Knife’s Edge

It only took a few minutes for Richard to run out of moonforce, but he smiled in satisfaction at the results of his healing. The worst of the Celestial Sage’s injuries had taken a turn for the better, and if he kept at it for maybe a month the man would recover completely. Although it all meant nothing unless the soul returned, Ruben wouldn’t just abandon his body so easily.

Mere moments after he withdrew his hand, Richard suddenly felt the earth shaking. A loud whistle rang out from the camp, warning of an attack. He rushed out and flew into the skies, barely in time to see the portal to the Dragon Plane that was now covered by a giant barrier of light that was almost a kilometre wide. Nasia had told him that this barrier was nearly impassable, but seeing thousands of draconians and numerous giant dragons were flying out one after the other was an entirely different thing. None of the attacks from his side made it through, ensuring that the draconians were unharmed as they walked through.

Richard himself didn’t rush to attack, simply observing the giant barrier that would be key to this battle. It was constantly changing in the colours of various elemental laws, but it was rarely stuck on one single element. Combinations of various elements made this a complex fortification that couldn’t be outdone easily; one could only deplete it through brute force.

More than twenty dragons now occupied the skies of Dragon Valley, their disciples fanning out in all directions like ants. Some of the draconians were carrying large equipment bags and didn’t join the assault immediately, instead starting to construct fortifications and magic arrays on the spot. This was the exact same way Richard had built a forward base in the Dragon Plane.

Up in the sky, Richard’s followers, the legends, and saints were wrapped up in a fight against the dragons. The defenders had the upper hand— anyone confident in hunting dragons would obviously have an advantage of some sorts on hand— but that was quickly dwindling. Almost all of Richard’s forces were out in force, but on the other end the dragons had a full plane of their kin they could call upon.

A green wind dragon flew in like lightning, attacking a legendary warrior who wielded a shield and axe. The man was basically stuck defending, but no matter how fast or ferocious the dragon was he always managed to block. Two faint lines zipped across the sky as Waterflower and Phaser flew out, their swords digging into the dragon’s wings and causing it to scream with pain, but with a good chunk of flesh cut out the lizard quickly lost control of its flight and started plummeting to the ground.

The gales covering the green dragon grew weaker as it fell, but the warrior didn’t get a chance to pursue as another one emerged from the portal right after. He immediately started cursing at the new fire dragon in draconic tongue, enraging it with talk of its children, eggs, and family. When the dragon heard that its mate had laid ice dragon eggs, it roared in rage and tried to blast the offender down.

Waterflower and Phaser had hidden themselves once more, but Richard managed to track their energy ripples as they neared the fire dragon. However, he knew that the two alone weren’t enough; the fallen green dragon still had the strength to summon numerous twisters, weakening the javelins that the rune knights were throwing its way. Tiramisu would have taken care of the rest, maiming the lizard in a few swings of Tenton, but without the ogre present the two assassins immediately felt the pinch. They had succeeded in their task, but that didn’t mean their target was dead.

*ZOOM!* A dazzling column of scarlet flame suddenly shot down from the sky, landing on a copper dragon nearby. It let out a bloodcurdling screech as its body started to warp under the high temperature, and moments later it melted away.

Disposing of a level 22 dragon in one strike was a fearsome achievement, and the spell was one that Richard recognised well. However, this didn’t leave him feeling any better. This was a Skyfire Strike that was enhanced beyond the legendary realm; it couldn’t appear very often. The old mage who had cast it was already looking quite pale, the exhaustion evident in his eyes. He could be proud of this achievement, it showed his superiority over other mages of his level, but at level 23 the spell had taken more than half his mana. He could recover quickly enough to cast it once more, but that would be it.

A sharp whistle suddenly rang through the sky as multi-coloured rays of light shot into the air, chasing after a number of draconic targets while leaving dazzling trails behind. Most of the javelins were swatted away by their targets, but a few still managed to hit and even a dozen strikes would leave a dragon on the verge of collapse. Three managed to escape into the barrier with severe injuries, while two were killed on the spot.

The rune knights were currently moving around in formations of fifty each, shifting endlessly on the battlefield as each time tried to concentrate fire on a single dragon. Any counterattacks were warded off using group barriers from their sets, the combination of several Savage Barrier runes powerful enough to stave off an attack from even someone like Bahamut. From the start of the battle, they had achieved more than the legends and saints.

Richard was surprised to find Rosie in the lead, commanding the rune knights into battle. He frowned at the sight— she was still level 17 despite his pouring resources into her— but even knowing that she would be a prime target he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. She had made sure to hide herself in the middle of a formation, which showed awareness of her own frailty. Her spells were useless against the dragons, but they served as signals for the rune knights to coordinate their strikes.

He was actually surprised by her accuracy in pointing out weak points. Every volley was targeted at the next weakest dragon in terms of defence, and if she had the time she even tried to have the knights take down injured escapees. At one point, she even signalled straight into the empty skies. Fifty spears followed promptly, but even as the knights who threw them thought she had made a mistake a rare spatial dragon suddenly burrowed out from the void and was turned into a pincushion. It had just managed to dodge a fatal attack from a legendary warrior by tunnelling through space, but before it could even rejoice it was dead.

Under Rosie’s command, the 150 rune knights were displaying exceptional prowess. However, that strength was quickly becoming irrelevant in front of the increasing number of dragons flying out of the portal. The draconians on the ground were growing in number as well. Although they were only cannon fodder, they still managed to obstruct movements. The broodmother’s humanoids and some soldiers from the Crimson Army were fighting them off, but those troops were limited and couldn’t kill fast enough.

Richard frowned in annoyance, now knowing that the situation was worse than he had believed. With the reports that Nasia had managed to stave off the attacks, he had assumed that things weren’t serious. After all, she could still rely on the broodmother’s main body for backup even if Bahamut arrived. However, before his eyes was a serious crisis in just the first wave of attacks!

“We need to make our move,” he turned to the knight.

Nasia shrugged, spreading her arms helplessly, “I knew you wouldn’t let me rest. King of War?”

“No, not yet. Maybe if Bahamut appears,” he said with a shake of his head, starting his mana coursing through his body. Eye-dazzling crimson light wrapped around him as silver armour flashed into existence, the sword of divine flames falling into his hand. Blinking a thousand metres away into the centre of the battlefield, he brought the now-blazing sword down on a wind dragon.

The lizard barely squeaked before it was cut in two.

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