Roar of the Dragons (I)

With a fierce roar, all the dragons blew torrents of fire downwards, creating a wall of flame. The residents of Draconis village became filled with passion and spirit, compared to the soldiers who only came to gain honor, wealth, and prestige. They were not fighting on their home turf or at an advantage. They had to climb up the large side in hopes of even getting up to the Draconis Village, where the actual battle would begin.

Russ pointed towards the Draconis Village and yelled, "Charge!"

"Do not let them come up!" Agnis yelled. She pointed downwards towards Russ, her fingers reaching for an arrow on her back. With a fluid movement, Agnis knocked an arrow on her bow.

The players and the residents fired a volley of arrows while the Lunar Rabbits and Cat People threw down debris in the hope of stopping them from climbing up the six stairs leading up to the village. The dragons continued spraying out walls of fire, keeping the soldiers from reaching the halfway point.

"Bring out the fireproof shields!" Russ called out to the soldiers. The arrangement quickly changed, and the soldiers with large shields were brought forward. They slowly progressed forward toward the top on all six sides.

"Quickly! Push down the boulder!" Agnis called out.

Large boulders were pushed and rolled down the stairs. Soldiers were pushed off the side of the stairs to their death or squashed. It wasn't until buff-looking soldiers with heavy weapons came and split the boulders in half. Once again, the position of the army changed to accommodate the problems ahead.

"Ahhh!" The scream of the residents could be heard as a small group of specialized units appeared from the side that they were not guarding. The soldiers rushed towards the entrance of the six stairs and fought to clear the way for the army to come up. These groups of soldiers were powerful in their way.

People and dragons were having difficulty stopping the soldiers at bay.

"Zeraph!" Agnis called out. She was busy picking off the soldiers that were climbing to the side.

"I know!" Zeraph ran forward, his sword dancing dangerously around him. He was fighting multiple soldiers, trying to keep them away from one of the six entrance points. Even after a group of soldiers fell, he was busily running around the six points, hoping to keep them at bay.

"Leave these three to me." M2 jumped in on the battle. "You take care of the other three."

Zeraph nodded and rushed toward the immediate area. Unfortunately, there were not many high-level players in the Draconis Village; truthfully, the highest-level players were just a handful that did not even number up to fifty. The rest of the dragons and companions and the Lunar Rabbits were all 200, while the soldiers were at least 170 to 190. On the other hand, the Cat people ranged from level 200-210, giving them temporary relief.

Zero was already running towards the Draconis Village at full speed. He needed to get back without being killed. Unfortunately, in his spirit form, he was prone to death, resulting in his inability to get into his physical body in the next twenty-four hours.

"He doesn't get tired, does he?" Sylph asked. A holographic view of a bird appeared next to his head.

"You're back?" Zero asked in disappointment.

"Yea, I'm back, buddy. I've been working my butt off, you know. I thought I might give you a couple of pieces of my mind."

"And that is?" He groaned. The annoying one had come back to bother him. But, the question was how he could even talk with him in his spiritual body.

"Kick that guy's ass!"

"You bet I will." Zero growled. "By the way, how are you even talking to me? I'm a spirit."

"Pft. Do you think someone as great as I can't transcend barriers? Where do you think a magical ring that can talk came from?"

"The game."

Sylph glared at him. "I was saying magic rings with high intelligence like me use parts from monsters. Sometimes residual energy is left for the monster's spirit to reside in the item. I am one of those spirits."

"I see."

"Don't, "I see. You should be pleased."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"Tch." Sylph clicked his tongue in disagreement. "Fine. For your information, I've been keeping tabs on your sister for you. I knew you would be worried, so I was snooping around."

"Really?"

"Yes. I also sent the Message to Demon Fox that you requested. Unfortunately, I know you could not meet up with him at the designated time."

"Give me the breakdown."

"Sheesh, you can't even say please."

"Please."

Zero weaved through the forest and made his way to the side of the Draconis Village, where there weren't many soldiers nearby.

"First off, your sister is worried. She's wondering why you left so suddenly. I noticed that she's been trying to come to this place several times now. Each time she had been denied entrance. It seems these people are keeping a close eye on your family. I recommend you keep her from doing something outrageous."

"What do you expect me to do? It's not easy to send any messages without her noticing."

"You got me."

"Wait, you can bypass the security?"

"Who do you think I am?" Sylph puffed up. "Though the problem lies somewhere else. I know you can't say much about the place, and that thing around your neck is a problem. So let me do the talking, and you just nod. Got it?"

Zero nodded. For once, he felt that Sylph was useful.

"I'll send a note to your sister saying you are doing okay. Don't worry about how; just keep doing what you are doing."

"What about grandmaster?"

"The only thing he replied was, "Keep silent, keep observing, and don't give up." Supposedly he said it's Code Night."

"Code Night?" Exclaimed Zero. "It's that serious?" He swore and glanced around him, wondering if anyone had heard him.

"Speak any louder, and you'll get yourself caught." Sylph pecked him on the arm.

"Ouch, what was that for."

"Your stupidity."

"Are you sure you are not an A.I? You sound a lot more sophisticated since the last time I talked to you." Zero eyed Sylph suspiciously. He was halfway up the side of the cliff, quickly making his way up. He could feel his hands start to bleed from the sharp edges of the rock.

"What? State any more, and I'll poke your eye out."

"Guess not."

"Well then, I got a job to do. I'll be seeing you around. I know leaving the ring with you and mooching off your experience is helping me a lot." Sylph chuckled. "At this rate, I'll become the most powerful ring in the world!"

"Be quiet; you wanna be Lord of the Rings." Zero hissed.

"Tch. Spoilsport." Sylph disappeared in seconds, leaving Zero behind.

Finally, at the top of the cliff, Zero pulled himself up. What was happening before he was true chaos. Two out of the six stairs were broken through. This caused the other four to start to break formation.

"Retreat! Get back behind the walls!" Agnis yelled. She was racing towards the large stone walls wrapped around the village. Two gates from either end were wide open for the residents. They frantically dashed back towards the gate.

Zero ran and merged with the crowd. He passed through the gate as it came down, blocking a few stragglers from entering. He saw Agnis and Zeraph running up the stairs and onto the wall.

"How many soldiers are left?" Agnis was panting.

"My guess is less than half. We only have a thousand of our people left." Zeraph

Agnis spat with disgust. "Damn, vulture. I swear if I see him, I will shoot an arrow in his eye and rip out his heart."

"Very dark. I like it."

"No time for compliments." Agnis raised her hands and shouted, "Throw down the oil now!"

A large bucket of oil was pushed out from the walls. The oil flowed outwards and fell into the pit hole that circumference the whole village.

"Fire!"

A group of young dragons blew fire onto the oil, lighting the ditch with flaming fire. The hot inferno blazed with life as it brightened up the surroundings, keeping the soldiers at bay.