Arahon and Harrtugg Naaw turned into their humanoid figures. Walking out as a large dragon was too striking and didn't serve any purpose for the current situation.
"Before we tackle the problem above, we should take a look at the status of the beasts under you.", Arahon suggested.
Demonic invasions like the thing happening above weren't a joking matter. Even monarch-level beasts like them wouldn't stand a chance if they arrogantly ignore the threat of demonic beasts pouring endlessly from the crack above.
"It seems like most of them have been afflicted of the demonic essence corruption as well. My gut tells me that it was all your doing…?"
Harrtugg Naaw let out a cold snort. Unlike Arahon who liked to exhibit his naked and scaled body to everyone, the frost dragon wore a thick white coat made from the hide of a frostal polar war bear.
Despite the horrible frostal ice armor that encased its body, the layer beneath it was fluffy and gentle to the touch.
"You think it's my fault that I let them succumb to it?", he argued.
"Well, weren't you the leader? It would help if you hadn't succumbed to the demonic corruption in the first place?", Arahon grinned.
Harrtugg Naaw was taken aback. This dumb flame dragon seems to be a little intelligent today.
"Whatever, that doesn't matter now.", Arahon proactively changed the topic, "Though, it does interest me as to how the demonic creatures managed to slip past your guard and corrupt you despite you being a divine beast."
The two draconic figures arrived on the peak of another mountain nearby.
"I don't know how they managed to do it either."
"All I remember is seeing some bastard northerner taking away my eggs. Those demonic creatures probably took advantage of my anger at that time and the obvious happened."
This was the frost dragon's truthful assessment of his prior condition. He was terrified by how mysterious his corruption was since he was unaware of it all along.
Harrtugg Naaw might have done considerably worse if he had been left to his own devices, raging against the innocent lives of the inhabitants of Norva Assili.
He wasn't going to deny the actions, however. If need be, he will face severe sanctions from both the League of Wizardry and the Knights of Aludia.
The magical beasts and those two large factions agreed that regardless of the degree of a perpetrator's irresponsible behavior, either side should always settle matters peacefully.
Though one thing intrigued Harrtugg Naaw and Arahon after all that has happened.
"Don't you find it strange that the wizards and knights didn't seem to have taken notice of your aggression a few days ago?", Arahon questioned.
"Who else is to blame but the demonic creatures?!", Harrtugg Naaw shouted.
He suspected that those sly bastards had screwed up the League of Wizardry's tediously constructed communication channels.
"Bah, let's stop talking about this."
The frost dragon raised his right hand and gathered the ice elements tens of kilometers around him. He was brewing another storm but this time, he imbued it with divinity. This made the sky suddenly shine a golden light, covering the ominous cracks far above it.
He grasped his hand and waved it sideways, finishing the spell.
"Divine Glacial Tempest Purge!"
Ice hail blasted the earth, ripping through the trees and carving holes in the snow-deprived ground. Although it appeared deadly from afar, the magical beasts that bathed under the storm had the demonic essence tormenting them being slowly eroded.
Arahon wondered at Harrtugg Naaw's actions. Though this was beneficial to glacial magical beasts, it was extremely harmful to their demonic counterparts.
The storm continued to ravage for 5 minutes before it ceased. The skies turned clear but not for long as the cracks and horrifying aura returned.
Arahon and Harrtugg Naaw noticed how the cracks became larger and saw some demonic creatures jumping out and landing nearby.
"Velgraehs, Norbbe, Skakkor, Kaerlordo!"
At his call, a dire swirl eagle, a frostal polar war bear, a glacial scorpion, and a huge white-furred ape landed in front of Harrtugg Naaw and Arahon.
"My Lord!"
They were the four king-level magical beasts that the flame dragon recently knocked out. The latter was quite surprised that they recovered from his punch that quickly.
"You must have seen the dire situation we're in and how the demonic creature made a fool of us by corrupting us with their hateful demonic essence!"
"But now isn't the time to let them pay for what they have done! Rally your troops and prepare for a new fight!"
Skakkor, the glacial scorpion, interjected, "My Lord, what about your dragon eggs?"
Arahon was annoyed that Skakkor discussed that issue, though he let it go for now and explained.
"We will pursue the perpetrator who stole my dragon eggs later. We should work with the northerners first and face this threat altogether!"
How could they cooperate with the northerners after massacring thousands of their people?
When their senses caught up to the horrifying aura from above, they understood what their lord was talking about.
"My Lord, what about the other nine king beasts you locked up somewhere?", Norbbe, the frostal polar war bear dumbly asked.
Harrtugg Naaw was losing patience talking to a group of morons, making him appear like one in front of his loathing old 'fellow.' He could imagine the grin Arahon was wearing on his face and his thoughts running in that flame dragon's head.
"Idiot, free them! Go with Velgraehs in case you are too slow to get there in time!"
Velgraehs and Norbbe departed in a flash. Their lord was angry and staying any longer wouldn't end up well for them.
The dire swirl eagle cursed at her acquaintance, 'Damn bear, how dare you implicate me in such boring matters?!'
Although confronting the demonic beasts was a tough challenge, Velgraehs preferred it to recovering her fellow companions who had been imprisoned someplace in the northern glacial continent.
"And you two, what are you blindly staring at? Don't you have some beasts to rally?!"
Skakkor and Kaerlordo woke up from their stupor and departed. The former burrowed underground in search of his underlings while the latter hopped joyously and rhythmically started beating his chest while roaring.
"What a cordial relationship you glacial beasts truly have.", Arahon complimented.
"Shut up!", Harrtugg Naaw snorted, "You being here means that someone sent you to do something, right?"
"It's best not to talk too much about those people, you know.", Arahon warned, "However, if you really want to work with the northerners, I can help you mend your troubled relationship with them."
"State your price.", Harrtugg Naaw inquired.
Arahon shrugged, "Nothing too much that will break your heart, it's not like I'm going to ask for one dragon egg of yours…"
Harrtugg Naaw almost snapped but Arahon quickly changed the topic, "Oh, look. Your followers are back."
Standing at the mountain peak, Arahon and Harrtugg Naaw saw hundreds of thousands of magical beasts marching in unity to brave the impending invasion of the demonic beasts.
Those on the ground yelled in rage, while those in the air squealed in delight. Their shrieks were so loud that they drowned out their marching footsteps. Leading them was no other than the glacial scorpion, Skakkor, and the white-furred ape, Kaerlordo.
"What about your beasts? Haven't you tried calling them for once?", Harrtugg Naaw questioned.
Arahon shook his head, "I can't seem to reach them from afar. This is strange. It's as if something is blocking me from reaching the other side."
"Hmph, such incompetence.", Harrtugg Naaw snorted, "Since that is the case, let's go before those bastards from above show up."
Arahon led them to where the encampment was but much to their shock, there wasn't anything to be found except for a barren wasteland and some rubbles in the distance.
"Hey, flame dragon. Are you sure you're mentally fine right now?", the frost dragon took this chance in mocking Arahon.
"I am far better than when you were corrupted.", he replied.
However, he was confused about where in the heavens Solordo and his classmates have gone after.
Did the army retreat that quickly? It was impossible.
The northern barbarians were too prideful to ever do that. If ever they started acting cowardly, it would take them at least several hours to pack everything up and move out of the area.
"Arahon, we're wasting our time here. The demonic creatures are almost about to pass through!", Harrtugg Naaw reminded.
He could already see some claws protruding out of the cracks.
Either they futilely start searching for that encampment or prepare against the invasion.
"Search around for any clues! I know that they're here just a few minutes ago!", Arahon insisted, "Some demonic creatures infiltrated the encampment before I departed. I didn't think much about them before and left it for the warriors to deal with but for things to go this way…"
Arahon somewhat regretted that he didn't kill them all right away. He was confident that with High King Garron and Solordo around, they would be able to deal with any situation that might arise.
'If the academy master finds out that I've fucked up…'
Amidst his worry, Harrtugg Naaw ordered Skakkor, his underlings, and the aerial beasts to quickly take a circle around the place and see if something would help them.
As for Kaerlordo and the rest of the magic beasts, Harrtugg Naaw ordered them to retreat into the mountain ranges for now. That place had several natural and terrain advantages that could help them contain the threat of the demonic beasts without suffering too many casualties.
Although Kaerlordo looked dumbed on the outside, the ape was quite clever. Preparing a plan for their defense wasn't a problem the ape couldn't solve.
Not long after, two beasts returned and carried with them an interesting report.
"My Lord, we have spotted two figures, one young woman and one old man, on the other side of our position. The old man seems to be someone from the League of Wizardry, wearing a set of pure white robes."
"How come they didn't notice you? Are you sure you're not lying to us?!", the frost dragon warned.
A person dressed entirely in white robes denoted the presence of an elder from the League of Wizardry. It was especially eye-catching since both wizards and mages donned magnificent outfits, completely the opposite of what the real powerhouses dress.
No other person would ever dare to wear it similarly unless they wanted to die.
In addition, these seniors were archmages themselves, one of the most powerful beings in Aludia. If an archmage couldn't even detect the existence of these little animals, then the two in front had to be lying.
Besides, Arahon and Harrtugg Naaw should have sensed the existence of this so-called 'elder'.
The two beasts prostrated, asserting the fact that they really saw someone like that when they went out earlier.
Seeing their reaction, Arahon and Harrtugg Naaw looked at each other and nodded.
"Fine. So be it. Lead us to where you found those two then."
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