It was a peaceful day in the capital of Ankor-Nazta. Inkoran-Tazul was as active as always, and after the Event Quest incident with Maagneil, the grand dwarven was in the process of rebuilding one of the dwarven mountain statues Fargryneill had accidentally destroyed during her first usage of [Battle Frenzy (Major)].
As shown by Hikari’s usage of [Battle Frenzy (Major)], the Kargryxmor-unique bloodline ability could substantially empower the Kargryxmor dragon’s stats and abilities, turning already devastating attacks into catastrophic city destroyers. Even a mere rank B could be elevated into a threat similar to a middle-level rank A with the 45% base stat increase alone.
Fortunately, Hikari used her chance to use the stat increase in a desolate area, while Fargryneill, in her overeagerness, used it close to the dwarven hold’s lands. The destroyed statue was quickly cleaned away from the mountain pass that connected the dwarven capital to Loatryxian lands, but its destruction still led to the bellowing roar for war in the hearts of the dwarves.
Even after a year and nearly a half had passed, that spark of volatile emotions still hadn’t disappeared. To the dwarven race, who held onto grudges until it was repaid, the casus belli to attack Bole’Taria was still fresh in the minds of the bellicose. The hold kings and clans still remembered the declaration their High King had made, and the latter hadn’t forgotten about it even once for the last year and a half.
Yet, the war engine working to produce weapons and manatech machinery was simply another day in the dwarven capital. It was “peaceful,” even if the preparations were made to go to war. The same applied to the other Shakaie-Narn Alliance members, with all still awaiting a signal for it to happen.
And as the gears of the city continued turning, a certain pair of runes suddenly began glowing inside a newly built room. The room wasn’t well decorated, leaving it conspicuously spacious as it was only dedicated to acting as a waiting room for those who wished to enter Hestia’s subspace. This room was reserved for politicians attending any subspace meeting between the Shakaie-Narn Alliance.
As such, the room was quite well fortified with runes to protect from any intruders willing to steal the rune pair. However, the runes only activated to protect from people wishing to enter the room, not to exit it. There was no opening for line-of-sight spells, and the mana barrier protected against any mana link ones. Therefore, the only people who could enter the room from the inside were those who could access the subspace, and that required the permission of the absolute ruler of the subspace—Hestia.
Expectantly, the subspace rooms activated and formed a tear in the air, revealing the head of a crimson dragon peering into the room from an opening outside of the subspace. She glanced around the room, huffing in confusion before a black-haired demonkin explained the situation to her.
Once she understood the situation, the demonkin and everybody around the dragoness ran away as the latter activated [Aerokinesis]. Controlling herself, the crimson dragon roared with [Tyrant’s Voice], shaking the entire room without destroying it. The moment she noticed signals approaching the room, she stopped herself as multiple heavily armored dwarves—Earthshakers—rushed into the room with runic shields, creating a mana wall at the entrance.
[“I am Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, third princess of the Empire of Kargryx, and the figurehead of the Shakaie-Narn Alliance! I have called upon the High King of Ankor-Nazta to once again fulfill his duty as a member of the alliance!”] the dragon announced through [Telepathy], causing the dwarves to shudder as they heard the declaration in their heads. [“Hear me, citizens of Ankor-Nazta! I, Princess Hestia, request an audience with the dwarven king inside my subspace!”]
When those words were relayed to the Ankoran High King and Queen, both rushed out of their respective offices. It has been nearly two years since they last saw the young dragoness. While the word of her awakening had reached them through the Kargryxmor and Nordor clan living inside Loatryx, they hadn’t been able to greet her once since her coma.
Of course, they had sent her a letter with the railroad guild representatives when they established the digital media guild on Frozen Nest. Jadhund and the other artificers had kept their king and the railroad guild informed about what was happening in the digital media guild, which included Hestia’s contribution and ideas that were being turned into real technology.
And now, they would finally be able to meet her face-to-face. Although her entrance was quite raucous, far too informal for a foreign dignitary, the dwarves weren’t fazed by this. To meet a friend and ally after so long, even a massive feast wouldn’t be enough to greet them. Formalities were mere suggestions to the dwarves as long as both sides had a good relationship.
“Princess Hestia! Gahaah, it is good to see you again!” High King Fugnarus almost wanted to jump into the subspace to greet the young dragoness with a pat on the back, but held himself back as he knew her restrictions imposed on her by her father. “Ha, I had expected to meet you—”
[“Not enough time, High King! High Queen!”] Hestia interrupted him. Now this was a bit too rude for even the dwarves. [“Frozen Nest currently has issues with an elemental emperor. Two in fact, so I’m here to request aid!”]
Elemental emperor? What, another one is still alive?
Though even with this flabbergasting news, both Fugnarus and his queen, Tragaya, were plenty accustomed to sudden information. They understood what was going on, even with minimal information. Oaths being important to dwarves made them appreciate any dragonkin who worshipped and took Kargryxmor’s tenets seriously, and as such, were fully willing to come to Hestia’s request, even against a rank A.
They had soldiers ready to send who needed a chance to fight to cool their war-hungry mindsets. Though they did worry about Hestia’s restriction on using the subspace, they believed Hestia must have found a way to solve such a problem if she had come to ask them.
Though the solution was slightly outside their expectations.
[“I don’t need your Earthshakers and samurai!”] Hestia stopped them when the dwarven pair spoke of their intentions. [“Teleporting all those people onto my side will only kill my mana reserves. I need to be efficient here since we don’t have time, which is why I am not asking for soldiers, I am asking for a couple of artificers and boatload of mana cannons! You must have made a vault-full of them for the impending war, right? Then send them over and have some of them face the stress of war!”]
Huh? The High King and High Queen both froze in place at Hestia’s lack of explanation.
[“Oh, and one more thing. I want the Earth Elemental Emperor, as well. Send them over!”]
Without a doubt, this wasn’t what the royal pair had expected from meeting Hestia after so long.
[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
You have chosen [Crimson Idol]. [Lightbearer] will now evolve into [Crimson Idol], resetting your level and prestige level. Prestige Points: 6, retained. Max level -> 70. Evolution bonuses given: [Mana] [Strength] [Intelligence] [Vitality] [Wisdom]
[Maestro of Red and Blue] Prestige Points: 4
[Crimson Idol] Prestige Points: 6
[Crimson Inferno Tyrant] Prestige Points: 7
You may spend your prestige points after your unique Job evolution
[Maestro of Red and Blue] prestige points: 4
Benefit Slot increaseJob Skill: [Acoustic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Solar Ice Lv. 1] [Silver Flames Lv. 1]Growth Boosts: [Mana] [Intelligence] [Wisdom]
Solar Ice Lv. 1: Decreases the mana cost of all ice-related spells and Abilities while [Gazing upon the Ruby Star] is active by 5% per level. Reduces damage received from fire attacks by 5% per level. While the owner’s elemental alignment is ice, increase defensive and buff-inflicting spell songs by 5% per level
Silver Flames: Increase fire damage done to others with an elemental weakness to one of the owner’s flames by 5% per level. Reduces damage received from ice attacks by 5% per level as long as [Gazing upon the Ruby Star] is active. While the owner’s elemental alignment is fire, increase offensive and debuff-inflicting spell songs by 5% per level
[Maestro of Red and Blue] Prestige spent. [Solar Ice Lv. 1] [Silver Flames Lv. 1] gained. 2 Prestige Points spent on Benefit Slots
[Crimson Idol] prestige points: 6
Benefit Slot increaseJob Skill: [Elemental Resistances: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Arcane Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Magic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Light-Fire Dual Blessed]Growth Boosts: [Mana] [Intelligence] [Wisdom]
Light-Fire Dual Blessed: Healing, supportive, and offensive spells and Abilities will affect those who worship the Goddess of Light, Aurena, and the God of Fire, Danterno, by 25% as long as a blessing corresponding to each respective god is present in the owner’s soul. Increase aura effectiveness against relevant worshippers
[Lightbearer] Prestige spent. [Light-Fire Dual Blessed] gained. 1 Prestige Point spent on Benefit Slots. 1 Prestige Point to [Sacred Equilibrium Lv. 9] -> [Sacred Equilibrium Lv. 10] gained. 1 Prestige Point spent on Benefit Slots. 3 Prestige Point to [Demonsbane Lv. 1] -> [Demonsbane Lv. 4] gained
Stream’s working. I smiled as a blue screen was projected from my party bracelet, showing two different videos being filmed live, right now. One was filming the current movement of the elemental emperor, while another was filmed within Frozen Nest near the docks.
I closed the window depicting the latter stream as I was sure the dwarves would finish their part of the deal without me needing to supervise them all day. I was more interested in the former, as I was squinting at the fact that the elemental managed to rouse the monster population into going on a rampage. Well, “rousing” might be the wrong word here, as it was more like the elemental was scaring them into rushing south to destroy any hamlets and villages on its way to Thalaxarus’s corpse.
The sight of the destroyed tundra as the elemental was slowly turning into a titanic creature with a humanoid torso, but the bottom of a snail. It gave the elemental unimpeded terrain movement as it could scale mountains and bulldoze forests. Meanwhile, its new long arms could split into various tentacle-like limbs, making it nearly impossible for any dragon to approach it from the skies. They would be plucked off like flies if they didn’t have the speed of Nong.
Haaaa, even after seeing the elemental morph into its current form yesterday, it still irked me how I was persuaded to leave it for now. After learning of the Elk’s plan on saving Tasianna, I flew over to the tundra as fast as I could, where Nong told me to stay away from them. The elemental was slowly gaining more of the true ice mana from Tasianna, and that allowed it to exude it like an aura around it. With their ability to control wind and water, it only exacerbated the issue for Nong.
[“Imagine having random icicles appear before your face… and those damn icicles are made from highly potent ice mana. I was thinking of using [Battle Frenzy (Major)] to fight it properly, but you did tell me to simply stall it, so stall it I did. I really hope your army of ice dragonkin will do more than act like flying boulders,”] Nong told me when we reunited, which led to me deciding that it would be better to simply rejoin the growing army.
And that was when a plan started to be concocted in my head, further visualized when Skardvro and Fehrkatruk reported the progress of the army. While also initiating my Job evolutions and buying some Job skills, I also used the night to call for help from the Ankoran High King. Thankfully, while it was in the middle of the night for us, it was in the early morning for Ankor-Nazta. Timezones!
I did feel bad about only meeting him to call in for another favor, but it wasn’t like I wouldn’t repay him. In fact, I was already doing it by sharing the current stream with him. The subspace linking faraway places with time-space magic, allowing streams to happen even without an information tower built inside Inkoran-Tazul meant King Fugnarus could watch everything that was happening here. If he wanted to, he could even share the footage with the rest of his citizens as an afternoon show… if you liked watching our land getting destroyed by a giant elemental.
Ah, well, if this were a show, it certainly would be nice to watch. Sadly, this was my home. My home was getting destroyed and one of my investments was about to be sacrificed for the greater good.
“… My tower. They are coming closer.” I groaned as if my entire day was about to be ruined as I looked up to the newly constructed information tower—the first of its kind—that was just finished about a week ago.
All the money and effort that went into creating this building just so we could stream stuff to the people living in the frontier and mountains felt like such a waste. The dark dragoenewt artificers that Empress Forminaxtrass sent to us sounded so defeated when they learned the elemental would soon reach this area. They would demolish everything they had created.
Thankfully, we could still salvage the most important tech. The dwarven artificers from the digital media guild and some King Fugnarus had sent to us got to work immediately to uninstall everything, and we were transporting everything back to Iceskale with a few wyverns. [Spatial Rend] allowing me to teleport people from Ankor-Nazta to Frozen Nest due to the subspace exploit saved a huge portion of the budget that went into the information tower. Thank goodness!
Though I should also thank Skardrvo and Rhekk for supervising the rescue operation. At this point, about 80% of the citizens living outside of Iceskale were safely flying to Iceskale with the help of the wyvern wing. The rest were either waiting here with me as the last passengers, or they lived on the beaches, far away from the elemental’s rampage. They were less prioritized by the rescue squad; as such, though we had still told them to evacuate just in case.
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“Everything is loaded up!” I heard one of the dragonewt artificers shout as he strapped the last bit of equipment on one of the wyverns. The rest of the engineers then hopped onto one of the remaining wyverns and prepared to depart from here, although I could see from the look on their eyes that they were saying their last goodbyes to the tower.
“It’ll be rebuilt, don’t worry about it!” I told them, waving my hand to try to soothe them, but I believed they already knew that after we survived this ordeal, most of the funds would first go into rebuilding everything. Every farm, house, and building belonged to our various clans, and it was certain that the true dragonkin would pressure the senate to send relief.
Once again, the information tower would take a while to be rebuilt, even if streaming and the recorder became a country-wide sensation. Honestly, I didn’t mind it too much since this tower here looked more like a stone tower than a building used for modern tech. It was rushed, lacking any real polish to make it look like the stone architecture the dwarves or dragonewts of Iceskale could create. An eyesore on these beautiful hill tops, honestly.
[“Princess Hestia,”] Shay called once the last evacuation worker was sent off. I turned around, seeing him look down at me in his wyvern form before he bowed, letting me also see the rejuvenated Nordor dragoons. [“Your bombs have been placed. Multiple traps, as well. Everything is in place to lead the elemental into the valley towards the territories of Clan Bleezark.”]
Clan Bleezark’s territory was the dragon valley just north of our family’s, so Mom’s giant diamond-ice nest. Go further south and slightly east, and you would reach the territory of Clan Thalaxarus. From the border, it would take the elemental just about an hour to reach Thalaxarus’s skeletal remains.
The operation would start from the information tower, then about an hour’s march south to Clan Bleerzark’s northern border, and the second phase would begin. From there, I had to execute Elk’s plan and rescue Tasianna before the elemental emperor reached Thalaxarus’s corpse and finalized their plan. As long as I got Tasianna out of the elemental’s body, we would be able to wind without a doubt once we started using true ice attacks. Shay, Beth, and Tasianna, if she could fight, would be able to defeat the elemental without an issue at that point.
Naturally, Fehrkatruk or Nong could probably also help a ton since their flames were hotter than mine right now. The ice dragonkin could tank the elemental’s attack without an issue, and it would all resolve itself from there. We just had to seal its ability to use true ice mana as an offensive tool.
I stood up and closed the stream on my bracelet, looking at all the dragoons who had assembled before me. Once Vifi came to stand right behind me, I straightened my back and deepened my voice as I released my [Royal Presence].
“Dragoons of the Nordor bloodline! Hear me, for your princess now speaks to you!” I declared. “In about five bells’ worth of time, the elemental emperor of wind and water will reach this area after he finishes his carnage, destroying my mother’s lands! The cowards decided to appear before us with my mother and most elder scales gone, leaving us defenseless to major threats. Yet, unlike that elemental, we will not cower before a powerful foe. No, this is our land! Our home! Our people we swore to defend!”
“For Frozen Nest!” the dragoons shouted.
“The rest of the army will soon be here, but until then, it will be our responsibility, with my brother’s help, to delay the enemy from entering Clan Bleerzark’s territory! Every bell we can afford to save will mean more time for our reinforcement to arrive in a large armada from the sky! Our ‘wings’ will soar as we true dragonkin will show that none are allowed to threaten our territory, citizens, and life! This is our time to remind all that the Nordor name isn’t just tied to my mother’s reputation! Nordor dragonewts, do you see the rising sun?” I asked, causing them to grunt in affirmation. “Small that I might be, I will protect these lands. I might not have been born here, and my scales might not glimmer like silver like yours, but you have witnessed my resolve. Grandfather Nordoramsul’s blood flows through me, and the courage to face down the threats of my family was handed down to me from my mother, Sixth Empress Melloxtressa! So, I ask of thee, my dragoons. Will you darken the lands with me as we soar through the sky?”
“For Princess Hestia!”
“Will you show that even a primordial elemental has no right to hurt our land or bring about a dragon hunt?”
“For Empress Melloxtressa!”
“Then show me your resolve in battle! Show this young scale what all of you have been preparing for once you took up the oath of a Nordor dragoon!”
“For Clan Nordor!”
“Take to the skies and into your formation! Prayer! Humanize!”
[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Major)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Oh, Goddess Aurena, Goddess Andira, God Yeostar; watch over us. Watch over every single one of these brave dragoons. Grandfather—God Kargryxmor—let them show their power against our empire’s foes! I prayed, feeling my heart tremble as I worried I would once again lose people during an operation. Aside from Commander Estranor, I really didn’t know a single one of the dragoons. I might have heard their names when they introduced themselves, but I haven’t seen their face as they covered them with their helmets.
Essentially, no-names and no-faces to me. Strangers. Yet I wanted my prayer to come true, even if I knew as a Champion that the gods could do nothing at this point. Whether we survived or even succeeded in protecting our lands depended entirely on our actions. Not knowing most of my dragoons felt more like a blessing in this case, as I wouldn’t be able to feel as distraught as when Akasht died, but it just didn’t sit right.
I pulled out a tablet Commander Estrano had written his dragoon’s by my order. Even if I didn’t know their faces, I should at least learn their names.
With this worry in my mind, time passed until the monster came into view. I could see Nong and a few wyverns fly towards us as the grim visage of the elemental emperor revealed itself from behind a mountain. Climbing over it like a snail, the no-faced elemental peered down into the prairie, probably ignoring the information tower as it had detected me.
I pulled out [Providence’s Will] and a fairnite ball where the Earth Elemental Emperor had been imprisoned inside by the dwarves. Using [Unheilige Engel], I had them orbit me like a planet, dangling them in sight to the elemental’s interest. If they wanted [Providence’s Will], then they should be happy to see EEE as well.
[“I can feel them,”] I heard the Earth Elemental Emperor speak to me.
[“Their divine mana is growing. ‘Faith’ is being gathered even at this moment. An army of smaller elementals and even lesser faefolk have gathered around the twin elemental emperors,” [Providence’s Will] said. [“It doesn’t matter the size when it comes to faith. Numbers create religions. Numbers create armies. Numbers are the source of a god’s strength.”]
[“You can lecture me on theology at another time. Come on, get ready. We dive the moment an opening is created,”] I announced as I started flying towards the valley.
The elemental’s lower torso started to morph, growing multiple spider legs to climb over the mountain before it grew the torso of a horse, turning it into a centaur to chase me. Behind it, multiple monsters ranging from mammoths, saber tigers, monstrous bipedal reindeers, and many more types of monsters were rushing down the mountain and into the prairie. While they couldn’t keep up with their leader, their stampede would probably be frightening if I weren’t flying in the sky.
Since the elemental was so fast, it quickly arrived at the information tower, triggering the trap I had there, causing the entire building to blow up like a nuclear bomb. Rooms filled with my holy and crimson fire grenades made just yesterday tore the entire area asunder as a mushroom cloud started to fly into the sky. Maybe it wasn’t the same size as a real nuclear bomb, but all that fire mana would stop the elemental in its tracks for a moment.
… Or so I thought.
What?
The elemental took to the skies as it grew wings, abandoning the ground to quickly regenerate its lost mana by absorbing the ice mana in the air before landing again. [“The elemental cannot fly as they require concentration to gather all the mana from Tasianna and to keep her safe. The more the emperor morphs their body from their original slime form, the weaker their hold on the Ice elemental King,”] I remembered Elk explaining. That explained why the elemental had been moving at a snail’s pace relative to what it could do, right now.
[“Absorbing the other elemental emperor would be their attempt to gather even more divine mana,”] I also remembered Elk saying, which was why I was taunting the emperor. I needed their attention on me!
[“Princess Hestia, yes?”] I heard a man’s voice enter my head. [“I have learned much about you from Tasianna’s memories, and your rather vulgar display when you took down my fellow elementals will not be something I can forgive. Broken out of your little sphere, defeated those I sent towards you, and now you stand before me. Princess of Frozen Nest, do you wish for your friend?”]
[“… You’re an actual idiot if you’re asking for the obvious. Taunting me? Seriously?”] I replied, snappy.
[“You taunt me with what I want, and you’ve been attempting to stop me ever since we saw each other through that massive mana projection you created. Haha, are you the fool to think I wouldn’t do any of this?”] The elemental started to laugh, bellowing with a hissing voice through its slime body. [“No. I know exactly what I must do, and you will not stop me, Champion of Aurena and Scion of Kargryxmor. This mana inside me is exactly like the Origin Gods. Nothing I do is taboo! The sky has not been rendered asunder yet by Plesia, or have your gods tasked you to stop me?”]
I didn’t answer and kept flying, yet no matter how far I flew, the mana connection remained stable as the elemental followed after me. It moved its arm around, gesturing for me to attack them.
[“You flee? Is that truly the image the Princess of Frozen Nest wishes to show her followers? I can see your brother over there and those pesky wyverns next to him! I saw that weird manatech they were using. This ‘recorder’, according to Tasianna, allows you to project images it captures elsewhere. Are you people watching you? Does the mighty sunfang dragon only flee, for that is what you have always done in your life? ‘To survive is to win.’ Pah… yet, I do not share such thoughts, young dragoness.”] The image of a smile slowly formed in my head. [“I like those words. ‘To survive is to win.’ Yes, I like the way you say it in Tasianna’s memories! It cannot be understated how much pride can ruin any chance to rebound from failure. To survive is to truly receive another chance in the future, and I am the personification of such a mantra! Witness this form, Peolynca—a demigod has returned! Ready to become the god you deserve! That every faefolk deserves!”]
A shrill cry erupted from the elemental’s body as the air around them started to freeze. Icicles formed around its body as a blizzard started to set in, slowing me down. The elemental was trying to pull me towards them.
[“I have waited long enough in that prison! My friend had shown me that no rare deserves the grace we faefolk had given to this world! We were the first beings! Whether sentients or monsters, we existed at the brink of dawn! We primarchs shaped the world with the six elements, creating a world where your kind may exist and live with so much bounty. Yet, we were forgotten when the time came! Where are our prayers? Where is the faith we had gained from all our hard work to nurture the races of elves and humans? None of them exists any longer! We are nothing more than a footnote despite all that we have done!”] the elemental yelled, prompting the storm to intensify as it completely stopped me from flying forward. [“I shall free myself of this prison! I shall carry the legacy of my dear friend. Without them, we would have vanished just as much as you, Light Elemental Emperor. We would have been turned into a mere tool like you, Earth Elemental Emperor! We would have been ground into dust like the Fire Elemental Emperor or consumed by the void like the Dark Elemental Emperor! Come
, comrades of old! My only living companions! Reach out to me! Embrace this body and become one with us! Do not let this chance slip by for us to correct our past mistakes! Rise with me against the Origin—”]And with another explosion, the elemental’s telepathic link was momentarily interrupted. The elemental turned around to see the area around the information tower releasing streams of purple flames from various holes, with more appearing with similar explosions.
For a moment, the elemental did not react, merely curious about why there were more explosions, but quickly realized something was off when the fumes of the purple flames started to, hopefully, cause the lesser fae and elementals around them to start falling asleep.
[“You—!”]
[“Hey, remember what the fuck I’m all about?”] I taunted as Nong came to my rescue, sweeping me out of the blizzard and back into free air. [“Crimson, white, and bloody purple flames! I’m as much of a poison dragon as a holy dragon, and one of those toxins I’ve used in the past can stymie the usage and absorption of mana. And what are faefolk created from? Mana!”]
Naturally, I wasn’t trying to cause a genocide. I already knew somebody who would shout at me about the Geneva Convention even if they didn’t apply to Peolynca, so I didn’t need it from anybody else. Definitely not from my own guilty conscience.
Which was why I lied! The toxin wouldn’t cause the mana inside a person to go rampage, causing an arcane corruption-like effect that would also affect faefolk, like I used it in the past. The effects were heavily diluted, only slowing down mana flow and absorption, making it hard for the mages to cast spells as their mana wouldn’t flow out of their bodies properly. For a faefolk, though, you could say this was a type of sleeping gas.
Whether the elemental understood this or not didn’t matter as they turned back to me, their mind sending its frustrations, anger, and intentions into mine through the telepathic connection it created. The stream of disrupting information was being processed by Hikari, but it didn’t feel good to be exposed to it.
[“And some ask themselves why it is we faefolk are acting as such. The Ice Elemental King trusted the dragons, and look what it had cost them? Thalaxarus failed even with their power, and it now holds all who live in Frozen Nest as prisoners. All but the dragonkin… Release us! We are not your prey to kill for your measly level-ups!”] the elemental roared as their body formed two wings, striking forward as they chased after Nong and me.
Finally distracted, the elemental didn’t notice when more explosions started to destroy the prairie, only these were targeting the horde of monsters in the back. My Nordor dragoons struck at the monsters, using this chance to erase the army the elemental emperor had created while earning some experience.
When the elemental finally saw what was going on, their attention shifted once again, only for Vifi and Nong to attack them, drawing their attention to a third distraction. Who would they chase? Which of us was more important to their plans? Their army of faefolk followers to fuel their faith, the army of monsters to distract the dragonkin, the duo between Vifi and Nong with firepower strong enough to slow the elemental down, or me, who was holding onto the mana of two elemental emperors? They could only choose one, as the others would proceed unhindered.
“Hey, ‘Yothmlak!’” Vifi shouted. “Enjoy the front seats to your destruction! Every plan you made will fail as you chose the wrong opponents! Godhood? You should feel lucky if you don’t end up inside a small prison like the Earth Elemental Emperor!”
[“You taunt me still, Stain! No more! No more prisons! I—No!”] The emperor turned away from Vifi as they saw me fly away, finally choosing me as I had anticipated from Elk’s explanation.
They could gain faefolk followers no matter where they went, and while the army of monsters would help them progress to Thalaxarus faster, what they couldn’t give up was the chance to absorb two more elemental emperors. And as they chased me, this allowed Vifi and Nong to perform sabotage to slow them down, even if it wasn’t a lot. As I said before, every bell we could buy for the rest of the army, the better, which was why I focused entirely on escaping.
“Surviving is winning,” sure was the best mantra here.
[Various Spell Buffs] [Various Potion Buffs] [Music Resonation (Major)] [Gazing upon The Ruby Star (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Blasting into the territory of Clan Bleerzark, I navigated through the mountains in an attempt to avoid the elemental. Meanwhile, Nong and Vifi would start detonating the various bombs we had placed on the way beforehand, causing mushroom clouds smaller than the one from the information tower to erupt and disfigure the environment.
Every blast was strong enough to momentarily stun the elemental, but a single night wasn’t enough for me to make enough that it could last. I already went sleepless to finish my preparations, so this was all I could do with my bomb creations.
Which was why Vifi and Nong weren’t the ones to carry the elemental emperors. We didn’t want to flee from the elemental; we wanted them to follow us towards our preferred destination. Those with the highest firepower would stall the elemental from catching me, the third fastest of the group.
Red thunder and flames could deal damage to the elemental, but what was better was ways to stop or block its way. Wind, water, and ice were useless against the elemental, but what if we caused an avalanche or mountain collapse to trap them in the debris? Minutes gained!
Fortunately so, as the results of our plan were starting to show as the sky started to darken. I felt like I was pushing my body through a sprinting marathon. The difference between having and not having a solar core was how long I could maintain my rocket boosters. I couldn’t do it endlessly, as I needed nutrients to regenerate my used scale-dust. I had to take breaks to eat.
While eating, I started to sigh as I noticed the elemental was starting to adapt to all the obstacles the duo was creating and had to resume flying, eating mid-flight.
[“Princess Hestia!”]
Unfortunately, just as I was finishing a large steak, [Foresight] activated before [Danger Perception] warned me of an incoming projectile. I snapped around, trying to barrel roll out of the way, but couldn’t do it in time as a giant ice spear tore through my entire right wing, while the rest of the spear was blocked by Beth jumping in my way just in time.
[“Nice timing!”] I praised her while using [Miraculous Grace] to regrow my lost wing as I tried to fly with [Unheiliger Engel] and [Tailwind].
While time was on our side, the longer the elemental had to acclimate to Tasianna’s mana, the more it would start to resemble an ice elemental. A monsoon was keeping Vifi and Nong occupied in the back, while one of its arms was shooting ice spears with pinpoint accuracy, using wind magic to propel them like a gunshot. They didn’t need to chase me if they could shoot me down.
With this adaptation, I couldn’t even make it to my clan’s territory as I was forced to dodge the barrage of projectiles. Beth’s unique skill gained after gaining [Hestia’s Imperial Guard] allowed her to fortify her true ice armor even further, allowing her to tank these large projectiles with moderate ease. Her brother, who was flying with her incognito, was still hiding somewhere, awaiting his moment.
… Though maybe the moment would come soon.
As another projectile was about to be released onto me, a barrage of cannonfire drowned out the monsoon created by the elemental, striking the elemental from the side, breaking their focus and aim as the projectiles struck the mountains. Snapping around to see who caused this, more cannonfire struck the elemental right on the face, barely fazing them.
As the cloud dissipated, though, the barrage continued as if it hadn’t just happened, bombing the area to the point that the elemental started to lose ground. It took to the skies by morphing wings to escape the barrage, but was quickly shot down as the cannonfire was ceaseless.
[“What—!”]
With a heavy thud that sounded like the earth was breaking apart, the elemental crashed inside the mountain range, falling deep into a nearby ravine. The monsoon trapping Vifi and Nong quickly dissipated with its master thrown off from their pedestal.
Seeing this, I let out another sigh as I looked up, seeing the sun blotted out by an armada of flying dragons, wyverns, and dragonewts, while an army of drakes scaled the nearby mountain ranges. My army had finally arrived.
“Princess Hestia!” I heard a male dragon shout at me, turning my attention to one of the few fire dragonkin roaming the skies right now. “I, Fehrkatruk, have marshaled your army! Frozen Nest’s might is here to protect its princess and lands!”
Just in time… I was already smiling to see all these dragons flapping their wings, but what I was happiest to see was that my plan worked. On the backs of some of the approaching dragons and drakes were the boat gear used by the aquatic dragons and drakes whenever they went out to fish. It was there so the dragonewts fishers could fish while on the backs of a larger dragonkin, and now they were being used as the mounting platform for dwarven and dragonewt artificers.
Why? Well, somebody had to know how to handle a dwarven warhammer mana cannon, right? Ahaha, the cannons I asked of King Fugnarus were being used right now to bombard the elemental emperor!
We might not have airships just yet, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t just start an armada of sky pirates, right? Arrrrrrrrrrgh!
Face over 2500 years of progress! The reverse-engineered demon cannons used to shoot down dragons during the demon war—the dwarven warhammer mana cannon!