"There is no need to compliment your own creations Aleks. That is the very reason for their existence, isn"t it? Will you finally reveal your true might this time, or do you still intend to fool around with your prey?" Lariel"s words were grating to the ears of Nelay, Lenia, and Grobak but what she said was the truth. They became somewhat subdued after hearing it and no longer expressed such enthusiasm.
The three realized they still had a long way to go until they could rival the composure of a true powerful being. They had gained their strength through Aleks"s own powers and hadn"t earned it themselves. Because of this, there was still a disconnect between their mental growth and their physical growth. They had the power of Legendary beings, but not the composure and breadth of mind as one.
"I will display my might. No more games. The World shall eventually be mine and this is the beginning."
Lariel smiled and despite her pale and frail appearance, it was a beautiful smile. Aleks couldn"t help but notice it from the corner of his eyes and he struggled to remain indifferent.
"As it should be. The world was always yours to begin with. It has only been temporarily stolen by thieves. It"s just a shame you must make your debut under such mediocrity."
Aleks scoffed, "Just a bunch of overgrown lizards that have evolved to breathe fire, their mutated sp.a.w.n, and a crop of fools. A bunch of flailing sc.u.m ready to be placed beneath my feet. I will stomp over their heads and force them into subservience where they will forever remain. This is my resolution and their eventual fate."
"Good, then give the command…" Lariel left the rest of her words unsaid.
There was something she wished to attach to her appellation of him, but her withering life didn"t afford her such a luxury. Their history also kept getting in the way. This was the greatest regret she ever felt. The fact that she couldn"t express her love for him. Would he even accept it if she did?
"He already knows my heart, there is nothing left to say."
Lariel glanced at Aleks and she couldn"t help but admire his bearing. This was a man who had gone through more suffering than any other that ever lived. Though he wasn"t whole, and there was a part of him that was surely broken, but who else could face what he had and be as sane of mind as him. Even if that sanity was on the precipice, on the verge of the abyss, it was still delicately maintained with firm determination.
Aleks still hadn"t turned to look at the frail beauty at his side and he didn"t bother to even look behind him. With a forward wave of his hand, he gave his orders and the Horde surged forward at a brisk pace. They would soon be in sight of the enemy and then they would not be able to keep themselves hidden any longer.
This would not even have been possible if not for Nelay"s work in killing all their scouts and downing the dragons who soared through the sky one by one until they were too afraid to go out any longer. If the Dragon King hadn"t been so arrogant, perhaps he would have dealt with it himself, but his arrogance didn"t allow him to lower himself to do such a thing. He thought he had the power and the strength to go against the tide. Lariel"s powerful magic was another shield which kept them in illusions, confusion, and blind to their movements.
And now, at the moment when the Dragon King was confident that his power and the strength of his army would see him to victory, that was when they acted. But, it was not a demonstration of soldiers on the field. It was to be a ma.s.sacre.
The Horde rushed forward behind Aleks who rode at their head on his mount. The others had fallen back, and while their forces surged forward, Aleks drew further away from them. He galloped ahead without slowing down, his robes billowing in the wind and his long hair was askew. There was no expression on his mask, it was a bland face that looked down upon all creation. However, if Aleks could see the mask now, perhaps he would have seen that single tear that seemed to be falling from the socket of its eye. It was not his tear, but someone else"s.
At that point, his galloping figure had long been seen by the enemy. There was no need to use magic or other means to hide their presence any more. The Dragonmen and their Barbarian allies were shocked and surprised. They moved about chaotically at first and there was fear and uncertainty in their steps. The sight of an immense army and that lone figure rushing across the plains of the Steppes was not something they ever expected to see. It wasn"t just from one direction either, there were warriors rushing towards them from every side.
Orders were thrown about immediately, and the dragons soon took notice of the chaos and brought order to their camp. They were shocked, but they were still confident in their victory. They didn"t know how it was possible for their enemy to appear out of nowhere so close to their army, but they also didn"t panic. There were many means that one could use to accomplish such a thing and they believed that it didn"t matter what tricks their enemy used. Only strength mattered.
Their camp was quickly organized and a resistance began to form. The voice of the Dragon King soon boomed outwards from the camp, a monstrous roar which shook the land. His allies were bolstered and the waves of sound traveled rapidly towards the approaching enemy. This was a powerful sound wave which could cause negative status effects on the enemy and positive buffs on one"s own allies. This didn"t seem to faze Aleks who continued to gallop towards the waves of sound like an indomitable spear. There was no appearance of fear or hesitation.
Aleks"s army suddenly stopped their march and kept a distance of about half a mile from the enemy camp. They didn"t take one step closer from all sides and Lenia, Nelay, Grobak and Lariel only watched from upon their mounts. They each had stopped their advance as well and waited. Only Aleks charged forth without stopping. This confused the enemy and they couldn"t imagine what was going on.
The wave of sound had just about reached Aleks when huge "Soul Tendrils" shot out of his body by the hundreds and snapped forward, smashing straight into the approaching wave of sound. The "Soul Tendrils" whipped violently and destroyed the soundwave, redirecting the shockwave outwards which blasted in all directions sending warriors in both armies flying. Aleks finally stopped and jumped off the horse, he was close enough to be seen clearly at this point. None dared approach him, and they looked towards Aleks with hesitation and fear, but they didn"t lower their weapons. This was someone who only the Dragon King could handle and he would naturally deal with him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
What they didn"t expect though was that Aleks suddenly leaned forward and released a soul stirring scream. It was clearly not a sound that any mortal could make and it sounded much like the cry of a thousand souls. They had never heard a sound like it and not only was sound released, but ghost like wraiths poured out from Aleks"s gaping mouth. It was a frightening sight as thousands of wraiths streamed out of a strangely distorted and extended ghastly golden masked jaw.
Just the sight of the many hideous and harrowing wraiths left many brave Barbarian warriors shivering in fear as their legs began to give way. At that moment, all they hoped, was to run as far away as possible.