Divine Beast Ascension

607 DRAAGOOON!!!

“No. A rumor started about a dragon after the surviving assassins returned,” commented the elder. “But we do have to watch out for that gorilla they mentioned. I heard he ripped apart low-perennials like paper.

“But that’s why we have our own perennials. As elders and adepts, we fight mortals. Leave the beasts to the perennials. So stop worrying, and get ready to load my second shot. I don’t want to waste a single second.”

Both elders clammed up and nodded, feeling slightly better. The elders also glanced at the nearest commanding officer, the man giving orders to all ballistae.

That leading man wasn’t standing at the cliff’s edge. He was behind the ballistae, waiting for the signal that the Forell army was in position. Then, it would be his job to protect the ballistae from which every perennial dared to race up the cliff. And since they had some intel on the men who repelled Blood Moon, that officer was almost certain it would be the wind-using man that fought Dallad to a draw.

Then again, Prodson’s intel wasn’t exactly complete…

Only the weakest perennials had escaped, the ones that weren’t prioritized for immediate elimination. And those assassins who fled didn’t know whether their bosses were alive or dead. Many assumed Ranon and Dallad were alive and in hiding, avoiding Prodson and the consequences of a failed job of that magnitude.

Those survivors had no idea which perennial from Iron Territory was the most fearsome. But they had come up with four people at the top of the watchlist and assumed their order of power.

At the top, there were two men. Lambier Fenzar and Marsel Neelon. They were the mercenary duo that fought the bosses of Blood Moon to a near draw, with wind and fire respectively. Also, they were formerly from Prodson, so it wasn’t hard for Prodson to dig up their old intel on the mercenary duo. And what Prodson feared the most was how the duo might understand the terrain and potentially assess the strength or strategies of Prodson.

In third, there was the monstrous gorilla. Had it not been for the mercenary duo’s potential knowledge of Prodson, that corpse-wielding monster would’ve been rated as the worst threat.

.....

And, finally, there was Hurman Practor. A man that all Prodson perennials knew of but had never given much credit after decades of Hurman wasting his potential. However, since the Blood Moon bosses had given Hurman more priority and Hurman proved capable while being outnumbered, Hurman was also added to the list of immediate threats.

The ballistae commanding officer kept that list in his mind, actively expecting and hoping to draw out Lambier on the cliffside.

That was his part to play. Execute the first round of ballistae fire to trap Forell between the hills. Then, to keep Lambier from rushing in to destroy the ballistae and attack the archers or spearmen.

Of course, Prodson also took the other perennials from Iron Territory that the surviving assassins had mentioned in the background of their report. They also kept the perennials of Forell Territory in mind. But only four more individuals were given extra attention, because of their potential impact on the war and the ability to easily recognize them.

There was the Thunder Jaguar, Kuldar Libarn, and Tranton Forell. A huge, lightning beast and the two strongest men on record, living inside Forell City.

The last person on the watch list was a beast. However, the surviving assassins had failed to classify it. Some assassins claimed it to be a mortal, adult drake of some sort. But other assassins claimed it to be a young dragon out on their journey of adulthood, seeking out experience in order to ascend to the divine class and return home as a true dragon.

Even the higher-ups weren’t certain how to assess that part of the report.

Those were the only two explanations for why such a rare beast had appeared for no reason. Either it was an aged drake that somehow failed to become a perennial, seeking work. Or a dragon youth hoping to grow and return home with pride as a new perennial. And both scenarios made the higher-ups of Prodson furious.

But, in the end, the beast was deduced to be an adult drake who failed to ascend, though it was too late to stop the spread of rumors. And the reason for that deduction was the drake being a soul assassin.

Yet, the higher-ups gave the drake the lowest priority. After all, the drake was still a mortal and no longer had the element of surprise as a soul assassin.

*Daylight is already here. The chance of that drake sneaking into the camp is even lower now,* thought the ballistae commanding officer.

Hearing the murmurs of his men, that leading officer spoke up while still under the silent formation, “Men! The only reason to pay attention to the beasts is as target practice after we trap them. We’ve stationed early and low-perennials around the camp’s perimeter, so there’s no need to worry about the drake either. It will be killed on sight by us, the perennials!

“Now, keep quiet! Be ready to raise your ballista on my command!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the elders and adepts yelled back with vigor.

The elders manning the ballistae grabbed hold of it, preparing to take aim at a moment’s notice. And the adepts supporting them rushed to either side of their respective ballista, waiting for the order to unlock and lift it into position.

From his shadowy hiding place, Oli snickered in the depths of his mind. His ears were focused on the leading officer’s voice. Finally, after hours of patience, the moment to act was about to unfold.

Below the cliff, the Iron-Forell army marched down the road. They were calm and wary. But they didn’t make unusual glances toward the hidden camp.

At the front, Hurman walked alongside Kuldar. The next person to be recognized was the hulking, three-krin gorilla standing in the middle of the marching army. And the rest of Hurman’s task force was mixed into the army as well, only with either a Forell or Iron uniform to remain hidden in the crowd.

Lambier and Marsel had yet to be spotted, and Leader Tranton wasn’t found yet either. Though the Mottz Patriarch was seen leading his mercenaries, that was of less concern to Prodson.

Everything appeared to be going smoothly.

The Iron-Forell army marched on, exactly how Prodson anticipated. And Prodson just had to wait for their enemy to march another hundred krin until they would blow apart the opposite cliff. Then, with the Iron-Forell army trapped between the rubble and the emerging army from underground, the cliff camp could rain arrows and spears along with ballista bolts.

Things were moving along so serenely, that a handful of people felt that something was off. The various leading officers were the first to get the feeling.

However, what could they do? Act on impulse and give themselves away? Or accept how easily the Forell forces had fallen into the trap? Until there was a reason to support their gut feeling, the officers couldn’t break protocol.

When the marching army was only fifty krin away from triggering the trap, the ballistae officer noticed a strange signal from the hidden scout monitoring the march below.

*... There are no more beasts? None?* the ballistae officer thought to himself. *Does Iron think Forell can take down Prodson City with the help of just a few perennials? …*

But there wasn’t much time to think about that fact. The Forell army was only a few dozen seconds away from being in position. So, the ballistae officer kept calm and focused on the task at hand, preparing to think about the lack of beasts after executing the trap.

“... Rise!”

With the order shouted under their silent formation, the adepts rushed into action. And so did Oli.

Frrrip, frrrip! FWOOOSH-SHH!!

Oli raced out of hiding, ripping through one adept’s neck and the elder gunner’s shoulder. At the same time, a plume of purple flames erupted from the drake’s mouth, destroying the mostly-wooden ballista. All the while, Oli’s tail lashed through a piece of the silent formation, dispersing the formation around that particular ballista.

Before the other elders and adepts could react or fully raise the ballistae, the drake was darting through the air at his top speed. Oli’s dragon fire had already decimated the second ballista, along with a portion of the silent formation concealing it. And those flames were only a split second away from destroying the third ballista.

“DRAAGOOON!!!”

Various cries bled into each other upon witnessing the surprise attack of a huge, black beast, with speed more terrifying than the rumors had imagined.

And while the nearby leading officer noticed the drake and prepared to take action, the officer was about to realize that the situation was even worse than anticipated.

The terrorized cries of the Prodson soldiers on the cliff weren’t contained within the non-functional silent formation. That was made evident by the resounding battle cry of the army below.

Then, the world began to shake and collapse under the officer’s feet.