Starting from Zero Vol 3 Chapter 13

Book 3, Chapter 13
It Finally Ended

    I summoned Phantom to merge with me while running. When the head almost reached me, I used [Blink] to dodge the head attack. 

    Ouch! 

    The dragon tail smashed me into the ground. When I got out my HP is full. And my level is 219! I haven't even done anything yet! 

    Lucky is now playing hide and seek with the dragon in the air. Lucky's 100 meter body length looks like a child compared to the eastern dragon, who is almost a thousand meter long. 

    Slap! Ao Guang's tail hit Lucky right on the mark and caused Lucky to drop to the ground, which in turn sent me flying. 

    "Phantom, possess him and restraint his moves." 

    Phantom floated towards the dragon. But a bubble-like layer appeared and bounced him back.

    "I can't! " 

    "Come back then!" 

    Lucky spit a fireball at the dragon. But our opponent spit a bigger lightning ball at us, which tore us into pieces! 

    No this isn't good! I already died twice, Lucky and Phantom once. But the dragon didn't lose a single point yet. 

    While I'm trying to come up with a strategy, Lucky charged towards the dragon again. This time he just bit him using those teeth. The dragon roared and curled up his long body like a snake, then squeezed Lucky to death. 

    The level gap is just too big! 

    Right, I got a crossbow! I took it out and shot and the dragon. I used a Soul Chaser, cause I don't think anything else would have any effect. 

    It did work, but...not much. The bolt hit the dragon, then he turned and gazed at me. That was 31 damage. Completely negligible compared to our goal! 

    For the following period, the whole room is filled with our shrieks and Ao Guang's howling. Our attacks were like tickling him. We did cause some flesh wounds on his body but those were just around 500 HP! On the contrary, we ourselves are in pretty bad shape. Lucky is now down to level 77, me and Phantom are 82. Those Steels Beasts are already turned to dust. I tried summoning Phiona and Night Shade for help. They are level 0 so death isn't a problem, but they won't do any damage either!

    We can't go on like this! If this continues I will really drop back to level 20! 

    Then a creative idea popped up in my mind. 

    "Phantom, blink into his head." 

    "What??" Phantom didn't get what I meant. 

    "Blink inside his head and stuck me in there, then boom!" 

    This time he understood. Usually, when a player blinks or teleports inside obstacles he or she will be jammed inside and explode. This always means death. 

    "Master, prepare yourself. I'm doing it!"

     We intentionally charged at the dragon's giant head. When we're close enough Phantom used [Blink]. The dragon was taken aback a bit when we vanished. But the following surge of agony caused him to begin bumping the ground with his head. 

    Ao Guang held his head with his claw and struggled. The

exceeding pain made his whole body to convulse. Lucky already received my order and kept some distance, but was still involved inside the mess and lost another level. 

    The dragon's writhing got wilder and wilder. He even began to lose control of his own power. At the same time, the whole Dark Forest, which sits atop of the dragon cave, started to tremble. The Dark Forest is near the center of the China game region, with a dense population in the area. There are many major cites around it, so this time nearly 100 million players experienced the "earthquake". 

    Regarding the earthquake, many hot discussions and quarrels appeared on the forum. Among all the discussions, a particular topic sits there without drawing much attention. But the poster swore that he's telling the truth. 

    No one believed it because his story was just too bizzare. The title is "Earthquake, cause by a descended demon!"

    The content is as follows: 

    Y'all know there was a big earthquake in the Dark Forest several days ago. I was grinding at one of the sites in the forest. It suddenly started to shake, monsters around me stopped their attacks and started to flee. I was in too much shock to do anything by then. As I was considering whether I should run, a huge crater the size of the football field appeared on the ground. The trees were all broken so I can see things clear. The ground first rose up, then fell downwards, creating a big pit. The earthquake stopped when the pit appeared. The dust in the air blocked my sight. When it cleared up I saw someone wearing black armor, with black wings, standing in the center of the pit. He looked badass! The flowing crimson cape, the broken swords in his hands, and the land covered in blood...I'd never forget the sight! You can go check the site for yourself! Coordinate is xxx,xxx. There is really the giant hole there. 

    At least someone believed the post. Because that someone was also there. Her name is Charon. Her in-game character is called "Crimson Rose". She was standing at the mentioned site that day. Even closer to the center than the storyteller. In fact she not only witnessed the whole story, she even interacted with the story's hero. 

    Back to our main line. I was stuck inside the dragon's head. That pain is not much different from what the giant fellow was having. The non-stop torture caused me to faint several times, before woke me up again. I think I'd never forget that experience for the rest of my life. When I thought I can't take it anymore, a big explosion which is powerful enough to make my heart jump, shook me clear. Then the pain is gone, leaving me with a refreshing feeling instead, like the best thing one can expect for being alive. 

    I got less than 10% HP left (some rock and debris did it to me). That explosion was when the dragon's head and my body got blown up. I looked at myself: the Revenger is nowhere to be found. Two broken halves of the dragon fang swords in both of my hands. The stretching claw blades got cut off entirely. My Phantom Cape got holes all over it, as well as most of the equipment on my body. I'm covered in blood, which is now flowing everywhere on the ground. But I guess most of it belongs to the dragon. Lucky lies not far from me, dying, his body obviously smaller. The rest of my companions are in similar conditions. I felt something odd on my face and touched it. Only a part of my mask is still intact, there is a big empty hole near my left eye! I tried to use my ring to get back to the Lost City. But I feel like my body just got ran over by a road roller, I can't lift a finger! 

    I called up my status window in my mind and looked. Then I froze. Well, mind froze anyway.

    My level is...81. Phantom didn't die as many times as me but is still restricted to 81 because of the system. Lucky was acting as our front all the time, and he is only level 76 now! I then checked my gear. Apart from those non-destroyable ones, all of them are close to break now! I recalled Lucky and others back to the pet space to rest. I suffered real heavy loss this time. The most devastating news is that I can't find my Revenger crossbow anymore. 

    I stood there for a while. Not to act strong but, I don't even have the strength to sit down. 

    I collected enough will to move around. Not going back to Lost City yet, I need to find my precious Revenger. 

    I leaned on a rock and tried to regain some strength. Hope there are no monsters around. 

    "Do you...need help?" A gentle voice appeared near my ears. 

    I quickly turned around in alert, resulting me tearing my wounds open again. Aww that hurts!

    I looked at the girl in front of me who is wearing cheap line robe and a broken wooden stick. I can't make out her body shape due to that robe, but those shiny eyes, pretty nose and clean white skin showed enough of her beauty. 

    "Who?!" That's all I could say when I'm trying to stand against all the soreness.

    "I-I am just a player!" She's trembling a bit, probably because I sounded really aggressive. "I know that NPCs sometimes fight each other. But don't worry, I won't, like, take advantage because you're hurt!" 

    What's that all about? It's not surprising that she saw me as an NPC, but that "take advantage" part...Hey miss, you gonna raise a lot of misunderstandings. 

    "Got any red potions?" 

    "Yes!" She smiled brightly. For some reason my heart skipped a beat. 

    She fished inside her bag for quite a while before taking out a bottle. Looks like a new player. 

    I didn't hesitate to gulp down the potion. Now that felt better!

     "Can I ask something?" She hesitated. 

     "Go on. I'll help you if I can." 

    This girl gave me a somewhat comfortable feeling. There wouldn't be more than 3 girls who could give me such feeling, and she is the best of them yet. 

     "You are NPC, so you must be familiar with this place right?"

     "Not really familiar. But it's no problem if you just need directions or something." I already noticed this place as the Dark Forest. I've spent quite some time here, not to mention Phantom is a native! 

    "Wonderful! Can you please tell me what kind of monsters are good as companions around here?" 

    "What's your level?"

     "207. Is it too low?" She continued without leaving me any chances to answer. "I knew it! Like they said, I'm too weak to catch any companions!" Then she just sat beside me, defeat. 

    A strange idea suddenly flashed in my mind. 

    "You helped me, how about I become your companion?" 

    "What??" She looked at me with disbelief. "You're serious? You look like a really powerful Boss. If you can be my companion then I no longer have to hide like this!" 

    "Hide? What are you hiding from?" 

    "Those annoying guys! They just stick to me like flies! I came into the forest to get rid of them!"

     "I see. I'll tell you something first. I'm not a catchable NPC, so you can't [Capture] me. But you can team up with me and keep us connected. When you need me, just call my name in your Chat. My name is Ziri, tell me your location and I'll arrive immediately, anytime besides when I need to deal with my personal matters. As long as I'm not busy I'll come to you. I'm different from normal companions so I can't guarantee to come every time. But the good side is I won't take up your slot. You can go find other companions in the future." 

    This is just an excuse to be with her, I can "work slowly" from now on. 

    "Ok ok!!" She nodded madly while staring at me with a terrible expression which shouldn't belong to such a girl. "Do we need to make any contract or something?" 

    "Nope. Just send a team request and it's all done."

    "Ok!" She sent the request and asked: "But why do you look so much like a player?" 

    Duh, I AM a player. But of course I can't tell her that. 

    "I'm...a humanoid NPC so I appear like a player!" 

    "I see!"

    Silly girl. 

    "So where are you heading to?" I asked her. 

    "I'm going off the game! What will you do?" 

    "Don't worry about me, I'll take care of myself. You just remember to call me when you get online."

    "Alright. See you!" 

    Then she's off. 

    I feel much much better now so I started looking for my Revenger. I searched for some time without finding anything though. Strange. Don't tell me it got emptied Dura and broke? 

    As I'm checking the ground I suddenly heard a gruff voice. "Boy! I see you got quite some potential!" 

    I looked at the source, and slumped onto the ground.

Chapter end