Dragon Gods Reign

[Royal palace]

Standing in their room, Darganth's thoughts drifted to their actions over the past month. After the initial attack and giving the prisoners to Kheduil, the three of them had repeatedly struck against different outposts.

Naturally, none of their targets endured their assault, though each time they let the manaless soldiers flee. When this reached Kheduil it naturally delighted him, especially due to the fact that most would run to one of the forts under their control to surrender. Adding onto that the large amounts of weapons that the three brought back, his mood was on a constant curve upwards.

The rebellion's upper echelon meanwhile had a completely different reaction. While the loss of one or two of these groups wouldn't make a dent in their war effort, the mounting losses started affecting them.

These armies weren't positioned without reason, the camps were either controlling small but important paths through the mountains where no fort could exert control or serving as staging grounds for attacks. Some were even responsible to secure some forts whose position made them vulnerable to attacks from inside the mountain range.

Now with these losses, their third ranks were starting to be stretched thin. By now they had lost over a hundred in barely over ten attacks but it already forced them to draw on men on other stations.

This made them naturally regret the decision to design the defenses in a way that leaves openings from the inside of the mountains, a decision some of them partook in making. At the time it seemed sound, to sacrifice some of the coverage into the range to allow them to exert more power towards the outside but now they naturally regretted it.

While the king's army only has to man the fortresses, they also have to block the gaps in their defenses, something that already wiped out most of their numerical advantage. Now they were additionally losing tens of thousands of men to these attacks, with even over a hundred third ranks among that.

Simultaneously they can't simply send even just fourth ranks to these outposts, with both sides having roughly the same number of them and mythical ranks. Thus each one would be missing on their current position and more importantly, more vulnerable to attacks.

And then there is also the blow that Tyren, Edra and Thalgus dealt to the rebellion. While the loss of one of the most famous rising stars of the army certainly brought some complication, especially considering that they had previously used his presence for propaganda, his knowledge led to the loss of three real fortifications.

That fact alone would be bad enough, but during the attack another group made its presence known and lead to the defeat of the mythical ranks stationed in each of them. Sarkia may only be a peak fourth rank, but her seemingly invincible body and powerful space magic allowed her to easily swing the tide of battle.

Now with five fewer mythical ranks while their enemies only lost one while also gaining two as well as Sarkia, their chances of victory started to plummet. Along with them, they took the remaining restraints the rebellion leaders had, their desperation starting to become visible in their tactics.

Using this setback, Karrazil also released the information about the sacrificial orbs. This was practically the final nail in the coffin for the rebellion, with common soldiers, first, second, third, and even some fourth ranks abandoning their effort.

Only the mythical ranks who knew of the item's true effect remained steadfast. But even they knew that they alone couldn't win or even continue the war. Thus they slowly grew desperate, hoping for anything that could change the tides.

Of course, Darganth wasn't fully aware of everything of this, though his overview of the situation was rather accurate. Each of their attacks had more soldiers surrendering and doing so quicker, to the point where during the last one Darganth didn't even have to attack. Instead, the two peak third ranks that lead the army instantly gave up, emptying their mana pool and throwing away their weapons.

Thus he was currently staring out of the window, his thoughts wandering through all of this and more.

“What are you thinking about?” Allaire asked him when she noticed this.

Surprised that she was already awake, Darganth turned around to find her having already stood up and walking towards him.

“Good morning.”

“Morning.” She answered him, walking right into his embrace. After a long and passionate kiss, the two turned back to the window, with Allaire standing behind him, head on his shoulders and arms around his hips.

“So, what's on your mind?” She asked again.

“The coming month, the war seems to die down so hopefully we can speed all of this up.” Darganth told her.

“Still bored?”

Nodding to her question, Darganth felt her place a kiss on his cheek before whispering right into his ear.

“Then let's slow down our involvement and spend more time with just us three.” She whispered.

“Enticing offer but I don't plan to go back on a deal I made.” Darganth said. Feeling her lightly biting into his neck he added with a grin, “I didn't say I won't take you up on it.”

Sweeping her off her feet, Darganth carried Allaire to their bed. Laying down with her and entangling themselves in a passionate kiss, they suddenly felt an explosion form inside the city.

While both of them stopped for a moment when they noticed this, they were just about to continue when they felt the aura of a small group of mythical ranks spreading throughout the city.

Annoyed at this interruption, Darganth quickly got up and changed into more clothes than just pants, something that Allaire quickly copied with a pout.

“What's happening?” Jennia, who awoke due to the explosion, asked.

“No idea.”

While she frowned at this, she followed their example and not even a minute later the three made their way through the palace in full armor. As soon as they noticed the hectic state the soldiers were in they knew that this had been the right decision.

Quickly arriving before the castle, they were greeted by the sight of over a dozen mythical ranks clashing in the air above. Despite this, the ground below suffered serious damage, with especially the aura users who lacked abilities to truly fly being responsible for it. Instead most had to rely on less sophisticated methods to keep at a similar attitude that the mages stayed at.

After just a few moments of observation, the three of them managed to identify who belonged to one group, making them aware that the invading rebels had the advantage of more mages despite being fewer overall. Instead, most of them seemed to be more powerful than their opponents, though luckily none of the gaps was too large to be unbridgeable.

Utilizing this advantage, they hovered far above the city while still keeping a distance from the cave's ceiling above, constantly shooting spells at their enemies. Each attack that missed would inevitably strike somewhere on the ground, demolishing the city further with each attack.

The aura grandmasters they were fighting had no way to stop this despite their immense power. The best they could do was to try and close in on the mages while blocking the occasional spell with their body to keep away from the civilians.

Even with the help of the peak fourth rank ability of aura users, world connection, they were at a disadvantage. It allowed each of their actions to affect the surrounding mana and was the only reason they even had a chance. With every movement of theirs, the natural mana would be influenced by their own to bend nature to their advantage, allowing them to walk and jump up from the air itself while also supporting their every strike.

Kheduil, the one mage among them, was meanwhile similarly pressured, fighting off two of the three enemy aura users. Thanks to the masterfully crafted armor he had previously shown Darganth he managed to hold on despite having far less combat experience.

Similarly, Darganth could also sense the two aura users armed with some of the weapons from his collection. Currently, they were using these and the defensive wall at one of the entrances to the city to hold back seven more enemies. Sensing the situation there to be stable, he ignored it and refocused on the nearer fight.

“What should we do?” Allaire asked him as soon as she comprehended what was happening.

“No idea.” Dargant answered at a loss, “I doubt that I have the time to use the same attack as at Salin, so intervening there is already out of the question.”

“Then I will try and minimize the damage, call me when you need my help with something else.”

“Alright, but watch out.”

Watching her quickly vanish into the city before them, Darganth thought for a moment whether he should do the same but decided against it. Quickly coming up with a few possible ways he can help out better, he turned to Jennia.

“I'll find something myself.” She said, sensing his intentions.

“Stays safe.”

“You too.”

With this he vanished from his position before the palace with a series of short-range teleports. Reappearing at one of the tunnels towards the surface, he watched the fighting that he previously only sensed. Apart from the two groups of mythical ranks, there were also hundreds of fourth ranks among the attackers. While they didn't manage to breach through the defenses, they kept their counterparts busy.

Taking a few seconds to find all fights where his plan would likely find success, his attention soon fell upon one between two peak fourth ranks. Or more specifically the defender among them who seemed to be able to easily immobilize his opponent but lacking in firepower to capitalize on it. From there it only took him a short telepathic exchange to share his plan.

'It's been a while since I had to do this.' He thought to himself while locating every other defender.

Compared to the fourth ranks who could stand up to the enemy, they could only cower behind the defenses while hoping that their superiors would come out victorious.

Simultaneously he also analyzed every last enchantment and traced them to their control center. Taking in the main fortress in the center of the tunnel, the hundreds of smaller outposts, barely larger than a bunker, that covered the entire two kilometers width of it as well as going towards both ends, and lastly the underground tunnel network below it all.

Finding the nexus he was searching for, he searched for the nearest entrance. Sadly the difficulty of teleportation increased once again the closer he came to the fort, making the maximum distance for him far too short for it to be useful outside of dodging.

When he arrived at the small fortress that was manned by barely a hundred soldiers, he didn't even bother with them and walked straight toward the tunnels. Seeing the ceiling of barely 1,60 meters, he switched to the smallest version of his true form. Diving into the tunnels below, he quickly made his way through the occasional rooms until arriving before a large crystal hovering in the middle of one.

Ignoring the panicked shouts from the group of dwarfs that were controlling the formations and enchantments, he quickly found out how to do so. Taking out the token that signifies his status as an ally of the king, he made his way to the nearest dwarf.

“I need control for a minute.” He said, his serious tone spurring the man to quickly vacate his position.

Placing his hand on the small crystal brimming with mana, Darganth enacted his plan. Redirecting the power of a few chosen formations to him, he used them to boost his ability to directly control mana outside of his body.

Instantly he felt a rush of energy coursing through him and into his heart, though not his mana pool. He planned to temporarily gather as much mana as possible in an attempt to use one devastating attack to kill or at least wound a single fourth rank. Soon he started with the second phase and started taking a hold of the mana of the soldiers.

Most of this mana was of a higher quality compared to the atmosphere, making it a far more potent resource for his plan. And while some of the peak third ranks managed to resist, thanks to the power of the formations it were only a few and thus he soon was brimming with power.

As soon as he had enough he instantly returned to the surface, his next actions needing to be done in a hurry. Already he was feeling the mana leaving his body, with even his skill not allowing him to store more than his mana pool in additional mana for more than a few seconds.

'Lock him down, I just need a second.' Darganth telepathically said.

Without a moment's delay, the defender cast a series of spells to restrict his opponent. The mage opposite of him was already accustomed to this and thus reacted like he previously did by conjuring all kinds of barriers around him.

Watching the metal chains wrap around the round shield that served as his first defense, he remained calm despite being locked in place. Shields like this were conjured up extremely fast and still strong, the inability of the caster to move it relative to his body being their only major weakness. The reason for all these traits was that this category of shield used the caster's control field as a basis to form the shield.

Soon another advantage of this showed when the next spell took effect and a spear formed in the air between the two combatants. Quickly piercing the initial shield, the attack stopped only after piercing another shield of the same kind when it encountered a third. Still, the metal soon started to move as if it was liquid but thanks to the shield's fast recovery, though at no small mana cost for its user, it was quickly separated.

This entire exchange happened practically simultaneously, the two mages being able to think and cast at speeds far exceeding normal human recognition. Their only limitations were the speed with which they could move their mana and the spell's physical travel time.

Thus Darganth had to watch out carefully as spell after spell smashed into the attacker's barriers, each one doing minimal damage but further keeping him in place. Soon he was completely surrounded by pointed metal shards from multiple such attacks. Each one was constantly trying to push inwards, forcing him to keep his barriers up.

Now, his only way to flee would be to dismiss his defenses, an action that would quickly lead to the metal around him constricting further. And while back when he first became stuck in a similar situation he had considered dismissing just some of the outer barriers in an attempt to squeeze through the chains, he had underestimated how quickly they constricted.

Thus, knowing that his only escape would be to wait and with him having already experienced this multiple times in the last thirty minutes of fighting, he remained calm. His barriers held up and all he needed was one moment of distraction from his enemy to blast open a path through the shards before dismissing his barriers and escaping. While he didn't like the moment of vulnerability it brought, it was his best option.

But before the moment he was anticipating came, he heard Darganth's roar echoing across the battlefield. Instantly, nearly all eyes snapped towards him and quickly became filled with fear as nearly all combatants mistook the mana escaping from his control as his pure presence. Faced with the prospect of a dragon well into the mythical rank, they all silently hoped to not be his target.

When a moment later the emerald and silver colored beam of flames escaped his maw, only the imprisoned dwarf and his opponent didn't change their reaction. The latter had already been prepared for Darganth's arrival and naturally had remained calm, while the former was the only one whose hopes weren't fulfilled.

In his fear, he momentarily forgot the first impression they all had gotten from Darganth's power and hoped that the shields he took great pride in would save him as they had done countless times before. But this hope shatters as soon as the breath reached the first layer, with it offering not even the tiniest bit of resistance.

A moment later he was completely consumed by the flames of destruction that were created by the combination of Darganth's power over the concept and an amount of mana equivalent to that of an early mythical rank. Probably not even those currently fighting above the city would have been able to survive this blast, though Darganth doubted he would be able to hit any one of them.

When a moment later his breath attack died down, all eyes darted between the empty spot where previously one of the strongest combatants had been and Darganth. Compared to before his presence had seriously waned, but he still had nearly double his normal mana pool at his disposal.

Thus faced with a peak third rank dragon and one of their strongest enemies no longer being tied down, the traitors broke out into chaos.