System Change

In the skies above Indria, a battle was taking place between Alanah and four others. Alanah had already changed into her Dawn Siren form to be able to keep up with everyone. Apparently, when the eldest heir to the throne of a country is killed before the eyes of the entire army, the king of that country doesn’t look kindly upon the person who did it.

Alanah, Edgar, and Blitz had pushed the combined Astrus and Indria army all the way past the Cydarian border, and now the fight was in Indrian controlled territory. Since moving into their territory, none of Alanah’s or Edgar’s communication methods had worked when trying to connect back with those in Cydaria. It was like the entire country was somehow locked down in the same way that Ryven had locked down Savannah when they invaded the city.

But they had ignored that fact and continued routing the opposing army with the near unrivaled power of the three of them. That was until backup forces arrived on Ryven’s side—forces that Ryven himself seemed surprised to receive. The King of Astrus had taken it upon himself to avenge his slain son, and he had brought his brother and army general with him, and this was the second time she had clashed with the four.

Alanah had to immediately call upon her Dawn Siren transformation to survive the initial onslaught of the four enemies the first time they appeared, and now that they were fighting again, she chose to transform before the fight even began. Any one of them, and she could have taken them out easily enough, even if it was only the king and Ryven, she would have been able to deal, but with the four of them, even in her Dawn Siren form, she was just able to produce a stalemate—actually; she was a bit on the losing end in their exchanges.

It was the opposite for Edgar and Blitz. While Alanah was fighting against the leaders of the two countries—minus King Osian—Edgar and Blitz were off tackling the rest of the army. It was a very slow going process for the two of them, but they were on the winning side of their exchange, if only by a bit. The army had quickly put counters in place against the two after their many exchanges, though—mostly using earth-based skills to block and absorb their lightning attacks.

Still, the wyvern and prince combination was fast, and still managed to pick off the occasional soldier before one of their defenders were able to block. That was the problem with fighting with elemental abilities—there was always a counter. There was also no way the two would be able to survive an all out battle with the entire army, which is why they were sticking with guerrilla tactics and resting when needed.

It at least allowed the two of them to keep the army focused on them instead of on Alanah’s battle. Edgar and Blitz were strong, but they weren’t strong enough to take on an entire army by themselves—especially once Blitz’s intimidation factor had worn off. They were lucky that both of them were aerial fighters, and that flying abilities weren’t exactly common.

The army had already nixed the idea of sending those who could fly up to deal with Edgar and Blitz. Those people were easy pickings for the two when they separated from the rest of the army.

However, as Edgar and Blitz chipped away at the army, Edgar made sure to take a look to see how Alanah’s fight was progressing. He was under no illusion that they would be able to continue their push once those three men showed up for the fight. They all fought almost to a standstill before he and Alanah had to retreat the day before, and it was looking like it would soon be their time to retreat again. Alanah was getting better and better at using that form of hers, but it still took a toll on her body and was limited in the time she could keep it active.

And because of the fact that she had to shift into the scary figure as soon as the battle started after being ambushed the previous day, that time would be getting close to its end. I guess it’s almost time to pull back and call our own army up for the fight. There will be a lot of casualties, but it would be enough to allow me and Blitz to enter the fight with the leaders and tip the scales back in our favor.

The young prince had also thought about calling for peace talks with the opposing leaders, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts. First, there would be no peace after what they tried to do to his brother, and what they eventually ended up doing to them. And that was just on his side. He knew that there was no the other side would go for a peace treaty, either.

They may have explored the idea before Derek’s companion had killed the Indrian prince, or even after that. But there was no way in hell they would consider it after Alanah ripped the Crown Prince of Astrus’s heart out of his chest in front of the entire army’s eyes. But Edgar didn’t blame Alanah one bit for that act. He would have done the exact same thing if he was in her position. Though, instead of the man losing his heart, Edgar probably would have fried his brain.

So no, there would be no peace talks between the three nations. Unless Vallum got involved or one of the countries was pushed to the brink, it wouldn’t happen. So, with a sigh, Edgar dismissed all diplomacy and decided that it was going to be an all out war until the end. And that was a shame because the soldiers that he and Blitz were killing were only doing as commanded. It wasn’t their fault, but they and their families were the ones paying the biggest price. But… it was war.

Edgar looked back at the opposing army and Blitz, who was coming in for another ‘bombing’ run. The massive wyvern opened its wingspan to its fullest and began to allow the lightning to channel through his entire body. Then, as he lined himself up with the army, the lightning shot off of him and to the ground. Bolt after bolt fell from the sky.

Some connected, but most fizzled out when they hit combined shields of earth. Still, Edgar received a couple notification that showed that his companion had at least been successful in slaying some enemies. With the combined army focused on Blitz in the sky, Edgar charged up his own attack as he fell to the ground—level with the army.

By the time he hit the ground, his skill was ready, and he thrust out his sword—sending a concentrated beam of lightning directly into the heart of the army. He felt it as his mana rapidly dropped, and soon he had to cancel his skill so he would have enough mana to escape to the sky once the army began their counterattack. His attack was also able to devastate a small portion of the vanguard of the army. There wasn’t much a person could do when a foot wide beam of lightning burned directly through their torso or chest. And even less when it hit their head.

Edgar chugged a mana potion, then formed his lightning wings on his back before taking back to the skies and meeting Blitz, who was just finishing his bombing run. He landed on the wyvern’s back and took a seat—calling for Blitz to circle around the army, but to stay close, so they didn’t get any ideas to interfere with Alanah’s battle.

The opposing army would still be hunkered down for a while, recovering from Blitz’s bombardment. So, Edgar kept an eye on Alanah and her battle. The two of them didn’t have any problem communicating while inside the border of Indria. They just couldn’t contact anyone on the outside. He didn’t want to disturb her during her battle, but they’d already been at it for so long, and he knew that while it looked like it, she didn’t have complete control while in that form of hers. She could still get caught up in the fighting.

‘Alanah! Should we retreat?’ he sent to her telepathically, but didn’t get anything back. ‘Alanah!’

‘What!?’ she finally answered, and the intent behind her message hit him like a ton of bricks. Even telepathically or through communication crystals, the control she could gain through her voice was something else while she was in that form. Out loud, it was an even greater force to deal with. It was the reason that Ryven had been relegated to keeping sound barriers up over each of her attackers.

‘We need to retreat,’ he sent back once he regained his bearing.

‘Not yet,’ she replied, this time not as angrily. ‘I can get this bastard.’

She was talking about the general that the King of Astrus had brought with him. He was a full on close range physical combatant and was also the one she was clashing with over and over. If not for the black ice and occasional barrier distracting and wounding her, she would have made quick work of the man.

Edgar shook his head and was about to send her another message about retreating when the heckles on the back of his neck began to stand. He looked away in a panic and even Blitz roared loudly and changed their direction. Whatever was going on, his companion felt it, too. No longer worried about Alanah, Edgar and Blitz looked back in the direction where they just were once they were a safe distance away from whatever it was that caused that immediate sense of…

Wait a minute, Edgar thought to himself. I’ve felt that feeling—that sense of dread—before. It wasn’t near as strong as what I just experienced, but I know it. That sense of dread was the feeling he had gotten when Derek’s companion, Silvi, had somehow made her way into the dungeon with them before she revealed the news of the war. ‘Did you recognize that feeling? That sense of dread?’ he asked Blitz.

‘What dread? Was just getting a better look of battlefield. Who’s scared? I’m not scared. You’re scared,’ Blitz replied.

‘I didn’t say anything about being… you know what? Nevermind.’ Edgar shook his head. He should have known better than to expect a proper response from Blitz. He’d regretted going along with Derek and giving his companion the Telepathy skill ever since the first day Blitz was in Cydaria. But that feeling, it’s definitely close to the same. Did Derek’s companion decided to leave the dungeon and come help? With her help, we may be able to…

Keeping his eyes peeled on the space that sent that dreadful feeling, Edgar watched as a massive rip in space slowly appeared. He wasn’t the only one to notice it, either. The feeling emanating from it was intense, and once the rip appeared, it grew even stronger. Just like what happened before. Edgar was getting excited. Maybe we won’t have to retreat after all. Apparently, Silvi has a vendetta against Elves. Maybe she could take that duke out while Alanah deals with the others. And she’ll probably be out for revenge after the man wanted to eliminate her. Even if she wasn’t there when it happened.

Speaking of Alanah, her fight had slowed as well, as everyone was now focusing on the tear in space. Edgar’s heart races as the tear in space began to open a massive passageway into a deep dark nothingness. Then, he couldn’t fight the smile from appearing on his face when he saw the bunny. But what he was more excited for was the man who’s shoulder she was resting on.

With an odd pair of black boots that seemed to have a constantly moving pattern, and a near full set of what looked like dragon-scaled armor—minus a big chunk missing from one of the legs—a man with dark as night black hair with an odd purple tint and deep purple eyes took a step out of the portal. Well, this changes everything, Edgar thought. Derek and Silvi had both arrived.