Dragon Gods Reign

[Crown City]

After Darganth's attack, the battle soon came to an end. The two forces were extremely evenly matched, the rebels having committed exactly as many troops as were needed to stall the defenders, which allowed one fourth rank to make a massive difference.

Previously there had only been very few deaths and each of these came at a serious cost for the winner. While most could continue fighting, the power they could exert was limited at best and the rest had to retreat outright.

Thus the mage that Darganth had helped could freely interfere and attack other combatants who were then quickly crushed under the combined assault. And with every fight that ended, there was one more defender that was free to intervene in other battles.

While this was happening, Darganth was watching from the sideline with vigilance, ready to act should the situation change once more. To his relief, the loyalists soon took the last attacker into captivity, with only a fourth of them escaping while the majority fell in battle. The defenders in turn had only suffered a few losses, though many have suffered wounds in return for a quicker victory.

Seeing that most were still able to continue fighting, Darganth entrusted the commander with the second phase of his plan before rushing back toward the city.

“How does it look at the other entrances?” The commander asked one of his aids while already going over initial ideas for Darganth's plan.

“Most are in a similar stalemate, though two are in danger of breaking. In the north tunnel, two mythical ranks are keeping multiple opponents at bay thanks to the support of the defenses while the third western tunnel is even worse and could break any moment.”

Hearing this he thought for a moment before motioning for one of his subordinates to him.

“Take a third of the men that can still fight and help out in the other entrances. Once the battle there is won, send a part of the men to the west. The rest will help you continue clearing out entrance after entrance, but leave some defenders at each position. Once you gathered enough men you can also split your group in half to relieve the other entrances faster.”

“Understood sir.” The man replied before rushing out of the room.

Ignoring his shouts to gather some of the men under him, the commander turned to the woman that gave the initial report.

“Cella, I will leave you a bare-bone garrison to hold this position. Watch out that the prisoners don't try anything and if another attack comes send out an emergency signal and dig in. We can't afford to lose this entrance and allow enemy reinforcements to flood the city.”

“Will be done.” She replied.

“Good, then I will take the rest and directly reinforce the west.” With those words the commander left the room.

Ordering around twenty of the fourth ranks under him to remain, he sends them to Cella before addressing the rest.

“Men, I know that you just fought for your lives and are exhausted. I won't make any rosy speeches about the crown and honor because I know it won't change that. Instead I will only ask of you to do what has been done for you and help out your fellow men in their direst hour for without you they will face certain death. So rise to the occasion and fight!”

Shouting the last part loud enough that it echoed across the entire tunnel, Aldar didn't manage to hear the response from his men as he activated the teleportation mechanism to bring them directly to their target. Luckily for the defenders there, they had already opened the connection to the other positions, something that was only done in the direst of situations to prevent enemy incursions.

As soon as his senses returned on the other side, his ears were assaulted with shouts from his men.

““Chaaarge!””

Along with this ear-shattering shout they rushed out to all sides. The rebel troops that were previously facing only hunkered-down remnants were surprised by this sudden charge and before they could react Aldar's men were already upon them, smashing into the attackers as a disorganized wave.

The lack of orders or preparation by the target choice led to mostly unbalanced fights, resulting in mounting losses on both sides. While some of the already engaged combatants found themselves suddenly beset by dozens of new enemies, some fights received little to no new support. A similar pattern repeated itself with the attackers that had retreated a bit and were resting, though it was even worse as nobody could get an estimate of their target's power.

Like this, the chaotic charge spread to the rest of the battlefield and soon lost what little cohesion it previously had.

As some of the attackers were suddenly faced with multiple opponents the losses soon started to mount. This was made worse by the suddenness of the attack, with many being caught off guard and struck down before they could react.

And while it wasn't as bad, Aldar's troops also quickly started to suffer the first losses. While some men chose the wrong targets and attacked vastly more powerful enemies, others managed to hold on longer but soon found themselves outnumbered. The quickly mounting losses on both sides resulted in the creation of a repeating process.

As soon as one person managed to break away from his opponents or kill them, he would turn his attention to another fight. Most then quickly overwhelmed the now outnumbered opponent, leading to a near-perpetual cycle. Only when one either misjudged the enemy he attacked or someone on both sides intervened in the same fight at roughly the same time would the growth of the losses slow for a moment.

Amidst these constantly mounting losses, Aldar stood still, calmly watching over the battlefield seemingly doing nothing. But this was only the picture that presented itself to the unskilled eye and soon the initial defenders started noticing it and viewing him with the reverence the men under his command did.

Whenever one of the defenders fell into critical condition there would be a short movement in his mana, too fast for most to see but nonetheless with enormous effect. Instead of hundreds of dead bodies scattered across the ground below, there were only about two-thirds as many, with the rest being heavily wounded but still alive.

This skillful display of time magic was what brought Aldar to the position he held. Instead of following the conventional path someone with his time affinity would take and focusing on influencing the battlefield to his ally's favor, he trained in a more passive application of the element.

By perfecting his timing to affect his men at the perfect moment when their wounds weakened them enough that they don't accidentally block his spell from taking effect but before their condition worsened too far for them to be saved, he can drastically reduce the casualties under his command.

Naturally, this method isn't perfect as even with him stopping the time on their bodies at the perfect moment there were still wounds that can't be healed. And he was far from this perfect, regularly wasting mana due to casting too early, sometimes even failing outright, or reacting too late and only finding the dead body of one of his men.

But even with these weaknesses, it was an ingenious tactic that saved countless lives, showing its value especially in long wars. While the men he managed to catch wouldn't be able to rejoin the fight, most would be saved afterward. Even attacking the wounded on the ground would rarely be a viable method for the enemy, with it leaving them open for attacks from the still-fighting army, making the only real weakness of this strategy him.

Should he be forced too far from the battlefield or put under too much pressure he would either lose control over the spell or have to drop it to defend himself. And while there was also the problem that certain wounds just couldn't be saved, a battle rarely offered the room to only focus on inflicting such wounds.

Under this safety net, the fighting slowly started to stabilize as neither side managed to capitalize on their respective advantages. While the rebels had initially a larger force, the sudden reinforcements and the gradual shift to a more defensive type of fighting prevented them from utilizing it. This worked as Aldar's troops were used to withering attacks as the reassurance he offered them made them less inclined to jump at opportunities to achieve a sweeping victory.

Coupled with the knowledge that reinforcements are on their way they easily held steady, their lack of risky actions denying them opportunities but also keeping their enemies from utilizing theirs while denying the others.

And while they were holding back a superior force to prevent the enemy from flooding the city, the fighting above it grew more and more heated with every second.

The aura users that previously held back in an attempt to damage the city as little as possible, believing their superior numbers to be enough, were fighting with less and less care. As much as the mythical rank closed the gap that existed between mages and aura users, just like the gap between the two and beasts, it still existed.

While they were about equal in a direct confrontation, a mage held a significant advantage in their versatility. This allowed any decent one to quickly gain an advantage against an aura user with the same power, though the latter had ways to mitigate the problem as their superior endurance helped them hang on better even at a disadvantage.

But the ability to endure their opponent's attacks did little to help in this situation, just like most of the other advantages, as the mages could easily circumvent any retaliation while they held back in consideration of the civilians.

Luckily for them, there were far fewer casualties from the initial intensification compared to what they expected, loosening their restraints even further. This was naturally

thanks to Allaire and Jennia, both of whom were protecting the civilians.

Unleashing their power without restraint for damages, they easily carved shortcuts through buildings or redirected attacks away from the masses. Some of the weaker ones they even managed to outright block, though these were few as even a casual attack from a mythical rank was deadly for them.

After about an hour Darganth joined them in this effort, having changed his plans upon seeing the effect they had. Previously he had created some minor formations that focused on supporting the defending side, an effort he shortened by focusing on those who would have the most impact.

As soon as he joined them in the effort their effectiveness started to skyrocket, with especially his portals making a major impact. While he and Jennia could both only send them far out of the city, many still took the opportunity despite the danger that they would be attacked by some of the fleeing fourth ranks from the entrances.

About two hours into the fight their task sharply fell in difficulty, with them evacuating the last people that didn't make it out of the fighting zone. The rest had escaped early enough that the fighting never caught up to them, leading to a quicker escape as nothing hindered them anymore.

With this, they vacated the area themselves by returning to the protection that the palace's enchantments and formations offered. As soon as they arrived there they were met with Karrazil who was overlooking the entire situation while occasionally giving orders that would be passed on to the front line.

“I noticed your actions and offer my deepest gratitude for them. Should there be anything you need once this is over, I will be happy to provide it.” He said with a slight bow as soon as he noticed the three of them nearing.

“No need.” Allaire answered directly.

“Still, the offer remains open to you.”

Answering with an affirmative hum, Allaire ended the topic. Instead of following Darganth's example and observing what was happening in the different fights, a futile endeavor without abilities like his dragon eyes or a treasure like the one Karrazil was using, she made her way down into the building to where Jennia was sitting.

Wordlessly sitting down next to her, she leaned her back against the wall with an exhausted sigh. Starring against the ceiling, she let her thoughts wander.

“Are you alright?” Jennia asked once she noticed the state she was in.

“Physically.” Allaire just replied.

Slightly unsure how to react to this, Jennia just stayed silent while similarly in thought. After a few minutes she remained as clueless as before and she internally cursed her somewhat lackluster social skills.

“Want to talk about it?” She finally asked, hoping to get a better understanding.

Getting no answer from Allaire, she tried putting Darganth into her position. A short moment of thought later an idea started forming in her mind. Placing her arm around Allaire's shoulder, she gently pulled her closer until her head lay on her shoulder.

Silently caressing her head, she hoped that Allaire would open up so that she could help her. And as she didn't know how to achieve that, this was the best she could do.

“Really, it's not much.” Allaire said, trying to reaffirm her.

“Doesn't look like it. I am here for you, no matter what it is. And don't worry about dragging me down with you, then our husband just has to help us both.” She said with a light laugh.

Feeling the slight grin on Allaire's lips at her joke made her smile widen a bit. Slowly caressing her hair, Jennia waited for her to make a decision. After a while, she noticed Allaire's hesitation waning, simultaneously also feeling the positive effects that Darganth's dragon's authority brought them.

“I realized how little our strength matters in the grand scheme of things and I shattered the high I was on previously. Seeing such devastation where I want to help but can't just made it worse. But I will be better, I just need time.” Allaire said after a few minutes.

Hearing her words Jennia couldn't help but nod in sympathy, completely understanding how it happened. Since she met Darganth she hadn't yet faced any real problems, his presence always hanging over her like a shield.

To now suddenly lose that and realize that one got complacent was a serious wake-up call, one that hast to be processed. Knowing this and that there is no shortcut around it, Jennia could only offer her support.

“Then take it. If there is anything you need just tell me and never forget that we will be there for you.” Jennia said, pulling closer to Allaire.

After staying in each other's embrace for a few moments she heard Darganth sending her a telepathic message.

'Thank you. I wish I had been able to help her but I still need a few minutes. Once finished I will be there for you two.' He said, his tone slightly different than usual.

Not noticing this, Jennia just continued comforting Allaire.