A fresh wave of wind crashed into Jake, pulling him dangerously close to the edge of the cliff behind him. With every mighty beat of the dragon liche’s wings, the wind howled around him, transforming the surroundings into a wild storm that stirred up swirling clouds of ash and dust.
He knew he needed to act fast. As his grip began to falter, he dropped low, crouching to minimize his form against the relentless gusts. He pressed his hands firmly into the ground and activated Adhesive Secretion. Perched on his haunches, he glanced up at the dragon liche looming several meters over the ground.
The beast continued to flap its wings, battering him with wave after wave of wind, but now that Jake was securely anchored to the ground, his body refused to budge an inch. The tempest appeared to reach the peak of its fury, yet the storm’s pull couldn’t dislodge him from his position.
The force of the gusts was relentless, slamming against him, but Adhesive Secretion oozed a greater amount of sticky substance from his pores, making sure he remained firmly anchored in place. The dragon liche let out a roar filled with frustration, realizing its attempts to push Jake toward the edge of the island had yielded no results at all.
Then the beast stopped flapping its wings and, without warning, swooped down, its jaws opening wide to reveal rows of sharp teeth. Jake knew he had to make a choice: remain rooted to the ground or take a chance against the raging winds. Choice made, he sprang into action, releasing his grip and using the force of the wind to propel himself forward.
In an explosive moment, he rolled into a crouch, smashfists raised. The dragon liche lunged with terrifying speed, teeth aimed to rend. Jake dashed aside just in time, evading the dragon liche’s attack. The force of the wind nearly threw him off balance, but he regained his footing and pivoted back to face the bone creature.
Summoning every ounce of his strength, he launched himself upward, using the wind to carry him in an arc toward the dragon’s exposed skull. He swung his smashfist with all his might, but just before the blow could land, the dragon liche beat its wings once again, unleashing a gust that knocked him off balance.
As the storm raged on, the bone dragon shifted its immense form to lock its gaze on him once more, its bellow echoing through the chaos. Jake swayed under the force of the winds but quickly steadied himself, refusing to be thrown off balance. With the creature no longer beating its wings, the storm’s grip was finally starting to weaken.
Jake dug his feet into the ground, steadying himself as he carefully watched the dragon, waiting for its next move. The wind swirled menacingly around him. While it was losing its power, it remained quite potent. The beast raised its head and let out another roar, as if challenging him to attack. Jake braced himself, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The wind howled fiercely around them. He knew he had to use the storm to his advantage instead of letting it overpower him. He stared at the dragon liche for a moment, then, when the right moment arrived, he leaped forward, letting the wind propel him toward his opponent.
The dragon liche lurched toward him, opening its jaws wide. Twisting in midair to avoid the beast’s maw, Jake delivered a crushing punch to the dragon liche’s head. The powerful blow sent the creature reeling backward, shaking its head as a web of cracks radiated from where he had just struck. The strike also appeared to shatter the spell the beast had cast, causing the storm to dissipate into a gentle breeze almost instantly.
Jake knew he needed to follow up his successful strike with another while the beast was still shaken. However, the dragon liche recovered more quickly than he expected. Just as he prepared to lunge at his foe, the bone beast tilted its head back, opening its jaws wide. An eerie bluish light shimmered within its mouth, casting an otherworldly glow.
Realizing it was about to employ its third special ability, called Freezing Breath, Jake darted to the side. In the next heartbeat, the beast unleashed a gust of icy breath that billowed forth, twirling and swirling with great power. Tendrils of frost snaked across the ground, leaving a trail of crystalline ice in their wake.
Jake kept running around the bone beast as it tracked him. The air crackled with cold as the dragon liche’s breath swept past, forming a frozen sheet over the ground. He could hear the eerie sound of frost creeping closer, which threatened to engulf him. He knew he needed to find cover; otherwise, the gust of freezing breath would eventually catch up to him, turning him into ice or, at the very least, slowing him down and making him an easy target for the dragon liche.
He continued to sprint in a semicircle as the beast unleashed another wave of frigid breath that surged forth like a blizzard, freezing everything in its path. The earth beneath him cracked and splintered, encasing the ground in a thick layer of ice. He could see the sharp glint of frost creeping closer, threatening to consume him whole.
Moments before the freezing gust could engulf him, Jake dove behind a nearby rock outcropping, pressing his back against its cold surface. As the dragon liche’s breath hissed and whirled around him, he could feel the stone gradually yielding to the onslaught of frost, its surface chilling beneath the relentless assault.
He continued to press himself against the rocky outcropping, acutely aware that the icy winds could freeze him into a lifeless statue of ice. As the biting cold enveloped the landscape, the ground on either side of him stiffened, a thick layer of frost spreading across the earth and turning it into a sheet of ice.
When the dragon liche’s freezing breath encased the rock outcropping in a thick layer of ice, Jake took a step back from it. He could hear the haunting sound of ice forming all around him, trapping the world in a crystal prison. The ground behind the rock outcropping seemed to be the only place not yet touched by ice.
Suddenly, the dragon liche, sensing its prey’s moment of vulnerability, charged forward with a thunderous roar. With a monstrous impact, it collided with the frozen rock, the force sending glittering shards of ice and stone flying through the air, scattering them across the frozen terrain. The crash felt like a violent earthquake, nearly knocking Jake off his feet as the frigid bite of cold air rushed against him.
Dodging to the side, he narrowly escaped being struck by the shattered pieces of the outcropping, which rained down around him like a deadly shower of crystals. With a burst of agility, he leaped aside, dashing just out of reach of the explosive destruction and narrowly avoiding the debris shooting through the air in all directions like arrows.
Just as he glanced back at the shattered remnants of his cover—now reduced to thousands of icy fragments littering the frozen landscape—he spotted the bone beast rear its head once more, preparing another freezing attack. It unleashed another blast of cold energy at Jake, but he was ready, darting aside just in time.
This attack was much shorter than the previous one, ending almost instantly. Jake stopped running and turned to face the dragon liche, and for a moment, they just locked eyes without making any movements.
The storm was nearing its end, though the winds continued to howl through the air. Ice shards from the shattered outcropping littered the ground, and much of the island had been transformed into a frozen wasteland. Jake stood firm, locking eyes with the dragon before him, waiting for its next move. Yet it did nothing. With all three of its abilities spent, it needed to recharge. This was Jake’s opportunity for a counterattack.
Determined to end the battle before the bone dragon could use any of its abilities again, Jake charged at his enemy. He drove his smashfist into the side of its skull, stunning the beast for a brief moment. Before his opponent could recover, he followed up with another powerful strike aimed at its head.
The dragon liche lunged at him, its jaws snapping fiercely, but Jake deftly sidestepped the attack and immediately continued his onslaught. He was determined to slay the dragon liche as quickly as possible, making sure it wouldn’t have the chance to unleash its special abilities again.
Having retracted his sword into his arm earlier, Jake was unsure if the ointment he had applied would still work once he extended the blade again. If it didn’t, he would be powerless to harm the ghosts the dragon was likely to summon. This was another reason to defeat the dragon liche before its special abilities recharged.
At some point, the beast spread its skeletal wings, preparing to take to the air. This time, Jake didn’t bother clinging to it, as there was no point. The dragon liche was severely wounded, but Jake could sense it wasn’t about to flee. His opponent was intent on fighting to the very end—whatever that end might be.
The dragon liche flapped its wings, rising several feet into the air. Then, it suddenly swooped down on Jake, seemingly intent on landing on him to crush him. He darted aside just in time to avoid being flattened. The ground beneath his feet trembled as the massive beast landed behind him. Wheeling around, Jake charged back at his foe.
He kept throwing punch after punch at the bone beast while dodging its snapping jaws when it lunged at him. After evading its attack, he resumed his assault, delivering a powerful right hook to the side of the dragon liche’s head, quickly following up with a punch from his left. At some point, the bone beast’s skull became completely covered in a web of cracks.
Sensing its impending defeat, the dragon liche tried to back away. However, Jake wasn’t about to let it slip away. He lunged forward once more, throwing a devastating punch to the beast’s head that would seal its fate once and for all. As his smashfist connected with the beast’s skull, it exploded into thousands of shards.
The now headless dragon liche remained upright for a brief moment before crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. This exhausting battle had finally come to an end.