The battles were already being fought at the castle.
Cannons fired cannonballs that had crossed the Crimson Valley and were now aimed directly at the castle.
The rebels, split into many divisions, had started entering the castle through different paths.
Some entered through a secret passage revealed by former Leader Row.
Others attacked straight through the main gates.
The soldiers inside the castle fought back, only to get crushed under the sheer numbers of the rebels.
The rebels were using Guerrilla tactics while trying to overthrow Lohit's rule.
This included a special spell handed to them by Row.
A spell that could suppress Dark Energy Reserves.
However, it had two major limitations.
The first was its fixed range.
The second was the size of the target's Dark Energy Reserves.
If the size of someone's Dark Energy Reserves crossed a certain ceiling, there was a high possibility that the Dark Energy Reserves Depletion Spell wouldn't work.
Row had been given this spell by a shady person wearing a brown cloak, torn in many places.
Row had tested it before.
It worked perfectly.
This was his trump card.
If it successfully suppressed Dark Energy Reserves, Lohit and Sonavarnah would be reduced to normal human being like creatures.
This included the Royal Guards.
It would even suppress the rebels themselves.
However, the rebels had the advantage of numbers.
Thus, victory would be theirs.
To activate this spell, one needed a large magic circle that would act as the area of effect.
The circle was the entire castle itself.
The rebels were fighting with great hope.
The Earth beneath them trembled for a moment.
Maybe just some im—
It trembled again.
A wind so powerful that many were blown away.
Everyone glanced behind them.
A huge dragon was floating in the sky, flapping his wings.
It was Sonavarnah.
He transformed into his Dragoling Form and crashed in front of the entrance.
The rebels were shocked.
Does this mean... Senra was defeated?
A warrior who ranked on par with powerful Royal Guards?
Everyone froze.
Some were shocked.
Some were confused.
Others were terrified.
Even the soldiers were stunned.
No one dared to move.
Sonavarnah merely started walking calmly towards the castle.
He could barely care about the rebels.
What intrigued him was the trump card of the rebels.
He had realized that they were planning something fishy by collecting Mountain Dragons and Sky Dragons.
Thus, he had reached the castle.
The place where the final battle would take place.
He walked inside the castle without any resistance.
Only after he had left did the battle start again.
[Lohit]: What happened with the intruders?
Lohit asked while sitting on his golden throne.
[Sonavarnah]: They will most probably arrive here themselves. There is no need to find them.
[Lohit]: That was not what I meant. What about the intruders who faced you?
[Sonavarnah]: They might be dead by now. While they possessed some threat, I used Heavenly Roar against them.
[Lohit]: I see. You should have confirmed it by staying there for a few moments. Anyways...
Lohit paused for a moment.
[Lohit]: What was with your Alpha Roar?
[Sonavarnah]: I will be crushing every possible path to victory for the rebels. There shouldn't be any p—
The roof broke.
Someone landed in front of them while grabbing one of the Royal Guards by the neck.
The dust settled.
Lohit watched with indifferent eyes.
Sonavarnah turned to see the chaos factor himself.
A young boy.
A young boy holding one of the Royal Guards by the neck.
A young boy whose upper body was mostly covered in bandages, wearing a coat over them.
A buttonless coat.
The eyes of Pratik and Sonavarnah met.
The moment they did—
A large green lightning bolt struck down, burning several approaching Sky Dragons into ashes.
The temperature turned the nearby air into plasma.
[Lohit]: He is...
Lohit tried recalling with his usual expression.
[Sonavarnah]: One of the intruders... the leader of the so-called PALGMK team... the one who earned the title of Dragon Slayer. Pratik, I guess.
Pratik threw away the Royal Guard he was holding.
[Pratik]: Seems like I will take you down.
Before Pratik could completely launch himself towards Sonavarnah, he was intercepted by several other Royal Guards.
A hole was blown through the royal room as Pratik and the Royal Guards escaped through it.
[Lohit]: This doesn't feel right.
Lohit said, thinking about something.
[Lohit]: Sonavarnah, I am done playing this. Crush all the enemies. When an anomaly enters the equation, one mustn't get cocky. That boy... I felt something weird about him. He mustn't survive at any cost.
The same goes for the rebels.
I feel uneasy about this rebellion.
Sonavarnah nodded.
[Sonavarnah]: I understand. In that case, I shall enter the battle myself.
Sonavarnah said, leaving the room.
Three walls of the gigantic castle were broken through by Pratik and five Royal Guards.
Pratik (thinking): Every Royal Guard possesses a unique power. The one I fought could use Marionette Magic. The ones I am fighting currently have nothing to do with puppets.
Landing on the ground, Pratik immediately teleported far away to escape an explosion.
Pratik (thinking): My triggers are locked. This leaves Range Shiftlings and a few other tricks. I wonder if I can take down these fellows.
The one with the huge sword almost bisected Pratik.
It wouldn't have been avoided if not for his temporary Magic Shield defense.
He was Royal Sword Guard Tyun.
The one with the white moustache was a magic nullifier.
Known as Ahank by many.
The one with the tank-like build possessed incredible durability.
Recognized as Royal Tank Guard Gir.
The other two were formidable as well.
Pratik (thinking): I have to reach that tyrant of a ruler. But I can't overlook these minions either. They won't let me go. What should I do?
Engrossed in his thoughts, Pratik was distracted.
He couldn't sense Tyun's sword approaching his neck.
It was too late to react.
Dhump.
Pratik checked his neck.
He was fine.
Wait...
He was standing on a rooftop.
He didn't remember using teleportation.
Someone appeared above Tyun and kicked him away.
Kel!
Pratik exclaimed with a happy face.
He was hit on the head by someone standing behind him.
He turned around.
Lila.
[Lila]: You could have gotten yourself killed, boy.
Lila said while applying some healing to Pratik, just in case.
Wait.
That wasn't normal healing.
It boosted Pratik's power tremendously.
His body was amplified to 250% of his usual strength.
[Lila]: We will handle these mascots here. You can reach Lohit.
Pratik smiled.
[Pratik]: Leave that to me.
Pratik said, running away.
Gir tried to run after Pratik, only to get repelled by Lila's magic.
The five Royal Guards were interrupted by Kel and Lila.
[Ahank]: That's enough.
Ahank said in a rough voice while applying his nullification over a certain range.
The range could reach 200 metres at best.
Physical powers, however, weren't suppressed.
Thus, this greatly favoured Gir and Tyun, who could barely use any magic anyway.
Tyun and Gir rushed towards Kel, who seemed to be within the magic nullification range.
As soon as they got near Kel, he smirked.
Ahank widened his eyes.
Something was wrong.
It seemed as if Kel was within a 10-metre range.
However, he wasn't.
[Ahank]: You two, get away!
It was too late.
Before they could even perceive what was happening, several holes appeared across their bodies.
Both Royal Guards were defeated just like that.
Ahank made a bitter face.
Kel had been using Space Manipulation beforehand to diverge the space around himself.
He was within 10 metres.
And he wasn't at the same time.
To make sure Ahank wouldn't realize it sooner, Lila used Sense Clouding.
A magic she had been inspired by Grahan, one of the most formidable enemies they had ever faced.
While it was a cheap imitation, it still served its purpose.
The other two Royal Guards stood there without much concern.
Lila (thinking): I knew about Ahank's power thanks to the records and his demonstration against Pratik. However, I have no idea about the other two Royal Guards.
Kel (thinking): The other two can possibly be powerful ones. I mustn't let my guard down.
[Ahank]: You two.
Ahank said, pointing towards the other Royal Guards.
[Ahank]: That's enough show for you. Lord Lohit is serious about this battle. Let go of your goofy observations already.
Ahank said in a rough voice.
The two Royal Guards stared at each other, likely communicating something.
Then they walked towards Lila and Kel respectively.
Ahank, meanwhile, applied a Magic Nullification Barrier around himself.
The battle would be interesting indeed.
*
The rebels took over the frontal wall and successfully entered the second wall.
Their morale was sky-high.
It was supposed to be like that.
However...
Before they could reach the second gate, those who were too close were suddenly bisected into several pieces.
The others, who were at a safe distance, jumped back.
Someone walked out of the gate.
It was Sonavarnah.
He walked out slowly.
Behind him was the strongest Royal Guard—
Werner Lieberg.
Their entry completely crushed the morale of the rebels.
Sonavarnah walked past the rebels and outside the castle.
He wasn't there to fight the rebels.
He was there to crush their final hopes.
The rebels watched as the Sky Dragons and Mountain Dragons approached the castle.
Only a few rebels knew about this secret strategy.
A strategy that would soon be blown apart by Sonavarnah.
In the confusion, a hundred more rebels were bisected.
Their purple and green blood flowed across the battlefield.
[Werner]: I shall be your opponent.
*
Deep inside the castle.
The rebels who had used the secret path to enter the castle ended up in the deepest part of it.
The place where the Dark Energy Reserves Depletion Spell would be activated.
To be continued...
---
EXTRAS:-
Hunter Dragon's Quest 1
Beside all the chaos unfolding across the Living Verse, the Hunter Dragon Crocus—the most powerful Dragoling alive—was disguised as a human, living on Earth.
Suppressing his heavenly massive Dark Energy Reserves, he was hiding among ordinary people, making sure he wouldn't get contacted by the Sorcery Societies.
However...
He was seen secretly stealing ice cream from one of the shops by a few disguised sorcerers.
Apprentice Class C Grade Sorcerers, to be precise.
They misunderstood him as the legendary ice cream thief.
And they decided to teach him a lesson.
They started following him secretly.
The legendary ice cream quest begins here.