Thick layers of water covered the hulls of the ships as they approached. Dallion had used one of his aether echoes to fly ahead and cast a ray of destruction before they came into view, but to little effect. Walls of water had risen up the moment the beam had emerged, decreasing its strength to such a degree that by the time it hit the flagship, it barely caused a mark.
In turn, the flagship had launched a wave of water projectiles at the echo. Defending against them proved simple, but it gave Dallion a taste of what was to come. No wonder the Alliance had lost: the Azures relied heavily on magic and after recent events, there wasn’t a lot anyone could do to counter them. The only defense against a mage, other than overwhelming numbers, was another mage; that or a domain ruler.
A line of water rose up from the front ship, heading straight for Alliance’s wall. Aether barriers emerged only to be shattered like glass. Water mercilessly continued forward, piercing through, until it slammed into the reinforced granite wall. Thankfully, that was all it did.
“They’re testing you,” Euryale said. “They did the same before wiping us out.”
Dallion nodded. Both sides had done their obligatory show of strength and neither had the upper hand. With that, the ante was raised.
Their hulls are covered in water golems, Gleam told Dallion in his realm.
The shardfly had flown up in the sky, using illusion to mask itself as a cloud. As vicious and powerful as it was, even it wouldn’t be able to win the battle alone. After all, a dragon had already tried that and clearly failed.
When they get near, the golems will be the first to charge, Gleam added. Also, don’t trust their numbers. Most of the fleet is hiding beneath illusion spells.
How many? Dallion asked.
Three-quarters. Maybe four fifths. It’s difficult to tell from this distance.
Not good. According to the fury scouts, over a hundred ships had been spotted. If Gleam was to be believed, that put the total number at five hundred at least.
Good job, Gleam. Keep observing. At some point, I might tell you to join in.
You better.
“What’s the matter?” Several clusters of Euryale’s snakes turned to Dallion.
“There’s a lot more of them than meets the eye,” Dallion replied. “Most of the fleet is invisible, and there are water golems hiding on the ships. How did you manage to fight them off last time?”
“We didn’t. We caused most of their losses once they went inland. Everything on the coast was lost.” The gorgon adjusted her sun gold armor. Despite Dallion’s treatment, the wounds still caused her a sizable amount of pain. “Nymphs were leading the charge back then.”
A wedge towards the empire, Dallion thought. As long as he dealt with the water golems and the mages aboard, victory was within reach. That didn’t mean it would be easy.
Upon reaching the edge of the city’s domain, the flagship stopped. The smaller ships followed. The number of magic threads throughout each of them was impressive, making them glow bright purple.
I still think I should inform the emperor, dear boy, Adzorg complained. Due to necessity, Dallion had removed his blocking ring, but also made the old mage give a Moon vow that he wouldn’t share anything he knew of the situation to anyone. He could destroy the fleet in minutes.
And us along with it, Dallion thought.
The aether echo flew towards the ship, performing a series of line and point attacks with the aim of provoking the enemies into doing something. Lines of destruction split the massive wall of water that emerged, attempting to cut through. No matter the number, though, none of them was able to pass the middle.
Harp? Dallion asked. What’s special about the water?
Normally, a line attack was capable of slicing through cliffs. To have it stopped, there had to be magic in play and more.
The harpsisword guardian didn’t respond. The invaders, though, did. Cones of water emerged from the wall, darting at the echo. The aether-Dallion split into fifty instances as he pulled back. Using guard and attack skills, he slashed at several of the water cones, to no result. Upon getting hit, they splintered into thousands of water needles, flying in all directions. An aether sphere emerged, at which point the real goal of the attack became apparent.
“They’re symbols,” Dallion said, although too late for his echo to take advantage.
Magic symbols formed around the aether sphere, connecting to one another with threads of water. A massive explosion followed. Water splashed in all directions. The Azure fleet was forced slightly back as the sea rippled beneath them. Meanwhile, several waves slammed into the outer wall of the city. When the tons of water fell back into the sea, the echo was gone.
“Did they do that when you fought them?” he turned to Eury.
“No,” she replied in a tone suggesting that they did far worse things.
“Guess there’s no going around it,” he summoned his harpsisword and aura blade. “I’ll have to go there.”
Instantly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t.” The tone was hard, but at the same time Dallion felt it like a plea.
“It’ll be fine,” he lied, placing his hand on hers. “I have something in mind.”
The gorgon loosened her grip, allowing her hand to slide off. Dallion nodded with a smile, then floated up. For the last few days. He had been devising a plan just for this occasion—one he hadn’t even shared with the gorgon. Now it was time to execute it.
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Get ready, he said within his domain.
No hostile action took place as Dallion flew to the edge of his domain. As he got closer, more and more enemy ships appeared, shedding off their illusion of invisibility. Whoever was leading the force knew that such spells would achieve nothing, so had ventured to intimidate as many of Dallion’s forces as possible. Thousands of troops moved about the decks, preparing massive ballistas to fire. The magic threads within the bolts made it clear that they would do more than physical damage to their target.
“Music weapons?” Dallion asked.
Could be, Vihrogon said hesitantly. Harp would know better.
Dallion could feel the fear and reluctance emanating from the nymph. They were markedly stronger than before and still growing.
What’s going on, Harp? he asked. Under different circumstances, he would have ventured into his awakening realm to have a conversation on the matter. When dealing with such enemies, he couldn’t afford any such luxuries—even a moment’s lack of concentration could prove too much.
“If music’s what you want.” Dallion waved his aura sword, leaving spell circles in the air. He then released it, grabbing his harpsisword with both hands.
The aura sword floated in the air as Dallion combined attack and music skills.
Spark, he played the first chord.
Glowing threads of music erupted from the harpsisword, flying in all directions. Several clusters burned through the barrier of water as if it were made of wax. Apparently, it was magic, after all.
Increasing the pace, Dallion started singing, launching a second set of threads forward. All nearby ships targeted him with their ballistas. Taking the magic into account, they had enough firepower to create a crater on the ocean floor. And still, none of them actually fired.
What are you waiting for? Dallion kept playing.
The sound of music had effectively drilled through the ship’s protection, making it all the way to the hull itself. Dallion could see scarring appear on the polished wood.
An idea emerged, one so insanely dangerous that no one would even consider it. No logical person would even attempt such a course of action, but that meant it would come with the element of surprise.
Time stopped. All of Dallion’s mind trait focused on the possible outcome. He couldn’t use aether echoes or combat splitting—doing so would warn the enemies of his intentions. The only way to succeed was to risk it all, and in one moment of certainty, Dallion did just that.
Lux! He ordered.
Blue flames enveloped Dallion, then propelled him forward as fast as a bullet. Dozens of ballista bolts launched from the nearby ships, already too late to change the outcome.
“Stop!” Dallion said.
With the created inertia, Dallion was headed for the straight mast. Not in the least bit concerned, he changed the way he was holding the harpsisword, then did a vertical line slash to deal with the issue.
A pair of swords parried his attack, stopping the line of destruction before it could happen.
What? Dallion burst into instances, ordering Lux to pull back.
His opponent split in just as many, following up with a counterattack of his own. An exchange of blows followed, faster than the eye could follow.
Of course it would be you, Dallion thought, recognizing his opponent. It was the nymph that had puppeted Phoil, now having Grym Dreud’s bodyguard as a puppet. The two had clashed twice before, and ended in a draw both times. Rather, the last time couldn’t be called a draw. Despite what the other claimed, Dallion had the impression he was allowed to win.
“There won’t be a stalemate this time!” The aura sword swooped in from behind, creating a trail of spell circles in its wake.
Meanwhile, Dallion pressed on with a multi-attack in each instance.
Entangle him! He othered the item guardians of his enemy’s clothes.
In two hundred and forty-seven of the instances, nothing happened. But in three, the items responded. The man’s sleeves moved just enough to catch the hilt of the left blade he was holding. It was an innocent action, slowing him down fractions of a second, but in the world of high-level awakened that was more than enough.
Got you! Dallion forced that reality to become reality, piercing the back of his enemy’s hand. Blood erupted with incredible intensity.
CRITICAL STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased by 200%
A red rectangle emerged.
Huh? Dallion blinked. This wasn’t supposed to appear in the real world.
Taking advantage of his hesitation, the Azure quickly retreated down the deck. Dallion was just about to follow when a blur emerged twenty feet away.
“So, you’ve grown a bit,” the blood took form. Once it did, a sensation of terror surrounded Dallion.
“Grym,” he said, summoning the aura blade. The weapon instantly returned to him, where it was grabbed in the air.
“Using your famed healing firebird,” the leader of the alliance continued. Dallion had expected their encounter ever since the battle within the personal realm of Grym’s brother. He had perfectly expected it to be at least as challenging as his fight against the Star. What he couldn’t have predicted was that the person who hated his guts would appear dressed in a common outfit that nobles used for fencing practice.
Grym wore no armor. He didn’t have any protective spells, artifacts, familiars, or impressive weapons. He stood on the deck, in a simple shirt of gray pearl-thread, looking down at Dallion with a cold sense of superiority.
“Won’t your shardfly join in?” he asked. “Or are you using her to look at my fleet? Well, let me make it easy for you.”
On cue, ships appeared in the sea. There were as many as Gleam had suggested, but even so, seeing them pop up in groups of three and four was highly intimidating.
“Better?” Grym smiled.
“You’re not Grym,” Dallion said. “Who are you?”
“Finally catching on? I’d compliment you, if you weren’t half a year too late.
“He’s a puppet, boss!” Lux chirped. “There’s a nymph inside!”
Dallion felt his blood run cold. He should have seen this. Someone should have seen it.
“The Azures didn’t summon you back from banishment,” he said. “You summoned yourself back.”
“Magic is the trait of exceptions.” Grym smirked. “Having the Purple Moon as patron of our race also helped.”
“So, who are you, really?”
“Who do you think?”
Before Dallion could answer, the wave of sheer terror surrounding him erupted.
“I’m not going back!” Harp’s scream ripped the air, making everyone’s ears in a one-mile radius hurt. The terror emanating from the weapon was so strong that it had become visible like a pillar of blue light.
MEMORY FRAGMENT
Nymph Capital Sorgente, Nymph’s Era