Chapter 86: At the Dawn 1
The chill wind bit Elania’s exposed skin as she soared high above the clouds. Not for the first time, she reached up and adjusted the breathing mask Yolani had given her, ensuring a tight seal.
It had been decided that using [Power] to form an air pocket for breathing and high-speed travel was too risky.
Her mission was to collect intelligence and enemy numbers, not pick a fight—especially with the potential for a far stronger demi-divine in the enemy fleet.
And that meant staying undetected.
Elania pulled a telescope from her belt and brought it to her eye, scanning the skies below. The Monevoian fleet was there, split into a half dozen clusters. That made it easier to count them, so she was thankful for that.
Because there was a lot of counting required.
She pulled up her tethered clipboard and added another thirty to her tally.
A frown formed on her lips as she scanned the list. Two hundred and thirty-nine airships in total. Maybe she was off by a few, but she felt it was a reasonably accurate count.
She tilted her body, bringing herself into a wide banking curve that would take her back to Contia.
Most of the Monevoian warships were the large type, too. She hadn’t even spotted any two-balloon ships. Worse, there were a dozen giant four-ballooners and an entire cluster of ships she could only call barges. Those resembled something like giant flying oil tankers, but as she zoomed in with her telescope, she came to the unhappy realization that they were troop carriers.
Monevoia had come to invade, and they expected to put an army on the island.
With so many ships, it was likely they would succeed.
Elania let out a puff of breath, fogging her mask for a moment. Bringing the telescope back up to her eye, she scanned the enemy’s flagship one last time.
It was at the center of the formation, flying alone. It bore the blazing yellow and red flag of the Sun Emperor, a massive piece of cloth that stretched out above its balloons. According to Arlois, that likely meant the emperor himself was with the fleet or at least directly involved with the attack.
The ship was lined with dozens of advanced artifice weapons on its deck. There were even emplacements built into its balloons. It absolutely dwarfed every airship Elania had ever seen, its sheer size and armaments a testament to someone’s wildly out-of-control fantasies.
Heck, it was hard to judge, but it looked like the flag alone was larger than the Heart or Gold!
Elania bit her lip and put the telescope away, securing it and the clipboard in her protected flight bag. She needed to get back and report what she had seen.
As fast as she dared she sped up, the air pressure pressing her breathing mask into her face. Every so often she’d check behind her for any threats.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
It seemed like she had made it away to safety once the enemy fleet disappeared beyond the horizon.
A black flash in the corner of her vision caused her to whip around.
Black wings.
[Demi-Divine - Human - Level 387]
Elania yanked off her breathing mask and formed her [Demonic Aura] into a barrier surrounding her before turning and accelerating at full speed toward Contia. Over her shoulder, she could see the black streak giving chase.
It wasn’t the Sun Emperor, that much was obvious. She would have been in deep shit if it had been.
So who was this asshole?
She poured on more speed, her wings straining against the air stream. The black-winged figure kept up with her, matching her pace—for minutes, then longer.
It was almost halfway back to Contia before a black orb appeared in front of her and exploded. Elania flared her wings and curved upwards to avoid the blast.
That was enough to slow her down.
The black-feathered man appeared in front of her, causing her to skid to a stop abruptly, her heart pounding in her chest.
Elania’s eyes narrowed, and she glared at her harasser. “Fuck off!”
He sneered at her, his wings beating steadily. “Surrender to me, and I’ll consider adding you—”
Elania didn’t finish her scoff and jetted away. A barrage of black feathers slashed into her path before she could pick up any speed. She flipped around, cursing as she had no way to really gauge her opponent’s strength. His level told her he was weak, but levels were a pretty shit indicator.
After all, she hadn’t even hit level 300 yet. And she was pretty strong.
Another barrage of energy slammed into her [Demonic Aura], but she fortified it in front of her while summoning a reply of light spears. She flicked her wrist, and they dived into the incoming barrage.
The two forces collided, creating a cloud of black and yellow. The aftershocks and explosions deflected off her barrier harmlessly, along with a few of the smaller feathers that slipped past.
He launched into circling around her, attempting to shoot her from various angles. She swiveled in place, her light spears firing out as she tracked his moves.
A cold realization dawned on her: he was probably trying to slow her down. Or pin her in place for others to catch up.
She needed to end this. Quickly.
Gritting her teeth, she surged straight for him.
The shock on his face only lasted a second, and he lashed out with a black dagger as they collided. She slipped around the attack, her hand clenching around black feathers to send them into a spinning ballet.
Elania blocked his next slash with her bracer, the metallic clang ringing out into the air.
His wing clutched at hers, and she strained with her free wing to keep them from spiraling out of control despite his best attempts to force them into a dizzying whirl.
As they steadied in the air, she realized her control was stronger than his.
He aimed for her neck, but her [Regalia] materialized around her head.
There was a satisfying expression of shock on his face as he tried to wrench free from her grasp.
She angled her revolver under his chin while grabbing his dagger wrist with her free hand. He struggled as she cocked back the hammer.
A pull of the trigger heralded a deafening bang before his head exploded in a burst of blood and bone. His body went limp, the fight draining from him in an instant.
She held onto the corpse.
[You have slain Demi-Divine - Human - Lvl 387]
[You have gained 387 Karma.]
[You have gained a level!]
[Absorb the lingering Power from Demi-Divine - Human - Lvl 387?]
Yeah, she hadn’t used too much [Power] during the fight, but she wasn’t quite topped off.
[You have absorbed the Power from Demi-Divine - Human - Lvl 387.]
[You have gained a rank in Presence Concealment!]
As the [System] messages cleared, the demi-divine’s body shimmered and dissipated into a silver mist. Elania frowned. That was the wrong color, wasn’t it?
A surge of power coursed through her, but it tasted… wrong. Like drinking brackish water.
The feeling passed quickly, though, and without sparing it more thought, Elania turned and sped towards Contia at full speed, her [Demonic Aura] bubble flaring with friction.
The fight had wasted enough time already, and she needed to report on the impending invasion.