New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Phoenix had already focused on the screen to her right, where some movement caught her attention. A massive black blur had just flown into view, and next to it, a minuscule by comparison pitch-black bat, fluttered quickly to keep pace.

The griffons, who were many a mile away, all noticed the giant silhouette piercing through the cloudy cover under them. And screeches echoed through the clear skies.

Screeches of both fear and declaration. A declaration that they would chase out the intruder to their open domain, which was the skies.

But Shegror wouldn't let them declare this without responding.

A guttural roar left its throat, threatening the Griffons and their riders. The skies were not theirs.

They were hers.

Morpheus could hardly join in this threat, but that didn't deter the bat from claiming a part of the rights to fly for itself. A powerful pulse of mana left Morpheus' mouth, expanding in every direction like a growing bubble.

And everyone caught in it who wasn't an ally, suddenly felt their sense twitch strangely, before going back to normal.

The first pulse of Dissonance affected very little of them, which was not surprising, given the higher origin of griffons and military training of their riders.

But the threat was still plenty.

They couldn't ignore the bat. That would spell disaster.

Phoenix watched this screen with attention, only glancing occasionally at the other two screens. The middle screen, which showed the Sentinels challenge, had already almost come to a close.

Astaroth was an efficient hunter since he learned to expand his mana sensing over long distances. And the Sentinels were all decked in at least one magic item, which, unbeknownst to them, had been what the king locked on to hunt them.

Their readiness for combat would have been their downfall.

On the screen to the left, the advancing contingent had slowed down considerably. They seemed to be suddenly on high alert.

This made the screen of the Griffon Scouts' challenge the most interesting one.

But something was missing from it. The copy of Astaroth was missing from the screen.

This was strange, given it was a copy from him during the siege, and he hadn't discovered Sky Steps or the demons that allowed him to fly at that time.

So where was he?

That was a question that soon found an answer when the two forces suddenly began an aerial ballet.

Coming out from between the black dragon's claws, the small Elven form of Astaroth launched at the closest Griffon Rider. In a matter of seconds, he knocked the rider off the back of his partner and sent tumbling down toward the ground.

Morpheus dove out to catch the rebounding Astaroth, who had kicked off the Griffon's back, and with his clawed feet, he grabbed Astaroth's hands, swung, and shot the Ash Elf toward the enormous black dragon.

The Griffon that had lost its rider suddenly dove to catch him, prioritizing its partner's safety over itself, and it cost it.

Shegror lost no time diving after the beast and snapped its gigantic maw on it, bisecting it immediately, as it burst into particles. As soon as the rider crossed the cloud cover, followed suit, and burst into pixels.

But Commander Kadmus was not stupid. She immediately understood what the king's copy was trying to do.

"Keep distance. Switch to harassing tactics. Crossbows out!" she shouted.

The Griffons and their riders immediately spread out, making the battlefield suddenly expand, and Astaroth's tactic become useless. But even as a copy, he wasn't one to give up.

Since he couldn't force them to break out of formation anymore, he would try something else.

Pulling on the tether that connected him and Morpheus, Astaroth yanked the bat back into himself before melding with it. But he wasn't done.

The Griffon Scouts and their commander didn't hear the next words that came out of his mouth, but Phoenix did.

And with a smirk, she switched her attention to the left screen.

Alena, who had been deep in thought, heard the ruffling of the queen's dress and snapped out of her musings.

She noticed the queen wasn't observing the ongoing combat on the right screen and began frowning.

"Is that much action not interesting to you, Your Highness?"

Phoenix laughed softly.

"On the contrary. It was quite captivating. But the combat is as good as over. Astaroth's copy stays within his pattern of thought. And he just used the skill that he used to wipe out both you and your regiment."

Commander Alena frowned deeper, her attention locking onto the screen to the right. A wave of blue energy erupted out of Astaroth's winged body, and the Griffons started falling like flies.

She thought they were diving to get closer to him at first. But the erratic descent quickly showed her the truth.

Both beast and rider were out cold and falling uncontrollably.

Whatever skill King Astaroth had just used, he had overwhelmed their minds, and they passed out instantly.

Only a few Griffons and riders didn't immediately fall to their doom. But their lack of reactions got them caught in one of the dragon's acid breaths, and they melted away like butter in a hot pan.

At that moment, as the screen to the right was shutting down, Astaroth also took down the last of her men, who were hiding the best they could, and ended the challenge on their side as well.

That was two overwhelming defeats. Both of which took less than three minutes.

As for the last one, whose screen now expanded to take up the space of the two others, there were suddenly fewer soldiers escorting the palanquin.

"Where are the rest of the royal guards?" Alena asked, since she hadn't been paying attention.

"Got killed by a trap," Phoenix responded, keeping her focus on the screen.

Alena remembered the king had specified there would be traps. But not what kind.

She focused on the last display, and as she did, the sound from it reached her ears.

"Royal Guards! Regroup! Don't let that shit happen again! Keep your eyes peeled, and your senses on high alert!" Commander Levine shouted, trotting closer to the palanquin.

Whatever had happened, most likely took them by surprise.