Chapter 27: She Who Roars

Everything that is, was, and will be begun to quake, as darkness erupted from every corner of the world. It was as if a God had left Heaven, and come down to deliver judgment.

Iskatl heard her voice, directly in his ear. "Another Sovereign? That was fast, boy. Almost as quick as my ascension. I'm impressed." Yet, she wasn't there.

Velika spoke directly within his mind, but she wasn't anywhere near him. He looked around, confused before the Reliquary explained.

"Fusing with Zyelt, and awakening your World Serpent genes has given her greater control over your mind and allowed her to not only see through your eyes, but speak directly to you through your mind as well. Express further caution from here on out."

Iskatl watched as that crimson haired woman from before approached. To anyone else, it was in the blink of an eye, but he saw her approach, as fast as she was - he still managed to see her approach.

There she stood within the fortress. A deep exhale, as she looked Iskatl directly in his eyes, a frown plastered across his face as they made eye contact with one another. His eyes full of sorrow, and her's full of indifference. Sniffing the air, the dragon offered a hand to him.

"Brother. Do you wish to help my father, Velika stop this war? I can convince her to. You just need to kill those three."

Iskatl shook his head no before that look of indifference shifted into one of hatred. He wasn't dead like the others, but instead incapacitated - the Emperor, that is. He rose to his feet and stood beside Iskatl, before whispering into his ear.

"Fight."

He felt this purple aura wash over him as he stared down at the dragon before him. She stood there, unmoving, her brow furrowed, and her teeth gritting with hatred.

"Brother. I know your name, but you not mine. Kiryuu, the Blazing Fury. Sin of Wrath. I don't want to kill you, but if you won't join my side then I've no choice. I hope some day, after I bury your dead body that I'll get to meet our mother whilst standing over your grave."

"Kiryuu. I don't think your mother would appreciate you stamping out her tools without her permission. Would she?"

Valkyr spoke up as she sauntered forward. So often did dragons get uneasy in Valkyr's presence and Kiryuu was no exception. Backing away, as she looked to the girl who was much shorter than she herself was. Astalon stepped beside Valkyr and looked to Kiryuu.

"She's right, Kiryuu. Tell me. Your mother can handle us but... A subject of the Chaos Mother, and the son of one of the twelve angels, as well as your brother? Do you like your odds?"

"Are you trying to goad me? It won't work."

"Quite the opposite, actually. You'll lose if you fight us, unless you wish to call upon Tempris."

Astalon seemed to know a lot about her, and everyone as a whole. Kiryuu shook her head with a growl as she stepped forward and before they knew it, Kiryuu had gone. Astalon looked to the group and nodded.

"We have to change our location then regroup the soldiers we have. Some of my men are in the field, and Izalith is... Well, I'm unsure. She should have shown her face by now."

Astalon beckoned the group to him as he went towards his war tent, and grabbed the map within. He looked to Valkyr and pointed to a location on the map, a ways away from their current location but still in the general vicinity of the region they were in.

"Can you take us there?"

She nodded, and sighed softly. The cat was out of the bag, so subtlety had no reason to remain in her actions. Grasping at what seemed to be thin air, Iskatl could see she was grasping mana, and then she tore open a hole into space, through mana itself.

There was a portal left in the wake of what she had done, only for Astalon to nod and step through, curling a finger and the other four joined him. Then, he shouted.

"DIVINE RECONSTRUCT."

His voice echoed, and erupted throughout the land and a perfect copy of the fortress appeared where they were standing, and he'd nod softly before he held his hand out and a magic circle appeared on the ground, pulsing with golden mana before he spoke.

"Live."

From it, all of the soldiers who had been slaughtered came from the magic circle, as if they were never killed in the first place. Divinity was something few could reach but those who did were amongst the couple in the world who had access to true power.

"Valkyr. I will depend on you. Head around to the Adventurer's Guildhalls across the land and collect any Paragon class Adventurers you find. Afterwards... Forgive me for such vile hubris. Find her. You know who I speak of. The Queen."

Valkyr nodded. Urgency produced even the most likely of heroes, it would seem.

"You, Iskatl, Amani, Kouga. I need you all to prepare for if the Grave Dragon attacks again. We have mere moments, so concentrate."

Kouga nodded, then walked away. He had to get busy. That was for certain.

Amani nodded and got down on her knees before she began to pray to Scylla under her breath. Iskatl looked to Astalon, and nodded.

"Tell me, your Eminence. Do you think you could take Velika? On your own?"

"Certainly."

"Then why don't you?"

"Wherever she goes, company follows. If it were only me, and her she might cause me a little trouble."

"Yes, but would you lose?"

"Nah. I'd win."

The sky darkened, as a bolt of lightning struck a tree a ways away, and in its place there she was; Velika. It seemed like she heard the Emperor. She had to have, because her appearance right this second couldn't possibly be a coincidence. Iskatl refused to believe that dragons cared this much about dramatics.