The Amber Sword

Demonic Waves – Magic Tides

Arreck’s only response was a deafening silence. The duke’s expression was still as fierce as ever, but there was a subtle furrow of his brows, as well as the flighty look in his eyes. He was starting to fear if the dragon was still here.

However, seeing that he received no response to his provocation, Arreck internally breathed out a sigh of relief. Unlike Brendel, he did not know of any dragons infamous for their cowardice. He had actually seen a dragon when he was younger, on the battlefield of the Holy War. He had seen with his own two eyes the draconian steed of His Majesty Granddotius the Great. Ever since Flame King Gretel, the royal family of Kirrlutz followed the tradition of forming an alliance with the dragons, which became part of the reason most countries feared this kingdom.

The dragon’s evident pride had left a lasting impression on Arreck, thus he did not suspect that there was a cowardly yet cunning dragon trying to get rid of them sneakily. Noticing that their lord’s expression had slightly relaxed, one of the mages spoke, “My lord, the dragon might have outsmarted us this time. It might have placed the trap on the ceiling instead of the ground. Please allow us more time to check the area again.”

Arreck nodded his head and added on, “Make haste, we don’t know when that bastard of a lizard is coming back.”

The mages nodded their head in acknowledgment. It did not take them long to discover a Magic Array on the cavern ceiling. After looking more into the array, the mages found out that it was a Teleportation Array.

This meant that the poor souls who had stumbled into the array had been sent to some forsaken corner of the world.

“How can this be? Transportation Arrays must receive the consent of the person before they can be transported! This is going against the basic laws of magic!” The mages were fervently wondering about this phenomenon.

In the layer of ice above their heads, Shitaht was laughing his head off. Due to the thickness of the ice, the people in the hall below still had no idea of his presence.

The reason the magic could be activated was that the array’s area of effect was a sphere. As long as Shitaht was within the sphere, the magic could be activated if he continued saying, “Yes! I agree! Activate!” Just like that, he could sit around idly while the pestering Black Knights were teleported away.

As for why Shitaht was not affected by the magic, this was because the Transportation Array had its limits. For example, if the array could only affect objects up to four pounds, something weighing six pounds would not be affected by the array. Within its vicinity, the array would only affect objects that were within its limitations.

A dragon-sized mass of meat and bones was definitely well beyond the range of a Transportation Array.

Shitaht could not quite remember where the array led to, but he knew that it was somewhere far and dangerous, definitely a place that he would not want to go to.

After a prolonged period of time, Arreck’s mages still could not figure out the truth behind the Magic Array. In the end, they came to the conclusion that it was the ancient magic of the Dragon tribe, calling it a mystery to the minds of normal humans. Despite the obviously modern runes inscribed in the array, they decided to ignore it. After all, their goal right now was not to research the Magic Array, but to placate their lord lest they incur his wrath.

The duke had long since known that the mages in his company were worthless. These mages were help that he had enlisted from the Privy Council. However, not even the president could mobilize the Order of Chaos on his own. Other than the Black Knights, Arreck could only recruit the lower-ranking members. Even by looking at their demeanor, he could tell that they were not experts.

Letting out a scoff, Arreck stopped the ongoing discussion among the mages. “Your job right now is not to find out how this array operates, but to find a way to destroy it. We are running out of time, so stop wasting time. That Frost Dragon may not be the smartest, but it is definitely enough to finish off you lot.”

“My lord,” a mage quickly interjected, “While it is a mystery how the array works, destroying it will be very easy. Magic Arrays are very fragile, so they are normally well-hidden. However, this array is right on top of the ice layer, a few simple spells will be able to render it useless.”

“Exactly! This dragon really must be as stupid as they say. If it had placed the array behind the ice layer, we might have been in deep trouble,” another mage commented.

Arreck nodded his head, but he still harbored some doubt in his heart. As stupid as the enemy is, I find it hard to believe that this crowd in front of me is any better. Impatiently, he waved his hand, allowing the mages to deal with the array.

……

The rumble of the first avalanche still echoed in the otherwise silent passage. Brendel’s party walked through the narrow passage. They could almost feel the buzz of the collapse below from the deep blue walls of ice surrounding them. The prince, walking at the front of the group, clutched the Lion’s Fang in his arms, his expression as alarmed as a deer caught in headlights.

“Teacher and Madam, did any of you hear something?” Haruz turned and asked.

“I didn’t hear anything. Are you talking about the avalanche from before?” The scholar said.

“That wasn’t just an avalanche. It was the sound of a glacier breaking. It must be the work of that cowardly dragon. Frost Dragons have the innate ability to control ice.” A cold voice that belonged to Aloz interrupted. Rumors were that she found the battlefield boring, so she hurried back here to find some entertainment.

Brendel had already asked her about the situation at the battlefield. Everything was going just as he had predicted, Freya’s performance was even more stellar than expected. The only other surprise was the snowstorm, but Maynild and Freya had managed to respond in time and found shelter for everyone. Brendel suspected that the dragon must have flown in this direction to escape from the cold.

Gold Dragons and Red Dragons were the same. Both preferred how environments and were not built to survive in cold conditions, even more so in the subzero temperatures that followed the arrival of snowstorms. However, snowstorms were not a common occurrence on this glacier, which Brendel suspected had something to do with the Magic Tides.

The moment Aloz spoke, everyone else fell silent. Now that everyone knew that the lady in front of them was a dragon, nobody wanted to risk angering her. To this day, Ambassador Grid was still laying on his stretcher because of her.

Aloz’s eyes shone a brilliant gold. Among the group, Haruz was the only one who was slightly accustomed to her habits. He said timidly, “I’m not talking about that! Mr Brendel, did you hear anything?”

Brendel nodded his head. He had heard it more clearly than anyone else. Amidst the roar of the avalanche was another muted sound. He turned to look at Veronica, who was holding her breath. “It might have been a Magic Array,” she said after a few moments.

“It was,” Brendel confirmed. “Manipulation Spells will produce a noise when they are activated. I think I heard the sound of Flames of Darkness rising from the Sea of Magic. And this can only mean one thing — the presence of the Evil Cultists who are well versed in Black Magic.

“Black Magic? Are Arreck and his men battling the dragon?” asked Veronica.

Brendel looked ahead and shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t feel any String Magic being cast ahead. The ancient String Magic of the Dragon tribe is one of the most feared spells ever. The complete opposite of Black Magic, it directly manipulates the Lines of Law to attack the enemy. Whenever String Magic is activated, it causes quakes that can be felt from miles away, all of us will definitely be able to feel its effects.”

Aloz said, “You sure know a lot about our magic, don’t you?”

Brendel answered naturally, “Every mage has tried to research your magic. Ancient String Magic and Ancient Rune Magic are the origins of all magic today.”

“Well, they must be idiots then. The source of our tribe’s magic is our bloodline, anyone who doesn’t possess it will never be able to learn it,” replied Aloz.

Brendel did not bother to explain any further. The magic system created by the people of Miirna was not as simple as Aloz made it out to be. The proof was that it was the Era of Humans, not even the dragons could deny that fact. Instead, he turned to Veronica and said, “I think that Arreck is fighting those cavemen.”

“Let’s press on and find out,” replied Veronica.

The group continued forward, walking the same path that Arreck had taken before, encountering no resistance at all. After half an hour, they arrived at Shitaht’s nest, but it was completely different from before. Brendel saw a scene of cracked walls and floors that were littered with corpses.

Taking a closer look, he found that there was no sign of either the body of a dragon or Arreck. It seemed as if a massive battle had ensued, but neither party could gain the upper hand.

While everyone was still stunned by the scene, Aloz had already started to move. Her golden eyes darted around the room, looking for something. She approached one of the bodies and checked its belongings. She furrowed her brows.

Suddenly, she disappeared from the cavern.

While everyone was still wondering what she was doing, a scream echoed throughout the cave.

“Ow-ow! Sister Aloz, I-I’m sorry! Please let go!”