The Jelly Dragon rose higher out of the chocolate river, caramel dripping off its wings in globs. Its body was a nightmare of glowing sugar veins, gummy scales, and teeth made of crystallized rock candy.
Its roar made the licorice vines tremble. Cupcake swarms scattered. Even the giant donut rolled away.
Lin stared at it, his eye twitching. "Nope. Nope nope nope. First a grinder monster, now a sugar kaiju. Who coded this madness?!"
Crystal's voice: "Boss recognized: Caramelus, the Jelly Dragon King. Hazard level: lethal. Weak point: unknown."
Lin's jaw dropped. "Unknown? That's not helpful!"
He pointed at the dragon, shouting, "I curse the game creator! And the dev team! May you step on Lego every day!"
---
Cutaway: Somewhere Else…
Inside a high-tech office filled with monitors, a man in a hoodie sneezed so hard his coffee spilled.
"Why do I suddenly feel attacked?" he muttered.
His colleague sneezed too. "Weird. Did someone open a window?"
They looked at each other, confused.
---
Back to Lin
The Jelly Dragon inhaled deeply. Its chest glowed like molten caramel.
Lin's eyes widened. "Oh no. I've seen this movie."
WHOOSH! A stream of scalding caramel-fire shot from the dragon's mouth. Lin Wind Stepped sideways, but the caramel splashed onto his boot. He howled. "HOT! HOT!!"
He ripped his boot off, hopping on one foot. "I'm going to sue! I'm going to find the dev team's addresses and send them rotten candy!"
He lunged forward, trying to slash at the dragon's wing membrane with his shard. The blade stuck halfway through gummy flesh and refused to budge.
"Seriously?!"
The dragon flicked its tail, smacking him into a marshmallow hill.
[Respawn]
Lin popped back at the edge of the river, hair full of sugar dust. "I'm officially allergic to candy now."
---
Attempt Two – The Strategy
He ducked behind a cotton candy tree, thinking hard. "Okay. Think, Lin. It's sugar. Sugar melts."
He looked at the chocolate river bubbling beside him. It was hot but not boiling.
"Maybe I need something hotter…"
Crystal chimed in. "Host skill 'Iron Blood Surge' can overheat your shard for a short time."
Lin grinned. "That's it! Candy dragon versus hot metal. Let's go."
---
Attack
He activated Iron Blood Surge. Red veins glowed along his arm, his shard pulsing with heat. He sprinted toward the dragon, dodging cupcake bombs and licorice whips.
"Come here, jelly lizard!" he yelled, leaping up onto its back.
The dragon roared, thrashing. Lin clung to a gummy spike, driving his overheated shard into a glowing sugar vein along its neck.
The vein burst, caramel gushing out like lava. The dragon shrieked, shaking violently.
Lin yanked the shard free, caramel spraying over him like molten rain.
He gritted his teeth. "Die, diabetic nightmare!"
The dragon reared back, sucking in air for another caramel-fire blast.
---
Cutaway: The Dev Team
The man in the hoodie sneezed again. "Okay, this is creepy."
His coworker sniffled. "Why do I feel like someone's screaming at us?"
Lin leapt off the dragon's back as it fired caramel-fire across the battlefield. The blast missed him but melted a whole marshmallow hill into goo.
He skidded across the sticky ground, panting. "Okay. Plan B. I need a bigger burn…"
The dragon turned, molten sugar dripping from its jaws. Its eyes locked onto him.
Crystal's voice: "Host HP critical. Suggestion: keep moving."
Lin wiped caramel off his face and screamed, "Game creator! DEV TEAM! I HOPE YOUR ICE CREAM ALWAYS MELTS BEFORE YOU EAT IT!"
Somewhere else, the dev team sneezed again.
The dragon lunged.
To be continued…