Who are you!? → Ryu
Ryu asked back agitated as he stared around in distress. He felt the power of the one who talked just now and it was to a completely new level.
Who am I? You dare ask me such?! I am Thanatos! The Legendary Dragon of Darkness and Chaos! And you mortal half breed just brought damnation over yourself by staying in my way! → Thanatos
Ryu’s back froze while thinking just who has come to invade his Kingdom.
Not only a dragon but a legendary one at that. Damn it! What’s with this luck?! How am I supposed to deal with this now?! → Ryu
Ryu felt distressed. He was only thirty percent sure of winning against a normal dragon, but against a legendary one, there was only a hundred percent chance of dying miserably. He knew he had no chance so he tried to start a conversation.
If I may. Can I ask in what way have I stood in your way, mighty Dragon, Thanatos? → Ryu
Ryu tried to be respectful, thinking that he might be able to hear something useful. Even so, the feeling of talking with respect left a foul taste in his mouth.
So you know how to speak with me, very well. I shall tell you the reason. → Thanatos
Thanatos seemed pleased with Ryu’s change in tone and so he continued.
I called numerous scouting groups of demonic beasts back from the Eihwaz, only to have them eliminated. Such humiliation I have not tasted from a very long time, half-breed! → Thanatos
Thanatos’ voice became more domineering as his fury was unleashed. It seems that most of the waves of beasts which also tried to trespass through Antara were part of Thanatos’ army of beasts.
I shall excuse myself for that. But the scouting groups his majesty called back actually tried to destroy my home. I could not let such a thing happen on my watch, sire. → Ryu
It was Ryu’s turn to become irritated. Having his home and people attacked, again and again, all because they were too lazy to take a little turn for a wider area.
Your home?! AHAHAHAH! → Thanatos
Thanatos’ laugh reverberated inside Ryu’s head and made him feel dizzy and shake on his legs.
“Ugh! What strong mental power!” → Ryu
He felt how his blood was dripping from the nose from the destructive mental shock, making him grab his head in pain.
Listen here, mortal! This place was my nest long ago and I do not remember giving it to anyone! For invading my place, I will be sure to leave no survivors! → Thanatos
Thanatos was filled with rage and indignation. His wrath soared through the sky and a pillar of darkness appeared far in the distance.
“What is that?!”
-BOOM!-
A loud boom resounded from atop a purple pillar of light which shot out in the dark clouds then a huge shockwave spread across the dark sky, turning it in a purplish-dark. Clouds spread everywhere the eyes could see and purple dark thunder flashed in the skies, lightening the mountains and the forests numerous times per second. Thunder didn’t chase as it continued to lighten up the sky, sometimes even striking the ground at random and setting trees aflames.
This is my domain. Nobody will leave this place alive! → Thanatos
Thanatos’ voice resounded again inside Ryu’s mind.
“Is this what a dragon’s nest looks like? This is ridiculous!” → Ryu
Ryu was sweating bullets. The strong aura of enmity and dread that was coming from all around made him shudder.
And his home? Damn it! what’s with this rotten luck?! To actually invade the territory of a legendary dragon. → Ryu
My king! The sky turned purple!
Sire! Is this another calamity?!
Are we going to die? My king?!
All kinds of shouts and screams resounded inside Ryu’s head but he was unable to hear them, the chaotic environment made him freeze for a moment.
“…”
Ryu looked in space with unfocused eyes. He tried to think of a solution then an idea struck him.
Shen. I need your help with something. → Ryu
What? → Shen
Shen was sleeping at the moment inside his bed, saliva covering his new white pillow. After reviving, he was still extremely tired even though his circulation was healed completely, his mental power was still depleted from the fight with the Duke Vepar.
Give me the knowledge about One with the Universe. → Ryu
!!!
Shen was shocked enough to shoot out from his bed. To hear Ryu ask about his most powerful form was something he never expected, especially because he never told him about it.
Ryu, from where do you know about that spell? → Shen
Please believe me when I say that I have no time right now. A calamity befell our kingdom and if I don’t get enough power right now, everyone here will die. → Ryu
Ryu said with an urgent tone.
What in the world… Ryu, I have another idea. → Shen
Shen then sent some information inside Ryu’s head that stunned him for a period of time.
A-are you sure about that? Won’t I die if we do such a thing? → Ryu
No. With my knowledge and your power, we will be invincible. Believe in me and open yourself to me. → Shen
Shen said with a firm voice.
That sounded so wrong just now, man. → Ryu
Ryu felt like laughing but still did what he was told.
Are you seriously thinking about such stupid things right now?! → Shen
After roaring in annoyance, he tried to enter inside Ryu’s mind and body.
The wave of beasts already reached the line Ryu made and rushed past it without thinking for anything else.
Ryu’s body was flying in the air and the mana around him started to vibrate more and more violently.
While Shen tried to take control over Ryu’s body, Bernard just finished with what he wanted to do from atop the mountain peak.
“Beasts got past the first line! Prepare for combat!” → Bernard
Bernard shouted out from the tip of another mountain.
While the golems still fought with all they got, it was still incredibly hard to fight against such a ridiculously huge number of beasts. They also had to be sure to not be surrounded or else they would get destroyed.
[We lost the right flank.] → Ken
Ken reported with a neutral voice. On the right flank, 5 golems tried to keep the wave on hold but got run over after more Rank B unleashed their own power against the golems.
[We lost the left flank] → Isa
Isa reported with the same neutral voice. Another 5 golems disappeared. Only Isa and Ken remained in the middle right below Ryu, fighting like mechanical Gods against swarms of monsters.
[Fire Wall]
[Ice Wall]
Both of them created walls of their respective elements, stopping as many beasts as possible.
[Infernal Rex Tiger’s Breath] → Ken
Ken then roared out a fire breath that burnt all and everything in front of the flame war.
[Ice Dragon’s Breath] → Isa
Isa did the same and froze everything in front of its own ice wall.
Even though the two golems hated each other by instincts, their teamwork was flawless.
[Not bad, for a water lizard.]
[Good job, sparking kitty.]
Even so, the two of them could not stop annoying each other occasionally.
Around Ryu, mana started to pulsate more and more while his chi grew in power, wind starting to blowing more chaotically around him. If before he was close to Semi-God, then right now he was close to Spiritual and he was still growing.
Petty tricks! Even if you try to grow your powers by burning your life essence, you won’t be able to escape from here alive. → Thanatos
Thanatos sneered at Ryu’s sudden growth in power, mistaking his growth in power for him burning his life-essence.
Quiet, lizard!
Two voices sounded together, taking Thanatos by surprise.
Who are you? And how dare you talk to me like such!? → Thanatos
Ryu and Shen tried to unite their strongest points so they could create the strongest entity. Ryu tried to take control over the body and enchant it with the Dragonic Transformation while Shen tried to strengthen the mental power and connect with the universe, activating the Last Chapter of the « One with the Universe ».
Even so, doing such a thing needed concentration and time. They couldn’t rush or they would destroy Ryu’s body or send Shen in outer space again.
“Bomb the mountains!” → Bernard
Suddenly, Bernard gave out a command to the mages from the other side of the mountain
From atop the peak, an explosion was heard and a huge landslide appeared, engulfing all the beasts that wished to climb the mountains.
“W-wow…”
The mages looked dazed while the warriors were stunned that they created such a disaster.
“W-what did you do?” → Gregor
Gregor asked Bernard with shock and surprise in his voice.
“I was sure to cut the peaks of the mountains in a way so a landslide will start only on the beast’s side, leaving this part clean and untouched.” → Bernard
Being warriors of Masters to Grandmasters, such a thing proved to be an easy job and they were able to do it quickly because of their teamwork and also a good commandment.
To do such a thing you need rich knowledge about the structure of the mountains around these parts. Was he examining the area around the fortress in case such a thing happened?! → Gregor
Gregor looked with shock and admiration at Bernard.
“Haha~. Don’t look at me like that, it didn’t even graze the huge wave that waits to come.” → Bernard
Bernard said while feeling nervous about what was about to come.
“…True. It’s time for the second line to step forward. I wish you luck.” → Gregor
“Yeah…” → Bernard
Bernard made no plans of turning back alive if the wave wasn’t finished in on his turn.
Our king must be still fighting behind the mountains. I can see how he killed most of the already few flying beasts, which will really help us from now on. Also, I can hear even from here the sound of spells and martial skills. We can’t stay behind and be protected, is time to fight. → Bernard
Bernard’s eyes shone with resolution, a strong fire igniting inside his soul as he roared with all he had.
“Forward! It’s time for us to defend our homes! Don’t leave a beast past us!” → Bernard
“ROAR!!”
The warriors reached the peaks of the mountains and awaited the beasts to get closer.
“ROAR!”
“GROWL!”
“GRWAH!”
The beasts which resisted the fire or rain of boulders also rushed into climbing the mountains, but were welcomed by the warriors with open arms.
“ROAAH!”
“HAAH!”
“HAYAH!”
The warriors decimated and killed every monster that tried to go past them, having the advantage of the terrain. They stood at the highest point on the mountains while the beasts came from downward, having a harder time getting past them.
“Mages! Burn them to ashes!” → Bernard
Bernard shouted out, annoyed as for why the mages slacked behind.
The mages then activated the same area of effect spell and whipped out the other part of the mountains just like how they did for the other part.
“SHRIEK!!”
The cries from the beasts were Earth shattering and insupportable for some players. The smell of burning skin and hair was suffocating but they couldn’t leave their positions.
“Continue the bombardment!” → Bernard
Bernard shouted out and felt more at ease seeing how only a few of the stronger beasts were able to go over the sea of flames, the ones with the rank of A or S being undetectable for now.
Like this, we can kill the small fries without wasting too much energy then kill the already injured ones with ease. With these powerful weapons and our warrior’s experience, we should be able to resist! → Bernard
Bernard was able to see a ray of light inside this darkness for a moment until another problem would pop out.
On an area of 10 kilometers on the other side of the mountains, Bernard saw how the rain of burning tongues of flames befell upon the demonic beasts who wished to climb the mountains and on top of the few flying monsters, burning them to death while screaming out their last breath. The stronger beasts of rank C, B and a few As were able to get through the punishing rain and reach the peaks, only to get thrown back over other beasts by the warriors on top, cutting and smashing them with ease by using Epic, Heroic, and even some Legendary weapons.
The wave from East changed course and is coming from North-East!
Suddenly the cries of a harpy resounded inside the head of everyone and the fighting flame started to slowly fade.
“No…” → Bernard
Bernard’s face whitened. He felt how the end was coming for them this time and nothing could stop it this time. He starred in the distance at the purple pillar of light, which mockingly shone and provoked the lighting in the sky to strike and thunder.
The wave will arrive in 6 hours! Their speed is ridiculous! Aaah…
The harpy felt despair as she started to sob uncontrollably. She was able to see how the wave was rushing toward them with incredible speed, leaving behind a huge cloud of dust and a strong noise of earth being stepped on.
Is there… really no hope for us?
Bernard and everyone else had somber faces. They tried to resist but because their spirits were weakened, the beasts were able to push forward.
[Do not get disheartened, warriors of Antara.]
An ethereal voice boomed as if from everywhere then:
“W-what is that…?”
A humongous asteroid appeared from through the lighting and purple clouds, falling behind the mountains with incredible pressure and power.
-BOOM!!-
A huge explosion and an incredibly strong shockwave quacked the earth, almost destroying the mountains around and wiping out all the trees and beasts from its way. A huge cloud of dust covered the flashing sky, then a strong wind blew it away, cleaning the air and pushing most of the threatening clouds away from the tips of the mountains. The wind blew hard enough to create a tornado that absorbed the entire dust and even sent some of the flying beasts crushing to the earth, while the ones from the grown, toward the deadly clouds in the sky. The explosion created by the asteroid cleaned out any tree in the vicinity, creating a huge empty crater that already resembled like a valley inside the huge chains of mountains, looking around ten times bigger than the place where Shen lived before.
[Not as heavenly, but still a good place. At least is more spacious.] → Ryu
Ryu said with someone else’s voice, sounding more prideful and domineering.
In the middle of all this chaos, Ryu was flying in his dragonic form with his dark wings spread wide open.
“…My king…?” → Bernard
Bernard looked with incertitude at Ryu’s back who was flying above the crater like a God of War.
Was our king always this powerful? What happened? → Bernard
[…]
Ryu then looked behind and his shining yet dark eyes made the warriors feel shocked.
His eyes were pure darkness with two shining slits that replaced the pupils. The aura around him vibrated, making him look as if he was burning hot, together with his horns, tail, and wings, he resembled a true devil from the deepest parts of Hell.
“I-is that our king?! What happened?!”
The warriors became agitated and confused about why their king suddenly changed like that.
[For the salvation of our Kingdom I had to take a risk. Everyone, focus on defending our homes while I will try to eradicate the pests.] → Ryu
Ryu’s voice sounded more like two persons talking at the same time, making the others feel quite afraid of him.
“My king, why are you like this?! Don’t tell me, you made a pact with a devil?!”
A warrior asked with a shaking voice. He was terrified by Ryu’s sudden change.
[Why is everyone confusing me with a devil…?.]
Another voice resounded again, this one seemingly irritated by the warrior’s question.
“W-who are you! And what did you do to our king?!” → Bernard
Bernard shouted agitated. He tried to keep his composure, but having a spirit take over their king at this moment would be their biggest calamity.
[Does the name Shen sound familiar to you?] → Ryu
Ryu asked and reached out his hand, creating a huge beam which decimated the flying beasts that tried to go past him.
“Lord Shen?!”
Everyone shook when they heard that name.
“I-is it true?! Is Lord Shen the one who’s possessing Ryu right now?”
“B-but why would he do that?”
“Maybe it’ss a fake?”
After hearing all these comments, Shen felt like a pain to answer them but Ryu insisted and in the end, he had to answer.
[I united with Ryu and we are trying to use our strongest forms at the same time, to be able to resist the might of the ancient Dragon Thanatos.] → Shen
T-Thanatos?! He’s known from legends as the most terrible Black Dragon! He would cover the earth in darkness and absorb the souls of the ones who perish in his territory. It was said that he on his own almost destroyed half the Vestria Continent. He was never defeated and when his one and only leader, Nidhoggur, was sealed under the World Tree, he also succumbed into a deep sleep. But everyone thought he fell asleep right beside the World Tree! What is such a godly entity doing at the intersection of the three continents?
Sofia, Lilia, and Maru thought with pale faces, together with other residents of Eihwaz. Unlike Vestria and Nostrung, the residents of Eihwaz had no restrictions on telling or writing about the old history. Be it legend, myth, or true history, they all had the freedom to talk and even sing about them, most of the time exaggerating the legends and giving another face to history.
Again, everyone was shocked by the news. They wanted to ask some more but were interrupted by Shen who was talking through Ryu’s mouth.
[We are in the middle of a battlefield. All you guys need to know is that I’m on your side. Now stop the beasts from passing through your lanes if you wish to see the light of another day!] → Shen
Shen was already pretty damn pissed that he had to keep focusing on holding the mental barrier so he and Ryu won’t get lost in the strong currents of universal energies, having to deal with the confused masses was already past his limits.
[Sigil Break!] → Shen
Shen then commanded and the weapons of rank Epic and Legendary started to shine with different colors. Something like a golden chain appeared on them all then suddenly broke like glass, letting the elemental power to evade from the weapons and even make some of the warriors to have a hard time simply holding them.
“?!”
The warriors stared in shock at their own weapons, unable to believe their eyes.
These were sealed? W-what about now?
Then they heard Shen’s voice once more.
[Use them wisely now! This seal was placed on them so the owner won’t be harmed by the excessive spiritual energies it emanates. The weapons from this world are more of a tricky thing than we thought. You saw Ken and Isaz2IsazAn Elder Futharks rune which, in this novel represents only \"Ice\", \"coldness\", and \"stillness\". Appearance: Looks like an I and is normally written on stone, wood or even bone. , they are made exactly from such great items. Let that power consume you and you’ll be used by them.] → Shen
After briefly warning everyone who held the weapons, Shen and Ryu left without waiting for more questions, going above the incoming great wave of demonic beasts.
Ahaha~ come on, no need to be mad at them. → Ryu
Ryu said with a dry laugh, trying to calm him down for a moment.
We have no time to chit-chat with them. It’s already hard enough for me to keep the barrier up for both of us. Now how about moving this body and beating some monsters? At least like this I won’t be the only one who’s killing pests around here. → Shen
Shen answered back, with the same pissed voice as before.
I can’t believe how we got in this huge mess just because we tried to get a free home for our people… Aargh! This is so infuriating! And I’ve been mistaken for a devil again! → Shen
Ahahah~, alright. This makes me remember the good old times when we played together. → Ryu
Are you killing yet?! → Shen
On it~. → Ryu
Ryu shot right toward the middle of the beasts in the distance focusing only on the stronger ones, killing them in an instant. Then he used the same dragonic palms, creating palms of around 4m and shot them out one after the other, bombarding the demonic beasts like a railgun.
[Phantom Arms] → Shen
Shen created two huge arms behind Ryu, which he used to activate different kinds of great spells: [Spears of Corrosion], [वह्निकोप] (Firestorm), [Giga Fireballs] and some more ridiculous spells together with Ryu’s destructive powers when he used [God’s Fist], [Seismic Step], [Dragon Breath] with other dragonic martial skills he learned from Isa combined with Shen’s martial arts. He kept on killing the stronger beasts while pressuring the weaker ones with his aura, giving enough time for the warriors to calm their nerves.
[Black Hole]
A huge black hole appeared which started to suck in beasts and trees of all dimensions. He wished to get rid of the aerial power of the wave as quickly as possible.
[I won’t let you.]
A booming voice resounded again and the black hole exploded, shattering the space itself, creating cracks that engulfed the flying beasts and even the warriors from atop the mountains.
“OAH~!!”
“H-HELP!”
The warriors were sucked in and almost engulfed by the cracks in space.
[Mana Tentacles] → Shen
Seeing such, Shen created more tentacles and caught every warrior that almost ended up inside the chaos.
[Damn lizard! You gave up on this place long ago, am I right? So why are you coming back now?!] → Shen and Ryu
Shen and Ryu roared together, creating a shockwave and making for the wind to blow with only their voices. They placed the warriors atop the mountains then told them with a strict tone.
[Resist and fight together! From now on, focus strictly on defending. I will take care of the stronger beasts, I leave the small fries to you all!]
Then he shot out in the deeper parts of the enemy lanes, going in a killing-spree, smashing beasts like a tank going over little lambs.
“YES SIRE!”
Everyone shouted with a voice then restarted their defending procedures with newborn spirit.
“The ones with an affinity for earth! Start to modify the terrain so we can make the beasts come only from the middle! Make the stones more slippery and the slope steeper! Also, grow the tips of the mountains even more than they are and create stone spikes on them! We will try to fortify these mountains by using the time our lords gave us with that ridiculous meteorite just now!” → Bernard
“The mages from the back! Defend the warriors from atop the mountains! Use only long ranged spells and let no flying monster reach them or else everyone is doomed! The Defensive units! Advance! Go and help the first unit with their buildings! Also, use all you have to defend them properly while they build the new fortress! PLAYERS! I’m talking to you, damn it!” → Gregor
Bernard and Gregor started to shout out commands, waking up everyone from their daze and rushing them toward the peaks of the mountains once again.
If the second wave made such a turn then they will have no choice but to take this same route as the first one. We will need all the men power we have to defend this place. → Bernard
Bernard looked in front, at the back of the huge new valley Shen and Ryu created, seeing how the army of beasts was swarming from through the dense forest, in their direction with the same unstoppable momentum.
If this line of defense falls, then we can only use the huge amount of traps that were built beforehand to defend the Kingdom. That’s only in the worst case scenario, let’s wish everything goes as planned or else, we will have more victims than planned. → Gregor
Gregor rushed toward the tips of the mountains with the other people with a somber face. He knew very well that their numbers won’t get out from this unscratched.
If we have luck, then we’ll return with at least half our numbers… I’m sorry Lissa, Ryu, but it seems I will need to fight as well. → Gregor
Gregor made up his mind. He would wait until the wave reached their defensive lines then charge straight in, the more beasts he would kill, the less will be the number of casualties. And he wasn’t the only one. Gerome, Bernard, Shiroko and every other warrior prepared to give their lives to keep the other alive for as much as possible.
