"What the hell is going on?" Dave asked to no one in particular. He was feeling that something was pretty darn wrong right now. Not that he minded Onixya being the next big baddy in the Wilds, Afterall the tiny terror was his tiny terror.

But you just don't make a new ruler if there is still another ruler, so could the dragon of terror and darkness be dead?

"Albert," Dave mumbled.

Suddenly, all the world turned black and white, the trees stopped moving, and the monsters looked like statuses that hung over dangerously around the party.

Their howls and rumbling growls had stopped all at once, not even the rustle of leaves or the movement of the trees could be heard or perceived. It was as if the whole world had just stopped.

Albert, in his usual wears, a Hawaiian T-Shirt with a collar of flowers hanging on around his neck. His shorts were a contrast of bright colors and he wore sandals to match the getup. In his hand was a coconut with a straw that seemed to never end.

"Yes, what's seems to be the matter?" Albert asked after taking a sip from his drink.

"Uh, do you know what's going on? Because I sure as hell don't have a clue what's happening." Dave said.

"You should be a bit more specific, I mean I run the whole game and know all that's going on here."

"He means this whole gig, the monsters, the choosing of a new ruler," Ralph added.

"Ah right, it is what you see, a new ruler has been chosen. Well, it isn't a ruler right now, but will be once she becomes strong enough," Albert said.

"Why?" Dave asked. "Why now, what changed?" Dave asked.

"I'm not sure how it would help you know, or how this is regarded as a bug in the system," Albert said.

Dave thought for a moment. Albert was right, he should only interfere when the system was glitchy and so far there has been no such occurrence. The disappearance of the Black Dragon must have been due to something, perhaps another player had killed it, thought Dave doubted it sincerely, there was no notification mentioning such thing happening.

"The dragon's not dead, is it?" Dave asked.

Albert smiled at Dave but didn't answer. Dave understood that it was true. The Black Dragon still lives, but because of the current coronation, it means that it no longer has the ability to be a ruler. Which either means that it's very close to dying, or…it's under someone else's control.

"Shit, shit, shit! This is bad, really bad!" Dave said.

"What's wrong?" Lone asked.

"I bet the Qin kingdom has a nasty surprise waiting for us, we need to get moving!" Dave said.

"I could give you a small piece of advice," Albert said.

"Please do," Dave said.

"By all means, the coronation of a new ruler is a fine and good thing for you especially because the dragon is yours," Albert said.

"I figured as much. Still, I hear a 'but' coming,"

"Right, BUT, that means that whatever manages to kill your small dragon will be henceforth the ruler of these Wilds. The creatures you see here came out of respect for the tradition, but once they begin hunting you, you will have to be very careful." Albert spoke solemnly and disappeared from the players presence.

The howling resumed, and the beasts began a mad yet restrained chorus of action. They became more agitated, more threatening, they took steps forward and stepped back again. It was like they were fighting their own nature, suppressing themselves from lunging on the small dragon.

Onixya felt it too, she squirmed and ran up to Dave's armor. Her small body quivered in fear.

The dragon was still a hatchling and was afraid so it hid in the safety of its 'parent.' And Dave wasn't about to let her be hurt by the big mean monsters ahead.

"Everyone, Follow me!"

Dave said and nudged Grumpy. The Onyx basilisk was also a heavyweight, but he was no match for the terrors of the wilds so he didn't dare tally, waiting around for a barely restrained horde of beasts to pounce on it.

Spike and the dunlords hurried behind Grumpy. The whole party going through or in between the legs of the giant creatures that stood there howling and screeching.

"We need to hurry, whatever is holding them, won't be holding them for long. We have to make it to the rest of our undead," Dave shouted.

"Dave, there's something wrong with Onixya," Lone called from behind Dave.

Looking at the dragon, Dave saw it quivering even harder, the black scales on her body literally squirmed and moved. The vertebras on her back shuddered and small protrusions grew from it. Her back grew wings.

"She's evolving," Dave said. Then cursed under his breath. When his dragon evolved she would become stronger, but seeing the current statue she was under, this only meant that the evolution would make her vulnerable and weak. A fine prey to any of the monsters of the Wilds who wanted to become a king.

"Grumps, FASTER!"

The Onyx basilisk felt the unease in Dave's ton and roared, his six legs broke the dirt under him as he waddled even faster, his pace increased by leaps and bounds. The basilisk broke through trees, boulders, and rocks alike as he kept moving in a steady and straight line.

Dave didn't doubt for a moment that this madden sprint was taxing and had a huge toll on the basilisk. He patted the creature to comfort him.

"I know it hurts buddy, but we can't stay here, we need to join the boys!" Dave said.

Suddenly several dozen creatures emerged in Dave's peripheral vision. They were large apes, tigers of massive proportions, lions, were-tigers. The meanest fastest and cruelest hunters of the Wilds.

"FUCK OFF!" Dave howled, summoning massive spheres of fire. Eighteen Spectral Skulls materialized in front of Dave. But suddenly, the eighteen Spectral Skulls doubled in number, then tripled growing even more in size.

***

Your Skill: Spectral Skulls has leveled up!

Your Skill: Dragon Ball has leveled up!

Maximum Synergy reached!

Your Skill [Spectral Skulls] Has been removed from your skill-list

Your Skill [Dragon Ball] has been removed from your Skil-List.

You have gained a new Skill [Spectral Dragon Skull] Level 1

[Spectral Dragon Skulls] You can summon 48 Spectral Dragon Skulls to assault your enemies.

Each spectral skull will deal with 100,000 fire damage to their target.

Damage reduced by 10% for every spectral skull that hits the same target after the first five.

You cannot use [Twin Strike] to synergies with [Spectral Dragon Skulls]

***

Dave waved away the notification and pointed forward, "Burn!" he shouted, then the skulls, that were now shaped not after skeletons but actual draconic skulls flew forward like a meteor shower. Blasting through trees, rocks dirt and monsters alike.

A curtain of heat blasted through the wilds. The trees instantly turned to ash, and the darkness of the night was turned asunder by the massive radiating light and heat from the point of impact.

The lucky monsters that tried to assault Dave right then and now turned to ash. The unlucky ones burned and screamed. Their fur turned to ash, and their bodies were festering with third-degree burns. They screamed and shouted then died in agonized high pitched screeches.