“We need to prepare the army,” I said as I marched into the advisor meeting room, finding Nodel, Morgun, Harat, and a few others.
“What for?” Nodel asked, looking up in confusion at me.
“Something is coming. I just received a report from Gorban. There’s a draconic beast flying north at extreme speeds. Likely Expert rank,” I said. “...Possibly Master rank.”
Nodel’s face paled, and she swallowed once before responding. “It’s headed here?”
“Unclear. It was headed north, from the report, but it seemed to bypass Haklan entirely. Regan should let us know if it’s still headed in our direction when it reaches Roko, but…” I shrugged. “It seems likely.”
“Is this related to your time in the south?”
“I don’t think so… but I also don’t know what else it could be. Perhaps ringfall woke it? I can’t really figure out why it would be targeting me, though. It’s got to be something else.”
Nodel and I shared a look. There was one reason it could, in theory, be coming for me. The origins of my existence in this world were still a mystery to me, but in many of the stories I knew about dragons, they were sometimes ancient and wise. Perhaps it knew something I did not.
It was possible that it was not hostile, and coming this way in peace, but I had to expect otherwise. None of the draconic beasts I had encountered so far had displayed anything beyond bestial intelligence, and there was every chance that this true dragon was simply a beast at the peak of possible power. If so, it had the potential to destroy us all.
“Whatever the case,” Mogrun said, standing. “I will inform the army and make preparations. Should I inform the public and try to call back retirees?”
I hesitated. I did not like hiding information from the public, but if this was not a danger, public fear itself still could be, and we could wind up with looting and civil conflict unnecessarily. The only benefit would be to get more soldiers lined up to face this thing, and I was not even sure if they could do anything against a true dragon. My party of Gold rank adventurers could barely scratch the wyvern.
“No. They haven’t had the training with tarands and polearms, and they’re too out of date to seamlessly rejoin the current marching formations. But Horg will be mobilizing the Adventurers Guild, as well, which is likely where many of the soldiers who kept up with their training wound up.”
“Understood.” Morgun rushed out of the room to inform those in charge of making that happen, and Nodel approached me, pulling me aside. At some point, Atlessoa had joined us—one of the aides in the room was probably working for her, and had communicated what was happening to her while I had spoken with Nodel and Morgun—and the three of us switched to whispers.
“Do you think you can defeat it?” Nodel asked me, worrying her lip. Atlessoa nodded, as if answering for me, but she was probably overestimating my abilities.
“I… honestly don’t know,” I said, and Atlessoa’s head stopped nodding. “The corrupted wyvern was incredibly powerful, but I wasn’t going all out. With time to prepare, the resources we have here, and letting loose with everything I’ve got… well, I think I could handle the wyvern, at least. But if this is more powerful…” I trailed off, frowning. “What do you know about draconic beasts, anyway?”
The first I had heard of draconic beasts was when I asked the Mirut guard about the draconewt I fought in the jungle. Their existence was common knowledge, but they were things of stories. People did not actually encounter them—save for myself, who had encountered three—and yet, everyone seemed to know what they were without explanation. My own first-hand experience had shown that they were stronger than other beasts of the same rank, but not unbeatable.
How could they be so rare, yet so well-known? I had to assume that there was some kind of important event in the past that anchored them in the global consciousness. I had done as much research as I could while running the Tamers Guild, but mostly had only been able to gather stories that seemed like historical battles at best, fictional accounts at worst.
Once I had become king, I had combed the royal archives for information, as I had done seeking out other reincarnators, more information about magic, and the history of the Kingdom. Draconic beasts were mentioned in passing a number of times, but always as an already-known element. There were no major studies or explanations for why they were classified differently than other beasts, just that they existed, and they seemingly always had been different, in some way.
There was no real mention of true dragons, although maybe I just did not know the native terminology for those. I had wondered if they even existed, but the fact that this one came from deep in the desert provided some clues. If the draconic beasts came from part of the world that was effectively unpassable by humans, that could explain some of the knowledge gap. But in that case, why were there any north of the desert at all? Why would they come here?
“I only know the stories,” Nodel said. “Powerful scaled beasts, the heroes that set out to slay them, that sort of thing. I had not even known they were real before I saw the skull in your office, and even then…” Nodel shrugged. “I only half-believed you.”
Atlessoa frowned. “I… didn’t really have stories while I was growing up. But in my information gathering in the past years, I had only encountered whispers about them a handful of times. Mostly, they came up in discussion about the sale of goods, like the private exchange of draconic scales, mostly out of Roko.”
“Ah, yeah. I sold a set of draconewt scale armor there.”
“Of course you did,” Atlessoa said with a roll of her eyes. “In any case, it’s clear that they exist, but aside from the sale and acquisition of goods, they aren’t a common topic of discussion.”
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“The archives had little to say about them as well,” I muttered. “But it’s clear they’re a powerful threat. There was… a primary kind of draconic beast, and apex version, in stories from my old world. They were entirely fictitious, since magic wasn’t real there, but they were generally considered to be the most powerful magic beast possible.”
“And you think this draconic beast might be that?” Nodel asked, trying to mask the horror on her face.
I shrugged. “Could be. We need to be ready to throw everything we have at it, in case it’s not friendly.”
“Could it be? Friendly?” Atlessoa asked.
“I… I have no idea,” I sighed. “I can’t imagine that it would be, though.”
The three of us fell silent, each of us considering what we might face.
“All right,” Nodel said, straightening up. “Well, we do what we can. Let’s prepare.”
* * *
Thanks to our communication networks, we had time to prepare. Had something like this happened before I deployed the communication artifacts, we would have been blindsided, but with advance warning all the way from Haklan, the Kingdom could make a plan and set up defenses.
The Adventurer Guild put a pause on any new and existing quests in order to ensure that as many adventurers as possible could be present and available to come to the aid of the capital. The dragon was moving too fast to bring in external reinforcements, like powerful adventurers from Roko or beyond. I cursed myself for not deploying the teleportation gate south before this happened, but we still had quite a lot of manpower locally.
Not every adventurer was keen to prepare to fight a potentially Master rank beast, and that was entirely understandable. Stone, Iron, and Copper rank adventurers likely could not contribute meaningfully, and it would be a waste of life for them to try. Truthfully, I was not sure Silver rank adventurers could be much help either, but there were far more of them than Gold or beyond, and we did need numbers if we stood a chance against what was coming.
The mountain was rapidly mined for material for mages to use as projectiles against an aerial incursion, and piles of stone were staged around the walls. Archers and javelin throwers would also attempt to interrupt the dragon’s approach, alongside tamers who were quickly training alongside various flying beasts who could be used to disrupt and disorient.
While airborne, the dragon would be a challenge, but if we could ground it, then the impressive cavalry that the Kingdom had developed over the years had a chance to strike. It would also give the melee-focused adventurers a chance to help. It was distressing to think about, but even if every person who attacked the dragon was immediately killed by it after landing even a single strike, each attack would confer enough damage to whittle a fraction of the dragon’s health off, and eventually, it could be defeated.
Or so we hoped.
Once Regan’s message came in that the dragon had passed Roko, confirming that it seemed to be headed straight for us, the army and the adventurers took up their places. The wait for the battle to defend the capital was nerve-wracking, and there was a lot of organizational work making sure everyone was fed and kept in fighting form in the days leading up when the beast arrived.
Fortunately, I had an amazing staff of advisors who managed all that while also keeping the capital running through the emergency. Morgun, Harat, and the others were working hard behind the scenes, but Nodel was on the front with me, wielding her scepter in the capacity of battle mage.
I glanced back at her, seeing the grit and determination on her face. For her, this was not just about protecting me or the Kingdom, but her family as well. She would protect her husband Mogrun and their child, even if it cost her own life.
Next to her was Atlessoa, whose determination to defend the capital did have a lot more to do with me and the Kingdom. While I hoped she no longer felt like she owed me for anything, having earned her way countless times over, I knew that it was not that simple. A part of her would likely feel like she had to be there for me, in return for what I had done for her when we were children, for the rest of her life. Even if she single-handedly took down this dragon, she would likely still feel a responsibility to my reign. I just hoped it had at least a little bit to do with her own pride in her position, as she had become a key figure in the running of the Kingdom.
Off to the side, Rena was keeping her beasts in check. I was impressed with how many Gold and Silver rank beasts she had with an active tamer bond, but it should not have been a surprise from the Tamers Guild Master. I spotted a strongjaw mecrokotas, likely the same one I had competed in the Tournament of Talents with, as well as an equally familiar lightning collus and nocturne urstrig, but they paled next to the armored shuggopotamus and the bearded octophant—an evolution I was happy to see was less Lovecraftian, rather than more, like the corrupted version—which flanked her.
Pegamus the shining alcewing was with us as well, but under my control. I wanted to be able to get airborne myself, in order to face the dragon head on, if it came to that.
By comparison, my father Horg, a mere man with sword and armor, standing tall and ready to fight, seemed like less of a threat. Having trained with him recently, and seeing him when he went all-out, I knew that was not the case. He was a gentle man, and had been softened by Mirut, but since becoming the Adventurers Guild Master he had returned to regular training and had sharpened himself further than ever before. In fact, I was not sure who I would bet on in a proper battle between him and Rena, with all her beasts.
My eyes fell to the last member of our party. Seranedra met my eyes with a glare, and after a moment I dropped my gaze.
It had been a fight. Probably our first real fight. I wanted her safe and secure, away from the combat, protecting our children, but Sera would not hear it.
“You need a healer,” she had argued.
“I am a healer.”
“And if you get knocked unconscious? Or run out of magic and can’t drink another potion? Or if you’re busy healing the others?”
“Then we’ll get another priest! I can’t risk having you there.”
“And I can’t risk losing you,” Sera hissed.
“You sent me south without a worry,” I muttered, which proved to be a mistake.
“And you nearly died against a wyvern which then blew up the source of magic! You seriously undersold the danger, and you expect me to let you fight an even stronger draconic beast without me?”
Sera continued to blow up at me, only falling silent when I took her into my arms.
“I can’t lose you,” I whispered.
“You won’t. I won’t let that happen. But I won’t let myself lose you, either.”
In the end, I had little choice in the matter, unless I wanted to confine her to quarters under guarded lock and key. Horg swore to protect her, and would be acting in part as our party defender. Arguably, I had more experience doing that, but this was a battle I would not be holding back for.
My role this time was damage dealer, and I would hold nothing back.