Aelfric was roused from sleep by frantic knocking at his door, he was disoriented for a moment but he threw aside the sheets and called for whoever it was to come in.

A guard entered, his face pale and eyes bloodshot.

"Y-Your Majesty, it’s the Dark Elves...They’ve breached our borders and are marching inward."

Aelfric frowned but before he could say anything, he saw the Elders led by Vaelrion standing at the doorway along with the Captain of Knights Sir Rhylen.

Aelfric knew Vaelrion and his supporters were not going to sit back now that the Dark Elves had breached their kingdom. This was what he had been avoiding but, it wasn’t possible anymore.

Aelfric glanced at the mana stone brooch on his bedside table and then sighed, he could not longer remain idle. Preaching peace in a time of active seige wasn’t what a King would do.

"Prepare the army, we will fight back." Aelfric ordered.

Captain Rhylen bowed and then briskly turned and left the chambers, Aelfric watched the Elders enter and he could already hear what they were going to say.

"We told you, Your Majesty. This day wasn’t far." Vaelrion said, his eyes then drifting to the brooch, "but you seem to be waiting for an unlikely ally."

Aelfric’s eyebrows twitched, "I understand...but the Dark Elves are people of Edrisyl as well. They also protect Yggdrasil like us, so declaring war right at the first provocation is not the right thing."

Vaelrion’s eyes seemed to blaze at that, Aelfric knew his temper.

"Pardon my rudeness, but it was because we were turning a blind eye to them that’s why they are now halfway inside the kingdom. They are massacring every Pure Mana Elf they come across and burning down the towns."

Aelfric pursed his lips and Vaelrion turned on his heel before saying, "We hope that we aren’t too late in protecting our land, Your Majesty."

With that, he walked away followed by the Elders, Aelfric sighed and then picked up the brooch.

He poured a little bit of his mana into the stone and it glowed softly.

Rheanor, the Elf whom Aelfric had met, had instructed him about how to use the mana stone brooch and how to contact the Dragon and what to say.

He opened his mouth to speak but before that he heard the sounds of commotion from the other side. The sounds of something crashing and then some curses and screeches along with repeated cracks of thunder.

"Ma-Master Dragon?" He spoke.

"Who is it?" The response seemed strained, it was a smooth male voice.

"I’m Aelfric, King of Elves." Aelfric spoke.

"War is on, right?" The person on the other side said.

Aelfric was surprised, but still responded calmly, "Yes, Rheanor told me that you shall be here when we need help."

"I’m coming..." The voice said, "But it’ll take some time. Dwarf King will lend his support to stop too much damage."

Aelfric’s eyebrows jumped hearing that, "I...see..."

Some more commotion followed and Aelfric heard the male voice shout something to someone.

"I’m a little busy here, but I’ll be there soon." The voice told him before the stone went silent.

Aelfric stared at it for a long moment before wondering if he should really wait or not.

In the western side of the Elvenland, Rhylen along with his platoon was busy evacuating and engaging the Dark Elves who had ambushed the civilians.

They were slaughtering anything and anyone in their way. It wasn’t something new to Rhylen but what surprised him was that all of these Dark Elves were unfamiliar. They used a different fighting technique and moreover, none of them showed any restraint.

"Kill any Dark Elves on sight!" He ordered and his men followed.

The time they had been trying to avoid or rather postpone couldn’t be pushed anymore. The war was upon them.

Miles away, almost on the other side of the globe where the daylight still illuminated the land, there was another battle going on. The Kingdom of Sestia was facing an enemy that their present generation had never encountered before.

Two hours had passed after the meeting was concluded and all the respective forced were rushing towards their designated locations.

Ocean, on the other hand, hovered above Oasis where the giant black cloud lingered, unmoved by the winds and still raining death.

He looked at Caelthir who stared at this cloud, his one arm crossed over his chest while the other’s fingers stroked his chin.

"Rain of Ashes." He mumbled before looking at Ocean’s grim face.

"You know what this is?" Ocean asked.

Caelthir hummed, "One of the ancient disasters that swept over the lands and killed millions. This one is tiny in comparison."

Caelthir then noticed Ocean glaring at it, "The ashes that come in contact with the living, act as poison and destroy the bodies from inside out. A lot of your people must already be dead."

"Dying." Ocean corrected, the word seeping through his clenched teeth.

Caelthir watched him with a rare serious expression and asked, "You want me to save your people?"

Caelthir had expected Ocean to request again, but he did no such thing but simply turned to him with his aqua eyes glowing and the pupils contracted to fine slits. Caelthir could see his Dragon’s Presence oozing out of him making even the air around tremble.

"Get rid of the cloud...please." Ocean said and Caelthir observed him for a moment before turning his attention on the cloud.

One spell.

That was all he had promised and one spell was all that was asked.

Caelthir didn’t waste any more time as he could see Ocean getting impatient. He still couldn’t understand how Solcarion or even this young Dragon would feel compassion for humans. This young Dragon was part human so, it was understandable but Solcarion?

Regardless, Caelthir summoned his mana and with a single spell, the lashed through the dark cloud, mercilessly slicing it apart into millions of bits.

"Thanks." Caelthir heard the word and before he even turned his head, Ocean had dived straight toward his city.

The ones fighting below hadn’t seen when the cloud had dispersed nor had they noticed a being shooting down like a meteor until the impact had hit the city. A huge crater appeared where Ocean landed, the shockwaves were enough to send a few of his guards staggering and the grey ashes that had covered the ground to disperse into fine particles.

The pressure around him was so immense that the guards involuntarily stepped away. They had been fighting with the dark mages but the sudden appearance had even shocked the enemy.

"M-Master is here!" The guards shouted in relief.

Ocean’s retainers, who were already there and fighting and helping the guards also sighed a breath of relief at the sight of their Master.

Ocean’s coat billowed behind him as if it had come to life and he straightened up, looking at the handful of dark mages.

"Th-The Dragon is here!" One of dark mages shouted, "Hurry and get-"

Before he could finish, his head went flying and a spray of blood was mixed with the slice of water that was shot at him.

"...Reikah..." The head spoke the last word as if adamant in finishing before it tumbled over the street and his body crumbled several feet away.

Ocean turned his gaze to the remaining dark mages who shuddered before they involuntarily took a step behind.

Ocean, in turn, took one step ahead with a single order to his retainers, "I’ll take care of them. Go and make sure the people are safe."

Lyall and others who were on site with their faces covered at once responded, "Yes, Master."

Before they all left leaving Ocean to face the enemy.

The dark mages watched the furious being as he stepped out of the crater, his footsteps were enough to crack the ground. They had only heard that he was a Dragon and that they would have to distract him for a while but to have him stand right in front of them, they couldn’t help but feel the primal instinct of humans creeping over their beings. Fear.

The fear of facing the absolute predator.

None of them had ever understood what it meant to provoke a Dragon and now, they would learn the consequences.

Caelthir hovered in the wind watching as the remnants of the dark cloud dispersed but then above him different kind of clouds started gathering.

Even Caelthir paused, surprised, as he stared at the wispy clouds which seemed to have been summoned in haste but it wasn’t his spell and unless it’s him nobody else was capable of summoning storms so who...?

His answer was currently busy ripping apart the dark mages who were trying to flee from him. It was a one sided battle from the beginning so, Caelthir could only let out a yawn.

The loud thunder flashed making him move away before the rain started, his eyebrows twitched as he realised that the rain was infused with mana. And not just any mana but Supreme Healing mana.

Caelthir looked down at Ocean who was singlehandedly taking care of the last of the two dark mage minions. The corners of his lips curled up a little as he found it immensely amusing.

Aeltharos didn’t have the power to summon storms but this youngling had, that only meant one thing. Apart from Solcarion - the Dragon God, there were more beings who were backing this youngling.

Caelthir flew over and took a seat on the edge of a building watching Ocean facing a dark mage who clearly possessed more mana than the other small fry that were now laying in pieces around the streets with their blood getting washed away along with the grey ashes.