The pn of attack was brutally simplisti nature. There would be a spearhead of the most powerful individuals of the expeditihly a few hundred meters ahead of the main force, this eed would be the highest as the cream of the crop effectively move on the main objective while their rear is covered. It was just a damn shame Esstrey was assigo be part of this group, but it was nothing uable. The others part of this group was Belluzoar and the Hero's party, and it doesly take a genius to guess who's responsible for these ges as Esstrey feel the gaze of a war god pierce her from behind while the Hero's party occasionally looks behind them with paranoia. Not that she bme them, she's made a lot of enemies in such a short timespan.

  Just wherey thought things couldn't get worse, a massive shadow flies overhead. She looks behind herself to see the avatar smile in victory, while she sehe nerves of the adventurers rexing, they must have been talking behind her back, how rude. The shadow gives form te dragon as it nds on a nearby boulder, looking down on those present in disdain. The rge red dragon bears plenty of scars, and is clearly aced to war, sidering his gaze lingers on Belluzoar for a little while lohahers.

  "Belluzoar, Asahi. It is good to see the both of you in good health, you called me for a surprisingly small matter of some demoing some vile ritual. It is unlike you both to ask for aid, let alone for something as minor as this." His voice is deep and regal, giving a sense of standing before a high-ranking h the typical snobbishhat es from those born into power. It isn't surprising Belluzoar knows him, but if Asahi knows him, it means that the 'Hero' has been very busy for quite a while.

  "Normally yes Asher, but we would like you to keep an eye on a cousin of yours." Belluzoar points at Esstrey, implying he heard the rumors that Esstrey is dragon-blooded. Asher looks at Esstrey for a while in clear fusion, pletely bedazzled by what he's seeing.

  "That... that thing is no cousin of mine." As the words leave Asher's mouth, Esstrey tries to reach for her ons, but is already too te. An adamantine bde goes straight through her midriff, and she is tossed aside.

  "Khere was something wrong with her, it was better to keep her close in case she tried something with the army. Well, that's that done, let's keep moving." Belluzoar's words fuse Asher slightly, but the Hero's party stays in a bat position fag Esstrey.

  "She isn't dead yet d." Tolbert is proven right as Esstrey climbs back to a standing position, her wound doesn't close, but it isn't bleediher. The wound does begin to close as she drinks a position, and tosses it to the side.

  "I was hoping to st a little lohan that, but I suppose sometimes things just g. Holy, I'm still surprised you needed another opinion before deg to deal with me, what kind of pathetic excuse of a god are you?" Esstrey looks specifically at Belluzoar as she says it, not with the look someone has for an enemy, but the look someone would usually reserve for a turd with legs.

  "What manner of vile creature are you?" Belluzoar's hostility towards Esstrey grows to the point Asher also takes a bat stance, but no oacks yet.

  "Look who's talking asshole, I'm just one of many sequences of your as." Belluzoar then notices the blood on his bde beginning to move off his bde, firming his growing suspis, while also growing increasingly agitated.

  "A blood mage? I didn't know non-vampires could be blood mages, you must have led a very sinful life." Blood magic derives a lot of its power from other people and sacrificial rituals, after all.

  "You seem so fident in judging me, yet your sins outnumber my own. How many have you killed, you aberrant elemental?" There is some real hatred irey's voiow.

  "I will not be insulted like this! I am a God!" Belluzrips his swords tighter, preparing to attack.

  "You are no god, you are a pathetic little creature helplessly depe on the beliefs of others to survive. You ain't a fug cept, you are just ahing born from mana, just another o that somehow escaped its cage using the very blood magic you seem to despise, did you kill the one who let you out of the cage too?" Esstrey's words strike a nerve, and hard.

  Belluzoar activates one of his signature abilities, the fmes of wrath. ing himself in fmes, he charges at the smirking mermaid, but suddenly the heat escates rapidly and doesn't stop. Belluzoar doesn't just burst into fmes, he melts u as a white-hot light es from him. He tries to protect himself from... somethiroying him, but it seems to e from within his armor. The powerful armor that used to protect him now serves as his doom, si is now proteg the fire within him from his own attempts to stop it.

  Soon enough, the avatar of Belluzoar is now sgged, a still smoking half-molten golem ying at the mermaid's tail. A mermaid who 't hold in her ughter.

  "HAHAHAHA! IT ACTUALLY WORKED! I HOPE YOU LIKED YAMBESON!" Her ughter only makes everyonessing the event in shock, there are very few who uand what she did, while she went and made herself noticeable in the camp she had Cathy fill Belluzambeson with thermite. A surprise Esstrey has been cooking up for a long time now, and ohat would trigger as long as the avatar activated its fmes of wrath. Magic is a fually ceptual force, something called the fmes of wrath is doubtlessly triggered when the god would grow furious.

  Asher, however, isn't very amused. The dragon looks at the mermaid rather miffed at being ignored, it would admit the gods are strong, but Belluzoar was bullheaded, and his avatar limits him.

  "Are you done ughing? Then it is time to crush you for colluding with otherworldly forces." The dragon exhales, letting out a puff of smoke.

  "Are you sure you want to do that, Sir Asher? Do you think that if I had something that funny prepared for the avatar, I wouldn't be prepared for a mighty dragon?" For a momerey sees something in the dragon's beady eyes, a hint of doubt.

  "Nonsense, nothing you have could harm me." Esstrey pays close attention to the dragon's w, and notices an opportunity.

  "No... probably not, say how is your kin nowadays? Have they been sleeping well? I sure hope nothing bad happens to them..." There too, Esstrey's words strike a chord.

  "You stay away from the little ones!" Asher's fury bees palpable, aensing up to destroy this arrogant jumped up fish now.

  "I'm afraid it's a bit too te for that, if you hurry baight be in time to save them, who knows?" Esstrey takes a defensive bat position, making it clear that the dragon has to choose betweeroying her now or increasing the odds of saving his children.

  "I'll be back for you, mage, and I'll make your death painful." Asher takes off, leaving the bat zone has he fails to call Esstrey's bluff. She didn't know shit about draitervention, but they are as arrogant and paranoid as the books sarge had read to her said they were.

  She then looks at the Hero's party, who stared at the entire se sck jawed.

  "Two dowrey spreads her arms wide, and shows her palms as if to say 'e at me'.

  Prickly