Chapter 474 Flood Dragons Attack!!
"Tralbok, are you in position?"
"Yes, I"m ready to act."
"Good, then I"ll make the first move." Putting his contact crystal away, Tyres returned his attention to the world around him. He stood high in the sky and overlooked the not-too-distant Reinolt encampment.
Two heads were poking out of the clouds behind him, staring longingly at the camp.
Tyres ordered, "Go ahead and eat your fill. But don"t forget to take down that tent."
Both of the giant heads nodded and immersed themselves back into the clouds. Seconds later one gigantic silhouette soared out of that same cloud and charged down at the front of the camp.
The Reinolt scouts spotted the figure but they couldn"t believe their eyes.
That figure had four wings, the front pair being longer than the second pair behind the first. The beast was covered in blue-green scales of many different shades. Its body appeared to be that of a prehistoric crocodile with a thin, long face and a tail that matched the rest of its body in length. But the beast also had some webbing between its digits and many gnarly horns jutting from its forehead and snout.
The monster terrified all who caught sight of it and was too quick to allow the scouts time to warn the others. It crashed into the two hastily-constructed watchtowers and left them obliterated while smothering half a dozen tents with the rest of its seventy-meter long body.
"DRAGOOON!!!"
Shouts filled the Reinolt camp as everyone was alerted by the appearance of one of their worst nightmares. They had just felt so much better after gaining the aid of a dragon, yet now a much larger dragon appeared against them.
While the camp was rousing up in alarm, everyone was barreling toward the great beast with all manner of weapons.
Yet, as they were rus.h.i.+ng for the dragon at the front, another resounding crash was heard.
"Another dragon!"
More shouts filled the air as all hope was lost at the sight of another mythical dragon, which some thought was even larger than the first. And that second dragon rushed directly on top of the king"s tent. There was no hope of any survivors under the seventy-five-meter behemoth.
Just when all hope was lost and the Reinolt soldiers were ready to run, another alarming shout was heard.
"Zuran"s on the move! They"re coming straight for us!"
There was no sense of safety left in their minds. All Reinolt soldiers immediately felt overwhelmed, outmanned, and without any power to resist their demise.
*****
After saying his momentary goodbyes, King Leodoro decided to escort his wife to Tridon as he was sure to never see her again. They casually strolled through camp, heading east toward the back edge of the camp to the tent furthest from the front lines. As they neared the final tent with a dragon parked in the rear, the queen stopped.
The queen tightened her grip and sniffled. "You… Why can"t you just let go?!"
"Honey, it"s--"
"Just forget about being king! There"s no use in it if you"re dead!" shouted the queen, not caring who heard them as the only nearby tent was that belonging to Rydel"s party. "Please, come with me… Think of our child!"
"I am… That"s why I do this," King Leodoro stated, hugging his wife yet again. "No matter what happens, I want my child to know that I never gave up. I want them to know their father was a proud king that did all he could, leaving nothing to regret. Isn"t that how you would want them to live?"
"But…" the queen whimpered, having failed to convince her husband.
"Shhh… This is for our child. Let them grow and be whatever they want to be. I"ve always dreamt of being king and proudly defending my people. How can I let them get involved in more trouble and war? What kind of king would that be?" reasoned Leodoro. "I"ll make sure to care for my people, just as I"ve cared for you. I"ve made so many mistakes as a ruler, so it"s only right for me to try and fix those."
Amidst their heartfelt moment, a thunderous roar sounded out front the front of the camp. Following the roar was a mult.i.tude of shouts that brought the camp back to life in an instant.
"Dragon?!" Leodoro shouted in startlement. "Stay here! I must--"
"Please don"t do this!" The queen refused to let go of her husband, understanding what he would most likely do after seeing her off to safety.
"I must--"
A second crash and roar filled the air as even more shouts of alarmed cried about the destruction of the king"s tent.
"Stay here!"
Leodoro let go of his wife and ran off as more cries warned the camp of the incoming army. As he departed, the queen"s face dripped with tears as she witnessed her proud husband das.h.i.+ng into battle with no hope of victory.
Just then, another dragon flew overhead, only that was the dragon the queen already knew about. Karronteel rushed into action. He discerned which of the two dragons was the strongest and targeted the stronger of the two. Since the lv. 82 dragon was at the front, Karronteel chose to take on the dragon at the center of camp, which was too high-leveled for Karronteel to discern. But rather than fight in the center of camp, Karronteel tackled the larger dragon and teleported them both outside of campgrounds.
The invading army was all smiles as they charged ahead with full confidence. However, their confidence was rattled when they saw two dragons appear on top of them.
Karronteel decided that the best course of action was to fight the largest dragon amidst the enemy army. Though it could make things more difficult for himself should he get teamed up against, but Karronteel was sure that wouldn"t happen thanks to the presence of the behemoth Flood Dragon he faced. Anyone who dared join that fight would only get caught in the crossfire of two mythical, high-level dragons.
"What are you?!" the long-faced dragon roared, noticing the claw marks Karronteel left on its side.
"A Flood Dragon that can"t even remember the existence of us Spectral Dragons? How ignorant?!" Karronteel roared, charging again.
Opening its long mouth, a five-meter wide geyser of water erupted out of its throat. Yet it blew through Karronteel"s ethereal body without any effort on the Spectral Dragon"s part.
With the confirmation that his opponent was indeed a prehistoric dragon, the giant Flood Dragon got serious. It repeated the attack but infused his steaming-hot, watery breath with more magic than ever. This managed to make contact with the Spectral Dragon"s elusive physical form but Karronteel teleported the moment the attack made contact.
Both dragons were aware of their opponents and had effectively sized each other up. Neither cared about the army that they had landed on top of nor how the Flood Dragon"s attacks also damaged the army. They both understood that a battle between two powerful dragons was going to be brutal and b.l.o.o.d.y. Caring for those around them would only hinder them.
While Karronteel prepared for a gruesome grudge match with a dragon with a level more than five levels higher than his own, Maynard and Trax had already reached the front line where the other dragon was laying waste to Reinolt soldiers.
"What level is it?" Trax asked rhetorically, a.s.suming that Maynard was just as clueless.
"It"s lv. 82," Eedaj"s voice suddenly and briefly filled Maynard"s and Trax"s minds. "I would step in but I"m occupied with an even larger dragon at the moment. Instead, look behind you."
Perplexed, both Maynard and Trax turned around to spot a spatial rift tear itself open. One man walked through with a beaming smile.
"Where"s the dragon!?" Hadurt shouted with eagerness oozing from his searching gaze. "There it is!"
Before either the samurai or the ninja could inform Hadurt about the situation, Hadurt charged for the Flood Dragon with his demonic halberd in hand. He was already missing out on the fun in Earthen Keep, so he was all the more anxious to kill a dragon.