Ep 99. Ludin. (2)

Ep 99. Ludin. (2)

Ep 99. Ludin. (2)

Unlikely stories of heroes prevailing against impossible odds often inspired grandeur dreams within children. A number of them continue to dream the same dream, imagining a day where they would one day become the hero in their childhood tales.

Unfortunately, no such miracles were occurring so far.

The grey, silver-haired figure they’d seen was no longer anywhere to be found. In her place was a giant metallic reptile, killing off at least a dozen with every swing of her arm and tail.

Countless soldiers mindlessly jabbed their weapons into the dragon’s scales, only for them to fling right off her body. The smart few began to cast fire spells and nock flaming arrows given their intruder’s metallic make, but their attacks amounted to little before her massive size.

“Where’re the elite squadrons?! Get them all in here!”

“This is all the men we have!”

In preparation for the oncoming campaign, a majority of the empire’s elites had been stationed on the western front; those that yet remained in the capital were the lucky few that had been selected for their rather lacking prowess in battle.

Of course, they were still loyal to their ruler, and valiant nonetheless. But they were nowhere near the level of strength to alter the course of battle against a dragon.

That was, except for a single individual whose hands had been entrusted with the empire’s capital.

“Now, now, move aside. I appreciate your efforts, but knowing when to retreat is just as important as knowing when to fight.”

The soldiers quickly made way, backing off in unison from Raizel as their court mage showed face. Only he alone stepped into the courtyard to meet the steel dragon’s glaring gaze while the rest began to step away from their massive enemy.

“...A rather peculiar intruder we have. Could I help you, large one?”

The mage’s voice was impeccably polite, and all the more sarcastic because of it. Raizel snorted in amusement at the man’s seemingly baseless attitude.

“Pretty confident for a human.”

“I try my best.”

“Where’s your emperor?”

“Why, I just sent him away to safety. Were you looking for an audience with his majesty?”

“...So he’s not here.”

“No. That he isn’t.”

“Ha.”

“...”

Raizel winced at the sight. As far as she could see, literal corpses were moving about; most were broken and battered, with many missing a limb or two, or even a head. But they were still moving nonetheless.

And even worse, the skeletal figures began to encroach upon the living. An entire army of undead clawed their way onto the remaining soldiers, clawing and biting them to death. Resist as they may, the skeletons refused to stay down; hacking and slashing did little to stop their advance as the soldiers fell prey to moving corpses of their own allies.

When the courtyard became devoid of living except himself and his only enemy, the court mage beamed a wide grin towards the steel dragon, slamming the staff into the floor beneath.

“I can’t risk having any witnesses, you see. And they’re far more useful this way.”

Raizel quizzically lowered her gaze at the mage. Skeleton or not, these things possessed no threat to her whatsoever; in fact, the army of undead ceased their fire-imbued attacks, which had at least managed to annoy her. Now, even that was gone.

“If you mean equally useless, I agree.”

When the steel dragon returned her attention back to the court mage, he was invitingly stretching out his hand towards the metal dragon. Despite his stacked odds, the mage seemed perfectly at ease as if he was used to the occurrence.

“No, they were quite useful. They robbed you of your attention until our guardians’ arrival. That’s quite plenty.”

“...?”

“How will you fare, I wonder?”

His staff glowed brighter in its eerie violet light. A silvery hand emerged from beneath the ground before him, and he quietly whispered a single phrase, almost as if he were uttering a spell.

“Ludin.”

“...!”

Raizel smashed her limb unto the ground, right over the court mage’s head. Whatever he was trying to do, she didn’t want any of it.

But instead of soft human flesh, the dragon’s claws smashed into something metallic that had emerged from the ground beneath. Between her claws, Raizel could see a grey, dusty woman in front of the court mage, shielding them from Raizel’s claws with their bare arms.

“Be honored, large one. Not many are given the chance to see Akeia’s guardians.”

“...Guardian?”

The youngling’s angered scowl melted into a miserable, pained expression. Vicious snarls threateningly slithered out between her fangs, but Raizel’s arm was already giving away in strength.

A single, lifeless eye met the steel dragon’s gaze. The torn woman wore no expression whatsoever, nor did she speak a word; alas, the youngling didn’t need anything more to recognize who the woman was.

“...”

Soon after, a pained howl rang throughout the entire palace. But it did little to alleviate the frustration welling up within its screamer.