Chapter 1295 - 1296: A Plauge On You

The drawing seemed to move on the page, but it could not leap out.

Damon stared at it. Once, he couldn’t trap Ashergon in these pages, but now, even after opening the Book of Shadows, the dragon could not escape.

"I’ve really grown more powerful."

"Release me from this page and find out for yourself, little mouse." Ashergon’s rueful voice echoed out.

Damon nodded, then did something that only mad people would do.

He freed the great dragon Ashergon.

Flames exploded in all directions, illuminating the world like a sun until the destruction reached the area where the runes were. There, the flames stopped. From within the raging inferno rose a behemoth covered in scales, with mountainous claws and fangs.

His wings were enormous, stretching for kilometers, and beneath him, in the raging inferno, Damon stood still like a tiny ant before the glorious sun.

Then this tiny ant glanced at Ashergon and made a demand.

"Great Dragon Ashergon, kneel before me and become my mount."

No words could provoke Ashergon’s wrath more than those. Of all the great dragons, he was by far the most powerful, born from the scales of the True Dragon that dwelled within the Abyss. He was a direct creation of the most violent of the True Dragons.

"You dare mock me, demon..."

The audacity made him refer to Damon as a demon rather than a mouse. After all, it would be a great shame if a mouse had trapped him. Yet, from his aura and power, Ashergon could tell that this was a true demon in the making, one that could become his equal.

His great head dropped towards Damon, and his eyes seemed larger than a tower. His horns scraped the sky of this world.

"I am fire. I am death. I am Ashergon, the Bringer of Smoldering Ruins. I do not bow."

His aura created astral winds that collapsed the very space around them and caused the fragments of the world they stood on to shred apart.

"Everyone bows. We all bow to something or someone. For one who ran from me, thinking I was Ashcroft, you have grown very confident..."

Damon raised his hand and then slapped Ashergon.

A sonic boom erupted from the impact, jolting Ashergon’s head.

Then Damon raised his hand.

"Dominate."

A powerful will invaded Ashergon’s mind.

"ROARRRRRR!"

Ashergon rolled across the ground. His body was like a mountain, and as he moved, he spread flames and destruction all over the place.

The commotion did not go unnoticed. Those in the camp could see the destruction from far away, and they began to watch. Those who could fight came forward, but the destruction didn’t reach them.

The runes kept the battle contained in one place.

"Ashergon, give up and become my mount. You can’t escape."

Damon was quite casual about it, but he knew that Ashergon was very powerful. It would be easier to fight ten people at the Seventh Class Advancement than to fight a single Ashergon.

He was sure none of the other great dragons were as powerful.

Ashergon spread his wings and soared into the air like a bolt of lightning. It was quite deceptive for a creature of such great size to move at such astonishing speeds.

Anyone under the illusion that dragons would be slow because of their size was someone who would die to a dragon’s claws or fangs.

When he reached the sky, he opened his maw, and a beam of destruction formed within it, illuminating his scales. When the beam was ready, it shot down at Damon.

Damon looked up, then casually raised his hand.

"Flame Dominate."

The flames eviscerated the entire area, shattering the fragment of land into countless smaller pieces and burning everything in their path.

However, on one of those fragments, Damon stood still, surrounded by flames in every direction.

Then he slowly spread his demon wings and took off towards Ashergon. Behind him, all the swords he had scattered rose into the air, surrounded by black energy and a faint coldness.

It was a sight to behold. Then he shot them towards Ashergon.

When they reached him, Ashergon swiped down with his claws. Steel could not penetrate his rough scales. They were harder than any armor in the world.

Sure enough, when the weapons collided with him, no matter how sharp they were, they only left faint scratches on his scales.

"Weak. Weak! You dare face me with such weak attacks?"

He let them strike his scales, leaving faint scratches all over him.

"If you call yourself Fire and Death again, I’ll die from secondhand embarrassment. You damn edgy dragon."

Damon mocked him, then pointed forward.

"Besides, I wasn’t hoping to penetrate your scales. I was hoping to nick them."

"Perhaps one wouldn’t matter, but what about two, a hundred, or a thousand?"

Hearing Damon’s words, Ashergon growled in mockery.

"It will still do nothing to my scales."

"Yes. Typically, I don’t use this skill much, but it works just fine here. What if I could spread death on every blade like a sickness that weakened you slowly until you died?"

Damon glanced at Ashergon as black energy began to emerge from the scratches.

"The only downside is the amount of shadow energy it costs. Honestly, it also takes time to kill stronger opponents. I already have more efficient ways to do that, but since I want to weaken and tame you, what could be better than the Plague of Steel?"

This was a skill Damon rarely used.

It had a few requirements. First, it had to be used on a weapon. It could be his own weapon or the sword of an ally. He could cast it on an entire army or on just a few swords, giving his allies an edge. Its second function was to consume the life force of his enemies until they died.

It didn’t reduce their combat power, only their HP. Since Ashergon had an enormous amount of HP and the ability to regenerate, Damon had decided to use this skill.

"Now then."

He raised his hands, and chains made of shadows appeared.

"Submit."

Ashergon was pulled from the sky.

"Or die."