There were moments when I felt like Aladdin on his magic carpet. The wind blowing through my hair and stinging my face created a tranquil sensation, similar to sticking your head out of a moving car. Despite the great feeling, there were more important things to attend to. My presence was noticed by Warlord Rex and a one-eyed man, who stared as the shield levitated in front of them.

"It appears that you have selected the fashionable entrance," remarked Warlord Rex.

Sol and I dismounted from the contraption. “It beats walking on my own two feet. So, what’s happening?”

Warlord Rex turned and gestured in an outward direction. I advanced with curiosity and peered out from the parapet. There, I witnessed one immense army breaking into two groups. All of them were infantrymen, carrying an unusual machine located towards the rear. Positioned at the forefront were two horsemen, rapidly galloping ahead and distancing themselves from their individual groups. After further examination, I was able to recognize the species as a pair of demon horses known for their energetic pace.

While I was observing the army in front, Warlord Rex had already instructed Belmo - the one-eyed man - to prepare for a battle with one of the Liberators' officers in a separate sector. Belmo departed from the premises with a brief nod and a glance in my direction. The demon riding the horse was already near the moat.

“Warlord Rex, do you have an idea about how strong these people are?”

He followed my line of sight. “If Warlord Bazark is indeed taking part in this siege, it would be unwise to consider him an easy opponent. His level of expertise ranges from the beginner to skilled stage, falling within the Expert-Rank. Although I am not acquainted with your precise skill set, I advise you to be cautious of him, Dragon Tamer. Concerning his officers, you should only be aware of two: Linark and Nastro. They are at the First-Rank beginner stage and are adept in swordsmanship.”

I cupped a hand under my chin and stared at the horseman approaching. Some archers had already started to shoot their arrows. “Only at the First-Rank? Then those two should be light work for me. The first pupil of the Demonic Dojo had lost to me, and they consider him a genius. Linark and Nastro can’t be at the same level as him.”

Warlord Rex was stunned and his eyes opened wide in astonishment as he observed me. “You defeated that monster single-handedly? That is quite hard to believe!”

“Doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. I have no reason to lie. Enough about that though; what should we do about the horseman?”

Immediately after uttering those words, the atmosphere was pierced by a loud and resonant neigh, and a mighty horse, muscular in form, leaped over the barriers. Clad in armor, a demon dismounted from its steed and landed beside some archers. In one swift motion, he tore through them with ease, staining his blade red. Instead of observing him do his own thing, I felt it was the right time to act. As I was about to summon a swarm of swords, Warlord Rex raised his arm to stop me.

“Save your strength. The warrior standing yonder is unmistakably Linark. Leave him to me.”

I arched an eyebrow at the demon. “Then what do you want me to do? I can’t sit here and do nothing.”

I’m trying to finish this siege as quickly as possible so I can get out of here!

“I did not call you here so that you could twiddle your thumbs. If it is possible, would you be able to handle the troops stationed outside of Arago? They possess a siege weapon with the ability to breach the walls, and I would prefer it remain intact.”

“Oh? You have enough faith in a stranger to deal with an army that’s probably in the thousands?”

“If a Dragon Tamer cannot accomplish such a feat, then I may have overestimated you.”

Linark finished his rampage before I could reply and stopped right in front of us. He assumed a stance and glared at Warlord Rex. He looked ready to curse the demon, but his expression changed when he saw me. His stern expression quickly morphed into one of complete bewilderment.

“Is that a new Albaniqe or a human on demon soil? Why are you so far from home?”

Warlord Rex marched forward, unsheathing his sword. “Did you Liberator scum come here to speak or to fight? The gall to ignore a Warlord right before your eyes!” Almost immediately did the two lock blades. Not wanting to linger any longer, I grabbed Sol around her torso and leaped off the walls.

Sol said while gagging.

I created a shield under my feet and landed smoothly on the gleaming device. The shield accelerated towards the Liberator troops who were crossing the moat with a makeshift wooden bridge. I counted five of them in total. Their shouting and pointing started as I got closer.

“Look above! An enemy had come forth from Arago! Prepare for battle!” The Liberators erupted into a symphony of screaming that was strong enough for my bones to vibrate. I scowled at the screaming demons while picking away at my ears.

“They’re so loud…”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Quietly, I watched the soldiers bumble along the wooden bridges. The width of the structure allowed three soldiers to pass shoulder-to-shoulder, and its sturdiness accommodated up to fifty individuals at once. Many options came to mind as I pondered what to do.

I could just sling a bunch of mana swords at once and kill a lot of them in go, but that would spend a lot of energy. If the leader of the Liberators made an appearance and Warlord Rex needed my aid to confront them, what would happen? He made it seem like the opposition's leader was a force to be reckoned with by bringing up his Expert-Rank. Take in the fact that I barely beat Luci and he was lower in rank, I would be as useless as a mop at the beach. A plan was necessary for me to prevent the troops from invading Arago.

Racking my brain at what to do, I glanced at the approaching soldiers. I had about a minute before the soldiers crossed the moat with the siege weapon. Those who stayed behind were preparing arrows to provide cover fire for their comrades. Being a substantial distance away from them made it easy to avoid the rain of fire.

Staring at the moat with intense focus, an idea hit me like a high-speed train. Why not destroy the bridges if I aim to save mana and delay the situation? Without bridges, they'd have to build a new one or swim to cross. If they chose the latter, then they’d have to deal with the creatures inside the moat. The Liberators had to be aware that Arago’s moat had living creatures living in the waters.

Knowing I had thirty seconds at most, I urged the shield forward and stopped myself directly on top of the marching soldiers. With one hand, I summoned ten blades- two for each bridge- and ordered them to slice away at the ends. Each mana blade swiftly flew towards its designated location and plunged itself into the wooden support, anchoring the structure in place. The blades cut through the wood easily, like scissors through paper. A splitting noise pierced the ear like gunshots, and the five structures came tumbling down into the deep moat. The soldiers who crossed the bridge took a swim and fought to keep themselves from drowning. White arms emerged one by one from the surface and pulled the swimmers' faces deep under.

“Ew, how creepy…”

Less than half of the Liberators had yet to cross, so they were safe from harm. They were too busy reaching out to their comrades and pulling some to safety to deal with the enemy. As they were preoccupied, I made my way towards the siege machines, which turned out to be battering rams. I materialized a longsword and used it to render the contraptions useless by cutting away at them.

I wiped away my brow as I smiled at my work. “Phew! I finished things on my end!”

Without the battering rams and missing a lot of their soldiers, the Liberators at this end were dealt with. All that was left was the ones that broke off and ventured to a different sector. Since I had already wasted too much time, I flew toward the others. As the scenery around Talik Gorge rushed past, the mountains in the background turned into gray streaks, similar to those seen on a painter’s palette. It took me only two minutes to reach the other sector. Unlike the others, the Liberators already crossed the moat and were about to use their own battering ram against the drawbridge.

Sol said.

“’Course not. Just watch and learn.”

A thick javelin formed above my palm, and I chucked the construct as hard as I could at one of the wooden beams. I summoned a new one and hurled it at a wheel. Both weapons sped through the air like bullets and hit their mark, reducing the contraption to useless lumber. The soldiers shouted at the sight, confused on where the attack had come from, until one of them saw me floating nearby.

“The enemy is above us!”

The archers drew their bowstring and let the arrows fly. I shook my head at the sight and zipped on by, heading for the parapets. I had already accomplished the goals Warlord Rex had given me, and there was no need to waste mana on the Liberators. It should be used for better things- like helping Belmo against his assailant.

While I was engaged with the battering ram, I saw that Belmo was losing to Nastro in their altercation. The one-eyed demon was being pushed back from Nastro’s forceful yet fluid strikes. Initially, I hesitated to interfere as I feared upsetting Belmo by intervening in a fair fight, but I found the idea amusing and laughed it off. Why should I give a damn about what he wanted? These guys were from the past, and I had no reason to care about their feelings.

I’ll move the shield away from Nastro’s line of sight.

The shield hummed with power as I drifted out of Nastro's sight and hearing. Belmo's eyes flicked upwards and met mine as I concentrated on conjuring a weapon. He adopted a poker-face and continued to fight against Nastro, as any smart person would do in his situation. Their little scuffle continued at the parapet while I finished preparations.

Sol asked.

“No, that consumes way too much of my mana. Remember I gotta save it for later? I’ll just settle with this instead.”

In my hands was just the average bow- except it was in mana form. Envisioning a small yet sturdy arrow that could penetrate many things, I took deep breaths. The arrow sprang to life as I pulled the bowstring back, meticulously fusing into a single point. Locking onto a small part of Nastro’s chest and with the help of [Marksmanship], I let the arrow fly. The arrow found its mark quickly, credit to the mastery and Nastro's lack of awareness. While he was mid-swing, the powerful bolt pierced his chest and went through his armor.

“Argh!”

Grimacing to himself, Nastro fell onto his knees, his body going rigid from the attack. In a split second, Belmo retaliated with his own blade and ended Nastro's life with a single blow to the neck. The body of the fallen warrior slumped and slipped off the walls, disappearing from sight. The bow fizzled into nothingness as I and Sol joined Belmo.

“Good work there,” Belmo said with a smile. The gesture caught me off guard.

“…I expected you to curse me out for interrupting your duel. You guys seem like the type to love those things.”

Belmo squinted at me and sighed. “I know when to set aside my pride and accept help from allies. As you know, I was struggling in my fight against that man. He was a tough one…”

The more I interacted with the demons, the less I was believing in Luci’s claims. He declared the Demonic Continent was a chaotic place, elevated beyond human standards. Although I knew my time on the Demonic Continent was limited and I had no right to question a native, a healthy dose of skepticism is necessary. Perhaps what he meant was that the majority of the lands were chaotic, and only some areas had a society resembling humans. Arago didn’t seem different from the usual cities on the human side.

“The books should hold more information,” I said absent-mindedly. “I’ll go check up on Warlord Rex and see if he needs help-“

My voice trailed when I heard an explosion-like noise from afar. We all turned our heads at the source, half-way across from Arago.

“That was from sector F!” Belmo said. “Those Liberators must be attacking on the opposite side. They knew our defenses were lackluster near the Albaniqe’s!”

I looked at him, baffled. “Why the hell would you slack off on your city’s defenses?! You know what? I don’t need to know; I’ll deal with it on my own.”

Summoning forth another shield, Sol and I plopped ourselves on the structure. Before I zoomed away, I looked back at Belmo. “Go to Warlord Rex and tell him what just happened.”

I didn’t wait for a reply as I had already begun shooting forward.