Despite excellent self control, Yi Qiang almost twitched - although he had eradicated any notion of movement from surprise, the shock of hearing a voice inside his mind was just too much: the sniper's mind, ever since growing up, had been a safe haven, something no one could read or enter. So this sudden intrusion was shocking and, Yi Qiang had to admit, somewhat upsetting.

"Do not be afraid, child. You are Dragonblooded; you share a connection with the Dragonkin that few others share. Thus, communication is simple. If you wish to respond simply will your message to the egg."

Yi Qiang considered it. Dragonblooded Elf acting up again, I suppose. Well, no reason for me not to respond; unless it's something drastic, I'd rather ally with the voice from the egg than those occultists.

Trying it, he said to the voice:

"Who are you?"

He got a response immediately.

"That's the question, isn't it? Well, simply put, I'm the mother of the nascent dragon inside the egg. Or, a remnant of her consciousness. It's difficult to explain with your language. Allow me to show you, child, instead.

Yi Qiang actually flinched this time, but he was just as unaware of it as the death-weaving mages. He was too preoccupied with the flood of images, feelings, concepts, and memories roiling around in his mind right now. But as strange as this form of communication was, it was easily understood - he got what the mother dragon was trying to say.

She was Elavia, Apostle of Mercy, Mother of Legends, Dragon of Light. She was a legend - a true, mature dragon, with power almost unprecedented in the world, but full of mercy of kindness. She had birthed many dragons in her day, but as the world turned to darkness, creatures of light such as herself had fallen - she had been slaughtered the moment after she successfully gave birth to an egg, in her weakness. Slaughtered for the meager materials of her body.

That egg was the one in front of Yi Qiang now. An egg that contained a dragon that, if allowed to reach maturity, could reach heights of power even Elavia couldn't fathom.

And as for her conscious, she was just a sliver of the vast consciousness that was Elaria, having been pushed into the egg by herself in desparation, a mother's love for her child strong enough for someone on their deathbed to instead worry about their offspring.

The consciousness would fade when the egg hatched, but by then, it would have completed its purpose - allow the dragon to hatch safely. The rest would be up to it.

But now the egg was being attacked, force to hatch before the proper circumstances arrived. And when it did hatch, it would be immediately flooded with death energy until the previously healthy baby dragon became infused with death and darkness, completely subservient to the cultists that artificially hatched it.

The natural energy and protection of the egg was holding off the restraints, but that wouldn't last much longer.

Yi Qiang knew what to do.

"How can I help?"

Yi Qiang went over the plan once more in his mind.

"This is the final iteration of the plan, right: I attack the chief cultist in the head with an Arrow Pierce, killing him, then quickly send off another Arrow Burst, trying to kill as many death mages before they recover and begin to attack me?"

"Yes I suppose, though initially I had only expected you to attack the egg itself in mutual destruction, preventing the noble dragon within from being defiled by those greedy cultists. I hadn't seen you as a match for over-equipped and far more experienced opponents such as these. But, though you're vastly unprepared to fight against death magic in terms of items or skills, I believe in you, child. Fight with honor and strength. Fight like a dragon. And thank you."

Yi Qiang nodded to himself. In theory, this would be easy.

Unwilling to risk it, Yi Qiang Marked his target. Early on in the forest, he had learned that mobs didn't notice it when they were marked, allowing him to keep the element of surprise with the added bonus of Mark.

The first arrow flew silently through the air. Too fast for any of the cultists to respond to, it sank into the head of Yi Qiang's target - the cultist whose hands were moving the fastest of all, and was forming black lines the fastest.

Then, chaos erupted.

Still in shock, it was child's play for Yi Qiang to fire off an Arrow Burst, aimed carefully so that each of the three arrows(with his current level of proficiency, a fourth arrow would place his aim in jeopardy) landed in the eye of one of the death mages.

Of the ten, four were down. Six to go.

Unfortunately, the mages were far from incapable. They rapidly recovered and, interrupting the ritual, assualted the figured at the edge of the clearing that had just killed so many of their ranks.

Now faced with a storm of black arrows, bolts, and orbs, Yi Qiang vaulted over the arsenal, firing off one more arrow and killing the fifth. Five to go.

His aerial attack was halted, though, by the singular black arrow that turned directions mid-air, and headed directly for him.

Yi Qiang's battle mind took over - this would be risky, and risky situations was where it shined.

Still mindful of the five death mages below him, Yi Qiang rapidly fired off an arrow at the black arrow. It disintegrated. This would not be good.

"Child, I recognize this spell - it needs to hit something living before it dissipates. It can only be blocked by specialized light or life magic, which you don't have. You can't dodge it."

That was useful information.

Yi QIang, who was now falling downwards in the air, was in trouble. He was falling slower than the arrow that sped towards him, and would thus have no footing to manage it in more traditional ways.

So Yi Qiang took a gamble.

Everything else almost seeming like it was at a halt, Yi Qiang took out an arrow(he figured he was pretty safe from the plague - it didn't make sense that the monsters he could easily kill could survive it, but he couldn't, and if he was killing the source anyways the plague would go away anyways. At least, that's what would happen in a game world, Yi Qiang reasoned) but instead of notching it into his bow, he held it to the tip of his pinkie.

A flash of searing pain(he didn't even wince, actually) and Yi Qiang held the severed tip of his pinkie in his hand. Let's hope this counts as alive.

The tip of the small finger flying threw the air made for an almost cinematic shot against the arrow of pure blackness slicing through the air, reeking of death and decay.

A lesser man would have shuddered upon seeing what happened to the pinkie finger after it was hit by the arrow. Yi Qiang moved on.

This whole ordeal had taken long enough that Yi Qiang could land gracefully on the ground, next to the remains of the ritual. An arrow flew out, but it disintegrated. Every single of the remaining death mages now had shields of grey matter in front of them. Troublesome.

"Child, those are safe to touch. They will cause minor damage upon contact, but you should be able to shrug it off. You just have to attack it with something living as well - material objects, that aren't enchanted, will simply disintegrate."

That meant melee. Yi Qiang grinned.

He rushed towards the nearest death cultist. Strangely, no more black arrows came hurtling at Yi Qiang while he ran - it seemed, thankfully, such a potent attack was difficult to carry out. The other attacks were easy to dodge. That particular skill Yi Qiang had become rather adept at in his training early on. A final roll, and Yi Qiang was upon the nearest death mage.

Although the cultist's face was obscured by the long black hood he wore, Yi Qiang could feel the aura of undeath and unholiness now that he was up close. But he shrugged it off and sent off a shattering knee, grabbing the solid, gray shield and pulling it into his knee. It broke, and the cultist, still forming an orb of black mana, was left unprotected.

One swift palm strike and fist later, Yi Qiang was rolling out of the way of another barrage.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him.

He, grabbing hold of the cultist he just killed, launched the corpse at the nearest gray shield. If my pinkie managed to take the hit of the death mana, despite it being technically dead, enough 'life' should remain in the corpse of the death mage for it to affect the shields.

What he noticed too late, however, was the now-exposed head of the death mage. One made of bone, and just bone.

Is that a... skeleton?

"Child, that won't work! The death mages are apparently undead - they'll just disintegrate like an object. You'll have to do what you just did again, until they're all dead!

Grimacing, Yi Qiang watched the death cultist's body disintegrate because of the very same shield that protected it a second ago, and rushed off at the next mage.

The black-robed figure, whose movements Yi Qiang didn't fail to notice were slightl jerky, likely from panic, pushed the shield forward at Yi Qiang, fashioning it into an attack.

The wide range of the shield made it more troublesome to dodge, and Yi Qiang, now wary of the death mages' other attack methods that would be more effective when he had no footing in the air, rolled instead of jumping out of the way.

In the time this took, however, the death mage Yi Qiang was up against was not idle, and the same black lines it had used in the ritual had appeared around it.

"If you touch that, you die. Don't."

Well, that settles that.

What the cultist, so engrossed in how its last comrade had been killed, had failed to remember was that Yi QIang was not initially a melee fighter. Instead, he was a marksman. And it had just given up its means of protection against his arrows.

Three to go.

Unfortunately, those three had not been idle while Yi Qiang was preoccupied. Instead, they had already charged up massive attacks, and set them hurtling towards Yi Qiang now.

The one in the middle also made some additional, quick movements, and the three initially individual attacks began to come together, forced into fusion by strings of gray Mana.

Yeah, dodge that.

That was easier thought than done, though, given the attack's immense size - easily larger than the shield, and several times Yi Qiang's height and width. Jumping: not possible. Rolling: not possible. Blocking: not possible.

Run.

Yi Qiang ran, away from the massive orb of disgusting Death mana. It was slow enough that he could almost outpace it if he ran at full speed, and he didn't need to outpace it, but instead get out of its way.

Running at a diagonal trajectory, away from the orb, proved effective - he cut it close, but he had survived the strongest attack yet.

And, putting aside the shields still present in front of them, they were easy pickings now. That was more than evident through the obvious droop in their shoulders, particularly the middle one - that maneuver must have come at a high price.

They weren't out of the fight yet, though, and as Yi Qiang raced towards the center death mage, he was still dodging slightly lethargic attacks. His insane Stamina regeneration meant that he was still in prime condition, though, as opposed to his opponents, and they were easily dodged.

It was all going downhill for the death mages.

Seemingly aware of its inveitable death, the cultist Yi Qiang was targeting pulled something he hadn't expected. The moment that gray shield was shattered, the skeleton's body began to rapidly swell.

Yi QIang barely had time to throw up his arms before he was sent flying back, his clothing entirely disintegrated and most of his flesh rotting, now overcome by decay.

It hurt. A lot. But for the seasoned marksman, it was just a flesh wound(literally) and he continued on.

Now wary of the other two, Yi Qiang decided to send out an Arrow Burst at the death mage on the left, before leaping up as quickly as he could and sending an Arrow Pierce straight at the cultist's exposed head. At that angle, it was entirely unprotected - too easy.

And it was finally a one-on-one, making it all too easy for Yi Qiang to come over, shatter that shield, and dodge the explosion he was now expecting.

The conflict over, the black lines dissipating into the air, Yi Qiang sat down.

50% Health, 40% Stamina. I guess I cut it a little close. Elavia was right when she said I was underequipped for this fight.

"So, how'd I do?"