Chapter 286 The Surprise Element
As the Dragon fired bursts of energy at the Monster Army, the entire Broteforgian Army, at least the members present on the battlefield, were completely in shock.
No one understood why the dragon was attacking those who were theoretically its allies, but deep down they were relieved that they were not the targets of the gigantic monster.
Each dragon attack devastated everything in its path, killing millions of monsters and leaving the land it hit in an energized, or rather electrified, state. The ground shook intensely and the sound resonated for miles, from the lake that divided Vasconcelos, to the newest outpost of the Melki Empire, on the shores of the East Sea.
Alexis was at a loss to understand why the dragon was helping, as was everyone else, however, unlike most she was not convinced of victory, and continued to do her best to kill as many monsters as possible.
This horde of monsters was very close to Oukiwa City, and should the Broteforge Volunteer Army not be able to contain the attack, Oukiwa was going to be devastated by the monsters. Should Oukiwa be erased from the map of the Broteforge Empire, Melki would have free passage to Vasconcelos, a much smaller city, the Cities in the North, and to the Imperial Capital. This would not mean that the war was lost, however, it would certainly be a hard blow and difficult for Broteforge to recover from.
Besides, Oukiwa had three Dungeons, and if the monsters were really coming from Dungeon Breaks, well, the demons would have an efficient way to expand their army and a defeat in numbers would be inevitable.
Broteforge depended on Oukiwa staying, and everyone on the continent knew that. Therefore, this war was no longer just strategic, but also a war of resistance for the Broteforge Empire.
With this in mind, Alexis didn\'t rest for even a second during that early morning hours, keeping his eyes on the dragon\'s every move.
The moment people saw the S-Class\' efforts to turn the course of the battle alongside the black-scaled dragon, they felt motivated to do their best as well.
When the sun rose in the morning, the clouds that made the sky hazy were already far away on the horizon. The first warm rays of the sun touched the faces of the soldiers as if they were ball of wool caressing them, as the bodies of most of the soldiers filled with cold blood and open wounds.
"Are there many monsters missing?" The leader of one battalion asked as he pulled his steel sword from the head of a Superior Goblin.
He looked back and saw his ten companions were fighting with a small group of other Fomoris, a distorted humanoid figure monster whose skin was pale, almost white. The Fomoris almost always carried prehistoric wooden sticks in their hands, as well as wearing some very old clothing rags.
"We\'re managing, go help the others!" The man in the long mage cloak pointed to the left, where there was a Goblorc, a type of Elder Goblin who usually commands large groups of Superior Goblins and also a common Floor Boss in Dungeons.
This four-meter tall, green-skinned monster was giving trouble to a few dozen soldiers, because most of them were tired and the Goblorc was much stronger than ordinary monsters.
However, neither the Goblorc, nor the soldiers, expected that the dragon would once again dive from the sky towards the battlefield and that it would crush the Goblorc by landing on top of it. The Broteforgian soldiers were startled and unconsciously raised their weapons at the dragon.
The dragon looked like an even more frightening being up close. His scales were thick like the shields some Tank class warriors carried, his appearance fierce to say the least, and his scent was pure death.
The front paw over Goblorc\'s head moved for a moment, and the dragon noticed that the green monster below him was still alive and resisting. Quickly the dragon made a little push with his leg and exploded the Goblorc\'s head, unintentionally throwing brains at the soldiers.
A few hundred soldiers gathered around the Dragon in less than a minute, all with their weapons ready to attack.
Although it was surrounded, the dragon still looked at the humans with an air of superiority, with its chin up and its wings retracted.
No one dared to attack the dragon without a commander\'s order, just as no commander dared to give such a foolish order. The dragon, despite being a monster, had helped them.
When it got tired of waiting, the dragon sighed through its nostrils, frightening all the soldiers, who were paralyzed in the same instant with fear of an attack. However, the dragon\'s reason for sighing was out of boredom, for as he gave up waiting, he spoke aloud:
"Where is Alexis Dmitry, the half-dragon?"
His voice reverberated for hundreds of feet, surprising anyone who heard it. Everyone knew from the first moment the dragon helped them that there was something wrong with that dragon, but hearing him speak a human language was beyond anyone\'s wildest expectations.
Immediately, buzz began to appear among the human army about who the imposing dragon was speaking.
Of course, everyone knew the name of the S-Class Adventurer who was helping everyone on the Front Line, however, almost no one was bold enough to speak her location.
Upon hearing her name, Alexis immediately began walking through the crowd to the front of the dragon. Her horns caught the attention of the people in front of her, and she didn\'t even need to ask permission for people to make way for her.
The moment she crossed the space bounded by the very soldiers surrounding the dragon, she looked up, aiming for the dragon\'s eyes.
For the first time, he lowered his head to look at the small woman in front of him. She was wearing armor with reddish scaly details, and a small silver tiara on top of her head, which somewhat emphasized the magnificence of her horns.
As soon as the eyes of the two crossed, the dragon inquired, "Are you really Alexis Dmitry?"
"Yes, and what are you?" Her voice did not tremble, because she was not afraid of the dragon. She had watched the dragon fight all night, so she knew she could beat it.
The dragon answered himself with questioning, not because that was unusual, but because it was exactly what Luke Lange asked when he met him.
Upon being questioned, the dragon lowered its head and shrunk its wings. A black smoke explosion happened around him, making all the soldiers desperate for a second. Alexis didn\'t move a muscle.
With a snap of his fingers the dragon was able to create a gale, which dispersed all the smoke he created.
Everyone immediately looked up as they noticed the smoke dispersing, only they found nothing.
"Ow! Where did the monster go?!"
"Ready your weapons!"
"I wonder if it was a distraction...?"
"What happened?"
The confused inquiries of the soldiers were answered only a second later, that is, the questions about where the dragon was were overlaid with inquiries about who the man was who had appeared in the midst of everyone. This man had gray hair and an above average stature that made an ordinary soldier look like a pre-teen next to him, in addition, he was wearing a strange outfit that set him apart from everyone else.
"Do you want to know what I am? Or who I am, young man?" Ogne asked, looking her still in the eyes.
Alexis noticed that the large horns the dragon displayed were exactly like the pair of horns on the man\'s head, which were also very similar to hers in shape.
The half-dragon\'s eyebrows rose. "Are you... like me?"
Ogne smiled at her. "Yes, and where I come from there are hundreds like us. We need to talk, not only alone, but also as a group. Get your leaders together."
*
The victory of that early morning in the face of such adversity against the monsters certainly went down in history. Suffering a surprise attack, having smaller numbers than the enemy and almost suffering a shameful defeat could have been the end for Oukiwa, however, the dragon\'s help totally changed the course of the battle.
Still, hundreds of humans died that night, and not only their bodies were to be cremated, but also the bodies of many monsters that, for some reason, did not fall apart. It was not time to celebrate victory, at least not yet. Literally at any moment another surprise attack could happen, so everyone needed to try to recover as quickly as possible and stay prepared.
In light of this, the main leaders of the Broteforge Empire gathered as quickly as they could, which took less than a day, because most of them were in the Imperial Capital, except for Rebeka, the Pontiff of the Cardinal Church, because she needed to stay in the Cardinal Kingdom, protecting it.
At first, many found the sudden summons strange, for they were managing everything involved in a war after battles. Food, weapons, potions, building materials, orders and many other things were the factors that determined how long an army would last, besides the political squabbles. However, this summons was more than justified when these people heard about what had happened in East Oukiwa.
Certainly to hear that the Volunteer Army had managed to resist yet another wave was commendable, but the fact that they had received unusual help was the event that frightened them.