The frostburnt silver blade stuck in Leona’s collarbone pulsated as if it was alive.

  ‘What… what is happening…?!’

  The blade started to melt itself like liquid metal as it absorbed her blood. It took control of her flesh and began to seal the wound, suddenly—Leona could breathe again, albeit painfully.

  Then a jolt. She felt an undulating sensation course through the inside of her right lung, shoulders and collarbone.

  Her right fingers spasmed violently as if she was losing control over them. But then she suddenly could feel them clearly.

  She grabbed the blade and was trying to yank it out before a loud voice shouted in her mind.

  ‘Don’t! I’m trying to keep you alive!’ She flinched. She didn’t recognize that voice in her mind. ‘Please, let me heal you, Leona.’

  The tactician’s fingers slowly eased around the silver blade as she laid flat on the paved stone. Her eyes glanced down at the half dragon abomination that was still banging its own head against the pavement. She clenched her teeth in anger.

  “I… need to finish him off…!”

  ‘No! If you use any more mana I won’t be able to heal you!’

  Leona tried to lift herself up but her body just couldn’t muster any strength.

  “Ha… ha… whoever you are… let me do this…! I need to finish this!”

  ‘I won’t let you if it’ll cost you your life!’

  The stump of the silver blade contorted itself and grabbed Leona’s left shoulder. From the corner of her eye, the tactician could see the red pulsating slime orb.

  “Wha… what are you planning to do?!”

  ‘Save your life!’

  The slime slammed its orb against her left shoulder, small tendrils began to crawl from it and start to take roots inside the tactician’s empty shoulder socket.

  “Argh!”

  The searing pain almost made her pass out. The tip of the blade detached itself from her shoulder and snapped while grabbing Avalon on the way back. The silver began to dissolve the staff as it took the shape of a silver arm.

  “Wha- What are you doing?! Let Avalon go!”

  ‘She won’t survive without mana either!’

  Leona began to feel dizzy. She was very familiar with that sensation, mana shock.

  Her vision blurred and her eyes eventually rolled back. Unconscious.

  In the middle of the street. Alexander was still struggling for control over his own body.

  “Aaaaargh!”

  ‘YOU, WILL OBEY!”

  Akantor’s voice could almost shatter his mind, the dragon’s voice wasn’t like being screamed at, but instead, it was as if his mind was being crushed by the meaning of the deity’s words.

  ‘FOOLISHY HUMAN! I WILL MAKE YOU LEARN YOUR PITIFUL PLACE!’

  Alexander’s throat felt like it was being clogged with blood. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even let out any other sound.

  His body cracked and twisted grotesquely. His form became more and more of a dragon. Hardened black scales, thicker joints, larger muscles.

  When it stood upright it saw an unconscious Leona a few meters down the street. To Akantor, she was merely a bag of mana and nutrients.

  It stomped its way towards her, but as it tried to lay its claws on her body—a flash of light carved through the ground, forcing the beast to step back.

  “Not another step.”

  Krieg stood amidst the rubble. There was a streak of blood falling along the side of his face from the top of his forehead.

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  “Hoh…” Akantor grunted. “You’re her descendant huh? Even got the blade to back it up.”

  The knight narrowed his eyes.

  “Her descendant?”

  “Hah, don’t tell me you don’t even know your own bloodline.”

  “You… you are not Alexander, are you?”

  “Don’t compare me to that insect! I am the Dragon God Akantor!” He flashed his fangs at him. “I may be weakened now, but once I return to my full strength, you humans will know the meaning of fear.”

  Krieg lowered his stance.

  “Then I better kill you here and now!”

  Despite using all of his strength to charge, Akantor still dodged by flying.

  “Hah! Unlike that fool, I know when to back out of a fight. I’ll come back for you and your weapon once I regain my strength.”

  It turned and flew away.

  “Tch!” He turned and quickly ran to Leona, who was still unconscious. “Leona!”

  He stopped once he saw the pulsating orb creating skin over her left shoulder. Instinctively, he raised Arondight to shatter the orb but his weapon screamed.

  ‘Stop!’

  His arm yanked back from her voice.

  “Huh?! Arondight?”

  ‘That thing is healing her.’

  He then turned his attention again back to the red core. Looking closely, the orb was indeed creating skin on top of the silver shaped arm as if it was reconstructing her lost limb.

  Her uniform’s right shoulder had a terrible gash through it and was soaked in blood, but her body seemed intact as if it wasn’t wounded in the first place.

  “What is that thing?”

  ‘I don’t know, but Avalon says it’s trying to help Leona.’

  “I see…” He looked around the battlefield before wiping the blood off his forehead.

  Charred bodies, pieces of armor, and debris filled the central street. There was not a soul in sight.

  “I’ll take her back to the inn.”

  He carefully wrapped Leona with the cape before lifting her up. He looked around for her staff, but it was nowhere to be found.

  ‘Avalon is resting inside of her arm. You can go.’

  “Okay, thank you, Arondight.”

  He walked with a brisk step. A few meters away from the battlefield he was met with musketmen led by Priscilla.

  “Sir Leonard! What happened to Queen Leona?!”

  “She’s alive. We won the battle but it isn’t over yet.”

  “It… isn’t?”

  “Yeah, escort us back to the inn, we’ll talk more there.”

  The soldiers looked at each other before nodding in unison.

  They returned to the inn with a large group of uniformed musketmen, they stood around the building with their weapons beside them.

  Inside the armory, Krieg gently settled Leona on top of a makeshift crate bed. Only the leaders of each group were allowed inside, Gunther, Priscilla and Emi circled the knight.

  “How is her condition?” Emi asked.

  “She’s just unconscious.” The knight turned around with a serious gaze in his eyes. “We defeated Alexander, but something worse came to light.”

  “Something worse?”

  The trio looked amongst themselves.

  “The dragon Akantor revived itself from the false king’s body.”

  “Akantor?”

  Neither Emi or Priscilla knew who the knight was referring to but Gunther’s face suddenly drained of color.

  “You mean, the dragon god from eld?”

  Krieg nodded.

  “Arcadia might be safe for now, but if we allow him to recover, there is no telling what he’ll do.”

  “What do you propose we do?” Priscilla asked, her voice trailing off as she turned to Leona. “We can’t leave the Queen unconscious in a place like this.”

  The knight stepped forward.

  “We’ll take control of the capital first, preferably I’d like to hear my liege’s decision, but for now, we need stability. The men stationed around this inn will be the Queen’s guard for now.”

  The oni nodded.

  “Understood. I’ll let them know we’re heading out.”

  Emi headed out of the armory with Priscilla following behind her.

  Krieg was adjusting the cape around Leona in order to carry her, but Gunther spoke up.

  “Sir Krieg.”

  “What is it?”

  “You don’t intend to go fight that monster by yourself, do you?”

  “If I must.” He lifted his liege in his arms, cradling her as if she was a treasure of unsurmountable value. “I’ll do anything to keep my liege safe.”

  “...very well.” He tapped twice against his own chest. “I’ll make sure the Queen is protected.”

  The knight nodded with a faint smile on his face.

  “Thank you, Gunther.”

  The demi-human army moved out. They marched along the streets with Krieg in the very center carrying Leona. The wall of musketmen was disciplined, they marched in unison, hitting the ground at the same time with their boots while carrying their weapons pointed high to the sky.

  Some curious citizens looked at them with a mix of fear and awe, some of which even tried to provoke them by throwing pebbles at them, but none of them retaliated and instead kept marching. Some even started following them to the castle grounds.

  There, the remaining knights surrendered and left the place before the demi-human army took over. Dark blue uniforms and muskets became the norm across the royal ground.

  Inside the castle, Leona was gently put in one of the guest’s bedrooms. Priscilla stood guard outside with her unsheathed rapier touching the red carpet beneath her feet. Accompanying her, there were two musketmen holding their rifles by the barrels.

  Inside the room, Krieg looked at his liege with a tinge of worry.

  “Please, come back to us soon, Leona.”

  He closed his eyes and stood in silence before eventually taking his leave.