A Journey That Changed The World.

Chapter 1706: My Turn

Archerʼs hands were already sliding under Halimeʼs thighs, ready to drag her fully onto the table and bury himself inside her while Teuila held her down, when the world itself yanked him sideways. His body locked up, and his grip on her hips froze mid-squeeze. The hungry, venom-tinged kiss broke as his head snapped up, violet light already flickering in his irises.

The snake woman felt the change instantly. Her forked tongue stilled against his lip. ʼʼArch…?ʼʼ

Teuilaʼs smirk vanished. ʼʼNo. Not now. We just...ʼʼ

ʼʼI know.ʼʼ

His voice came out rough, still thick with lust, but the edge of command was already cutting through it. He set Halime down carefully, even as every instinct screamed to finish what they had started. ʼʼThe northern wall under attack.ʼʼ

The two women exchanged a look- frustration, understanding, and the sharp readiness of warriors who had already accepted that their man belonged to more than just their beds. Halime then smiled in understanding. ʼʼGo. Weʼll be here when you get back.ʼʼ Her voice was low, still husky. ʼʼAnd when you do… you finish what you started.ʼʼ

Teuila stepped in, cupped his jaw, and kissed him hard and fast. ʼʼDonʼt die, husband. Or Iʼll drag you back from the afterlife myself and sit on your face until you apologise.ʼʼ

Archer gave them both a grin, then closed his eyes. Mana surged as he dissolved into streaks of violet light. He appeared on the battlements of Draconiaʼs northern wall in a crack of displaced air. The sky was the colour of old blood. Horns blared. Cannons were constantly going off all around him.

Below the high ramparts, a living tide of humanoid creatures surged against the outer defences. They were tall, lean, grey-skinned things with elongated limbs, bone-plated chests, and faces that were almost human if you ignored the too-wide jaws and the black, lidless eyes. They carried crude iron weapons and climbed over their own dead with single-minded hunger.

Archer raised one hand toward the battlefield, his violet eyes burning as the mana around him surged with enough force to make the stone beneath his feet tremble. For a heartbeat, nothing happened, and then the air above the northern wall began filling with light as thousands upon thousands of violet mana bolts appeared overhead, each one humming with power as they packed the sky.

The defenders below looked up in silence, and then his hand dropped. The entire storm descended. Tens of thousands of mana bolts tore through the sky at once, raining down upon the advancing horde with such overwhelming speed that the creatures barely had time to react before the battlefield erupted in successive waves of violet explosions.

Bodies were thrown into the air, weapons were shattered, and entire clusters of creatures disappeared beneath the bombardment as the bolts punched through their ranks, carving enormous gaps through the mass that had been pressing toward Draconiaʼs walls and the little land in front of it. The attack continued for several seconds before the final bolts slammed into the enemies, leaving the northern sea covered with smoke, fire and countless corpses.

Half the horde was already gone. Archer lowered his hand and stared down at the devastation, his expression remaining completely calm as the surviving creatures staggered through the destruction, some roaring in fury while others continued their advance over the bodies of their fallen brethren.

Then Archer smiled. ʼʼMy turn.ʼʼ

He stepped toward the edge of the battlement and extended his hand toward the ground below. The mana surrounding him suddenly changed. A massive surge of energy erupted from his body, spreading outward across the battlefield before plunging beneath the earth, and for several seconds the defenders could only stare as the ground beyond the wall began to shake violently.

Then the first creature emerged.

A gigantic sea monster burst from the nearby water with a deafening roar, its enormous body crashing down among the enemy ranks and sending dozens of creatures flying. Another followed, then another, until the battlefield itself seemed to come alive as Archerʼs horde poured into the open field.

Massive serpentine beasts surged forward with jaws wide open, enormous aquatic predators tore through the enemy lines, armoured creatures slammed their bodies into the ground hard enough to crush anything beneath them, while smaller but vicious sea beasts swarmed between their larger companions, snapping at anything that attempted to escape.

The creatures attacking Draconia suddenly found themselves facing an entirely different kind of nightmare. The horde collided, and the impact was catastrophic. A colossal sea monster seized one of the humanoid creatures in its jaws and hurled it through several of its own soldiers, while another beast crashed sideways into the advancing ranks and sent bodies tumbling across the battlefield.

The grey-skinned creatures retaliated immediately, swarming over the monsters with their crude weapons, stabbing at exposed flesh and climbing across their enormous bodies in an attempt to bring them down. More monsters rushed into the fighting. The northern wall shook as thousands of creatures and sea beasts crashed into one another beneath it, turning the battlefield into an enormous, chaotic melee.

Archer stood above it all, violet light flickering around his body as he watched his summoned horde tear into the enemy. The defenders of Draconia slowly began to realise what they were witnessing. The invasion had stopped being a battle against their walls. It had become a war between two monstersʼ armies.

The battle raged for several more minutes before Archer finally decided that he had seen enough. His sea monsters had completely overwhelmed the remaining horde, their massive bodies surging through the enemy ranks as the grey-skinned creatures were driven backwards, crushed beneath enormous claws and jaws, or simply swept away beneath the relentless assault.

A final roar shook the battlefield as one of the largest beasts surged forward and slammed its enormous body into the remaining creatures, scattering them across the blood-soaked ground. Silence gradually returned. The last surviving humanoid creature tried to flee, stumbling through the wreckage toward the distant hills, only for a streak of violet mana to flash across the battlefield and strike it down before it could escape.

Archer lowered his hand. ʼʼThatʼs that.ʼʼ

His sea monsters remained scattered across the battlefield, some prowling among the corpses while others slowly turned toward him, awaiting whatever command came next. Archer barely paid them any attention as his gaze drifted beyond the battlefield and toward the rough sea stretching along Draconiaʼs northern coast.

The ocean was restless. Huge waves rolled beneath the darkening sky, crashing against the jagged coastline with enough force to send white spray high into the air. Farther out, the surface became increasingly violent, with enormous swells rising and collapsing seemingly without any obvious reason.

Archer narrowed his eyes. Something about the sea felt wrong. He rested his hands against the stone battlement and continued studying the water, watching the distant waves while the last traces of violet mana faded from the battlefield behind him.

The attack itself had been overwhelming, but the timing of it, the direction from which the creatures had come, and the strange behaviour of the ocean left him with an uncomfortable feeling that this hadnʼt been the real attack at all. His eyes remained fixed on the horizon. ʼʼWhat are you hiding?ʼʼ

Far out at sea, something enormous moved beneath the surface. Archerʼs expression immediately hardened. The movement beneath the waves grew larger with every passing second, until the rough sea ahead of Draconia suddenly erupted as something enormous broke through the surface.

Water cascaded from a colossal serpentine body as the creature rose higher, revealing rows of jagged teeth, enormous horns sweeping backwards from its skull, and a pair of glowing eyes that fixed themselves upon the northern wall.

A sea dragon, and it was heading directly toward them. The defenders on the battlements immediately began shouting orders as cannons turned toward the approaching creature, but he watched it for a moment, his expression becoming increasingly serious as the dragonʼs immense body surged through the water.

Then he stepped onto the edge of the wall. ʼʼEveryone stay here.ʼʼ

Before anyone could respond, Archer jumped. His body dropped from the battlements and plunged toward the sea, violet mana exploding outward around him as his transformation began. His human form rapidly expanded, bones shifting beneath his skin as enormous wings emerged from his back, white scales spreading across his body until the man who had fallen from the wall had become a gigantic white dragon.

The transformed Archer struck the ocean like a falling meteor. A colossal wave erupted around him, sending seawater crashing against the base of the wall as his enormous wings spread across the surface. The sea dragon roared, and he answered with one of his own. Seconds later, the two dragons charged, and the impact was enormous.

Their bodies collided in the middle of the rough sea with enough force to send a wall of water rolling outward in every direction, while his claws dug into the sea dragonʼs neck and the creature wrapped its enormous body around his torso, attempting to drag him beneath the waves. Archer twisted violently, beating his wings against the water as he tore himself free, only for the sea dragon to lunge again with its jaws wide open.