Word that Fuuga and his forces were marching towards Lastania had
reached Julius. He sent a request to the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom
for aid, while also planning to escape there with Jirukoma and anyone else
who wanted to join them. Julius already laid the groundwork, so Queen Sill
Munto was able to make the decision to dispatch the dragon knights
immediately and lead them herself to ensure Julius's escape.
However, with only his best men joining him, Fuuga's forces moved
faster than Julius anticipated. Fuuga's elites found Julius's party before they
could cross the border, and were almost upon them. As the dragon knights
came to support Julius, a clash with Fuuga was imminent.
You could say this battle was brought about by two geniuses—Julius and
Hashim—each correctly assessing the other's abilities.
Julius understood how decisive Hashim was, and planned to make his
escape with plenty of time to spare. He had predicted that Fuuga's forces
would take the time to carefully prepare out of a wariness towards
reinforcements from the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Hashim believed that if he sent in only the elites, they might
capture Julius's group before they could escape. If they could catch them
before the Dragon Knight Kingdom could send reinforcements, he could
avoid an unnecessary battle against the dragon knights.
In the end, Fuuga, with his highly mobile unit, finally came into contact
with Julius's party, but not until Julius was already close to the border. If
either party had been better at predicting the other, this battle wouldn't have
happened. You could say it was the result of two closely matched
opponents.
◇ ◇ ◇
Horsemen and carriages raced across a field near the border with the
Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom with Julius and Jirukoma at the lead.
Jirukoma specialized in fighting on foot, but today was not the time for
that, so he was riding a horse. He struck up a conversation with Julius, who
was riding alongside him.
"Still, I wouldn't have expected this, Julius."
"Wouldn't have expected what?"
"The number of people who've joined us. We asked all around the
country, but only about forty noncombatants were willing to come?"
Jirukoma said, looking at the horsemen and carriages behind them. "The
people loved Princess Tia and the royal family, didn't they? I would have
thought more would have chosen to escape together with them..."
"Right now...the people want a strong king, not a lovable one," Julius
said, looking just a little sad.
It was not out of anger or discontent towards the people, but almost out
of sympathy for those who chose to stay.
"You can't blame them. The people shed so much blood during the
demon wave. We managed to eke out a victory with the help of the
Kingdom of Friedonia, but many of them still lost friends and family."
"Yeah. But it was the House of Lastania that protected them, wasn't it?"
"They were grateful, I'm sure. But...what will happen to us in the next
demon wave? Will Friedonia send reinforcements again? Even if they do,
what if they arrive too late? We can't defend ourselves alone, can we...?
Those are the kinds of worries our people always had. Which is why..."
"They came to welcome Fuuga, a symbol of power. That's just...kind of
depressing."
"I told you, you can't blame them." Julius smiled a little. "We all put our
own families first. Look at me, I had Tia and her parents get out early
because I knew that this would happen."
"Ha ha ha, you have a point there. I mean, I had my own family join
them in the name of defending the royal family."
Captain Lauren, who was now Jirukoma's wife, had already left for the
Kingdom of Friedonia along with Princess Tia and the others. Jirukoma and
Lauren already had multiple children, and because they were still small
he'd gotten them out early. Initially, Lauren had been frustrated that she
couldn't be there in the country's moment of need, but Jirukoma persuaded
her of the importance of guarding the royal family.
"This is my second time being run out of the country..." Julius mumbled
to himself. Jirukoma looked at him sympathetically.
"Does it hurt, Julius?"
"No... Much as I lament my own powerlessness, strangely, I'm not
feeling all that depressed about it. Though, I must admit...I felt some dark
feelings creeping into my heart when I fled the Principality."
Suddenly, Julius looked up to the sky. It was clear, without a single
cloud.
"I felt betrayed by my own country then, but not now."
"That's only natural. A country is a place for us to belong," Jirukoma
said, looking up to the sky as well. "It's a place where we feel a sense of
comfort and belonging. It's that way because we're there, and the people we
care about are too. That's what a country is. That's why we love and want to
defend it. When I took Lauren as my wife, and we had children together, I
stopped feeling that lingering attachment to my homeland."
For Jirukoma, having lost his country and become a refugee, he could
understand why Julius had changed.
Julius let out a small laugh. "You could be right... For me, my country is
wherever Tia is now."
"Yeah. Which is why we must survive."
Suddenly, a single dragon knight dropped out of the sky they were
looking up to. The white dragon, shining in the sun, was Naden's best
friend, Pai Long. On his back was Pai's partner and queen of the Nothung
Dragon Knight Kingdom, Sill Munto.
There was urgency on her gallant face as Sill shouted, "Sir Julius, hurry!
Malmkhitan's forces are almost here!"
"Madam Sill! Thank you for your support!" Julius shouted without
stopping his horse. "You didn't need to honor the alliance when we've as
good as lost our country already..."
"Think nothing of it. We only did what is natural when you consider our
long friendship with Lastania's royal family and how it's benefited us
both."
"I understand the friendship, but was there benefit for you?" Julius
asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Yes. Without the Kingdom of Lastania, we lose our window to the
world outside. If Fuuga's power keeps growing, our country will be
surrounded. Because our pact with the dragons keeps us from invading
other countries, we'll be left to starve, I'm sure," Sill said bitterly.
If they were going to trade with Fuuga's country, Fuuga would no doubt
make them swear loyalty to him. But because their pact forbade them from
using the dragons to take hostile actions against other countries, Fuuga had
no use for the dragon knights. If he tried to use them to fight other humans,
the pact said that the dragons would all return to the Star Dragon Mountain
Range. Fuuga wasn't the type to show them any consideration, so he might
stop the flow of supplies, and try to have the Dragon Knight Kingdom
collapse from within.
"So, Sir Julius, once you get out of here safely, we want you to be our
go-between with the Kingdom of Friedonia." Sill winked at Julius. "We can
have our dragon knights carry supplies back and forth through the Star
Dragon Mountain Range."
"You'd use dragon knights as couriers?"
"Indeed, I would. Perhaps we should rename ourselves the Nothung
Courier Kingdom?"
"It doesn't have any of the same grandeur..."
It's not a bad idea though, Julius thought. Smart as he was, even in this
urgent situation he was quickly thinking through the idea of a shipping
company the size of a nation.
The pact only forbade them from using the dragons for hostile actions
against other countries. Shipments of supplies wouldn't violate that—
although they might have to be strictly non-military in nature. With their
massive size, a dragon could likely carry a large wooden ship. But with the
dragons being the symbol of their country, and everyone aspiring to become
a dragon knight, there might be those opposed to the idea of dragon knights
becoming couriers.
It was like using a sword that was a national treasure to mow the grass.
That was probably why the idea never came up before now... Now that
Fuuga was pushing them into a corner, even old-fashioned countries were
going to have to change.
It's the kind of idea Souma would implement with glee... Julius thought
to himself, smiling.
"Understood. I'll see to it that King Souma gets the message."
"I'm counting on you... Now then, to make sure our first delivery gets to
the Kingdom intact, I'm going to spar a little with Fuuga's forces."
"Be careful... Fuuga's fiercer than you imagine."
"We know," Pai answered telepathically on Sill's behalf. "Naden and
Ruby's letters told us all about him. When you pair Fuuga with Durga, he's
on the same level as a dragon knight, maybe even better."
"There you have it. We won't let our guard down. We're going to give
him everything we have," Sill agreed.
"Godspeed..." Julius nodded.
"You too."
With that said, Sill and Pai danced up into the sky, joining up with thirty
dragon knights who were waiting there and heading off to face Fuuga's
forces.
◇ ◇ ◇
Half an hour had passed since Julius and Sill exchanged words. Near the
border, the dragon knights of Nothung stood in the path of Fuuga and his air
force pursuing Julius.
"Out of the way! You're starting to annoy me!"
Roaaaaar! One swipe of Durga's paw tore into a dragon's chest, making
it rear back in pain. As it did, Fuuga's arrow struck the dragon knight in the
breast.
"Guh..."
The dragons fell from the sky one after another, along with their knights.
Sill and Pai trembled with rage as they watched the scene unfold.
"Damn you, Fuugaaaaa!" Sill bellowed.
"How dare you do that to our comrades!" Pai shouted telepathically.
I never expected him to be so powerful... Sill thought. When they first
collided with Fuuga's forces, Sill divided the thirty dragon knights she had
brought into groups. One was sent to attack and delay the soldiers on the
ground, while another guarded Julius's group from the wyvern cavalry that
was closing in on him. The final group, led by herself, would confront
Fuuga, the biggest threat of all.
He turned the tide on his own... He's like some sort of epic hero from the
storybooks. Sill had taken every caution. In fact, the units she had sent after
Fuuga's forces on the ground and in the air were overwhelming them. But
Fuuga's own abilities had far exceeded her expectations. Fuuga and the
small number of wyvern cavalry guarding him had forced Sill and her men
into a disadvantageous position.
To be more precise, the wyvern riders had desperately tried to buy time
while Fuuga and Durga fought and won one-on-one duels. By the time Sill
and Pai had exterminated the meddlesome wyvern cavalry, they had already
lost five dragon knights. Never in the history of the Nothung Dragon Knight
Kingdom had they ever lost so many against one man before. The only ones
able to fight against dragon knights had been other dragon knights.
Unable to believe what they were witnessing, the dragon knights
cowered in fear.
"Hahhhhh!"
Rushing towards a stopped dragon knight, Fuuga leapt from Durga's
back, his Zanganto sparking with electricity, and swung down at the man.
The dragon knight instinctively raised his sword to block, but...
Bzzzap!!! The moment Fuuga's Zanganto slammed into it, a thick bolt of
lightning tore through both the knight and the dragon. It was the same move
he'd once used to tear a big hole in a massive zombie rhinosaurus.
The knight was vaporized, and the dragon fell with a great hole in its
body. Only Fuuga remained, using the wings on his back to hover.
Pai gulped at the sight. "I can't believe a human can wield lightning like
Naden's..."
"Grr! If the tiger's monstrously powerful, then the man is too, huh!"
Sill ground her teeth as she watched Durga pick Fuuga up out of the air.
"We can't let him take down any more of our men. Let's do this, Pai!"
"Yes, Lady Sill!"
Pai the white dragon attacked before Fuuga and Durga fully recovered.
As Pai spat fire, Durga turned in order to protect Fuuga. When the flames
struck, Durga was sent flying.
When Durga recovered in midair, the tiger's left side had its fur burned
in some places and was injured in others. Considering how little damage
was sustained from the dragon's breath, it showed just how incredible a
creature Durga was.
Seeing his partner's injuries, Fuuga's face lost its usual calm.
"Tch. They're good. This won't be as easy as it was with the others."
"Fuuga Haan! I will avenge my men!"
Sill swung her lance while on Pai's back. Fuuga instinctively leaned
right and it grazed his face, tearing a shallow gash in his cheek. He wiped
away the blood with his bracer, glaring at Sill.
"Not bad. I guess they put you in charge of the dragon knights for a
reason."
"Enough talk!"
Sill and Pai attacked with blades of wind and flaming breath at the same
time. Fuuga had Durga rush in, dodging as they approached, then leapt from
the tiger's back as before. He wreathed his Zanganto in electricity, swinging
downwards at Sill.
"I won't let you do that!"
Whoosh— Bash! Pai spun around like a windmill, batting away Fuuga
with his wings. After being hit with a force akin to that of a charging
rhinosaurus, even Fuuga looked like he was feeling the pain.
"Guh... Durga!" Fuuga shouted as he was sent flying, and Durga
answered his call, swinging a paw at Pai who had not recovered yet.
Pai tried to lean back and out of the way, but Durga's claws were
rushing towards his face. That strike, too sharp to call a cat punch, tore into
him.
"Gwah!"
"Pai?!"
There were distinct, bloody claw marks on the left half of Pai's head.
He'd probably lost sight in that eye. But if he fell, his partner Sill would die
too. Knowing this, Pai struggled to stay aloft through the pain.
"It's okay... I can still fight."
"Pai..."
"Heh, I see we're both blessed with good partners," said Fuuga, who
was using his own wings to float in midair at the spot he'd been knocked to.
Durga rushed to his side, and Fuuga mounted the tiger again. He was a
little worse for wear after being buffeted by Pai's wing, but Fuuga was still
full of energy. Pai, meanwhile, was only staying in the air by sheer force of
will.
Fuuga pointed his Zanganto towards them and said, "But Durga and I
will win."
""""Princess!""""
The four dragon knights who had been unable to join the battle got in
between them to act as Sill's shield. Even if they had to launch a desperate
suicide attack, they were ready to take Fuuga down with them.
Fuuga gave them a fierce grin. "Bring it on. I'll gobble up as many of
you as I have to."
"Urkh!" Sill grunted, her face twisting in pain.
In the midst of all this, a single wyvern approached.
"Lord Fuuga! Lord Hashim is proposing a truce!"
"He wants me to stop fighting? We were just getting to the good part..."
Fuuga grumbled as he looked down below.
The ground force had been totally stopped by the dragon knights' attack.
It was hard to blame them, given they were defenseless against fire attacks
from the air.
The group led by Julius of Lastania was also out of sight, having no
doubt crossed the border into the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom now. If
he pursued them across the border, that would mean total war against them.
With six dragons down, the Dragon Knight Kingdom had lost twenty
percent of the forces they'd brought. Fuuga's own forces likely had lost a
similar percentage, but having failed to capture Julius, this was a strategic
loss.
"It looks like it's not enough for me to win on my own." Fuuga's
shoulders slumped and he lowered his Zanganto before calling out to Sill.
"You heard the man, Dragon Knight Princess. Our target's escaped into
your country. If we keep going, it'll mean war. I'm pretty sure that's not
something you want either. I'll pull back my troops, so go back to your own
country."
"Urgh..."
Sill's face distorted with frustration at the sudden offer of a truce. She
wanted to avenge her comrades, but if they continued fighting, there would
be more sacrifices. They had already succeeded in their goal of aiding
Julius's escape. To continue fighting now would be an entirely personal
battle. If she wasn't careful, it could violate their pact with the dragons.
As the leader of the dragon knights, she couldn't afford to be a fool.
"Very well... But you will allow us to collect the dragons and their
knights' remains. We must return them to the Star Dragon Mountain Range.
This is to prevent them turning into monsters like skull dragons."
"Hmph, fine by me."
"Signal the retreat," Sill ordered.
The dragon knights blew their whistles. Her forces near the ground
stopped when they heard it. With their battle over, they all gathered to Sill's
side. From there, she directed them to collect the remains of the fallen.
When that was complete, the dragon knights organized in a defensive
formation around Sill and Pai. She took one last look at Fuuga before
turning to go.
"They're damn well organized... I could use an air force like that,"
Fuuga thought aloud as he landed, watching the dragon knights go.
Then, riding Durga down to the ground forces led by Hashim, he
dismounted as his advisor welcomed him with a bow.
"I almost had the enemy queen too..."
"I believe I have told you repeatedly that war against the Nothung
Dragon Knight Kingdom would be pure folly," said Hashim, raising his
head and shrugging his shoulders in exasperation.
Then, with a sharp look in his eyes, he told Fuuga, "The battle just now
made me sure of one thing. If our two countries went to war, we would
undoubtedly win. The dragon knights are powerful, but their numbers are
limited. If we attack from multiple fronts, and retreat whenever the dragon
knights appear, their country will be laid waste, and war-weariness will
spread throughout the majority of the population that are not dragon
knights."
"You were saying that the common people would choose us over their
pact with the dragons."
"Yes. And that would be the ruin of the Dragon Knight Kingdom.
However, if that happens, we risk the dragon knights all defecting to other
countries. That would be incredibly bad for us. So..."
"If we're going to destroy them, we save them for last, right? I know,"
Fuuga said, putting a hand on Hashim's shoulder and nodding. "Still, it's a
shame about Julius."
"Yes... He was able to make decisions faster than I'd thought. That
makes him exactly the sort of person I want for your country, and a
dangerous man to make an enemy of. That's why I wanted to secure him for
ourselves..."
"It wasn't meant to be. But we managed to accomplish our other
objective, right?"
"Yes. We caught up, and were able to fight the Dragon Knight
Kingdom."
In Fuuga's dispatch of troops to Lastania, the primary objective was to
capture the Lastanian royal family (especially Julius), but there was also a
secondary objective of putting up a good fight against the dragon knights of
the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom who would be coming to assist. And
if they fought well against the Dragon Knight Kingdom, whereas the
Empire could only fight them to a standstill in their heyday, the people's
hopes for Fuuga would grow.
Fuuga and Durga had slain six dragon knights. This news would not fail
to excite the people's zeal. Fuuga and his men had accomplished this not in
a full war against the Dragon Knight Kingdom, but in what was still a
skirmish.
Hashim crossed his arms and told Fuuga, "Up until now, the people
knew we would retake the Demon Lord's Domain. However, after this
battle, they will think it's no dream for you to conquer the entire continent.
Please, ride that wave of popular sentiment as far as it will take you."
"Yeah. But first, we'll need to bring together this country that no longer
has any enemies in it. If we're going to rise up, we need to make sure the
ground beneath our feet is steady first."
Fuuga and his men headed into the capital of the Kingdom of Lastania to
sort out what would happen after the war.
◇ ◇ ◇
With this battle against the Dragon Knight Kingdom, Fuuga earned
himself the moniker "the tiger who eats dragons" from his people, and the
tiger became the symbol of his forces.
Fuuga would go on to be called the Great Tiger King, and his followers
would earn monikers of their own like "the tiger's X." His wife, Mutsumi
Haan, was "the tiger's partner," his advisor, Hashim Chima, was "the tiger's
resourceful schemer," his right-hand man, Shuukin Tan, was "the tiger's
sword," and the old commander who took an arrow for him, Gaifuku Kiin,
was "the tiger's shield."
But it would still be some time before that happened.