****

It was duel #68 now, the last one.

Sadly, most of the contests were like #2. It was still shocking to Serra and his companion NPCs to see how 'untalented' these beastmen were on the whole. If the player had to guess then he would say the majority of them had 8-10 levels but one would not know it by how they fought. There were no YGGDRASIL mechanics used and *moves* like those the boar-man utilized in duel #1 were non-existent.

Only three other beastmen had managed to win their fight. The second to triumph was a mustachioed puma-looking catfolk, the only one able to use the first beastman's strategy of hit and run tactics with the conjured axe. And that was ten duels after the second. All others who employed this strategy ended in failure.

The third winner was a stag-man, the first not to use a physical weapon, and won using a weird hex bag with the combination of thief-like skills. His was the closest to a YGG tactic that Serra's side saw but his victory was entirely item based. The last victor was another catfolk who used possibly the most obnoxious tactic to date. The spotted cat used his quickness to literally run circles around the battlefield as he threw a wide varied of weapons at his undead opponent in pursuit. Granted it was duel #41 so there were alot of discarded weapons about - many of which were re-thrown over and over - but it was a tactic that made the battle last a good 10 minutes. It got to the point where Serra almost had Kharon enable the squire zombie's moveset but let it slide as he saw the beastman's desperate struggle to survive the encounter.

But this left the beastmen without another victory for over 20 straight contests. Each squire zombie, outside the first, put in work (so to say). Even the other armadillo-man - who Serra hoped to see more 'sumo' from - was a disappointment as he barely lasted a minute before the undead's halfspear pierced the beastman's head for its eighth consecutive win at the time.

And not all the vanquished beastmen lay dead. In three of the bouts - the seraph had the overlord stop the squire zombie just short of the deathblow. Serra then had them placed back in their queue to wait out his final verdict, which was soon coming as the last of the beastmen participants (a tabby catfolk) took the halfspear through his chest. His last cry was loud on the ears as the undead wrenched its weapon free to spear the feline's head in one clean movement. This fifth lv.17 squire zombie managed 27 straight victories.

Barely an hour had passed since the second duel. The wraith grabbed this last beastmen corpse to join it with its fellow victims who were now standing as mindless zombies themselves. This was due to a squire zombie feat to spawn a zombie mob on those they killed, which was almost never seen in the game world of YGGDRASIL due to their low level of 17. However this was a little interesting to Serra as he noted how these normal zombie spawns looked more like the corpse itself with their battle wounds being cauterized in their undeath. Of course for the beastmen, seeing their fallen sizzle with a dark smoke then rise into these slavering zombie creatures, well it broke their will even further knowing their *fate* should they lose.

["Will these last three be given another opportunity, my Lord?"] Falke posed this to the Lord Serra, unsure herself why they were spared.

[Nay. I wanted to deal with them myself."] The player wanted to test out a theory on these remainders. Two were catfolk in no shape to fight as they took crippling blows during their duel and the third was a gnoll who dropped on all fours after the first clash of their weapons disarmed him.

scene to be written - Serra, Falke, Kharon finish up the battle here

just 4 beastmen get spared

Serra soon reveals himself and kills the remaining 3 in the queue with a [Chain Lightning] spell

they had already lost so...

there is a little line here about how the lv.17 squire zombies outperformed than what was expected

Serra tests out his "loot" theory on the 3 beastmen he just killed - knows it won't work but does it to get 100% confirmation to check off his list :p

Serra's skin starts to crawl due to all the zombies now in the area so he has Kharon group the squire zombies with the normal zombies then kills them all with a [Mass Turn Undead] spell

death knight still remains though with Serra later learning it is somehow bound to a permanent existence

the trio also rescue the humans the beastmen were using as "rations", testing out various healing spells and even a resurrection spell on one of the remains

this proved a better experiment because Serra verfied resurrection is a thing in this NW

(more skipped content, alot of it will be changed from the original source material)

----------------------------------------

Part II

this starts ch.4

A [Gate] opened, and from it the highest of angels and his valkyrie companion entered the inner sanctuary of the Divine Realm.

"My Lord. Falke-san. Welcome back," the Overlord said while kneeling. "I trust everything is well?"

Lord Serra and Falke stood there, having already undone their 'human' guises – the illusions changing the color of their hair and eyes had dissipated and their equipment was their normal YGGDRASIL sets.

The Lord Divine reached out to the kneeling figure with a kind gesture, "Yes, Kharon. Although we had encountered a... setback, everything went well," he said, but his mind had shifted away from the latest nugget he had learned in Arwintar. "Do, rise. We have better things to discuss than mere trivialities."

The wiseman obeyed, getting to his feet, while Serra took his divine seat. Opening the city management tab, he looked for anything out of the norm, and found... nothing. Everything looked to be running without error and not a single hitpoint on the outer walls was depleted. If it were not for his earlier ventures on the outside, the seraph would have raised a brow at that as supposedly - the Celestial City was under constant bombardment by a large army for a bit under twenty hours. But now it was almost expected because Serra understood the general level of the peoples in this new world was shockingly low.

That was outside those specific characters of *legend*.

Serra opened the city camera function to get a bird's eye view of this besieging army to better inspect these beastman forces opposing them, but even then he found himself even more unimpressed than expected.

"This is it?" the seraph blinked. He felt insulted these cretins thought they could try to pillage his island with such an ensemble of weaklings. Especially after the trio had accosted one of their warbands with dire warnings. True, the beastmen were many more than the entire population of the Celestial City combined but that advantage meant nothing when one realized the level disparity between the two sides. Heck, a single fort regiment of thirty sentinels and their commander could probably wipe out the entire number below in a 10 minute span.

The only tactic this large host might possibly accomplish would be compiling their bodies into a human staircase so to reach the island's outer wall, as it looked like the beastmen had no visible way to bridge that distance from their own encampment.

"I'm surprised the Prince or the Generals haven't got rid of these vermin already." Serra said this in half amazement as the Holy Maiden's prayer made it sound a more dreadful situation in contrast.

"The High Command is using this as an opportunity to gain information on the locals, my Lord. And the Prince also invited a foreign ruler to be witness to the power of your followers. Word is they will wipe out these vermin when they make their attempt to assault."

Lord Serra turned pensive to what Kharon said. He reached again for the city camera and changed its pan shot within the guild castle's throne room. In there, his Prince was indeed in conversation with a foreign body whose leader looked to be a little girl. "Is she their ruler?" he mused in silence. It looked to be so as the dark haired girl was the only one speaking among the group. Serra knew that from the reports Historia had sent from the Draconic Kingdom that their monarch was a Dragon Queen and that she had requested a meet with their side in an official capacity, but even he was surprised to see this character in person.

Zooming in closer - who Kaineng was with could only be described as a loli, which made Serra blink in surprise, but her attire was definitely regal looking as she was donning a gemstone crown. And if it was not for the serious expression she wore, then the queen's face would look too childish to take seriously at all. But with the closer pan shot, the player finally noted the variation of her eyes having a vertical slit pupil and gleaming with a rainbow of colors.

"She is no ordinary human," the seraph stated with a slight undertone.

"No, my Lord," the Overlord concurred. "This is Dragon Queen - Draudillon Oriculus of the Draconic Kingdom. She is apparently a descendant of a powerful Dragon Lord." Kharon stating the information he deemed important.

"A Dragon Lord?" Serra looked at the Dragon Queen's countenance with more interest seeping into his expression. He had heard a few accounts of the legendary 'Dragon Lords' during his time in the Imperial capital city but with his own experience with the humanoid and demi-human factions encountered thus far, any judgement on whether or not this dragon ancestor of hers was powerful or not may only go by this world's low threshold. Or maybe not and they were real forces of nature as the stories say. Dragons may have been a thing of fiction in his human world but in the game world of YGGDRASIL, they were seen commonly enough by its player base and many of their mob counts would rate very high even by the lv.100 standard.

But another series of questions arose. What does that make this loli-queen? She was clearly not of the YGGDRASIL variants of 'dragonborn' races like dragonoid, dragonkin, or even dragonewt. Outside her eyes, the girl looked entirely normal. But that too could be a red herring with perhaps her loli-form being a polymorph of some sort. Perhaps her true form is an actual dragon-like species.

Serra brought that up to Kharon who replied after a thoughtful moment, "Nay, my Lord. While her body is cloaked in some sort of magical enchantment, her overall level and magic power is quite low by our gauge. However the quality of her magic is, an oddity we cannot trace," the Overlord added.

"It might be a spellcraft unique to this world's setting," the seraph answered back. "There is a lore that says the dragons have their own brand of magic not of the 10-Tier system."

"Interesting," the wiseman hummed, the tenor of his voice sounding quite intrigued by the prospect. Kharon was written as an adept of magic in not just its practice but for its general knowledge and usage.

But the player's mind now shifted to the circumstances of this Dragon Queen's lineage and how she came to be. If she is a descendant of a Dragon Lord, then would she still be classified as a humanoid character? Given that humans and beastkin exist in this new world, and dragons and elves and dwarves and goblins and trolls and even various undead creatures, does that now mean the lore of the YGGDRASIL racial system is defunct in thinking. Normally the racial system in the Nine Worlds fantasy setting was not cross compatible, i.e. the blood of humanoids could not mix with the demi-humans and heteromorphs as only each racial category could possibly breed within its own subgroup. Even angels, most of whom donned a humanoid appearance, could not have progeny with humanoids like elves. Atleast those were the rules as set by the developers of the game world his now avatar existence hailed from.

So, was that all different now? Serra wondered aloud. A dragon, a heteromorph by YGG standards, has a humanoid descendant. Was that a lie or just an abnormal occurrence to the traditional norm? Or perhaps there is a long tale that led to this Dragon Lord creating this human bloodline.

Lord Serra could only sigh to himself in wanting answers to these questions. There is just so much information to be had in this world. Of course the fastest method of 'finding out' was quickly discarded in his mind, those thoughts quickly shaming him into guilt for its conception. The player even shifted the camera view back onto the beastmen hordes outside their walls to get his mind of the subject.

It was then that the silver valkyrie's smooth voice interrupted his wandering mind, "Shall I go lift this siege, Serra-sama?" One would not detect the hint of deliberate execution of the many thousands panning across the screen in her cool tone but her liege felt its intensity through his empathic sense.

"No Falke, the Prince and the Generals seem to have this situation in hand," the seraph started, turning his eye towards her. "I guess I overreacted a bit when I learnt the news," saying it almost apologetically to how he had them rush back home.

"Please do not say so, Serra-sama," Falke looked taken aback while saying this in awe. "The fact you dropped your quest to go defend your people is an everlasting testament to your divine benevolence..." Serra quickly turned away, no longer able look at the valkyrie in the eye as she knelt before him explaining how noble of a master he was in greater detail.

And of course, Kharon had to interject afterwards, "I concur with Falke-san and bask in your divinity, my Lord." He too was on one knee.

"Guys, you are embarrassing me here." The Lord Serra wanted to say these words but the player was too humbled to give them voice. All he could so was sit there on his divan, cheeks flushed and in a pose similar to that of the Thinker pondering what action to take with the beastmen. It really was not if the valkyrie's proposition was such a reprehensible act. Technically speaking, this was war. Even an issue of survival when you considered how the human captives among the beastmen army were treated.

While Serra was never one who went out of his way to inconvenience his fellow players, he was not such a bleeding heart to help any and everyone he could either. Even on Earth - he did not feel much for the poor state much of human society suffered through on a daily basis.

So why should he care now? All of the Lord Serra's goodwill had been done with an ulterior motive in mind. His first intervention was to save the Bravo team. The second was to test out various healing and resurrection spells. The player did not really care about the 'humans' he had saved and still held no regard for those flashing across the Mirror being butchered during his contemplation.

But that itch to help them returned. Perhaps it was his human conscious guilting him over the brutality of it all. Or his new empathic sense rising to the surface. Or maybe it was his avatar's positive karma value trying to affect his judgement. Serra was not sure of the reason. It could even be a combination of all three stances.

Then a rather large butcher knife fell and an arm rolled free as a human girl screamed her loss.

The Lord Serra clenched his teeth at the sight, again. "These aren't my people," he thought trying to justify his inaction. Yet each moment battered onto his mind like a buzzing insect. The player had grew up in a world of gore and suffering and even his fictional works was not absent of naivety. Granted, it was not like these first-hand experiences now but any strong emotion that surfaced got suppressed by a more intellectual understanding of such unforgivings.

Sometimes the world was a harsh place, but Serra's disdain was ever rising at its continual sights knowing these *beastmen* wanted to do the same to his people. If that itch was there to take up arms against those savaging these unknown persons, then his subconscious screamed to utterly eliminate this same threat to his own creation.

But the player would not be rash in enacting cold vengeance. Thinking back on the newfound information he gained in the Empire - how a lv.35 Death Knight was considered a legendary creature capable of destroying nations by itself - then it was objectively understood the likelihood of a real threat to the island here was close to nil. And these beastmen would be no different, as they needed heavy numbers to overrun the Draconic Kingdom, so they could not be that much stronger than the local humans in this setting.

Then again, those beastmen did outnumbered his NPCs by a very wide margin and the last time it happened, he almost lost three of them. Sure, the Bravo team hardly rates among the strongest of the Tel-Quessir but if it came down to a slugfest between the two sides, then there was no guarantee the Celestial City would come out unscathed.

Numerous more 'what ifs' entered the Lord Serra's mind, many which depicted a bad and uncounted for scenario. Amidst his ponderings, a plan of action began forming that might answer one of the more important questions he still had about the mechanics of this new world. One such facet was whether a particular game restriction still applied to a player and/or NPCs - being able to "level up", which was both an exciting and terrifying prospect. Because if possible, then its applications could be used to further enhance his own power and that of the NPCs. But at the same time, who knows what players that came before him would be like today. YGGDRASIL was not known for having a very friendly community and broadly speaking: player killing (and griefing in general) was commonplace so it would not be any surprise if any such players as those set foot onto this world, wreaked havoc on the locals, and gained fifty to a hundred levels.

However THAT possibility is likely low due to the lack of general massacres known throughout history. Outside the lore of the Eight Greed Kings, much of this world's history is not littered with extinction level events and great wars of devastation. And with the overall levels of these new world natives being *low*, it would be more the stranger for such characters to remain indefinitely hidden in the movements of this world.

Which brings the question - what happened to any past players?

Then a flash of magic drew the seraph's eye as the beastmen's ranks began to form on the magicked screen before him. Must have been some sort of signal... and so their fates were decided.

The Lord Serra was tense as stood up from his divan, the city camera immediately dismissed upon his rising. He looked at the other two present, the beautiful valkyrie and a robed image of death. In his own works, they were his left and right hands in all matters. A cruel smile played on the player's lips as he told them, "Come my friends. We are going to the Treasury."

*** about 3 hours ago ***

Diplomacy had been going well enough, thought the Dragon Queen. The Celestial City's – as their residents apparently called their island home – ambassador was very polite and neatly explained the particulars to their questions, which she or her advisors (usually the governor) had rarely needed to reply with follow-ups. This proved to be a boon in this early negotiation stage as the level of cordiality shown by the Head Librarian made the possibility of establishing a friendly relation seem a most sensible venture with these powerful newcomers without the shadow of some misunderstanding hiding in the background.

One could say these talks could shape the very future of the Draconic Kingdom itself. The Dragon Queen was in high need of something to guarantee the safety of her kingdom's own borders after this whole beastmen 'affair' has ended but the more she spoke with the Head Librarian, the more both believed this could be dealt with.

Of course, those outrageously strong riders of theirs also served as a good persuasive point to be in this new elf kingdom's good graces, even if what Historia had told the Dragon Queen as an aside that the Owl Knights were not counted among the elite number of their armed forces. Even if a bluff, it still sent chills down Draudillon's spine. Dismissing such *three* whom in any other nation would be heralded as heroes by virtue of their strength and ability as 'not elite' was a good way to sober up a ruler.

Best case scenario would be to establish an alliance of sorts with this Celestial City who now reside on their eastern border, serving as an effective buffer zone to the non-human nations there of. Worst case being no official treatise but would be friendly neighbors and just leave it at that.

After all - these elves could hardly be worse than the man-eating beast folk, right? But the problem Draudillon and her advisors noted in their own deliberations was how to secure a deal which could last the test of time. The Draconic Kingdom would not be able to offer much to in return in their present condition. They were a beggared kingdom with a devastated landscape.

The other human nations, the Baharuth Empire in particular, had not made a move against their kingdom due to the threat the beastmen posed, but the very moment they were not an issue anymore, the Dragon Queen could easily see El-Nix inching his legions to annex the Draconic Kingdom while they were still in the recovery phase.

Or atleast that was then. The vague reports her court gets of the ongoings in the West has lately been... odd. Apparently some new nation has risen and is making waves in the West. Apparently it started when a powerful mage splintered off from the Re-Estize Kingdom and took up residence in (or conquered by other reports) their border city and soon subjugated its surrounding region. The big rumor is the Empire has recently established some sort of vassalage with this fledgling state as a pretense to take over the rest of the Kingdom.

"Of course, it could all be misinformation," Draudillon's Prime Minister commonly said to her upon being read these reports. The Draconic Kingdom could not even afford to have a small network abroad to deal in the affairs of other nations thus any such knowledge came by way of commerce than espionage.

Then there is the whole fiasco with the Theocracy. Those religious bigheads were never shy to express their distaste towards the Dragon Queen's ancestry, despite their attempts to seize control over her royal bloodline. Draudillon knows the only reason the Cardinals have yet try to abduct her or her cousins is fear of retaliation by her greatsire, the Brightness Dragon Lord, or intervention by the chief conciliator of the Argland Republic known as the Platinum Dragon Lord. Even though her greatsire considers his remaining 'human' descendants to be failures, the Dragon Queen would not let that fact slip out as to embolden potential enemies.

It is the only bargaining chip her family has on the table and Draudillon utilized it to the full, even if the fabled dragonlord had long abandoned the country he founded. If the Dragon Queen was to be honest, it still surprises her 'bluff' has lasted as long as it has considering how the beastmen have continually harassed their people for generations.

However the Theocracy has been in a long standing war of their own against the elves of the Great Southern Forest, so it was less than a likely proposition they would make a move against the Draconic Kingdom for now. Besides, the Draconic Kingdom was still formally under their Church's protection with the latest tribute having been paid in full. Many of her people saw the latest few payments being a wasted exercise considering how far the beastmen have pushed into their territories. But the Dragon Queen knew it would be a worse future risk to alienate the strongest human nation in the region, especially if their kingdom somehow makes it out of their dire circumstance.

Few understood that though.

That is why the coming of this new elf kingdom is (ironically speaking) a godsend. Because should the need arise - Draudillon could simply swear vassalage to this *Prince* to secure the future of her realm and its people, even if she found such a prospect unsavory as a queen.

There had been a good number of meetings already with the Celestial City's representative over the span of several days, which gave enough time for the Prime Minister to catch up to his queen on Arxtu - as Draudillon had left him to deal with all the tedious paperwork in an honest childish retaliation after one of their arguments. And upon arriving to the fort city, he again chastised her for acting reckless in conducting such diplomacy as and by quote, "done not with a single tactful bone in her body". Which in turn started another argument between the two, but this time neither had much heat behind their words since everything they had said was the same thing said countless times before.

The Dragon Queen gave off a cute sigh after another round of debate over a matter of state. "What do you think about the situation?"

Her Prime Minister, Gaius Lar Preeva, arched his brow, "That you were impulsive... and stupid to come all the way here to meet with a foreign dignitary. *That* most certainly didn't paint the Draconic Kingdom in a good light for them. You should have let them come to your Capitol, as I and a few others advised." As usual his tone was dry and his every word blunt when speaking to his Queen, at least in private.

Draudillon frowned at him, moving her weight so she rested on a single leg as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you read the reports? I don't want those three..." she then nodded at the wall, referencing to the three griffon riders somewhere on the castle premises. "...anywhere close to the capital city if possible. Moreso their mounts, if they are capable to throw around high tiered magic like it's nothing."

The Dragon Queen shook her little head as she scratched her chin nervously. "They might not be hostile right now, but who knows if they will turn against us if given the opportunity."

Gaius nodded in acceptance of her logic and concerns. At least she had not acted childish with this foreign body and even told his queen such. That could have created an unnecessary complication with talks going past this Celestial City's ambassador. As much her youthful form was useful to deal with the likes of Crystal Tear and some of the more degenerate knights in their employ, international affairs was a whole different arena where those same antics could be met with derision.

With a shadow on his face, the Prime Minister adopted a dark tone. "As for what will follow," before stopping to close his eyes. Bringing this up was a serious matter. He was never a deeply religious person, but lately he prayed for the lives of all those lost to the beastmen's onslaught these past few years. "We have counted the casualties among the territories we've lost to be around 100 and 40 thousand... in the more conservative estimate. Most of our armed divisions have been wiped out and even if they were to merge, they would still be at a number too few to matter."

"I received the latest report on our stocks soon after you left for here." Gaius turned his face away to seemingly inspect the decoration on the wall, but his eyes were unfocused. "Losing so much land during the harvest season coupled with the influx of refugees to the cities left standing means that we are running ever lower on supplies. If our situation were to improve, then it is possible we might reach the next cycle without having to heavily import food if we ration what is remaining. But after that-" leaving the context of which unsaid.

Draudillon rubbed her face with both hands, dropping into a chair. "So, we are going to deal with a famine in the near future as well." She said as she looked at her open palms, then proceeded to close them into tight fists.

Her Prime Minister nodded once. "Not only that. It is one that if dealt with poorly, will deteriorate into a civil war." Gaius's eyes were now on the resolve of her small figure. "Frankly speaking. We have been expecting 'this' for quite some time now but our heavy losses kept pushing it off. But due to the cumulative efforts of the adventurer teams and the Theocracy special units - the borderline has held firm this past month. However this windfall has taken quite a toll on our remaining front."

Both sighed again. The problem was due to an overpopulation of their last cities standing. A larger populace meant more needed supplies, which their side had a current shortage of. Rationing can only go so far before nobles and commoners alike will protest its continuation then revolt.

And what made it worse was those leading the beastmen hordes somehow gained insight into their plight and sent skirmishers to harass their supply lines. At first the adventurers were able to hold them off. Even the soldiers sent from the Theocracy could single-handedly handle a few dozen such foes. But then those same skirmishers all grouped together to become a few thousand and *that* was enough to savage any force sent to intercept them. Entire trains were lost (and eaten) by those beastmen.

It is why the skirmishing army's destruction was such a blessing because it would mollify those heading their caravans and now allow those supplies to better reach their destination. Not to mention their deaths would hinder the beastmen assaults on the remainder of their countryside.

(transition scene here, writer's block)

After all - their 'late' meeting with the Head Librarian was nearing. Both sides had been having two meetings a day since the Dragon Queen's arrival. Once in the late morning hour and another before dusk was the usual schedule they had established. --more lines here--

The two had bounced ideas off the other to try and come up with ways to appeal to the Celestial City without beggaring their kingdom even further, but nothing they thought up was sounded convincing even for their own ears.

Moving through the austere corridors and walls of Arxtu's castle, the both of them reached the room that had been designated for this occasion as where diplomatic talks were made. It was a small guest chamber in the keep's eastern wing that overlooked the inner courtyard. At one side of the wooden door, a knight in the castle garrison stood while the other side stood the Owl Knight who wore the handsome heavy plate.

Both nodded and half-bowed in respect as she approached. "Your majesty," she could hear both saying in a low but clear voice.

The Dragon Queen merely nodded in return, as her mind was still on other matters to greet them properly. The Prime Minister, however, did speak up and thank the knights for their duty.

The door opened with the slightest of touch and inside the ever-beautiful Historia was already waiting for them, casually passing through the pages of an old book that had been given to her. The only thing their side had found which could be used as a negotiation tool in their favor with this woman was the use of books, as the first tome given to her made her eyes sparkle so much that no one could not not notice. The Head Librarian lived up to the title of her position.

After they exchanged pleasantries – as much as it annoyed Draudillon – their second meeting today formally started.

"I think, I have not been very fair with you, your majesty." Historia took the reins of this conversation right from the start with her opening line. "I have seen and read many things about your Kingdom beyond what you've told me, but I have not really done the same for you."

The Dragon Queen raised a brow while moving her body to her right side. It was true, in a sense. For all Draudillon knew, this violet-haired beauty might have been lying the whole while - well as difficult that could seem given the detail which Historia could get into and still not contradict anything she had previously said.

But Historia continued before anyone could speak up, "As such, I have asked a colleague of mine, he's the Head of the Arcane Sanctum, Professor Anorous, to provide you with a way to see for yourselves that I have been truthful in our meetings." She said all this with the polite smile not once slipped from her face. "This is, of course, if you accept these conditions. I am not forcing you to do so, but merely presenting you the option."

Draudillon blinked in disbelief, looked at her Prime Minister (who had done the same) and exchanged a silent conversation. After they apparently had reached a quiet affirmative, she replied, "I am grateful for this offer, but I have some questions first."

"Understandable. Please, state them and I will answer to the best of my capabilities," the Head Librarian said calmly, clearly expecting this outcome.

The Dragon Queen could not help but feel like she was a puppet dancing on strings but the prospect of having a direct audience with the ruling power within the Celestial City was too good to pass up.

"First of all, how," Draudillon started. "From what you've said, your city lies deep into the beastmen territory in their great woodland. That would almost four days travel alone by normal methods. I don't know much about flying, as it is not a magic much practiced in my country – or anywhere else for the matter," she added as an aside. "But I really don't have much time to spare and the beastmen could assault us out in the open road."

This was the Dragon Queen's biggest worry that while in Arxtu, she was still within her domain. But if she were to leave its walls, then Draudillon would really be at the mercy of this foreign power. Not that she already was not now, but remaining in the halls in her own country gave her and her fellows a vague sense of security.

"Oh, you need not to worry about it, Your Majesty. The Headmaster is very proficient with teleportation magic. It will be like walking through your bedroom door to find yourself entering a different room in your royal estate." Historia said this with a gentle wave of her hand, like many times before as though it was logically sound. And as always, Draudillon could not help but feel the cold chill of intimidation. At least now, the Dragon Queen was able to hide her stupefaction each time this Head Librarian talked about something so ludicrous.

Draudillon had to gulp before asking her next question, "And, may I ask why didn't come here through such a method?" It was shocking enough to see this elf woman bypass their entire landscape and city fortifications on her magic carpet, but it seemed a bit of a waste if their spellcasters can create 'magic doors' out of thin air. The very thought of which absolutely terrified her and her Prime Minister.

"Oh," as if Historia was just realizing the absurdity of her previous statement. "It is simple enough to explain. The spell Anorous will be using, [Gate], has a few preconditions. The first of which limits to correlation. Meaning a location would have to first be visited for the caster to then open a gateway there. However this can be bypassed with a *beacon*, an item in my possession, which will allow my colleague to use [Gate] on my current position without visiting it previously himself."

It was an articulate answer that flabbergasted the Dragon Queen and her closest advisor because to them, 'that' did not seem like much of a limitation. To think there was such a magic that could close distances of many miles, in an instant.

Historia sensed the shift in mood and quickly added as an afterthought, "Do not worry. [Gate] is a 10th tier spell and has various range issues to be casted. Moreover, it can be countered with basic anti-magic measures and even crafting materials like Shield Cement. It cannot be opened anywhere and everywhere."

Again - this crushed the two's spirit. 'A 10th tier spell?' was the only set of words that rang loud in their ears. Like usual, this Head Librarian spoke of such things as though it was common knowledge. It was a long debated point between Draudillon and her advisors if the elf beauty was simply bluffing or, in the very least, was speaking excessively during their talks. Because if their side took everything Historia had told them at face value, then trying to maneuver themselves into a stronger position for negotiations was like trying to stop a rising tide barehanded.

In the end, the Dragon Queen's advisors chalked up the elf's own assertion of being a 9th tier spellcaster as being a boastful contradiction to her job status as a *High Sage*. After all, the Sage classes were of a learned nature and were overall weaker than the more commonly used mage classes like Wizard or Elementalist. Of course, this was going by their own understandings of how magic operated.

Draudillon did not see it that way because from the insight she gleamed from their more private discussions - Historia was someone who spoke the truth but not the whole truth. So their own standards were likely not shared by these elves. But the Dragon Queen kept that little nugget to herself lest her side fall further in dismay.

After sharing another glance with her Prime Minister, both sighed again but decided not to press this crushing matter further.

"-Right. So, next question. Can I bring along an entourage?" The Dragon Queen moved on her seat so her weight was mostly on her left side now. For someone as old as her, she did have plenty of child-like behaviors, as much as it pained her. Acting this way for a prolonged amount of time made her adopt some mannerisms.

"Of course. We do not have any malicious intentions, your majesty," came the elf's immediate answer. "But I can understand where you come from with this query. We can accommodate, on the spot, for thirty retainers. I hope you find such number acceptable."

Well, it was more than what Draudillon had hoped for. Certainly more than what she expected to hear.

"Can you tell me, what is the underlying reason for inviting me to see this now," the Queen asked, narrowing her eyes.

Historia's eyes appeared to shine with approval and her polite smile turned into one more sincere. The elf's posture was leaning and lax as she replied, "The Prince wants to meet with you, Queen Draudillon. He said it would be more appropriate for both sovereigns to discuss... further negotiations in person."

Sharing another pointed look with her Prime Minister, Draudillon could only nod in acceptance. This was the outcome she had wanted from the start.

There was no reason to decline this invitation or even ask any more questions, because if these elves really wanted to, they could have already kidnapped or killed her. The Dragon Queen was under no impressions all the soldiers within Arxtu's walls had a chance against those three knights and much less of one against their griffins. Heck, not even with the addition of her capital forces could they mount a front to resist them. Most of their soldiers were beaten back by the beastmen already (or lie dead) so pretty much the only troops have remaining are skeleton garrisons and several divisions of knights kept in reserve.

The Head Librarian nodded approvingly. "Excellent! Allow me a few moments to get into contact to forward the news. We will be ready as soon as you are, your majesty," she said while she adjusted her glasses.

Draudillon and Gaius rose from their seats and excused themselves to go make the necessary preparations for such a trip. And as soon as they left the confines of the room, both started discussing between whispers.

"We can't spend so many soldiers," muttered the Queen almost immediately. "This city will be vulnerable, even more than it already is."

"Yet - we will not leave you without a suitable escort. Even if it's for appearance's sake only. It would atleast serve to deter opportunists," her Prime Minister argued back. And they continued this line of banter until they reached a compromise of eighteen guards, her Vice-Captain Marcus, and the two themselves.

The Dragon Queen grumbled it was still too many but did not push the issue further.

Gaius left the choice in the Vice-Captain's hands to select their guard. All the soldiers Marcus chose were from his own company, the ones he had led from the royal capitol and into that fateful encounter which has now set the Draconic Kingdom on this road to the Celestial City. It was a sound selection, thought the Dragon Queen, as all of them had a firsthand account to the power of these elves and their Lord Divine. They would definitely be on their best behavior.

As for her own preparations, Draudillon's company prepared a couple small tokens to offer this Prince in friendship while the castle maids dressed her in a cute gown of red and gold. Here, her child-like form was a bit of an obstacle since formal wear was more catered to an adult body.

As her little figure scrutinized every inch of her reflection, the Dragon Queen pondered if she should transform back into her adult self before quickly dismissing the idea. The effort alone would physically exhaust her because it consumed a great deal of her mana. Perhaps 'it' would have an advantage in the coming talks, though she doubted it considering how the elves already treated her.

After finishing dressing up, Gaius entered the room with Governor Dialtaren in tow. The first thing Draudillon did was throw up her hands in protest. It was an unspoken banter between them over her adopted form. The Dragon Queen always found her shifted appearance to be a bit ridiculous as if anyone could take her seriously looking like a dolled up youngster.

Her Prime Minster gave her a smirk while his eyes shined with laughter and went into a half-bow.

"You look magnificent, my queen," came the Governor's honest compliment which caused Gaius to almost snort out loud.

Draudillon wanted to cry. Dialtaren then proffered her a gemmed crown saying, "Forgive me, we don't have anything more regal in our estate." In his hands was a very pretty tiara of a similar shape to her own royal wear. Of course her own crown, made by her greatsire with Wild Magic, was still in the palace as bringing such a treasure outside her castle walls was too risky a notion. This one though was still quite pretty in her eyes. It had no magic quality imbued within it but its platinum make embedded with the small gemstones gave the piece an ornate style.

It only took another couple minutes for the chief maid to place the crown and prep her hair to accentuate the effect.

scene to be written - Headmaster Anorous is introduced, think pervy Gandalf here

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

he is the Head Magus of the Arcane Sanctum

Draudillon and her company are [Gate]'d to Celestial City, meets two of the Five Generals, and sees large beastmen encampments below

Historia takes the Draconic Kingdom party on a scenic route to Highcrown (guild castle) but this time it is on top of a magic carpet

yes - think of her mount being a flying carpet :p

the magic carpet is an item in Historia's possession which she magically elongates to fit their larger number

this considerably cuts the travel time by flying there since the island itself has a 30 mile radius, as a 15 mile trip would take hours on foot

(more skipped scenes with Draudillon meeting Prince Kaineng)

(skipped to battle sequence re-write)

"I lost count again," boringly stated Fyra the Crimson as she continued to watch projectile after projectile being thrown by the beastmen's pathetic trebuchets. Each impact was harmless against even the first layer of the Great Walls.

"You'd think that they would have noticed by now... they are doing jack shit," stating this to her former mentor standing beside her.

This 'invading' army had been bombarding the outer walls of their island for more than a day yet no matter what was thrown - it just bounced off its outer warding. In other words, their siege tactic could not even put a dent to even the smallest section within this great structure. Every once in a while, Fyra would spot the savages throwing a human carcass instead of the large stones or tree trunks they seemed more fond of chucking, but everything they catapulted had the same effect - nothing. Well, except tainting these pristine walls with a spot of red and brown from a mangled corpse, but even that would magically disappear in an hour.

The elf general was well aware why the beastmen would throw dead bodies. To lower morale and to hopefully start a pandemic from the decaying carcasses within the walls, making the defenders sickly and better unable to defend. But for that to be effective, the siege weapons had to be able to bypass the walls. Otherwise it was just a waste of effort.

And among the defenders stationed here, no one's morale had been affected. It was for two big reasons. Firstly, these 'beastmen' were considered low level 'trash' to the point that a single fort regiment could annihilate the entirety of the encampment below. Lastly, the projectiles from their catapults could hardly reach the Great Walls. Only about a third of every projectile hit its mark and barely at that. In fact many of the higher leveled troops had a hard time taking the opposing force below seriously at all.

But Alluin the Azure would notice each time one of the troops shifted their position to relax (even if a bit) and a reprimand soon followed to remain on high alert at all times. Her old master was always the prudent one, never to give (or show) an inch to an opponent. They may not see eye to eye on everything but Fyra could see the wisdom in her sensei's old fashioned manner. He did not survive to the age of 400 on the Edge of Divinity through luck alone.

"They may not strike us as the most intelligent bunch, Fyra-san," came the old fart's dry response, "but against any other target, such a bombardment might have already broken down a wall or two. But this is the Lord Divine's great structure, made by His own hand, which guards our entire realm." He said all this in the same tone as though he was instructing her younger self in the more effective ways to wield the Light.

Fyra snorted as she took another glance at the forest below their high vantage point. A good part of the forest around their island had been cut down by the beastmen, but this only gave the defenders a better view of their enemy and their formations. Coupled with the various magical surveillance they employed, none of which still had not been detected by the opposing side, and this whole *siege* had become a rather laughable affair. And to make it worse, nearly all these beastmen had level counts under 12. Only *two targets* had been singled out by the Emerald and her scryers to have a level count over 20: a tigerman who looked to be their leader and a large red ape who was leading their reserve division. The rest, even if they numbered over a hundred thousand, were no more than ants to be stepped on.

Another reason the Tel-Quessir had not tried to stop this siege was they knew their Beast King had called a full gathering of his armies to this one location. So the High Command and the Prince had best decided to just wait until their full number casually walked up to their doorstep before greeting them to their proverbial doom.

But all this wait was starting to get to her. Fyra's sword hand itched on the handle of her weapon, [Nova's Fury]. It was a weapon bestowed to her by her Lord Divine himself. It carried a powerful [Fiery Soul] enchantment that could augment all of her offensive ability in short bursts of time. It was a perfect weapon for an Avenger like herself. It was her dream to meet her Lord again so she could formally swear her sword to him then offer everything to his most divine being. And it was her upmost desire that *he* would accept.

"Calm yourself. You are a General now so act like one," came the Azure's response to calm her brief excitement.

"Yes, Lin-dono." Fyra spoke after a brief pause to meditate with her breath. It was not for his sake but to cool down her simmering thoughts but the sounds and feel of three soldiers not in their current company approaching them finally diverted her gaze away from the furballs below.

The three were the Bravo team of the Owl Knights. They may not be in their army's elite number but they were a most effective airborne unit nevertheless.

Alluin also turned his attention to address the coming riders, his eyes fixed on a certain Knight in the front, "Captain, I trust that everything has gone well on your side, since that ridiculous stunt you pulled." The edge on his voice was not lost on anyone, but the only one to visibly react was said young elf, who smiled nervously as he scratched his cheek.

"Eeh, yes... well that. B-but everything work out in the end, right. So I say, it was not 'that' big of a mishap." The bronze haired youth answered his superior with a tick in his voice as he tried to laugh off the Azure's piercing gaze, which made Fyra break out in a genuine laughter as she could relate, being in his position many a time during her days as his wet-ear.

Her laugh broke the tension of the scene but Alluin was not amused, turning his head back around to the very large encampment of beastmen below while muttering, "You don't say," causing Fyra to bite back her next fit of giggling to remark-

"I'm surprised that you three were given such a test by fighting these..." she motioned to the figures below with a movement of her hand. "Wimps," smirking before continuing, "The majority of them barely rate at all. Are you telling me that you got bested by a bunch of thugs still wearing their baby teeth? I don't care how many thousands there were... you three should never have been in any danger facing these guys, especially with the sacred beasts on your side."

Theodas could only blush hotly to the Crimson while the elf ranger of their team approached the battlements, scrutinizing the surroundings below with his keen eyesight. "If you excuse me, Fyra-sama, I don't think the group we faced back at that village was any ragtag group of beastmen," informed Ellwyn, showing his acuity. "I think they were an advanced force used to scout and harry the Draconic Kingdom's supply lines. They were quite well coordinated," before pointing to a spot in the enemy's back ranks. "If anything, the level of that bear leader of the group was comparable to red ape looking one."

Fyra's interest was piqued looking to where the ranger was pointing. 'That one huh?' she thought to herself. Their scrying team did already isolate any notables among the many thousands in their ranks. Those who were capable of magic and support skills with this ape and a tigerman with a scar over his eye being the only combatants above lv.20 with the *Beast King* over a 30 threshold.

"Is he one of the enemy commanders," Theodas asked. "If so, why not strike him down with a long ranged attack. He doesn't look the least bit defended from this vantage point?"

The Azure shook his head in the smallest of gesture. "Everything in its time, Captain." Theodas nodded in return. The Bravo team obviously did not understand the full range of the generals' stratagem here so none would pursue the topic any longer.

Then something happened. A very distinguishable magic shined in one of the dispersed ranks of the beastmen whom the two Generals knew held most their [Sage] and [Shaman] spellcasters. What looked to be a bridge of condensed air was starting to form from the ground and extending upwards towards a section of the island's Great Walls above. Without knowing this magic's exact details, it was likely some sort of ritual spell being channeled by their collective number to bypass their outmost defense.

Fyra was dumbfounded. "All that time... for THIS." It was so pathetic that the Crimson could not even laugh at the enemy's *grand* strategy unfolding before her eyes. Even THIS would not be enough for the beastmen below to breach the higher surface for a few of the Great Walls many wardings would negate this fake path several meters before contact.

The Azure seemed a bit taken back but countered, "Well, it probably took their spellcasters this many hours to pool and concentrate their mana in an unison effort." Even Alluin seemed a bit disappointed by part of their plan's failure. They had been waiting to see if the enemy had some kind of trump card to overcome their disadvantage. If it took them a full day of preparation to cast a magic of such an insignificant magnitude, then they likely had no other recourse to breach it as none of the scryers could find any natural fliers among their ranks.

The High Command was hoping to see if there existed a new tactic or trick the invaders would try to employ but it seems their opponents really are just that weak. But still, this was the *signal* for them to engage so the Azure put two fingers to his forehead and messaged without speaking, ["My Prince, the Beastmen are on the move."]

Within a second, the Prince's thoughts entered his own, ["Understood, I am on my way. And Lin-san, please make sure our guests will have a clear view on the rampart."]

Still without speaking he replied, ["It will be done, my Prince."]

Then Alluin the Azure turned his head to speak to the Owl Knights, "I want you three on your noble steeds and bringing these bastards down from the sky when they are still high upon their path and not a moment before."

"Yes, sir!" The three answered as one to his command as they turned and used a Tamer spell to call for their mounts. Their singing screech could be heard in the distance. As the Bravo team began using their inventory space to equip into their armor, a low series of signals could be heard throughout the Celestial City that the time was now.

The battle against the beastmen was about to begin.

Fyra could no longer contain her bloodthirsty smile. "Finally," as she equipped her own magical helm and drawing her longsword which glowed with a shimmering flame.

****

Urm had a wicked smile. The Sages had finally finished their preparations, and now with the way set, hundreds upon hundreds of his fellows were able to finally get over those walls to start wreaking havoc on these fancy men. Also seeing the display of the highest possible magic from their own caste only served to further encourage all under their ruler's banner, and was surely lowering the meatbags' morale.

The trebuchets had done very little as far as he could tell, a fact that annoyed him greatly. But now the confined cattle hiding behind their stone walls should be experiencing true despair at the sight of the mightiest beings walking through the sky and ignoring their precious defense.

The first wave of several hundred beastmen were but a 100 feet from overtaking the wall when three winged creatures darted from within its confines and into their path. Sure, his confidence was shaken a bit seeing these creatures somehow hurl lightning bolts at their number, beastmen who could not dodge them due to the confines of the air-slope.

Thus those who got hit became charred corpses that started to fall like a burning rain. The sight made Urm bite his lower lip.

He turned towards the bowmen group under his command. Beastmen typically used the bow very little but the ones who did used things very different from what the humans called a bow. For a beastman, human bows might as well be twigs. No, the strongest used something far sturdier, capable of shooting shafts of carved wood with ease.

"Archers! Shoot those birdbrains down!" he ordered. He was not going to let those flying chickens do as they pleased and give them a free pass to kill their warriors.

"Baa-but, sir, what about the c-" Urm ended the goatman's query by crushing the weakling's head with his heavy iron mace. The Beast King's army had very few rules but one of them was - dissent against the commanders was prohibited and thus punishable by death.

The red ape narrowed his eyes, looking at the remaining archers. "Any other objections?"

The rest all straightened up and did as told, but the owl-things were too nimble and dodged the volleys without problem. Some of the heavy arrows were hitting the beastmen instead, the shafts protruding from their backs as their corpses began to crowd their path upward. Urm snarled, he did not count for that.

Then he noticed that preys was actually mounted on these owl-beasts. Urm could not fathom why these proud-looking beasts would stoop so low to become mounts for such weak beings, but he was not going to ask why. If they fight with the humans, then they die with the humans.

But the rising herd was just too much. For every ten that died, there was an equal number to take their place, and even Urm knew that such magic casting had its limitations. This might end up being a costly victory, but once the beastmen got over the wall, then it was game over for these humans. Urm would personally make sure to help taint all the lands in the island mass above red with their blood.

Then Urm was shook again. An all-powerful massive beam of light made an entire column vanish.

Then another.

And another.

Two winged humans and two other winged creatures appeared in the sky above the island, and it looked as though they were the ones responsible for these heavy losses.

A cold chill coursed through Urm's veins, and his paw was griped so tight on his weapon that he had drawn blood.

Then a soft, windy voice carried across the field. Somehow, it could clearly be heard over the commotions of battle.

"You were given the opportunity to turn away. But you still chose to attack our Lord's fair isle. Such action cannot go unpunished. But surrender now, and you will be granted this last chance for mercy. Resist, and be reduced to dust."

A loud roar challenged that voice. It was the Beast King, his voice booming to be heard all throughout its surroundings.

"HAHAHA! You killed some of my army, and already declared yourself the victor? Have you seen how many we are? We bring the new order! The Beastmen order! The times of men are done, and I will be the one to end it! No simpleton winged humans like you will stop us now! Fear me, the Beast King. I have discarded the name of my birth because I have no need of it. I am now the Conqueror of Cities! I am the Human's Bane! Hear me my followers!"

Urm started to feel a hot energy overtake him. It went deep into his bones and any fear and doubt was instantly removed as his blood now coursed with a primal energy. THIS was the power of the Beast King. "Kill! Kill! Kill! They are OUR prey," was his battle cry.

"HOOOOO," a hundred thousand cries answered their king as one, their fervor at a fever pitch.

But a moment after even more birdbrains joined with the other three, making their total some ten. The truth was Urm could not keep up with the lightning bolts and strikes of wind still downing row after row upon the air-slope. Their sages and shamans seemed to double down on their efforts and started to cast a mass levitation magic as more of their ground forces began to float upwards and towards the great wall's upper reaches. Yet this tactic proved fruitless too as it restricted any mobility and so these fellows became midair sitting ducks to the owl-beasts.

All the archers in his reserve force started to loose their shafts without Urm's command. But with even more targets to hit, volley after volley still could not touch the birdbrains or their riders as they danced through the air like embers in the wind.

Then the core of Urm's being shook again when he made out dark spheres appearing in the distance. Many other beastmen were also stunned by this development wondering what sort of deviltry this was. However what came from it made many roar in glee, as a small force of these human soldiers were now standing there in rank and file. The prey had willingly left the safety of their wall to descend onto their battlefield. Cries of "meat, meat, meat" echoed across the distance.

A crazed look was on many a beastman's face as they charged this live sacrifice. With a shift in focus to the humans appearing within their claws, less beastmen took up to the sky path as they instead rushed into their defensive formation with mindless abandon. Not that Urm could blame them as he was part of this charge. They had them outnumbered at least 60 to one and their own superiority would soon overrun their lines as they did all others who tried to foolishly confront them in the open field.

It was a strange sight to see these human formations not waver a single inch. It was like the beastmen were trying to breach another great wall. But none of the beastmen gave THIS any conscious thought.

Closing in on the outer flank, Urm could almost taste them already and they made his mouth water significantly. He now understood that pipsqueak's ranting when he informed the Beast King of his finding. And soon enough it was his turn into the fray as his enormous iron mace was raised to devastate the human line but his attack was blocked by a red blur, knocking him backwards several dozen feet.

Urm was able to absorb some of the impact with the dexterous strength in the lower half of his body but just how far was he made to tumble. Looking for its cause, he saw a human woman clad in blood red garb with a shiny head and holding a long blade almost too big for a human that was giving off its own red glow.

"Hey ho. Want to dance with me monkey boy?" The look in her eye and her maniac grin could have scared a lesser beastman, but Urm was not one of them. And her insult only fueled his rage.

"You are the monkey, wench. I am the great Urm! The Beast King's left hand! And no prey can best me!" He roared his challenge as he met his foe with a swing of his weapon augmented with a skill buff from his Beast Fighter class and the Martial Art: Heavy Blow. But he was surprised to see his prey parry his heavy-handed attack with a faint arc of her sword's swing, knocking his own easily aside while being pushed back another dozen feet.

Her reply was much more controlled as her face settled into one that knew of hardened warfare, "And I am the Crimson, Fyra the Searing Flame. Do show me a good time."

The large red ape beastman and the elf general began to exchange blows faster than any normal being could follow. Both looked to be evenly matched in skill and strength, much to Urm's chagrin.

"Ha! Good sport. I shall leave you alive for a while. Females can make for great pinatas, after all. And you might make the best one yet."

"You think so, beastman," was his prey's curt reply. Her hits, instead of becoming slower and softer as was normal with weak beings without the strength and stamina of the beastmen, still held solid. Yet each new strike of his being blocked was starting to ring his arm from the exertion. It was Urm who could not keep up.

The spiked head of his mace met with his foe's sword one last time in a desperate gambit to end their melee while it was still young. Urm activated a wild combo of multiple Martial Arts into a sunder attack from his special job class only beastmen could attain [Feral Warrior]. But it too was somehow parried, sending him backwards yet again. The only damage done was to his own mace as it came away from the exchange with a few small cracks.

But his trance was starting to recede, and Urm's senses were now picking up on how the beastman were faring overall in their offensive. That is they were not faring at all. The human formation looked entirely the same and the only casualties were on the beastmen's side. Flashes of light were everywhere and the dead bodies of his brethren could not be counted. Those few in the air still trying to get atop the island rock were easily picked off one by one, and now the birdbrains had descended behind their own formations wreaking havoc.

Most of his comrades had also snapped out of their trance and were now in a state of flee. But even more massive walls of rock and vine had somehow erupted around their own encampment, pinning their forces down and making escape an impossible feat.

It had barely been a couple minutes but Urm deep down knew he had met his end here. But the red ape would go out with the dignity of a brave warrior and would not beg for his life like the many humans had done in the cities their army had put into their bellies.

He turned one last time towards the woman in front of him before raising his mace in a hereto gesture of continuing their deathmatch. "You were a worthy foe, ningen." Urm wanted to acknowledge her strength as his equal before being overtaken himself by the march of the human formation at her back.

Sometime during their fight, they had moved closer to the slaughterhouse tents. Urm had not even notice up to this point that their own battle lines were pushed this deep in. He grabbed a discarded smoked limb (an arm) lying on the ground with his offhand, and quickly bit off the last remaining chunks of meat and flesh and started chewing. Not a bad last meal.

The woman's face still bore the same emotionless expression since they started their duel. Her purple eyes had a scalding shade of red, as if she was trying to set him ablaze by simply looking at him. But her expression finally changed as the intensity of her gaze faded into one of bitter disappointment as she gave out a mocking sigh as if she had found it all to be-

"You were so boring." She stated this as dryly as she could.

Before Urm could process the words the woman had said, the sword in her hand now looked to be in flames and without chanting, a glowing red sigil appeared before her. This was the last light this beastman would ever see.

"[Flame Strike]!" and in a single hit, the red ape's entire body was reduced to a smoking pile of burning flesh. Urm never got to swallow his last meal.

****

"Is this really... real?" said the incredulous Vice-Captain of the Dragon Queen's royal guard. The sights Marcus witnessed during this *battle* (if it could be called that) were definitely not common in this world of 'mortal' warfare.

Everyone from the Draconic Kingdom was in a similar state of stupefaction. THIS was because how absurd the strength of these *island* dwellers was in comparison to what was known. It even beggared the sanity of those watching as few started to believe they were seeing either hallucinations or illusions of grandeur of some sort.

All of them had been very concerned at first when the beastmen started to walk through the sky and towards their high position, but that worry was soon relieved when the group of three Owl Knights that had visited Arxtu on their signature mounts started to mow down the invaders with ease.

A few of the elf wizards, led by Anorous, were at their side. They were there for magic support should the defenders need their higher tiered spells to shift the tide battle but the most these fellows ended up being sidelined and chuckling at the battle to come. The Head Magus of the group was also there to teleport the Draconic Kingdom retinue to safety should things spiral 'out of hand', so Draudillon was thankful for his presence otherwise she might have died from the stress of being in the middle of a large scale skirmish against these man-eaters. Thankfully, as they were all 'guests', no soldier of her company was requested to help their defense - not that they would really need their support if these *three* riders were anything to go by.

Then the group of angels appeared.

If any of the Dragon Queen's entourage had any more questions of the existence of a 'Lord Divine' on the Celestial City's side, then they were answered at the sight of these angelic beings. As there would be no other reason such creatures would descend to come protect this island and its elf metropolis. Draudillon recognized them immediately as the highest tier angel the mortal man could summon - Dominions and there were two of them.

But they were being led by a far more powerful angel-like being, a silver knight of intense beauty who radiated a power comparable to Prince Kaineng himself. The silver appeared to have an adjutant beside her, an angel of snow white but whose quality was more akin to the Dominions. Then the silver spoke in a deathly quiet voice but it was all the more alarming because anyone could still hear her perfectly from so far away.

And then she heard the Beast King – a monstrous-looking tigerfolk that she could barely make out but his voice was carried upon a pretty impressive set of lungs. Her blood both ran cold and hot.

*This* was the one ultimately responsible for her country's misery. She felt dread at the sight of him as his speech seem to reinvigorate his troops whom still held a sizeable numerical advantage. Draudillon knew that her entire armed forces rallied in totality could never match this beastmen horde. Her country never had a chance of stopping their invasion. And however strong these newcomers appeared to be and after many years of hardship and brutality at the beastmen's hands, the Dragon Queen was still a little cynical that these elves could weather their assault and come out victorious.

Even Gods and Dragon Lords could be felled. History has plenty of examples of such a thing occurring.

Then a large group of priests and priestesses along with mail wearing battle-healers came to the ramparts to watch the coming conflict. Amongst them were many a high class item even if some of the pretty elves were clothed in somewhat revealing wear. At their head another gorgeous elf stood, more humbly clothed but Draudillon's senses could pick up the quality of her robes was even higher her fellows. Still this Celestial City and their inhabitants continued to defy all common logic.

Then the Prince of the City made his grand entrance, slowly descending from the sky with a set of wings of his own, although his looked disjointed behind his armored figure. Still those from the Draconic Kingdom could only look up at his impressive visage and wonder if he too was some high class of angel. And the magic quality of his heavy plate set and his 'golden' sword almost made the Dragon Queen faint in shock as his gear far surpassed even the silver angel who was leading Dominions.

"Are you enjoying the show so far, Draudillon-dono?" Kaineng's query had the lack of any concern to the fearsome situation at hand. Staring up at him, the Dragon Queen tried to reply, but found that her mouth had gone dry so she only gulped instead. She then nodded her head in the affirmative, even if there was nothing more she wanted to do than to curl up into a little ball hoping not to be noticed.

"That's great," the Prince said with a wide smile lighting up his handsome features. "Because it is going to get better from here on out, so do pay attention." Draudillon and her company shivered at its hidden context. Kaineng then took a glance at the battlefield below before turning back to say, "Do excuse me... but I must join the fray and get a swing in before the battle is over." The Prince then gave her a half bow (still in midair) and soared over the great wall to disappear somewhere in the midst of the chaos unfolding below.

What was most frightening of all was the Prince's attitude. It was that of a little kid looking to show off a new trick he had learned to his proud parents. And what did he mean by - before the battle is over? It just began...

But so many things started to happen moments after the Prince's arrival. The black portal known as a [Gate] opened on the grounds before the beastmen lines and from it emerged a defending force of elf regiments. Their numbers were not anything impressive compared to the armies of the human nations and far less compared to the gargantuan force they were pitted against.

They were barely 2000 in number but they were calm at the prospect of facing such a daunting foe. Their formations held steady at the charge en masse from the beastmen, and fought back with absolute discipline against their savage adversaries. Beastmen never used much tactics in the way of combat, as their physical capabilities surpassed that of normal human beings. They never needed to use flanking tactics or holding strategic ground, as them just smashing through enemy lines with brute force was effective enough for them. That was the reason why the armies of the Draconic Kingdom always avoided the beastmen assaults in the open field.

But this army of elves was holding the line just fine, against a force almost 50 times its own size. And the most unnerving of all, they were easily pushing back this giant horde. The Owl Knights continued to mow down the ones using the sky path to reach the great wall they were standing upon, and the Dominions continued to wreak havoc on the enemy lines while ten more griffon riders began to soar over the deeper ranks.

In the span of another minute, several tens of thousands of beastmen were killed with very little effort.

Draudillon should have felt relieved at this sight but she was filled with new dread. Her worries went from the threat the beastmen posed to the threat these people posed. In the very least, the latter was open to talks first but that served little to calm the Dragon Queen.

Before long, the attacking beastmen started realizing their dire situation as their battle fervor seemed to subside with every mounting death. Then only a scene that can be described as a magic bonanza broke out.

Enormous walls made of vines and rocks sprung from the earth even as the wind itself twisted to encircle the entirety of the beastmen encampment. The group of elf mages at their side then began to chaincast a long series of high tiered magics, many of which were spells Draudillon have never heard before.

[Dimensional Lock] [Antimagic Zone] [Warding Winds] were but a few she heard casted. The end result was a sphere of energies that surrounded the barriers of stone and vine and were mixed within the walls of wind encompassing the battlefield's radius. It seemed this was all done to prevent any escape as the Dragon Queen realized with growing horror that not a single beastman will be given quarter.

Then another flash of light where three more Dominions appeared on the beastmen's flank, devastating more of their ranks with columns of intense light.

Then a dazzling display of colors came from the elf regiment below as they too had magic users (many) within their ranks. Piercing arrows carrying the wind, explosions of fire and lightning, and stone shards erupting from the earth now decorated the field of battle. It was too discerning to count them all.

Then a golden light drew the attention of everyone on the rampart. Prince Kaineng had confronted the Beast King with his golden sword in hand. Even from this distance, Kaineng's raised blade shone like a sunray, bathing his surroundings in a holy light whose aura she could feel from here. The scene was made more the ridiculous as the Prince was 'alone' while the Beast King had a couple dozen beastmen around him serving as his personal guard.

But that did not really matter. Another flash of light... if the Dragon Queen would have blinked, she would have missed it.

The Prince of the City slew the Beast King, the Human's Bane, with one swing of his sword. Not only that but THAT single impact also wiped out all twenty of his guard and left a sizeable crater behind.

"G-gaa-hh" her Prime Minster balked, literally choking at the sight. Draudillon was frozen into an absolute silence, even thought was extinguished. The sounds of metal clinking could now be heard - their guards in their full plate could no longer hide their fear.

The battle did not last much longer after that. Those beastmen who tried to make an attempt over the entrapment were struck dead by a weird lightning bolt. Most others were swiftly killed off and soon enough in the killing field below, the sounds of battle could no longer be heard.

It ALL happened within a five minute span. The Dragon Queen and her company were shown a sight they could nor would never ever forget. It was as if every second of it ALL had been deeply ingrained into their memories.

As the fighting ceased, the majority of the healing teams that were close by were teleported down to the field to attend to the many wounded humans still alive in their pens. But compared with the sea of beastmen bodies below, nothing else may have existed at all.

Draudillon did not realize Prince Kaineng had already rejoined her back on the rampart, his disjointed wingspan in a fold. Whatever words the Prince said were lost but his voice did snap her out of her innermost thoughts of hope and despair. Kaineng, nor the two elf generals at his side, looked like they had been on that battlefield. Not a smidgen of blood or gore stained their pristine armor or clothing.

The Prince's boyish smile was still there as if he had just done some menial task to perfection.

But the Dragon Queen could not help shiver in his presence, thinking back on how this god-like man had devastated the Beast King, his bodyguards, and the very earth itself with a single swing of his sword. It took all her willpower not to collapse in the cold heat of her body, unlike some of her own troop whose strength gave out and had fallen to their knees.

"Well, now that that nuisance is out of the way, we can continue with our meeting, Draudillon-dono. Or would you rather skip to the evening festivities? We have an excellent menu prepared for our honored guests..." It looked like the Prince wanted to continue explaining *what* those evening plans were but he stopped short when finally recognizing the look of terror gripping each member of the Draconic Kingdom delegation.

The Dragon Queen was visibly shaking and looked like she would not be able to muster a single word in response.

With the feeling that he might have *misjudged*, the Prince changed tact, "hmm... perhaps we can leave the talks for now and pick up again tomorrow? I'd understand if you want to go back to your own city now. Dusk is in a couple hours, after all."

Draudillon quickly nodding her little head was answer enough.