Dragon Gods Reign

[Crowned mountains]

Looking down at what was a fortified army encampment just a few moments prior, Darganth felt some relief. While it was true that he carefully chose which targets to attack, he was very much aware of the volatile nature of war.

It was one of many reasons why he didn't particularly enjoy it, though he obviously was far from being above partaking in one if it was necessary. This distaste mostly stemmed from the ease with which he could deal with large armies while also rarely bringing him fights he could enjoy.

The first problem mostly stemmed from his true form as his scale and skin offered far better protection against attacks from beings just slightly weaker than him, at least compared to what most others can enjoy. So while an early third rank would still have to watch out for second ranks, he could mostly disregard them. Even compared to peak third ranks, the rank where his actual strength was, his resistance to attacks of the second ranks was superior, even if just slightly.

As for the lack of interesting fights, it mostly came down to the nature of war. He preferred it when he could go all out, preferably in human form as it gave him his true form to fall back on, without having to restrict himself, a situation that rarely came in warfare.

These and a few other factors lead to him deciding to end the fight as fast as possible. And with that decision, the fate of the army was sealed.

Fully unaware of the nearing attack, they had no chance to defend themselves against his breath. Not even the peak third rank he targeted first managed to endure, the beam of extremely dense space energy just shredding the defense he put up in the last second.

As soon as his life came to an end, and with it the only danger this group could pose to him, Darganth let the energy of the attack explode outwards.

Starting from the point where his breath impacted on the ground, space itself tore in the immediate vicinity. Every last bit of matter in this area simply ceased to exist, shredded apart by coming into contact with the foundation of reality itself.

Those outside of the silver dome that suddenly formed in the middle of their camp couldn't help but sweat when they saw this, the slowly fading color dramatically revealing the destruction. Feeling the air rush in to fill the vacuum that remained in the attack's wake, they were just about to sigh in relief when they heard something akin to glass breaking.

Then, without warning they saw the cracks snake all around, springing into existence in a chaotic pattern all around the devastation. Before anyone could react, they felt a suction coming from these cracks.

Shocked by this development, the first few soldiers couldn't even react before they vanished into the nothingness beyond. Helplessly watching as this was happening, the remainder started to panic while trying to grab onto something solid near them.

Some even tried throwing things ahead of them, hoping that the space cracks are like animals that can be placated by feeding them. This predictably didn't help much, though, by the time this realization sat in, the first few soldiers managed to reorganize themselves.

Led by the remaining second order master magician, a group started chanting in the runic language, both silently and out loud, which was quickly followed by vines shooting out of the ground and holding the remaining soldiers in place.

Using this opportunity, a handful third rank aura users shot different aura projectiles at the crack.

“Don't blindly throw stuff, use mana. Let the space repair itself.” One of them shouted, a call that broke the last few soldiers out of their stupor.

Quickly the mana users started using every method imaginable to flood the area where the space broke with as much mana as possible. While the mages simply shot masses of pure mana, those aura users who could do it threw aura projectiles. Those that couldn’t take the middle step of filling expendable material with mana before throwing them at the cracks.

Even those who couldn't use mana acted, running toward one of the tents before coming out with enchanted ammunition. Loading the bold brimming with mana into their crossbows or hurling spears with a similar mana concentration, they slowly fought back.

Watching this happening from his vantage point, Darganth purposefully kept from interfering. It wasn't his intention in the first place to shatter the space surrounding his attack, though it is something that happens even to him.

And it wasn't like situations like this were particularly rare, though they more often than not happened far from living beings. And as always when such a thing happens, artificially or naturally, the surrounding mana would slowly be sucked towards the source and patch up the fabric of space.

Listening to the shouting down below as the army finished clearing out the space cracks, Darganth turned to Jennia.

“You can go now if you want.” He told her.

“Alright.” And with those words, she vanished.

As their mission was to ensure that none of the third ranks could continue fighting they still had some work to do, something she had gladly accepted. The only reason she wasn't using the chaos that Darganth's attack had caused was that he asked her to wait due to the danger the broken space presented.

“Was there really any danger? Even that army managed to contain the damage rather quickly so I doubt you couldn't.” Allaire asked.

“Realistically? Not really but you never know with space cracks. So while her mana alone would probably have prevented her from being sucked in, I won't rely on probably when it concerns your safety.”

“I know and I love it.” She answered, giving him a quick peck on the lips, “But I better follow her down there otherwise she won't leave anything standing.”

With those words, Allaire became hued in external light aura and while drawing her bow, she took a step forward. Arriving in the air a bit from the mountain where she had started, she started falling towards the camp while drawing an arrow from her quiver. As she waited for the ground to arrive, she kept a keen eye on the movements down below to not experience any unforeseen surprises.

Landing with enough force to crack the ground below her despite hastily reinforcing it, she ignored the dust cloud she caused and let a bit of mana flow through her bow. Instantly a white and golden bowstring shimmered to live between its ends and she placed the arrow she was holding onto it with one swift motion.

Completing her entrance by quickly drawing and releasing it, she didn't even spare the aura expert that her attack hit a second glance. Instead, she turned to address the main portion of the enemy army.

“We are only here for the third ranks, the rest of you can run as long as they abandon their weapons.” She shouted, her voice echoing across the camp. And as soon as she finished those words, another arrow left her bow, this time aimed at the group of mages.

Her words together with her sudden appearance quickly started to have the desired effect on the army. The moment her arrow felled two second rank mages, the first aura user of the same rank ran.

This instantly cascaded as many of the normal dwarfs, those not proficient in the use of mana, became infected by the man's panic and ran.

Seeing this happening from the corner of her eyes, Allaire couldn't help but smile at the success. They had agreed to her request that slaughtering manaless soldiers wouldn't make any difference if they could disarm them.

And while her initial idea was to just say that they were only after the mana users, Darganth had proposed the change to limit it to third ranks, explaining that it would be more effective. And upon hearing his logic she had to agree.

In a mixed army like this, mana users would often be the anchor points for the common soldiers. They know that a single mana user can mow down dozens or even hundreds of them so as long as enough remain, they will keep on fighting. But when this factor falls away and enough die or run, they would flee as fast or maybe even faster as any other soldier.

Thus she specifically targeted the second ranks, hoping that by demonstrating how feeble they are before her she could get a few of them to flee. Then not even the few third ranks could prevent a rout due to their small number, not to mention the fact that they would have to fight Jennia and Allaire.

Now with this goal achieved she shifted her focus to the main target. Aiming at the lead mage, the last third rank among them, she let loose a heavily enchanted arrow. As soon as it left her bowstring her opponent realized this, causing his eyes to widen in shock while he hastily conjured up his spell.

Sinking into the ground barely fast enough to let the attack pass over him, the mage barely saved his own life. But in the process of doing so, he allowed Jennia a few moments of free reign to unleash her spells, though at the moment he was unaware of it.

As soon as she sensed this, a smirk formed on her lips. The five aura users she was fighting noticed this, their instincts warning them to stop whatever she is doing but they knew that they had no chance to do so. With only one of them being in the second order they were having enough trouble to keep their lives.

Thus they watched helplessly as her mana dispersed, connecting to the shadow of every soldier who had yet to flee. In a process that took about three seconds and was completed just as the mage reemerged, she created a net of small mana strings with her at the center and the remaining soldiers consisting of mostly mana users around her.

One look at the horrified face of the mage was everything they needed to confirm their every fear and while he quickly started his chantless spell, even with the fast thought process of a mage he failed to complete it in time.

In one instant every shadow pierced upwards while becoming physical, piercing their owner through the heart. Under the furious howl of the six third ranks, the entire remainder of the army collapsed at once, with most barely understanding what killed them.

“You said you would spare them.” One of the fifth ranks shouted half angry and half horrified.

“They didn't run.” Jennia just answered him calmly.

“You didn't give them the chance to!” The man retorted and Jennia shrugged.

Seeing this seemingly disinterested attitude to his fellow's death nearly caused him to storm towards her mindlessly. Barely restrained by one of his colleagues, he became even warier when Allaire started approaching.

“Just surrender, we are only supposed to take you out of the fight.” She said while remaining vigilant.

“And fall for another trick, you wish.” The mage spat back.

Eying the visibly exhausted man unbelieving, Allaire sighed. Thinking for a moment whether Darganth's presence would be helpful, she decided against calling him despite believing it to be the case. If they want to die that desperately she would grant them that wish. But beforehand she would still make one last attempt to reason.

“Look, we both know that armed or not, mana users still can do some major damage. So be happy that we let the normal people and at least a few flee instead of making this unnecessarily difficult.”

Carefully watching the reaction to her words, she knew instantly that she could give up on persuading three of them. And while they had eyes full of determination while two of the others seemed like they would at least follow them, the last one found the offer enticing.

“Put them on.” She simply said, throwing the man a pair of handcuffs.

And while the other five hastily got into defensive stances, thinking it to be a weapon, the young man was too stunned for this and just let them land at his feet.

“Tyren, don't even think about it.” One of the two women of the group threatened, noticing the look in his eyes.

“They will also defend you against attacks.” Allaire simply answered.

Nearly simultaneously the other woman of the group, one of the two who seemed at least somewhat open to the offer, said, “Don't listen to her, make your decision.”

With those words she moved a small step, positioning herself in a way that she could intercept the other woman should she attack him. Noticing this and calculating that one less ally would be better than two new enemies, the woman just turned back to Jennia and Allaire while frowning.

Using this chance Tyren hastily threw away his weapon and picked up the handcuffs before placing them around both his wrists. Feeling them not just suppressing but also draining his mana, he was just about to try and free himself again due to the shock when he noticed the shield shimmering around him.

Feeling its durability, he assured himself that it could protect him before sighing in relief. While he didn't know what came for him now, he was confident that it would be better than death.

'And far better than seeing that dragon take action.' He thought to himself right as the exhaustion kicked in. While he didn't understand how the others didn't draw that connection, he knew that they wouldn't listen to his words.

Barely managing to bring some distance between himself and the battlefield, he only noticed the sound of one last explosion before his consciousness faded.

While this was happening, Jennia and Allaire were watching their five opponents carefree.

“He's a good man, this was never the life for him. Please make sure that he will be fine.” The woman that had previously defended Tyren asked.

“The offer still stands.” Allaire answered.

“No thanks, I already failed to protect my men. Though why are you so insistent, if I may ask?”

“Because against those four, I can leave it to Jennia here. I don't particularly enjoy fighting so I prefer avoiding it.” She answered honestly.

“How about we fight separately, then you can just take me prisoner?”

“Holding back against someone who tries to kill me? Sorry, I am not that nice. If you don't surrender now the only way you will survive is with enough missing limbs to be unable to fight.” Allaire answered her.

“Worth a try.”

With those words, she followed the example of her four colleagues and got into a fighting stance.