BXBX NOVEL Chapter 410 409: Concern And Resolve
Jahi PoV
The sudden development of having not one, but two creatures linked to the Gates that had leveled the Kingdom of Tragon was... harrowing, to say the least.
The silver creature was built entirely to kill its opponents with speed and precision, while also having a repertoire of magic at its disposal; magic that seemed to be able to come from any of the basic elements.
Lean and covered in tough silver scales, the first creature was already a problem in and of itself, capable of withstanding the onslaught of Mom, Nirinia, and the rest of us.
Hells, it healed past an overcharged magical beam produced by one of the strongest Arch Mages and a daughter of the Empress, shrugging off what would normally damage even a Knight like it was nothing.
Traditional methods didn\'t seem capable of killing it either - that, or it actually had a Core of its own somewhere else that fueled and powered it, meaning that what we were facing was just its body; an indestructible body capable of razing cities to the ground with ease...
Mom\'s claymore stabbed into the marble tile, cracking the floor as she stared down at the clean contact point, where the Gate stood moments earlier.
"This... changes everything. At a minimum, we are facing two creatures capable of utilizing the Gates into the Labyrinthian itself, and I have a strong feeling that there are more waiting inside. Creatures strong enough to shrug off a strike from Nirinia and I... to shrug off the combined magics from two incredible mages..."
Her fingers drummed against the guard of her claymore, and she grit her teeth as she looked up towards the rest of us, including the legionnaires that had rushed over to support us.
"Until further notice, Tragon will be left empty. Unless the Empress decrees it differently, no one is to remain inside these borders. We will be packing up and returning the way we came, where we will regroup with Sker and move back into the Empire. The Empress needs to be informed of what has happened both here and in Huran. Centurions, remain behind; legionnaires, begin the process for our return home."
The sounds of fists slamming against metal echoed inside the throne room, followed quickly by boots on the tile as everyone moved to do what they were ordered to.
I nodded for Iaso and Liga to go help the rest of the Legion before turning and focusing on Mom, who was looking over the gathered leadership.
"Kolia, continue working with Leone and the other mages to finalize anything you warrant necessary to collect inside of Nogart. You have two hours to finish before joining the Legion as we begin our march home. Adelina, from here on out rotate watch amongst entire Cohorts going forwards. If a Gate appears again, we need to be able to react quickly. Otherwise, this Legion is as good as dead. Jahi, Anput, Nirinia, come with me. We need to discuss the future going forwards. Centurions, oversee your Cohorts and guarantee nothing of importance is left behind. If it\'s valuable, take it. I don\'t think we\'ll be returning to Tragon for a long time..."
Once more, the sounds of the soldiers saluting filled the room, just not as loud this time.
Nodding to Leone, I watched as she followed behind Kolia, the two women talking in quiet voices as they scurried away, wanting to find anything they could before we needed to depart.
I led Anput over towards Mom, where Nirinia stood beside her, watching as the Lioness walked with her Centurions, giving them orders.
"Alright... I\'ve decided that, going forwards, we will all be training under Lady Fenryas when we return to the Capital to push ourselves further. With what happened earlier, we can\'t afford to remain passive or go for small increases. We need to to improve greatly. The defensive capabilities of those creatures is... incredible. Simply put, as far as I am concerned only the Empress and her wives would be capable of truly damaging those creatures; maybe if all the Knights gathered we would be able to deal with that silver one, but... the golden one worries me."
She retrieved her claymore from the tile and returned it to its sheath, ignoring the way Nirinia shivered at the mention of Lady Fenryas.
"If the silver creature was already damn near impervious to both physical and magical attacks, then how resilient would the golden one be? Add onto that it\'s ability to nullify mana entirely - inside our Cores as well - and you have something that might truly be unkillable. That, of course, is impossible; nothing is unkillable. Perhaps there is something inside the Gate that would weaken them? Hah... anyways, from today going forwards, we are all going to be training together. I\'ll call for the Knights to return to the Capital as well, so that we might bolster our forces further..."
Mom shook her head and scoffed as she added "Then there\'s the fact that the Fiends are returning to the world. Everything just keeps getting worse huh? Loose ends with the Sariel and Kamiel Families, the resurgence of the Arch Fiends, and now this... Who knows how these creatures might affect the monsters inside the Labyrinthian? Lord Ter\'Ran needs to be informed as well... Gods be damned, it would seem our peace is being balanced out by an age of strife..."
We all nodded, our minds wandering down paths of thought regarding the enemies that were crawling out to fight us, each on stronger than the last.
Each posed separate problems that were all terrifying.
Jillian and Ayla were still out in the world, and we were still unsure of just what they wanted to do, and how powerful they might become in the future.
The Fiends coming back was problematic; all it would take is one strong Arch Fiend deciding to level a city and the Empire would be weakened.
Add onto that the people that would be seduced by the power that they offered...
Then there were the creatures, who were a bundle of scary unknowns capable of who knows what.
Would the Empress even be enough for them?
Nothing was known about our future, but I was determined to grow strong enough to assure the safety of my family.
No matter what.