The Indifferent Snake and the Just King

"Okay, I have to ask this, how do you know about these places?" Kyouya asked as he sat beside Meghan at the front of their cart, they had stopped back in Axel for less than an hour to restock on supplies before heading off to their next destination. A destination only Meghan knew about and was directing Shadow as they pulled the cart along.

Meghan hummed to herself as she put away the short sword she was cleaning "Goddess Saili told me, due to how our target is bending the Adventurer card system I made it clear we're going to need some out of context powers to level the playing field"

Kyle moved up from the back to put his head between Meghan and Kyouya, Kyouya leaned away from the Tech Tree user surprised while Meghan's hand hovered above one of her knives "What are this things and are there more than this and the Lizard central back there"

Meghan gave Kyle a bemused look, debating whether to tell everyone what she knew or doing the same thing after making good on her earlier promise to kill Kyle. Deciding killing Kyle would be detrimental to their quest, and just too cruel for someone who amounted to an annoying kid, Meghan sighed and looked forward "These places are essentially doomsday vaults, each containing different power systems separate from the Adventurer Card other Reincarnated Souls brought over. As for there being potentially others I do not know, Saili only told me of these two"

"Meaning there are either no other Power Systems for us to find or Saili hasn't told us about the others" Butch said as he laid back in the rear with his arms behind his head.

"It's a coin toss between either. On one hand she really needs this situation sorted fast, but on the other revealing too many of the backup power systems would likely cause disaster" Meghan said, she looked ahead to see a mountain of rock with trees at the very top just visible from ground level.

The team of Hero Killers come to a stop at the base of the mountain, getting off their cart they approach the mountain and crane their necks upwards.

"Please tell me we don't have to climb that" Butch said aloud with Kyle nodding along, Shadow merely smirked and used their wings to fly in place.

"Thankfully no, there should be caves around here on ground level that'll lead to several hidden passageways. Let's get started, Butch and me will check the left side while you three check the right. We'll meet again on the other side before deciding on which cave to explore first" Meghan began searching a bag on the wagon for something.

"Actually, I think it would be better if we stuck together" Kyouya said, stepping towards Meghan as he did so "While it would be faster to split up it's also more dangerous in the event monsters show up, I suggest we stay together so we can better cover each other's backs"

"And potentially spending all day looking for a suitable entrance, we'd be wasting a day and would be at the mercy of the elements at night" Meghan pulled out two rolled up parchments and pencils.

"And if this place is the same as with the castle filled with dragons?" Kyle asked, wincing as he did so and rubbing his bruised right hand.

Shadow nodded as they floated behind Kyle with their front hooves crossed over their chest, Butch looked between the three and Meghan.

"I'm good with either, your call"

Meghan looked over her current adventuring party and rubbed her brow with frustration.

'First Rule of DnD. Never split the party' Meghan's brother's voice echoed in her mind as she processed the situation.

"Fine. But know that this is going to cost us valuable time, let's go before it gets too dark" Meghan handed Kyle a parchment and pencil before searching the left side of the mountain in search of caves.

They quickly found a large opening leading to a decently sized opening of a cave, large enough for large monsters to enter if they lowered their heads a little, around the cave were red markings.

"Am I the only one seeing this place lined with cave paintings?" Kyle asked nervously, turning to his companions to see that they also noticed the cave paintings. Meghan scanned the cave paintings before turning her attention to the cave floor, looking around she saw droplets of dried blood near a large rock.

"We're not alone" Meghan unsheathed her short sword and turned to her party "Everyone pair up, we're either dealing with crafty monsters or someone used this cave in the last week" Meghan inched closer to her party as they all readied themselves for a possible fight "Look for a symbol looking like a lightning bolt with a straight line going down the middle"

Shadows called out and pointed to a part of the wall close to the floor. Butch looked at where Shadow was pointing at and tilted his head.

"You mean that?"

"Yeah" Meghan knelt slightly as she slowly made her way to the symbol, looking it over she took out a glowing red vial.

"Is that blood?"

"Yes" Meghan answered Kyouya as she poured some of the blood onto her hand.

"Whose blood is it, and what are you doing with it?"

"My own, and Saili said we needed Mana rich blood to unlock the way forward" with those words Meghan slammed her blood soaked hand against the symbol.

"Wait, shouldn't we investigate-" Kyle's words died in his throat as the symbols on the walls began to glow red before a the light of the symbols moved into the ground to create a grid of pulsating, moments later the entryway was sealed off as a stone door rose from the ground with a giant purple crystal embedded in it.

"Ah fiddlesticks" Butch said in a defeated tone before the light of the crystal froze them in place as the ground beneath them gave way.

A few minutes later…

"Well, this is a fine mess we're in" Butch said as they found themselves sitting in cages with humanoid lizards putting spears at them.

"How was I supposed to know about a secret civilization of Lizard people would be guarding the place!?" Meghan said defensively, turning away from staring down the Lizards that had taken their equipment.

Kyouya looked on with despair as the lizard people mishandled his sword, throwing the cursed sword gifted to him by the Goddess Aqua into a pile of old swords. He weakly reached out towards the blade, hoping it would summon the blade back to him before he was pulled back by Shadow when the guards turned towards Kyouya with their spears pointed.

After an hour of being glared at by the spear lizards two more lizards in robes came towards them, one looked closely at them as they wrote something on pieces of leather while another seemed to be looking through an ancient book.

What followed was a back and forth argument between the robed lizards, or at least what the party of Hero Killers as none among them could understand a word being spoken.

"Is it weird I'm getting a Planet of the Apes vibes from all of this?" Butch asked his cell mates as one of the robed lizards gestured to them before putting at it's eyes that never left it's counterpart.

"Well, now that you mention it" Kyle said, looking around the chamber they were in and the lizardmen around them.

With a roar one of the robed lizards stormed out before the remaining one gestured towards the cage, with some hesitation one of the guards opened up the cage.

"What are they planning?" Kyouya asked as the Lizard guards stood in formation, blocking the only way out, the robed lizard stood behind the guards and gestured them towards their belongings.

"Someone should go out and get our stuff" Butch said before he felt everyone's eyes on him "Why me?"

"Your undead and have advance science fiction armor that is the toughest in the world" Meghan answered before Shadow pushed Butch out.

Butch collected everyone's belongings and returned it to them, as soon as they were ready the lizardmen left the chamber with the robed one gesturing them to follow. The Hero Killers cautiously followed, each member prepared to defend themselves at a moments notice, and were greeted to an unbelievable sight.

Before them stood an underground city, buildings made of stone and wood of all shapes and sizes, a river flowed throughout the city with a large tree towering over it all. The tree's roots could be seen all over the city, some having buildings built around them or decorated with colorful clothes, the tree's bark was studded with gemstones of a rainbow of color that offered light to this underground world beyond what little sunlight found its way through the leaves of the giant tree above them.

Dotted around the city were workshops building all manner of items, from simple wooden chairs to robots being worked on by singing lizardmen. Kyle had to be dragged off whenever he saw the robots in question.

The Hero Killers were escorted through the city by the robed lizardman with lizardmen guards always nearby, several of which seemed ready to leap into battle if they weren't held back by their comrades. It didn't take them long to see they were getting closer to the tree, the closer they became the more unmistakable the scent became.

Blood.

At the base of the tree was a massive round door with symbols carved into it with a language none of them understood, below the steps leading to the door was a horrifying scene.

A pool of blood being filled with the blood of the Lizardmen, young and old didn't matter as they bled themselves into the pit of blood with some jumping in to never emerge again. The Hero Killers looked ready to fight when they noticed something, no one was being forced to give up their blood and bodies.

In fact many seemed happy to offer up their being to feed the horror show before them, though most seem to stop at random points to go about their day.

The scene was almost too much for them to bear, as they near the pool of blood the door above them began to turn. Flashing from blue, to yellow before ultimately landing on red and our party of Hero Killers found themselves elsewhere.

In a white void were all that was, stood the Hero Killers and, the Door they sought.

"Hmm. What a curious lot that has awakened me"

From the door came a ball of light that grew into a vaguely humanoid form "Tell me, what has brought you all here seeking this power?"

Among them it was Kyouya who stood forward "We have been given a Quest from the heavens themselves, our own power as of now is not enough and were lead here to gain the power we need"

The humanoid being stared at Kyouya for a long moment before it sighed "Let me rephrase my question then, what is your heart's desire? Do you seek power to change the world or protect it, to guard a person or heal a nation, to carry out your duty or to bring said duty to an end. What do you desire power, be it in strength or knowledge?"

"I, I want to leave the world a better place then I found it" Kyle said suddenly, everyone turned to him to see the young man resolute in his words.

Butch scratch his helmet "For me, I guess I want to be strong enough to take on whatever any world can throw at me"

Shadow tried to say something but gave up halfway through, the entity before them tilted it's head "You wish to make genuine life long relationships" Shadow looked at the entity shocked before they began nodding rapidly.

"I want to be a hero" Kyouya said, his voice firm "For it is the duty given to me by the Goddess Aqua and" Kyouya's resolve began to waiver as did his voice "I don't want to be another face in the crowd. I, I want to be special"

"A happy life and a family of my own" Meghan said without hesitation "That's, all I ever really wanted for myself"

"I see. You have all bared your truth to I, our contract is formed and the Gate of Truth is opened!" The door behind began to turn as a large magic circle appeared, spinning with the door as the symbol became more complex as it did so "May your Truths overcome the truth of the world!"

With a flash of light the Hero Killers found themselves back where they were before, looking around they saw all the lizardmen were gone along with the scent of blood.

"What, what just happened?" asked Kyouya as he gripped his head, an action that brought his attention to the faint glowing lights running throughout his clothes in armour. Everyone else looked themselves over to see it was the same with them, with some even having the blue light appearing on their bodies.

"You unveiled your truth and gained the Gate of Truth's power"

At the bottom of the steps stood a petite young woman wearing a frilled white dress that stretched down behind to reveal a starry night sky, her dress had the same blue lights that covered the Hero Killers. She wore hexagonal leggings with floating rings around her ankles and wrists, moving her two tonal hair of silver and purple to reveal similarly colored eyes.

"Who are you?" Kyouya asked the young woman with confusion clearly visible on his face.

She grabbed her long locks of hair in her hands and began to absently play with them "You may refer to me as, Ophidian" Ophidian frowned before giving the group a once over "Though, if you have trouble with that name merely refer to me as Snake"

"What are you doing here? Or, more importantly, WHAT are you?" Meghan asked, already unsheathing a short sword as she watched Ophidian.

"Hmm" Ophidian turned to the large door behind her and pointed "As for what I'm doing here, merely to offer my services since you returned me to this world, in a fashion of sorts" Ophidian let go of her hair and spun around to face the Hero Killers, her moment only slightly ruined by her hair smacking her in the face "I'm am like you all, a soul brought into this world by the Heavens"

"Wait, were you the one who brought this power into this world?" Kyle asked, wanting to make sure if the person before them was the original user of the power they were after or if another reincarnated soul came looking for the vaults.

Ophidian nodded "Correct, and technically the monsters and machines here" she walked over to the pit that once held so much blood "Though it seems the monsters have put themselves to good use for us"

Taking a nervous gulp, Meghan slowly approached the pit and peered into its depths. Before were once laid a seemingly bottomless pit of blood now a large hole with clothes resting in it's depths, clothes that looked so much like those of the lizardmen as they were escorted through town.

"What, what happened here?" Meghan asked, even a dread began to crawl up her spine.

Ophidian stretched out her hand over the pit as her hand began to glow, from the pit specks of blood and bone emerged with more travelling through the air from all over the underground city. The blood and bone condensed into a square box with two layers, one a segmented outer shell of stone while beneath several blinking eyes could be seen.

From the eldritch cube a beam of light shot up that projected a video, it showed the Hero Killers standing in a trance as the Lizardmen threw themselves into the pit of blood in what could be described a maddened frenzy. Those who didn't want to take part in what was happening to them tried to flee with many being killed and thrown into the pit, all the while the Gate of Truth consumed the bodies and blood being offered to it.

"Guess those Lizardmen were more useful after all"

Ophidian's words drew the ire of all who remained in the now lifeless city

"What?" Ophidian asked confused "I made these things to be my minions, it's only natural that they should offer up their entirety to myself and those that catch my interest" She looked around the group once more, ignoring the looks being directed at her "Which reminds me, I require a physical item to bind myself to if I am to travel with you all"

"That cube, can you use that?" Meghan asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

Ophidian raised an eyebrow in confusion "Yes, but I believe it would be more beneficial for you to have me bind to something else-"

"No" Meghan said, her voice offering no discussion on the matter. "I don't know the whole story, I doubt what I know could even be called the cliff notes version, but these monsters created a civilization and a culture. I don't approve of the whole blood thing going on, but that doesn't mean I'll step aside and consider them anything less than what they have become"

Meghan placed her hand on top of the cube.

"Let this be your reminder, these lizard people lived. And deserved better than this, or being regarded as tools by their maker"

Ophidian sighed "A bleeding heart, I see" with those words her body turned to light and flowed into the cube.

The Hero Killers stood in silence at what had just happened, many still shell shocked over everything that had happened in rapid succession.

Butch sighed heavily "Right. We scavenge what we can find, learn about what we got from this and pay respect to the fallen. Any objections?" none uttered a noise at Butch's words "Right then, Shadow. Come with me, don't know anything about this lots culture but some flowers seems like a start to pay respect"

Shadow nodded, following behind Butch as they headed off.

"Was there any way we could have stopped this?" Kyle asked, hoping that the answer was no.

"Were we the cause of this?" Kyouya asked, his strength leaving him as he surveyed his surroundings.

Meghan didn't say a word, she placed the cube in a satchel and walked into town with her head lowered.

They managed to find fresh tracks leading out of the underground city to the surface, meaning there were possibly survivors of the bloodbath behind them. Gaining some comfort they hadn't completely destroyed a civilization they made their way to the Dragon Castle, practicing their new abilities as they went. Beyond being able to summon Spirit Warriors to aid in battle, and some transmutation magic, they gained new classes.

Kyouya gained an additional class of Blademaster to his already existing Swordmaster, granting the swordsman added versatility with his swordsmanship and new buffs.

Kyle gained another class in the form of a Crafter, something that gives him the ability to summon a grenade launcher.

Butch gained Gunner, a class giving him access to dual pistols. He kept spinning them like someone out of old westerns.

Shadow gained dragon themed armor that covered their head and wings with a lance, the dragon themed spear class was called Dragoon.

Meghan herself gained access to Shadow Assassin, a class giving her specialized moves that inflict debuffs.

Reaching the Castle they needed to beg the dragons for forgiveness regarding their last visit, quickly offering their deal before the Dragon Ghost Girl tried to put Shadow in more dresses.

And so, with the sword of the Dragon King, the Hero Killers summoned the Dragon King and gave him form once more. All present watched in awe as Mana and Spirit condensed into physical being, forming a man in bright yellow armor with red and gold highlight as to his side was the great blade used to summon him back to the world, his majestic cape fluttering in the breeze as emerald eyes opened to view the living world once more.

The Dragon King in question had enough time to gain some of his wits before being dog piled by the five Great Dragons as they transformed into cat sized Dragons.

-

"Here we are, sit in the Eldwater and you'll gain Mana circles" The King of Dragons, LouisLU-EE, said as the now cat sized Dragon Rulers clung onto him with many refusing to let go while several other dragons looked on jealous.

"Um, how does this stuff react to Undead?" Butch pointed to himself as everyone else marveled at their surroundings, either looking on the lake of glowing water or at the giant dragon looming protectively overhead "Cause I'm a decomposing corpse in this suit"

Louis gained a thoughtful look "You should be fine, just have someone help clean your suit over there at the showers. Men over on that side with ladies over there" Louis pointed to two different corridors leading away from each at the sides of the room they were in.

"I could really use a bath" Meghan said as she already made her way to the woman baths with the guys heading to their bathroom, after some lengthy cleaning the team sat in the Eldwater for several minutes waiting for something to happen.

"Alright, that should do it. I can feel the new power in you all" Louis said giving the team a beaming smile.

"I don't feel any different," Kyouya said as he looked himself over, he would have thought they had been tricked if it wasn't for Louis's genuine smile.

Louis freed one of his hands from the dragon pile he was in the middle of and placed it over his abdomen "Having Mana Circles doesn't really give you much, beyond being capable of forming Dragon Pacts, you need to fill the Mana Circles with Mana to slowly activate them. He closed his eyes as mana from the surroundings began to enter his body "Feel the Mana in the air and guide it to the Mana Circles"

"Okay" Butch said with tired a voice, he followed the Dragon King's advice before his head suddenly shot up "Great Scotty, I think it worked!" Butch shot to his feet and pulled his arm back, his fist gained an aura of light after half a second of charging before Butch's fist shot forward with a punch strong enough to send a gust of strong wind.

"Force Strike. A handy skill capable of, if not outright breaking then weakening, the guard of an enemy" Louis said with a nod "It should take you around 5..700 units of Mana to unlock all your initial Mana nodes, after that you'll some specialize items rich with Mana to unbind and unlock your other Mana Circle and Mana Nodes"

"This is more than enough, thank you" Meghan stood up and walked over to Louis, all too aware of the cat size Dragons that could easily kill her if they wanted "The truth is when need a dragon's speed to track down a target for a quest"

Louis blinked in surprise "Whose the target?"

"An undead hero kid that has already performed two massacres on the local monster wildlife, he built a transforming bone train and when need something fast to catch up before he bends the Adventurer Card system over his knee anymore then he has already so we can kill him and send him home before his world goes down the crapper" Kyle said aloud, drawing confused looks from anyone not a member of the Hero Killers.

Meghan pointed over his shoulder to Kyle "What he said, have any fast Dragons that can help us?"

"I, might, know just the dragon" Louis as an aura of light grew around him.

An hour later, the now transformed Louis, flew through the air with the Hero Killers riding on his back.

"So, any idea where this undead hero is?" Dragon Louis asked aloud, his voice booming with an echo of power just beneath the surface.

"Keep this way. We're looking for a giant train made of bone, it's not going to be hard to miss" Kyouya said, pointing straight forward and refusing to look down.

"So, after this mission of yours what are you all planning to do?" Louis asked as his eyes drifted towards the people he had on his back.

"I, haven't really thought about it to be honest" Butch said looking over everyone else "You guys up for keeping this group together, even after we kill the kid?"

"I'd like that, honestly I like you guys more than the dullers I've dealt with in previous parties" Kyle said as he rubbed his new grenade launcher.

"Maybe a couple of weeks, you know test the waters" Kyouya said as a small smile tugged at his lips "Who knows, maybe we'll be able to defeat the Demon King"

"We'll need to go on lots of adventures first" Meghan said as she covered her mouth with a loose scarf "And of course, not being killed by our enemies or killing each other in the meantime" she turned around to see Shadow looking around everyone "Do you want to stay with us Shadow?"

Shadow used one of their front hooves to point at themselves, their big expressive eyes gleaming with hope.

"Wouldn't be the same without you" Kyle said, putting away his grenade launcher before putting an arm around Shadow.

"You may be an edgy OC from a children's show, but you our edgy OC from a children's show" Butch said as he followed Kyle's lead and put an arm around Shadow, his newly cleaned armor free of the stench that plagued it for so long.

Shadow's eyes gleamed with tears as they threw their front legs over the necks of their companions, the three of them enjoying their own little group hug.

"I don't know why, but I have a feeling this is the start of a great advent-"

"Incoming!" Kyouya cut Meghan off as a spear of light soared up towards them from the ground.

"No worries! I can dodge that" Dragon Louis said, shifting slightly in such a way that the spear would miss, moments before it passed them the spear twisted and warped unnaturally as the spear found itself plunged into the Dragon King's left wing.

A roar of pain signalled the descent as they fell from the sky.

On the Ground.

"Holy shit" Kazuma said in disbelief as he rubbed his eyes to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him "Did you just one shot a dragon?"

Kazuma turned to the newest addition to his party, a lance wielding knight smiling ear to ear "I think I did"

"Oh~ So mighty was his arrows they struck like spears~" the bard that followed the lance knight around sung, her voice both soothing and irritating Kazuma as she sang about the greatness of her not so subtle crush.

"Haha! We'll be swimming in gold with that dragon's body, Yunyun can you teleport it back with us?" Aqua said as she turned to the crimson demon mage beside her.

"Don't be too rash, it may still live" Darkness said as she began to blush "If it comes towards us for revenge just leave me behind, I'll keep it at bay no matter what animalistic urges it-"

Yunyun pointed over to where the dragon landed, not too far from them "We better go see what it's like, if it's still alive we can kill it while it's dazed.

Taking that as his cue, Kazuma ran forward planning on making it big with the loot the dragon could bring, knowing it would be worth having to suffer through the asshole he ended up stuck with.

Once they reached the spot the dragon landed they couldn't find it's body anywhere, instead there was a group of five people and a strange creature no one there had seen before.

"What the heck, where's the dragon?" Kazuma asked aloud, alerting his party to the situation.

"Dragon? Were you the one who shot us down?" Meghan got to her feet with a glare pointed at Kazuma.

They look at each other for a moment before pointing at each other.

"You"/"YOU!"

"Lady Aqua!?" Kyouya exclaimed as he saw the water goddess approaching.

"Okay, let's talk this is-"

"PEACE IS NOT AN OPTION! DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW WHAT WE WENT THROUGH TO GET A DRAGON!" Butch yelled as he brandished his guns and the powers of a dragon growing within him.

Kyle shot a grenade at the approaching party as Shadow let out a battle cry.

Ophidian watched on in spirit form beside the injured Dragon King "Hmm, who'd you think would win this PvP?"

Louis got to his feet using his sword to help him to his feet "Well, this escalated quickly"

Author's Notes:

Some points about the Lizardman civilization.

They worshiped the person who would turn into Ophidian and believed offering up their blood would bring them back to rule them and bestow blessings. A minority faction of the civilization were moving away from blood offerings and managed to save themselves when the mass self sacrifice took place.

They had decent Magi-tek in the beginning but it's knowledge was slowly lost over time and their mechanics were beginning down the road of 40K tech priests, seeing chants and prays believing it would put the machine spirits at ease