Chapter 223: The Snake and the Dragon

The skies above the Kraken had turned into a full warzone. Explosions were happening left and right as the various attacks happened. Up in the heavens, a strange battle involving weird winged creature and a man who kept shouting 'Eagle Man' could be seen as various strange gunshots and fire erupted now and then. 

But the Commanders had no time to care for these things. If any of the approaching enemies fought each other, it would be better. As such, the Commanders continued to order the forces to focus on the enemies with no rivals. In particular, they continued to attack the tornado. The tornado tried to breach the Kraken but could not do so. 

Various Armors equipped with Hellfire technology had been spraying several batches of living metals, which even caused the tornado visibly move to avoid it. Noticing the weakness and fear of the winds, more and more Armors emerged and began to send more Hellfire related attacks.

The drilling force could not break the hull. 

Grant Hermes was amazed at the strength and tenacity of the Kraken. Still, he then noticed peculiar energy as they continued to clash. 

"Boys, let's stop for now. These bastards have been fooling us!" Grant laughed. 

"What's happening, boss?" Austin asked. 

"The Kraken has been releasing an almost invisible forcefield that protects them. The stronger we attack, the thicker it gets! That's why we haven't been breaking through!" Grant laughed. 

"A skin-like shield? Wasn't that impossible to create?" Omricon asked. He was a native of the EAA and knew their technologies well. 

"This is not the EAA, but the WGP! It's possible for them!" 

"Then what do we do, Boss? Should we retreat?" 

"Yes. Let's wait for Irvana. For now, we continue to try our best to break this tough nut! The energies they use as a forcefield appears to be gathering in one location. Let's try aiming elsewhere. Austin, you know what to do." Hermes laughed. 

"Alright! Follow my lead, guys!" 

The tornado that was once drilling suddenly moved away and then immediately gathered and created a thicker air drill and descended towards the spot where they were attacking. Suddenly, the winds shifted, and on the last second where the impact was imminent, the tail curved and stuck another area! 

BOOM! 

The thundering sound of the wind crashing and a grinding that followed caused the Kraken to tremble once more. 

"The shields were delayed! Boss, if we keep on stinging this Kraken on different spots yet focus on a particular one, we could break through it! We can't drill through it as the shields gather, but it takes time for the force field to gather. Let's displace it and attack!" 

"So, that's why the enemy had been unusually quiet in their attempts to deal with us." Omega frowned. He had long noticed that the number of soldiers nearby had decreased. 

"They must have known that we wouldn't be easily able to destroy the Kraken's hull, so they allowed us this freedom. They were hoping that we would exhaust ourselves and that the energy we are displaying isn't infinite." Grant explained. 

"Then let's do this, Boss! It would take time for them to notice our schemes. Right, Austin?" Alvin asked. 

Austin shook his head. 

"No. The Kraken's hull is very thick. And it's made of an Almetal mix. It's too strong and would take nearly us several strikes." 

"Let's still do that. We'll use the approaching and attacking soldiers to create some chaos, and then we'll disperse. They are bound to use some destructive attacks in their attempts to disperse us. When they attack, we use Wind Walk and hide it out. If an opportunity comes, we gather and battle again. But for now, we rest and wait for Irvana." Grant gave his orders. 

Austin nodded and took command of the tornado. 

The tail of the tornado raised itself once more and began to strike the different areas of the Kraken. As predicted, more soldiers were approaching them. 

Several Armors appeared and began using Hellfire technology and began to attack them as they sent out a strange version of the wind. 

"Retreat!" Grant immediately ordered. 

The Winds followed as the Tornado rose higher. 

"What monsters! They used Canadian Frost as a Base and created Hellfire from it!" Grant laughed as he retreated. 

"They are really breaking customs." Omega sighed. 

"No. They followed protocol. The problem is that a large aircraft bearing several technologies. The reason why they didn't use any prohibited techs is that it hadn't been approved yet. They used Hellfire to an unknown enemy, which means they must have noticed that that enemy carried technology that broke the International Technological Possibilities laws." 

"Then why use it now?" 

"Our techs have mainly displayed Canadian Frost and some of the Canadian Wind techs. But that approaching aircraft bears a weapon of mass destruction. And so, now that they are in the clear of using whatever techs, they will now hit us with everything they've got." 

"Sounds scary." Austin quivered. 

"Sounds interesting." Omega smiled. 

"Sounds exciting!" Alvin laughed. 

"Sounds fun." Omricon chuckled. 

"But boss, what do we do with the aircraft?" 

"You didn't notice? The Emperor left the Kraken. He detected the aircraft and is planning to destroy it." 

"Should we flee?" 

"I'm not sure... Give me second. Ah, there he is!" Grant then allowed a powerful gust to blow towards a particular area. His Wind Whisperer reached the young man. 

"Hey. Is that aircraft your allies?" 

"Hmm? Oh. Hi Grant. Yeah. That's one of our own." 

"Is that craft aiming to deploy a weapon of mass destruction?" 

"Nah. He's just here to draw out the Emperor. I can't afford him disturbing my little talk here." 

"Is that an Emperor you're fighting?" Grant noticed the peculiarities of attacks the boy's enemy was using. 

"Yup. She's one of us. Hence the secrecy of making the other Emperor leave. Just continue whatever it is you're doing." Seeker laughed. 

Immediately, the 'call' ended. 

"Just what is he planning? Austin?" 

"I don't know, Boss. I'm sure that whoever planned this whole thing is someone far smarter than us. I don't think that we can escape their plans. Whatever we do... they have probably already anticipated." Austin's voice sounded distant and helpless. 

"I felt the same way too..." Grant sighed. 

"What if we fought that Kid, Boss?" 

"Too risky. He could kill one or two of you if we fought to the death. And I'm generous. Let's not forget his other allies. For now, let's abandon breaking through the hull of the Kraken. It would be idiotic to trust the kid's words. Besides, there are other strange enemies here. That werewolf, that vampire and that eagle man are... Oh my..." Grant's expression changed. 

"Boss?" 

"What an abomination... That guy takes home the championship trophy tonight... And that ice-cold sensation. What an odd pair..." Grant frowned as he stared at the distance. 

North from their location was a large aircraft. It was an aircraft designed to deliver massive payloads that would have destroyed a small nation with ease. 

It did not use any stealth technology that would have hidden the immense power that is naturally emitted. 

The Emperor used his Rule and the Rule that the Empress left to him. 

Upon detecting the fluctuations, he immediately prioritized attacking it. But the Kraken had sustained too many attacks and too many chaotic and downright weird enemies. The Emperor ignored the werewolf match, which oddly involved one massive Armor. He ignored the weird winged battle in the sky. And although the peculiar cries of 'Eagle Man' would create a familiar Australian technology, he decided to ignore it. 

He raced towards the distant approaching enemy. His sent pings towards the Emperor and the Empress had failed, and he didn't know what else to do. 

Various technologies were detected in this aircraft. But what was scary was a familiar fluctuation that was discovered a few months in China. It was the Qilin's Horn. Only this time, it also detected strange nuclear radiation that caused the Emperor to face it. He couldn't imagine how nuclear attacks that could wipe out a nation could be combined with the Qilin's Horn, but such a weapon could threaten the Emperors! 

The Rule moved to the heavens and summoned a torrential rain of white energies. The approaching craft was within attacking range. 

The energies blasted towards the aircraft with incredible speed. 

Atop the aircraft, a woman appeared and stood on the roof of the plane. Yet despite the wind that would have shaken the woman off, the woman casually stood without any support or tools to keep her standing. 

The temperature around her was so cold that some of the raindrops around her began to turn to ice. She was the beautiful ice princess that won Greydon Meng's heart. Her beauty was shocking that if the world knew of it, she would have been treated as someone on par with the white princess of Pangea, Meryl. 

The white energy circled overhead and was approaching from different angles.

She glanced at the impending attacks and raised her hands. 

The environment was favorable for her. There were water and wind in the air. And so, achieving this was rather simple. What she released wasn't cold air that the Canadians used to create their Frost technology. What she released was something that couldn't be understood by any Earthly sciences. Yet in her body, it existed and was adequately contained. 

The cold fusion of energies created large chunks of ice that appeared in thin air.

The woman created large blocks of ice out of thin air. This was one of her most potent abilities, which she named Ice Molding.

The living energies of the Emperor could not evade the sudden appearance of the block of ice and erupted around the ice and destroyed it. The explosions rang out, and some of the energies pushed through the ice. 

A second, a third, and a fourth block of ice suddenly appeared. Soon all of the white energies had been blocked by the appearing ice. 

The Emperor glanced in anger. He then noticed several pings being received. 

"Give me my Rule! Hurry! The enemy is too strong!" Her pained voice echoed strongly. 

The Emperor was shocked at those words. He wanted to reply, but he had no choice. His honor and his orders should have been to prioritize the destruction of this aircraft. But his heart betrayed him. The logic of mind over matter, could not overcome the issues that his heart had always yearned for. 

He clutched his teeth and began to charge as much energy as possible and used the two Rules to create a massive attack. 

His Rule was weaker than the Rule that the Empress used. As such, he decided to make one grand attack that utilized the amazing technology and energy that the Empress could access. He didn't even reserve any energy. With how hard-pressed the Empress was, she would surely activate 'that' when she got her Rule. 

A giant white serpent suddenly emerged out of the two Rules. It was bigger than the previous Midgar snake that they had released and contained scorching energy. Two kinds of living power, one from the Empress and one from the Emperor combined into one. 

Immediately when the last parts of the serpent's tail emerged from the Rule, a part of the Rule suddenly disconnected from the Emperor. It shot towards the Kraken to return to her master. 

The giant serpent roared as it charged. 

The woman's expression grew serious as she channeled a significant portion of her energy that gathered in the air. 

An icy explosion occurred right in front of the White Snake and created a devastating blast. 

BOOM! 

The cold explosion in the sky caused the area around it to become a large block of ice. Three times larger than the previous ice blocks that the woman created. 

The white snake charged head-on as it began to spin as it moved. The condensed energy gave off incredible heat as it twisted and pierced through the large block of ice, and the heat that it released caused the entire ice to break apart. 

The woman fell to her knees as she continued to gasps for breath. That attack caused her to expend all her abilities, but it was no match to the approaching Snake. 

The woman did not panic but could only sigh. 

"As expected, I am not a match for these Emperors. Love, you'll need to take care of this one." Her sad but loving voice echoed out. She continued kneeling as she was gasping for breath.

Inside the plane, a large man donning a thick metal suit nodded his head. With a command, the metals activated the magnetic fields, and the armor slowly floated away to reveal the man inside. 

If it was three months ago, this act would have been a crazy decision as it would have destroyed the plane. His body would just leak out the immense desolation and cause all sorts of problems to the aircraft and may even damage essential parts and pieces of the plane. But this Abomination has learned to contain his wild energies so that it would not leak out. Although it would require some effort to do so, it was easy to do it for a few seconds. Beyond that, was his expert control of how the desolate energy moved. 

It was one thing for Overcomers to train, and another thing when Overcomers learned from each other. He fought with a man who could control sounds, and with another who could transform into lightning. Somehow, their little advances gave him a new means to wield his power. 

"The heat of that snake is too much for my cold to handle. I hope this won't be an issue with you..." Rosa muttered once more. 

"A mere worm dares to challenge this Dragon?" Greydon laughed. 

Outside of the plane, a large head formed. It was an incomplete head as only its jaws, and only some parts of its cheeks could be seen. The eyes and the top parts of the head were not even formed. Yet this large, green, reptilian creature opened its mouth and charged at the incoming Jörmungandr. 

"Maw of the Dragon." Greydon muttered in a low voice. 

There were no explosions at the clash. The Snake lost its head as it entered the mouth of the dragon. 

The mouth rushed onwards and devoured the entire snake and continued to move towards the Emperor. 

The Emperor was shocked at the scene. The sight of the Jörmungandr being quickly devoured instilled great fear in his heart. 

"Empress... it would seem that I would be busy. The Automatons will have to follow my call. Do your best to defend the Kraken, and I advise you to use your Invoking immediately." The Emperor began to retreat as it began shooting arcing energies that moved around the approaching craft. 

"All Golems to Me. I invoke my right as an Emperor of the World. I beseech the Kingdom to heed my request. Grant me the strength to face a god!" 

An entire layer of the metal plates covering the hull of the Kraken and even the sides of the Kraken began to vibrate and glow with immense light. The various Golems that were battling, all retreated as the strange Origin energy began to envelop them. 

The Rule retreated quickly and even used a booster that could make it move so fast that it reached the area above the Kraken almost immediately. 

The metal pieces and parts and the Golems all flew up using magnetic technology. They slowly gathered around the Rule as it created a sizeable robotic figure in the shape of a man wielding a large sword. 

"Call of Titans!" The Emperor shouted as a new wave or Origin Energy gathered around the massive robot.