The pebble hit with a wet crunch, audible even amidst the chaos of the ongoing battle.
The sea drake recoiled, its long spine bowing under the force of his spell before giving way, and green ichor poured down from the ragged hole Orion had punched in its back. Where scales had been, bone was now exposed, though not deeply enough to kill it. He had struck high and to the side, avoiding vital organs.
Yet it was enough to penetrate a tier three creature’s defenses. It might not be a large or fatal wound, but it proves that this path was correct.
The drake’s head whipped back, and water and wind erupted all around it in an instinctive attempt to block a second strike. One slitted red pupil spotted him a moment later, and the roar the beast unleashed vibrated through his ribs and broomstick both as it coiled and sprang, climbing to meet him with a savage grace no mass of muscle that size had any right to possess.
Purple fire gathered in its maw, and death came for Orion.
“That’s how you wanna do it?” he muttered, ignoring the adrenaline coursing through his veins that begged him to roar something back. Instead, he focused and spun another [Gravity Cannon] around a pebble, making sure to aim properly this time.
Given that the sea drake was easily as big as an elephant and was flying at full speed in his direction, it would have been impossible to miss, but he didn’t want to find out what would happen if he did.
Flicking his fingers, Orion released the spell and felt the muted thump as it struck the drake’s head, bursting its eye like an overripe melon.
The drake screamed, its jaws convulsing in intense pain, but it still instinctively did what its instincts commanded and spat out large amounts of amethyst flames.
“Behind me!” Pauline barked, unleashing a wall of shadows to shield him from the approaching fire. The impact was momentarily deafening, but a moment later, Orion opened his eyes and saw they were fine.
The semicircle of shadows writhed and bubbled, but it held, redirecting the corrosive breath downward and harmlessly dispersing it back toward the draconic host.
It eventually reached the river, which hissed angrily, producing caustic smoke that killed anything foolish enough to stay in place while titans fought.
“Keep throwing,” she said without looking at him. “We’ll handle this one.”
He was already reaching for the next pebble and grunted in agreement, angling his shot to hit a particularly daring wyrmling that was getting a little too close.
Prayers echoed all around him as the nearby witches converged on their position, and light mana became almost suffocating, though Orion was able to take the shot before it could affect [Gravity Cannon].
In the next moment, the wyrmling died, its head crushed by his pebble, and the wrath of a dozen witches converged on the sea drake, which his own not-so-gentle ministrations had already weakened.
Spells of all colors rained down upon it, crushing, piercing, burning, and freezing. No matter how resilient the drake might have been, it couldn’t withstand that much firepower at once, especially when it was so close it couldn’t even attempt to dodge.
Once the explosions stopped rocking, there was a moment of stillness as everyone watched the cloud of smoke surrounding the monster, until its massive shape dropped out from the bottom, limp.
It hit the Belt like a meteor, taking several wyrmlings with it as it fell, and caused a geyser to erupt upon contact, reaching nearly up to where they were flying.
However, that wasn’t enough to stop the tide of monsters. Instead, it appeared to inflame and anger them further, especially since one of their top fighters had been shot down.
The wyrmlings charged toward them once more, filling the air with screeches and roars.
Some were no larger than an adult man and came in various shades of lapis, while others were larger, clearly several levels stronger, with more muted colors; yet, they made up for it with the power of their wings as they raced ahead of the crowd, aiming to take the first bite.
Orion didn’t need to be told this time and immediately started shooting down as many monsters as he could, moving with an almost mechanical rhythm.
He’d wrap a pebble in [Gravity Cannon], glance just long enough to check he wasn’t about to punch through a witch, and then let go, already moving on to the next pebble, without even bothering to see if he’d hit.
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The first wyrmling’s sternum opened into a fist-sized hole. It twirled, knocking into two of its brothers, and all three disappeared in a swirl of wings.
The second was shot in the throat. The third was hit through the hinge where the jaw connected to its skull, collapsing with its mouth open and falling silently.
The CC was invaluable throughout, managing most of the mana shaping and allowing him to focus entirely on the physical principles he needed to evoke to cast the spell.
That, he was realizing, was the main difference between tier one and tier two spells. Whereas something like [Infinite Laser] only required the proper formula to work once it had been crafted, [Gravity Cannon], and even more obviously, [Gamma Ray], demanded much more of his attention, requiring him to constantly keep their underlying principles in mind, lest they fail.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
+12,100 Exp
[Gravity Cannon].
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
+4,700 Exp
[Gravity Cannon].
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
+17,500 Exp
Sometimes, he killed the wyrmlings himself and gained a larger boost of experience, but most of the time, the hail of spells cast by the witches was so dense that every monster was hit a few more times before they could die, robbing him of a good chunk of it.
He didn’t complain, given that the current method was successfully holding back the tide. With Pauline and the other tier-three witches always present, the occasional adult drake that surfaced from the water didn’t get more than halfway.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
+61,000 Exp
That must have been the drake from earlier, finally dying. It took a while, huh? Resilient bastard.
A woman screamed somewhere below him, and he didn’t need to look to know that too many wyrmlings had attacked her while the others were preoccupied with bigger threats.
A flash of silver light shot down from above, destroying the monsters and freeing the injured witch, who was bleeding heavily. A moment later, more light enveloped her, lifting her out of the fight and saving her life.
Having two tier four witches overseeing us provides this advantage. While they might not always be able to save everyone, it helps minimize our losses as much as reasonably possible without necessarily interfering with the course of the battle.
That wasn’t the whole truth, as having such a strong fallback gave the witches confidence to give it their all, while they might have held back more in worse situations. Still, there was only so much they could do to make a pitched battle more realistic.
Wyrmlings kept coming, but not in the same writhing mass now that they had thinned their numbers.
Orion shot, and shot again; his pebbles dwindled to a handful, and he had to dip into his other pocket, making a note to replenish them before the next battle.
Wyrmlings of all sizes and shapes died, as did the few drakes that had been given command of this force, with only the occasional witch being foolhardy or unlucky enough to be killed before anyone could intervene.
Eventually, the numbers decreased enough that the final hail of silver arrows and chanted curses was enough to wipe them out, leaving the river in a ghostly silence.
“Let’s sweep the river once more; I don’t want anyone caught off guard when a wyrm that seemed dead suddenly snaps them in half! Everyone else who is injured or exhausted, step aside and get checked out!” Pauline commanded, guiding pairs of witches to sweep the water and employ their scrying spells to verify if the threat had truly subsided.
[Gravity Cannon].
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
+19,100 Exp
Level up!
The explosion he caused made many look at him askance, but Orion shrugged. “There was one that was faking,” he said, and the witches resumed their work, now more cautious.
“Good job,” Pauline said as she approached, not seeming particularly strained from the fight. Despite being a very recent tier three, she had already earned another level, which was quite an achievement.
“Thanks,” he said, still scanning the water with his glasses.
The cleanup process, including both healing and looting, took them a couple of hours. They probably could have pushed harder, but everyone was pretty exhausted from the battle. While there had never been any doubt they would end up victorious, for many witches, this was still their first encounter with the draconic host, which was unlike any other enemy they might have faced before.
A few communal prayers were held for the handful of the dead, which turned out to be only six. Considering the scale of the tide they had massacred, that was nothing short of a resounding success, but the witches only seemed to grow grimmer and more vindictive, and Orion couldn’t help but think that Behenien, or whoever had pushed her to attack them, hadn’t really thought through their choice of target.
Few things were as dangerous as a scorned witch.
Once the proper rites were observed, and Orion had taken his time to refill his pockets with enough pebbles to slow him down slightly and force him to readjust his flight formula, they were off again.
The air cooled as they traveled north, with biting winds buffeting them along with the rain, forcing everyone to rely on warming charms beyond what the brooms could provide.
To the west, the jagged peaks of the Silverpeak Mountains’ easternmost edge appeared behind the rain's haze, bringing with them numerous streams that flowed down from that ridge and joined the Belt.
The river changed color multiple times, depending on which tributary most influenced it, shifting from the deep blue-green it was known for to almost white, grey, and a clear blue that Orion remembered only from Earth's glaciers.
“This is the last friendly spot we’re likely to find for a while," someone said behind them. “Are we setting up camp?”
It would have made sense, given that night was beginning to fall, and flying into a flock of dragons under the cover of shadows didn’t seem very appealing to Orion, but unfortunately for him, he hadn't counted on the fact that for the witches, the presence of the Moon, no matter how veiled, was only seen as a boon, urging them onward.
The formation’s spearpoint didn’t slacken even as the Belt bent eastward, and they followed it, leaving the last of the Sanctum’s lands behind.
On their right, the Collegium’s northernmost farmland stretched for miles, sparse enough that he knew better than to expect many settlements, but at least it was relatively friendly. On their left, however, was no man’s land.
It was too far south for the Radiant Vigil’s patrols to reach, and too far west for the Crimson Wheel Consortium, though at least they had some influence on the local fishing and trading communities.
Technically, there was one power, the Brine League, that governed these lands, but it was barely considered a minor faction and was a mere nominal organization that gave the locals some form of representation within the greater Cyril.
They are basically a buffer zone between the main factions in the area. Too weak to bother dealing with the consequences if they are taken, but valuable enough as a diplomatically neutral place to be worth protecting from outside threats.
There was one issue with relying so much on others for protection, though. When the surrounding major factions were busy with more urgent matters, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves.
That was why it wasn't surprising when the next sign of trouble came from the north.
Thick and oily smoke rose starkly against the twilight, promising only trouble.
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