It took half a day for everyone to get into position. Even if they suspected that the great dragon was aware of their presence, no one wanted to tempt fate too much. Three Dallion clones positioned themselves on the far side of the “valley.” Three of Pierce’s also joined them, each with one destruction ray cylinder. In theory, that guaranteed at least seven rays of destruction, though as every hunter who’d faced a strong beast in the wilderness knew, nothing could be taken for granted.

A group of five was chosen to lead the fake charge. Abla had already made his intention known. It remained unclear whether he’d done so out of ego, or was actually aiming for the imperial throne. The Count was firmly beside him. Since the short time they’d been together, Dallion had only managed to learn that the old man might actually be the most skilled hunter in the world. The reason for his name erasure was slightly concerning, not to mention there was strong evidence that it came with a Moon vow to serve. A bigger question was whether he was serving Abla, the emperor, or someone else entirely.

Two more inner sanctum members had also volunteered their services. Dallion didn’t know either of them, but suspected their awakening levels were over a hundred. As for the last member, it came as a total surprise to all.

“That’s really a bad idea.” Dallion pulled Tors to the side. “Odds are the worst for the chargers.”

“And the rest of the realm is safe?” the Elazni snorted. “If it turns out that the dragon has full control of the domain, we’re all sealed.”

Sealed, Dallion thought. Only a sheltered would think that. If things went poorly, none of them would end up sealed—they’d end up dead. Even in the off chance that Tors had some transportation artifact hidden on him, the dragon they were facing could kill him before he got a chance to activate it.

“Being near Abla is the safest place there is,” Tors continued. “You worry about yourself.”

“Abla will protect himself, not you.”

“So, it’s just a matter of where I stand.”

“Why are you doing this, Tors? Do you want to become archduke that badly? Trust me, it isn’t a life you’ll get used to. Politics and intrigue are your arena. Outside of the capital, things get dirty, and if you want to maintain your power, you’ll need to constantly get involved.”

“You think it’s about that?” The noble openly laughed. “I don’t want the stinking title. You can have it for all I care. Striving for it is just a stepping stone. As long as I have the right connections, great-grandma will be forced to reconsider her current decision and make me the head of House Elazni.”

Tors shoved past Dallion, joining the rest of the group.

“Charming, isn’t he?” Gleam whispered in her whip blade shape. “I doubt he’ll last one minute.”

“He won’t.” Dallion agreed.

Could that be the reason he was sent on the hunt in the first place? Duchess Elazni had claimed both of them had been selected, but she never mentioned she wasn’t involved in the decision.

“You alright?” Pierce approached Dallion. “We need you in full form.”

“Yeah…” Dallion looked at Tors. He didn’t like the man. In fact, he outright despised him, but seeing him rush to his own slaughter filled him with mixed feelings. “Just going through the plan,” he lied. “The attack group has to be strong enough to get close or the dragons will see through it.”

“They’ll handle it.” The noble mage didn’t seem at all concerned.

“Two of them, at least. Tors…” he waved his hand.

“Abla and the Count are all that matter.”

As the attack group went into position, Dallion and all three of his echoes started casting the ray of destruction spell. Even with his current stats and level, he remained unable to cast it as quickly as one of the former battle mages—those that had been born with their abilities, not received them.

After several minutes, Abla received the nod.

COMBAT INITIATED

The red rectangle emerged the moment Abla dashed forward with his group. He was running at an impressive speed, passing miles in seconds. Of course, Dallion could tell he was holding back because of the rest of the group, especially Tors.

“Let’s roll the dice,” Dallion said and released his spell.

Four rays of destruction shot almost simultaneously from various points of the realm’s valley, striking the mountain in the center. They were followed moments later by three more, released from the clay cylinders by Pierce’s echoes.

TERMINAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased 1000%

TERMINAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased 1000%

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased 200%

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased 200%

FATAL HIT

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Dealt damage is increased 500%

Red rectangles popped up in the distance. The rays had managed to kill a few of the nest’s occupants, though not as many as Dallion hoped.

Scores of point and line attacks immediately followed, as the five attackers burst into hundreds of instances.

“Reminds me of when we cleaned up the wyvern nest,” Pierce said, sending off one glowing ball of white fire after another. Their goal wasn’t so much to deal damage than to light up the realm, allowing the party to have a better look. Even after getting used to the realm, the near total absence of light affected their perception. “There were so many that we had to walk on corpses for hours after the initial attack, and there’d still always be more of the creatures.”

Giant cracks appeared on the valley floor, causing part of the mountain to collapse on itself.

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 57%

Without a doubt, the initial attack had caused massive damage to the realm, yet no one cheered. With all the destructive power, many had hoped that it would be a lot more significant.

Two more times, Dallion thought.

As long as his echoes managed to cast the ray of destruction spell twice more, the realm would collapse. The question was whether everyone else could survive for that long. Casting the spell took him minutes, which meant that in a best-case scenario, they had to withstand the dragon’s response for another five.

Roars filled the air as, on cue, dragons emerged from the mountain’s nest openings. All of them were adult or adolescent, brimming with bloodlust and ferociousness. Point and line attacks bounced off, merely pushing the creatures back.

“Use spark attacks!” someone yelled.

Dallion’s attention, however, remained focused on Abla’s group. So far, they had crossed about a fifth of the distance to the dragon nest, and that wasn’t good. While a few of the dragons sent wind attacks around indiscriminately, most quickly focused their anger and attention on the only enemies openly available to them.

Deep growling was heard all across the valley. A large dragon twisted in the air, then flapped its wings, swooping down to the ground. Stopping a few feet above the surface, it propelled itself forward, aiming for a frontal collision with Abla.

The duke cast three point attacks, then threw his weapon at the creature’s head. With no magic to soften the beast’s eyes, the sword bounced off the hard surface, merely causing the dragon to move its head in annoyance.

Abla followed up by summoning his weapon back and repeating the attack. The precision was frightening, as it struck the same eye without hesitation. This time, the dragon flinched, moving its head down. In doing so it touched the ground and due to the built-up inertia flipped over, plowing through the rock.

Clearly, Abla wasn’t considered a contender for the throne for nothing.

Several more adult dragons set their sights on him. Learning from the first’s mistakes, they flew directly at him, staying at a fair distance from the ground and each other.

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 55%

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 53%

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 51%

The health of the realm steadily diminished. The line attacks were causing more damage than Dallion initially expected. The realization caused him to shift from casting a ray of destruction and join in with the spark attack frenzy. His echoes continued with their casting, though, to be on the safe side.

Dozens more dragons emerged, ranging from adolescent to adult. All of them were difficult opponents in their own right, yet there was no sign of the ancient one. Dallion was certain she was there, yet for some reason refused to join the fray. Like an empress sitting on her throne, she observed what the others were doing, waiting for the right moment to make an appearance.

We can actually do this, Dallion thought. Without the great dragon, Abla would have no issue surviving a few more minutes. Unlike the fights before, he didn’t have to kill the dragons, just prevent them from killing him.

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 49%

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 47%

Realm section damaged!

Overall completion 45%

The realm’s stability kept on decreasing.

“Tell Nox to get out here!” Dallion said as he kept on doing point attacks. “He can have all the fun he wants.”

It took less than a second for the crackling to emerge, pouncing on a structure close to Dallion. Four spiderwebs of cracks covered the building, causing it to crumble almost instantly. The creature did not stop there, bursting into ten copies of itself that leaped to destroy more of the nearby realm structures. The damage was noticeably less than that caused by a point attack, but unlike everyone else, Nox was a crackling and his attacks were significantly more lethal where realms were concerned.

“Nice trick,” Astra said, looking at one of Nox’s copies with a combination of bloodlust and adoration. “You’ll have to tell me how to get one for myself.”

No chance, Dallion thought, only giving out a smile.

Another dragon turned away, as the wounds received from Abla’s sword discouraged it. Two more presented an immediate threat. The noble was just about to subject them to the same treatment, when suddenly one of his companions performed a point attack. The difference was that the target wasn’t the mountain or any dragon, but Abla himself.

What the heck?! Dallion stared as the force hit the duke in the back. Normally, such an attack would be lethal from such a distance.

Massive armor plates of sky silver and Moon platinum suddenly emerged, ripping through his clothes and other armor. Thick enough to be worn by a golem, they deflected the blow, though not without thrusting Abla forward.

Unwilling to give up, the man started a second attack, only to be attacked by the count. Meanwhile, Tors completely froze.

“You Star-damned idiot!” Dallion swore and dashed forward.

There was no logic in his action. He had warned Tors about the dangers of joining the attack group; he held no further loyalty towards him. After everything that had happened, it would have been a lot simpler and beneficial to leave matters to resolve themselves on their own. And still, he found that he couldn’t. One didn’t get to choose their family, and despite the piece of scum that his cousin was, he remained the favorite of their great-grandmother.

Casting several spells to boost his speed and reflexes, Dallion went forward as fast as his body would allow. The Count was doing a good job handling the person who had attacked, but there was no telling if he was the only traitor.

“Don’t freeze up!” Dallion shouted the least useful bit of advice, while also using his music skills in an attempt to instill some calm and bravery into Tors.

Seeing what was going on, the fifth member of the attack group turned around, sword drawn to take on Dallion.

So, you’re a traitor as well. Dallion gritted his teeth.

There was no getting around it. He’d have to fight in the open, leaving himself and everyone else to the mercy of the approaching dragons. The point of no return had already been passed. Even if Abla were to join the fight immediately, they couldn’t get out of the valley before the dragons reached them.

Two rays of destruction hit the dragon’s nest, burning any dragon in their path. A split second later, they were followed by a third.

REALM DESTROYED

A red rectangle emerged.

“You’ve gotten faster,” Dallion managed to say, before reality faded away.