Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 67: A Dragon’s Wrath

SMACK!

The sound of flesh striking flesh silences the contract chamber in the Citadel, a special room with several magic circles on the floor and dozens of various glyphs encircling each one. The magic contracts binding Ryuogriar, Reignleif, and Geirahoel to Daniel’s will have just been lifted, and while a threat was discovered and prevented swiftly, a different surprise catches everyone off-guard once more.

Geirahoel just used her newly acquired total freedom to slap Daniel, and he cups his cheek as his wide eyes stare in shock at Geirahoel, whose hand is still in her follow-through stopping point.

“G-Geira!?” asks Hekate with surprise. Without warning, Geirahoel suddenly grips Daniel’s jacket collar and pulls him close, kissing him. Hekate goes rigid, her tail puffing up as she becomes defensive. “H-Hey!”

When Geirahoel relaxes, her cheeks are a fiery red, and she says haughtily, “Th-That was for all the t-times you embarrassed me. M-Mukori…” She trails off, blushing across almost her entire face, and she finally looks down. She murmurs, “I-... I won’t… hurt you again.”

Daniel finally scoffs and chuckles, freed from his stupor from being suddenly slapped. “That didn’t hurt so much. If anything,...” He continues rubbing his cheek gently, which is only slightly reddened. It obviously wasn’t the full force she’s capable of, but enough to prove she has her own free will in its entirety once more. “It was just the right force to turn me on.”

Daniel grins deviously, and Geirahoel flinches, whirling away from him as she hides her face with a whine. “Aaaah! Sh-Shut up! Why would you say that!? You’re a despicable person!”

Hekate swoops in, pouncing onto Daniel’s back, “Daniel! You never flirt with me like that!”

Daniel chuckles. “Sure I do. It’s called the Hekate game.”

The others laugh as Hekate groans. “That’s not flirting! You’re just teasing me!”

“That’s just how boys show affection.”

There’s another knock at the door to the chamber, and one of the soldier golems opens the door. Choul jogs in, dropping to a kneel. “Forgive my intrusion, your Graces. An invasion force is incoming.”

“You are not forgiven!” snaps Geirahoel. Daniel gently takes her hand, distracting her, and she relents, but she’s still angered by Choul’s presence.

“What!?” asks Hekate in surprise. “Who is it this time!?”

“Th-This time?” asks Choul, now confused.

“The east is confused about my position here,” replies Daniel. “What kind of force are we looking at?”

“One hundred thousand, give or take twenty. I witnessed a wide array of eastern races bearing varying sigils. They are about to cross into Fievegal territory.”

“How are a hundred thousand soldiers marching across Covenant territory?” asks Kera’tai, horrified at the notion.

“I don’t know, my Lady…”

“Then what good are you?” snaps Geirahoel caustically.

“Geira, Mukori, relax. He’s trying to help.”

She glares briefly at Daniel, but she huffs and relaxes a little, pouting quietly.

Daniel asks, “Any signs of an airship?”

“No, my Liege.”

Wenlianna chimes in, “I didn’t share designs with anyone outside of Mother and the engineers who helped us build it. She’ll likely build another, but I wouldn’t expect her to reveal it to the other houses. I’m… not sure anyone other than Princess Erimaya even knows I’m working on it.”

Daniel looks at Kera’tai. “To answer your question, Kera’tai, if I wasn’t so paranoid about a conspiracy, I’d assume they got lucky. However, I’m beginning to fear more and more that I’m right, and there’s a large scale conspiracy aiming to keep the world at war.”

“Perhaps less cynical could be the option that the Demon Covenant has decided to allow the easterners to attack us to weaken our defenses,” points out Ryuogriar. “Since they covet the Citadel. Humans and human-kin would be easier to defeat than us, especially shortly after a battle.”

“Wouldn’t the eastern general know that, too?” asks Daniel.

Hekate adds pointedly, “And besides that, Googliegaggle was the only Covenant jerk who came here to size me up. They haven’t even tested our defenses yet.”

Daniel thinks for a moment. “No, they don’t have to. Not if they’re observing the easterners. Worse yet if they are in fact communicating, but I’ll try to hold the notion that they’re simply using each other.” Daniel looks at Xyreko. “Xyreko, how many shuttles have you completed?”

“Seven, your Grace. And, I have copied Lady Wenlianna’s airship. It is unarmed, but capable of carrying and deploying troops.”

Daniel keeps pondering, and Ryuogriar offers, “If you intend to attack, then we…”

“No. I don’t want to annihilate them. I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. Plus, the soldiers are just following orders. I’m thinking if we can deploy a large enough force of golems, we can deter them. But, if my math is correct, we’d only be able to transport about one hundred mid-sized centurions in total, with virtually no support. Correct?”

“Yes. I am afraid the total capacity for human-sized troops is about one thousand, at present, and the centurions take up much more space.”

“I have some ideas to address that, but we’ll need to deal with this problem first.”

“Why don’t we just go?” asks Hekate. “Between these three and me, and even Vae and Illianna, it should be relatively easy to scare them away.”

“I don’t know that they’ll flee from a mere intimidation. The twenty thousand we just sent back didn’t.”

Xyreko twitches, and she cuts in, “Pardon me, but I have news from Erimaya. I just received a relayed message from the golems I sent guarding her. She knew they were present and asked to relay a message. ‘Please tell Hekate and Daniel that Rikuto is afraid of Daniel’s god-killer.’ She had to write it because her guards were listening. Additionally, she had a brief fight shortly afterwards with Heralesse discussing a possible peace summit with us.”

“Then, we’ll need to address that as well. But, that would mean this invasion force was scheduled sometime before that conversation. Choul, do your best to describe every sigil you saw to Ucahote.”

“Um…!” interjects Wenlianna. Daniel looks at her, and she adds, “I… I was present at a war summit a couple weeks ago with Empress Sundenelle. I-... I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about it, but… they discussed trying to…” She gasps. “They still think you’re a prisoner! Mother and I only learned the truth from Commander Leiwelles, meaning Leiwelles hasn’t reported you to be a ruler of the Fievegal! Empress Sundenelle wants to liberate you for your weapons.”

Daniel chuckles, and the others glance at him. “Sorry, I just find it funny, since that’s what we were certain your family was doing.”

Wenlianna blushes. “W-Well… That was part of it, truthfully. B-But, our higher priority was your safety! Because you’re important to m-my household. To the Grand Duchy.”

“Tsk tsk,” retorts Ryuogriar. “You must be honest with your feelings, Wenlianna. Take it from me;” The dragon woman glares at Daniel with a smirk. “If you assume Daniel will take what he wants, even if you want it as well, you will be waiting a long time.”

Wenlianna looks down, nodding. She adds, “To me, Daniel… You’re important to me. And, Mother wanted you back for that, as well as the other things.”

Daniel nods. “I understand. And, I’m glad we cleared up any misunderstandings. But, for this most recent development… I don’t want to kill anyone if we don’t have to, but I can’t let invasions continue. You say Heralesse is open to a peace summit, Xyreko?”

She nods in turn, but Wenlianna adds, “I don’t know how far that will go, though. Empress Sundenelle expressly denounced Hekate’s claim to be an empress, and she won’t recognize the Fievegal as a sovereign entity. I don’t think she’ll allow a peace summit, and even if Mornistae holds one, she won’t recognize the outcome.”

Daniel thinks for another moment. “If they won’t recognize our sovereignty, then I guess we have to send a message. A much louder message this time.” Daniel looks at the others, saying seriously, “We’ll repel the invaders one last time. Then, we’re going to conquer Fort Twilight in retaliation. After that, either they sign a peace treaty, or we begin capturing territory from both sides.” He looks at Xyreko. “Will that be possible?”

“It is for now, Daniel, but we’ll need to increase our mana donations vastly to support a war. We have a large stockpile, and Sir Choul’s donation helped greatly, but I’d like to return to positive income.”

“We’ll need a remote way to set up donations, then. We can’t have everyone making pilgrimages here just to feed a war.”

“What about magic crystals?” asks Wenlianna. “If we set up magic crystal charging stations with larger magic crystals, we could have your villages fill those crystals, and then make regular pickups, like normal taxes and banking.”

Kera’tai asks, “Bank…ing?”

Daniel explains, “Demon-kin don’t handle finances the way the east does. Most of their trades are direct or bartering, and there’s no formal currency.”

Hekate says proudly, though it doesn’t quite fit, “And, I have yet to decide on an official currency of the Fievegal.”

“Why are you proud of that?” asks Daniel.

She flinches, blushing. “I-... It sounded libertarian…”

Daniel chuckles. “I was just describing things from Earth. We don’t need to stress over fitting into a political mold. There are times -though rare- that even socialist ideals can keep society from fracturing. But, that usually falls to corruption, just as capitalism can. Capitalism just has slightly more incentive to force altruism.”

Everyone stares at him, and he sighs. “Nevermind. Reina, since you’re the only one showing right now, we’ll keep you here at the Citadel. Ryuo, Geira, that doesn’t mean I want you getting close to the enemy. In fact, I have a better idea. Xyreko, use the shuttles to begin evacuating the villages to the stronghold. I think Fievegal total population is less than two hundred thousand, correct?”

“By a lot. There are three villages and one larger town totalling about three thousand demon kin in what we consider our borders.”

“Good. We’re going scorched earth. Er, scorched ground. We need to evacuate the villages quickly, and then burn them and the farms to the ground.”

The others watch him nervously, and Daniel adds, “I know. But, I’m going to pull out all the stops from now on. I’ve already crossed worse lines.” He looks to Ryukana, who likely knows what he’s talking about, and that he’s not intending to use his ‘god-killers’ as everyone else knows them. He’s just planning to do what he can with what he knows to further accelerate the technological revolution of the Fievegal. She nods silently in approval, also knowing that Daniel will stop if she gives the word.

“During that time, I’ll confront the front lines while Geira and Ryuo burn all of the farms and villages to ash. Choul, while I’m confronting the enemy with Hekate and Vaergraes, assuming Vaergraes agrees, you’ll fly high out of range and then dive-bomb their supplies. While that’s happening, Wenlianna, I’d like you to drive the rover with Treia and Gwenesphia and poison all of the wells and springs with the dish soap we’ve been making. It floats and breaks down pretty quickly, so it shouldn’t do catostrophic damage to the ecosystem, but will last long enough to make the soldiers regret drinking even a little bit. We can’t do much about water, since there’s also a river that they’re likely to find, but they won’t be able to feed a hundred thousand troops after we burn everything edible. Once they try to advance on us, and the three of us retreat, Choul, we’ll have you burn their forward operating camp, and I’ll take the rover with Hekate, Vaergraes, Treia, and Gwen into the camp to capture their general and other commanders. That should allow us to cripple the invasion enough for the troops to retreat, or failing that, we’ll contract the general and force him to give the order. Xyreko, artillery is a last resort if they refuse to turn back. We won’t do the charade this time. I just want to get rid of them as fast as possible with minimal casualties. Choul, that obviously means you’re in the most danger during your attack runs.”

“Leave it to me, my Liege. I shall destroy only what you designate and show these brazen fools the glory of the dragons once more.”

“You don’t want to contract all of them?” asks Hekate. “I think that will be an effective way to prevent attacks on us.”

“That’ll take too much time, and far too much of our resources for what I suspect will be too little gain. If there are soldiers that fall out and that we have to capture or they’ll die, so be it, we’ll contract those soldiers. But, I’d like them all to retreat.” He chuckles. “I know that’s what I’ve said all the other times, too. But, this time, we’ll be more forceful. Everyone understand the plan?”

The group nods, and Geirahoel hugs his arm. “I should be with you to help Hekate. Y-You need all the defense you can get.”

He smiles and pets her arm. “I’ll be fine. You’ll be more help destroying anything they can seize on their way to the Citadel. Thankfully, our small villages are expendable, and we can protect the people. But, we need to be swift so that they can’t catch up. Soldiers can go extremely far on pittances of rations, even if they lose strength.”

She nods reluctantly, adding, “After that’s done, though, I’m joining you.”

“I will as well,” adds Ryuogriar. 

“I guess I can’t stop you anymore.”

They both nod with triumphant smiles, and Reignleif looks dejected.

Daniel smiles softly, “Reina-Mukori, please don’t pout. You know I prioritize safety, especially with your eggs. Plus, there’s a possibility that they’ll infiltrate again. Use your ice magic and that frosty mist to slow them down and impair their vision if there’s even a suspicion of them entering the Citadel. I’m counting on you to root out and capture any infiltrators.”

She smiles softly, “V-Very well…”

Afterwards, Daniel excuses himself to prepare his equipment, during which he quietly summons Xyreko.

She appears as he walks, falling flawlessly into step with him. “Yes, Daniel?”

“I… have a concern.” Daniel demonstrates by attempting to draw Nemaisol, struggling a little bit to draw the blade. Once he does, again, it feels heavy in his hand, where before, it was lighter than any other sword he had held. “Nemaisol feels different. I know it’s still Nemaisol, because if I put it down;” He leans the sword against the wall nearby and waits a moment. Sure enough, Nemaisol disintegrates, reappearing in the scabbard by magic. “It still returns to the scabbard. You didn’t switch them out on me, did you?”

Xyreko shakes her head as she stares at the sword. “No, of course not. Though, that would have been an amusing experiment, it would endanger you if you believed that it would defend you.”

“I try not to necessarily go into a battle assuming Nemaisol will defend me, but I have relied on it many times. I’m worried that, whatever made me ‘worthy’ is somehow… Have I done something wrong?”

“I’m not sure. As I told you, Nemaisol was forged long before I was even born, let alone transformed into the Caretaker. There are no records on how a wielder is chosen or why Nemaisol repels magic. I only made assumptions the day I gave it to you, but it seems the mysteries of this sword go ever deeper.”

Daniel sighs. “For now, it hasn’t completely rejected me, but… I wish I knew. More so whether or not I can rely on it in battle.”

“I am certain you will make quick decisions as always.”

Daniel chuckles. “Thanks. Do… you think I should try talking to it? Maybe… Maybe I’m neglecting it?”

“While I would not discount anything at this point, since as you know, otherwise inanimate objects can contain a soul, I don’t have any specific advice to give, I’m afraid.”

“It’s fine. Thanks. What are the others doing?”

“Hekate is suiting up in her armor and equipping her ice rifle, grenades, and backup magic crystals. Ryuogriar and Geirahoel are donning their own armor, and Choul has transformed into his dragon form. I have appraised Treia and Gwenesphia of their role, and they are also preparing. Vaergraes and Illianna will join you shortly. Miss Illianna insists on accompanying you.”

“Excellent. Alright, begin the evacuations as soon as you can. Catch Ucahote and any others up on Citadel defense. Oh, and if you would, prepare one of the heavy launchers and a bag of smoke shells for me, if you would.”

“Smoke shells?” asks Xyreko curiously.

“Yes. Something I noticed during certain historical battles on Earth, they would have been made significantly easier if smoke was deployed. Or at least, it would be easier to advance on certain positions.”

“I see. That makes some sense, but… wouldn’t your own vision be impaired?”

“That’s less important when you need to cover ground across no-man’s land. Still risky, of course, but highly effective before the advent of the machine gun or cannons.” He smirks. “And, I do love putting on a show.”

“Just remember, my beloved Daniel, we are going to war.”

“I’m keenly aware, Xyreko. I want this to be nothing. I want it to be a hiccup, and for us to successfully scare them away without any casualties.” He takes a deep breath and sighs. “But, I know it will likely come to worse.”

Xyreko is respectfully quiet for a moment before speaking. “Lead, and I shall follow, my beloved Daniel.”

Daniel chuckles softly. “Me leading. Maybe I should be cursing Ryukana more.”

***

Choul glides through the air as he surveys the invading force. The massive invasion spans across a long stretch of land as they march in formation towards the Citadel. They’re still a couple of days worth of marching away from the fortress, and the terrain is fairly untouched, making it difficult for them to navigate quickly.

They seem rather well-prepared for a protracted siege against the Citadel. There are massive lines of buckrokhs pulling siege engines, including catapults and trebuchets, large wagons carrying lumber, and scorpion ballistae. Choul has seen many of these weapons in action during his travels, as well as some that this continent's eastern kingdoms don’t seem to use. 

The grey dragon looks down, where he can see the figures of Geirahoel and Ryuogriar looming over the villages before igniting them with fire. Likewise, the strange carriage Daniel calls a ‘rover’ is cutting a path across the plains, carrying Daniel, Vaergraes, Illianna, and Hekate towards the invading forces, while Wenlianna, Treia, and Gwenesphia will drive the rover from there back to the villages and any known springs to try to prevent the invaders from having water supplies.

It’s a vicious strategy, though Daniel is trying to use it to break morale and turn the invaders around without bloodshed if possible. That said, Choul can imagine them eliminating all of the villages within a long distance, further than the army could make it to before dying. Once their own supplies are wiped out, they have limited options. 

But, he also can tell the enemy is concerned about that, likely from the 20,000 man siege Daniel and his companions turned back before they went to the Dragon’s keep where they met the vengeful grey dragon.

The invaders have disguised their supply carriages by making all of the carriages have the same fabric cover. Destroying all of the carriages would be advantageous, of course, but it would be difficult to prioritize supply carriages for a typical vanguard force. They can live without siege weapons, but they can’t live for long without food.

Fortunately, Daniel granted Choul a contract that allows the grey dragon to attack, though he can’t exert enough force to kill enemies. But, that is perfect for the parameters Daniel has set for this mission.

Choul reports telepathically to Xyreko, “Choul to Lady Xyreko, I am in position.”

“Very well. His grace orders you to commence attack.”

“It shall be done.”

Choul swoops down low, coming at one of the carriage columns from the side, and he uses his wings to cast a powerful wind spell, targeting around twenty of the carriages with a massive and sudden gust. The soldiers cry out in shock as his massive form appears over them, and the blasts of wind slam the carriages and their escorting soldiers. The soldiers and cart drivers are blasted to the ground -relatively unharmed-. And, though some of the supplies are knocked out of the carriages, it’s an easy way for the grey soldier to identify and clear the carts. Of course, the beasts of burden, pairs of buckrokhs, panic, and some of them take off with their carriages in tow, barrelling through the ranks of soldiers.

Choul foresaw that, and he casts ‘Dominating Glare’ on the buckrokhs, which forces those caught in the effect -which, with his power, is virtually all of the ones in his field of view- to freeze in terror and sink to a kneel. Dominating Glare is much less effective on sentient races, particularly if they aren’t looking at the caster, so only a fraction of the soldiers in his field of view are crippled by fear from the effect.

Of course, that does not matter. His actual targets are clear, and eight of the ten carriages he captured in the first wave are definitely supply carriages, which he confirmed when their fabric covers were blown aside. He takes a deep breath, breathing puffs of fire as he flies over the carriages, targeting only the carts themselves, since he can’t harm any living things due to the contract.

He doesn’t mind. Daniel seems like a particularly kind soul, though not completely naive. He was prepared to kill the vengeful dragon when they met, and nearly did so, and from what Choul has gathered, Daniel himself killed the Feral Feldrok, as well as the former dragon lord, his brother, and the green sage. 

The feldroks were often similar. In spite of their massive power, they restrained themselves, avoiding bloodshed where they could because potential friends can be found in all places. But, as did the feldroks before him, Daniel knows that not every person who starts as an enemy can be turned into an ally.

In the case of the buckrokhs, though, Daniel’s contract simply protects innocent life from becoming collateral to Choul’s attacks; a broad-sweeping condition to cover as much as possible.

The carts are obliterated in seconds, and winged soldier swoops up and around to find his next batch of targets. He has to dodge and block spells, arrows, and bolts from ballistae, but his armor easily protects him. Daniel even had Xyreko make him a new mithril helmet, which withstood one of Daniel’s dragon-slaying rounds. Nothing the human-kin have can harm his armor, so his only weakpoints are his joints, which would be non-lethal strikes.

Choul performs the same series of attacks, clearing the carriages with powerful wind gusts -which also knocks down the attacking soldiers in a wide swath-, and then he freezes the buckrokhs so they don’t flee. The dragon then burns all of the carriages, ensuring there is nothing left of the food supplies before moving on to the next batch. Nearly a third of the invading force makes up the supply unit, meaning there are hundreds of the supply carts, and the invaders begin trying to divert and rally around the carriages, even going so far as to spread them out further. However, there is nothing to do that does anything more than waste time. Choul is a dragon. He may not be the most powerful dragon in the world -though, he is probably the most powerful on the continent with some certainty, now that Morthybargaron is dead-, but his power far exceeds that which the humans could expect to be able to bring down in an open field as they are. 

Just as he’s burning the eighth batch of carriages, a sharp pain spears into the draconic warrior’s shoulder, and he flinches back in midair, roaring. One of the large, spear-like ballista bolts found a gap in his armor, and it had enough force to pierce his scales.

Choul pulls the bolt from his flesh, ascending to avoid further shots of the scorpions being aimed at him, and he inspects the spear for a moment.

Gah! That hurts. I see… They used mithril to ensure penetration. They expected dragons.

“My ladies, the easterners are using mithril armaments. It seems they intended to fight us dragons.” 

“Of course, you scum!” snaps Geirahoel’s voice. “We're not stupid.”

Choul sighs to himself. At least she's not telling me to die, I guess.

 Thank you for talking to her, my Liege.

The grey dragon continues destroying the wagons, blocking the retreat of the invaders with fire. He doesn’t want the bulk of the forces to try to retreat to their forward operating camp. Or, at least, he wants to delay them when he dives in to launch the attack. He estimates roughly 45% of the full invading force is marching on the Citadel at present, and the rest will follow when they establish a camp closer to the Citadel.

“Choul, Daniel would like you to switch to corralling the camp to prevent escape. At least for now. Any magic you’re proficient at, but the more permanent, the better. At least for now.”

“It shall be done,” replies the winged warrior.

Naturally, the most permanent magic he could perform would be spells to manipulate the ground. Or, better yet, to summon a solid wall.

To do that, though, he’ll have to mark the ground with glyphs, which means he needs to land.

Choul takes a breather as he cruises, focusing his mana to regenerate his wound. He flexes his shoulder, observing the main encampment as he cruises towards them. Given the distances he’ll need to cover, he’ll need to set multiple glyphs for each section.

Ahh, but to achieve such a feat and imprison my Liege’s enemies… Yes, the risk is worth it. Although…

The avian soldier ponders changing into his human form. His much smaller size will make him more difficult to attack, but will limit his movement speed. Changing back and forth is an option, but will consume additional time.

Choul decides to just use his human form, but he’ll change at the first landing site.

The grey dragon begins his dive, accelerating towards the ground near his first target, furthest away from the Citadel at the northeast corner of the encampment.

***

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