A pair of middle-aged men, who were grumbling loudly, were walking down crude stone stairs. Both men had a torch in their hands. Otherwise, their path would be pitch black and would not be able to proceed without tumbling down to their probable demise.

“They want us to check the skeleton? What, it’s been dormant for how long?”

“For eternity. What’s even the point.”

“Indeed.”

They were complaining about the fact that they were specifically ordered to check upon the skeleton of a dragon underneath Deltalago, the capital of Estana. This was requested by Kerekes Izabella urgently. The men could not understand the urgency. Nothing had ever happened to the dragon skeleton ever since the foundation of the nation. In other words, Kamil was correct; they became lax and stopped checking on the skeleton for decades, if not longer.

“Are we hitting the tavern tonight? There is a new girl, right?”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard of her. Beautiful skin, I was told.”

Conversing casually as they made their way down for a while, they eventually reached the bottom.

“Man, this walk is tiring.”

The spiral stairs went down pretty deep. According to records left by Kozma, not long after the dragon was slain, the ground around it began sinking, taking the skeleton with it. He, as a powerful mage himself, attempted to stop the sinking to no avail. It took him a few years to dig down and finally locate an underground chamber where the skeleton was located. Since then, he asked his people to keep their eyes on it. That was at least two thousand years ago. For many generations, his descendants kept watchful eyes on the skeleton. Unfortunately, as with everything with time, their diligence took a hit. The truth was that nobody checked on the skeleton in the last ten years. The department in charge of it had been reporting that it was checked regularly, however. To make matters worse, nobody questioned the integrity of their reports until Kamil pointed it out.

“What the… fuck…” One of them saw a very large reptilian-like eye looking right at him. It was as big as his whole body. Whatever it was, it was shrouded in darkness. He saw only the eye because of light reflection from the torch.

“What is that…?!” The other exclaimed in confusion and fear.

“Is that the… dra-”

They felt like they heard a voice in their heads. It was a low and husky voice.

Darkness, heed my call: Death.

Their bodies simply exploded into smithereens, spattering blood and flesh all over. That was an abrupt end to them.

I shall comply with the will of the God of Death, I shall bring doom to the world until I am stopped!

The dragon started to roar which began to shake everything around him.

 

Szalai Rajmund, the current king of Estana, was having a meeting with his council. They were waiting for the verification of the status of the dragon skeleton. They sat around on cushions in a chamber.

Pataki Imre, a senior councilor, reported, “I’ve launched an internal investigation. Councilor Izabella’s concern rang true. They have not been checking the skeleton for eternity.”

The king grimaced upon hearing the news. “They had one job,” he complained. Indeed, they had one job and, perhaps because it was a simple job, they became incompetent.

“They had one job indeed and they failed at it,” Pataki lamented. “Either way, we are going to find out soon. I don’t expect any -”

The ground began shaking hard as if an earthquake had just begun. Those in the chamber immediately stood up all at once while trying to balance themselves.

“What is going on?!” The king demanded an explanation, but his voice was mostly swallowed by loud ramblings from all directions - everything was shaking to a point that it was rather hard to make out where it was actually shaking from.

“My king! We must leave!” Pataki exclaimed with urgency. The king failed to hear his voice in the chaos which left him no choice but to grab his hand and dashed toward the only exit.

“Come on!”

It wasn’t easy to run when the ground was quaking hard. They tumbled numerous times as they made their way out of the royal palace. Others were running out as well. Pataki noticed the king’s air carriage which was already manned by two wind mages. They were also looking around very nervously. He dashed toward them and shouted.

“Men, take the king away! Out of Deltalago!”

“Pataki! I should stay! Take the crown prince instead!”

“I don’t see him around here, your highness! You must go!”

The ground began to show large and deep cracks while still quaking. Some lost their balance and fell into the cracks to their likely demise.

“MY KING, THERE IS NO TIME!” Pataki barked out of sheer desperation. Understanding the urgency, the king nodded and got into the air carriage. 

“TAKE HIM AWAY PRONTO!” 

The two wind mages gave him a firm nod and cast levitation, taking the king away from the absolute chaos everyone was experiencing. Watching the air carriage getting smaller in the sky, Pataki looked around slowly as he collapsed after losing balance.

“This is the dragon, isn’t it,” he mumbled. “Kerekes was right, wasn’t she.” People were yelling, shouting, and crying as many of them were falling into cracks on the ground. The royal palace was crumbling apart as well.

“Did the princes make out at all…?” he wondered. The king wasn’t wrong. The crown prince was more important than him. The harsh reality that the king was in his twilight years. If they had a choice, saving the crown prince would have taken priority over saving the king.

“Only if this quaking would stop…”

As if his prayer was answered, the ground ceased shaking gradually at which point he could finally stand up.

“Councilor Imre!” 

“P, princess?!”

The third princess, Heiga Rajmund, ran up to him. She chose the path of a warrior and had so far refused to marry unless she is defeated by a candidate. She was 20 years old at the moment. Because the succession was firm and decided, no one really forced her to wed, allowing her to live her life the way she desired. She was a woman with a voluminous figure. In spite of wearing a robe, her large chest was clear to see. She had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail for ease of movement.

“You are alive! Thank the God of life!”

He was truly glad that someone other than the king survived. The Rajmund bloodline was not yet completely lost. While he was being overly pessimistic, his concern was valid. The whole royal family resided in the palace, and thus far he saw only the king and the third princess.

“Councilor, do you have any idea as to what is happening right now?”

She had a long spear in her hand which she was using as a support stick at the moment.

“Not a hundred percent certain, but I do believe the dragon has regenerated.”

The princess fired a doubtful look. She thought it was just a legend. He saw her stare and understood what she was trying to tell him.

“I am not joking, princess. The legend was real.”

Then the ground began to shake once again, and this time it was shaking up and down even harder.

“Let’s get out of here for the time being!” she suggested as she began to dash. Pataki, without saying a word, followed her while glancing behind.

 

Deltalago was essentially a very large oasis in the middle of deserts. It was also a natural fortress where they didn’t even need walls to protect themselves from invasions. The downtown and the palace was in the heart of the oasis. While Pataki and Heiga escaped from the capital, they didn’t exactly leave Deltalago because there were numerous smaller outposts around the place behind rock formations that surrounded the entire region. It took them roughly an hour by foot before reaching a small military outpost. The soldiers recognized both of them.

“Councilor and princess!” The captain of the outpost greeted them formally. “I am glad that you are safe!” 

The outpost was a simple building with a watchtower right next to it. It usually served as a proximity sensor and had some emergency rations. There were a few refugees being served with food and water around, who looked shocked and beat up. Princess Heiga was also a known figure among the Estana military because she had led several expeditions before.

“Was the earthquake bad here?” Pataki asked.

“No, not really. A bit of shaking and that was it. I’ve been told that it was really bad at the palace.”

“The palace is no more. It has sunken into the ground,” the princess declared to which the guards and refugees responded with wide eyes.

“The king?” The guard asked carefully, fearing the worst.

Pataki replied, “He has escaped, but I don’t know about the others.”

The princess was aware that her father probably managed to escape because she saw his air carriage from afar. It was exclusive for him to use.

“The crown prince?”

He was unable to answer the inquiry, and uneasy silence dominated them which was eventually broken by yet another earthquake. Due to the distance from the epicenter, the shaking wasn’t so bad. However, they felt a sudden thud followed by a loud and disturbing shriek.

“What… in the world is that?” The guard pointed toward where the palace used to be. A creature was emerging from the ground, flapping its wings slowly.

“A… dragon,” Pataki mumbled.

“A dragon? The dragon?!” Heiga repeated after him, raising her voice in shock.

The dragon had blue-ish scales and a pair of bony bat-like wings. It had numerous crystal-like horns on his head and on its spine. Its colors were either blue or purple. Its wing membranes, patagia, had seen better days and looked to be worn out, which didn’t seem to hamper its ability to fly at all. It was flapping its wings really slowly also as if it was flapping only for show. As it opened its mouth, dark gray smoke shot out of its mouth to the ground. They couldn’t see what was happening to survivors on the ground from where they were but they could certainly see trees turning to ash colors and crumbling away.

“... Everyone, get out of here,” Pataki said weakly and then repeated with a much stronger voice. “Everyone, get out of here! Go to Kaoze!”

Taking a deep breath, Heiga slammed her spear onto the ground imposingly, gaining people’s attention at once.

“Everyone, grab whatever supplies you can. You have only a moment!”

The outpost had about ten soldiers who immediately rushed inside to carry out her order. The refugees, meanwhile, stood up, dusting off their clothes.

“What’s going to happen now?” one of them complained aloud, not actually expecting an answer. But the princess answered.

“We try to survive. We also must locate the king.”

Pataki agreed with a firm nod. She was always known for her military prowess. Some lamented the fact that she was born a woman. She would have been a very good general otherwise.

“What were you doing when the earthquake occurred?” he asked out of pure curiosity.

“I was training with my spear. I guess I was lucky that I wasn’t in the palace.”

While he didn’t feel that she simply got lucky, he didn’t feel inclined to disagree.

“Lead the way, princess.”

They had a long journey to make.

 

Meanwhile, Edmund was leading his army toward Elsos. He was joined by Noah along the way. After a brief war council in Keviel, the king declared that they’d join up with an army from Narr somewhere between Staidone and Elsos. Apparently, he had been cooking this up alone without consulting anyone, not even his advisor, Isaac. This disturbed a lot, if not all, of vassals. They felt that the king was going out of control. The only reason they did not outright revolt was due to a fact that the king declared that he would not take any lands from this war. Any lands they’d conquer, it’d be distributed to vassals. This proposal piqued a lot of interests from vassals although neither Edmund nor Noah was interested in expanding their domain. They’d tag along for certain since it was required of them as vassals, but both men decided that they would not give their best in this war because both of them had more important people back home. The Flissing, meanwhile, was given the task of occupying Fort Tonga to keep watchful eyes on their rear. Edmund and Noah were on their horses and were slowly advancing toward their destination at a slow pace.

“Lord Fenchel, when I was younger and was a landless noble, I swore to do everything to gain prestige and become a landed noble. Now that I’ve become one, I am ashamed to say that my priorities have shifted.”

Edmund couldn’t blame him, for he was having the exact same thought. Domain expansion was no longer on his agenda, but securing his legacy was. Both he and Loukia knew that he could not afford to die for a foreseeable future. Taking risks was no longer an option. Noah was in a similar but a better position since he was the founder of the house. Even if he perished, Greta and her three children would be able to go on. But he loathed the very idea of leaving her alone, for he loved her and wanted to be with her longer.

“Since the king said whoever contributed the most would get a land, I shall not try harder,” Noah said.

“I shall do the same,” Edmund replied.

When these two men arrived in Elsos, they were apparently the last ones to arrive. The king and his armies, unwilling to wait, had already marched on.

“What are those clouds over there?” Edmund pointed to hurricane-like clouds forming right atop of Mount Siwen.

“I thought I saw a gray dot in the sky. I didn’t think it'd be like this,” Noah replied while donning a grave face.

The circular clouds were slowly rotating while emitting lightning here and there occasionally. It looked certainly ominous.

“Isn’t Staidone right at the bottom of the mountain?” Edmund mused. “Just what is going on? Nothing about this feels right.”

“What should we do, Lord Fenchel?”

Folding arms and eyes downcast, Edmund mulled over his options

“We stay here,” he declared eventually. This was a risky decision which could backfire on him. At the same time, he wasn’t given any further orders, either.

“Then so shall I,” Noah said in agreement. Neither man was particularly pleased to see the ominous clouds gathering above the mountain. They didn’t know what was going on exactly but knew instinctively that it was bad news. However, for those who were blinded by glory and achievements, they couldn’t care less.

 

When Karsten’s combined forces of 45,000 men reached the rendezvous point, an army of 11,000 men was waiting for them. With nearly 60,000 men, on paper, they would be able to combat Atra on an even ground. When Edmund and Noah’s armies caught up, their number would be close to 70,000. This was a number the Kingdom of Egra could only dream of several years ago. However, this sudden growth in military strength wasn’t done without drawbacks because common folks suffered due to higher taxes caused by absurd spending for the military. There was also another issue only a few were aware of: Supplies and equipment. In fact, this was precisely why Karsten negotiated with Narr because he needed their supplies. Without it, the king’s army would not last a month, and asking for supplies from vassals was utterly out of the question. However, Narr never agreed to share their supplies. He intended to take them by force. Yes, he was going to betray them. He would take Staidone and conscript some soldiers to replenish what he would lose and move onto the war with Atra. This was his plan which Isaac actually figured out but chose to keep his mouth shut. He was the only one who was able to see what their king was up to because he was aware of the supply issue. He also saw the dark clouds as an ominous sign and volunteered to be put in charge of supplies, making a promise to meet up with him. He simply wished to avoid the clash with Narr because he wasn’t sure how it’d go down. Because his army was very small, just three hundred, his request was granted. In fact, his small army was seen as perfect for the job. At this very moment, Isaac was actually at Keviel, preparing to depart with supplies to Elsos. Given the fact that the king was doing everything on his own, he no longer felt the need to stay by his side, which was also good for him. No matter how this conflict would turn out to be, he was going to resign either way. If his resignation was denied, he was going to give up on Rokk and flee to Ceres.

 

A very rugged man in full plate on a horse approached Karsten, flanked by several bodyguards on horses. Karsten himself was in full plate armor as well, flanked by numerous lords of houses. Behind both parties, their armies stood from a distance.

“King Egra,” the rugged man spoke with a powerful voice.

“King Panatos,” Karsten replied equally imposingly.

Once close enough, only the two kings approached each other on their horses slowly with their eyes fixed on each other, both donning a thin smile on their faces. This was where they were supposed to sign a contract of an alliance. Instead, both men put their hands on the hilt of their swords and pulled them out before anyone else could react. Just as Karsten’s sword buried deep into his neck, so did his sword onto his neck although it was only a scratch.

“You treachery bastard…,” Karsten grunted in slight pain.

“Right back at you…” His sword was halfway across his neck. In other words, he wasn’t going to make it. However, in spite of the gloomy outlook, he had a smile on his face while bleeding from his mouth. “You… won’t make it as … well, bastard. You are … poisoned.” His voice sounded hollow and husky; he was leaking air from his severed throat. One of his jugular veins was severed also. “And it’s no … ordinary poison.”

It was called “eternal poison”, a Siwen relic which he acquired after ransacking the Siwen royal palace. It was said to have been extracted from a dragon’s talons. In other words, it was thousands of years old, and only a small amount was available. This poison was known to be incurable. The mere fact that Panatos dosed his sword with such a rare poison meant that he foresaw this outcome and intended to bring Karsten down with him. Drawing the last bits of his strength, Karsten beheaded Panatos at which point, guards from both sides were about to rush in.

“HALT!” Karsten bellowed. “King Panatos is dead! I’ve defeated him, and that is the truth!”

He could feel throbbing pain from his neck wound and he was feeling dizzy by seconds. It was clear that some sort of potent poison was indeed applied to Panatos’ sword because the wound itself wasn’t serious. It was just a simple cut wound. With his conscious being hazed by seconds, he racked his brain to come up with words to control the chaotic situation.

“I guarantee autonomy for the city! Follow me!”

Panatos’ bodyguards halted in their tracks and glanced at each other. The reality was that Panatos established his rule absurdly as a rebellion leader. There was no true loyalty among his vassals. As far as legitimacy was concerned, Karsten had far more.

“Follow me!” he repeated with the last bits of his willpower and breath. He felt like passing out. Even his vision was beginning to blur. Using his steadfast will, however, he stayed calm and demanded unconditional surrender. On the surface, he looked fine, and Panatos’ bodyguards climbed off their horses and got down to their knees, showing respect.

“Lord Ulme…,” Karsten called Hector Ulme out with a labored breath. “Take control of the situation…”

Hector Ulme was one of newly landed nobles and was in charge of Vikku. If Isaac was here, he would have taken charge. Then he turned his horse around and slowly drove his horse to his men. At this point, he was sweating bullets, and his face was pale as a ghost. Thankfully, Panatos’ men were unable to see him fall off his horse due to being obscured by others. And it was this very moment that Mount Siwen erupted violently, spewing hot red lava all over.

In accordance with the contract, I shall comply with the will of the God of Life.

Just as Mount Siwen erupted for the first time in thousands of years, a dragon emerged from overflowing lava. The overall shape of the dragon was identical to the one seen in Deltalago. However, its hue was overall dark, and it looked as if it was leaking lava itself between its scales. The dragon, as soon as it emerged from the erupting volcano, descended down the mountain and hovered above Staidone. Opening its mouth, it began to breathe fire into the city, burning the whole place along with everyone else within it. Karsten was unconscious to witness a fatal incident in his plans. However, whatever plans he may have had, it may not matter anymore at this point because the eternal poison was quickly overtaking his body. Those at the rendezvous point could only watch the event occur with their mouths agape. They were supposed to enter the capital, which wasn’t going to happen at this point. Behind the scene, a royal water mage was casting antidote on Karsten who was hastily carried into the rear by a supply cart.

“Elementals of water, heed my call. Cure my liege of all poisons!”

His body emitted a faint green light. Under normal circumstances, his pale face should have returned to a healthier color. Alas, he remained as pale as ever and caught out blood which had a purple-ish hue.

“It, it’s not working! My magic is not working!”

Others around him simply did not know what to do and stood still, silent.

“With…draw…,” Karsten whispered with a labored breath. He seemed to have regained consciousness. His half-open eyes were fixed at the dragon spewing out fire.

“I beg your pardon, your majesty?”

“Withdraw… to Elsos… Be… defensive…”

“What should we do about the Narr army?”

“Let them … follow … if they want… If not …, discard … The war … is no longer important… And … call my first son… to Elsos…”

Then he slowly closed his eyes and lost consciousness soon after.

“You heard the king. Relay his order!” The water mage barked out an order as he stood up. “Prepare to withdraw at once!”