Tales Of The Mighty Dragonair

The golden dragon went into deep silence while the system didn't speak as well. Arthur took another breath while shaking his head.

"It's a dead end," he slowly said, "the only hope lies over the lycans, not me... it's bitter to think this way but their decision at that time will determine everything."

He wasn't a dreamer but a realist. And despite feeling bad about this situation he knew that was all he got at the moment.

From his position he could already hear the rumbling of the arrays working together, overlapping over each other before a sudden gush of golden rays struck towards the deep sky up above.

The shield above trembled for a second, shone brightly to show its shape once again before it let the ray of light penetrate it. Arthur worried once that the array would stop the teleportation array from working, but Doaf reassured him that it only prevented those outside from entering and not vice versa.

"It's starting," Arthur raised his head to follow the flashing light until its end vanished from his sight. For him it looked like a giant pillar was linking the earth with heavens.

And for everyone looking from far at this the pillar of light looked very intimidating.

"Have they realized what this pillar of light is?" Arthur calmly asked while he could only see that light pillar and nothing else.

'They seemed to know it's origin,' Gege said, 'as the moment that pillar of light appeared, turmoil struck their forces.'

"That's great," Arthur smirked evilly, "let them panic, the more the better."

Arthur just hoped they all got panicked and moved out of impulse to stop the summoning array. However deep down his soul he knew this was just mere fantasy.

And the later words of Gege proved his hunch to be right.

'They are on the move,' she said after pausing for half an hour.

"At last..." Arthur took a deep breath. He had already reached a place near the spot of that tower, yet he was still far to be seen by anyone.

He ducked his body on the ground while taking shelter with some long grass. From far he couldn't be spotted, but if anyone just passed nearby he would be seen at once.

That made him quite vigilant and also kept his creation by letting Gege inform him if anyone came close.

And luckily for him no one stepped this far off the tower at this disturbing moment.

"How many they left behind?" he asked about the part he cared most about.

'Well, it's hard to tell now,' Gege seemed a bit hesitant, 'but from their moves I can say they won't leave a small garrison behind.'

"What?!" Arthur was instantly shocked, "are you sure?"

'They only gathered two thirds of their forces,' Gege said, 'and that means they will leave one third behind at least.'

"At least!!"

'Ding! Those they summoned might not follow them towards the array,' the system said, 'Ding! You have already expected that.'

"But never thought they might leave over one third of their forces... Damn!"

If he knew that from the beginning then he wouldn't leave his monster behind.

"Is the portal still working?" he suddenly asked.

'If you are thinking about summoning her,' the golden dragon said, 'you should know you have to take the monster back inside the garden world. It's not wise to do that.'

'I... can't disagree with that,' Gege stood by his side as she added, 'the first time we managed to take the monster on surprise. But this time we won't be able to do that.'

"..."

Arthur had to accept this before he turned his eyes towards the direction of the tower. All of sudden a cloud of dust started to rise from that direction, telling him the lycans were already on the move.

"This... complicates things too much," he mumbled to himself while his mind was trying to calculate all the odds.

'Ding! Do you want to retreat?' the system said, 'Ding! Help them kill the main force before leading the army and crush the tower?'

"We discussed this before," Arthur took a deep breath before adding, "we can't let any of them know what I'm doing here. I trust Doaf but since we came to these higher planes, Amera seemed like another person to me."

'I agree with that,' the golden dragon suddenly laughed, 'I told you before, you should have moved against that chick and made her yours. Now you can't even touch a single hair or even dream about doing more.'

"Shut up," Arthur wasn't in the mood to joke around, "it's not the time for fooling around! We need to find a way out of this dilemma!"

'Ding! I say you return back and regroup with them,' the system said, 'it's the safest way so far.'

Arthur remained silent for a moment before shaking his head. "Can't do that," he said, "what about other options?"

'Well, you always can fight,' the golden dragon said, 'but you need to account for the increased number of your enemies plus their traps.'

"Hmm..." Arthur knew this seemed more impossible yet he didn't have any other option now.

Even retreat wasn't considered an option at this stage.

"One way or another I'll dig my way towards that tower," Arthur made up his mind as he started to move towards the direction of the tower.

'Well, I can't say no to a good fight, right?' the golden dragon seemed amused by this, 'however please keep in mind one thing; that array if lost those operating it then it will be the end of all of us.'

"I know," Arthur said in plain face, "and I have a plan for that."

Arthur already made up his mind. He didn't come all this distance to be stopped by just more enemies.

'They are already far away from the tower region,' Gege said while he kept advancing non-stop. 'They left behind around ten thousand mages stationed around the tower area in patrols.'

Her words stopped him for a second. "Do they follow a certain pattern?" he suddenly asked.

'You mean walking paths?' the golden dragon said before whistling, 'Wow, I love how you can think rationally even in the darkest moments.'

'Ding! Relying only on the paths they take isn't going to work,' the system said, 'Ding! You need to consider arrays that can recognize them.'

'Yet that won't exceed twenty percent of the entire traps, or even less,' the golden dragon said, 'it's a good idea though. Like this we can pinpoint the places we shouldn't step at.'

Arthur stopped while watching the direction of the tower. As he got closer, he could now see the tapering end of that tower.

'I can draw a map for you,' Gege said.

"Good," Arthur slowly nodded, "please inform my system with it so he can help me draw the map. As for my old dragon..."

'Don't call me that!' the golden dragon got stirred up all of sudden.

"Easy," Arthur sneered, "I want you to think of a nasty thing to do to them."

'Define nasty,' the golden dragon said.

"Like some sort of threat that will force them to run away in turmoil and without even care to any trap around," Arthur slowly said while his face showed a vicious expression.

'Damn!' the golden dragon cursed, 'you want them to clear the traps on their own? That's brutal...'

"Will you do it?" Arthur slowly asked, "or can you do it?"

'I can do anything,' the golden dragon laughed, 'especially if it was such fun.'

Arthur harrumphed and didn't move while waiting for the three to finish their tasks. He kept thinking about his next move, and what he cared about wasn't those lying in wait around the tower, but those who were going fast towards Doaf and Amera.