Pov Vildra
I have 7 seconds to react. I am currently falling from the sky above the peak of the mountain. Originally, I would've died when I hit the peak, but Aesmo's plan F is proving unintentionally useful.
Plan F: Open the top of the mountain so there is a direct path down into the center of my den (where I do most of my mining). This is so I can counter ambush anyone who manages to make it into my den and block the main entrance. A weak illusion is used to hide the opening.
Thanks to that, the amount of time I have is doubled. Additionally, if I survive this drop, I have cover against attacks from all sides except up. I just need to survive.
6 seconds remain. They say when you're faced with death, time slows down. That isn't quite true; your brain just focuses so much on one point of time that it feels stretched out. Your perception of everything else is reduced as all you can think about is the moment.
I cannot move. The adamantite string is wrapped around my arms, legs, wings, even neck. I cannot rely on others; the Esmos are close to the main entrance, it'll take more than 6 seconds to get to me.
The only option I can think of is to cast a spell. There are many spells that can save you from a fall. I know at least 7 more spells, but don't know what they actually are. I hope past me learned something useful.
5 seconds. Each spell at minimum power takes 0.2 seconds to cast. To cast at enough power to save me, it'll take 1 second at minimum. I have 4 seconds to find a spell.
"Feather fall" No effect
"Slow fall" No effect
"Descent" No effect
"Updraft" No effect
"Elevate" No effect
3 seconds. No standard spell worked. Testing non-standard ways of stopping a fall.
"Halt" No effect
"Break movement" No effect
"Displace speed" No effect
"Float" No effect
"Pause momentum" No effect
2 seconds. Time to test the more esoteric spells I know.
"Helios: Sunrise" No effect
"Vega reversal" No effect
"Gravitas" Slight slowing.
The spell 'Gravitas' has 3 main uses. The first is to create a point of weak gravity. The second is to nullify the gravity in a area.
The last is to create a large zone where gravity is rotated. Including pointing upwards, in the opposite direction of a fall. The normal cast time is 10 seconds, but increasing the mana used decreases cast time.
A single usage is about 10% of my mana. To cast it in 1 second, it'll take 80% of my mana. I guess it's either exhausting myself, or crippling myself. I have no other options after all.
"Bereich drehen Gravitas"
For a split moment nausea overwhelms me. Ugh, was changing gravity always so disorienting? Annoying, but can't be distracted. Slowly, my fall slows down. At the perfect moment too; I reach the walls of the fortress and land on it.
Then I kick off of it, downwards with a spin. The threads around me untangle, freeing one arm. I am rising faster than when I was falling. Above me, the strong dragon from before is looking down. They can't quite see; it's too dark.
I can see their silhouette. I know exactly where to aim.
Gravity is every dragon's worse enemy. While falling is what threatens us most, there is another danger to gravity. It does not slow down. Only speed up what is falling. A meteor can outrun teleportation. A falling dragon is twice deadly to any beneath them.
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Pov ???
I did it! We did it! She fell for our trap! It took a lot of resources, but everything fell into place perfectly. I don't think that fall will kill her though; 4 seconds isn't long enough. But it will hurt, and she'll still be stuck.
30 more seconds. That's all I need to complete the circle. The clouds. They're working. Carving a magic circle in clouds is hard work; you need to make sure nothing moves the clouds. Luckily, these are my skies! The winds yield to me!
Let's see... once the circle is done, I just need to use some dragon livers to fuel its activation. Good thing we have so many dying dragons on the ground. Such a shame, but your sacrifices will not be in vain!
I count 8 livers available. That's enough for 'Time reversal' to revert back... 4 years I think. Back to what it was before she came here. Everything inside: her, her army, her ill-got riches; will be annihilated while this mountain returns back to what it was before her occupation.
Whoops. I'm repeating my own thoughts. I should hurry up though. I guess I should tell Hellipa to get out of there. Unlike Vildra, I won't make unnecessary deaths.
"Hey, Hellopa, what're you looking at? You should get out before I activate this thing!"
"The top was an illusion. She fell further down. There's a green glow. I can't s..."
Then a green blur pierced Hellepa's shoulder. I should've noticed. The center of my clouds were being raised. Like an inverted tornado. The gravity there is reversed.
'Reverse gravity'? That fool! Such a spell uses so much mana, and to focus it on such a narrow area! I just need to counter it with another 'reverse gravity'. And luckily, I have a new dragon liver available. You just bought 30 seconds. Even better, you're too exhausted to do anything!
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Wait, where are they? Ah, I got distracted. They must be above the clouds now. I guess this won't annihilate you if you stay up there... Oh well. Considering you have no more mana, I think the remaining dragons can deal with you.
Wait... why an I talking to you as if she's here? Ugh, I'm projecting again.
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Pov Vildra
Fuck. I think I overdid that attack. Oh well. I have bigger problems.
First of all, the clouds above me. I thought they were meant to hide another army; I was half right. It was hiding a giant fucking magic circle. This thing is wider than the mountain, and then some.
What kind of crazy idiot would make such a big circle on something as unstable as clouds?! And what is it designed to do? I can't even read the chicken babble that the runes look like on here. Actually, that'd explain what kind of idiot would do this in the first place.
So, how do I deal with this? Well, simply, I don't. If my estimations are correct, this thing can't possibly activate in the wastes. It'd need so much more mana than is available. This was probably designed for somewhere with decently high ambient mana.
So instead, I should focus on that weird dragon over there. The one who's digging through the strong dragon's corpse. As someone who regularly cannibalizes other dragons, they're doing it wrong. But that's just me being annoyed.
I dive towards them, as silently as I can. The distant roaring of thunder helps hide my sound. They don't notice me until I knock the back of their head. Their head caves in, which is concerning considering dragons are usually more resilient. Why are they even participating in war then?
Whatever. My next problem is that thunder. It's coming from far to the north, unrelated to the clouds above me. I wouldn't be surprised if it was another army using clouds. Quite redundant now though.
Ah, and also my dad's gang is flying in from the south. Not ideal. They're older and tougher, and I just casted a big spell. I don't feel exhausted yet, but that's probably just the adrenaline from nearly dying. I'm running out of time. I guess we have to do plan A.
"Aesmo, permission granted."
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Pov Aesmo
Please excuse my language. What the fuck is going on right now. This is way out of expectations. I thought "army of bastards" meant a couple hundred, not the thousands that's surrounding the mountains now.
This must be why Vildra was so grim. We were terribly underprepared. If not for the fact that climbing the mountain itself is challenging for the bastards, we would be dead by now.
Huh? Vildra's fighting above us now... Can we do anything? Alright, I'm going to the central chamber. Hesmo, Desmo, prepare plan B. Fesmo, come with me. You're the fastest, that's why.
"She's falling"
Upon hearing Cesmo say that, I rush to the center. What can I do to a falling dragon? I don't know, but I can't do nothing.
It took me 3 seconds to reach the center. Vildra was saying something I didn't understand. Cesmo was saying something I couldn't understand. (Which is normal I guess, but in this context is really concerning!)
Then the cave lit up. The deeper Vildra fell, the brighter the area became, glowing a crimson blue color. Vildra's scales shifted to a green. Normally the color of sickness, but in this context it feels powerful.
She landed softly on the fortress walls. Then she launched off of them, collapsing the walls. Yet instead of falling, the pieces rose upwards. As if the world was flipped upside down.
I couldn't even see her shoot past me. I simply felt the shockwave push me into the hallway. Fesmo and Cesmo and Iesmo (when did they get here?) were less lucky; they tumbled back to the entrance room.
I looked down at what remained of the fortress. Blue and red veins pulsed all around where the walls once stood. A familiar sensation, like the taste of blood in the air. Mana. The whole area was full of mana, and its source were those veins.
The smell of bones. The droning, whispers from the dreams. This was what became of the mana spire. How... no, what even is it? I want to ask Vildra, but she's... what happened to her even? Is she alright now?
"Aesmo, permission granted."
The command had a tinge of annoyance to it. Aesmo was relieved, as they went around activating small magic circles. Surprisingly, they were more powerful than planned. Luckily, that wouldn't be a problem; if anything, it's a benefit.
From the sides of the mountains, blood leaked out. The blood flowed down in rivers, then pooled around at the base of the mountain. The bastards, forced to march for days without break, feasted on the blood.
Besmo's poison is spicy to Esmos, causes stomach pain to dragons, and is lethal to anything else. Fresh dragon blood is volatile; impure fresh dragon blood is quite toxic and lethal to most things. Tarilite mixed with aluminum in water becomes a strong, boiling hot acid.
The army of bastards died off quickly. The few who did not consume blood became covered in it, corrosive metals eating away at their flesh. Before long, the mountain's base was widened by a kilometer in all directions. The blood continued spreading.
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Pov Leviamuth
This is the bloodiest war I have seen. Strange, as most who have died are not bleeding. Blood as a weapon. A unique concept. This is unlike anything I have seen before.
They're using it as a poison. That is nothing new.
You're not wrong, but not quite right. See, the blood's acidic. It's eating away at the flesh, so that the poison can get inside without needing to be consumed. Such a method has not been done before.
Ugh. The smell is intoxicatingly horrid. Just what did they mix in there?
I smell a combination of tarilite, aluminum, water, iron, sugars, salts, mi...
And why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be with them?
Unfortunately, Behethan was too slow to witness the battle's beginnings, so they sent me so that I could record the events and tell them later. Conversely, you are more relaxed than normal. What tension have you relieved?
That's not for you to know!
Oh! The meat is boiling! How exciting! And is that sulfur I smell? What a nostalgic smell. Yes, this is certainly different from anything we've seen before. To think that I feared stagnation.
The sulfur is from the tarilite, which when mixed with aluminum and water, becomes a strong acid that reacts with organic compounds. The reaction produces oxygen gas, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gasses.
Oh good, so there's no risk of it exploding.
Oh no, it is quite explosive at high enough concentrations. Especially if the gasses can't escape.
Like when the reactions begin inside of a body?
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Pov Vildra
Plan A: nicknamed 'Bloodbath'.
As part of preparations, several jars of blood with aluminum dust and Besmo's poison mixed in are placed all around the mountain. Tarilite dust was mixed with water, then spread all over the mountain as mud. Each jar has an explosive magic circle on them, activatable remotely from inside the mountain.
Aesmo actually did the preparations without telling me, and I forbade them from activating it without my permission. This is due to the fact that, once activated, it essentially poisons the mountain, and everything around it, for months. I wanted to avoid that for as long as possible.
Of course, seeing as yet another army is at the horizon, I'd like to believe there is no other option than dirtying the area. Honestly, with how many bastards there are, I think the area would have been poisoned anyways.
Anyways the other armies. Fuck, just thinking about them makes me sick. Or is that the lack of mana? Whatever, I have to deal with dad's gang next. If they're as I remember them as, then this will be annoying.
Oh wait, I have a solution to my sickness issues. Fun fact; the liver of a dragon has a lot of mana. And I have two dead dragons right here. Ah, wait, were they planning on using that to fuel the giant magic circle? If that's the case, then clearly they didn't research before-hand. Just because a liver is dense in mana doesn't mean you can use it to fuel a circle directly. You have to process it first.
It might be a bit too late to mention, but I think the dragon whose skull I crushed was my older sister. Well, sort of? She's a bit crazy you see, I think mom disowned her a few decades ago. Never did learn why.
Now, if I had a book for every time I ate a sibling's liver after almost dying, I'd have two books. It's concerning how I'm running out of siblings. (Hm? No, I didn't almost die with Mike. He's too much of a coward to kill me.) Actually, now that I think about it, how many of my siblings have I eaten? Strange, I can't quite remember. Oh well, at this point I don't think anyone's keeping track anymore.
Now that I've replenished some of my mana, I... no wait, I still feel sick. Weird. Whatever, I don't have much more time. I'll take the strong dragon's liver with me, if I need it then I can use it. Now, how to deal with dad's gang.
BOOM