Godspawn Ascendant [LitRPG, Epic Progression Fantasy]

Still dazed from the magical boulder knocking her senseless, the dragon couldn't stop me as I ran toward the next two painted keys. I quickly pressed my palm against the cold stone of each key, successfully activating both before the dragon started to recover and noticed my frantic running.

The dragon barrelled after me, faster than her stalking prowl from before, but still hindered by her injuries and unable to achieve what I assumed her maximum speed could be.

Come on…. I mentally urged the last two traps I'd activated with my touch. Work!

Cinthara carefully chased after the dragon, avoiding the massive lizard tail that swung back and forth. Her bloody rapier dripped down her fist and armor-plated arm as she ran, a look of pure determination on her face.

Finally, a golden circle of light shot from the wall from one of the keys I'd activated, then surrounded the dragon, creating a picturesque scene of her purple scales glinting blindingly against the unearthly glow of the new circle that she now stood in the center of.

The dragon looked down at the circle, and if dragons had brows to furrow, she definitely furrowed hers at that moment. She outstretched a single claw to touch the circle. The golden circle hissed loudly as she made contact, and the dragon threw her head back and howled in pain.

The dragon shook her head and gritted her long, yellowing teeth. She then tried another tactic. She leaped as high into the air as she could, trying to jump over the circle and toward me, which wasn't much of a jump since she stood almost as tall as the high ceiling. A shimmer of gold appeared all around her as the dragon leaped, creating a sheer dome that blocked her from leaving her prison. She howled again, but the fire ablaze in her eyes looked more akin to frustration than pain.

The dragon was completely trapped.

I was lucky that the circle entrapment had appeared just before the dragon had made it about five feet away from me. Without the new trap, she could have attacked me at any given second.

I maneuvered my body to look around the overgrown lizard and find Cinthara. My stomach clenched once I saw her–Cinthara cowered underneath the shadow of the dragon's tail, also surrounded by the magical prison. We met eyes, and she shook her head at me. We didn't want to direct the dragon's attention toward her. She was in a less-than-ideal situation.

I waited for the next trap that I'd activated to reveal itself, but once it did, it didn't prove very useful in the current situation. Three very long spears, all double the size of my own, launched out of a trap door from the wall almost directly behind me. I had to throw myself to the side to avoid getting hit myself, my heart pounding uncomfortably fast. But each sharp spear merely hit the shimmering dome that trapped the dragon on every side, and then all three clattered to the floor. Obviously, the spear trap was intended to be activated before the prison circle was summoned.

If the spears couldn't penetrate the prison, it was safe to assume that nothing I could throw at the dragon would reach her, either. And I didn't want Cinthara to try anything–not in her current position.

Think, Rayden. What can you do? I asked myself as I searched the cave for more painted keys.

But even if I activated the other traps, I wouldn't know if any of them could do anything to the dragon while she was both trapped and safe within her magical prison.

I searched for more painted keys anyway, knowing this was the only time I could explore the cave safely without a dragon chasing me down.

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"Dex, are you sensing any more traps I can activate?"

"Yes, Rayden. My scans tell me there are two more."

I rushed around to the far wall that I hadn't reached yet, finding one of the keys but not activating it yet. I ran the length of the same wall and also found the final one, a little higher, but I could still reach it if I jumped.

A loud, pitiful moan reached my ears. I turned back to look at the dragon just as a glistening pulse waved over the entire domed cage, somehow causing the dragon's legs to wobble underneath her and make her fall onto her back. As the beast fell, my first thought went to Cinthara.

I held my breath as I watched her small frame, especially small-looking when next to a dragon, scurry away from any impending impact. Cinthara successfully found one secluded space just large enough for her to fit without touching any part of the dragon's body. But right as she had a moment to breathe, something happened to her. A look of pain streaked across her face, and she also fell to the floor.

"Dex, is that… cage… hurting the dragon and Cinthara somehow?"

"The Containment Ring, an old spell of Lord Solomon's that he had stolen when close to breaking through to the Celestial Tiers, can trap anything inside it for five minutes. And during the allotted five minutes, it weakens the prisoner by 10% every 45 seconds."

I cursed under my breath. Only the gods knew what that could mean for Cinthara, a Tier 4 human.

"How do I get Cinthara out?" I demanded Codex.

Dex remained silent for a few very slow seconds, then said, "You cannot get her out. Once cast, nothing can stop the Containment Ring from breaking within its five minutes."

Cinthara was on her hands and knees now, trying to remain quiet and avoid catching the dragon's attention, but her breaths had grown heavy. Even from where I stood, about four feet away, I could see beads of sweat dripping off her nose.

You can do this, Cinthara, I called to her mentally, as if distant emotional support could succor her at all.

The dragon had started wailing, shaking in pain from yet another wave that coursed from the circle, the wave then glimmering over the entire near-invisible dome that surrounded the beast and Cinthara. I even caught sight of the largest tear I'd ever seen moistening one of the dragon's eyes.

I couldn't help but feel a little sad for the beast. What had she done to deserve some random Lord Solomon clone trying to kill her? Lord Solomon had essentially enslaved her as an egg and kept her trapped in this cave for her entire life. Even her majestic wings looked crippled and bent, revealing to me that she had never even had the opportunity to fly before.

But even if I could figure out how to free the creature, would that be wise? The scouts were already scrambling with the mysterious opening of rifts, let alone these caverns. Throwing a dragon into the mix might just bring more unnecessary chaos.

In the end, it didn't seem like something I should worry about while Cinthara trembled from weakening pain and the fact that the dragon would more than likely take any chance it could get to kill and eat me as soon as she was freed from the Containment Ring.

Another weakening wave shimmered over the two captives, furthering their agonizing discomfort. Cinthara couldn't help but let out a whimpered cry as she curled into herself.

The dragon's closed eyes suddenly shot open, and she slowly turned her head toward Cinthara.

I gasped, fearing for Cinthara's life, and dared at least 10 steps closer. "Dex, how long has the Containment Ring been activated?"

"Two minutes and 30 seconds, Rayden."

I cursed again. "Cinthara can't wait another few seconds! We have to do something! Do you know what the last two traps do? Maybe they can distract enough to stop the dragon from attacking her."

"My databases are limited on the information about these particular Lord Solomon facilities on this planet. I just know that there are two more traps you can activate."

The dragon had rolled over from its back and to its feet, crawling toward Cinthara. The dragon's steps were slow and pained, but it could still snatch up Cinthara in a claw or in its mouth within the blink of an eye.

I raced forward, my feet now mere centimeters away from the Containment Ring. I held my hands out in front of myself helplessly, searching my mind for something I could do. I hurriedly waved fingers over my nose to summon my Water Manipulation spell, forming a hammer twice the size of my body. I commanded the water hammer to slam against the cage repeatedly, but it didn't so much as crack the dome.

"Cinthara!" I cried, not knowing if she could hear me. "You have to do something!"

Cinthara's eyes met mine. Did she… Was she smiling?