At the same time, in another part of the city:
POV The Ambassador:
The old man jumped out of bed as he woke to a sudden earth-shattering bang. He looked around in confusion, his mind still numb. A bright blue light entered through the window of his room.
‘Is it a fire?’
“Your grace! Please, you need to hide!” The doors into his room split open, his guards in the arab-styled lamellar and chainmail armor barging in with their purple capes moving behind them. Their full-mask helmets perfectly hid their faces, but out of their rushed and loud voices, it was apparent that they were distressed.
“Is it another attack?” he wasn’t stupid, so he immediately realized what had happened.
Another loud explosion shook the building, and a bright blue light flashed behind the window. Then the window shattered, the sharp shrapnel of glass pelting the whole room with flames entering through it, licking the walls.
The air turned hot, the pieces of glass refracting the fire burning outside.
A weight pressed him to the floor, his guards pulling him into cover. He felt the heat of the blue flames on his skin.
‘Who is so insane to do something like this?’ provoking the dragon and attempting to kill him, the diplomat was so stumped at the insanity of the attackers that he lost his words.
‘It wasn’t just that single attack! These lunatics have turned this whole place into a warzone!’ He shuddered in fear, but it wasn’t fear of the attackers. Instead, he was terrified of the dragon’s reaction when they return.
“Traitor!” Steps and loud distorted voices came from outside his bedroom, quickly closing towards his bedroom. There was no escape root, the flames burning behind his back while attackers blocked the only remaining path outside.
His guards drew their weapons, their sabers glowing in the faint purplish light of the runes engraved into their blades.
“Quickly, prepare for the battle!”
‘The high-grade alchemical fire and so many fanatical attackers willing to die. There must be a large force behind this.’ He was now sure it wasn’t just some insane individual.
The steps finally reached his room, and his heart fell deep into his stomach out of fear.
“Please step back, your grace!” The old ambassador listened and walked behind the defensive ring of his guards, their firm stance giving him the courage he needed.
His guards advanced forwards with their sabers drawn out. The flames behind them reflected in their shiny polished armor. The tension was almost palpable as they focused on the entrance, waiting for the enemies.
With the speed of the wind, the figures in the black appeared from behind the corner of the hallways outside of his room, their short swords glowing with mana. They were covered in black mantles and hoods, with scarves around their faces.
“Take his head!” The assassin stopped at the entrance, kept at bay by the wall of his guards blocking their path.
“Stay behind us, you grace!” His guards stepped forwards in unison, forming a living wall of metal and blades pointed at the attackers.
The tension was quickly growing, the two parties looking at each other and waiting for any gap.
He could no longer hold back, his fear vanishing after seeing how pathetic the assailants were.
‘I have faced the dragon and the vampire. This bunch of clowns is nothing when compared to these monsters.’
“Haha, how stupid you can be… Do you even realize what you have just done?! This will end only in war, a war so bloody…”
Suddenly, everyone froze as a terrifying aura flared up high above them. It burned with a rage so intense that it felt as if the gravity of the whole world increased multiple times, and the air turned so hot that it felt as if the sun had gotten closer.
The ambassador froze and turned pale. He wasn’t even the target of the rage, but he couldn’t stop shivering, his old body almost giving up.
At the same time, in yet another part of the city:
POV Unnamed Assassin:
The blue flames were glowing brightly in the distance, and four men were waiting in the shadow, not even breathing as they blended into the darkness. Their faces and the rest of their bodies were hidden under the enchanted black clothes.
‘It’s coming.’ One assassin that was shorter than the rest squirmed, his fingers itching around the handle of his weapon, the cold metal in his hand calming down his nerves. He was the decoy, the most dangerous role in the whole squad.
A rhythmic sound of metal hitting against the stone road was quickly approaching. A monster was slowly walking straight towards them, their pulse, heat, and even smell obscured and hidden by their enchanted equipment.
Suddenly the steps stopped, “Who is there?”
‘Huh, did we underestimate its senses?’
The four assassins nodded at each other, and the shortest one rushed from behind the corner of the street, his mind filled with bloodlust.
The tall monster stood there, looking around and sniffing, its eyes glowing in the eyeholes of its horned, dragon-shaped helmet. It was tall and fully clad in the heaviest armor he ever saw.
The kobold reacted in a split second, its eyes spotting the incoming attackers. It moved with a speed unfitting of its heavy armor, swinging its large halberd in a wide arc that ignited in bright yellowy flames, their light flickering on the dark street.
The shortest assassin who was closest to it jumped backward at the last moment, the wave of heat washing over his body, his skin turning red.
The tall heavy-armored monster towered above him, its golden eyes almost drilling holes into his mind. It raised the polearm high above its head as it prepared for another strike. The flames burning around it intensified, their color slowly changing towards white.
‘This is bad!’ He instinctively rolled back, not even waiting for the attack, his heart pounding in adrenaline.
Just a split second later, the halberd smashed into the road with an ear-tearing bang. Fire and magma exploded in all directions, brightly glowing in the night.
He grinned under his scarf, knowing that he wasn’t alone.
His companions appeared out of the darkness, sprinting straight toward the monster in absolute silence. Their swords glinted in the light of fires as they descended from the three directions at once towards the monster.
“Haha, foolish monster! Now, you will die.” He burst into laughter as he confirmed his beliefs about the monsters having nothing but brute force.
‘It fell straight into our trap! No matter how fast or strong it is, it can’t defend against this!’
The sharp blades finally reached the monster, stabbing it from multiple angles and directions.
The runes on both the armor and the swords flashed, accompanied by loud clangs and screeches as the blades harmlessly slid off the hard armor, throwing sparks along the way.
‘Monsters that are using tools like humans.’ For the first time, he was overwhelmed by the sheer terror of that term.
The kobold turned on its heel, its large, clawed, and armored hand descending towards the nearest assassin. In the blink of an eye, the claws pierced through his black clothes, plunging deep into his chest.
The kobold raised its arms, the assassin’s body lifting from the ground, his legs and arms desperately flailing. Blood gushed out, and finally, flames exploded, enveloping his whole flailing body.
The remaining two of his companions retreated a few steps away, moving so fast they looked like shadows on the dark street.
“Graaah!” The monster growled and dashed straight towards the shortest assassin, the stone road cracking under its feet, the beast moving like an unstoppable siege engine.
The short assassin bent his legs and shot to the side like a human spring, and the beast narrowly passed by him, the hot wind searing his skin. He wanted to shout in pain, but he gritted his teeth and suppressed it.
‘I dodged it…’ just as he sighed in relief, the monster’s armored palm ignited in flames, and a bright glowing stream of fire shot out straight toward him. The bright orange light filled his vision, his body freezing as his brain gave up, seeing no path out.
The flames enveloped him, a terrifying pain engulfing his whole body. At the last moment, he spotted two large eyes glowing in the dark sky.
‘So the dragon has arrived. Hopefully, this is enough.’
POV Tanya:
The young woman moved down the night street, cries and explosions coming from all directions. Her eyes brightly burned in crimson flames of rage as she saw the city of her master enveloped in violence and chaos.
She was desperate. The guards and soldiers in the city were limited, unable to protect everything. By the time they reached the attack site, the enemy was already gone, attacking somewhere else.
‘Wyvern knights are gone, searching for drakes, leaving the city without aerial units. If they were here, they could easily annihilate enemies from above.’𝑶𝑣𝗅xt.𝒸𝔬𝐦
Without even hesitating, she fell on her knees together with the kobolds following her. A relief filled her mind as she felt the familiar aura of her master envelop the entire city in its reassuring presence.