Chapter 818: Horrors Of The Battlefield
"Pfft! That wasn't so hard now, was it?"
Ater sat comfortably in his chair, one of his hands supporting his head as he tilted it to the side and watched the entire Dwarven Army kneel atop their battlement.
He also saw the holographic display of the Senate surrendering, which meant Justin and Belle had succeeded in their tasks-an exceptional feat that he planned to reward them for when the time was right.
"You should have just done this from the start and saved me all the trouble..." Ater muttered, referring to the groveling Dwarves. "Though, I won't pretend that I'm not a bit sad that things have to end so quickly."
Perhaps he overestimated them a little, but he was hoping for a bit of a desperate struggle- at least, resistance from a select few Dwarves who were too prideful to know their place.
At least, that way he could justify killing some of them in this war.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
'They're too sensible for their own good. Or maybe they are just so much in tune with every living creature's instinctive desire to live.'
Either way, the party was over.
"We won."
As soon as Ater said this, the Giants gave a deafening roar of victory.
Looking at their faces, one could easily see boundless joy and pride in the faces of the Giants as they began to march forward per Ater's command.
They cheered and hailed Ater for his might, while also singing derogatory words about the Dwarves. Some of the Giants would naturally feel a little frustrated, since they didn't get to kill any Dwarf, but all of those emotions were easily washed away by the taste of victory.
-Especially since they hadn't gotten that in over a century.
Ater observed all of this, smiling to himself, as he indulged in even more thought.
'This is still only the beginning...' Looking ahead at the third battlement as he neared it, he couldn't help but lick his lips.
'I've managed to get the Giants and Dwarves to subject themselves to me, and Master by extension, but that is simply a prelude for what is to come.'
He still had other plans for this alliance.
'Frey'ja followed my instructions, and the Southern Continent will indeed be utilized for her Academy's Excursion.'
It was perfect-just as he wanted.
'Now that all the pieces are on the board, I have to prepare the perfect scenario pending the time that those little ones arrive here.'
Even if he didn't get much satisfaction from everything thus far, he knew the upcoming events would please him greatly.
'A-ahh... and not just me!' Ater's eyes beamed as he imagined Rey's proud smile and the many pats he would get for all his hard work,
'I wonder how much Master will praise me when this is all over!'
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[The Present]
'What the hell is going on in your head, Ater?!'
Rey's thoughts screamed as he pushed himself forward as he and his friends glided in the air with their strong wings to escape the perils of war that continuously roared behind them.
He looked around him and saw the frightened faces of his classmates, as well as the other students of the Imperial Academy. Heck, even the Supervisors looked unnerved as they followed the Dragon Commander in front.
'Right now, the only thing keeping everyone calm is the thought of the shelter. Since Spatial Transport is down, they can't return us to the Academy, so we're practically stuck here until things die down.'
Rey wasn't particularly frightened by any of this.
In fact, he had a pretty good idea of what was happening, and he could practically sense all the warfare that everyone was running from in great detail.
He was just getting a little tired of pretending to be nervous and worried, just like everyone else-though there was probably no need to.
Everyone was too concerned about their own survival to care about what expression he was making.
The only one who constantly glanced at him was Adrien.
'I'll just ignore him for now...' Rey thought to himself, returning his thoughts to Ater and the kind of plan he had to be cooking up.
Then, his mind branched to Lucielle.
'How are things going on your end, Lucielle?'
He sent a message through their [Link], expecting at least some sort of delay before she responded to him. However, much to his surprise, she replied almost instantly.
~I was just about to contact you, Rey! Things are crazy over here!~
Her thoughts seemed a little distorted as she spoke, and so noise similar to static in phone calls slowly hummed as her response reached him.
This usually happened when a person was too distracted to fully focus on the [Link], or they were experiencing intense emotions that somehow affected the connection and transmission of thoughts through the secure channel.
Strong emotions like fear and anxiety were pretty big offenders in this regard.
'Are you okay?!' Rey asked, feeling a little worried about her due to the growing static in their connection.
There were very few things that could harm the current Lucielle, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. Plus, since she was surrounded by 'allies', he wasn't expecting much harm to
come to her.
Now, though, he wasn't so sure.
'I can still use my spatial manipulation, so if push comes to shove, I can go rescue her. I don't know how the spatial issue is on her end, but if it's bad, then she won't be able to escape if things go south.'
Rey was tempted to not worry so much, since Ater was in charge of the plan. In fact, by all logic, there was no need for him to be so concerned.
But... he still found himself worried.
At least, until the System forced his emotions to settle.
~Me? Well, I'm fine... but everyone else isn't!~
He instantly asked Lucielle to elaborate on what she meant, which she did almost
immediately.
~All the Dragons that were supposed to be waiting for us here have been turned into Undead. Right now, the staff are doing everything they can to protect us-at least, until we have a window to retreat-but things are looking pretty bad.-
Rey's eyes flickered a little upon hearing that.
'At least we have a shelter we're heading to, but it seems there's no such thing for them. Just
how much damage...'
~So many students and staff are already dead, Rey! They're dropping like flies at this rate, but
it looks like we'll soon be able to destroy the nearby Undead and find refuge somewhere.~
A sigh of relief left Rey's lips as soon as he heard that.
'Be careful, okay? You're not in danger or anything like that... right?' He managed to respond, multiple things going through his thoughts at once.
~Are you kidding me? I'm feeling very ecstatic right now, Rey!~
'E-eh?'
He wasn't expecting the response he received, but everything slowly began to make sense once he heard Lucielle's retort.
~So many Dragons are dying around me, Rey! It's so fun to see. I think... I think I'm getting overexcited, even. It's hard to maintain my facade when such an amusing sight is playing out
in front of me.~
'I-I see...' He replied, a little half-heartedly.
Now he understood why there was a bit of static in their communication.
Lucielle was indeed feeling a very strong emotion, but he had been wrong about what it was.
It wasn't fear or anxiety.
It was joy! 'You're overjoyed about their extermination, huh?'
~They're the enemies, Rey. I actually want to get in on the action, but that would blow our
cover. Sadly, I can do nothing but watch these vile creatures die...~
'Yeah...' Rey nodded slowly, glancing at the scared and powerless Dragons that were around
him.
He had to wonder why he didn't feel the same as Lucielle.
************
[Many Moments Later]
"Haa..."
Rey found a nice little corner for himself in the shelter that was promised to the students.
It was nothing but a massive underground cave that resembled a secret bunker. It had so much space, though, so it was able to occupy all the students. At the current moment, everyone was waiting for the meals that were promised to them, since they were hungry, but all of them were just grateful to be alive.
One look at the frightened and despairing Dragons told Rey all he needed to know.
'I already know we're going to be eating slop, so that's not something anyone here should be looking forward to.' He thought to himself with a wry smile.
Even his Dragon Friends were on their own, in no mood to talk at all.
This was perfect for Rey, though.
Well... almost perfect. "Hey, Rey..." Adrien's voice echoed beside him, causing the latter to hold a sigh as he looked
in the former's direction.
"Mind if I sit next to you?"
"I don't mind."
Just like that, Adrien sat right next to Rey, and his solitude was completely ruined.
"I have a question, Rey." He remained quiet and gave a light shrug, signaling Adrien to ask
away.
He already knew what the question would be, after all.
"All of this... was it your plan all along?"
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
Once again, apologies for the Error Chapters. What do you think Ater's endgame is btw...?