Game’s Dogma

Drako Yau didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he suddenly snapped his eyes open as goosebumps rose all over him. The fire elemental force circulated rapidly within him, and he vanished the next moment.

A loud boom accompanied by a tremor broke the eerie silence. The ground caved in at where he was lying down just now—the Balrog hammered its fist onto the silver ground.

‘Grrrr!’

The Balrog roared at Drako Yau who deftly evaded the attack. Its body now recovered, it swung its flaming whip at him.

‘You bastard, attacking when I’m having a nap!’

Drako Yau gritted his teeth while ice elemental force surged within him, awakening his sluggish mind with sheer coldness and forming frost on his mask. He thumped his spear heavily into the ground and created a wall of fire—Flameblast!

The man and demon began their endless fight once again.

Drako Yau tried to flee, but no matter how quickly he ran, the Balrog always caught him with its attacks. Its seemingly sentient whip that hunted him down also made escaping all the more impossible.

If fleeing wasn’t an option, then he could only fight.

This reminded him of his days on the mountain with the old geezer. Every day, the only thing he had to worry about was combat. He could focus all his attention on fighting without having to think about anything else.

By strength alone, Drako Yau was weaker than the Balrog, but this weird space made all the difference. In his duel against Zeus, Drako Yau also activated both forces. The resultant power was so great that it slew Zeus in one hit, but Drako Yau also died from the backlash which ended up in a suicidal explosion.

Here he could enter that weird state by activating both Frost Form and Flame Form for as long as he wanted without suffering any backlash. He could freely utilise his trump card, repeatedly and continuously no less. It was just like being able to cast an ultimate ability without cooldown and cost in a game.

Drako Yau’s body burned while his mind and five senses were cool as ice. The man and demon duo led a life of constant battle. They’d fight till they were worn out, fall asleep, then repeat when one of them woke up and attacked the other.

Time didn’t exist in the odd space, nor did Drako Yau feel hunger and other mortal needs. No longer did his body reject its own forces, which could be used extensively without restraint here. As he fought the Balrog, he also spared a bit of attention to observe the space they were in, but he was often forced to focus solely on the fight because the Balrog was also learning and growing.

There was no way to tell for how long they had been engaged in their endless battle, though Drako Yau mentally counted that an entire year had passed. Even a battle maniac like him was starting to get tired of it.

The Balrog swung its flaming sword silently, while Drako Yau remained as calm as ever; they both knew one another’s techniques and skills on the back of their hands after fighting for so long. As expected, the flaming sword broke off into several tens of dark shadows, a lot more than the nine whips a year ago.

But the Balrog wasn’t the only one who had improved. Drako Yau thrust Shooting Star rapidly, his arms becoming one with the spear as they drew afterimages in the air, but he suddenly pulled back after a series of clashes. Flames sprouted from his body and spread along the spear’s shaft to engulf it.

The tiny Drako Yau fought the Balrog head-on. Sparks scattered all over the place as sword and whip struck against spear. The fire elemental force surged through his body and meridians, granting him great power—the fight was on!

After a good long while, the two slumped onto the ground once again. This time, they were almost right next to one another, but neither had the intention to attack as they lay peacefully.

‘Hey, have you thought about escaping from this place?’

‘…’

Drako Yau still asked despite knowing that the Balrog couldn’t answer him, ‘It’s pointless to continue fighting like this. We have to find a way out.’

‘Grrr…’

Hearing the Balrog’s low growl, Drako Yau suddenly stood up as his eyes brightened up.

‘You can understand what I’m saying?’

The Balrog rolled its yellow, demonic eyes at his words.

‘Then you should know already. We’re stuck here, so it doesn’t matter even if we fight to our deaths. Energy and forces are endless, and our bodies will forever regenerate, which means we’re immortal in this place. Immortal, but forever imprisoned.’

The Balrog sat up, its body towering over Drako Yau who was standing. It shrugged to convey the message, What then?

Drako Yau didn’t have an answer to that either, but he replied, ‘Let’s stop fighting for now and find a way out. Is that alright?’

The Balrog tilted its head, seemingly in thought, then nodded. It didn’t want to stay imprisoned here forever either.

The next day, the two kept their promise and ceased their battle. Drako Yau finally had the chance to inspect this weird space in detail for the first time. He touched the ground—it felt solid. Even so, the ground was more like a thick layer of glass. They’d break and crack the ground every time they fought, but it’d regenerate completely as if nothing had happened within half an hour.

Drako Yau and the Balrog tried to run in a particular direction. After three hours, the scenery hadn’t changed in the slightest. Rather than running in an open area, they instead felt like running on a treadmill. No matter how far and quickly they ran, they weren’t making any progress.

The Balrog looked at Drako Yau and flailed its arms around helplessly. It took him a while to understand what it was trying to convey.

This is forbidden ground for our race and entry has always been prohibited. The chance of escaping is very low.

The Balrog thumped into the ground out of frustration and lowered its head. Drako Yau tried to cheer it up and said, ‘Don’t give up just yet! We’ve just started exploring this place!’

The Balrog merely waved its arms without replying. Sensing that it was sulking, the usually silent Drako Yau tried to strike up a conversation.

‘What’s your name? I can’t always call you “Hey”.’

The Balrog was in better spirits when it was asked for its name. It thumped its chest with its arms then howled, ‘Valaraukarir!’

Drako Yau was speechless. He asked carefully, ‘Mind saying it again?’

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