Chapter 692: Attack.

"Could it be... because of Brother...?"

Lavinia asked in a low, careful tone and Kael couldn’t say anything.

It was definitely a possibility.

According to them, Edric had the Judgement of Feraos that the King desperately needed. This might be one of their theories, that Edric was hiding in the Stormhold territory and they had launched the attack not only to find him, but also to get rid of those who protected him.

Of course, this was still only one of the multiple possibilities. They could think about it all they wanted, but it wouldn’t make a difference until they had a clearer answer.

Lavinia understood that as well.

So she too controlled her raging emotions and calmed down. She tightened her grip around the Judgement of Feraos. Kael noticed that, but he didn’t say anything for now.

Ferrakar too sensed the tension and increased his pace. The world around them blurred and in just fifteen minutes—

Ferrakar was in the Stormhold Territory and—

"RRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

He roared, his roar echoing throughout the territory, shaking the very sky and ground alike.

Kael too narrowed his eyes as he extended his vision. The first thing he saw was thick black smoke rising from the land below, then flames, then as he got closer, he saw the broken walls and finally—

Dead bodies.

"...what?"

Kael couldn’t believe the sight he was seeing.

The Stormhold Estate, which could easily be called one of the most prestigious, proud, and powerful estates, had now turned into a complete battlefield.

Large sections of the outer wall were shattered, towers had collapsed, the training grounds were filled with craters, magic circles burned in the air.

Soldiers were scattered everywhere, some were still fighting, some had already perished and in the middle of all that chaos—

There were enemies.

Too many enemies.

"...just how many are there...?"

Lavinia couldn’t believe it either.

Thousands of enemies spread all over the Stormhold Estate, massacring the people. It was a terrifying sight, one that froze even Lavinia but—

"Kill them."

Kael ordered as he took out his sword.

"RROOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!"

Ferrakar roared, prepared to turn the enemies into dust. Kael prepared to descend and cut down as many enemies as possible.

However, just as he was about to jump down, something else happened.

The instant the enemies heard Ferrakar’s roar, no matter where they were or who they were fighting against, all the enemies stepped back and took out small crystals.

Crystals Kael recognised very, very well.

Teleportation Crystals.

"Are they..."

"Impossible..."

Kael couldn’t believe it.

Lavinia was no different.

Even Ferrakar seemed taken aback.

"RROOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!"

The Dragon roared again as the Steel gathered everywhere, prepared to take multiple lives. The Teleportation Crystals lit up one after another, bright light swallowed the battlefield, blue-white pillars rose everywhere and when everything ended—

The enemies disappeared.

Every single one of them.

Ferrakar, Lavinia, and Kael couldn’t believe it.

"That many...?"

Kael muttered softly, his voice lost in the wind.

Teleportation Crystals...

Weren’t they supposed to be rare Artifacts...?

Sure, he had seen some before. The Xenthalor Mages in Drakthar used them when they left, so did those ’outsiders’ when he attacked the Stormcaller territory.

But...

All those times...

Only a few Teleportation Crystals were used and that was only obvious. After all, Teleportation Crystals were extremely rare.

Even Xenthalor, the Magic Empire that made most of the Teleportation Crystals, couldn’t easily throw them away.

But—

To think thousands, nearly ten thousand crystals, were used just now.

It was... absurd.

For a short moment, he was too shocked to react.

This was not an escape, this was preparation.

It was almost as if...

They knew he would come and that he would bring Ferrakar with him.

They knew they might stand against a Divine Beast, yet they still... attacked. They still destroyed, killed, and injured whoever they wanted to injure.

Kael clenched his fists in intense anger.

But then—

His fiery eyes turned absolutely cold.

No.

This was not the time to think.

This was the time to act.

"Go down."

He commanded and Ferrakar moved.

His massive body descended, the wind around them screamed. Lavinia tightened her grip around the Judgement of Feraos.

As they got closer to the ground, it all became even clearer.

The broken walls, burned banners, bodies, blood, smoke, destroyed buildings, cracked stone, the proud Stormhold Estate that was now ruined...

Kael observed it all with a cold look on his face. Then, once Ferrakar was low enough, he grabbed Lavinia and jumped.

They landed in the shattered courtyard.

His eyes moved across the destruction around him, the tower that had collapsed into the training ground, the main gate that was split in half, the walls that were burned black, then—

Thousands of Stormhold soldiers lying on the ground, some were already dead, others were groaning weakly, some trying to crawl towards their fallen friends.

The smell of blood and smoke was so strong that it made Kael freeze for a very short second.

And as his gaze continued to move, he finally saw her.

Elira.

She was standing near the entrance of the broken main hall.

Half of her clothes were torn, blood ran down the side of her face, one of her arms hung limply at her side, her legs were shaking so badly that it was a miracle she was even standing.

Behind her, lying on the ground, was...

Arlan.

And he wasn’t moving.

His body was covered in wounds, his right arm was missing, blood flowed from his injuries like a river but even then—

Even in the state he was in—

He was holding his sword with his left hand.

And around them—

Around them were the bodies of the enemies Elira had faced and defeated.

Yes.

She had managed to protect her brother.

And as she saw the rest of the enemies, who had been very close to closing the distance between them, suddenly disappear—

Her eyes moved towards Kael and the only thing she could say was...

"Mother..."

Then she passed out.

Falling to the ground, right next to her brother, who still wasn’t clearly alive or dead.