"ROAR—!"
Another world-shaking roar erupted with the force of a thousand thunderclaps, mingled with the whistling of a gale and the crackle of electricity. This sound was filled with a domineering majesty that formed a sharp, aggressive contrast to the previous screech.
The knights in the banquet hall stood up, their hands instinctively reaching for the weapons at their waists. They were experienced warriors; from the sound alone, they knew something monumental was happening outside.
Just then, the hall doors were slammed open. A sentry knight responsible for the castle perimeter burst in, stumbling. His armor was stained with fresh mud and grass, and his face was a mask of panic.
"My—My Lord! It's... it's bad!" the knight gasped, out of breath.
Leylo frowned. "Calm down! Speak slowly. What happened?"
The knight wheezed, pointing outside. "It's... it's the Lord's Storm Griffin King! It—it's fighting with His Highness's Thunder Dragon!"
The room fell into a stunned silence.
The Storm Griffin King? Wasn't that Baron Leylo's beast? And the Thunder Dragon was the contracted beast of the First Prince. Why would these two powerful creatures, meeting for the first time, suddenly start a brawl in Blackstone Territory?
Elliot stood up so abruptly that his chair scraped harshly against the floor and toppled over. His face turned livid. "What did you say?!" he demanded, syllable by icy syllable.
The sentry quivered under Elliot's cold gaze but forged ahead. "It's... it's the truth! The Storm Griffin King suddenly appeared above the castle and—and started fighting with Lord Raymond, who was resting in the stable area! Everything outside is in total chaos now!"
Leylo was equally bewildered. He never expected his Storm Griffin King to stir up such trouble, especially by picking a fight directly with the Prince's dragon. Has its battle lust grown so strong after reaching Tier 4 that it dares to challenge a dragon? This is truly...
Then, Leylo realized something was off. Even at Tier 4, "Tempest" would never proactively provoke a dragon unless—he instinctively glanced at the spot next to him where Moonlight had been eating heartily just moments ago.
Moonlight was gone.
The temperature in the banquet hall dropped to the freezing point. The Thunder Dragon Knights looked at each other; they knew the Prince's dragon, Raymond, had a volatile temper. But a Storm Griffin King was no pushover either. If these two apex predators truly went for the kill, Blackstone Castle might be leveled.
"Leylo," Elliot's voice was thick with suppressed fury. "Your beast seems to have quite the personality."
Leylo rubbed his nose. "Two magical beasts meeting for the first time... they're likely just playing around."
Elliot snorted coldly and stroded out first. The knights followed immediately, abandoning the wine and delicacies. A battle between giants of this caliber was a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
The War in the Sky
As the heavy stone gates of the castle opened, a gale thick with the smell of ozone and dust slammed into the group. The night sky had been churned into a rolling cauldron. Dark clouds pressed down, shot through with violet lightning and cyan light, like two furious dragons tearing at each other within the clouds.
BOOM!
A thick bolt of lightning, like a spear of divine punishment, grazed the tallest spire of the castle, sending stone shards and sparks flying. The wind followed, ripping up stone slabs from the square and tossing them into the air like toys. The two statues of knights at the gate were toppled; one had been snapped clean at the waist.
Leylo felt a powerful surge of mana the moment he stepped out, the pressure almost making it hard to breathe. He squinted at the chaotic sky.
High above, a dragon covered in azure scales, its wings wreathed in countless electrical snakes, was locked in a fierce struggle with a slightly smaller but equally savage griffin surrounded by a dark-cyan storm. That was indeed Prince Elliot's dragon, Raymond, and Leylo's Tempest.
Every dragon breath was a blinding bolt of lightning aimed at its foe. Tempest countered by maneuvering the winds, condensing massive wind blades to tear through the air or transforming into a cyan blur to dodge through the lightning.
"Lord have mercy..." Old Mayor Buck whispered, his voice trembling at the apocalyptic scene.
The square was a disaster. Several bold guards tried to approach but were blown back by the shockwaves. From the stables came terrified whinnies; the magnificent horses were huddled in corners, trying to bury their heads in hay. Even the Iron-Feathered Eagles brought by the Prince's knights were cowering on haystacks at the castle's edge.
Leylo focused his eyes. On the broad back of the Storm Griffin King, a blurry white figure was bobbing along with the griffin's violent movements. Despite the distance and the turbulence, Leylo recognized it instantly. That streamlined silhouette, that flash of silver in the lightning... who else could it be but Moonlight!
I knew it! Leylo felt a mix of anger and amusement. The only one who could drive Tempest to do this, other than himself, was that troublemaking "cat."
As he watched, the tide of the battle shifted. A dragon was a dragon, after all. In terms of raw strength and mana reserves, Raymond held the upper hand over the newly ascended Tempest. The Thunder Dragon let out a soul-shaking roar and beat its wings, calling down dozens of lightning bolts that wove into a massive electrical net, trapping the Griffin King.
"SCREE—!"
Tempest let out a pained cry as the storm around it was shredded. Several bolts slammed into its body, sending feathers flying; a faint scent of burnt hair drifted down. Its massive body faltered in the air, nearly plummeting.
"No!" Leylo's heart tightened.
A cold, triumphant smile finally touched Elliot's lips. His knights also looked relieved. A dragon was the pinnacle of its tier; Raymond was currently in his growth stage, placing him firmly in the Tier 4 category. To the onlookers, it seemed the farce would finally end with the dragon's victory.
However, just as Tempest wavered and the Thunder Dragon prepared its final strike...
A sudden change occurred.