"Why?!" was the single question echoing in Teruko's mind. "Why can they use chaos so freely?"
The great spirit's incomprehension was understandable.
Throughout their lives, the trio had encountered many chaos invasions. Some were weak enough to last only a few weeks. Others stretched on for months, even years.
But, invariably, the sequence of events was always the same.
Chaos sent its first emissaries, who conducted preliminary preparations and opened the gate for their true master. Usually, these were archdemons of varying strength. The last time, it was a demon whose power was on par with a dark god.
However, due to the potent protection of this world, the archdemons could only bring a limited number of demonic forces, significantly constraining their power.
And that's when the chaos warlocks finally had the chance to fully unleash their deadly spells.
Yet now, Teruko was witnessing something that completely disrupted the usual pattern.
Seals flashing with green light on the ground were spewing streams of putrid energy, desecrating and dissolving everything they touched. Other seals were letting out entire waves of carnivorous larvae, too primitive for the world's defenses to recognize them as full-fledged demons. Add to that the countless legions of decay spawn, small offsprings of rot, looking like deformed, grotesque little fat men, born right from the tainted soil or corpses.
The little creatures cackled joyfully, carelessly rushing towards death, yet always trying to bite into someone's flesh.
There was no archdemon; otherwise, they would have sensed it. However, the attackers could fully access chaos!
Moreover, the great spirit hadn't noticed a single full-fledged demon.
With the yokai forces so scattered, she utterly failed to grasp what could be done in this situation.
'Do we really have to abandon them?' Teruko looked painfully at the battling yokai. 'The Nine-Tails would never agree to this,' she thought despairingly.
Unlike the turtle, the fox, though not showing it, had grown much more attached to their creation, the Secret City. If in the past they were content with only each other's company, now that life seemed blatantly lousy. So, even to save her own life, the fox couldn't leave her subordinates.
'Do I really have to break through alone? Damn, what happened to the Serpent? I can't bear it if we lose another one of us. Ah, Three-Eyed Crow, if you could see what we've come to, you'd curse us. I miss you.'
"Lady, look! What is that?" a sudden cry from one of her personal guards caught Teruko's attention.
"It's..."
"Dragons! They've come, after all!" Elation slowly but inevitably began to envelop the defenders, who were fighting with their last ounce of strength.
One, two, three... Dozens of black dots began to emerge on the horizon, growing clearer with every second. There was no doubt that the dragon elders had arrived, bringing with them a large portion of all adult dragons.
Filled with righteous fury, the yokai renewed their assault on the chaos servants, slaying them with battle cries on their lips.
The cultists themselves also noted the sudden threat. The agitated warlocks hastily turned to face the dragons, thereby lessening the pressure on the great spirits, who immediately took advantage of the opening.
A wall of fire and stone spikes scoured through the ranks of the corrupted, causing disorder and confusion. The demon worshipers' seals emerged here and there, slowing down and weakening the blows that rivaled the techniques of supreme warmasters but could not completely block them.
And yet, despite the enemy's renewed vigor and the combined strike of the great spirits, the chaos servants still had a chance to regain their formation. All they needed was a little bit of time.
But just then, the dragons finally reached the front line.
Dozens of thick streams of fire, ice, acid, poison, and lightning relentlessly roared down on the columns of chaos servants, wreaking true devastation in their ranks.
Sometimes, after exhaling their "flames," the giants descended lower to carve entire swaths with their claws and fangs. It wasn't rare for a dragon to snatch up a cultist and then drop the screaming body onto the heads of its comrades.
Against the delirious, mad cultists, such a tactic was ineffective, but it would have thrown a regular army into utter panic.
Sometimes, they even used cultists as snacks to "refuel" after a long flight. The inner energy of adult dragons was capable of overcoming such volumes of chaos without the risk of corruption.
With scales impervious to weak techniques, formidable jaws, and sturdy claws, dragons were born to bring death.
However, the techniques employed by corrupted warmasters were powerful enough to still harm them, and chaos spells posed an even greater threat.
Relatively young dragons, whose scales and aura were not as strong, were especially vulnerable.
With sorrowful cries, they fell to the ground, where the spawn of rot swarmed them, eager to tear them apart as quickly as possible.
But even in such cases, the dragons did not surrender. Wounded and dying from internal injuries, they literally surrounded themselves with mighty streams of flame, tearing apart anything within reach of their claws.
The Imperial Turtle, brimming with anticipation, prepared for the long battle, for hordes of chaos, especially those belonging to the plane of rot, seldom showed cowardice. Yet, to her surprise, the rather numerous cultist forces swiftly began to retreat, scattering.
The warlocks used underhanded tricks to vanish among the ranks of the regular troops.
Teruko had an unsettling feeling that everything that had happened here had gone just as expected by the chaos servants.
"But why did they let us win then?" the Imperial Turtle thought tensely, and to her fear, she couldn't find an answer to this question.
*****
Kaede paced the room nervously. With lazy indifference, she was watched by Katsuya, who was lying on a pile of pillows.
"I just don't get it, why are you so calm?" The young yokai finally snapped, turning to her older companion. "Previously, you were just as restless, but now, after I told you everything, you're simply lying there as if nothing happened!"
"And what happened?" Katsuya asked with interest, finally causing Kaede to lose her temper.
"They've forbidden us to leave! We're practically prisoners!"
"Does this place look like a prison?" the spider woman slyly retorted, picking another roasted piece of meat from a nearby plate, dipping it in sauce, and tossing it into her mouth. The taste of the culinary masterpiece made her close her eyes in pleasure.
The dragonesses cooking their food had centuries to perfect their craft, and they clearly made full use of it.
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"No matter what you call a prison, it's still a prison."
"Kaede, dear, calm down," Katsuya sighed, gesturing to the pillows next to her. Kaede demonstratively didn't move an inch closer. "We did everything right. The dragons learned about the threat and, stubborn as they may be, they will likely do something. If they meant to harm us, they wouldn't treat us as guests. Believe me, dragons..."
"I regret that we had to limit your freedom of movement," a new voice made Katsuya pause and look more attentively at the slowly approaching woman.
Her absolutely white hair and brows and almost translucent skin could have indicated albinism if not for her normal brown eyes.
On the other hand, knowing who this woman was, the slight wrinkles at her eyes and mouth corners virtually screamed that they were facing an incredibly powerful dragoness.
"I'm glad to meet you, Kaede, personally," the woman smiled gently, causing both yokai to open their eyes wide in surprise. "My name is Melissa, and don't be so astonished, or I'll start feeling awkward on behalf of my entire race."
"Ha-ha, what do you mean?" Kaede smiled nervously, looking away. She felt uneasy standing in front of one of the four elders.
The yokai wasn't deceived by the woman's modest appearance. In her place, the Kuchisake-onna saw a gigantic carnivorous reptile against whom, despite all her will, she could do little in battle.
"A polite dragon isn't a common sight, is it?" Melissa chuckled. "And while my kind doesn't consider other races worthy of respect, some of us think differently. You know little about us, but let me say, I lead that part of our race that dreams of living in peace with other species."
"Oh, that's exactly what my master dreams of!" Kaede exclaimed impulsively, biting her tongue immediately after.
"Are you talking about Shiro the Serpent, the close friend of clan heads Jishin Sumada and Katashi Mizuno?" Melissa smiled knowingly.
"How do you know?" the girl tensed up, eyeing the speaker suspiciously.
"Even though we dragons prefer to live in seclusion, there are those among your kind who have served us for many generations, telling us various things."
"Spies..."
"You could call them that." Melissa didn't correct her.
"We've been watching the heads of the Mizuno and Sumada clans with interest. Their desire to end the war between their clans was not immediately apparent, but as they began to take more decisive steps, it became almost obvious. And I must say, Shiro the Serpent played a significant role in this. A man without a past, coming from nowhere, possessing amazing knowledge, and capable of unimaginable growth. It's hard not to notice him, as much as he tries to avoid that."
"So that's why you're here?" Katsuya suddenly spoke up, unfazed by the dragoness's vacant gaze. "You're interested in him or rather... Those who stand behind him?"
"Excellent, Katsuya," Melissa nodded approvingly. "While my kind thinks we can continue to remain in these mountains, I clearly see that's not the case. The Sumada and Mizuno clans, along with the daimyo behind them, recently defeated the remnants of the Alliance and are now dividing their lands. It won't be long before their gaze turns to the war-ravaged north. Can the daimyo of Chinetsu and Hogoro protect their depopulated countries?"
Melissa shook her head meaningfully.
"I don't think so. And here we are, faced with a unified world of humans once again. And I know all too well what happens to those who are arrogant enough to dismiss this world."
"You want an alliance," Katsuya concluded.
"Exactly. And I would be delighted if you, Kaede-chan, would help me discuss this with your master. How do you feel about it?"
"Me?" Kaede gasped, flustered. "But I am completely clueless about it!"
"We all have to learn something new from time to time," the dragoness joked. "So, will you help me? It's quite possible that your decision will save many lives in the future."
"Alright, if you really wish so..."
The floor beneath their feet shook with a terrifyingly powerful blow. It felt as if the very mountain decided to shift, to take a little stroll.
But that wasn't the end of it. After the first impact, others followed. The vases and other items that stood on the shelves fell and broke into pieces on the stone floor with a jarring noise. Melissa's eyes yellowed, and her face took on predatory features as she rapidly turned her head, trying to understand what was happening.
But before they could say anything, a wave of something sweetly enticing engulfed them and their surroundings.
One wanted to close their eyes and surrender to this all-encompassing sensation, allowing something else to solve all their problems.
Yet each of those present knew all too well what such an influence represented.
"Chaos!" Katsuya bellowed, turning deathly pale. "Kaede, move aside!" Her warning was timely, as Melissa began her transformation.
Pillows' feathers flew up, and a nearby wooden table shattered into pieces as the titanic white dragon crashed onto all fours.
Without another word, Melissa bolted towards the exit. Having glanced at each other, both yokai quickly followed.
"Wait!" Kaede desperately cried as she rounded a corner and saw the dragoness almost flying away. "Take us with you! We can help!"
After a moment of hesitation, Melissa still stopped in midair, turned towards them, and invitingly stretched out her front paws.
The friends didn't need to be asked twice. With a powerful leap, they both landed in the firm grip of the reptile, who then ascended to circle the mountain's peak.
It quickly became clear that the guest complex, just as the Elders' Summit, was located some distance from the true home of the dragons. Apparently, this was done to prevent possible guests or envoys from seeing how the reptiles lived.
But the closer they got to that place, the clearer it became that the dragons had failed in this endeavor.
If one were to summarize the sight, it could be said that the dragons' homeland resembled the Secret City. A similar ring of mountains enclosed a valley hidden from prying eyes. But unlike the city, here the mountains had very gentle slopes, leaving almost no land for the valley below.
So, if the yokai had a sort of cup with a flat bottom, the dragons had a goblet.
A goblet whose walls were riddled with numerous openings and passages. This was where young dragons lived and grew. The older they became, the higher they could live.
The most powerful ones settled even further away, as their sociopathy only progressed with age.
And right now, both yokai watched with bated breath as a fierce battle raged across the valley.
Deciding to attack this place, the forces of chaos didn't try to break through the mountains or engage in rock climbing. They simply dug many tunnels underground in secret, from which an endless stream of crazed cultists was now bursting forth.
And considering that the main force of the dragons had gone to help the yokai, the invaders had to be faced mostly by dragonesses and young dragons.
And things were going pretty badly for them.
Retreating and snapping back, they were forced to fight on the ground to prevent any of the spawn of dark planes from sneaking into the mountains to the hidden eggs and young dragonlings.
Since the forces of chaos didn't want to attract attention prematurely, they couldn't dig tunnels directly into the dragons' shelters, so they emerged from tunnels equidistant from the mountain slopes, that is, right from the center of the valley.
The dragons surrounding this place continuously released streams of flame and other elements, trying to hold back the relentless advance of chaos.
But the problem was that the energy reserves of the dragonesses were far from infinite, and the invaders had warlocks who quite successfully defended against dragon fire, while simultaneously extending magical protection to all their troops.
Moreover, ground combat was not the dragons' forte. Their element was the sky, but right now, they couldn't afford to abandon their wards.
Assessing the situation, Melissa began to shift towards the battling forces, intending to sweep across the front line with her breath to alleviate the pressure, but she didn't have time.
The stone slope directly beneath her exploded with dozens of rocks and boulders, and if the dragoness, dodging, had not instinctively raised a bloody-ice shield, they would have already plunged down.
But as it turned out, the explosion was the least of their problems, for when the ground itself erupted beneath the chaos servants' feet, it was merely a prelude to something truly grand.
The stones had not even begun to fall when a monstrous green wall burst forth from the fetid darkness.
"Ra-a-a!" Melissa roared, making a desperate dash to the side, crushing Kaede and Katsuya with terrifying force in her claws, and the giant jaws of the subterranean monster missed them, only blowing foul wind their way.
The membranes of the dragoness's wings uttered agonized creaks as she struggled to stabilize her flight alongside the countless scales of the green creature.
Considering the size of the jaws and the body continuing to emerge, the monster was significantly larger than the dragoness herself. What else is there to add if its bite could easily accommodate a substantial part of the reptile in its maw?
Finally stabilizing her flight somewhat, Melissa turned around, allowing her shocked passengers a full view of what had almost killed them.
"It can't be..." Katsuya gasped, her voice tinged with palpable hysteria. "The Great Serpent... It can't be... How could this happen!" she cried in agony, staring at what seemed to have burst out straight from hell.
The battlefield fell eerily quiet as the Great Serpent finished emerging from the ground. Coil after coil, his titanic body settled on the ground, crushing nearby cultists in its wake. It seemed neither they nor he cared much about that.
Looking at the head of one of the great spirits, Kaede barely suppressed nausea.
Rot and diseases had mercilessly ravaged the serpent, disfiguring his scales wherever possible. Huge boils and inflammations, mutated tentacles growing so thick they resembled fur in places, abscesses and pustules were covering his body.
It seemed like every disease ever spawned by the cosmos felt a sacred duty to leave its mark on this "canvas."
The rot had eaten deeply into his flesh, causing the lower jaw to grow a gruesome hole, from which steaming saliva and foam dripped intermittently.
The bones of the skull peered through the hanging skin that resembled tattered cloth.
But the worst were the eyes. They hid deep within deformed sockets, hidden in dark shadows. Or was it the billowing tissue obscuring the Great Spirit's vision? A continuous stream of some brown, dirty fluid flowed from the sockets, creating the impression that the spirit wept bloody tears.
Finally, the serpent's head rose high enough for him to survey the battlefield without any trouble.
The wounded maw, squelching with tortured flesh, opened unnaturally wide, revealing a tongue covered in a repulsive enormous rash.
Ketsumi and Kaede, blinded by terror, cowered in the dragoness's grasp as the dying world was shaken by the continuous, agonizing scream of the one who was once called the Great Serpent.