Game Still Going On (2)

Today was the scheduled departure for the Shadow Dimension.

Rihan yawned widely while descending the stairs while. He walked limply into the kitchen, past Arken, Freya and the Endleys who were getting ready in the living room.

He drank a glass of water with a face that was still very sleepy. Looks like he spent the whole night looking for clues in the great castle's library.

"Ryan." Alvi followed Rihan into the kitchen.

Rihan turned around. "Yes?" he responded with half-opened eyes.

"Have you heard from uncle? Regarding our departure to the Center today," asked Alvi, finally being able to talk to Rihan. Since yesterday he couldn't find the man anywhere.

"Already." Rihan answered while eating his breakfast.

"Are you angry that we decided to leave without discussing it with you?" Alvi asked again.

Rihan put back the piece of bread that he had intended to eat. "Absolutely not." the answer seems dishonest. "Why do you think like that?"

Alvi rushed to sit beside Rihan. His eyes looked serious at the man. But Rihan's gaze was instead preoccupied by the objects on the dining table.

"You're avoiding me. Since yesterday until now." Alvi has a strong reason to say so. He hated Rihan treating him like a stranger.

This time Rihan stood up and carried the used breakfast plate to the sink. "I'm not avoiding you. You think too much." The water tap was opened and he began to wash.

"Ryan." Alvi didn't know what to say to face the man.

"Vena. If I ask you not to go, will you obey?" Rihan suddenly used a low intonation.

"Ryan, I want you to understand. Neither me, father, mother nor Ririn wanted to—" Alvi was about to explain.

"Forget my question just now. I totally understand." Rihan retorted quickly. He had finished washing the dishes and started drying his hands with a cloth.

"Ryan, you can come if you're worried about my safety. I don't understand why you have to be so childish." Alvi really couldn't understand it.

Rihan suddenly turned to throw a sharp glare at Alvi. The man slowly stepped closer to Alvi until the woman's back hit the refrigerator door.

"Why do you think I'm going to great lengths to strengthen the barrier in the Land of Agra? Why would I agree to go back and take the test as the Venerable Dragon? So that you have a safe place to live. A place that is impossible to attack. But look at you. Decided to leave regardless of my opinion." For the first time, Rihan showed an angry expression in front of an Alvi.

Alvi just stared in silence as he returned Rihan's angry gaze.

But a second later the man snapped to his senses. Rihan slowly backed away and freed Alvi from his crush. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Veena." he repeated in a panicked voice. The accumulation of stress and fatigue due to lack of sleep makes emotions difficult to control.

"Forget what I just said. I'm just annoyed with myself. Your trip is too sudden and I don't have enough time to make sure your trip is safe. One night I spent without the slightest information regarding the disembodied spirit figure." Rihan feels very guilty. He couldn't stop cursing his stupidity.

However, what happened next was beyond Rihan's expectations.

Alvi suddenly reached out both hands and gently pulled Rihan's head to his right shoulder. "Ryan, you've done so much. Thank you." The whisper gently brushed Rihan's ear. Unexpectedly Alvi was not angry at all.

"I will continue to find out that figure. You have to be careful while traveling. I hope uncle and aunt get well soon." Rihan replied to Alvi's treatment by hugging him tightly.

*****

A dragon seemed to be flying high across the Beta Urora sky. Its wings flapped fiercely through the wind between the thick white clouds. Ares Kennrich Vaiskyler led them towards the westernmost direction of Beta Urora. There was only an endless expanse of wilderness. It is said that whoever enters then he will not be able to get out. Maybe because he had unknowingly entered another dimension and got lost there.

"So the western forest is the Dimensional Boundary door for Beta Urora, huh," muttered Rei never getting used to seeing the wilderness down there. Many years ago he had passed through this forest.

Dimensional Boundary, the link as well as the barrier between the dimensions of the world. This border dimension is only inhabited by Outcasts, People who have been forgotten by their home world.

"Another conflict," commented Rei Nathanael when he saw smoke rising high not far from them. The word 'again' gave the impression as if such a sight was something natural.

Such is the reality. Being a creature that has been forgotten by the world makes the nature of these Outcasts to be like wild beasts.

"In order to survive they will continue to eat, continue to kill and continue to dominate." Freya shuddered in horror.

The barbaric nature of the Outcasts turned out to be not only aimed at fellow denizens of the Dimensional Boundary. Arken who was just riding through was also attacked. It was evident from the thousands of arrows that seemed to shoot at him.

That weak weapon was naturally unable to injure the Arken's thick, hard dragon scales. However, that does not mean that Arken can arbitrarily break through the sea of ​​arrows that are floating in a row. He still has to think about the safety of the passengers on his back. Their skin was not as impervious to arrows as hers.

"Arken, don't mind them," shouted Rei Nathanael while holding on tightly to the thorns on his best friend's back.

"Shit, what do they want? The numbers are too crazy," Arken cursed trying to avoid the rain of arrows that was getting closer and closer.

From behind the rain of arrows, suddenly the sound of 'BAM' exploded loudly. Arken reflexively dodged the ball of metal bullets that shot out at high speed. As a result, the balance of the passenger on his back was shaken. Luckily no one fell.

But that last strike was enough to infuriate Arken. He no longer cared about his status as the leader of the Dragon Clan or the ancient rule of not attacking anyone for any reason. Arken began to fiercely gush bluish-white frozen flames from his mouth and disrupted the formation of the attackers.

The dwarfs down there seemed to be running wildly trying to save themselves. But the groups on the left and right who weren't affected kept up the attack. The arrows had turned into metal balls of bullets.

"Arken, find the troop commander!" Rei half shouted.

That's what Arken had been trying to do. But he had trouble. These attackers are pygmy bodies, smaller than normal human size. If he wanted to find their leader, then he was forced to fly lower.

Damn, Arken had no other choice. He lowers the altitude. His eyes moved swiftly across the green-skinned and super-ugly-looking dwarf creatures. "Found it," he said when he managed to find a figure of a dwarf who was standing on a wooden cart with wheels. The figure wore golden armor and stood out among his troops.

Without hesitation Arken's front claws moved to grab the elite-looking figure and send it flying high in the air. But the bullet ball attacks still haven't stopped. This means that the command of the troops is not only this person. Tch! This dwarven creature was much smarter than Arken thought.

Arken started to dive sharply downwards when he saw another figure in similar golden armor. After successfully capturing the second commander, Arken became increasingly easy to catch the third and fourth. By the time the fifth commander was found, the attack had completely stopped. The dragon immediately threw the four commanders he had previously caught onto the ground and landed on top of them. He tried his best not to stomp on the five commanders to death.

"Who are you guys? Why did you attack us?" Arken asked in a deep and resounding voice. A pair of eyes with magma-red irises seemed to intimidate the commanders who were already scared to death.

"W—We were just carrying out orders," answered one of the commanders.

Arken let out a long growl showing dissatisfaction. The faces of the five commanders were almost identical so he didn't know which commander answered his question.

"Really. We don't know anything." The commander spoke again. His voice trembled with fear.

"Arken, never mind. There's no point in continuing to force them." Somehow Rei knew. No matter how you dig, this dwarf will not give a satisfactory answer. They are just a waste of time.

"Rei is right, Arkin. We just need to cross this place." Luna Endley coaxed. It was clear that the two Endleys didn't want any bloodshed in this Dimensional Boundary.

Arken continued to growl in discontent. The words of his two friends seemed to not enter the ears.

"Ares." Freya finally opened her mouth. She simply called out her husband's name and Arken, the leader of the Dragons, miraculously let out a growl.

The leader of the Dragons took a step back before spitting out ferocious frozen flames all around. The ice crystals immediately towered like a tangle of tens of giant ice spikes with very pointed peaks.

Before long the giant figure of Arken appeared above the ice crystal wall of his creation. It let out a ferocious roar once in warning before it finally shot high away from the Dimensional Boundary mainland.

At first he thought everything was over. The threatening and intimidating warning just now should have been enough to make every Dimensional Boundary Dweller's guts shrivel.

Just a little more. Just a little longer they would arrive at the Shadow Dimension where the Center was. But who would have thought that such a small distance he never managed to achieve.

A mysterious arrow suddenly shot from Arken's blind spot and surprisingly pierced through the thickest part of a dragon's scales, namely the scales on the chest. Strength seemed to be pulled away from the giant figure of the ruler of the sky.

Arken howled miserably and fell with the others.

Not far from where Arken fell, Kirra Anggriawan smiled with satisfaction. One of the two arrows specifically designed to kill a dragon hit the target. The rest he left to the goblins who were indirectly under his control.