

Lightning erupted from the dragon's maw. Vondaire cocked his head. The briefest thought passed through his mind before the realization that he needed to avoid the massive attack. A quick step to the side was enough as the enormous bolt of lightning flashed by, disappearing down the stairs and exploding somewhere beneath. The entire palace island tilted, lurching from the impact.

Vondaire watched rock crumble away, falling into the endless sky below. It took a moment for the electricity from the attack to fully dissipate. The attack would have ripped a hole right through his body.

But it hadn't even been close to hitting him.

"Once more," Vondaire said.

A bolt of lightning flashed from above, striking the Storm King between its wings. Electricity cracked between spines and spread underneath the dragon's thick hide like squirming parasites.

The beast's entire body glowed brighter and brighter. Electricity from all over its body rushed toward its head, gathering in its throat.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have suggested this." Vondaire held out his hand and gave it a good look. Using Ghostblade was such an instinctive thing that he didn't truly consciously cast it. It was something he could just form as needed.

Now, when he thought about it, there were options. He opened his index, ignoring the deafening crackle of lightning. New spells had populated in all Power levels, but a specific Power 1 spell had caught his attention.

Ghostblade

Phoenixblade

It was listed just below the ghostblade, and almost seemed to mimic it. He was well aware how ridiculous it was to even consider a spell could mock him or his spells, and yet, there it was.

Vondaire closed his index and turned his attention back to the Storm King and its absolutely devastating spell it was gathering. The whole process was quick, but Vondaire found himself moving faster than ever before. He took a small step and teleported to stand beside the dragon's face.

Its left eye snapped to Vondaire, who was scratching his beak once again.

The dragon beat its wings and lifted into the air. A gust strong enough to rock the island failed to even stagger Vondaire. He stayed on his feet even as the island wobbled until it found its balance.

The Storm King lifted itself into the clouds where lightning struck it over and over. Blue electricity glowed brightly in its eyes. When the dragon finally opened its mouth, bolts of electricity zapped out like tentacles trying to escape.

"Time to try it," Vondaire said. He decided thinking out loud was going to be the best route to helping himself grow used to speaking with a bird face.

Historically, elemental and undead were Vondaire's primary weaknesses. Undead were usually too weak for it to really matter, and some trickery was often enough to overcome challenges elementals or elemental damage posed. Before fusion, the Storm King would have been a greater challenge than some mere trickery could have overcome. The dragon was electricity itself. A whole being of elemental magic in its purest, most powerful form.

Phoenixblade

Vondaire extended his arm as heat poured from his palm. Blistering fire flowed from his fingertips before coalescing into a grip, a crossguard, and eventually a single-edged blade. The heat bothered him far less than he had expected, and upon opening his index, Vondaire started to laugh.

That was another thing he realized felt awkward with a beak. Practicing laughing was not something he wanted to do. That wasn't something one could do without seeming to have completely lost their mind.

Fire Immunity

The Phoenix wasn't just resistant. It was entirely immune. Fire wizards were no longer a threat. When he decided to venture into the Subterranean Dungeon, the claverstan wouldn't be able to hurt him at all with their lava-based weaponry.

"I've never been a katana person," Vondaire said.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

And yet, a blade was a blade.

The entire floor turned white as the Storm King released its blast.

Vondaire could have dodged without true difficulty. Instead, he widened his stance, took the katana of pure Omen flame, and blocked.

When hit with a blast meant to destroy an entire world, there were only so many options. Vondaire could have let himself be pushed back where he would have eventually hit the boundary wall and then eventually plummet to his death. The easiest option would have been to let the blast just tear his body to shreds, but that was too simple. The only option that made sense was to redirect the attack. Something so powerful wouldn't just disappear after being blocked. It needed to keep raging like the storm it was. With a grunt of effort, he pushed the massive stream of lightning to the side.

The magic blast hit the ground on Vondaire's left, and ripped the massive palace in half. If not for Vondaire's blocking, it would have destroyed the entire island. And it had destroyed a vast majority. Even the half Vondaire stood upon crumbled or burned. It wasn't until after the light faded that he noticed the ground beneath him was molten.

The Storm King remained high in the sky. The sky was quiet. The storm subsided.

"I suppose it's my turn." Vondaire jumped into the air, soaring, then teleported onto the Storm King's head. "Impressive power."

Before the dragon could gather more lightning, Vondaire slashed down, growing the blade as he decapitated the massive dragon. Spectral Step brought him back to what remained of the palace. The dragon's lifeless, headless body fell past, disappearing into the dark clouds below.

Stairs to the next floor and the exit door appeared, now floating in the air. They normally would have appeared in part of the palace. It was good to confirm they would still appear. If he was going to be trapped anywhere for eternity, Vondaire didn't want it to be in any dungeon. The gods' domains were a miserable place.

He easily teleported to the stairs, let the fire sword fade, and scratched his beak. If he didn't figure out how to satisfy the itch soon, he was going to lose his mind.

***

Desert Dungeon

Fourth Floor

Two Shards Active

Owin never knew what to expect upon arriving on a new floor. Each dungeon really had its own quirks. He stood at the top of the stairs, just watching. Shade did the same, but he leaned his elbows on the floor of the little house they were in.

A creature crouched at a window with a curtain barely pulled to the side as if she was watching something in secret. Her face reminded Owin of Sofia, though this woman had tan hair growing from her face, and it was much more beast-like without the human qualities Sofia had kept during her fusion.

"What is it?" Shade asked loudly.

"Ah!" The mouse woman squeaked and fell onto her backside. Her solid black eyes widened upon seeing Owin and Shade and her long ears appeared to twitch. "What are you?"

"Well, since you asked." Shade climbed up the last of the stairs and posed. "I am—"

"He's Shade and I'm Owin." Owin climbed up the last stairs and ignored the attempted glare Shade sent his way. "What are you looking at out there?"

The woman glanced toward the window. "Out there?"

"Yeah."

She worked back to a crouch and slowly slid the curtain aside. "The doppelgangers."

"The what?" Shade asked.

Owin slowly approached, making sure to not scare the mob. He took the opportunity to open his index and Examine.

Desert Mob

Sara

Lehboa Worker

Level 10

"See it?" Sara asked as she poked a finger firmly against the glass.

Owin leaned close. Shade crouched on the opposite side and nearly smashed his skull against the window before he just pulled aside the curtain on his own.

"Uh." Owin squinted. It just looked like a field with a bunch of cacti all over. Actually, he realized there wasn't a single mob visible. It was the barest, quietest area he had ever seen within the dungeons. He said as much.

"No, no," Sara said. Her nail scratched against the glass. "There's a lot of them out there."

"Grains of sand? Bits of wind?" Shade asked.

Owin gave the skeleton a look. "What's a bit of wind?"

Shade stood, picked up a piece of his purple scarf, seemed to inspect it, then dropped it and shrugged. "A gust, I suppose."

"You two aren't here to save me?" Sara asked with the slightest tremble in her voice.

Shade crouched again and picked up a corner of the curtain. "We could be. In fact, we are. Of course we are. Nobody better suited to rescue than the two of us. Team, uh, Goblin. That's right. Team Goblin, out here saving the world. Let's go, Team Goblin."

Sara let her bit of curtain drop. "Did you die recently or are you alive with a rotten brain?"

Shade poked a finger through his eye socket. "I fear there is nothing inside this old noggin. Nothing but an unnecessary amount of courage. Where are these doppelgangers? Also, what is a doppelganger? I believe I am unfamiliar with the term, but . . ." He gestured at his skull. "Not a whole lot going on up there. You get it, right, Owin?"

Sara looked at him.

Owin just shook his head slowly.

"If you two can't fight, we're stuck in here," Sara said. She gestured to the sparse furniture. "Nothing to even eat in here."

"We don't need food. And we can fight. We just need to see the enemy." Owin looked out the window again. He let the curtain drop, then immediately lifted it again. "Did something change?"

"Doppelgangers," Sara said, as if that made Owin suddenly understand more.

"I'll solve this." Shade opened the door, stepped through, and slammed it closed long before Sara could cry out.

She sat back and grabbed her oversized ears. "Your friend is going to die."

Owin shrugged, keeping his eyes watching everything the skeleton did. "He's already dead. Not a lot can happen to him."

Shade strolled out into the field. Much of it was sand, but patches of brambles and wiry plants clumped on the tops of hills with more greenery running down the sides of hills and gathering in the shallow valleys. Massive cacti were somewhat clustered and spread throughout everything Owin could see. They were taller than Shade with multiple spike-covered arms bent in all sorts of directions. A few had bright red flowers growing near the top.

"There are a lot of the cactus," Owin said.

"The doppelgangers," Sarah said quietly.

Owin furrowed his brow. Before he could ask what she meant, a cactus swung an arm down, clubbing Shade over the head. The skeleton sprawled out, rolled part way down a hill, and sprang to his feet.

"Who did that?" Shade's head spun all the way around, eliciting a noise of disgust from Sara.

Shade's head returned to its normal position just in time for him to get clubbed again. Dark gray dust poofed into the air and settled onto the sand.

Sara turned a worried eye to Owin. "You said he couldn't die!"

"Give it two minutes and he'll be back." Owin nodded toward the cactus. "What is that?"

"A doppelganger," she said again.

Owin groaned. He put his hand over the bag, but it didn't produce a weapon. Usually it gave him what he needed. After a few firm pokes, he decided a different approach might be better. "Sword," Owin said.

The bag didn't respond.

Sara gave him an odd look.

Owin held out his metal hand. "Isotelus."

Nothing.

"Maybe I just don't need a weapon." He gestured helplessly, then moved toward the door.

"Stop, you'll die!"

Owin froze. "What's so scary about them?"

"They killed your friend."

Owin smiled. "Shade is fine. Why are you scared of the cactus?"

"They're all doppelgangers."

Sara, he realized, was standing at her full height, and she was hardly taller than Owin. Her tail hung in the air behind her. It was long and skinny, with a black and white tip that looked like a paintbrush. Sara was slightly hunched and her long ears were now standing mostly upright.

"I don't know what those are. I just see a lot of plants out there and really nothing else." Owin gestured, but he knew it was pointless. "I saw a cactus move and hit Shade, but I don't think I really know what that means. Is the cactus the enemy?"

Sara clasped her hands in front of her. Her black eyes kept darting between the floor and the covered window. "Doppelgangers," she repeated quietly.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.