Chapter 751: Kendov the Immortal
Chapter 751: Kendov the Immortal
A/n: What's up, guys. So, I am starting a new P4treon tier for extra Dragonborn Saga Chapters. @Novice_Reader for 1 chapter, @Based_Lurker for 7 chapters, and @Sigma_Grinder for 14 chapters. Not all 14 are out yet but I'll work on it. Enjoy~
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As Kendov led Jonrad into the inner sanctum of the Labyrinthian, many signs of change appeared all over the place since the Dragon Cult had moved in recently.
Weapons racks, armor stashes, and many other items gathered and hoarded from all across Tamriel. Some even were crates with the Dare Dragon Trading Company insignia.
Those Cultists were busy gathering things from all around, pillaging, looting, and trampling anything in their wake.
Kendov led Jonrad to the last chamber of the inner sanctum. Jonrad was greeted with a sight that was terrible to see.
That last chamber was massive, so massive that it could accommodate ten dragons without hindering their ability for flight, and that's how it was.
"You have thoroughly prepared."
"Knowing that Jonrad the Dragonknight can take on a dragon all by himself, we had to do our best." Kendov replied.
"And a Dragon agreed to be slaughtered just to lure me in here?""As long as Lord Alduin gets stronger, all these sacrifices will eventually be rewarded."
"And what if a Dragonborn passes by? Wouldn't that poor Dragon's soul be snatched away?"
"Your son is indeed the problem. We want to deal with him head-on but every time we do so, he always has a new tactic on the ready. Quite the disturbance, isn't he?"
"My handsome son? Nonsense! It is you guys who are the problem."
"Ohoho, great Dragonknight Jonrad, how so?"
Kendov became immediately interested and turned to Jonrad in the middle of the large room.
"Where to begin? A bunch of Dragon cultists trying to disturb the peace of the world by offering as many Nord souls as possible to the Dragon of the End of Times so that he can come and Lord over the world of mortals, taking away their freedom and getting them to kneel down to mere winged lizards."
Jonrad spoke his piece.
"You do realize that we have your children and you are surrounded?"
"For now."
Looking at the scene around him, Jonrad grinned widely at the scene where ten dragons were gathered around the last chambers, standing on their platforms and high bridges to intimidate him from above.
The final room of the Labyrinthian was like that, needlessly massive and built in the size of a small town.
After all, the Dragon Cult has always lived in crypts and the Labyrinthian was once their capital city when the Dragons reigned supreme in the past.
But looking at poor Thor and Idun in the small cage they were put in would make one's blood boil. They seemed to have cried a lot judging from how Idun was sleeping on Thor's lap as he kept a vigilant guard on the situation around him with sleepy eyes.
"Look at you, ten dragons. Beings that were born at the beginning of time, and all you have managed to achieve against us so far is to terrorize a couple of two-year-old kids." Jonrad spoke and took a step towards the children, "Way to go, dragons. Way to go."
"Heh!"
But behind him, Kendov made a faint laugh, which made Jonrad halt his steps and look back, fearing for the children's safety.
"Let the children go. I won't surrender unless they are back to their mother." He said.
"Yes, about that… you should look for someone else to take care of the children. We have a plan in motion and I think they will be orphaned from both father and mother really soon." Kendov said.
"Such nerve! Fine, send them to their older sibling." Jonrad said.
"I see you are confident in the ability of your son to survive what is coming. I am not sure how things will go myself but he will be kept very busy from now on. Any other next of kin?"
"Well, let's see…"
"Now that I think about it, the entire Winterhold is now being attacked, so I suggest you look outside."
"Oh, you're attacking Winterhold for real this time?"
"Of course, sir. After all, he has awakened."
"Who are you talking about?"
"The Golden Scale, the Pride of his Father, the Champion of his Brother, the Scourge of Man, Mer, and Beast. Lord Kungosvern, Lord of the War Dragon's Cult."
"Heaven's Light?"
"The Illuminator of Heaven."
"Romantic name! Shouldn't the war dragon's lord be something like Heaven's Shaker or Earth Fucker or something along those lines?"
"Once he shines upon Winterhold, Dragonborn, he will be the last sun seen in heaven."
Kendov's reply made all the masks drop. No longer the gentle host, no longer the pretending Jonrad, both Jon and Kendov showed their true faces.
"So, I kill everyone here, save the kids, and bring them back to Winterhold before it is too late, kill your dragon lord, and call it a day?" Jon sighed while scratching his chin.
"Indeed, Dragonborn, you have quite the task, and we are meant to keep you occupied." Kendov replied with a wide smile revealing his intentions all over his face.
"You knew it was me all along?" Jon asked.
"Can the light of the sun not illuminate the world just by a simple veil of clouds?" Kendov gave a poetic reply.
"I guess not." Jon smiled and walked a few steps around the place before asking, "You a poet or some shit?"
"War has taught me many things."
"Intriguing! I haven't seen that many wars."
"You haven't? You? Jon Dare?"
"Yeah, people always think it is strange, but I truly haven't. You can say I have been to a lot of battles and skirmishes but nothing as major as an extended long war. The civil war is one thing, but I've practically stopped it, and the war with your cult is more like me chasing you all over Skyrim and beating you up."
"Damn! And we keep calling it the War with the Dragonborn. Turns out you're not even seeing us as proper opponents."
"If hope rests in anyone's hand, it has to be you, Kendov. After all, aren't you the Dragon Priest of the War Dragons?"
"Indeed. If it is not me, who else then?"
"I hope that lifts your spirits. I'd hate to see them completely crushed."
Jon and Kendov had a small exchange of mockery before eyeing each other like wolves.
"You know, Jon Dare, why have we been so late to go against you?"
"Preparing, I assume."
"You take the fun out of making you surprised."
Jon didn't respond and only put on a proud, wide grin.
"We have been studying you, Jon Dare. All your summons, your spells, your moves, your sin artifacts, your methods, how you think, how you sleep, when you take a shit."
"God! It is not healthy to stalk someone like that."
"It seems you don't understand the situation you are in." Kendov shook his head as his smile disappeared, and he gave Jon a cold stare, "None of the esteemed Dragons are here to fight you, Jon Dare. They are here to keep you in check while I fight you."
"Hmmm… that seems troubling." Jon said as he looked around with an easy-going smile, "I was planning to make you all stumble into each other once this fight starts."
"We are not amateurs, Jon Dare. We know that this place would be advantageous for you if we fought in a group."
"Right." Jon nodded as he had to admit that the Dragon Cult had finally done something smart in their crusade against him, "So, shall we start duking?"
"After you." Kendov took a step back.
"Right, your plan." Jon nodded, knowing that all they would do from that point was to counter every skill he had.
That if they have the ability to begin with.
While looking around, Jon casually walked towards Kendov, then raised his arm and cracked the joints of his neck and shoulder. His aura was at an all-time high, and he seemed to be going for a…
"Pass!"
Jon simply walked past Kendov and continued towards Thor and Idun. Kendov paused for a second, realizing that Jon had made fun of him, and couldn't help but be embarrassed by the guard he put up.
"You got me there."
"You're welcome."
Jon didn't even turn and walked towards the cage as young Thor finally saw him.
"Jooon!" Thor shouted.
"Hey there, kiddo!" Jon replied, waving his hand.
"Jon? Jooon!" Even Idun woke up and realized that her big brother was there for them before calling for him as well.
"That's heartwarming and all, but you can't go further." Kendov said, and his words became reality.
"VUND VUTH DRIK!" (Wall Halt Zone)
A dragon shouted from the highest point in the inner and a sphere of energy formed around the cage housing the little children. Jon saw it and tried hitting it with his hand but he realized that this was a powerful barrier erected by that Dragon.
With a smile, he turned to Kendov.
"That's a good bar…"
Jon's words were cut short as a blade pierced through his chest.
"Dragon bone mixed with ebony. Courtesy of the best blacksmith in the Dragon Cult. A weapon forged specifically to pierce your indestructible body." Kendov said with a grin.
"Oh… you've done… your homework." Jon said with pain visible on his face.
"It's just the beginning." Kendov said and smiled, "We know that you can shift your organs from inside, so we're hoping that the poison we have added takes effect."
"Seems like a potent one."
"Jarrin Root, freshly picked from Stros M'kai. Nothing but the best for the Dragonborn."
To think they would go to Stros M'kai in order to bring such poison. This is the very same poison the Dark Brotherhood tried to kill the Emperor with but failed.
Jon felt as if his Vitality, Magicka, and Stamina were being drained through that sword and it was very rapid how it happened. That alone would have taken care of him if he wasn't prepared and if his poison resistance wasn't high.
"Well, it was a nice try."
Jon reacted by activating the power he could hardly even control, the Chaos Infection.
Through the invisible tattoo pathways Beth had laid on him, a dark antimatter started to flow through it, and his body was drastically affected by that power. This power was so wild and savage that it ate away the poison on the blade and eroded the blade from inside as the sound of it breaking was heard from inside Jon's body. Jon's eyes and hair turned all black, and his tattoos became so terrifying that even Kendov knew better and let go of the blade.
In the next couple of seconds, the blade was absorbed into Jon's body, leaving behind a deep cut. Jon hastily called off the Chaos Infection as it was also draining his Vitality rapidly.
"That was wild!" Kendov said as he eyed Jon from far away.
"Wrath!" Jon wasn't in the mood for chattering and called his sin of Wrath into its Bone Colossus form with the intent to subjugate Kendov in one move.
"NOW!" Kendov shouted, and in return, a Dragon shouted for him.
"GRON VUTH STAAD!" (Bind Stop Place)
A shout was directed right away towards Odokuro of Wrath, it was bound in place without the ability to move.
"Envy!" Jon called for another sin but…
"The Dragonborn Priestess!" Kendov shouted, recognizing Jon's embodiment of envy.
"VIIK MAH THAAR!" (Defeat Fall Obey)
As a third dragon shouted, Potema of Envy crashed to the ground without the ability to move as well.
Kendov grinned as Jon's body still seemed unable to heal from the effect of the poison.
"We've prepared a lot for this, Jon Dare. Every skill was accounted for, and we know that if we want to destroy you, we'll need to eradicate the Sin Artifacts first."
"How did you get all that information?"
"Since divining was impossible, we simply lurked around you for half a year."
"Good! Good!" Jon nodded, and then rather than using another sin artifact, he shouted, "WULD NAH KEST!"
Jon zoomed with the whirlwind spirit toward Kendov and feinted another attack, but rather than attacking with his fists or his spell, his body suddenly transformed into a fleshy, gorey thin,g and his head became that of a monster that immediately chomped off Kendov's head.
That was Wednigo of Gluttony, and Jon used it on his body to completely bite off Kendov's head once and for all. An unconventional attacking method that he wasn't seen using in public ever before.
Jon's body returned to its previous state and as Gluttony had just eaten someone, it could direct its energy to heal Jon's wound immediately.
But just as the headless stumbling body off Kendov was losing its balance, Jon could see that it could regain its foothold once again even without a head, and slowly, something started to regenerate on it.
"Oh boy! What manner of fuckery is this?"
Even for Jon, this was a new one.
Someone who just lost his head was now regenerating in front of him as if he were some Daedric Hydra or something. Over the course of a few seconds, and while Jon was stunned, a new head grew in the place of Kendov's head, covered in the blood and the flesh it had to break through as it grew.
"AH! Damn! I hate this… damn feeling!" Kendov said and held his neck from the pain before looking at Jon with annoyance, "Hey, don't do that ever again."
"That was… disgusting."
"No need to call me names now. Immortality is a bitch after all."
"Well… congratulations on the new head."
"Fuck off."
"Care to explain how you got it?"
"Someone who chomped off my damn head now asking me how I got a new one?"
"Would hate for you to get it again next time you lose it."
"Let's say… you're not the only Dragonborn around here, Jon Dare."
"A Dragonborn my ass! I just dealt with Miraak, thank you very much."
Jon was annoyed hearing what Kendov just said but then he looked at Kendov again and frowned.
"You have no Dragon Soul." He said.
"Of course, only Daddy Akatosh can give that one, I'm afraid." Kendov said with a grin, "Dragon blood, though, it does wonders."
Jon halted his thoughts for a second before changing their direction and looking at Kendov head to toe.
"Dragon Blood is poisonous. It eats away the body from the inside if ingested or injected, but hair loss and skin burns… These are the signs of injection." He analyzed Kendov right away, "I see now, the Dragons were busy creating an Artificial Dragonborn."
"I knew you'd figure it out."
"Instead of dying, you became unkillable. No, the Dragonblood is killing you as we speak, but something else is keeping you alive. Something that is rejecting your death… I see… your soul is already trapped. A soul shriven? Not quite; Soulless indeed, but not that as well. There's more. This makes you…"
"Dragon Priest of the War Dragons Cult, an Artificial Dragonborn, Kendov the Immortal!"
What do you think?
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