NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106: The chicken performed a dizzying series of aerial somersaults and mid-air spins
The chicken, having demonstrated its destructive capability, let out another triumphant series of squawks. However, the dragons weren't playing! A couple of larger Dragonkin officials, likely veteran generals, jumped forward. One, with formidable candy-cane horns, roared, "Stand fast, cowards! It's merely a... a fowl beast! We are the might of the Sweetmeat Spire!"
He brought with him an axe. On the axe wrote 'Professional Poultry Slayer'.
As the general swung his axe, the chicken performed a dizzying series of aerial somersaults and mid-air spins. It ducked under the axe, then delivered a series of rapid kicks with its scaly legs.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
The general collapsed.
"Impossible! That's the Kung Pao Chicken! Master Sensei's Master!" The other dragonkin gasped. "I must not be afraid! I will fight for the pride of the dragonkin!"
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
The second general collapsed.
What? This chicken is the master of an archmage?!
"The Master of an Archmage?" Marin stood. "Sounds like a challenge."
Yeah… If you're fond of DYING. Surely no one's as stupid as Marin.
"I'll help you!" Griesa volunteered. She already had some sort of contraption in her hands. It was mostly a dull, metallic grey, shaped vaguely like a blunt, elongated tube, thick enough for Griesa to grip comfortably in her gauntleted hands. This was the POUTRILIFYNATOR-3000.
"The humans are supporting us! We must assist!" Said the other dragonkins as they stood.
Yeah… I think I'll sit this one out.
"Form up! Two lines! Flank it, don't engage directly! Contain its movements!" Marin pointed his gleaming sword. The Dragonkin, surprisingly disciplined, responded instantly. The chicken was immediately surrounded. There was no place to go.
"Don't let it get to the Queen!" he bellowed.
Yes! Good plan, Marin! Surround the chicken! It has no chance!
The chicken was immediately surrounded. There was no place to go.
But the Kung Pao Chicken was not to be underestimated. As the Dragonkin advanced, it let out a series of sharp, almost mocking clucks. Then, it flew. It flew over the head of the dragonkin and escaped the encirclement.
One Dragonkin lunged, and the chicken simply spun, its wing catching the soldier's head with a whip-like snap. Another tried to jab with a spear, and the chicken executed a perfect side-step, then flew low and delivered a flurry of talon-strikes to the Dragonkin's kneecaps.
WHACK! FLAP! THWAP-THWACK-CRUNCH!
Every surrounding Dragonkin soldier dropped like a discarded wrapper.
How OP are chickens in this world?
"Let me! This POUTRILIFYNATOR-3000 has never failed! One hit at the head and you knock everything unconscious!" She aimed it at the chicken like holding a crossbow.
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"How many times have you used it?" Marin asked. Griesa didn't answer and fired anyway.
She squeezed the trigger on her gauntlet, and with a soft thrum, a focused beam of light erupted from the barrel of the POUTRILIFYNATOR-3000. It shot forth with blinding speed at the Kung Pao Chicken's head.
A beam of light? And you call that not magic?!
As the light beam closed in, the chicken merely lifted one leg. It kicked the beam.
The beam, instead of impacting the chicken, ricocheted with an audible zing. Marin, reacting instantly, frantically raised his knight shield. The deflected light beam slammed into the metal, sparking violently before redirecting again.
The beam smashed into Griesa's head. She dropped to the peppermint bark floor like a sack of candy.
Well, at least she didn't lie about the knocking things unconscious part…
"I need assistance!" Marin called out. "Ducaz, help—"
Ducaz had disappeared.
Anders sighed and stood. "Ridiculous. Fine. Let me."
But the Candy Dragon Queen, regaining an iota of her earlier regal fury, roared. "No! This is for the pride of the Dragonkin! For the honor of the Sweetmeat Spire! I will deal with the chicken!"
With a mighty, candy-cracking roar, the Candy Dragon Queen shed her humanoid Dragonkin form, transforming back into a bigger dragon shape. Not quite big enough to break the palace, but still very respectable. She filled the center of the hall, her vast, rock-candy scales gleaming, her wings spread wide.
Suddenly, something materialized atop both the Queen and the Chicken's head. Not quests, but health bar.
The Dragon Queen's HP: 82029/82029
Kung Pao Chicken: 41/41
What? EIGHT HOW MANY HP?
No matter how strong the chicken was, it could never beat that tank of a health bar.
The Kung Pao Chicken stopped its triumphant strut. It stared at the queen and let out a challenging series of clucks.
The Queen moved first, lunging forward with crazy speed. The chicken darted under the tail, then sprang onto the Queen's snout, delivering a rapid-fire flurry of pecks.
PECK-PECK-PECK-SCRATCH!
- 4000 HP
The Dragon Queen's HP: 78029/82029
What?! It did nothing but PECKING at a DRAGON's snout?!
[System Note: Candy texture makes the dragon 1000% more susceptible to peck damage]
The Queen retaliated with a blast of molten caramel breath. The chicken, however, didn't try to dodge out of the way. Instead, it leaped, executing a gravity-defying series of mid-air flips and spins, using the very stream of hot caramel as a launchpad, bouncing off it with impossible dexterity.
- 1 HP
Kung Pao Chicken's HP: 40/41
I give up.
It soared above the Queen's head, momentarily silhouetted against the glowing gummy worm chandeliers.
Then, the Kung Pao Chicken dive-bombed, talons extended. The Queen roared, trying to bat it away with a mighty claw, but the chicken was too fast. It landed on her magnificent licorice crown. It began to peck at the intricate candy-work, tiny fragments of licorice snapping off.
- 42 HP
The Dragon Queen's HP: 78987/82029
Okay. That scaling is more like it.
"MY CROWN!" the Queen shrieked.
- 30000 HP (Emotional Damage)
The Dragon Queen's HP: 48987/82029
Never mind.
As the battle raged out, Anders turned to Rob and whispered, "You come with me to the dungeon."
"Why?" Rob asked.
"I suspect this is a ploy," Anders replied. "Master Sensei is plotting an escape."