Not only did the woman, Ananta, spread a vicious aura that seemed to rip the souls of the city guards to shreds but the Mother of All Black Dragons wasn't alone. Behind her, stood a sea of snarling Wyrms covered by obsidian scales consisting of all of her Brood but the younglings.

The flapping of the Black Dragons' wings caused a storm that had triggered the anti-natural calamity arrays protecting Telesta, and rumbling violet flames roared from their open mouths.

The soldiers doubted the Imperial Guard could slow the greed of Wyrms down, let alone stop it.

"One moment, please." The soldier said with a raspy voice as he pushed the red alert button on his communicator.

Even the lowliest of soldiers had the chance to report important events to the highest authority of the Empire, but it came with a price. If it was a joke, no matter if drunken or caused by any state of euphoria, the sentence was high treason.

If the reported news were not deemed relevant or important enough, there would be sanctions. A demotion at best, a dishonorable discharge, or military prison at worst.

The soldier was expecting the hologram of a two star Mage General to appear but when he found himself facing the Magic Empress, he yelped like a child caught with the hand in the cookie jar.

"Speak." Milea Genys stared at the poor man with pity and at the Dragon Matriarch with mild amusement.

"She- They request entrance to Telesta. They don't have IDs…"

"Let them in." Milea cut him short. "Let anyone who can prove their belonging to the Brood in until further notice. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." The soldier swallowed a stone-hard lump of saliva.

"Is this proof enough?" Ananta roared.

Darkness and fire erupted from her body, expanding at breakneck speed. The black flaming wave enveloped the city walls for kilometers before Milea could reply:

"I meant the wings on your back. No need for theatrics."

"Good girl." The Mother of All Black Dragons smiled, revealing a row of fanged teeth. "Now, send us to our Hatchling."

"We don't have any." The soldier replied in a panic. "No citizen of Telesta would kidnap a baby Dragon. I've never seen even a Dragon egg."

"She means Supreme Magus Verhen." Milea was secretly proud of her guards.

None of them had fallen to his knees, soiled himself, or begged for mercy. They stood on duty. Scared witless but they all stood in the face of the Brood. Fear made every one of the Dragon's words sound like a threat to them yet they reacted by protecting the city instead of themselves.

"Free access to the Warp Gate Network is granted to all members of the Brood as well." A snap of Milea's fingers and pillars of light emerged from the buildings of Telesta hosting a Warp Gate.

The branch of the Mage Council, the local army headquarters, and all the households with a private Gate were now visible from the sky.

"The destination coordinates are already fixed."

"All of them?" Ananta pointed at the lights in the sky in approval.

"All of them." The Empress nodded. "There's many of you and I know you are in a rush. I supposed you want to get there before the battle is over."

"Well thought, Hatchling." The Mother of All Black Dragons gave the Empress a small bow. "Onward!"

The greed of Dragons roared, their fury too loud even for the city arrays. The citizens of Telesta fell to their knees while clenching their ears in pain. The Wyrms shrunk their form to the size of a human and bolted inside the city.

All around Garlen, similar scenes were taking place in many cities of the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Blood Desert. Everyone who owed Valtak a debt of gratitude had been robbed of the opportunity to pay him back.

They could only exact revenge in his name or live the rest of their lives in shame.

All those who loved him moved even faster, their only wish to repay the murderer of the Elder Wyrm with fire and blood.

***

"Valtak, no!" Lith tried to move forward but Fyrwal blocked him.

"He's already dead and you need to heal." The Hydra used one of her heads to recover with Invigoration and prompted him to do the same.

"We need to at least recover his corpse." Lith inwardly cursed but followed her advice. "I won't leave him here to become fertilizer for the Tree."

"It's useless, child." Tessa grabbed Lith by the shoulder and dragged him back as the group retreated toward the Chaos Dimension. "We've tried and failed. We've used every spell, every trick, every dirty move we could think of and we still failed.

"We have to leave, now. Otherwise more people will die for nothing and Valtak's sacrifice will be in vain. He traded his life for yours. The least you can do is not throw his gift away like a fool. You owe him that much."

"We were so close! Solus is there. I can see her!" Lith pointed at the tunnel in the World Tree's bark.

It was a few hundred meters away from their current position and only a dozen meters from the point they had fallen to the Golems' onslaught.

"Kid, you could have been in front of her and you wouldn't have been able to touch her anyway." Fyrwal shook her head. "It's ov-"

The ground below their feet quaked, the vibrations quickly spreading throughout the Fringe.

"What the fuck?" Those in the safe area, those fighting together the Eldritches and the white cores, even the Golems said while staring at the sky.

The clouds had stopped moving, the wind had disappeared, and black veins now sullied the blue heavens.

"There be Dragons!" The World Tree recalled the Wood Golems and the possessed violet-cored elves to their trunk, knowing they would need all the help they could get. "There be Dragons!"

The Yggdrasill coordinated with his servants to weave as many spells as they could as fast as they could, even restoring part of the array field but focusing solely on the Tree's immediate surroundings.

'Shouldn't we get out?' Solus asked after noticing that the situation outside had gotten quiet.

'Are you kidding me?' Inside the tunnel, Menadion was still fighting tooth and nail, using Chaos spells and the Furies to hold back a swarm of Wooden Puppets. 'If we get out there, we'd get stomped! We have no cover fire, no backup, and now the space-compressing array covers the outside too!'

If not for the Menadion Set, the First Ruler of the Flames would have already fallen. She kept the Ears always active and cycled through the other pieces of the set when needed. The Hands fueled her spell and healed her wounds while the Mouth allowed her to keep up with the Puppets' spellcasting.

Whenever she threw the Furies, the combination of Mouth and Hands allowed her to cast arrays nigh instantly. Those who managed to slip past her defenses were cut into pieces by the Hand's claws and blades.

'But Lith was so close! He's still close. I just need to touch the ground to summon the tower and a few seconds to turn it into the Engine!'