A gust of power shed from the god''s hand, trailing from one angel to another, sparking like lightning between the generations till it reached thest one of them. It jumped from them to the blood left in mortals and soon reached Serin''s veins, her sorceress blood boiled with holy magic.


    Arad saw Serin''s eyes shing golden, and the yellow me expanded to her tiny right palm.


    It wasn''t a threat. He didn''t feel any bloodlust or malice. It was but a child singing her palm, but with the power of a god behind it, a holy smite wasing down.


    Being a sorcerer isn''t fun, and no one questions why most of them are orphans. Burning their houses down as toddlers, or electrocuting their parents in a hug. Those idents weremon and the starting point of the life of many sorcerers who tried to seek control over their powers.


    For Serin, that ident should have been her healing someone, or blessing them with good luck and fortune. But sadly, the one taking the burn of the first hit was a vampire.


    Arad saw Lydia''s image shing before his eyes, exining how much damage a smite can cause. Ba-dump, time slowed for Arad as he saw ug''s w racing toward Serin.


    ^Ah! Shit, I need to dodge. No, ug would kill Serin if I did that.^ His brain started throbbing. ^I will pull Serin to me with gravity magic, and try to catch her by the torso. I should be fine as long as I don''t touch her palm.^


    [Gravity magic] Arad lifted his arms and pulled Serin toward him. SWOSH! ug''s w flew above her body, bringing a violent gust of air that spun Serina around.


    Arad tried to catch Serin by the torso, but the spin caused her to slip between his hands, and her palm touched his chest.


    VOOM! Arad felt a violent vibration coursing across his body, cracking his bones and tearing his muscles. A searing sensation covered his skin as he felt as if being struck with heavy gravity magic, crushing his body toward the ground.


    CLAP! The smite exploded on Arad''s chest, ttening him on the ground with enough force to leave a mark.


    BOOM! Arad''s body burned in the ck me of the void, transforming back into his draconic form. "GAHA!" He gasped for air as Serin fell on his chest confused.


    "GAAAAAAAA!" Arad growled, staring at the sky and feeling the holy magic burning across his body. The remnant divine magic sparked inside his eyes, "That hurt,"


    "ARAD!" Everyone screamed, half-blinded by the sudden brilliant sh of holiness.


    Arad turned his head toward ug, "You tried to kill her?"


    "No, I was about to put my w between you and her. Her holy magic won''t harm me that much." ug was trying to take the hit for Arad, and considering that she was a normal dragon, she would have only felt a tiny tickle.


    "Serin! Master Arad," Tina rushed toward him, unable to decide between getting worried about her daughter or apologizing.


    "Take care of Serin. My scales are hard." Arad pointed at his chest, but Serin seemed fine.


    "Are you okay?" ug looked at Arad, "It''s impressive that you survived that, even if it was weak."


    "That was a weak one?" Arad sighed, "She knocked me out of my humanoid form. I had three hundred and twenty HP."


    Ae and Mira tried to help Arad get back on his leg, but he wasn''t a sheep to be flipped. He''s too heavy for them to help.


    Arad pushed onto the ground with his wings and turned over, shaking his head and neck like a dog. His head was still ringing, and he could feel some holy magic coursing across his veins, slowly burning him.


    "What''s the deal with smite? Did I do anything to anger the baby''s god?" Arad stretched like a cat and then stared at Serin. "Say, are you angry about something?"


    "Master Arad, I''m really sorry for what she did," Tina bowed, but Arad shook his head, "She''s still a child. Let''s be d she hit me, and no one else would have died."


    ug stared at him, smiling. "You''re the only one who would get hurt by that." She smiled.


    "If Ae or even Mira were hit, the worst case is they will be healed from any injury they had." ug expanded her wings.


    "Are you leaving?" Arad looked at her.


    "I can''t leave myir for long. There are many people seeking my hoard." ug pped her wings, flying into the sky. "See youter,"


    Arad looked at her flying away, "She left," He sighed and looked toward the road leading to the city, "I should go check on Alcott,"


    "How about you rest first?" Ae approached Arad.


    "Yeah, Alcott would need some rest first. You can go see him tomorrow and take some food with you." Mira smiled, and Arad looked at his body.


    "You''re right. I do need some rest before I can transform back to my humanoid form." He turned around and walked toward the door, realizing he was too big to fit in.


    "I will sleep in the garden," He crawled into a ball like a cat, hugging his tail as he fell asleep.


    "Mira, do we have something to cover him with?" Ae asked, and Mira pulled Tina with her to help.


    Ae approached Arad, patting his head, "Rest. You must be exhausted." She smiled, and could still see some traces of holy magic sparking between his scales.


    ***


    Thud! "A genius loci is ahead. I can''t proceed further," A headless skeleton growled, holding his skull in his hand. He looked at the sun approaching the west.


    "My son, you tried to give me my revenge, but I failed you." The skeleton growled, "Now that I had this priest''s body, I shall take revenge on the one responsible for your death,"


    BAM! Xaviin stomped the ground on top of a hill just outside Loci''s back, and armies of undead rose behind him, "We attack at midnight, kill that dragon and then make sure Alcott never wakes up again. I will devour the city, and raise it as an undead nation."


    He giggled, "Alcott, your actions always bring misfortune. You''re a bane to those close to you, old wolf."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om