"Welsh, I will count on you."
"Roger."
"Kaiser…"
"Yes?"
"You will be in charge of the first unit."
“I will not disappoint you.”
The moment the hostilities were about to begin, a great shield as tall as him in hand, Fafnir slowly floated until he stood at the very front of his army.
Was it because of how they lived?
The four Dragon King zones were different from most people at the Duke level.
But in fact, it wasn't weird.
Zones were never fixed. A zone could change, for the better or the worse depending on the psyche of the Duke.
During the Great War, more than protecting themselves, what the four Dragon King wished for was to prove their worth to their mother and protect their children.
Was it why?
They all gave birth to Zones which were extremely useful during large-scale wars.
—-
The first one to attack was unsurprisingly the force of chaos.
In large-scale war, the power of one individual was sometimes very trivial. This was even more so when said army was composed of a very powerful being.
As soon as the fight begins, all the mage types of the army begin to focus on sending their mana in a special matrix.
Since all warriors had different skills and elements, it was generally hard to have systematic attacks. Even more so in this case where a good part of the army was composed of criminals who never had soldier training. This was why such matrices were created. All they needed to do was fill it with mana. Those matrices were the equivalent of ballista or Canon and the mana needed to make it function was massive.
Sometimes deadly even.
But Drei did not care. Even though this current body was just a fake and his soul was wounded, reviving dead warriors like this as zombies would never be a problem.
Ten hundred-meter wide spell matrice opened above them, shining with an ominous light full of deadly intent.
The criminal chosen to power the battery screamed in pain as the mana in their bodies was forcefully extracted but there was no escape for them.
“Very well, this should be enough as a probing. Let’s give them a greeting.”
Drei grinned. He knew about Fafnir's reputation as the General with the least death in his army when compared to all divine beasts. He really wanted to see if the legend was true or exaggerated.
—-
“Hum…Shouldn’t we do something?”
Looking at the ten spells that were about to fire, Isis couldn’t help but ask Nent. Even for her, if she took those attack directly she might end up in a very bad shape or even use a Nirvana and this was despite her being a top-level Duke.
Of course, she would never let such a crude attack hit her in the first place but behind her stood more than 18000 warriors. She doubted they could all dodge it.
Weirdly though, she could feel no sense of unease in the army. As if they were all filled with confidence. Something that confused her greatly.
“Do not worry, just watch.”
Nent looked at Fafnir’s back and reminisced about the past. Since Nent and Kiyohime were such a good pair during the war, she had fought many times alongside the dragons and this was why she knew that there was nothing to worry about.
It wasn’t for nothing that Fafnir had once been her potential mate.
This was all Nent said and soon…Isis understood what she mean.
Fafnir was strong. Mayhaps weaker than his sister, Kiyohime, but he was still a powerful Dragon King who survived through the Great war.
But…He didn't survive thanks to his strength.
The moment the spells were completed and fired, it was as if doomsday was upon them. Rushing toward them at an incredible speed, the normal soldier could all feel the pressure. But none of them flinched nor closed their eyes. Because they had full faith in their commander and was faith was perfectly rewarded.
"Listen well, miscreants!"
Fafnir’s voice filled the battlefield with solemnity. His aura reached a level few could truly understand.
<<My name is….Aegis!>>
His words resonated with the natural law of the world.
Golden Light bloomed from his body and the tendrils of that light left him and immediately covered all the soldiers in his army.
This should have been an impossible feat.
The amount of mana needed to accomplish this would have hollowed even the strongest King.
But this was different for Fafnir. After all…He was a divine beast blessed with near-infinite mana thanks to his core.
Immediately, the army changed into shining golden soldiers as they were all covered from head to toe in full plate armors.
Fafnir King's name was Aegis, for he was the supreme shield who protected his territory.
If Lilith King's name, <<Tyrfing>> gave absolute attack power to her alone to the level where she could harm anyone in her vicinity. Then Fafnir's name increased tremendously the magical and physical defense and such protected all those he wished to protect.
But if it was all, then Fafnir would not be worthy of his legend.
<<Zone: Ten Fortresses>>
Isis could only widen her eyes in surprise.
The moment the spells were finally about to collide with the army, Fafnir lifted his shield and placed it firmly in front of him.
No matter how big the shield was, in front of those gigantic rays of death, it was so minuscule it was risible.
But no one could laugh.
“You shall not pass!”
<<First wall: Maria>>
From the shield, a burst of golden light once again flashed drowning everything as far as the eyes could see in gold.
From the void, walls that were more than fifty meters tall rose in front of the dragon army.
BOOOM!!!
The impact was immediate. The explosion was so devastating that it seemed to ignite the very space.
Some of the dragon warriors couldn’t help but gulp at this sight for they knew what would have been their fate should those spells have reached them.
But…This fate was averted and the cause of this was none other than their commander.
“Wooooooh!!!!!”
Who was the first to scream in delight? They did not know. All that mattered was that soon the resonating war cry of all the soldiers filled the air.
Releasing their horns, tempests of mana swirled everywhere.
Once the wall Maria dissipated after doing its job, Fafnir immediately screamed,
“Sister!”
“I know!”
Raising her hand toward the sky, Welsh who had been silent until now immediately answered Fafnir’s shout.
Why were Welsh and Fafnir put together to protect the realm?
It was simple. If Fafnir was the shield, then— Welsh was the spear.
<<My name is….Gungnir!>>
Thousands of crimson light shone above her as if she was recreating the starry sky. Anyone looking at it would be mesmerized…Without knowing that each of those lights was a spear of death.
<<Light Rain>>
Welsh never missed her targets.
Swoosh!
Rushing at a speed ten times faster than the previous spells from chaos, those lights pierced with absolute precision all the people that were used as batteries for the matrice. Furthermore, her attack did not just kill them. It completely incinerated them down to the slightest particular until all that was left was less than dust.
Calling down the soul of recent death was not impossible for a necromancer but the difficulty was extremely high and it was too taxing to do so on large scale. Even more so since they would still need a body to use.
In one instant, Welsh made sure to incapacitate those matrices for a certain time, after all, finding new people to serve as batteries would take some time and this time was what they needed.
Fafnir did not miss the opportunity his sister created and bellowed.
“First unit! Charge!!!”
The roar of dragons followed his order as half of the elders took their true form and rushed into the battlefield alongside a quarter of the army. Even in this form, they were still protected by the aegis armor.
They were ready to release their bloodlust and show the world once again why they were the strongest realm.
—
“Incredible.”
Watching everything that was happening on realm time, both Skuld and Verdandi exclaimed.
Skuld more than anyone was very impressed. She had fought against the angels when they were under the order of Lucifer and Michael but she had few direct interactions with Tiamat’s army directly.
Furthermore, she was not physically present in the other world line where the dragons' territory was crushed. This caused her to somewhat underestimate what they were able to do.
Now though? She had to admit it.
The Dragon Kings were truly on another level. Still, there was something that caught her interest.
“From what I have seen of Welsh and Fafnir, it seems like the true name of all your children are weapons… How sad.”
Like the Zone, the birth of a King's name needed a certain mindset to be achieved. Clearly, in the deepest part of their mind, both Fafnir and Welsh saw themselves as weapons to be used by Tiamat.
This time Tiamat chortled.
“You are wrong on this. You see, my children aren’t so weak mentally as to see themselves like this.”
She showed a somewhat proud smile on her face,
“This is the expression of their wish to surpass me. To show me that I am wrong. Those names are the ultimate form of their Pride. Do not insult it.”
Tiamat’s voice was low, with absolutely no threat nor anger in it and this was why Skuld shivered. For she knew that right here, right now, if she dared to continue on this topic, she would truly die.
As such, she wisely shrugged. The war outside would not end in one day. As such, she decided to see how was the handling of the traitor going.
What she saw then surprised her quite a bit.
(AN: Time for the dragon Kings to shine for a while. is Kiyohime and Hydra showcase.)
