“Umm… Is this working? Mukori? D-Daniel?”
It’s Geirahoel’s voice coming across a technology that surprises everyone and causes a burst of cheers around the device itself. Unlike most of Daniel’s creations, which he seems to pull out of a mysterious box in his hidden lab, this one was known by the whole group of companions close to him. He tries calling out, “Settle down, settle down!”
Some are laughing, some are talking, Wenlianna is crying happily as she bounces. It worked during the basic test in the Citadel, but Xyreko could have cheated, and so it was less impressive than knowing Geirahoel and Ryuogriar are possibly hundreds of miles away.
Geirahoel tries again, “Daniel! I don’t know if I’m doing this right! Say something!”
Daniel uses the microphone, talking loudly over the banter and noise of everyone celebrating. “Valkyrie Three, Mechanic One, I read you loud and clear, over.”
“Great spirits! Ryuogriar! I can hear him! His voice came out of this thing! Just like telepathy! We can talk to Daniel!”
Daniel chuckles, and Ryuogriar’s voice can also be heard, “Geirahoel, you were supposed to follow the rules. Here.” There is a light scuff of noise, and then Ryuogriar’s voice is the more clear one. “Mukori-One, this is Valkyrie One. Pardon the etiquette. It is confusing as to why we must do it, though.”
Daniel smiles at the others, who are listening anxiously to the conversation. “Valkyrie One, Mechanic One; the reason it’s important is for when there are many people on the same band, so that it’s clear who is talking and when they’re done talking. Grey Knight, report in. Over.”
There’s a pause, and then a male voice. “Oh! That’s me. Uh, Grey Knight,... No! Emperor, this is Grey Knight. I am here. This… is an amazing device, your Grace. … … … Oh! Over!”
The group with Daniel chuckles, as does he, and he sighs. He replies, “Grey Knight, the purpose of code names is to not reveal who is who on the radio, just in case the messages are intercepted. Calling me ‘Emperor’ and ‘your Grace’ completely defeats the purpose. Over.”
“M-My apologies, my Liege! Over. I will do my best to improve. Over.”
Daniel massages his temples with his right hand, palm covering his face. Hekate takes the microphone from him, saying excitedly, “I want to try!” She clears her throat. “Grey Knight! This is Spirit One. Report to us if anything bad happens. Or if anything happens. Report to us when you need to tell us stuff. Okay? Over.” She looks at Daniel, her big fluffy tail wagging excitedly. Daniel smiles and pets her head. “Good enough, I guess.”
“Spirit One, Grey Knight, I confirm your orders and shall obey. Over.”
Daniel states, “Better,” nodding at Hekate. She relays, “Grey Knight, Spirit One, Daniel -SORRY!- Mechanic One says ‘better’! That is all. Over.”
Everyone laughs. Vaergraes teases, “This system is more difficult than I thought.”
Daniel replies, “Communicating in code over the radio is very different from communicating in code through writing. You have to keep it concise so the other side doesn’t get overloaded with information and forget important parts. You have to keep it obscure so the enemy can’t figure out who and what you’re talking about. But, we should be alright for now. I just want to get started with practicing it.”
The others nod, and Geirahoel’s voice comes across again, “Mu-Mechanic One, Valkyrie Three, I apologize for my mistakes. I’ll improve. Valkyries have departed… um… the Flower Garden. Currently observing from overlook point… wh-which one is this?”
“I think Bravo?” replies Blue’s voice, the only other male on the circuit at the moment, since he’s near Ryuogriar and Geirahoel.
“We think this is overlook Bravo. No signs of Scruffy Elves. We’re going to engage. Um, over.”
Hekate replies, “Valkyrie Three, Spirit One, we confirm. But, you’re supposed to request permission to engage. Over.”
“We had permission to go in the first place!” complains the fiery orange dragon over the communication device.
Before Hekate snaps in a reply, Choul’s voice comes in, “Your Gr-... Valkyrie Three, Grey Knight, forgive my saying so, but Spirit One is merely remarking on the idea of mission control. It is better if reports are made as close as possible to the target, and then permission granted to engage, rather than blanket permission. If you had said something that stood out as abnormal to any of us, we could ideally prevent you from engaging when there’s something to be noticed.”
“I-Is that true, Mukori?” asks Geirahoel nervously.
Daniel accepts the microphone from Hekate when she hands it to him. “Grey Knight is correct, Valkyrie Three. But, I did give blanket permission in this case, and the communication systems are still new. As am I to leading. We’ll clarify our plans better from now on. Proceed with the mission as discussed, and above all, prioritize safety. That goes for all of you. Over.”
“Grey Knight confirms, Grey Knight over.”
“Mukori… Valkyries confirm. Um…”
Daniel glances at the others around him, and he sighs softly. “You’re important to me, Valkyrie Three and Valkyrie One. Please be safe. I love you. Valkyrie Four, Rook One, I am entrusting their safety to you two. Good luck and God’s speed. Over.”
Both Ryuogriar and Geirahoel blurt over the magic ‘radio’, seemingly trying to compete with each other, “I love you too, Mukori!”, and shortly after, Rose and Blue’s voices repeat, “Leave their safety to us, your Grace! Over!”
Daniel sighs as he sets the microphone down. He notices he’s being a little more crowded than he was. Reignleif was seated directly next to him on his right, though she feels a little closer than before, and Hekate is seated on his lap now. Specifically, it is Treia, Kera’tai, Aoloan, and Gwenesphia who have pressed in closer to him. Daniel smirks, asking facetiously, “So, who’s ready for lunch?”
“Daniel!” snaps Hekate. “Isn’t there something you need to say before that?”
“Congratulations Wenlianna?”
Hekate scowls at him. Ironically, Wenlianna is the only one who isn’t crowding him, other than the three Uhl’tall women, Xyreko, Ryukana, and the goblins, who are nearby entertaining the princesses.
Daniel chuckles, and says gently, “I wouldn’t be here without all of you. Strange as it always will be, I do love you all. Thanks for being with me.”
Hekate grins, teasing as she hugs him. “Was that so hard?”
He is crowded in a group hug as Treia leans her weight on him and the others hug them as well, “You’re a jerk sometimes, Daniel.”
He laughs gently. “Forgive me. I was no one special on Earth. Had to come to another world to stumble into all of this.”
“That’s not true,” retorts Gwenesphia. “Two people were summoned, but only one has done anything.”
“That’s not fair to Rikuto. He’s doing what he can with his position, I’m sure.”
“Regardless,” starts Kera’tai. “If no one else wants you, you’ll always have me.”
“Ha! Nice try, Kera’tai!” retorts Hekate. “I’d prefer it if you all didn’t want him. No, wait… I’m glad you want him, but… I wish he was… Nevermind! I accept that Daniel is popular because he’s amazing! So there!” She huffs, crossing her arms and spinning around to lean back against Daniel as she sits on his lap.
Daniel teases, “Hekate, Sweetpea, weren’t you going to be my ‘you’re only a man’ reminder?”
She flinches, fidgeting with her hands. “I decided I don’t want to. I can’t tell blatant lies.”
With a chuckle, he jokes, “Well, then, I guess I’ll have to become a lecherous tyrant of a man, huh? Mwahahahaha!”
The others laugh with him, and they enjoy a group hug for a bit longer. When they finally relax again, Daniel looks at Xyreko. “Now then; are we ready to question our ‘scruffy elves’. I assume that’s what Geira meant.”
Reignleif finally speaks up, still simply gently hugging his right arm. “Yes. They are said to share elven and uhl’tall ancestors, or something of the like.”
Vaergraes adds, “I can see it… Elves don’t grow facial hair otherwise.”
“The spare revival potation is prepared,” answers Xyreko. “And, all cursed items, spell amplification items, and poisons have been removed from both, including countermeasures hidden under the skin. You’ll just have to choose which of the assassins you wish to revive.”
“Zenkaoru…” murmurs Thymeria. “They would go to such extremes?”
The others listen with concern on their faces.
“Good,” replies Daniel to Xyreko. “And, the specialized rounds for breaking through their barriers?”
Illianna chuckles, “And Lord Daniel goes even further…”
He scoffs, while Xyreko answers him. “Yes. Two golems will be armed with sharmelkolle magic-infused rounds I call ‘Feldrok Fangs’ in the repeating rifles, two will be armed with cold iron buckshot, ‘Valstein Swarm’ in shotguns, two with grenade launchers loaded with ‘Doom Mire’ immobilizing grenades, and five armed with fully automatic rifles loaded with cold iron uncharged rounds. Oh! And, immediately outside of the door will be tanks filled with heavy water, in the off chance the assassin escapes.”
Daniel nods. “Sounds good. Sounds good.”
“What about the magic rifles?” asks Hekate. “Can’t we use the ice gun on him?”
Daniel pets her head. “You’ll have yours, right? My concern is that they’ll have an easier time against magic armaments than non-magic, in all actuality, given how fast they can move and how much magic they could manipulate. I survived thanks to Nemaisol, because it eliminated their magic in my immediate vicinity.”
“Then, what is the ‘heavy water’ for?” asks Thymeria curiously. “To my knowledge, water is an excellent carrier of mana, though, not as efficient as crystals.”
Daniel shakes his head. “It’s not ‘heavy’ water because there’s a lot of it. It’s heavy because it will have similar traits to the thing we used to kill the Devourer.”
Thymeria twitches nervously, glancing at her elder sister, Vaergraes. They are still unsure, and Daniel clarifies the actual point, “The water should negate most, if not all magic, and we can keep it elsewhere until myself and the golems are inside, and trap them if they make it out of the room. Then, send it back once we’re done.”
“What will you do with the assassin after you get the information?” asks Treia. “If you’re taking all of these precautions…”
“I’m being extra safe. These guys nearly killed Hekate, Ryuo, and Geira, and were putting up a fight against Vaergraes and Illianna. I wouldn’t stand a chance, normally, so we’re setting it up so that there’s nothing they can do.”
“You don’t have to be in the room,” growls Hekate, and many of the others nod in agreement with her.
“Act like an Emperor,” scolds Gwenesphia gently. “Delegate the task.”
Daniel shakes his head. “Again, in this case, I am the strongest asset we have. Thanks to Aoloan and I experimenting earlier, we know my mana is still too weak to consider me a part of this world, so hypnosis, mind control, and magic negation will have no effect on me. If they mimic Ryuo’s magic negation spell and incapacitate all of the golems at once, or seal Hekate’s power again, I’ll still be fighting fit, and roughly on par with the assassins without magic.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
No one likes it, but he makes a fair point. Ryukana offers, “This time, I will also be observing, so there should be little that can go wrong.”
“Once we’re done interrogating, Xyreko will put the assassin into storage, in case we come up with new questions. Plus, I don’t necessarily want others to be doing the torture method I’ll be using. It’s simple to do, but no less inhumane.”
Treia sighs, saying bluntly, “Then, I’ll be with you. You’re still trash at fighting in close quarters, Daniel. If magic is negated, it’ll have very little effect on me. And, gatonines have some resistance to hypnosis and mind control. Enough that I’ll be able to warn you if I’m losing control.”
Daniel nods. Gwenesphia also offers, and Daniel accepts, though a little more reluctantly.
“I’ll also join you,” adds Aoloan. “I’m not much for fighting, but I’ll be useful to help discern lies.”
Vaergraes adds, “The rest of us will be on standby to counterattack in the secure zone if things get out of hand.”
Daniel takes a breath and exhales. “Alright. Let's do it.”
***
Shortly after receiving confirmation/permission to start the actual attack, Ryuogriar, Geirahoel, Rose, and Blue are gathered together studying the Covenant’s gathered tribes of warriors. There are still lots of demon-kin, such as goblins, ogres, oni, dattakoriens, imps, and others that side with the Covenant, even though their tribes are being exploited to continue a continental war.
Geirahoel remarks, “These ungrateful fools. They have no idea that Mukori could wipe them all out in moments.”
“It’s not common knowledge that Mukori defeated the Devourer, so it’s reasonable that they simply don’t know,” replies Ryuogriar.
“Ignorance truly is bliss.”
“Before we go, y-your Graces…” murmurs Rose.
Both senior dragons look to her. The pink-hued dragon shrinks a little. “I hope it’s not a bother, but I keep forgetting to ask…”
“Go ahead,” replies Ryuogriar.
“You… refer to his Grace Daniel as… ‘Mukori’?”
“Is that a problem?” asks Geirahoel coldly.
“Wh-What she means is,” starts Blue in an attempt to protect Rose. “You seem to speak much more affectionately of his Grace than our former lord.”
Geirahoel’s icy stare turns into a bone-chilling scowl. Both Rose and Blue shrink under her gaze.
Ryuogriar fills in more gently, but very seriously, “Morthybargaron was a cruel and greed-minded fool. We knew this well before Daniel ever arrived in this world. He was never worthy of the name ‘Mukori’.”
“O-Of course, your Grace!” replies Blue nervously.
“If you want more pure blooded dragons,” starts Geirahoel coldly, “Make them yourselves. I intend to do what I want and love whomever I want.” She turns tender and quiet for a moment. “I… want to be with someone I love… and to have a family with that person.” She grips a fist, saying distantly, “Mukori… Daniel… He’s carefree about his life expectancy, but… I… I don’t want him to go…”
Ryuogriar pats her shoulder gently. “We have time, dear sister. Let us ease these burdens on Mukori, so that we might pursue our true goal.”
Geirahoel nods in agreement. She stretches her wings, and the other three do as well, preparing for flight.
Ryuogriar reminds them, “Keep track of where each of us are, and do not focus on the standard soldiers. Our goal is to destroy the leadership, which, if my mana sensing is accurate, they should be concentrated in the Orbicharium. This will be the first time it falls under attack.”
“As you wish, your Grace. We’ll strike first and melt as much of the structure in the first pass as we can.”
Ryuogriar nods. “Good. Stay in contact, and if any of us fall, we regroup together and escape.”
They nod in agreement, and everyone takes off. They fly high to avoid detection, as well as interception. The wyverns that demon-kin can train and ride can’t fly quite as fast as even the lesser dragons, but they can be very numerous.
Ryuogriar casts a wind spell on Rose and Blue, granting each of them a wind barrier that will allow them to pick up more speed on their dive. It also has the added benefit of deflecting some projectiles and weaker spells.
Ryuogriar and Geirahoel delay their own dive for a moment, watching as Rose and Blue gain distance. Orange glows ignite in the evening sky from the dragons igniting their pilot flame, a mere spritz of ignityal compared to the full jet of fire that is to come.
As soon as the two breathe long streams of fire that carve into the shell of the dome-like structure of the Orbicharium, Ryuogriar and Geirahoel begin their falcon-like dive. They pick up speed, similarly lighting their pilot ignityal among their own teeth. However, in addition to a deep inhale through their nostrils, they also simultaneously channel magic into their teeth and along the lining of their mouths.
Just as promised, a massive hole, lined with molten metal, stone, and burning debris has formed in the Orbicharium, revealing the insides like a smashed-open clam.
She can sense barriers being erected, but it’s already too late. The pearlescent white dragon and her junior orange counterpart exhale together, launching forth one of the most destructive forces in the world of Zenkon. Dragon fire alone, thanks to the unique ignityal that dragons produce, already burns hotter than anything else known to anyone on Zenkon, and magically-enhanced dragons fire is like a wildfire to a candle.
Daniel compares the breath to a ‘laser’, some sort of super-intense light.
Likewise, the ultraviolet core of the flame produces a deep hue, but the intensity also sheds enough light to blind lesser races that look directly at the flame too long.
The dual fire lances easily slice through the remaining pieces of the building, causing beams to screech and everything that the flames pass by to burst into flames.
The points of direct contact are where the real damage come in, deep inside the Orbicharium. The rapid expansion of the floors and ground where the flames contact enough solid mass explodes violently, shattering the walls and crumbling the roof panels of the Orbicharium. There are screams and shouts from all around as the guards try to scramble some sort of defense. But, all four of the dragons made a devastating coordinated strike, strafing by at near supersonic speeds.
Rose and Blue are already most of the way around in a wide left bank, circling around for a second strafe. Ryuogriar and Geirahoel follow the same arc. They’ll make two more passes on the Orbicharium to absolutely annihilate the structure, and they can pick off survivors as they escape, since one of each pair is enough to obliterate the building itself, and only the enhanced fire lance breath of the two greater dragons could harm any of the four without a direct hit.
Geirahoel remarks via telepathy, “Ha! That was splendid! It has been a while, hasn’t it, Sister?”
“Yes, sister. Perhaps the magic power Commander Leiwelles spoke of enhances our offensive magic as well.”
“The magic Leiwelles…” Suddenly, Geirahoel gasps, glancing at Ryuogriar, who grins in return.
“I am not embarrassed to admit it, my dear sister. I do feel that love has made me stronger.”
Rose and Blue begin their second pass, breathing a jet of fire at the Orbicharium and destroying the sides that are still somewhat intact. During his strafe, though, Blue notices a figure fleeing down to the left, and he banks hard, swooping down to ignite the escapee. Collateral is inevitable, but the meetings in the Orbicharium were to demon-kin what a gathering of nobles in the east would be, save the servants. It's a gathering of the strongest, wisest, or most beautiful. Servants have no place, since poisonings, espionage, and theft are rampant between the tribes of the Demon Covenant when servants are present, since the servants are expendable.
Blue shows no hesitation, breathing his jet of fire and erasing the demon-kin escaping from the Orbicharium and turning his head to continue his destruction of the building itself from a low angle.
As they’re finishing their bank, Ryuogriar and Geirahoel can see the demon-kin soldiers and warriors scrambling. Torches are being lit in the various camping shelters, including snail-like shells of gartatins, dome-shaped leather huts, and even small burrows in the case of goblins.
They stay focused on their target though, and as they’re making the approach, a blast of magic erupts from the wall of the burning and destroyed structure near the closest point of the structure to their approach.
Ryuogriar states through telepathy, “Geira, continue with the attack. I’ll deal with that.”
“Understood. Call if you need me.”
They both nod at each other, and Geirahoel picks up speed, preparing her fire breath and the amplification spell. Ryuogriar ignites her own ignityal, readying for her own attack, but she slows once she’s in range of the demon who blasted his way out of the crumbling Orbicharium. Ryuogriar hovers in place with broad sweeps of her wings, swirling smoke and dust all around as the demon stumbles out of the rubble. His clothes are burned and blackened, and he’s looking towards the Orbicharium. Or, more specifically, towards Geirahoel, whose ultraviolet breath of fire is still tearing through the large structure as she flies past. She recognizes the demon as Zolorad, a cambion with a large bipedal build with large, upright horns on his head, dark violet skin, a powerful musculature, and strong legs ending in split hooves. A simple, bull-like tail sways behind him for balance, and he cuts an imposing figure.
But, imposing is all he is.
Ryuogriar inhales deeply through her nose, exhaling powerfully with a magic spell enhancing her ignityal-infused breath.
Zolorad whirls at the sound of ignityal atomizing and bursting into unnaturally hot flames. He manages to dive to the side with a spell of condensed wind to push him out of the line of fire. Ryuogriar sweeps towards him, but he skillfully grips a large chunk of rubble during his tumble on the ground, throwing it the moment he can plant his feet.
The rubble explodes violently at close range to Ryuogriar, vaporized by her fire breath. The blast flinches her, cutting off the fire breath as she shifts her position to search for him.
Zolorad impresses her this time. He catches her tail after leaping through the air, blasting Ryuogriar with wind to help him swing her down, slamming her massive form into the wall. She screeches in surprise and frustration.
A cambion is merely a hybrid demon. They may grow larger and stronger than either of their parents, but Ryuogriar is still a dragon.
Zolorad tries to pin Ryuogriar to the wall with wind magic, but she negates it with her own wind barrier, recovering her flight by kicking off of the wall.
“Ryuo!? Are you alright?”
“Yes, sweet sister. I underestimated the survivors; the strongest of those inside.” The pearlescent dragon stares down at Zolorad with a vicious and menacing smirk. She’s many times larger than he is, and his attack did virtually nothing to her save catch her off-guard. She never was one for battle and tactics, so it was her own mistake.
“I remember you, Zolorad,” replies Ryuogriar with amusement in her voice. “A parasite lingering in the corners.”
Zolorad sucks his teeth before retorting, “Tch! I was told you dragons were taking a neutral stance.”
“We were, until both Imperial and Covenant warriors and assassins attempted to attack us.”
“That’s a lie! You would dare betray the Demon Hegemony over a fabrication?”
“Hegemony now, is it? Interesting. But, we very much faced demon-kin assassins. Or, are the archoneldwyn considered human-kin now?” The dragon is being facetious. Though none of the living dragons are more than a few hundred years old, with Choul likely being the oldest, their view of the other races has always been similar to the feldroks in the sense that there isn’t that much difference between them in the grand scheme of things. Dattakoriens and gatonines are virtually identical, as are the oni, who are said to be descendants of Uhl’tall and an unknown eastern ancestor race, quite possibly the humans or elves.
Zolorad cocks his head, shocked by hearing the name archoneldwyn. As she suspected, he does know of their survival. His confusion seems to be more than Ryuogriar knowing about his apparent secret. He almost looks like he has been betrayed.
That probably shouldn’t surprise Ryuogriar all that much. The two archoneldwyn assassins that attacked were easily more powerful than this hybrid demon. Cambions are officially a race in modern times, since cambion parents produce cambion children, but the first are hybrids between the Uhl’tall and either dattakoriens or humans, which can determine their physical traits to a degree.
Xyreko speaks of Omni-affinity being a stepping stone, and Ryuogriar can use all 6 of the magical elements, but she’s comparatively weak in void and light magic.
But, of course, Zolorad got the short end of the stick.
He shouts, “Come forth, divine power of the wind! Pierce my enemies with the breath of the world!” He channels wind magic into a condensed and whirling spear-like pocket of unnatural wind.
Ryuogriar smirks. Just as he launches the piercing wind towards her, she sinks into the ground with a suddenness. It’s a high-level ground-magic technique; connected land. She doesn’t need to move much, and she can steer the movement of dirt and rock such that it can carry her through the ground like a fish through the sea.
Zolorad tries to retreat backwards, unable to attack her under the ground, as her entrance tunnel has closed behind her, and his wind magic isn’t strong enough to penetrate very deeply into the solid ground where the Grand City stands.
Of course, Ryuogriar doesn’t have that problem, especially when starting beneath the surface. She surges wind pressure out, coupling it with the ground magic and her fire breath to create a bonafide eruption beneath the insurmountably outrivaled demon. Zolorad is ragdolled through the air by the explosion, doing what he can to defend with wind magic from the molten rock and blazing fire. He screams, surging all of his strength into a massive wall of wind that he presses outwards, similar to a shockwave, which shoves much of the airborne rock and ‘lava’ away from himself and towards Ryuogriar. She shields herself with her wings as her upward momentum slows, sweeping her wings out in a full swing to push open a swath of safety.
Framed by fire and destruction, Ryuogriar truly looks and feels like a dragon. Her reptilian face twisted in a toothy grin cuts a menacing look.
Her moment of terrifying glory is short-lived, though. A sudden figure spears into Zolorad while he’s trying to brace for Ryuogriar’s next attack.
Massive jaws clamp shut around him as a massive form slides to a stop on the ground. Flames burst forth through gaps in partially-interlocked teeth.
It’s the young male blue dragon. He may not possess mana, but he’s still extremely powerful. And, he caught Zolorad completely off guard, incinerating the demon in his jaws.
Blue flicks his head to the side as he ‘coughs’ a short breath, expelling smoke and two horns charred black and embrittled by the intense heat, though the only pieces to survive the sudden attack.
Blue shakes his head, flexing his jaws to cool his mouth. He suddenly flinches when his gaze meets Ryuogriar’s.
Rather, when his gaze meets the piercing glare Ryuogriar has locked on him. He stole her triumphant victory. An easy and rather honorless victory, since it was like swatting away a mouse, but her victory no less.
“Y-Your Grace?”
“You stole it from me…”
“I… I was given strict orders to protect you, your Grace. I-I meant no offense.”
“I know!” whines Ryuogriar. “But, I wanted to brag!” She whirls glaring at the collapsing heap of rubble that was once the Orbicharium, a gathering place of demon-kin leaders for many decades or even centuries until now.
She sighs, knowing Blue meant well. “Are there any more stragglers?”
“Not unless they’re trying to protect themselves inside, your Grace.”
“Excellent work.” She looks over her shoulder towards him, but not directly at him. “I appreciate you taking your orders seriously. Thank you.”
Blue bows his head. “I am your loyal servant, your Grace.”
She nods. “Now then, let us finish this mission and-...”
Ryuogriar doesn’t get to finish her sentence. An ear-splitting crack of thunder booms at point blank range, and Blue roars in pain as terrifying crackles of lightning explode around them both.
***