Another day had passed, and the terrors that the kingdom of Serpent Pond faced had ended.
The kings and queens had gathered at the throne and were happily discussing and telling of each other's journey.
"King King Lizard 3... It's good to see you still alive." King Rivarridon Rock smiled.
"King Rivarridon Rock and the beautiful High Elf Queen Aubrey! It seems well have our astounding journeys to tell!" King Lizard 3 glanced at the two and could see the amazing changes they had in demeanor. Everyone had gotten weaker when the Codes and Corruption were lost. Rivarridon seemed to be as strong as he once was and Aubrey looked as she had gotten immensely stronger than before!
"It's all thanks to Lord Miracle and his allies." Rivarridon smiled.
"Indeed. Had Lord Hems not been here to tell us, we would have given up."
"But our meeting is not to be celebrated. If that god called Histerion is back, it means we are in trouble. That god is the one who controls the brimstone. And with him, the Brimstone Beast develops ways of growing more and more powerful! He underestimated Lord Miracle so much the last time. But if he gathers his Brimstone beasts and prepares for it, we would be facing Cardinals soon."
"Lady Lea already informed me of that, and our men are ready to make the charge. The power of water has increased since she went down there."
"This means the rains will be heavier! Then we have to establish a supply route. Thanks to Brimstone beasts, it's very easy to travel, and the roads are pretty much flat. We have to hurry and create it. Your kingdom will become the bastion to sprout trees and have food for all of us. With the deep waters in your pond, Lady Lea should be able to harness dark water and create a place to cultivate dark-dependent plants! The demi-humans are more dependent on it and can grow stronger." Aubrey answered.
"King King Lizard 3. Have my team arrived here?" Rivarridon asked.
"Yes! The first group of rocs did arrive months ago. They should be on their way back here. But... seeing the millions of beasts, I don't think it is possible for the High Lands to save us..." King Lizard 3 answered.
"Yes. Lord Kyros believes that those Pegasus who told us to hold off were lying. Their intention was to boost our morale, so we would do our best to hold off. This would lessen the number of enemies they face."
Lizard King 3 frowned.
"I understand their intentions... But that was... cruel. My people hoped for them."
"As did ours. But now we have Lord Miracle, and we intend to be the ones to save them!" Rivarridon smiled.
"Let's get to work then! I want to see those High Land pricks see what it's like to be saved by the bait left to die!"
The armies began to make it push, and constant fighting was happening.
Yet even when the Brimstone Beast began to change its form, the power of water and the return of rain had brought life back to the land.
About a day's journey beyond the front lines, several wearied Rocs were flying.
It was the platoon of demi-humans that had ventured off Castle Rock to ask for support from the High Lands. But instead, they had numerous allies that decided to fly with them to aid their kingdoms.
The state of each surviving kingdom was grim. But even then, the warriors that journeyed with the demi-humans to fight and die in their homeland were resolved to jump off.
The team even aided one particular kingdom, which had a siege brimstone cultivator. They managed to save the kingdom and clear the current horde, but it was determined that they would die within the next month unless a miracle occurred.
But as they flew towards Serpent Pond, they were horrified to see the millions of brimstone beasts that marched west.
The more they saw, the more they wondered how to survive this.
"The other kingdoms had fewer Brimstone Beasts because they were marching to Serpent Pond or Castle Rock..." One of the lizardmen sighed.
"Serpent Pond was in a much better state compared to my Castle Rock... But with these hordes of beasts..." The demi-human Margie had grim hopes. But, in a very selfish moment, she had hoped that Serpent Pond had bought Castle Rock more time as they would face these millions.
"...If Serpent Pond has fallen..." Another demi-human dared to ask the question.
"If it has... then I'll die fighting in Castle Rock." A Lizardman commander did his best to give his smile.
"Hm? Clouds?" A demi-human shouted and pointed at the distance.
"Rain?!"
"How has rainfall on the parch lands?"
"I heard that when the Brimstone Calamity fell, Serpent pond's waters had risen and produced more power. Could it be?" Margie recalled her talk with King Lizard 3.
But as they moved closer into the vast darkness of the storm, they saw a strange battle.
A massive pillar of wood and steel flew like an arrow on the ground and cleared hundreds of Brimstone beasts instantly. Even the champion brimstone beast was slain as the strange pillar of wood that had wheels rushed with great speed.
Several more plowed the ground and slew hundreds and hundreds more.
In a few seconds, thousands of Brimstone Beasts had fallen.
Numerous wooden beasts and hundreds of knights charged through the gaps that the pillars formed, and an army of elves, demi-humans, and lizardmen rushed in the gap.
The massive golems kept shooting harpoons of metal that rained on Brimstone beasts, and the harpoons would be pulled back in with a brimstone core harvested.
Many mechs would travel and collect the cores that were acquired and brought back.
As the rocs flew further, it met another roc approaching it.
"Champion Margie!" A demi-human cheered.
The two rocs met on-air, and Lesly jumped to ride the roc.
"Lesly?! You're ok!"
"Champion Margie! Thank goodness you are safe!"
"What happened here?!" Margie and the rest were all shocked.
They expected a broken fort with their allies dead. But they were surprised to see that they not only found their allies to be alive and well, but they were also even pushing back! Serpent's Pond was not even on the horizon!
"Is Serpent Pond safe?!" A lizardman commander asked.
"Wow! Commanders! Yes! They are all safe!"
"But how did this happen?"
"Oh! A vampire, a knight, and a demon fell from the sky with a demon-god hybrid. They talked to a tree and convinced the elves to fight and save us. And thanks to a man who used to be a brimstone beast, we saved Serpent Pond on time. The demon-god hybrid, the vampire, and the knight are resting after creating a black hole while the demon is now meditating on the Leviathan."
"What?"
Lesly laughed.
"It's really like that. You'll catch up! We are marshaling an army now to head towards the center of the Midlands. Oh right, was there anything strange you noticed on the way here? How is the progress of the other kingdoms? Can we save them? Are there many brimstone beasts that can fly the air?" The demi-human asked Margie a series of questions.
"What?"
"Please, Champion Margie. I was sent here to ask you."
"Oh! The kingdoms are in danger. They probably won't last long, another week."
"Another week... So that means we will have to send more people ahead... It's good that you have returned with the rocs. Have the rocs park at those massive platforms. With the magic runes that Lord Miracle made, it can heal the rocs. We'll be sending men to fight them."
Margie was brought into the landing zone, and they could see an army exceeding a hundred thousand fight off and face the Brimstone Beast.
"Amazing... This formation... Our men are constantly healed, and they return to the battlefield!"
"Yes! The elves are the strongest around here. We thought that they would resist the heat because of their affinity to plants. But it turns out their real alignment is earth, which is close to brimstone. Since we have a Brimstone ally among us, a few elves have been training to use brimstone! It still hurts them, but if they keep fighting and training and increase their Brimstone resistance, they can eventually fight for weeks without needing to retreat."
"What?! They can wield brimstone?"
"Oh! Sorry! I'm getting ahead of myself. Right now, it's only Master Hems that can wield brimstone. But we're sure when Lord Miracle awakens, he can train people to fight using brimstone!" Lesly chuckled.
"Who is Lord Miracle?"
"He's... Oh... Um... he's..."
"Who is that on the large platform? It seems that his blood has spilled all over the floor." A lizardman commander asked.
Lesly was confused and glanced at the largest healing platform. And it was only then that she remembered.
"Lord Miracle!" She shouted and rushed towards the platform.
"Quick! Increase the healing! Lord Miracle is dying!" Lesly should.
Calaminus heard the cries and found the blood of Kyros.
"Kyros! A dream attack?! Who?! Damn it! [Time Stop]!" Calaminus cast powerful magic and stopped the flow of True Time in Kyros.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com