A Journey That Changed The World.

Chapter 1449: You Shouldn’t Be Cheering

Archer watched as the Draconian fleets returned to Emberport, battered but not broken. When he saw the sight, he sent a message to Olivia. ’How long until the 1st Fleet can be at Avidia?’

The white-haired beauty instantly answered cheerfully. ’A few hours if we sail at full speed. What’s wrong, darling?’

’The Alliance is beginning to overwhelm the navy,’ he revealed. ’I need my finest ships to guard Avidia from them.’

Silence overtook for a minute before she responded. ’On our way, I’m bringing the 2nd and 3rd as well. They’ve been helping me out with the escorting missions.’

Following that, Archer turned back to the 1st Legion that was forming up to march out to attack the Darkthorne fortress. Just then, he leaped off the wall and landed beside Elara, who was giving out orders.

’’Arch, we are ready to launch the attack,’’ she revealed. ’’The scouts have reported that all the Alliance forces are still two weeks away.’’

He nodded, a sly grin forming as he thought. ’They’re biding their time until we’re tied up with the fortress, but they’re about to get a nasty surprise.’

After their meticulous preparations, Elara, her blue eyes burning with determination, took her place at the head of the column as it streamed out of the fortress’s imposing gates like a tide of death.

Flanked by the battle-hardened soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Legions, she set pace, the rhythmic clatter of their polished armor echoing through the morning air. Each legionnaire moved with purpose, their training and loyalty to the empire evident in their formations.

Behind them, the fortress loomed as a symbol of strength, its walls manned by the remaining forces tasked with defending it. These steadfast Legionnaires stood ready to repel any threat.

As Archer watched the warriors depart, he unfurled his wings, their scales glinting under the blazing sun. With a thunderous beat, he soared into the sky, unleashing a primal, earth-shattering roar that echoed across the valleys.

The soldiers below erupted in wild cheers, their voices a roaring tide of fervor, while Elara, her eyes alight with fierce joy, thrust her gleaming sword skyward, its blade catching the light like a beacon of destiny.

’’For the Emperor! For Draconia!’’ she bellowed, her voice a call that ignited the hearts of all who heard it. ’’We march to claim the lands, to forge an unbreakable shield for our home! Onward to glory!’’

***

Nemuia Darkthorne was standing on the southern fort that her father put her in charge of. She knew the Draconians were coming as a dragon’s roar echoed across the land, causing her soldiers to grow nervous.

Without wasting time, she stepped forward and exclaimed to the soldiers. ’’The White Dragon won’t fight! It will be his legions, so take it easy and rest, they’ll be here in a couple of hours!’’

As the Draconian warcry still echoed, the fortress slammed into lockdown, its gates sealing with a bone-rattling clang. The remaining troops, grim and resolute, ushered civilians through shadowed paths to safety.

’I wonder how long this place will hold?’ she mused, rubbing her chin. ’I heard those Legionnaires are tough cookies.’

Beyond the hills, Alliance forces crouched in tense silence, their ambush poised like a coiled serpent, ready to strike the unsuspecting Draconians. Just then, Nemuia started to feel the walls slightly shaking.

’’What is that?’’ she muttered just as her cousin Damon appeared.

’’Nem! The Draconians are here!’’ he announced. ’’Only one scout returned out of fifty that were sent out hours ago, apparently a monster army is the enemy vanguard.’’

Nemuia’s red eyes narrowed, muttering. ’’What are you up to, Dragon?’’

Afterward, she turned to the giant Demon. ’’Ready the cannons, when they appear, make sure you rain down hell on them.’’

When the news spread, the Alliance sprang into action, unleashing a tide of Mutated Humans and monstrous beasts that surged from the surrounding hills like a living nightmare, letting out horrifying shrieks and screeches.

’’Horrible things, why did Father choose to join these beings?’’ she mumbled.

’’They’ve been causing problems in the surrounding villages,’’ her cousin Damon revealed. ’’We had to deploy more soldiers to make sure the people are fine.’’

Nemuia nodded as she had always found them creepy, and whenever she saw the fiends, it sent a shiver down her spine. Following that, her eyes blazed as she tracked the horde’s charge toward a disciplined line of black-armored Draconian soldiers.

Moments later, the enemy snapped into formation with mechanical precision. Commander’s shouts cut through the chaos, barking orders that rang like warhammers on steel. In a heartbeat, the soldiers locked shields, forging a wall of iron and will.

The wave slammed into it with a deafening crash, claws and fangs meeting trained steel and flesh. Nemuia’s gaze sharpened, her breath catching as the Draconian line held firm against the onslaught.

Nemuia and the surrounding Demons cheered at this scene as the Mutated Humans and beasts threw themselves at the shield wall, their twisted limbs flailing, only to be met with ruthless skill and efficiency.

She watched as the enemies’ spears thrust in unison, piercing through flesh and sinew with precision. Mutants fell in droves, their guttural shrieks swallowed by the clash of steel and the Commander’s relentless orders.

A hulking beast, its maw dripping with venom, lunged over the shields, only for a spear to pierce its throat mid-air. It crashed to the ground, twitching, as the soldiers stepped forward, trampling its corpse underfoot.

Nemuia beamed at the carnage. ’’Fuck yes! He’s soldiers are just like he said, strong and loyal!’’ she exclaimed.

’’You shouldn’t be cheering for our enemy cousin,’’ Damon warned.

She glanced at the red-skinned man, retorting. ’’Shut up, I don’t see them as such. That was father and his fear of the White Dragon, but let’s just say he isn’t like the rumors and rather handsome.’’

The commanders shook their heads as he said. ’’Still holding onto that belief? Is that why Uncle is rejecting the marriage offers from the Demon Dukes?’’

Nemuia nodded. ’’Yes, he can’t force me to marry so I’ll choose who my lover be and the White Dragon is the closest being I’ve met that is stronger then me but also everything mother said,’’ she revealed.

Damon sighed before changing the subject. ’’You stay here and watch the battle. I’ll tell the civilians to enter the fort we built weeks ago.’’

’’Good idea,’’ she responded. ’’Archer won’t harm them if I ask him not to, so we can rest knowing they’ll be safe.’’

Her cousin nodded in agreement and slipped away as she focused on the Draconians, their armor glinting beneath a blood-red sun, moving in unison to carve through the horde, shocking the Demons.

For a moment, the tide seemed to falter, the mutants’ numbers thinning under the relentless slaughter. But from the hills, a roar echoed, and Nemuia’s heart raced as fresh waves of fiends crested the ridge, their eyes glinting with feral hunger.

Following that, the shieldwall slowly backed off just as she noticed a dust cloud appeared on either side of the battlefield. Nemuia scanned the battlefield where the Alliance’s forces regrouped amidst the battle.

The air reeked of blood and ozone, the ground still trembling from the last clash. Her sharp gaze snapped to the horizon as a new threat emerged. ’’That sneaky bastard!’’ she exclaimed with a big smile. ’’You have a monster army like the rumors claimed!’’

Two monstrous hordes thundered from the Draconians’ rear, their forms chilling even the battle-hardened Alliance creatures. The first horde was a sea of Giant Black Ants, each as large as a bear, their obsidian exoskeletons glinting.

She observed their mandibles clacked like iron traps, and their relentless legs churned the ground into a churning quagmire. The second horde was Mantis-like creatures, their scythe-like forelimbs slicing through the air with lethal grace.

A shocked Nemuia couldn’t tear her eyes away as the two swarms clashed; it was like nothing she had seen, the beasts tore each other apart without caring for their lives, and blood stained the ground.

The Mutated Humans snarled, gripping crude blades, while the Draconian beasts roared, claws digging into the dirt. Seconds later, the Giant Ants struck first, a black tide of unyielding fury.

They crashed into their front line, mandibles snapping through bone and hide. A Mutated Human howled as an Ant tore his arm free, only for a clawed Alliance beast to rip the insect’s head off in a spray of ichor.

The line wavered but held, the Alliance creatures fighting with desperation. Then the Mantises attacked, vaulting over the Ants with terrifying speed. One landed amid a pack of beasts, its scythe-arms flashing, disemboweling two in a heartbeat.

Nemuia’s breath caught as another Mantis lunged, its claws shredding a Mutated Human’s chest. The Alliance roared back, beasts tackling them, their claws raking through segmented limbs, while mutants hacked with reckless abandon.

Moments later, a wave of Mana Blasts slammed into the creatures and wiped them out in a tsunami of fire. This made her smile grow wider as excitement bubbled up inside her. ’This guy is something else,’ she excitedly mused.