Chapter 22 - Through The Fire And Metals - The Unforgettables: A ZeroYear litRPG

  The Dragon, inexorably flying in its path, approached the vanguard for a definitive attack. Meanwhile, oblivious to what was happening, the portal continued to spew superheated metal, permanently impacting the frozen landscape as a window bleeding a star hearth. At super speed, Liora flooded the communication channels, trying to organize some reaction. In a fraction of a second, before the apocalyptical beast reached Petra and Frank, who bravely tried to position themselves at the front line, Liora, in an overlapped voice, telepathically spoke: "This is far worse than a dragon! It's an ancient wyrm and a big one. They usually hibernate beneath Gate's eternal ice, and this one seems to be sleeping since before the cataclysm. We'd better think about how we're going to escape because one of these alone once brought down an Old Metropolis destroyer. I'll try to hit it before it gets here."

  Liora, with no time to think better, immediately fired half a dozen accurate shots at the flying serpent, which didn't even bother trying to dodge. The antimatter exploded, causing visible damage to its skin, which seemed to be made of stone scales. The creature's defenses were brutal; any injury it sustained began to regenerate promptly. The serpent, accepting the invitation to a dance of death, changed its trajectory toward Liora.

  Petra, who had jumped from the aircar to the ravine with Frank, saw this situation and mentally said, "Frank, let's jump again, but on top of this beast. I'm going to need a little push!"

  Frank, also using his super speed, replied, "Right, Petra. I'll try using mana in my blow, and you test without. Let's jump!" He leaped, carrying Petra to intercept the creature in its trajectory. They jumped with such violence that it caused an avalanche on the other side of the ravine.

  Like a bullet, Petra and Frank, acting together, intercepted the wyrm in an incredible counterattack. It was as if the creature's colossal force encountered an insurmountable wall concentrated at the tip of Petra's Flexoclava, which shattered the serpent's head, immediately interrupting its trajectory. Frank used Petra's impact against the enemy to gain even more momentum, positioning himself above the creature, completing a trajectory in a blazing arc, and striking it again on the back of what remained of its head with his Flexoclava—a top-down blow that sent the flying colossus toward the ground, opening a massive crater as if it were a meteor. Those were perfect blows that connected without the creature even attempting to defend itself. Petra and Frank watched incredulously as their opponent on the ground continued to move wildly while they fell toward it.

  The wyrm, in its impact crater, realized it had received devastating blows; it survived because of its fabulous defenses while its head regenerated in a tangle of bone, stone, and blood that resembled the molten metal continuing to pour from the portal. The creature was visibly injured and had difficulty standing. Reaching a critical situation, the serpent didn't cower but let out a long scream in a crescendo of fury that shook Petra's and Frank's hearts as they fell. There were no signs of fear or restraint from the enemy, even after the heavy blows. On the contrary, the wyrm entered a state of frenzy and didn't even wait for its opponents to fall. It opened its wings again and charged at Frank and Petra with even more resolve, with no time to worry about its completely shattered head.

  Silas and Liora watched, surprised by the effectiveness of Frank and Petra's combined moves and even more impressed that the serpent had resisted and survived. Amanda appeared beside Silas without him noticing how it happened. She said in a very high-pitched voice, "I came here to help Petra, but it seems she doesn't need help. How is she managing to enter such brutal combat after spending hours performing her magic? She should be exhausted!"

  Silas now noticed that Amanda was really beside him—a fragile and small-looking figure. He asked, "Did you use magic to teleport here? Maybe we should prepare to escape!"

  Amanda replied quickly, without taking her eyes off the serpent, "No, no basic transport magic could bring me here. I had to resurrect myself in Gate directly from the City of the Dead, but that doesn't matter now. I can get all of you out of here if things get complicated, but maybe I was hasty."

  Frank perceived Amanda through Silas's eyes and, without wasting time, enchanted her with the telepathy enchantment. She noticed the type of magic being used and thanked him, immediately using the ease of communication. Frank mentally said, "Welcome to the team, Amanda! The situation's a bit complicated for proper introductions!"

  Petra: "Thank you for coming to help, Amanda! We hit that beast hard, but this thing is still alive." Liora, her eyes emitting a green light: "Attention, team! The serpent has become much more nervous, faster, and stronger. Careful!" Amanda: "Petra and Frank, I'm going to teleport you to the enemy's back, using the speed of the fall to your advantage! Get ready!"

  The wyrm soared at high speed and prepared to receive the two falling prey with its claws. Fire tongues could also be seen gushing from its still-regenerating jaw. But at the moment of the attack that was going to consume Petra and Frank, both disappeared and reappeared immediately on the serpent's back. Frank landed another blow at maximum power. The serpent reflexively contorted itself; feeling Frank's impact, it responded with its claws without even seeing what had hit it. But Petra positioned herself in front, deflecting the blow and assimilating all the impact. Everything worked perfectly. However, the creature had colossal strength, and Petra was shot against the ground, opening a long trench in the middle of the rock. Amanda still managed to teleport Petra back to the surface in a horizontal momentum vector, canceling out part of the impact as Petra bounced off the ground. Even so, Petra was injured because the serpent's immense claws managed to tear her skin.

  Petra, mentally: "Team, I can take a few more hits from this beast; if things stay like this, I think we're good!"

  Liora frantically fired more shots at the creature at her maximum speed, hitting it at various points and causing considerable damage, yet it remained alive. "I'm giving it all! It's no wonder this destroyed an elite ship. My goodness!" Liora considered changing her strategy; she interrupted her cadence of opportunistic shots and prepared her aim to fire in combination with the other attacks from Frank and Petra.

  The wounded creature, instead of retreating, continued its blind fury; it let out another scream that echoed throughout the region and charged at Frank, who had just landed near the base of the ravine. The serpent wasted no time on complex strategies and attacked whoever was closest.

  Frank: "Team, help!" Amanda: "Jump! Quick!" Frank saw the colossal creature grow on all sides; if he jumped, he wouldn't escape. But Frank took a leap of faith and crouched in preparation for a mighty leap. As soon as his feet left the ground, another crater opened behind him as he jumped. Amanda immediately teleported him some distance above the creature in a diagonal trajectory of impact. In his brief flight, he saw that the ground resembled a Swiss cheese with so many holes, illuminated by the light and heat of the molten metal cataclysm that continued to gush freely from Petra's portal in the background, producing ominous gigantic shadows as the light sources are near the ground.

  Petra mentally said, "Amanda, put me between the beast and Frank on the underside!" With no time for a response, Petra disappeared and reappeared in the exact position she had thought of. Silas observed Amanda sweating profusely, completely exhausted from the magic; around her, an immense quantity of lights formed like ethereal fabrics dancing around her. He realizes real physical injuries upon her as Amanda exhausts her fragile body doing her magic.

  Silas mentally: "Everything okay, Amanda? Did you get hurt?" Amanda: "In short, when we're in the world of the living, our bodies and mana are the same thing; if I continue like this for much longer, I could kill myself, but I'm still fine. Let's go!"

  At that moment, Frank lands another direct hit on the back of the serpent. The enemy is madly furious with its targets popping up from one place to another. As soon as Frank connected his Flexoclava to the monster's back, ending his diagonal trajectory, the serpent turned against Frank once again, already prepared, with claws and jaws thirsty for blood. Instead of Frank, however, the serpent found only Petra, appearing out of nowhere to deliver an unexpected uppercut as a counterstrike. Liora took advantage of the open guard to fire several shots at the serpent's chest in sync with Frank and Petra's blows, making the combination attack even more devastating this time. The wyrm finally fell on its back to the ground, suffering from the coordinated attack of the entire group.

  But the battle wasn't over. Due to the massive number of injuries, everyone expected the enemy to be dead, but it wasn't. Fury ended up consuming the creature completely. The serpent rose from the ground with a sudden start. It exploded as if it were a phoenix, spreading its stone skin throughout the region and rising to the sky again as if it were another creature carrying an expression of insanity. It grew in flames, becoming a skinless silhouette of the once-before wyrm but now composed only of fire and fury.

  Liora: "It′s insane! This thing is much stronger and faster than before. It seems its skin contained its true strength; I only hope that without its armor, it's also more vulnerable."

  It was difficult to contain the fear in the face of the fire wyrm's brutal movements, now increasing in speed. The combat continued at a frenetic pace, hoping that the fire that burned brightest would also extinguish the fastest. Frank considered teleporting to the transfigured creature's back again, and Amanda made Frank's wish come true. However, his blow, once accurate, missed the creature, which, despite its colossal size, could now move much more freely and was prepared to answer this trick. It not only dodged but also attacked Frank at the same time. Petra, who was paying attention, managed to interpose herself to deflect the blow, but this time, she could barely defend herself, with the creature's claws connecting with Petra's body. Immediately, a blast of fire breath followed before there was any time to react; the blast created a spiral tube of fire that enveloped Petra and hurled her back downward, her body carving a path through solid rock as it dragged her across the ground. If it weren't for Amanda's providential teleport to remove her from the inferno of flames created by the monster, she would be dead. Petra appeared beside Amanda and Silas, unconscious, the fire that was burning her now-motionless body extinguished in the snow. Even in critical conditions after that brutal attack, she was still breathing and regenerating.

  The creature was so fast that it still managed to attack Frank before he hit the ground. Realizing that if Petra weren't beside him, he wouldn't withstand any attack like that, Frank tried to deliver a final blow in complete desperation, using his extraordinary willpower to focus on a final strike. He managed to connect his perfect Flexoclava blow to the serpent's right arm at the same time that a claw of fire ripped him apart. Amanda teleported him before the beast could hit him again and placed him next to Petra. Even receiving only one of the claw blows, Frank is even closer to death than Petra; he is completely knocked out but still alive.

  The creature suffered Frank's blow, completely shattering one of its sides. The arm of fire fell to the ground like a lizard's tail, thrashing wildly and then extinguishing into ashes. Then, another claw emerged from a bubble of fire in its place, regenerating quickly. Still in blind fury, the serpent now turned to Liora in her aircar, the last bastion.

  "Let's get out of here, Amanda!" Liora said desperately, realizing the fire wyrm was almost as fast as she was while she continued to fire, hitting her target with shot after shot and causing considerable damage as the beast came closer and closer. Even so, Liora, now alone, couldn't bring down her opponent but tried to distance herself as much as possible. The serpent, in its fury, accelerated toward Liora, preparing one final blast.

  Silas: "Amanda, teleport me near Liora so I'm between the serpent and Petra's portal!" Amanda, realizing Silas's idea, teleported him close to the combat while she prepared a second portal magic to a safe place, which would take a matter of seconds to open fully. Amanda said, "I'm opening the last portals; you have one more chance before I get everyone out of here!"

  The wyrm continued to advance toward Liora, keeping its jaws open in fire and fury. Liora used all her speed to buy some distance while continuing to shoot in despair, seeing her end drawing near. Silas took advantage of the fact that the serpent was completely ignoring him as he was out of the combat so far to use all his energy cells at the same time and, with one opportunistic shot, moved the serpent slightly to the side—just enough to push it inside Petra's portal against the metal flow, making the danger disappear, at least momentarily.

  Without wasting any time, Amanda interrupted her portal magic. Instead, she teleported to the cold side of the portal near the ravine, a location relatively safe against the river of molten metal that incessantly gushed. She then opened her fast portal magic on top of Petra's open portal.

  Amanda, calmer now, mentally said: "Good idea sending the serpent inside, Silas. This portal I'm making now is one-way; I don't know if the creature will survive, but assuming it does, it should take some time to figure out how to return here—enough for me to finish opening the portal to an empty place upon Petra′s portal."

  Now relieved, Liora went to where Petra and Frank were to take care of them while mentally asking Amanda, "But doesn't your portal to other universes take hours?"

  Amanda: "Yes, but I also have a fast portal inside my universes, as Petra thought of doing. It won't be the perfect size as it is smaller, but let us see what I can do." Amanda opened the largest Vo portal she could; even without using energy in this magic, her body was already covered with her blood from using several magics in sequence. Even so, her portal was much smaller than Petra's, covering less than half of the hot side, which continued to pour molten metal, only slightly reducing the ongoing flow. She spoke telepathically, exhausted. It's 50/50. If the wyrm survives inside and manages to cross the portal back, it might stop here in front of us or enter my portal trap and end up in the middle of nowhere. I made my smaller portal upon Petra′s portal in a way that things can only enter it, and nothing leaves."

  When Liora reached Petra and Frank, she found Petra waking up with a start, trying to figure out where the danger was.

  Liora said quickly, "Calm down, Petra! The serpent's gone! Or almost."

  Petra perceived the situation around her—with Frank fallen and Liora beside her. Still breathless, she tried to calm herself while her regeneration continued to act on her numerous wounds. She asked, "Did we manage to kill it?"

  By telepathy, Silas's reassuring voice: "We don't know for sure; I threw the thing inside your portal. If it survives this, it will be enjoying a bath of molten metal."

  Petra smiled in relief while helping Liora take care of Frank, who was in much worse condition, still lying in the snow. After looking at him with her sensors, Liora said, "Frank's going to need medical attention; let's take him to the ship!"

  Petra snapped her fingers, and a small blue portal appeared beside her. She said, "I placed one of my stones on the ship's cargo door before coming here. You guys can go back with Frank; I'll stay here to clean up this mess as quickly as possible!"

  Amanda spoke telepathically, "I'll stay with you, Petra! But you should rest tonight."

  Petra: "I appreciate the help, Amanda, but the wyrm could reappear at any moment! I see that you need medical attention, too!"

  Amanda shook her head. "Petra, don't forget that I'm not alive like you; my physical body won't recover on its own, not even with medical devices. A few more magics, and I'll return to the World of the Dead. I can take care of my wounds to improve my appearance, but it will only be a palliative."

  While Petra and Amanda went to the ravine with the intention of closing the portal immediately, Silas and Liora put Frank in the aircar. They entered Petra's portal, which transported them to the ship's cargo hold. Liora's copy was already waiting for them with the medical devices prepared. Silas telepathically said: "Well, Amanda, thank you so much for coming. If it weren't for your help, the result would have been catastrophic! Let's put the ship in a safer location. Petra, can you keep your portal open while closing the other one?"

  Petra replied, "Yes, Silas. I'll leave it open. All these portals open and close like doors that only I can change. If something happens to me now, for example, they would remain open forever; that's why I enchanted the ship's cargo door. In an emergency, if you need to get rid of the portal, just rip the door off."

  Silas responded telepathically while his mind handled several things simultaneously on the ship. "Okay, Frank's receiving care, and it seems his regeneration has stabilized him. In a matter of minutes, he should regain consciousness. The ship is moving away with camouflage always active, and I'll send the drone through your blue portal to scan the region while you close your lava river." At that moment, the ship's drone passed through Petra's portal and began to hover around the sea of metal that was forming and illuminating the region.

  Liora interrupted the conversation, returning through the portal with the aircar as fast as she could after leaving Frank on the ship: "Guys, the area affected by the lava is too large for the drone alone; I'll try to help with the aircar and my sensors."

  Amanda said, returning to her usual soft voice: "Liora, I'm going to use transport magic to increase your speed substantially. I'll do the same with the aircar and the drone. It will last about a day, and I won't be using any additional energy in these magics, so it won't worsen my physical condition. See if that helps!"

  Before any response, the speed and maneuverability of all the vehicles increased tens of times. Now, all the devices also responded via the group telepathic link, allowing Silas to control all the movements with extreme precision.

  Liora realized she was floating inside the aircar. She put her copy on the wheels while testing her new flight capacity outside. After a few seconds, she said, "Wow, Amanda, this is wonderful! At this speed and with this level of control, we'll be able to cover a much larger perimeter than necessary!"

  And Amanda responded promptly: "Excellent. Petra will learn all these things someday, and from what I've seen, she'll be much more powerful than I am when that day comes."

  "I just hope I don't put anyone else at risk in the process," Petra lamented. She continued. "Silas, take the ship far away. The biggest danger is the wyrm managing to return before I close this thing, and it will remain open for a long time. If that happens, we'll have to leave here immediately."

  Teacher and apprentice sat on makeshift stone benches in the ravine, closing the portal—probably the hottest and most illuminated place in all of Gate at that moment. After long minutes of tension with no sign of the wyrm, Liora and Silas finished mapping the entire expanded affected region and identified no more dangers. Despite the underlying anxiety, the four regrouped in the ravine to plan what to do. Frank is still recovering inside the ship in a restless, marginally rational sleep. He is desperate, trying to wake up, as he still doesn't fully know what has happened.

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