Level 1 Fallen

Chapter 171: The Shadow of War

Minutes ticked by as I repeatedly worked to get the enchantments operational. When one succeeded, I would work on the second, only to have to start over again from the beginning if that too failed.

It took me nearly ten minutes before I was able to get both applied at the same time. Part of me wanted to make this a permanent part of my battle tactics, or at least the armored ki soldiers, but I knew that wasn’t a good idea. Not because I didn’t think that the combination was powerful, but rather because my skills were constantly growing, but an enchantment would stay the same strength after being applied.

Still, for the siege at hand, these were exactly what I needed. Once I was done with the enchantments, I made my way to the castle wall, watching the dragons that had formed a circle around the city. They hadn’t destroyed my ballistas yet, so either Dryax hadn’t noticed them, or he simply thought that they weren’t worth his time.

Inside the city, I could see the elemental humanoids hiding within their black houses, locking up the doors and windows as if to offer them some small comfort. Meanwhile, players and Fallen alike stood nervously on the wall, hands shaking as they rested on their weapons.

“Those toys you set up won’t make a difference,” a voice called out to me. I looked to the side to see the elven Jafar, carrying his oversized bow with a grip so tight his knuckles had turned white. “The enemy doesn’t even consider them a threat.”

“They don’t need to,” I answered calmly. “Right now, we just need to buy time, right? Reinforcements will show up sooner or later, so we just need to hold them off until then.”

Jafar grimaced, glancing towards the south uncertainly. Afterwards, he turned to face me, eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you run? You’re a Failure who lucked into getting a king trait. You’ve got to have methods of getting yourself out of here. You could even just return directly to your own kingdom. If you stay, you know that they will have some method of keeping you.”

My eyes narrowed back at him, before I returned my gaze to the dragons. “This is my friend’s nation. Since she’s in danger, I won’t just stand by. I might not be able to turn the tables on my own, but I can put up a hell of a fight. Now it’s my turn. I heard you went to the tower for a better vantage point. What are you doing here when the ceasefire is almost up?”

Jafar hesitated for a moment. “I felt like this would be a better position. The enemy grandmasters are all focused in this direction, so it would be best to keep my focus here.”

That caused me to arch a curious brow. “Can you tell how many there are?”

“Three, though there’s probably at least one more at the rift,” Jafar answered, before pointing to the distance. “The red dragon coiled around the molten mountain peak is Motan. He’s the one that hit us with the meteor before. Flying next to the enemy king is Dryax. And then there’s Cyranir, the green dragon sitting near the back. He’s known for a wide-area poison skill, so he will probably release a toxic cloud as soon as the ceasefire is over.”

My brow twitched at the realization that this elf knew the names and skills of multiple dragon grandmasters, making it clear that his status was anything but ordinary. “So we have one specialized in heavy bombardment, one in scouting and precision strikes, and one in poison. This just keeps getting better and better.”

As soon as I said that, I received a message from Ella, warning that there were now less than ten minutes before the ceasefire was lifted. Jafar, meanwhile, turned his gaze towards the enemies, retrieving a giant black arrow. “Aren’t you worried that I’ll kill you in the crossfire?” he asked, a somewhat taunting tone to his voice. “You should know how high your bounty is.”

I glanced over at him briefly, before shaking my head. “The chance of me dropping my trait is too low for you to risk permanently damaging your relationship with Ella. You got off that cheap shot when we were on our way to the city because you made the excuse that you thought we were with the enemy. If you openly attack me here, you’ll risk losing an alliance with a prominent player king. Unless your reinforcements show up, and have some way to reset my spawn point, you won’t attack me.”

Though I spoke in a confident tone, I did increase my vigilance against the elven archer, making sure that I was locked onto him with my True Sight at all times. As if sensing this, he simply chuckled, nodding his head. “It was worth a shot.”

Moments later, Diane and Bella rushed over, both of them fully prepared for battle. Diane looked somewhat tired, but there was no helping that, given the time. Meanwhile, Bella had a grave expression on her face. “Give us the plan, Drake.”

“As soon as the countdown ends, I’m going to begin my bombardment,” I spoke, looking at the two girls. “I’ll fire all of my ballista, and also summon the troops I’ve prepared. After that, I’ll erect a crystal barrier over the city. This should at least buy some time. However, you both won’t be able to attack once the barrier’s up. Instead, I want you to watch for anyone making an opening in the barrier. As soon as that hole opens up, fire through it with everything you’ve got. If all works as planned, the barrier should repair itself soon after being damaged.”

The two girls nodded their heads in understanding, Diane taking a deep breath and assuming her draconic form as she retrieved her staff. “Got it. Anything else?” she asked in a cold tone. Several of the guards seemed surprised at her transformation, while Jafar looked at her with an intrigued expression.

“Our main objective is to stall. If you see a chance to take out an enemy, go for it. Otherwise, focus on offsetting attacks and preserving the city as much as you can,” I finished, turning to face the outside. Judging by how the dragons had begun to tense up, the timer was drawing near its end.

Less than a minute later, there was a faint shimmer around the city, and one of the dragons roared, serving as a signal for the assault. I lifted my arm, shouting out, “Fire!”

At once, every ballista that I had built around the city was loaded with the water bolts, firing towards the front ranks of dragons. This action broke the stealth on the ballistas, catching many dragons by surprise. The slower ones among them were immediately pierced through, while the faster ones began dodging, trying to outrun the sentient homing bolts.

At the same time, the first enchantment on my arm activated, and my Ki General appeared outside the city. He stomped the ground, summoning his own soldiers, each equipped with golden spears and wearing a flaming, black cape. Though their numbers were small, they could use all of my skills. A fact that they immediately put to use by launching ice arrows at the dragons while dispersing in multiple directions.

Finally, my second enchantment activated, creating a dense wall of red crystal over the entire city. Although it sounded like a lot, these effects all triggered simultaneously, causing the barrier to rise as the dragons were launching their initial volley or dealing with the attacks launched at them. Even Jafar only managed to launch a single black arrow before the barrier rose.

Once the barrier was in place, I focused my True Sight on observing the actions of the dragons beyond it. Some of them had been occupied by my summons and my initial assault, but the rest were free to attack, and they weren’t idiots. Facing a wall like this, the obvious answer was to concentrate their attacks.

This caused the dragons to split into three groups, each directed by one of the three grandmasters. First, Dryax ordered one group to destroy the ballistas that continued to pelt them with homing arrows. Cyranir then guided a small group to destroy my summons, instructing them not to use any fire skills after recognizing their mantles. Finally, Motan ordered the majority of the dragons to concentrate their attacks on the barrier to destroy it.

For the first group, they carried out their mission swiftly. The ballistas were not made to take a hit, and had always been intended as a surprise tactic. Granted, this was before I understood just how much the dragons were investing in this fight. Still, I had managed to kill a few dozen lesser dragon soldiers, so they were well worth it.

The second group, surprisingly, had a much harder time going about their mission. Though the dragons knew better than to wield fire to attack my summons, my summons themselves were fully capable of using my Fire King skill. They wrapped themselves in an aura of ki flames, which then fed their own mantles, increasing their strength far beyond normal limits.

This, together with the aura of empowerment provided by King of All Trades,  turned my small unit of summons into a force to be reckoned with. They tore through the weaker dragons in droves, their smaller sizes making it harder for the larger dragons to target them. It wasn’t until Cyranir got involved that they were finally defeated, as he released a green blast of energy that accurately struck my Ki General, shattering its body in a single hit.

Finally, there was the barrier. Cracks began to rapidly form along the crystal wall where the dragons were attacking. Some of these cracks began to glow and heal, while others spread. In the distance, Motan rose up on the mountaintop, a red circle appearing above his head. This red circle began to grow and grow with each passing moment, the burning sky trembling with the increasing power.

“Looks like he wants to destroy the city all at once as soon as the barrier is broken,” Jafar said in a surprisingly calm tone. Part of the barrier chipped away, blasts of lightning and ice pouring in through the gap. Immediately, Diane and Bella attacked, together with the guards who had heard my earlier plan. They filled the gap with their own attacks while waiting for it to heal, preventing the dragons from being able to take advantage of the situation.

More arrows flew from afar, coming from other towers or nearby archers, until the gap closed to barely a crack. However, Motan’s red ring of power was only growing larger. While some dragons gave up on using their skills, and launched their physical bodies at the crystal wall, I couldn’t help but wonder when Wisteria planned to step in. Did she want to see if we could hold them off until the elves arrived?

As that thought flashed through my mind, Motan let out a loud roar. The red ring of energy exploded, condensing into a giant meteor that split the flaming clouds above the city. The meteor itself looked to be nearly the size of Ella’s entire capital, causing my eyes to open wide in surprise. Burning wind spread over its surface as it began to fall, and Jafar looked up with interest. “Okay, that just feels like overkill,” he said in a voice that seemed far too calm for the situation.

“Is now the time to think about that?” I asked indignantly, focusing on activating my barrier enchantment again. I wanted to try to layer the walls, hoping that maybe it would be enough to offset the giant extinction boulder being thrown at our faces.

“Don’t see why not,” Jafar answered, though this time, his voice seemed different. Deeper, rougher. I looked over, and he had transformed into a black, half-dragon figure similar to Diane’s, but with a taller, more muscular build. “Thank Diane for me, she showed me something quite interesting.”

As soon as he said that, Jafar vanished, appearing above the barrier. As he did, the sky of Pyrrhos seemed to darken. “All of you, get lost.” While speaking, shadows wrapped around the draconic figure’s body, forming an immense goliath that lifted one hand. Black tendrils lashed out, shattering the meteor and dragging the fragments into its palm, where they sank soundlessly into its hand.

Motan’s eyes widened, and he let out a roar of indignation. “Erebus! This has nothing to do with you!”

Jafar--no, Erebus--, looked towards Motan. “You know the tenets of the League. This is an operation which threatens the lives of a large number of NPCs. Leave now, while I’m still speaking nicely.”

Drake, the enemy dragon, bristled. “We’re not afraid of you! What can you do on your own against three grandmasters?”

The three in question cast wary looks at their king, before turning to face Erebus. A low sigh emerged from the shadow giant, who aimed one finger at Drake. “Be silent,” he said, a black mark forming on the dragon’s forehead. His eyes widened, and he immediately plummeted from the sky, screeching and convulsing.

Dryax roared, firing off one of his own skills. The wind chilled as bolts of ice formed in the air, launching themselves at Erebus like missiles. However, these bolts appeared to dissolve against his shadowy figure, sinking into it harmlessly.

“Since you wish to fight, I will accompany you.” With a wave of his hand, Erebus sent out a wave of darkness towards Dryax, within which one could see dark, shifting figures. This wave crushed everything in its path, shattering the bodies of several dragons. Dryax immediately flew upwards to evade the wave, only for a black arrow to pierce through his wing.

Far below, the wave had condensed beneath him, forming six towering turrets. Each turret launched bolts of darkness into the sky, accurately homing in on even the fast-moving Dryax.

“What’s going on..?” Diane asked, having appeared next to me in the confusion. “That’s… the League master, right?”

I could only nod my head, unsure why Erebus had transformed into Jafar to talk with me. “It looks like he copied your shadow dragon transformation. And is using it to fight without worrying about his mana…” I watched Erebus calmly release one ultimate move after another, seamlessly weaving them together in such a way that even the draconic army could do nothing against him.

Wisteria silently appeared next to us, a small grin on her face. “Take a good look, Drake. This is the kind of high-level fight that you’ll be able to take part in, if you keep training at the rate you’re doing.”

Though Wisteria called it a fight, it felt more akin to bullying. None of the three dragon leaders had anything that could harm Erebus’s giant form, while he slaughtered their troops alone, and repeatedly attacked them with skills that threatened to bring them down if they were careless. I couldn’t help but think back to my prior conversation with Erebus, where he revealed that he was a world boss. Now, I truly understood what that title meant.