"Hm?" As if my intuition was telling me something, I look towards a certain direction.
'If I am not wrong, that is the general direction towards the Elemental Ruins…'
"Did something happen, Arksen?" Juran's voice wakes me up from my stupor, and I turn to look at hm.
I shake my head and say, "Nothing, though I felt something happened"
Juran nods at what I said, "I felt something, too… I wonder if something happened to those guys?" Worry evident in his face.
I smile while looking toward that place, "Don't worry about it, they will make it somehow!"
I know that even if they can only crawl and bite, those two would still accomplish their mission.
Breathing in, I look at Juran, and ask him, " How are the preparations going?"
"They are still preparing, it was hard to convince most to aid us, but everything should be ready for tomorrow"
'So, we are going to barely get back by the time limit' I nod while falling into thoughts. Thanks to Juran and the Scardinians diplomatic way of handling things, we could form an alliance. The appeal of having someone like Juran in their midst during battle was very reassuring, while also having the enormous threat of Dorek pushed them to the decision of finally enlisting for battle.
"We should know about the others soon enough, too" Says Juran, a bit of anxiousness hiding in his voice.
I could understand him, if the others failed, then we are pretty much screwed in terms of numbers against Dorek's army.
But our worries vanished almost instantly as I receive a message from Vladi.
- We did it!
A smile blossom in my face, as a sigh of relief escapes my lips.
"Isa and Vladi made it" As soon as Juran heard that, his expression beamed.
We didn't have to worry about the Barbarians making it, and only Zenith would be left.
'He won't fail, though…' I couldn't help but think that when I thought about Zenith. Despite seemingly having the lowest convincing ability of our group, he had something very heavy as a bargain chip…
"Well, let's go help with the preparations" I tell Juran and he nods back.
What Zenith has the most is one pure thing.
Power.
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"I have come to ask for your strength against Dorek!"
The young man known as Zenith announce towards the council of Scardi's Ganz, bypassing all formalities and getting straight to the point.
My lips couldn't help but twitch at the straightforward manner of this young man. But I couldn't help but acknowledge that formalities right now are a hindrance.
But…
'Can't you do something with that imposing aura you are releasing?' I thought wryly to myself, as the aura of Zenith was very wild and terrifying when fighting, and, while he has reigned in his aura, it still felt too much right now.
"I have been told your name is Zenith, right?" Elder Oppo looked at Zenith straight to the eyes as he asked.
I could see from my rear view your tightened fists behind your back, Elder Oppo. Please, hang in there.
"Yes!"
'A man of few words, indeed…'
Elder Oppo nods seriously as he hears that, and little by little starts relaxing, "From that attack of Zars, I can see that the situation has gotten very dire, but I wish to ask you, how is our strength going to help you against Dorek? Wouldn't a better option be to retreat?"
Retreat.
Yes, indeed, that might be the wiser option against a monster of Dorek's caliber an his army. But…
My teeth can't help but clench when I hear those words, my inner warrior didn't let me easily let go of my pride of fighting to protect our homes and people.
I look at Zenith, awaiting his answer, too.
He nods nonchalantly, "Yes, retreating does seem like a better option"
A grim feeling shrouded the room, as I couldn't help but sigh dejectedly. If even such a strong person says that…
"But that's just delusional thinking"
I open my eyes wide in surprise, perplexed at the words of that young man in front of me. Elder Oppo retorts back, "Why do you say that? Retreating isn't something dishonorable when it comes to saving the life of our people!"
"It's just because of that, you wouldn't be saving, but instead sending them to die in another date. From what I know, Dorek won't let any of you alive, and now that most of his minions are around the place, more people will just die in vain, making retreat torturous and slow"
Without faltering in any of his words, Zenith looks at Elder Oppo seriously, his aura making him even bigger.
Elder Oppo, tightened his fist and answered back "We know that! But—"
"But most would survive, right?" Zenith finishes the words of Elder Oppo, and the later, taken aback, falls silent.
Zenith sighs and looks at his palm, bitterness showing on his face as he continues "I know that saving the lives of most is what has been entrusted to you, I know that retreating isn't something dishonorable when it comes to the lives of your people…" He slowly starts forming a fist, power slowly gathering up at that spot.
"… but! I also know that running away now would crush the spirit of your people! It would send them down to a spiral of demise and Dorek is going to use that to crush everything under his feet" The power in his fist continues increasing as it feels the space around it distorting slightly.
Ba-Thump Ba-Thump!
I can feel my heart beating harder at each word and power emanated from that young man.
"If only I could hold absolute power in my fist and obliterate Dorek by myself, I would do it, but… to protect the people I love, to help my friends and those who have helped me, and to have a strand of hope of beating Dorek, I need your strength!" Enormous waves of power concentrated on just that fist. So much that I wanted to prostrate myself in front of it.
"This time, to fight is to protect! Not for honor, but for Life!" His eyes look straight to Elder Oppo's, and his fist, full of power, start to loosen up as if everything previously was an illusion. But I could see it, that slight tremble in his hand.
'To summon that amount of power must have been very straining…' I thought that, but, unknowingly, my teeth were showing as a grin spread on my face.
Soon, his hand completely relaxed, and it was stretched towards the Elder, who seemed frozen in place.
"My friends have told me that a handshake is a great way to establish a connection" Through that serious and deadpan expression of Zenith, the shadow of a smile appeared.
"To fight is to protect… not for honor, but for life, is it?" The frozen shoulders of Elder Oppo tremble slightly as he steps forward, a fierce and decisive expression showing on his face.
"Let this handshake be the start of a new connection, then!" Elder Oppo grabbed Zenith stretched hand with his.
"We will fight!"
In the future, the words "To fight is to protect! Not for honor, but for Life" would be etched in the hearts of all Scardinians of Ganz.
As those words were carved with Absolute Power.
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Cough Cough!
I could feel my sore throat almost splitting apart by coughing, but I can't do anything about it as my body was completely stunned by that last impact. The effects of Overflow going away didn't help much as notifications of negative effects continued appearing in front of me.
Thanks to Fast Recovery and Razer Body I managed to survive, but even then, if I continue in this condition I will still die.
'Crap… we are so close!' I try to drive my elements to aid Fast Recovery, but I feel my body failing more and more.
Because of my numbed senses and trying to struggle in surviving, I didn't notice something coming close to my body.
"Ardha! Hang in there!" I hear a distant voice as I cough blood, aggravating more my condition.
I feel something put on my mouth as a warm and wonderful liquid starts pouring on my sore throat.
Soon, the itchiness goes away as my senses start recovering little by little. Another healing potion is shoved in my mouth as I slowly start recovering mobility. I start driving my elements finally and assist my Fast Recovery in healing my body fast.
This time I take the potion and drink it fully before burping in satisfaction.
'Close call!' Relief showers me as I am engulfed in this slow healing sensation.
I look at Kagito who was kneeling besides me, pretty roughed up, too, but still, better than me.
"Thanks, man! You saved me, haha!" I beam a smile at him.
He sighs in relief as he smiles back, "I thought you were a goner there!"
To that answer, I look at him curiously, "I thought YOU would be a goner! How did you survive that final explosion?"
He shakes his head and says, "I don't know, probably because the compatibility of our elements was very high, I only felt a very strong breezy pushing me out, but nothing really endangering".
I nod at that answer, at that final moment I could feel that Kagito had become One with Space, so it might have been due to that. Though, that would still be pretty farfetched, but without knowing for certain, we could only guess.
I look around and spot a small Silver Orb floating on the previously empty altar. Then I look at Kagito looking for answers.
He shrugs, "That seems to be the core of the Silver Dragon, it floated towards the altar, but I prioritized saving you first".
I pat his shoulder and grin, "Thanks, friend. It seems that's the artifact we are looking for"
"Yep, I think so too!" Says Kagito as he looks towards the orb with shining eyes.
I take a second look at it and I notice the beautiful silver shine coming from it, along with small spatial undulations on its proximity. It seemed to be resonating with the entire room, as silver lights were starting to be seen in each corner of the room. I felt the rest of the elements free and filling the room like small children running around.
I stood up along with Kagito and walk towards the silver orb.
I start reading the notifications while I am at it, and it seems that I leveled up twice and gained a couple of achievements, along with a new title.
- He who slays Dragons. (Lowest)
A smile escapes my lips as I thought jokingly 'It seems I will have a bit of an easier time fighting dragons later'.
As soon as we get close to the orb, Kagito stretches his hand and manipulates space a bit to grab the orb carefully. As soon as he touches it, his hand freezes and his eyes widen.
"What?" I ask him puzzledly as I look at the orb carefully and making sure that nothing bad was happening to Kagito.
He smiles wryly, "See by yourself" As he presents the orb to me as I touch it to better see its description.
- Draconic Spatial Orb. Legendary Artifact (Sealed).
I couldn't help but gulp as I read its name and description.
Well, at least, it will be useful.