Dragon Maken War - Chapter 224

Chapter 224: 224

Chapter 224 - Old Revenants (2)

2

The Dragon Demon King worshippers were unable to dig themselves out of the chaos caused by Atein’s revival .  Azell’s party took advantage of this .  They pushed hard against their enemies, and they continuously achieved result .

Hwahhhhhk!

An orange colored flame raged .  A frightening amount of heat was dominating the surrounding .  In the middle of all of this, a Dragon Majin girl with long white hair raised a white sword .  It looked as if the sword was carved out of a bone .

“Rage!  Roaring Fire!”

The Dragon Majin girl had polished her words of power through the Dragon Arts .  It amplified the wave of Dragon Demon magic emitted by Arrieta .  At the same time, the fire that had been radiating in all directions gathered in a single location to turn into an incandescent flame sword .  The flame followed the trajectory of the sword .  It sliced through the barrier around the magician like butter, and his body was cut into two .

“Koo-uhk……!”

The heat was so concentrated within the flame sword that it instantly cauterized the wounds .  There was no blood shed from the severed body .  She had killed the troublesome magician with a single blow, and a Dragon Majin warrior used this chance to rush her from behind .  The flame around her was gone, so he thought this was his golden opportunity .  He used his Instantaneous Movement .   

Zzuh-uhng!

Arrieta blocked the thunderous attack that had been unleashed from behind her .

Was she out of balance?

Her stance faltered as she was pushed backwards .

“I will take you with me, Dragon Demon princess!”

The Dragon Majin warrior was confident in his victory .  He kicked Arrieta, who had lost her balance .  He brought down his sword towards her from above .

Puh-ung!

At that moment, a sphere made out of fire hit the Dragon Majin warrior from the back .  He was sent flying .  He died without being able to scream .  A fiery silhouette descended upon him .  It was shaped like a bird .

Soon, the flame burned the Dragon Majin warrior .  The body was burned black as it collapsed into ashes .

“As expected, I cannot be careless . ”

When Arrieta checked that the battle was over, she caught her breath .  A phoenix that was as big as her was circling around her .  It was the Dragon Demon weapon called the Crying Phoenix .

It was capable of fighting on its own, and its power was on par with a Dragon .  The Dragon weapon was able to move freely as it emitted fire from its body .  Since Arrieta was excellent at manipulating fire, her overall power had made a drastic jump .

“Koo-ook, impious sinners…… . ”

Suddenly, she heard a voice next to her, so she turned her head .

It was the magician she had cut in half with her flame sword .  Was it because his wound hadn’t bled?  He hadn’t died instantly .  Still, his life force was slowly extinguishing .

“I’ll make it painless”

Even if he was an enemy she had to kill, Arrieta didn’t enjoy causing unnecessary pain .  That wasn’t her style .

“You are all foolish .  You might think you have won .  Rejoice in that assumption… . ”

The magician was dying, yet he snickered as he spoke .  Maybe, the pain of having his body severed in half was making him lose his mind .

“We aren’t dying… .  His apostles… .  This world will once again… . . ”

He gasped for breath .  He mumbled the words as he died .  Arrieta furrowed her brows .

“…apostles?”

“Is something wrong?”

The one to ask the question was Leticia .  Azell and Laura were destroying the waypoint from within .  Arrieta, Leticia and Kairen remained outside .  They were killing the soldiers that were lured outside .

Arrieta spoke .

“He spoke some ominous words before he died . ”

“What did he say?”

“It was a religious story .  He said he isn’t dying…  Basically, he said he’ll come back to life as Atein’s apostle .  That was the gist of his story . ”

“I want to say you shouldn’t worry about such nonsense, but…… . ”

Leticia furrowed her brows .

“It does make me worry .  We’ll have to tell the others about this . ”

3

Atein’s revival had taken 100 hours .  Two weeks had passed from that event, and Azell’s party had destroyed eleven waypoints .  That wasn’t all .  The members of the Guardian Shadows from all over the continent sent reports stating their victory .

The good news didn’t end there .  Niberis and Kieren had left the Plain of Darkness .  Reygus turned his back on Atein .

Despite all the good news, Azell’s party couldn’t shed the ominous feeling .  

“There are 144 waypoints left… . ”

Kairen mumbled to himself .  

After Atein had been revived, they had pushed themselves a bit harder .  In total, they had destroyed 80 waypoints to the Road of Darkness .  They had greatly reduced the mobility of the Dragon Demon king worshippers .  

“So why hasn’t Atein and Almarick stepped forward?”

“In fact, none of the high ranked officers are coming out .  I believe they are trying to stop us with outside members only . ”

When Azell’s party attacked a waypoint, the Plain of Darkness couldn’t send any reinforcements .  In the beginning, Azell used Extreme Extinction to disable the waypoint, then their party started the attack .  They hadn’t failed once using this strategy .  

However, it was a different story when the other members of the Guardian Shadows attacked a waypoint .  Even if they tried to end it quickly, one or two mistake gave the other side enough time to bring in reinforcements .

“I can understand why Atein isn’t coming out, but Almarick isn’t coming out either .  We haven’t seen any high rank officers recently… .   I can’t believe this, but it seems they are no longer prioritizing the defense of the waypoints .  Why?”

“There are two possibilities . ”

“I wonder what function the Road of Emptiness serves .  Maybe, the Road of Emptiness isn’t important to Atein’s plan . ”

If what Yuren had said was true, Atein didn’t plan on recreating the Dragon Demon war .  His goal was to create a world where no one would be able to carry out evil .

Kairen spoke .

“If Atein has a substitute for the Road of Emptiness, Yuren wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of stealing the White Flame Phoenix… . . ”

“I agree with you on that point . ”

Atein didn’t have a Dragon Demon weapon that boasted excellent mobility like Azell’s Storm Dragon’s Wings .  Atein could imitate the abilities of the Dragon Demon weapons with his magic, but there was a clear limit to what he could do . Above all else, he wouldn’t be able to take his companions along .  The difference in what he could do was stark depending on the presence or absence of the Dragon Demon weapons .

Kairen spoke .

“As expected, it means he doesn’t care if the Road of Emptiness is destroyed . ”

“I believe so .  I am unsure as to the reason why that would be true . ”

“This is a tricky situation . ”

“I’m also unsure as to whether we should modify our strategy .  If he isn't fixated on saving the Road of Emptiness, we might be wasting our time . ”

“I disagree with that opinion . ”

“Why?”

At Azell’s question, Kairen explained his reasoning .

“Let us say he is letting us destroy the waypoints in order to buy time .  Even if that’s true, that plan only makes sense if we are capable of invading the Plain of Darkness right now . ”

“Mmm…… . ”

Atein might be enacting a massive magic ritual within the Plain of Darkness right now .  

Would they be able to stop Atein if they went to the Plain of Darkness right now?

It would be impossible .

If it was possible, they would have already invaded the Plain of Darkness before Atein was revived .  Unless they were able to take the Road of Emptiness, it was almost impossible to lead a large force there .  It was a land of intense cold, and not many would be able to survive the journey there .

On the other hand, numerous Dragon Demon king worshippers lived within the Plain of Darkness .  As the Great Darkness as foundation, countless defensive magic had been erected over the years .

A magician’s power depended on how much resource one had .  A magician’s power changed in thousand different ways depending on those resources .  When one considered that Atein was within the Dragon Demon castle, his power would be impossible to assess .  Above all else, it would be impossible to create a scenario where Azell would be able to fight a one on one battle with Atein .

Kairen spoke .

“We have to continue our original plan .  We’ll destroy the waypoints to decrease the mobility of our enemies .  The only difference is that we’ll speed up the timeline .  Let’s take advantage of their new approach . ”

The goal of Azell’s party hadn’t changed .  They would decrease the elbowroom of their enemies by destroying the waypoints .  Then they would take advantage of their newfound freedom to destroy the Pillars of Darkness .

“It doesn't matter what Atein is planning .  In the end, he has to rely on the large magical system called the Great Darkness .  Our enemies will come out once it is threatened .  At that time, we’ll use the remaining Guardian Shadows to overwhelm our enemies with numbers . ”

“That’s true, but…… . ”

Kairen spoke correctly .  Despite knowing this, something didn’t sit right with Azell .  

Kairen spoke to Azell, who was deep in thought .

“There is something that also worries me . ”

“Are you talking about Reygus, who seems to be a friendly force?”

“He said someone will come towards us in the near future .  He didn’t reveal the identity of this person, and he never said when this person will come to us . ”

When Leticia mobilized the Guardian Shadows to save Niberis, Reygus had appeared .  He told Leticia that he had left Atein’s camp .  He also explained his intention .

‘I’m not saying we should join sides to fight Atein .  I don’t care if we do, but I’m sure you guys are hesitant to do that .  Maybe, Azell might believe me .  On the other hand, you guys might be suspicious that I might be unwittingly a pawn in Atein’s plan . ’

‘…… . ’

‘I’ll follow the young lady to the Albatan forest .  My party member, who wants to be your ally, will search you out . ’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘You’ll have the pleasure of finding it out on your own .  I want to tell you, but this person doesn’t want me to say anything .  I’ll let you discover it on your own . ’

After he spoke those words, Reygus had left .  They hadn’t heard any news in regards to Reygus after that .

Kairen spoke .

“Do we need to go to the Albatan forest?”

“I’m thinking about it .  What do you think, Duke?”

“I think there are two reasons why we have to go there . ”

“Hmm .  Are you talking about Reygus’ whereabout?”

“No, Reygus’ whereabout isn’t that important .  We don’t have to actively search for him . ”

“Why?”

When Azell became puzzled, Kairen gave an explanation .  

“We are already keeping surveillance on the waypoints .  If Reygus runs into trouble with the Dragon Demon King worshippers, we’ll know immediately .  The more urgent task is to track down the whereabouts of Reshoo . ”

“Mmm……!”

Azell ruminated over Kairen’s words .  He knew that the possibility of facing Reshoo as an enemy was real, but he didn’t want to bring that issue to the fore .

“As someone that learned the Dragon Soul from him, I don’t want him to be our enemy .  However, it wouldn’t surprise me if we found out that he is working with Atein already .  I don’t want to be taken unawares like the time when Atein ambushed us . ”

“You are right . ”

Azell had been sniped by Atein, because he had been taken completely unawares .  A part of the reason was the fact that Atein had sniped him with a very high ranked spell .  However, the bigger share of the blame lie with the fact that he hadn’t worried about the possibility of Atein being revived at that point in time .  It had been a near fatal mistake .

He couldn’t make the same mistake again .

“We have to check if the worst possible scenario has come to fruition .  Albatan might agree with Atein’s cause .  There is a possibility that Albatan might have become our enemy”

“Do you really think that’ll happen?”

Azell became surprised .

It was a possibility that Azell hadn’t thought about .  From Azell’s perspective, Albatan had never been his enemy .  During the Dragon Demon war, Albatan had been steadfast in being a neutral party .

What if Albatan had become their enemy?

It would be an unimaginable calamity .  Kairen was in charge of coming up with strategies, so he had thought about the worst case scenario .

“I want to ask you a question in response .  Azell, what do you think he’ll do?  You know about Albatan more than me . ”

“Mmmm…… . ”

Azell had a serious expression on his face as he mulled over the question .  This was too important to do otherwise .

“…I cannot say that the possibility is zero .  The current situation differs from what occurred during the Dragon Demon war . ”

“As expected, you think so too . ”

The world Atein was trying to create didn’t clash with Albatan’s ideals .  Every member of the society would be monitored by the enormous system .  Their thoughts and actions would be under surveillance .  As soon as someone broke a law, a punishment would be given out .  Basically, the weak beings being protected by Albatan would be guaranteed their survival .

“It is as you’ve said, Duke .  We have to check this out as soon as possible . ”

“I don't want you to go by yourself .  If Albatan has decided to work with Atein, your life will be forfeit by going there . ”

“I already know that . ”

-You don’t have to do that .

Suddenly, a voice intruded between the two of them .  It wasn't a voice of a living person .  It was more like a message that was delivered through magical energy .

Koo-da-tahng!

In a flash, the chairs fell over .  They unsheathed their swords in a flash as they got into a battle stance .

However, the two of them couldn’t find their foe .  The voice was so close, yet they couldn’t feel the gaze or the magical energy of this being .

-I’m over here .

She spoke towards the two tense men .  Somehow, Azell thought the voice sounded familiar .

‘Can it be?’

In front of the shaken Azell, a form rose up from the ground .  She was like an illusion as she passed through the earth .  Azell became shocked when he saw her .

“You are…… . ”

-It has been awhile .

In human standards, she looked like a 14 or 15 year old Dragon Demon girl .  She had long white hair, and grey horns .  Her eyes and Dragon Demon stone was slate-grey .

However, everything about her had no substance .  She was translucent as one could see through her .  She looked like a ghost or an illusion being projected by magic .

Azell knew very well as to who this Dragon Demon girl was .

“Kayalia!”

-You remembered me .

She was Atein’s third queen, and she had possessed magic that made her on par with the Dragon Demon generals .  She had made the human allied forces shake in fear .  She was such an existence, yet she was laughing in front of Azell like a shy girl .