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PEOPLE used the dracovitae to wrestle down the raging power of the natural world, changing the land into a territory they could live in.
The location Julian stood at now was at the very edge of what the Hurricane of Insight could maintain control over. The world’s energy spreads out through a conduit known as ground veins, sort of like the tips of blood vessels.
That was why the power of the Hurricane of Insight could run to the entire country of Setrayu. The dracovitae’s power to undo the chains would spread throughout the country eventually if there wasn’t the dragon’s interference.
It did seem that the first place to see its influence was where Julian stood. Dark clouds filled the sky and cold, stinging rain fell.
“The red dragon is flying to the south!”
“That’s their only option,” said Julian. “It’s actually boring how everything keeps happening exactly as I expect it to.”
Julian and his guard had been at the lead previously, but now the soldiers following them slogged up to them and formed a defensive position.
The pikemen created a line of spears, the heavily armored soldiers placed their shields side by side, the archers settled in to watch for enemy archers and return any fire, the item operators stood at the ready to activate the defensive barrier in response to any cannon fire or large-scale spells, the magic users used earth elemental spells to create standard walls and ditches to block an advance by the enemy.
The entire population of the country of Setrayu had been taken hostage against the forces defending Mount Kugus. They had no option but to come at them and end this quickly, which meant the Angus army just had to prepare for that assault.
Getting the dragon away from the battlefield and drawing out Setrayu’s army was a much better battle for them than climbing up the mountain.
If they stood their ground and prepared to defend, Setrayu would fall in the end. No one would be able to stop Martgarz. An end would come to this disgusting peace that Julian didn’t understand, where people clung to the whims and goodwill of other countries and avoided fighting. The world would become what it should be.
It didn’t matter to Julian which way things fell from here.
And no matter what did happen, Julian would have his own personal dracovitae at his disposal.
Julian hadn’t consulted with anyone about this strategy of targeting Setrayu directly, not until the last minute. Or rather, he didn’t consult with anyone at all. He didn’t feel any need to ask for the opinions of fools.
Even now, the majority of the forces had no idea what was going on. The only people who did know were Julian and those surrounding him.
There were a few of his vassals that resolutely tried to stop his attack on Setrayu, but he started by eliminating the three most stubborn (and therefore the three most foolish), and the rest of them fell quiet.
“The threat from the sky is gone. Dispatch all aerial knights. I will shoot down any flying enemies,” ordered Julian and the knights leaped up into the rain-filled sky.
They were hippogriff riders.
The dracovitae’s incredible power wasn’t well-suited to a ground-based melee because you might accidentally hit your own soldiers. It was much easier to provide support by targeting enemies in the sky since both its range and power were excellent.
By robbing the enemy of an opportunity to take the fight to the sky, Julian basically secured a win. Aerial knights could disrupt formations and deliver severe blows as they raced through the air. An army that lost the ability to fight in the skies could only hope they could bring down their opponent with bows or magic shots.
That was his optimistic take, anyway, but he tensed the moment he saw how the enemy was moving.
They brought a magic cannon out on a ridge that kept Julian and his encampment just at the very edge of its range. They must have put the entire cannon into a high-quality storage item and carried it there to set it up. Julian looked through a pair of magic binoculars and saw the engineer operating the cannon as well as a formation of defensive magic users.
That happened too fast.
They aren’t uncertain of how to act… Did they actually anticipate a battle right here? Impudent fools! No matter. Knowing doesn’t mean they can stop me!
Julian felt somewhat irritated because having his thought processes be read so easily seemed to contradict his genius, but once he calmed, he realized it didn’t matter. The strongest and most clever person was the one who won in the end.
After some time, there was a rapid twanging of bowstrings and a black rain of arrows fell towards them from rises around them.
Their own archers responded, then an awning of light appeared above their formation, blocking most of the falling arrows. If two arrows were lucky enough to strike the same place in a row, the second could break through the magic barrier and whoever was unlucky enough to be standing below died.
But this volley wasn’t meant to kill many. Its purpose was likely to force them to put up their barrier, preventing them from countering.
Just as the arrows came, a battle cry rang out across the mountain. Mounted knights plunged down the gentle slope towards the Marquess’s troops. Leading them was a girl of vivid crimson, running faster than the galloping horses.
She gives off enough power to stir up the dragon aura… No! She’s the source of it. Such a powerful presence!
Julian was struck by the raging tide of that aura, making him feel nauseated. It wasn’t normal to feel such a powerful presence from this far away.
“My lord!”
“I know. She’s finally come.”
At any point, Julian could pause his work to undo the bonds of Setrayu and rejoin the battle. The people of this advance would die a pointless death.
That’s why they prepared.
While this little dragon girl may be far inferior to the red dragon, she still manipulated the power of the world.