A cluster of darts flew at Dallion, emitting a slight whistle as they did. Most would think them easy to evade, and they would be wrong. It wasn't the tips of the darts that presented a danger, but the sound they emitted—a high-pitched noise designed to spread terror to everyone who could hear. Dallion had no trouble spotting it, although it was very different from any music combination he had heard. His family of the imperial capital had perfected the art of using music to manipulate. This was an outright attack sound.

Never knew there was such stuff. Dallion deflected the attack with his aura blade. Spell circles formed, launching hundreds of aether shards at the hidden attacker. Several trees exploded, revealing another small group of gorgons. Dallion was just about to dash to them with a follow up attack when he recognized one of the soldiers.

“You?” he asked.

It had been a while, but there was no mistaking the face—living a year with Euryale had taught Dallion how to distinguish between gorgon features. The one who had attacked him just now had been a mercenary once. Back during the phoenix hunt, he and his brother had trailed Dallion on the behest of another noble.

“Dallion?” The gorgon recognized him as well. Slowly, he raised his hands to the sides, giving a sign to the others of his small group to calm down. After a few tense seconds, they did.

This was the moment at which Dallion was supposed to reciprocate by returning the paralyzed gorgons to normal. Yet, he didn’t.

“You were a mercenary last time,” Dallion said. “Things seem to have changed.”

“War tends to do that,” the other said cautiously. “I heard you were a noble mage now.”

“And hunter.” Dallion continued combat splitting, maintaining three dozen instances. “Where’s your brother?”

“Dead,” the other replied. “The vortex fields were bloody, but you should know that. You were there.”

Dallion could sense the slight anger emanating from the gorgon. Did he blame him for what had happened back then?

“Why are you here?” Dallion went straight to the point. “Where’s Eury?”

The snakes on the gorgon’s head swirled.

“She’s fine,” he said, sensing where the conversation was going. “She’s organizing things at the landing area. I'm part of the advance parties.”

Dallion’s pulse quickened. She was alive. That was good. Although, why wasn’t she with Dark, then?

“Lead me,” he ordered.

The coast wasn’t too far away, yet even so, Dallion decided it would be better if they got there flying. On the way, he saw an increased gorgon presence. The watchers hadn’t exaggerated when they’d said that thousands were coming. If all this was just an advance force, Dallion wouldn’t be surprised if there were millions.

“How bad is it?” Dallion asked.

“I’d better leave the empress to tell you,” the gorgon replied, suggesting it was bad. “I can tell you it wasn’t easy crossing the ocean.”

“Why do it, then?”

“It was better than the alternative.”

Having a link to Adzorg would have been useful right now. Even technically a prisoner, the old mage was skilled at obtaining information. Sadly, the potential information wasn’t worth sharing what Dallion had just seen.

Arriving at the coast, Dallion couldn’t help but stare at the gorgons’ achievement. He had spotted the markings of a domain well before reaching it, yet not even he had expected the scale. An entire section of the coastal forest had been cut down and replaced by a settlement the size of a city. Nearly all the structures were made out of wood, with the sole goal of housing as many people as possible. There were no fields or crops of any kind, suggesting that the city hadn’t existed for long. This could prove to be a serious issue in the short term.

“Do you have any mages?” Dallion asked the mercenary.

“A few are left. They were the first thing that the Azures targeted.”

Dallion was starting to see a pattern. The enemy always focused on the mages. For the Age of the Seventh Moon to start, they wanted to be sure they had a monopoly in the field.

“She’s there.” The gorgon pointed at a sturdy fort-like structure at the edge of the settlement. “I’d be careful, though. The guards are a bit overprotective. I can’t just walk in there.”

“They’ll make an exception for me.”

Several dozen crossbows were aimed at Dallion—and his unwilling companion—as he descended from the sky. Thankfully, not a single bolt was fired. That suggested that the gorgons had recognized him. Choosing not to push his luck, Dallion slowed down even more. A circle of emptiness formed around him. A large part of the local inhabitants were dwarves and humans. Also, the majority weren’t soldiers.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

This isn’t a battle force, Dallion told himself. Everyone has fled here.

“I’m Count Dallion Elazni of the Tamin Empire,” he said in a loud voice. “Take me to Euryale.”

Murmurs filled the crowd. A large part didn’t seem to know him at all and were outraged by the request. In contrast, the ones that recognized him understood the request all too well.

“Get back to what yer doing!” A dwarf clad in armor approached. It was clear by the elaborate design that he held a high rank. “You, count, come with me.”

Local etiquette was far from what Dallion was used to. In a sense, it was funny that he would make a big deal about this, given how often he had messed up. Floating an inch above the ground, he followed the dwarf.

“Good luck,” the ex-mercenary gorgon shouted behind him. “Don’t get killed.”

The murmurs on the ground increased as Dallion was taken to the settlement's headquarters. None of the guards were particularly appreciative, but let them through. If it weren’t for the blocker item, Dallion would have already asked about the situation. As things stood, he’d have to wait to find out.

There were no doors inside the building. What had the appearance of a wooden structure was heavily reinforced with metal. Solid sheets of iron blocked segments of the hallways. Every so often the dwarf would drive his hand through them, then create an opening for Dallion to pass, as if he were pulling a curtain. Finally, they reached a single wooden door.

“She’s in there,” the dwarf said.

“You’re not joining me.”

“Not on your life,” the dwarf replied with something between a grumble and a chuckle. “Since you’re a mage, you can leave by yourself.” He turned around and walked through the sheet of metal.

Paying no notice, Dallion rushed forward and swung the door open.

“Only you would rush in like this.” A cluster of snakes observed Dallion as he entered. “Close the door, will you?”

There was no doubt that this was Eury. Seeing her, it became instantly clear why she wasn’t with the other troops. The entire left side of her body was covered in scorch marks. A gorgon mage sat nearby, maintaining a healing spell in an attempt to repair some of the damage. Dallion had never seen him before, but he could clearly see he wasn’t anywhere as skilled as a proper healing mage. In terms of magic trait, he was barely an apprentice.

“That’s enough,” Eury said, the snakes looking in the direction of the mage moving about slightly. “Dal will take over, won’t you?”

The hint was clear. Without a word, the gorgon mage stood up and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

Dallion went and took the empty seat. Looking at Eury made his heart sink.

“That bad?” she asked with her typical smile. One didn’t have to have music skills to know that she wasn’t at all feeling happy.

“Bad enough.” Dallion cast a seven-circle healing spell. A green circle appeared above the gorgon’s shoulder. “How did it happen?”

“This? Magic ray. Similar to what the mages used in the vortex fields, but different—more nymphy.”

“I’ve seen the effects. Should have you healed up in a few hours,” he lied. At best, it would be days before the worst was over. “You certainly brought a lot of troops. I thought that—”

“No,” she interrupted. “I brought all of them. This is all that’s left of the Alliance.”

That was enough to send chills down Dallion’s spine.

“The coastal area is lost. A few dwarf kingdoms are putting up some resistance in the mountains, but that won’t last. It’s only the Azures and the empire now.”

That was the worst possible outcome. Dallion had hoped the Alliance would act as a counterbalance for him to take advantage of when facing the other two players. Even worse, he couldn’t even imagine what effect that would have on the gorgon. To see so much death and destruction, her own forces driven to cross nymph territory in a desperate attempt to escape, as well as effectively imposing a cap on her level. There was no coming back from this.

“We’ll hold them off,” he said. “We’ll make a stand here. The Order of the Seven Moons will assist us.”

“I don’t think we have that much time. The clash weakened them enough for Tamin to wedge in, but that won’t keep them occupied for long. The moment the new lines are drawn, they’ll make use of the sea and head this way.”

Now I know why they didn’t go all out against me, Dallion thought. He had been very wrong in his previous reasoning. The water golems hadn’t sneaked through the empire, but were probing its defenses from the other side of the globe. The only thing that kept them from launching an attack was the Alliance in their back. Now, that had changed.

“We’ll have enough. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Generals don’t win wars alone, Dal. We’ll need armies, and I doubt we’ll have enough to stop what’s coming.”

“We’ll only be fighting part of them. The empire’s still active on the other side.”

The healing continued in silence. Both had imagined their reunion a lot differently. The complicated game of politics had been the final obstacle keeping them apart. Now that it was no longer present, none of them felt like celebrating. Yes, they were and would be together, but for how long?

It was only when evening fell that Dallion paused for a break. Magic in itself wasn’t tiring, but took a toll when performed for a long period of time.

“Any better?” he asked.

The gorgon’s snakes swirled, indicating that it was.

“There are strands of magic in your flesh.” He found the need to explain what he was doing. “My spell’s healing you while I’m taking them out one by one. It’s not pretty, but it works. I’ve seen it before. Where’s Dark?”

“Probably back with the Moon. He stayed to give us a head start. I told him not to overdo it, but you know him.”

“Yes… a kid to the end.” Dallion was uncertain what to say next. The one time he could actually use Vihrogon’s advice, but couldn’t afford to take his blocker ring off. “How many do you have?” he decided to take the pragmatic approach. By now his echoes had probably told Gleam about the situation, and she had hopefully shared it with Hannah.

“Three-four million. Most of them civilians. There’s a chance that a few more ships make it here, but… Do you have your blocker ring on?” she asked all of a sudden.

Dallion nodded. In his mind, he could almost hear her say she was grateful. Like most gorgons, she didn’t want to be seen at her weakest. There was only one correct response to that—take control and make everyone who inflicted this to Eury pay.

“I’ll make it work,” he said, his voice resonating with calm power. “There’ll be no running, no begging. This will be where the Azures fall—the strongest city in the east and my capital.”