Large-scaled Invasion

It was much worse than what we had expected once we arrived at the front gate into the city.

Hordes of monsters at a much larger size than it was in the previous battle between the armies appeared, their numbers easily going past a hundred, maybe even reaching the thousandth mark. From their forms, I could see armies of Kalas from the back and front — the bigger ones with bulkier bodies served as vanguards while the smaller, larger-mouthed ones were the snipers, judging by their attack pattern. The flanks were those bee-like humanoid monsters we just fought; that single one was perhaps a test run to gauge our combat prowess.

However, that wasn't all they had. In the middle was strangely empty, but that was only if you weren’t paying attention. With these eyes, I could see clearly — signs of cooler-temperature entities lurking underground, signified by hordes of small shark fins on the surface. A separate army of ambushers.

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like a true attempt at war — a vastly unbalanced one at that. It took me and Hava to handle just one of those bee monsters, and now their numbers made that fight look like child’s play. Not to mention all of those other forces. Even if we threw in every wide-range attack in our arsenal, what good would only three people’s worth of power do?

And that’s not even counting their leader standing in front of the formation.

It was a single man, but I wouldn’t discount him just because of that. Judging from his expensive-looking clothes, he was definitely someone with high status, and his darker skin tone signified that he was indeed of this land. His large beard showed age, combining with his sharp, yet arrogant eyes gave him a feeling of someone who was a stickler for hierarchy.

But none of those details mattered as much as his hand. Or, to be more precise, a tattoo of a monkey’s head sticking out from his long sleeves to the back of his palm. A dark blue covered its head entirely — if Arja’s words were correct, it would mean that his assimilation rate was incredibly high.

“General Duna!” Arja called out. “You’ve returned from your conquest at the border, but what is the meaning of these Drizzle monsters? Answer wisely, or you face the wrath of Drought’s mightiest army!” He gestured towards himself, us, and the few hundred soldiers standing behind us.

The discrepancy between the two forces was so large that even our side didn’t believe in his bluff. I could already hear behind me murmurs of defeat coming from the regular soldiers.

And it showed on the man called Duna’s face.

“Bwahahaha!” He laughed, even purposely stressing each sound of mockery. “This puny army is supposed to be ‘Drought’s mightiest’? How far you’ve fallen, oh Crown Prince!”

“It’s ‘His Majesty’ you’re referring to, Duna!” Hava shouted in rage. “Have you forgotten all of our etiquette?”

“Tell me, my good comrade Hava, has any of this ‘etiquette’ you speak of resulted in our win?”

“That’s…”

“It’s time to face the facts, everyone of Drought!” Duna yelled, his voice enough to rock even the sturdiest walls — magic, perhaps. “We are in a losing battle! Just look at this gap in power! And this is just a fraction of Drizzle’s forces! Meanwhile, what do we have? A few thousand soldiers at best? Even if Prince Arja were to draft every single citizen as a soldier, our numbers wouldn’t even crack the ten-thousandth mark! That’s how far we’ve fallen! The correct choice was never to fight off Drizzle!”

His speech ended with a loud bang, and a fire ball exploding right in the middle of the Drizzle forces. Before I knew it, Arja had already transformed into his armored form, and was pointing his dragon head straight at his adversary.

“And what? Let them conquer our land? Lose all of our nature to them? Tell me, Duna, is the price of your life so important that you’re willing to trade it away for the entire nation?” Every word of his didn’t only carry anger, but also sorrow; Arja was almost tearing his throat as he spoke.

However, from within the smoke, a line of monsters emerged — the same shoulder shells that had caused so much trouble for me and Hava had already shifted towards the front line, making a sturdy wall against any sort of ammunition. As the wall opened, an intact Duna stepped forth with a smirk on his face.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Your Majesty,” performing a theatric bow, Duna answered. “First of all, of course anyone would trade their safety for anything; that’s just the human thing to do… But who’s to say I’m just one of those people?”

“You dare spout those words?” The young man was ready to fire another shot, but Duna had already raised his hand to signal a stop.

“I merely show up here with this Drizzle army to show you the difference in power, Your Majesty. I do not wish to fight here. And my proposition is simple: just one person, and I promise that Drizzle and Drought will be whole once more.”

The mere mention of those words were enough for all of those involved — me, Arja and Hava — to figure out what he meant. As the two glanced towards me, my suspicion was clear.

“Me, right?” I asked.

“Indeed, Great Serpent,” the man grinned. “And I see you’re already in combat form. What a fearsome display of power! You are truly as wicked as the legends said!”

“The Great Serpent is our life force, Duna!” Arja argued. “You weren’t there, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes: he called forth the first ever rain in Drought’s history! He is our savior! If we left him to Drizzle…”

“Wouldn’t we all be saved?” asked Duna. “You know how the prophecy goes. Why lean on the Great Serpent’s stolen water instead of our true God’s natural force? Indra can also summon rain whenever she wants!”

“Lies! She has never been able to summon rain! Only call out thunder!” Arja argued.

“But if the Great Serpent was gone, then we wouldn’t need to worry about rain ever again!”

“And what do you choose to believe? Some prophecy from the past, or what your eyes are seeing right now? Show him, Ren!”

“E-Eh?” The sudden request put me in a bind. “Now?”

“Of course! Now!”

“... Okay, here goes nothing.”

If I had to be honest, I didn’t even know how to do it properly. But Arja had believed in me that much already, so no harm to try, right?

I raised my sword towards the sky, replicating the same movement I made when fighting the bee monster. And to my surprise, that was already enough. There was no need for anything else; a downpour had already started with just a simple raising of my sword like that.

While the soldiers behind me cheered like madmen — understandable, of course, seeing that they had only seen rain for the second time in their lives — Duna’s face darkened in a mix of rage and concern. But hidden within was still a shred of joy, seeing that the man still had the slightest smirk at the corner of his mouth.

“So this is the power of the Great Serpent…” he changed his gaze towards the sky, before letting out a crazed laugh. “Marvelous! Simply marvelous! Yes! Your poison is indeed potent! Even I was moved by your display!”

“But…” he continued, his eyes turned cold as ice. “That’s why you cannot exist. I’ve seen it all now.”

“So, all that talk, and in the end it’s still fighting,” I let out a sigh. “Is that what you mean?”

“Perhaps. I still don’t wish to fight, if possible.”

“Am I gonna die if I don’t take your advice?”

“Perhaps.”

“Am I gonna live if I follow you?”

“That… I cannot promise.”

“Then you better give me an offer that can really make me consider,” I answered.

If I had to be honest, I didn’t want to fight. I would much prefer if there was a way to talk things out. But seeing the armies already in positions, seeing Duna disrespecting his fellow countrymen, and most importantly…

Seeing all these people’s joy as I did something as simple as calling forth some rain, I couldn’t bear myself to end their short-lived moment of bliss.

I didn’t want to become a hero at first. But the scene from the market, and now… Perhaps I’d changed without knowing myself.

For now, however…

I took my sword, and pointed towards the opposition.

“I might not have known you for long, Duna, but I’ve heard enough. Let’s fight.”

“If that is your wish, Great Serpent,” the man bowed one last time. “I’ll show you the real difference between the two of us.”

Raising his hand forward and rolling up his sleeve to reveal the monkey tattoo, the man shouted.

“I have drunk and found the gods! I yearn for eternal peace and prosperity! Soma, Unleashed!”