The word sent shivers down Dallion’s spine. He knew that at some point he’d have to face them, but this was far too soon. He had only started building up his domain. A major encounter with a world power would quickly see all his efforts snuffed away. At best, he’d have to retreat back into the imperial capital. At worst—he wouldn’t have a chance to.

How many? Dallion asked.

A small island, the spectral shardfly replied. A few islands.

Dallion suspected that island didn’t have the meaning he was used to. Right now, that was irrelevant. Facing several groups of nymphs changed his calculations. No longer could he afford to fly over the mountain.

Gleam, use all the illusions you can and keep them occupied, Dallion ordered. Gem, I need you here.

No sooner had he given the order than a purple jellyfish popped into existence.

“Yes, boss.” Its aether form vibrated, forming words.

“Wrap around me! I want you to amplify my spell as much as you can.”

“Wrap, boss?” the aetherfish asked, confusion emanating from it.

“Like Lux does.”

“Ah, boss Lux.”

Without a second thought, the aetherfish flew onto Dallion. Its large form surrounded him, like a giant piece of aether armor. Of all familiars, this one was the only one that remained low level. Vast amounts of magic threads were necessary for its growth, causing Dallion to leave it for later. Now, he regretted his decision.

Seconds crept on. Gem’s presence had increased the speed of Dallion’s flight spell, making him move faster in Gleam’s direction. Even so, it would be at least five minutes for Dallion to get there—far too long.

“Adzorg, what was the portal trick furies used to move clouds faster?” he asked, on the verge of completing his modified ray spell.

Very dangerous, the old mage replied. You need a clear sky, nothing blocking you, and a lot more endurance than’s healthy.

“Good,” Dallion split into two hundred instances. “So, I’m all set. Gleam, create three light beacons at an angle,” he ordered. “Make sure they point at the same spot, then fly out of there.”

I can’t do everything at once, the familiar replied with a note of annoyance.

“You have five seconds.”

A tilted beam of light emerged in the distance. It was quickly followed by a second, and then a third.

Perfect, Dallion thought. Now, he had a rough idea of where the enemy forces were. All that remained now was the final blow.

Astreza, Berennah, Centor, Dararr, Emion, Felygn, Galatea, he recited the names of the Moon instead of counting. That marked two seconds more than he had given Gleam.

“Here goes,” he cast his spell.

In all instances, a beam of light, amplified manyfold by Gem, shot out from the spell circle in front of him, flying towards the invisible point in which all three of Gleam’s lines of light would have converged. A strong smell of ozone filled Dallion’s nostrils as the beam scorched the air, then flew through the mountain, creating a perfectly round hole.

“How many did I get?” Dallion asked. As he did, he felt someone try to force his instance on a particular one.

Nice try, Dallion pulled back. A tug of war took place. Each side was determined to bring forth their reality. Dallion’s proved stronger.

Half, he told himself, repeating what Gleam had mentioned. There was a time when that would be considered a huge success. In the current circumstances, Dallion found it half more than he would have liked.

Wasting no time, he followed Adzorg’s instructions within his realm, casting a series of portal spells, flying through them. The landscape sped by him in chunks, as if he’d acquired a power-up. The process was draining and recklessly dangerous. In dozens of cases, his instances crashed into the mountain, dying in the process. All that was necessary was for one to make it all the way through and one, or rather several, did.

A wide valley extended before Dallion, scarred by the ray of destruction he had just cast.

“Thanks, Gem,” he said. “Good job. Return to my realm.”

The aetherfish glowed and shimmered for a few seconds before popping out of existence. Its work was done. There was no further need to put it at risk.

How did you become this vicious? Gleam fluttered down from above.

Slowly at first, then all at once,” Dallion replied. Bursting into a new set of instances in search of his enemies. It didn’t take long for him to find them.

“Those are islands?” he asked.

Half a dozen clusters made of solid water were scattered in the distance. Each of them was at least five times larger than a cloud fort, hovering a hundred feet or so from the ground. The magic required to achieve the effect was impressive. Dallion could see powerful clusters of threads organized through its surface, similar to energy circuits. Clearly, Onda hadn’t been an outlier, but nymph technology was a lot more advanced than he initially imagined.

“You’ll have to tell me about them sooner or later, Harp,” Dallion said. “I can’t avoid them any longer.”

There’s people too, Gleam added.

Almost at the exact moment, Dallion spotted them as well, making their first appearance on the massive clusters of flying water. It was a safe bet to say that the Azures were here.

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A sneak attack in the back of the empire, Dallion thought. First scouts, then advance forces. If he were to lose or retreat, a greater force would follow, taking advantage of the empire’s perceived weakness. As things were, he had two choices: pretend he was weak and drive the battle to Sandstorm, where he had a small army to back him up, or pretend he was strong and make a stand alone here. Both options were bad, but taking the fight to his settlement sounded worse.

Don’t be a rookie, Vihrogon said. You can’t win this fight alone.

Dallion reconsidered his options. His settlement wasn’t ready for war on such a scale, not yet. Maybe in a few months when they had settled in, or even a few weeks, they’d have more at stake. Having to fight on their first day risked making them reconsider their decision to join him, and vows or no vows the town wouldn’t ever grow.

“Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice,” Dallion summoned all his weapons, enchanting them with flight and levitation spells.

In the distance, the water islands reformed. Spotting their enemy, they increased the distance between them to avoid the losses they had suffered. Losing the element of surprise, Dallion took the time to cast another ray spell. The beam flew at its target, only to crash into dozens of self-replicating aether barriers.

Capable things, aren’t they? He said to himself.

That’s why I didn’t want you to fight them, the harpsisword guardian said. Nymphs are a lot more advanced than anything you’ve seen.

“Even the Star?”

They took a lot from the Star’s knowledge, but developed a lot on their own. Of all seven, mine is the race patronized by Galatea.

“Age of the Seventh Moon,” Dallion muttered, remembering what Grym had told him. “The new age of nymphs.”

There would be no point in negotiating. The race had tried to take over the world once, and still seemed to believe that it was owed to them. Fighting remained the only option.

“Harp, I need to know where you stand on this.”

You know I’ll give my life to protect you, she replied.

“Yes, but that’s not my question. Will you be able to fight by me against them?”

That was the real question. One way or another, Dallion needed to know, so he took it into consideration while making his plan. Vihrogon would back him up, but he wouldn’t be enough.

In response, the harpsisword changed form, taking on her nymph appearance. No joy could be felt emanating from her, though there was more than enough determination.

Spikes of water shot up from the ground. Entire patches of vegetation withered as any water that was within them was magicked out and transformed into a weapon. The time of calm had ended. The attacking nymphs were determined to take no more chances.

“Gleam, are there any golems left?” Dallion asked as he darted straight down, casting a series of aether barriers around him.

Three or four, the shardfly replied. I’m not sure.

“I’m relying on you to keep them away from me for a while.”

Is that it? Disappointment rang from her very being.

“For now.”

Four of Gleam’s wings flapped, covering everything in the vicinity with an illusion of invincibility. It wasn’t going to ask long against enemies such as they were facing, but was a nice little boost to have. Done, the familiar flew off.

“Same plan as last time?” Harp asked.

“The odds are best.” Dallion replied, extending his magic threads over his body.

The water spires beneath him broke up into projectiles, all flying in his direction. They were countered by a series of spells from the nymph guardian. Although no mage, she had the innate ability to do that much, as well as the combat skills to hit any target.

Water crashed against water, filling the sky with splash explosions. The resulting spray of droplets flew in all directions, slamming into Dallion’s aether barriers.

Several of the water islands were getting dangerously near, approaching at the speed of a flight spell.

Is this a trap? Dallion kept on combat splitting. If he were in their place, there was a lot he would have done differently. Maybe they had been ordered to rely on stealth and thus avoid attracting Emperor Tamin’s direct attention? If so, that was a huge mistake on their part.

Summoning three clay cylinders, Dallion smashed them to bring forth three aether echoes. That represented his entire reserve—unlike other complicated spells, echoes remained limited to his traits. From what he had found, three was the optimal number, each containing the equivalent of a third of his magic level.

Four Dallions moved together in close proximity, then darted off in different directions. Two went straight for the nearest water island, while the other two continued flying towards the ground.

“Harp, can you take on an island?” Dallion asked.

The nymph gave him a look that combined uncertainty and disagreement.

“Just checking,” he quickly added.

“The island isn’t the problem. It’s more important who’s on it.”

“I thought you could defeat anyone.”

“I can’t.”

“Well, that’s not something you’ll have to worry about.”

Thousands of water projectiles launched from the ground, stretching to the side to create a protective shield of water. It was safe to say that the nymphs had figured out what Dallion was planning and were doing everything in their power to stop him.

Too late. Dallion grabbed the Nox dagger floating by him, then performed a series of line attacks. Black threads hit the shield of water, slicing it into chunks. That was not all. Cracks formed on the water’s surface, causing it to lose its solid form.

Dallion didn’t even slow down, relying on Harp and his instances to find a way to the ground. At his current speed, the crash was going to be significant. Then again, he had the perfect solution.

You better not say I didn’t pick up any tricks from you, grandpa, Dallion thought as he struck the ground with his fist.

REALM CREATION

A green rectangle emerged.

Name the Land you wish to create.

“Stone Circle,” Dallion said.

You have created the Land of STONE CIRCLE – Level 1.

You have full control of the Land of STONE CIRCLE.

A mountain colossus has been made the land’s guardian.

Defeat the guardian to change the land’s destiny.

Mountain colossus? Dallion thought. Nice. Very nice.

Of all the guardians he could have received, that was an almost perfect choice. Dallion would have felt awkward if it had turned out to be another nymph or a scylla.

“Okay, big guy, time to level you up a bit.” Dallion smiled. “Then we’ll engage in some domain ruler combat.”