857 Dragon' me down

It was noon by the time the group walked out of the Smithy, all clad in new incredibly powerful items that put their previous gear to shame. They could all now be called "Demon Slayers" in the truest sense of the word, their weapons, armour, and skills all specifically designed for brutal combat against armies of demons.

Barnock "It's amazing they can create such items in so little time, I can't imagine how powerful an army would be if outfitted with similar gear." he mutters and the others nod in agreement... If Ichor truly had all of their men fitted with armour and weaponry created by those smiths there was nothing any person, nation, or otherworldly power could do to rock its foundation.

Tyrael "This place is powerful, true. But I am still wary of them, their potential for destruction should the powers become corrupt is limitless... I'd wager it'd be more dangerous than the Heaven and Hell combined." he mutters.

The Prospect who was leading them to their destination nods at him, "Then it's good that our Lord has seen fit to preventing that from ever happening."

Mathias raises a brow, "What do you mean?" he asks.

"Our Lord knows that he will not rule forever, and that his children will eventually take the role of ruler. As such he has had artifacts created that'd check the suitability, intentions, and morals of the person in question. This is known throughout the Empire, and means that if the person wishing to rule is unable to access the artifact, they'll immediately lose their position.

I am sure there are other countermeasures as well, but I am obviously not in a position to know such a thing." they explain.

Tyrael is about to press them further for information when some-king of strange sound starts going off in the surroundings...

The Prospect's head immediately jolts skywards as they rapidly look around, the alarms apparently signalling some kind of attack?

Mathias "What is it?" he quickly asks, wishing to help if he's able.

The masked warrior points towards the Dragon Mountains where large shadows are approaching, "Dragons are attacking..." he mutters.

Barnock steps forward, "Then we should go assist in defeating them!" he exclaims, drawing his new axe.

The Prospect shakes their head, "That will not be needed, the city isn't defenseless... In fact, I pity those Dragons for coming at such an inopportune time." he says ominously.

Barnock "What do you mean?"

...

The Prospect doesn't reply, simply watching as the group of Dragons get closer, and closer. They were huge and came in every colour variety you could imagine, blue, green, purple, and even some gold.

However, as soon as they reached a certain point, flashes of blue circuit-looking runes activated, from many hidden areas metallic objects shot from the ground and starts turning in the direction of the enemy.

Mathias "W-what is that... I can feel them draining the ambient magic!" he exclaims at this strange new development.

"The efforts of the Royal Scientists." the Prospect says simply as blue particles start rapidly being drawn into the barrel of the many Magic Artillery Cannons.

Once they'd all collected enough they unleashed their combined payload on the flying lizards... And boy, was it a spectical.

*ZOOOOOOOM!*

*BWOOOOOOOOOOM!*

The barrage of bright blue laser beams illuminated the ground, sky, and clouds, decimating anything they hit. Large holes were created in the clouds that was struck, and a similar phenomenon happened to the Dragons aswell.

The Dragons lucky enough to survive a few seconds released enraged, despairing, and fearful roars before eventually being shot down like the others.

Their smoking corpses fell towards the floor, creating craters where they each land and causing the ground to rumble. Fortunately, they didn't land on anyone or any buildings as the Magic Artillery had dispatched them rather quickly, quickly enough that they hadn't made it too far into Ichor's territory.

The group was all baffled as these events transpired before them, they hadn't realised how powerful Ichor truly was until now... They thought that most of its strength came from their army and people like Arch-Mage Harry and Solaire. This put everything in another perspective though, those Cannons didn't seem to be manned by anyone, meaning they could potentially build as many of them as they needed, especially with how dense the ambient magic of the region is.

Mathias "W-why do you need us to defeat Diablo again? Surely you could just send some of those Cannons to deal with the threat." he mutters, feeling as if he'd been outclassed by those Cannons.

The Prospect shrugs, "Don't know, probably because our Lord is too lazy to deal with it himself... That and he probably needs someone to watch his children while they have experience their first life or death combat."

Barnock sighs, "So were just babysitters... This is humiliating..."

Tyrael shakes his head, "Regardless of your thoughts and feelings, our duty is still the same. Defeat Diablo and help bring peace and justice to this world." he says, struggling to keep his own feelings of inadequacy internal...

Mathias "Hmph, let's just deal with Diablo, I'd like to return and find out how those "Cannons" function."

The Prospect nods and begins walking again, the alarms had turned off after the last Dragon's corpse hit the ground, and people were walking around as if everything were normal again... "Next stop, Potions." they state.

The group are led into Kaer Morhen itself, the beautiful white marble keep overlooking Ichor from its place directly next to the mountain. The place was heavily fortified with a lot of security personnel going keeping watch or patrolling back and forth.

Strangely, they noticed many young children with white hair running through the various courtyards, all with turquoise eyes... They assumed they must be related to King Reima in some way or another, though, the Prospect wouldn't answer who they were when asked about it.