Ep 118. Long Time No See. (7)
“Ilias, Raizel, listen well. It’s possible that…I won’t be able to assist you two in addressing Akeia’s emperor right away.”
The two younglings returned a puzzled look to the dragonlord’s statement. And, soon enough, they would ask in unison.
“Why?”
“…There may be another enemy waiting for my arrival at Telberk. A divinity…or a similar entity. One that may pose an even greater threat to us than the Akeian emperor.”
The image of the wooden doll flashed before the dragonlord’s eyes. The best-case scenario was to think that the doll was the emperor himself – but if it weren’t, and if the doll had truly been under the control of a deity like Serenis had first assumed, then there was no harm in preparing for it. Especially if said entity were hellbent on killing the dragonkin.
Meanwhile, Ilias was still puzzled by the dragonlord’s announcement.
“…Shouldn’t we get more help then? If they’re someone like that death deity…”
“You needn’t worry about such. There is no divinity besides death that could best me in battle. What I’m more concerned with…is leaving you two to address the emperor.”
Raizel rolled her eyes at the news, turning her head to face Ilias.
“So that’s why you made Ilias stay. So I wouldn’t face him alone.”
“…That is the case, yes. And if what Eline told us is true, the empire’s army will be at Telberk as well. Raizel, as strong as you may be…you cannot handle all of it yourself.”
According to Karas, the emperor was nigh impossible to best through magic. Then, it made sense that dragons with astute physical capabilities – like Ilias – would make the most useful ally.
Raizel crossed her arms, reflecting on what would happen once they’d arrive at Telberk. She then glanced at Karas, beaming a wry smile at the professor.
“Army, huh…well, I’m sure our empire expert can handle that. And Ilias and I can wreck that emperor in the meantime.”
“Huh? Weren’t you telling me not to even think about touching the emperor?”
“…”
Raizel narrowed her eyes at the red dragon’s comment.
She’d said that, yes. But she wasn’t stupid – the emperor had brought the entire kin to their knees once. As capable as Raizel was, she knew that besting him alone was an unlikely scenario.
“…Well, you know. Since things turned out this way and all. Might as well.”
“Wait, were you actually saying that because you were worried about me?”
“…”
“Oh my god, you were, weren’t you! Aww, look at you being a good fr-“
Wack!
Ilias’ sentence came to an abrupt end as she felt a metal fist slamming over her head. She rubbed her aching skull for a moment, glaring at her silver friend thereafter.
“What was that for?!”
“Everything.”
“Why you…!”
Ilias returned the favor – or at least tried to.
Unfortunately, the red dragon’s hand ached just as much as Raizel’s head after delivering the hit.
“Ow, my hand…stupid iron head…”
“…Ha. Serves you right.”
Serenis shook her head in dismay. She wasn’t even sure whether that was in the realm of playing or fighting. Somewhere in between, probably.
Hence, instead of stopping the two, she opened her mouth to change the topic – addressing both dragons, as well as Light and Karas.
“Now, aside from all that…should you all not get some sleep? It’s quite late into the night. Get some rest while you can, I’ll remain awake.”
In fact, ‘quite late’ was an understatement. The sun was on the brink of rising outside.
However, Raizel begged to differ. As usual.
“Actually, why don’t we just head over right now?”
“…?”
Serenis blinked in confusion at the steel dragon’s proposal. When Raizel took no action to change or retract her statement, Serenis parroted the youngling for confirmation.
“…Right now?”
“Yeah. Hey birdhead, you can do that coordinate-thingy for Telberk, right?”
Karas took an additional second to register his new title before replying. His title was still an insult, but it was worth celebrating that it’d changed from ‘scum’ to ‘birdhead.’
“Oh…uh, well…I wouldn’t know the location’s exact coordinates, but I suppose I can give a rough estimate based on the map…”
Nodding her head, Raizel turned back to face Serenis.
“We’re all up anyways, might as well go before sunrise. We can sleep once we’re done.”
“Raizel, I understand you’re eager to go, but the others are…”
Serenis looked to the remaining three. Given their daily routines, she was almost certain that they’d need to sleep – especially Light.
Unfortunately(?), that was not the case.
“I’m fine.”
“…If Ilias isn’t sleeping, I’m not sleeping.”
“I’ve spent plenty of nights doing paperwork myself. One sleepless evening bothers me little.”
“…”
The dragonlord let out a small sigh. When all four looked at her with an expectant gaze, she focused her attention on the half girl.
Admittedly, Serenis didn’t even want Light to accompany them if possible. But…
“Light. Are you certain about coming with us? I can send you back to Partivine. I’m sure Ilias and Karas will be with you by evening.”
“…I’m not leaving.”
“…”
The half girl’s determined eyes locked with the dragonlord’s. Serenis contemplated on what to say to deter her from going, but Karas soon stepped in front of her, giving a reassuring smile.
“I’ll be sure to keep her safe.”
“…”
Light had experienced firsthand what leaving her family could result in. And she was clearly determined to never let it happen again.
As someone who’d abandoned her own son, Serenis couldn’t bring herself to urge the half girl to do the same. If they’d die, then they’d die with them.
Finally, Serenis spoke her final answer.
“Very well.”
✧ ✧ ✧
“Hm…”
Telberk’s fallen ramparts filled Lavnore’s vision.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He’d already been reported of the outer wall’s breakdown, so one could argue that there was nothing to be surprised about. But…
‘It didn’t collapse. Rather…’
If the ground gives away, then the wall standing on it also collapses. In such cases, it didn’t matter how tough the wall actually was.
And right now, a large portion of the land west of Telberk had been burnt black. Parts of molten soil were still in the process of hardening. Smoke was still rising from certain areas, and the emperor could even see small pools of lava scattered about. Although the sun had barely risen, the area was alit with numerous embers.
“Why, it’s almost like a volcanic eruption has taken place.”
“Such is the power of a white flame.”
Turning towards the man who’d just answered, Lavnore raised a brow at the reply.
“White flame?”
“The dragonlord’s flames. The highest form of fire-aspected magic.”
“Such a thing exists?...It’s a shame I missed it, then. Had I seen it…”
“This is not magic you can replicate at will.”
Rummaging the innards of his robe, the man produced a glimmering white shard from within.
“For even a deity was unable to handle the flame’s strength.”
“…Is that so?”
Discarding his small regret, the emperor dutifully accepted the shard into his own hand. He brought the strange stone closer to his eye, studying it with great interest.
“I take it this is the item you wished for me to destroy, then?”
“I’ve fulfilled my end of our contract. It’s time you did yours.”
“…I believe the condition was for you to accompany us to Asarda…”
As the emperor trailed off his words, the man returned a cold stare to the emperor.
“There’s no need. The reason behind my company was to address the threat Aymeia posed in your conquest – and I have dealt with her as you wished. It’s time you carried out your end of the deal, Lavnore.”
“…Of course, my lord. I was to destroy an item of yours. But I must say, I’ve never seen anything quite like it before…if I may, what is this exactly?”
“There’s no need for you to know.”
“…Haha. I see.”
Though he was laughing on the outside, the emperor’s thoughts were far from amused.
He wasn’t expecting an actual answer from the man beside him. He’d merely wanted to study their responding attitude.
After all, Lavnore already knew exactly what he was holding in his hand.
‘…It’s possible from this distance.’
An array of spell circles formed above the emperor’s head, surrounding him and the item he held.
A single instance – that was all he had. A fatal gamble that was guaranteed to claim the life of the loser.
And because he’d won such gambles every time, Lavnore was able to become who he was today.
But just as the Akeian emperor was about to unleash his magic upon the target…
“…?!”
Boom!
As his spells dissipated, the emperor averted his gaze from the shard to instead see a ridiculous sight unfolding before his eyes.
Throughout their time together, not once had the emperor seen his company show emotion of any sort. The strange man had always maintained an expressionless, almost machine-like expression.
But right now, that man was visibly frowning. On the other side of their shield was a gigantic, pillar-like heap of metal.
And at the end of the metallic mass, a silvery woman was coldly staring at the two men.
“Eh…close.”
“…”
Just when the man was about to push the steel dragon’s tail off his shield, a number of flaming orbs were shot forth from the dragon’s direction, forcing him to duck under instead.
“Raizel, stop running off on your own! What ‘smell’ are you even talking about?! You’re imagining things!”
“No I’m not. Can’t you see that? I was right.”
“…Huh? Wait, that’s the emperor? But there’s two?”
“The goldie’s the emperor. The brownie’s…eh, who cares.”
“…”
The man wore a deep frown – and it wasn’t just because he had suddenly become ‘the brownie.’ He narrowed his eyes, noting the white figure approaching them beyond the two younglings.
His lips curved into a faint smile as he muttered under his breath.
“…I didn’t think she’d actually come. With more dragonkin at that.”
“…”
Serenis soon came to a stop to stand beside the two younglings. Her eyes locked with the strange man’s up ahead.
In response, the man lowered his shield, barking a short order to the emperor beside him.
“Lavnore. Take the two younger dragons.”
“But…my lord, what of the shard?”
“Enemies take priority.”
After those words, the man disappeared from the Lavnore’s vision for a brief moment.
After charging forth at a literally blinding speed, the man reappeared before the dragonlord wearing an old, rusted armor. He drove his gauntlet into Serenis’ neck with a loud crunch, pushing her off her feet.
Giving way to momentum, the force behind the sudden strike carried the man and Serenis across the burning plains. They soon became a speck in the distance, disappearing into the mountains behind them.
Raizel and Ilias had practically no time to react. Before they’d realized, the dragonlord had long become invisible in the distance.
“Lord Serenis?!”
Ilias hurriedly turned towards the direction Serenis had disappeared. But when Raizel refused to move even a single inch, the red dragon shouted at her friend.
“Raizel, what are you doing?! Lord Serenis just…!”
“Leave her be. She’s not gonna die to that.”
“What the heck are you saying?!”
“She said it before we came here, remember? That there’s gonna be someone else after her. Guess that brownie was the ‘someone.’”
“B…but still! She might be in danger, we should-“
“Trust her.”
“…Huh?”
“She’ll be fine. Trust her and focus on what she told us to do. Or…go back and help your ‘little sister.’”
“…Light will be okay. The professor’s with her.”
“You trust that crow?”
“Of course I do. He’s pretty scary when he’s serious.”
“…Huh. Would never have guessed.”
The emperor mused at the two conversing younglings.
“A red, and…steel? But for a dragon, you have neither horns nor wings. It doesn’t seem you’re hiding them on purpose, either…”
Soon reaching the only viable conclusion, the emperor’s lips curved into a wry smile.
“You’re that hatchling from before, aren’t you? My…long time no see. I suppose Xar was going against my orders long before I’d realized.”
“Shut it.”
Spitting out her answer, metal scales rapidly began to encase Raizel’s skin.
“Oh? Now, now. I see the dragonkin still haven’t learned their lesson.”
When the emperor wove his hand across the air, a translucent barrier rapidly expanded outwards to encase the surrounding area.
And soon enough, the metal scales across Raizel’s skin returned to their original color. Even Ilias’ horns and wings had all but disappeared.
“Wait, this is…”
“…”
Watching the two younglings in dismay, Lavnore let out an audible laughter. He provokingly stretched out his arms, inviting his enemies to attack.
“I suppose one defeat was not enough for the dragons to remember. Come – I will personally drive some humility into your skulls.”
“…Shut it!”
Raizel took a slow step backwards. She then kicked off the blackened soil to rapidly charge towards the emperor – at a speed no other dragon could even dare to replicate in their human form.
Not having expected the sudden charge, Lavnore hurriedly wove his arms in the air. Hexagonal layers of light formed between him and Raizel, beginning to encase him whole.
“S, shiel-“
“Wanna know something interesting?”
Raizel stomped the ground with a thunderous sound, halting herself inches away from the staggered emperor. One hand was rolled into an iron fist as she screamed at her enemy.
“This form hardly makes any difference for me!”
Raizel’s fist demolished the emperor’s half-casted shielding spell, burying itself into his face with a heavy crunch.
And the sound was disturbing enough to freeze Ilias in place.
“…Uh…gosh…that looks painful…”
Not having experienced the empire’s invasion first-hand, Ilias couldn’t help herself from feeling at least a tiny bit of remorse for the emperor.
Though, it wasn’t like she was planning to stop Raizel anytime soon.
✧ ✧ ✧
“Um…professor?”
“Hm? What is it, Light?”
“…Should you be this relaxed right now?”
“I don’t see any reason to be tense.”
“…Really?”
Five people had traversed through the portal: the three dragons, Karas, and Light herself. The coordinate that Karas had estimated based on Telberk’s location had incidentally led them straight into the keep’s insides, right between the outer ramparts and the inner structure.
As soon as they’d arrived, Raizel had run off somewhere claiming to smell something in the air. Ilias had busily chased after the steel dragon. Even Serenis had followed the two younglings after entrusting Karas to ‘address matters here.’
And so, Karas and Light had been left in the middle of the keep to fend for themselves. With no ability to fly like the dragons, they were doomed to be surrounded by the swarming soldiers.
“Hey, what are those? Halves?”
“Judging from their clothes, they look like mages. Probably novice recons from Asarda or the resistance.”
“They got guts droppin’ themselves in here. That, or real rotten luck…heheh.”
“Let’s get ‘em over with quick. Did you see those dragons flippin’ outta here earlier? I always wanted to taste what dragon meat was like.”
Noting the soldiers’ bloodthirsty eyes, Karas let out a tired sigh.
‘The army hasn’t changed a bit…and yet, not a single one recognizes me.’
There was nothing to be surprised about; for humans, a hundred years was enough to flip the world twice over. It was only natural that present soldiers wouldn’t recognize some commander lost in history.
But based on that precise history, Karas was relatively certain of one thing.
The empire’s soldiers couldn’t possibly pose a threat to him.
‘Though, I am a little concerned about Light…’
Wrapping one arm around his student, Karas pulled the half girl closer to his side.
“Light. Do not leave my side, no matter what.”
“…This IS a dangerous situation, isn’t it?”
Karas thought the question through for a moment.
Admittedly, it was quite a dangerous situation for Light – but saying that out loud didn’t exactly seem like a good idea.
And so, the professor simply beamed back, tapping the half girl on her back as he answered.
Well, he was trying to answer, anyways.
“Don’t worry. I’ll-“
A deafening noise drowned out the rest of the professor’s words. An enormous stone pillar had erupted forth from the ground in front of them, hitting dozens of soldiers that had been standing in its place.
But before the soldiers could even comprehend what had just happened, the mass of stone began to lightly tremble. A fireball that had been hidden within the pillar exploded outwards, causing it to rupture into hundreds of meteors that struck the surrounding vicinity.
Although Karas and Light remained unscathed through the whole ordeal, the same could not be said for Akeia’s unsuspecting soldiers.
‘Hiding a fire spell within an earth spell? That’s…’
Taken piece by piece, the spells weren’t anything complicated. It was just a large pillar, and a basic fireball.
But the manner in which they were applied was one that could hardly be found outside of extremely old texts. Other than experienced army warlocks, such applications were hardly learned, much less used.
But unlike the shocked professor, Light seemed relatively unbothered. After taking just a few moments to catch her breath from the sudden mana drain, she tugged on Karas’ coat, pulling him towards the direction Ilias had gone.
“Professor…come on. We should go after them.”
“…”
The outcomes of Felicir’s appearance still haunted the half girl like yesterday, and there was no guarantee that the same thing wouldn’t happen to her dragon sister. Hence, if this army was sided with a divinity like him – if they were Ilias’ enemies – then there was no room for compassion of any sort.
However, reasons cannot justify all outcomes.
Dozens of soldiers had been severely wounded by Light’s spell just now. Some had died from the initial strike.
Karas couldn’t tell if Light was even aware of the damage she’d just incurred; the only thing that seemed to concern the half girl right now was that her sister had disappeared from sight.
‘But if she hadn’t done so…then I would’ve done so.’
A fairer person could reasonably state Light’s faults in this moment. However, Karas was not one of them.
The least he could do was dirtying his own hands, so that his students wouldn’t have to any further.
‘If you wish, then by all means.’
After a brief nod, Karas responded to Light in kind.
“…Of course. Let’s wrap things here quickly so we can follow after her.”