Chapter 28: An Omen

Velika was there in the distance, staring directly at the fortress. There was a veil which hid it, much like last time yet even still it felt like she was staring directly at the inhabitants. She stepped over slowly, her bare feet parting the grass, and leaving it dead as she walked over to the fortress slowly. Her walk was slow, and purposeful. Iskatl watched her approach with a deep exhale as he closed his eyes. Last time, her mana caused him to throw up but after only a few hours...

He could stand being in her presence. He felt her mana begin to shift as his eyes opened yet again. Her shadow extended outward behind her, as if threatening to swallow whole the forest behind her. Nine figures would appear behind her.

"Nameplates enabled."

The Reliquary spoke within Iskatl's mind, as he stared. There was a large, hulking man who made even the likes of Kouga look small, he wore various animal pelts to cover his body, with what seemed to be a large lion's mane draped over his shoulders. A powerful and imposing rack of horns atop his head, like a wicked tree, dead from the winter cold, with long black hair that went down his back like a mane. Just a bicep of his was larger than Iskatl's entire torso. Even still, his presence felt lesser compared to Velika's, "Masque, the Murderer."

Directly beside him was a lithe woman, draped from head to toe in a long black robe, with a hood. She had claws like swords, which extended down to her ankles. Wicked swords along her fingers, and puffy blonde hair which seemed to be styled beautifully, spilling out of her hood if only a little. She surprisingly had very small horns, which could barely be seen outside of her hood, "Vaal, the Executioner."

Then there was a pale woman, wearing a snow-white tunic, with silver hair, and piercing white eyes. Horns of ice lie atop her head, and a white face mask covered her mouth, hiding her other features wonderfully. Then, her name pulsed out, "Miur, the Frost Emperor." 

Right beside the pale woman was an empty spot, presumably where Myez should have stood. But directly behind that empty space was a man with purple hair, and wearing a fine purple tunic, looking like he should be in a manor hiding, but instead he was following the Dragon God, Velika, and his name made that all the more obvious, "Parcivel, the Toxin Monarch."

Beside Parcivel was a large dragon of titanic proportions. Every step he took, the ground quaked alongside them, as if the Earth was heralding its lord's arrival. Obsidian scales littered across his body, alongside brown scales. "Pryn, the Geo Primas Drake."

Behind Pryn was a woman who seemed to have a storm following her. Her hair was striking blue, similar to Astalon's, but her horns erupted with lightning, as if threatening to cause a storm even the Gods needed shelter from, eyes purple and had an air of thunder to them. "Saal, Heaven's Storm."

Right beside Saal was a man with decaying skin - even from so far away you could see his skin peeling, and falling off. A head tilt, as he clenched his jaw, showing sharp teeth escaping past his maw. There was no name, only a title, "The Massacre." How odd.

There was a woman with blonde hair, and horns which resembled a crown. Her eyes closed, with a veil covering them. On her back was a pair of pearly white wings, which resembled that of an angel's wings. She seemed to have a holy light escaping those horns of her, and her name was "Guen, the Light from the Abyss."

Finally, another full dragon. A wicked black dragon, with a large spine on its back, akin to a Spinosaurus Rex. Iskatl took a step back seeing this one as he saw its name, "Kyam, the Dictator of Fear."

Stopping about a thousand paces away from the fortress, Velika raised her arms up high and the veil around the fortress dropped. Her voice echoed throughout the region as she spoke, a vicious roar escaping her maw.

"Warriors of humanity! I come bearing solace, for your tired, and grieving hearts!"

In a flash of orange light, Valkyr had returned with various powerful combatants, to stand behind Astalon. A man wearing jade armor, and wielding a large odachi, that woman from before with the witch's hat who spoke of the Gods of knowledge. There was a man in bronze armor, wielding a large spear which was at least twice his size. Finally, one woman stepped forward.

White hair, and blue eyes. Her mana was larger than Kiryuu's, and comparable to his and her very blood seemed to cling to the mana within the air. Velika smirked as she looked directly at Valkyr, who stared through her. She pressed a hand against her chest. Even with just the heavy hitters, they were outnumbered. Humanity's side had a plethora of cannon fodder, but once they were gone, humanity's fighters still fell short of Velika and her dragon priests. Iskatl also couldn't help but noticed his sister wasn't around.

"Humanity, and dragonkind! Hear my voice! This war has two ways of ending. Either we fight long, and hard, and I slaughter you all..."

Smirking as she made eye contact with Astalon before her lips parted to continue speaking.

"I can fight just you, False Emperor. Only one person needs to die today, then this war can finally meet its own end."

The Dragoness tilted her head as she looked to the angellic man.

"You said if it was just you and I, you'd win. So why don't you prove that?"

Blinking twice as she gazed upon him. He just lay silent as she tapped on her chin.

"Unless you're afraid? A coward that would throw away his entire empire if it meant he could still cling to his own pathetic life?"

Astalon turned, and walked away before Velika laughed, and loudly.

"I give you one week. If your Emperor hasn't made his decision by then, I'll just start burning this whole Empire down with my own two hands. Come come, my children. We will leave the mortals to their cowering."

Turning to walk away, Velika hummed softly as she closed her eyes, and her Dragon Priests followed suit.