Dragon Gods Reign

[Edge of the monster territory]

Landing on the small mountain atop which he had arrived after entering the artificial realm, Darganth returned to his humanoid form before letting his gaze wander over the horizon.

Quickly he found what he was looking for, sensing both Jennia as well as Allaire in the distance.

A moment later Alicia also landed, transforming into her old appearance and looking around slightly surprised.

“I would have expected that we would be the last to arrive.” She said.

“It isn't that surprising, the innate ability to fly still offers advantages for prolonged travel even with the addition of mana. Beasts can keep up somewhat but mages and aura users just lack the mana to travel at these speeds for long. Even teleportation is only better when considering the time factor with only teleport formations being different, at least when going to a connected formation.” Darganth explained.

“Huh, my teachers back with the high order never mentioned that, but I guess it was to be expected.” Alicia grumbled.

“We still have a day or two until both arrive, if you want I can help you with what they left out.” Darganth suggested.

Taking a moment to think about his offer, Alicia ultimately shook her head.

“I don't think any of it is crucial and it is more fun to learn it by myself. Should that be proven wrong I'll come back on your offer, but for now, no.” She said.

“As you want.”

With this decision made, Darganth took a look around the small plateau they stood on. A moment later it started shifting around them as he reformed it with earth and plant magic.

Within a handful of seconds, the gray rock they stood on became covered in a lush, green blanket of grass, with two small wooden huts growing out from the ground.

“If we already have to wait then we should do it with comfort.” Darganth said with a grin.

“Yeah.” Answering him somewhat absentmindedly, Alicia took a deep breath and took in the clear air.

After experiencing only monster mana infested regions for over a month, she had started to miss the feeling of nature.

“I don't want to stop you from enjoying the moment but if you want to partake in the high orders end yourself then we'll have to use this time otherwise.” Darganth said after a few minutes.

“Just give me an hour or two.” Alicia said, staring at the sky with a relaxed smile.

Nodding, Darganth sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. Letting his thoughts wander, he passed the time until Alicia was ready.

Around the same time, the region around them was filled with activity. Hundreds of undead hordes, both large and small, marched ahead of monster war bands.

Lording over them were a group of five vampires and three powerful monsters, all of whom were gathered together slightly behind the center of their armies. Looking ahead with an aloof attitude, they didn't even acknowledge the remains of the high order armies affiliated that their troops overran.

Suddenly one of the vampires flinched. Quickly regaining his bearing, he turned slightly and looked at a spot with a frown.

“Zoltan that bastard, without his troops we're stretched far too thin.” He cursed.

His words prompted the other seven to turn in the same direction. And while the monsters didn't seem to care, the vampires all grinned scornfully.

“That hydra seems to cause some serious trouble, so why don't you go and stop her?” One of them said with a chuckle.

Growling in response, much to the amusement of his fellows, the vampire whose army was attacked didn't retort.

Just as the four others wanted to further demean him, one of the monsters, a man with insect like eyes and two large tusks, stepped up.

“Stop this childish squabble, at least until we've finished this invasion.” He growled.

“That's a futile request, you know that not even Lucius can control them. Or why do you think he sent us along with them.” The only woman among the monsters said.

Seeing all five vampires grimacing at her words, her two fellows grinned in amusement.

“Truth or not, your words also didn’t help with that.” The tusked monster said, intervening before the dispute could fully erupt.

“As for the two dragons, if Lucius wants one of them, even if it is the younger one, then he should do it himself. We'll focus fully on the high order and draw out the seats before the real army arrives.” He added after a few seconds.

There were a few dissatisfied murmurs in response to his words, but after shutting them up with a glare, the group all stood behind the plan.

Letting the mix of monsters and reanimated soldiers continue their march into the high orders territory, the eight of them became serious as they looked ahead again.

Initially, the advance continued to go on unobstructed, but despite this, they all felt the change that was to come. As they drew closer and closer to the first few cities, one of the two female vampires among the group suddenly narrowed her eyes.

A second later a wave of phoenix fire visible for kilometers washed over a part of the left flank, incinerating undead and monsters alike as it tore through their ranks.

Expanding their senses through the inferno and smoke, the vampires and monsters grinned maliciously as they saw its source. Standing on the wall of the nearby city, one of the seats lowered his hand again while panting slightly.

“Then let's show them that they aren't as blessed as they believe.” One of the eight said mockingly as the group rose into the air.

A few seconds later eight attacks shot across the sky, filling it with blood and monster mana as they aimed for the seat's position. When they arrived there after a few more seconds, tens of high order bloodline sorcerers and mages supplemented the city's defensive formations in an attempt to stop them.

Impacting the burning barrier erected to stop them, five of the eight projectiles exploded on contact with it. But the remaining three managed to tear through the barrier, flying on and striking the city wall.

With two explosions of monster mana and a spear of blood impacting it, the stone was easily torn apart. Right as the soldiers were thrown into disarray by the falling stone, the blood spear exploded and launched about two dozen smaller projectiles in all directions.

Watching this from afar, the group of eight seemed dissatisfied with the results.

“Tsk, the seat got away with light wounds.” The tusked monster said.

Despite this, the war quickly proved to be in their favor. Over the following hours, the high orders position were pushed back nearly universally as the monsters and undead continued their advance without care for losses.

Watching all of this unfold, Darganth simultaneously focused on training Alicia. And upon seeing the speed with which the war progressed, he was quite glad over this.

In the past day, two cities had fallen entirely, with multiple fortresses also having met the same fate, and that was solely within the range of his perception. Those that still managed to hold on mostly did so just barely, with many cities and fortresses already having breaches in their fortifications.

Luckily for the defenders, the eight commanders didn't move personally to attack them, only striking when one particularly strong bloodline mage exposed his presence somewhere. And with the number of attackers slowly dwindling, it slowly looked like they would manage to survive the first wave.

“Are they still holding on?” Alicia asked when she noticed his focus turning elsewhere.

“Yes, but more importantly, Jennia arrived.” Darganth answered.

Smiling in anticipation, Alicia stopped focusing on her mana control and waited.

A few seconds later a portal opened up a meter before Darganth, with Jennia walking out and jumping into his embrace. Locking her lips with his, she gave him a passionate and longing kiss after having not seen each other for over a month.

“I've missed you too.” He said in between.

“I bet, so let's just stay like this.” Jennia answered him, tightening her legs that she had closed around his hips. Reengaging their kiss, she let her emotions out freely.

Indulging for a few more minutes, Darganth finally stopped, much to Jennia's disappointment.

“I would like to too, but my sister is here.” He said, snapping Jennia out of her tunnel vision.

Looking over to Alicia who was looking away with a bright red face, she smiled sheepishly and let go of Darganth.

“Hehe, sorry sis-in-law, I was a bit excited. But nice to finally meet you.” She said, holding out her hand.

Nodding, Alicia took her handshake. After a moment of awkward silence, Jennia spoke again.

“I've heard what happened, if I can help you in any way just tell me, alright?” She said.

“Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage. What I'm more interested in is how you met my brother, I never asked him about that.” Alicia said.

“Oh, that's a long story, so let's sit down.” Jennia said, making a circular bench of wood grow out of the ground.

Seeing the two understanding each other well, Darganth smiled softly. Just as he started walking over to sit down with them, he stopped and opened another portal.

A few seconds later, Allaire walked out of it and towards him. Wrapping her arms around him with a bright smile, she too gave him a passionate kiss.

“Thank you love.” She said after a few seconds.

“Not for that.” Darganth answered.

Cuddling herself further into his embrace, Allaire basked in his embrace as she trailed occasional kisses along his neck.

“Seems like Jennia was a bit faster than me.” Allaire said a couple of minutes later as they loosened their hug.

“Not like it was a competition.” Darganth said with a chuckle.

“Yes, that will have to wait till tonight. And continuing to show you how much I missed you can be done then too, now we should go over there so that I can finally meet your sister.” She said and Darganth nodded.

Walking over and greeting Jennia with a hug, Allaire introduced herself to Alicia. A moment later Daranth also arrived, sitting down between his two wives and letting them lean on his shoulders as the four talked for hours.