Chapter 377: Day Two: Dragonhold’s Strategy

Aeris landed in the center of the four Nazanda warriors with a thunderous impact that cracked the earth beneath her feet as dust and debris exploded outward from where she touched down.

The two Valaross champions staggered back from the shockwave, shielding their faces. But the Nazanda warriors were already reacting.

The closest one; a lean man with bone piercings through his nose thrust his spear toward her throat before she could even fully rise from her landing crouch.

And the tip of the spear gleamed with a sickly green sheen. This was Venom.

Aeris’s eyes tracked the motion as she took a quick step to the side, letting the spear tip pass inches from her neck. Then she swung one of her twin blades at the spear’s shaft.

The force of the deflection sent the weapon backward, and the spearholder stumbled, fighting to keep his balance.

The other three Nazanda warriors saw that reaction and their expressions shifted. Their eyes narrowed and Grips tightened on weapons.

The just knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

They began circling around the group like predators cornering their prey. One carried a heavy axe. Another held a bow with an arrow already nocked. The third wielded a weirdly shaped sword that had the same venomous coating.

Aeris didn’t seem bothered. She tracked all four of them with sharp, calculating eyes. Both her armed hands were stretched out to the side, and her breathing was steady.

Behind her, the Valaross champion who had been wounded at the arm fell to one knee. His hand clutched the injury, blood seeping between his fingers.

His face was pale and sweat bead on his forehead.

“The venom I was cut with is spreading quickly,” he said through gritted teeth. “Can anyone use a healing spell?”

The elf beside him shook her head. “No.”

Aeris didn’t reply aloud. Her attention stayed locked on the encircling enemies. But in her mind, she transmitted the question through the Mind Link to the rest of the Dragonhold mages. Is anyone capable of a healing spell? One of us is infected by—

She didn’t get to finish the thought.

The Nazandan closest to the wounded champion saw an opportunity, and he lunged forward, aiming the spear at the valaross champion that had fallen to his knees.

Aeris caught the movement in her peripheral vision. Her head tilted slightly to the side, and in one fluid motion, she flung the blade in her right hand.

The weapon flew through the aid, faster than the eye could follow and struck the assailant at the neck brutally.

His eyes went wide. His body froze mid-thrust. Then he disappeared in a flash of light.

Eliminated.

The archer in front of Aeris saw her throw and took advantage of the moment. She released the arrow that had been nocked on her bow.

But Aeris had never truly taken her eyes off the woman. Her head shifted toward the incoming projectile, and she swung her left blade in a sharp upward arc.

The flat of the blade caught the arrow mid-flight and deflected it away.

Two more arrows were fired at Aeris in rapid succession. But the Amazon swung her left blade once to deflect the first arrow, then immediately swung again to knock the second one aside.

Then the heavy axe-wielder saw his chance. He roared and launched himself into the air, making an attempt to bring the massive weapon down toward Aeris’s head.

The elf behind her reacted faster than he expected. She stretched her arm toward the airborne attacker, and a green magic circle formed in her palm. From it, a compressed bullet of wind shot forward and slammed into his chest.

The impact sent him flying backward. He hit the ground hard and skidded across the dirt, leaving a trail in the earth.

Right then, a shadow passed overhead.

Slyrak descended from the sky with a roar that shook the air. The massive red-scaled dragon landed on the ground with a heavy thud that made the earth tremble beneath everyone’s feet.

The remaining Nazanda warriors saw the approaching beast and their bravado broke. One turned to run. Another tried to back away.

But Slyrak’s tail swept across the ground in a wide arc, catching the fleeing warrior at the legs. He tumbled forward and crashed face-first into the dirt.

The dragon adjusted its massive body and lowered its back while extending one wing like a ramp.

Aeris called out, “Quickly. Let’s go.”

Then she stretched her right arm out to the side. The blade she had thrown earlier telekinetically wrenched free and flew back to her hand.

This was an effect Aiden had granted the Sciels when he gave them to Aeris in the final battle against the demon king and his army.

The mythic weapons he granted them will always return to their owner’s hand, just like Volestrum and Eclipsar did for Laela and Arianna.

Aeris then leaped upward and she landed on Slyrak’s back with perfect balance.

The elf moved quickly through the extended wing and climbed up. The wounded man, still clutching his arm, followed more slowly but made it to the dragon’s back as well.

Below, the Nazanda fighters were still trying to recover when Aeris spoke in Dragon Tongue.

Slyrak’s wings spread wide, and with one powerful flap, the dragon lifted off into the skies. Dust and wind exploded outward, forcing the Nazanda warriors to shield their faces.

Now that she wasn’t in the middle of combat, Aeris turned her attention back to the Mind Link;

“One of us is wounded, and the venom is spreading fast. Is anyone capable of healing magic?”

Ursula’s voice came through immediately;

“Where are you?”

Aeris looked down at the landscape below and projected the image of the river cutting through the southern section of the battlefield, the specific bend where the water curved near a cluster of trees.

“Land at that river,” Ursula said. “I’ll be there.”

With Aeris’s command, Slyrak angled his wings and dove toward the river.

Far below, somewhere within the dense forest, Ursula who was alone whispered, “Stellar Port.”

A magic circle glowed beneath her feet, then she vanished.

High above the battlefield, on the edge of the floating island where Aiden watched the entire exchange unfold.

He nodded in approval. “That’s fine work, Aeris.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

——

Innis flew across the battlefield on her green-scaled dragon as she scanned the terrain below.

Then she saw them.

Two champions were locked in combat near the base of the mountain ridge. One wore a purple robe; Lomen. The other wore a brown robe; Anane.

The Lomen warrior was a woman wielding a massive double-bladed polearm that she swung with devastating force. Each strike carved through the air with enough power to split steel. She brought the weapon down in a vertical slash, and the ground where it struck cracked and splintered outward.

The Anane champion was a man who had merged with his beast; a panther-like creature with bone plating along its spine. His hybrid form moved quickly and gracefully, dodging the heavy strikes with speed and precision. His claws glowed as he swiped at the Lomen warrior’s side, forcing her to pivot and block with the shaft of her polearm.

She grunted from the impact and retaliated by sweeping the weapon downwards, aiming to take out his legs.

He leaped over the sweep, twisted mid-air, and came down with both claws extended toward her head.

She raised the polearm horizontally and caught his strike with the weapon’s shaft. Sparks flew as claw met steel.

They pushed against each other, neither giving ground.

Innis watched from above, as her eyes narrowed to assess the situation.

This was exactly what they had been briefed on. An opportunity. Two enemies from different continents engaged with each other, too focused on their own fight to notice anything else.

And she had just thought of the most flamboyant way to take advantage of it.

She leaned forward and rubbed her dragon’s neck gently. The dragon understood and lowered its head toward the field where both fighters were locked in their struggle.

The panther-hybrid noticed first. His ears twitched, and his head was lifted upward.

The Lomen warrior followed his gaze and saw the dragon descending.

On sighting the dragon and hearing its roar, both fighters scrambled to scatter and get out of its range.

But it was too late.

Because at that moment, Innis stretched her hand forward, and a magic circle opened up before her palm.

“Naras,” she whispered in Dragon Tongue.

Her dragon opened its jaws wide, and hot red flames erupted from its mouth. The fire was intense, a torrent of annihilating destruction that roared toward the enemies below.

But that wasn’t even the fun part.

Right then, as the dragon released those flames, Innis aimed her magic at the fire and released a powerful gust of wind from her magic circle.

The wind magic collided with the dragon’s flames and expanded them outward in a massive wave. The fire strengthened, fed by the oxygen and force of the wind, growing larger and hotter until it covered the entire area in absolute destruction.

The ground ignited, trees caught fire and the air distored with heat.

The range the expanded flames had covered was far too much for either champion to escape.

The panther-hybrid tried to run, but the fire caught him mid-stride. Both of them quickly vanished in flashes of light.

Eliminated.

Innis exhaled and pulled back on the reins. Her dragon climbed higher into the sky, leaving the scorched battlefield behind.

Back at the Valaross fortress, in Dragonhold’s hall, Kayden watched the screen showing Innis’s fight. A smile spread across his face.

“Nice,” he muttered.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep