Chapter 31: VOLUME 13: CHAPTER 7
Using flight magic, the Coalition Army and Lady Alice's group journeyed toward the Republic of Everfrost.
Due to the scale and number of people being carried by Lark's spell, they moved a lot slower than usual.
In their dragon form, Agnus and Vulcan flanked the group. The Scylla, on the other hand, flew right at the very front.
This formation was suggested by Vulcan himself.
According to the leader of the Ancient Fire Dragons, the best way to make someone submit was to show them the vast discrepancy between their strength. To show them overwhelming strength that belied common sense.
To display the might of the Coalition Army to the Republic, they decided to undo their polymorph and show the lowly humans their Dragon form.
"Agnus."
"Father?"
During their travel, Vulcan felt that something was amiss between the hatchling and the Scylla, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was.
Vulcan continued observing his son.
"Hmm…."
Agnus nervously gulped.
Did his father find out the foolish bet he made with the Scylla? Did Vulcan learn that his son had become the slave of the seven-headed creature for a decade?
Agnus trembled.
It wouldn't end with just a light beating if his father found out.
"Something is strange," said Vulcan. "My senses are telling me I should probe into this matter. Agnus, you…. Are you hiding something from me?"
If Agnus was in his human form, he would be scratching his head and awkwardly laughing from nervousness right now.
"Haha, o-of course not, father! W-When did I ever hide anything from you?"
Vulcan squinted. He wanted to ask the Scylla too, but honestly speaking, he was afraid of doing so.
That Scylla wasn't right in the head. It was a conceited, self-proclaimed almighty who would never bow to anyone other than King Lark.
Vulcan felt that even if that Scylla were to face someone far stronger than it, it would never submit to them and rather die an honorable death.
'A creature stronger than even that crazy Scylla, huh…'
Vulcan remembered the Demon Lord Barkuvara's clone they'd fought in the capital of the Empire. Although it was a mere clone, it was capable of killing Vulcan in just a couple of strikes.
He recalled how the clone's invisible blade cut through his scales and flesh, almost killing him in the process.
If the clone was already that powerful, he could only imagine how strong the original body was.
It was no wonder the demons submitted to that entity. Before overwhelming strength, things like pride and hierarchy would lose all meaning.
'As expected. Our decision was right. It was the correct decision to ally ourselves with King Lark.'
That clone would still probably be alive if King Lark hadn't killed it. And by now, the capital of the Empire would have been ravaged to the ground.
No, maybe the Empire itself would have been gone.
'How terrifying.'
Vulcan's gaze moved in front, particularly at the back of the Scylla.
On top of Blackie, he saw King Lark sitting on the ostentatious-looking golden throne. Vulcan's daughter, Shahaneth – in her human form – was sitting near him. Not far from them sat Lady Alice and the other witches.
A mana barrier was protecting the group, serving as a shield against the wind during their flight.
"Shahaneth," said Vulcan.
"Father."
"You've been with Agnus at that town called Cirno. Do you know anything?"
Shahaneth shook her head. "No, father."
Agnus sighed in relief. Since even his sister was unaware of what happened, the secret should be safe from his father.
But Agnus' joy was short-lived. To his horror, the Scylla started talking.
The first head of the Scylla faced Vulcan. With a sinister grin, it spoke, "Kakaka! You're clueless, huh? Lizard!"
It was amazing how its voice could be annoyingly deep and high-pitched at the same time.
The fourth head snickered, "Like father, like son. Even the worker elves that made the Grand Road weren't as stupid as this one!"
Vulcan glared at the Scylla. "Don't push my limit, Scylla! Even if you're King Lark's—"
"—Do not involve the name of God Evander in this, lizard," said the third head.
The first head laughed. "You've been wondering why your son looks like a wet puppy recently, right? Why he looks anxious and nervous whenever we are around! We'll tell you!"
The seventh head added, "He lost a bet to us! Kakaka! For a full decade, he'll be our slave!"
The third head aside, all of the heads of the Scylla hysterically laughed.
They were clearly enjoying this. Even now, their maniacal laughter was echoing in Vulcan's ears.
Vulcan trembled.
He couldn't believe something as shameful as this happened when he wasn't around!
"A-Agnus! Is this true?!"
Even Shahaneth, who'd been silent throughout their stay in the Empire, was shaken by this revelation. Even she had her pride as a Dragon. There were signs she was about to undo her polymorph.
"You little brat!" said Shahaneth. "What kind of bet was it?! You lost, and now you're the slave of that Scylla?! You, a proud Fire Dragon?!"
"F-Father! S-Sister!" Agnus frantically flapped his wings. "I, I can explain!"
"I don't want to listen to your excuses!" roared Vulcan.
Without waiting for Agnus's explanation, Vulcan flew toward Vulcan, grabbed his neck with his arms, and hurled him toward the ground.
Without a deafening sound, Agnus crashed on the ground, sending a massive cloud of dust flying about.
Shahaneth jumped from Blackie's back, flew up, and immediately undid her polymorph. Flames started enveloping her body.
"I believe we should discipline this brat, father!"
"Of course!"
When Agnus was starting to get up, Vulcan gathered mana in his mouth and fired a breath attack at his son.
Agnus tried to dodge the breath attack, but he suddenly found his legs bound by chains of mana. It was a restriction spell from his sister, Shahaneth.
Although the mana chain broke eventually, it brought enough time for the breath attack to hit Agnus right at the body.
"Ahhhh! F-Father! Please, stop!"
The scream of Agnus echoed.
Although he was a Fire Dragon, Vulcan's breath attack still hurt a lot. It felt as though his scales were about to melt as each second passed by.
What was going on? Agnus wondered why he could feel this much pain when he was supposed to be impervious to most elemental attacks.
After Shahaneth turned into a fifty-meter large red Dragon, she immediately fired a breath attack at her brother.
"Aahhh! Not you, too, sister!"
Agnus' scream became even louder.
What a mess.
The two adult Dragons didn't hold back and fired powerful attacks at Agnus, one after another. The nearby forest was swept up in their attack, turning into a sea of flames.
Mana rippled in the air, and from above, everyone could feel the heat from the Dragons' breath attacks.
The Coalition Army flying above slowed down.
Watching the commotion, Blackie broadly smiled. It started wagging its tail in glee.
The seventh head said, "Kakaka! Fight! Fight! As expected of stupid lizards!"
"Hehehe! This is fun! That arrogant Agnus brat deserves it!" said the fifth head.
The first head said to Lark, "God Evander. Would you like some snacks?"
The dwarves watched the fight below anxiously, while the elves looked at it in amazement. The witches, on the other hand, looked at it with worried faces.
"How about a glass of wine?" offered the second head.
"That's right! Wine! It's perfect while we entertain ourselves with those lizards' fight!" said the fourth head.
Lady Alice said in a worried voice, "King Lark… we'll reach the City of Atarus soon."
She was afraid that the Dragons would fight even when they reached her territory. She couldn't even imagine the damage if that were to happen.
"Don't worry," said Lark calmly. "They won't kill Agnus. Those two will stop eventually."
"Is that so…."
Lark already somewhat expected this to happen when Agnus lost the bet.
Did he become too lenient with Blackie because it was something left behind for him by his disciples?
Did he become too tolerant of its antics because he knew it spent nearly all its life on the lowest floor of the labyrinth, protecting the golden statue?
Lark sighed. He'd already reprimanded the Scylla before he returned to the imperial capital, but it seemed he needed to do it again soon.
For several minutes, the commotion below continued.
It was a one-sided beating. Agnus couldn't even fight back, as he was also ashamed of what happened. He simply resisted the attacks, begging his father and sister to stop every now and then.
Eventually, Vulcan and Shahaneth stopped.
Lark cast several low-ranked water spells to help put out the forest fire.
"Do not polymorph," said Vulcan to Agnus. "Stay in your Dragon form and fly behind me, brat!"
Shahaneth was still visibly displeased but didn't utter another word.
"Yes, father…."
Injured and crestfallen, Agnus silently flew behind his father.
"Sorry for the commotion, King Lark," said Vulcan. He still sounded angry. "This kid needs scolding, you see. Tch! I'm still getting angry when I think of it!"
Lark wryly smiled. He had no intentions of interfering in the family matters of the Fire Dragon Tribe.
"If you're done," said the Scylla. "Let's go, lizards."
Vulcan snarled, "You! What's with that mocking smile!"
"Kekeke! What? Are we not allowed to smile now?"
"The lizard is angry~"
"The lizard is angry~"
"Blackie, that's enough."
The seven-headed creature stopped teasing Vulcan only after Lark told them to do so.
After that, their group continued their way toward the Republic.
Flying for a couple more hours, they finally reached the city where the Witches of Aravark lived.
The walled City of Atarus.
The city with underground tunnels connecting directly all the way to Ist' Tamat.
"Should we use the tunnels in your city to reach Ist' Tamat?" said Lark.
Lady Alice shook her head.
"The tunnels are long and winding. It'll be faster to go directly to the capital of the Republic, King Lark. And besides, it'll be more effective if we arrive with this army. Negotiations with the Republic should go more smoothly that way."
She held the same belief as Vulcan.
Even Lady Alice would get shaken if this army were to suddenly arrive at her doorstep.
Who wouldn't get terrified by this group?
Dwarves, elves, metallic humanoids, power suits, humans, three Dragons, and a seven-headed flying creature.
Even Emperor Sylvius had to give face to Lark and grant him an audience when he arrived at the imperial capital. The Republic, a country weaker than the Empire in terms of military, should be no different.
"What a shame, it'll be nice to see what Atarus, the city you grew up in, looked like," said Lark.
Hearing this, Lady Alice's expression brightened. They were simple words, but they greatly elevated her mood.
"When we have time later, we can visit Atarus together, Your Majesty!" said Lady Alice.
For the other witches, this was the first time they'd seen their leader this happy and enthusiastic when speaking to another person.
"I look forward to it." Lark smiled.
"Yes!"
After that, their journey toward the Republic was met with no hitch and strife.
After passing through the border of the Empire and the Republic, they finally reached the City of Kelyus, which served as the Republic's frontier.
They passed through several towns and villages. In less than an hour, they would reach Quraso, the capital of the Republic.
Captain Symon said to Lark, "Your Majesty, please look below."
King Lark went down his golden throne and looked beneath them.
On the vast plains below, around ninety kilometers away from Quraso, a small army was chasing a group of people.
***
After the members of Zenith heard from Aster that he gave the wrong formula to Senator Sima, they immediately fled the city.
They knew that the old senator would chase them till the end of the world just to take revenge for what Aster did to his soldiers. Moreover, he needed to capture Aster if he wished to bypass the arachnias on the second floor.
"What the hell! Our headstart is almost a day! How the fuck did the soldiers catch up to us!"
"Ahhh! Shit! I told you! We should just abandon the carriage!"
"Are you serious! We can't just leave all of our treasures behind!"
"Oh, for fucks sake! We don't need to bring everything! Just a handful of artifacts from the dungeon should be enough for us to live comfortably in another country!"
Together with Margaret, the inn server, the members of Zenith were fleeing from the mounted soldiers of the Republic with all their might.
Although there were rumors that the Empire had been attacked by demons, they still decided to go in that direction.
Even the Republic would hesitate to chase after them the moment they crossed the Empire's border.
"I still can't believe the Boss is dead."
After being freed from their cells, the members of Zenith immediately investigated the whereabouts of the Red Bear. After torturing one of the soldiers they captured, they learned that Senator Sima extracted their Boss' memories and killed him afterward.
"Damn it. I really want to take revenge. Those fucking dogs of the Senate! That fucking old man Sima!"
"We'll take revenge someday, but not now. Let's bide our time."
The shieldbearer and the ranger really wanted to storm the senate and kill old man Sima, but the rest of the group stopped them from doing so.
They believed that if Emyrson was still alive, he would have preferred it if they didn't die for his sake. Moreover, there was no assurance they would be able to properly take revenge if they attacked Senator Sima now.
Most of the Inspectors were currently at the capital. If they encountered even one of those monsters, it would be over for them.
Now that Emyrson was dead, Ludwig, the healer of the party, became the temporary leader of the group.
Ludwig said, "Everyone, I know you wish to exact revenge for our Boss. Even I want to rip those fuckers into shreds right now. But!"
Riding his mount, Ludwig looked behind him. From here, he could see the dust clouds coming from their pursuers.
"We can't take revenge if we're dead! So, let's do our best to flee and survive!"
"Yes!"
"Of course! Someday, we'll make those bastards pay for what they did to the Boss!"
With the determination to take their revenge one day, the members of Zenith did their best to shake off their pursuers.
"Tch. Let's ditch the carriage!"
They realized they would never be able to escape if they didn't have the resolve to leave behind the artifacts they'd looted from the dungeon.
"Untether the horses from the carriage!"
After untethering the horses from the carriage, the group left the treasures in the cart behind. Of course, they had no intention of handing them to the Republic just like that.
"Eat this!"
The mage of the party fired several spells toward the carriage, blowing it into pieces, destroying the majority of the artifacts in the process.
No longer hindered by the carriage, the group increased their pace. Ludwig even started casting supportive spells on their horses to increase their speed.
"Faster! To the Empire!"
"Karlo! Which direction should we go!"
"There! We're almost near Umbra Plains! There's a forest at the end of it! We can use it to chase off our tail!"
Following the lead of the ranger, Zenith entered Umbra Plains. From here, they could see the forest Karlo was talking about.
"We're almost near it! Wait! My horse! This stupid animal suddenly started slo—"
Ludwig stopped midway through his speech when a large shadow loomed over him and his party.
He looked up and he was stunned by what he saw. His jaw slacked and his body trembled.
"W-What the fuck are those?!"
The horses they'd stolen neighed and froze from fear.
And everyone could understand the reason for this.
Massive creatures were currently flying above them, together with thousands of others which seemed to be soldiers. Belying all forms of logic, a massive army was floating and flying toward the direction of Quraso.
"A-Are those… Dragons?"
"H-Holy shit! I-Is the Dwarven Kingdom invading us?!"
Behind them, even their pursuers halted in their tracks upon seeing the army flying in the sky.
"Are they the demons we've been hearing about?"
"L-Ludwig, maybe we should turn around? Maybe the Empire had turned into a living hell right now!"
The members of Zenith shuddered.
No matter what kind of method they used, they couldn't see any way of surviving if that massive flying army attacked them.
The members of Zenith were about to turn around and flee the other way when Aster shouted.
"Hey, over here!" the buck-toothed kid waved his hands. "We're being chased! Please help us!"
And when those words weren't enough to capture the attention of the flying army, Aster said in a louder voice, "We'll give you some of the remaining artifacts from the ancient city! Help us! Please!"
Horrified, Raiga immediately covered the kid's mouth.
But to his horror, one of the Dragons moved its head toward them. Clearly, it heard Aster's words.
"Y-You little shit! W-What are you doing!"
Aster said to the shieldbearer, "It's hard to explain, but they give off the same feeling as the Boss."
What kind of bullcrap was that? thought the members of Zenith.
Just because of the kid's intuition, they found themselves at the center of the flying army's attention.
They'd rather fight the soldiers from the Republic than even one of those Dragons.
While the group was at a loss for what to do, a voice was heard. Although the voice felt near, they intuitively knew it was coming from one of the people flying above them.
"Ancient city? Did your group just come back after visiting it?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone