I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 866: Changes

Explosion after explosion rocked the forest. Erend and Eccar had long since split into different directions and making chaos into the land as they tore through the grey creatures.

Each strike they delivered killed them instantly. A whole hordes evaporated in blasts of flame or shattered beneath earth power.

The destruction they left in their wake was enormous. Forests blackened. Trees toppled. But right now, none of that mattered.

In just ten minutes they had closed nearly a hundred rifts that had spread like a plague across the forest floor. But despite the effort it felt like trying to hold back a flood with bare hands.

As Erend shot back into the sky, scanning for more, his heart sank. Still so many. More rifts, more creatures. It didn't end.

"Are they opening again somewhere else after we close one?" Eccar asked through the link.

"I don't think so," Erend replied, his voice tight.

"Then why are there still so many!?"

"It's just that many from the start, man. Stop complaining. We've got work to do."

Without waiting, Erend folded his wings and dove again. He landed in a blaze of fire, the impact disintegrating a dozen grey creatures instantly.

He didn't stop. His hands flared with roaring flame, Magic energy coiling through the inferno as he thrust it into the heart of the rift.

The portal shrieked and twisted before collapsing in on itself.

Somewhere to the west, Eccar let out an angry growl and slammed both fists into the ground, summoning towering stone hammers that crushed and buried more enemies.

Then he also do what Erend do. He fling his own Magic-infused earth into rifts, sealing them shut with tremors and jagged stone.

But on the ground, in the lull between the fires, Erend paused. His breath steamed in the cold mist as he looked around at the devastation. To the burnt trees, and cracked land. Creatures' corpses piled high. And still more rifts.

"Do we need to turn into Dragons to close them all quickly?" he wondered.

The thought lingered.

He clenched his fists, looking at the damage they'd already done. If they changed now, the destruction would be far worse.

Entire stretches of forest would be lost. But then again… if those rifts weren't closed in time, and if more grey creatures spilled into the world…

The damage would be far worse.

Still, he didn't have an answer yet. Not a clear one. He shook his head, grit his teeth, and dove back into the fray.

For now, they would keep going like this. But if the tide turned harder, he'd give Eccar the signal.

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BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

FWOOOSSH!

The destruction didn't stop. It rolled over the forest in shockwaves, fire, and tremors, and it made the entire northern woods tremble.

The group of adventurers pressed forward toward their destination which was the ancient temple hidden in the most northern part of the forest.

But now, every step had to be taken with care. The land and forest seemed unstable.

Behind them, Darel, Yara, and Varn now walked with full strength, visibly impressed by Annette's healing Magic. They'd expected to be crawling, if not dead before. Now they were moving again.

The group picked up the pace, cutting through the woods quickly, dodging falling branches, and watching for the shadow of monsters.

But now, with every blast echoing in the sky and every tremor underfoot, there was a creeping dread.

"At this rate," Kaela muttered, gritting her teeth, "soon there'll be no forest left to save."

"With the number of rifts and grey creatures around this much destruction is… expected," Jan replied calmly.

Mark's eyes burned with focus. "Better to burn the forest than let those things overrun the kingdom."

The group moved silently after that. No one disagreed.

Suddenly, they halted. A new horde of about ten grey creatures in different shapes lurched into their path, grotesque and twitching with malice like always.

There was no time to hesitate.

The group sprang into action. Steel clashed, arrows flew, spells lit up the fog. Even Darel, Yara, and Varn joined the fight with gritted resolve. For now they no longer enemies, just survivors.

The battle was quick, brutal, but effective. The creatures fell one by one until the last of them crumbled to ash.

But their path forward didn't get easier. Ahead of them, the forest floor rose in violent spikes of jagged stone spears piercing the path. There was no way through.

A long, helpless sigh swept the group.

"ECCAR!" Mark shouted up toward the sky. "We need a little help here!"

A moment later, wind surged downward. Eccar descended like a storm, dust and leaves spiraling around him as he landed.

His eyes were alert and worried until he saw they were safe.

Then he followed Mark's pointing finger to the blockade of earth. A grin broke across his face.

With a flick of his hand, the jagged spires rumbled, softened, and sank back into the earth, returning the path to flat and solid ground.

"Try not to shout too loud next time," Eccar said, smirking before shooting back into the air with a burst of wind.

The group exchanged looks.

"That... was a Dragonborn helping us," Selene murmured. She still can't believe that fact.

With that obstacle cleared, they pressed on, every step taken with heightened caution.

The forest was quieter now, somehow, but not in a peaceful way. It was the silence that comes after chaos, the kind that made every snapping twig sound like a warning.

They moved quickly yet carefully. Then, after about ten minutes, Jan finally broke the silence.

"The temple's not far anymore," he said, his voice steady but low. "Come on."

They climbed a gentle hill. And then they reached the top where the forest opened up and their eyes wide in unison.

Before them, in the distance, stood the temple.

"Holy shit… what the hell is that?" Hund muttered, eyes wide.

They all stared and stunned.

The ancient temple that was nothing more than a crumbling ruin swallowed by vines and moss before had changed. Its now stood tall and imposing.

Its spires stretched high into the sky, glowing faintly with green light. Strange symbols crawled along its surface and the land around it warped unnaturally. Trees bent away from it, the earth cracked in spirals around its foundation.

It was no longer just a ruin.

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