Chapter 82: Nord

With the fall of Andila, father and I made our way towards the Piya kingdom's second major city, Nord. According to my father, Nord was the second most populated city in the kingdom, right after the capital Onata. "With the humans that escaped, news of you coming should be spreading like wildfire, they will be ready for you this time," said father.

I nodded with a wide grin and replied. "Even better, perhaps this time It'll be more fun," I said, to which father chuckled and answered. "It's good to be enthusiastic, but never underestimate your enemy Aether, an animal is most dangerous when cornered, and that's especially true when It comes to the humans," He explained in a serious tone.

"Yes, father!" I nodded with a frown as I sensed the mood change a bit. 'Grandfather had also told me not to underestimate the humans, did something happen in the past?' I wondered. It was honestly quite hard for me to believe that humans could ever be a threat in the face of a dragon's strength, still as father mentioned, It was best to never underestimate an opponent.

And so, even though I did not hold them in high regard, I was still going to give it my all and hit them with everything I got. My eyes wandered to the ever-changing scene below, the Piya Kingdom was a mountainous country, with various peaks of all shapes and sizes all across the land.

'It's no wonder they use those oversized birds to travel, It's practically impossible to move about otherwise,' I noted. We were drawing closer to Nord when suddenly, father shot towards the clouds above where he disappeared.

His voice reverberated in my ears as he spoke. "We are almost at the borders of Nord, from here on you are on your own," He said. A frown made its way unto my face at that, this was the first time he left before the city was in view, this made me wonder. 'Did something happen?'

As if to answer my question, my scales suddenly tingled as a sense of danger washed over me. I hastily swerved to the left, narrowly avoiding an abnormally large spear. 'What the hell was that?!' I cursed, I squinted my eyes trying to spot where the attack came from.

I didn't even sense any bloodlust from the attack which almost made me miss It. A frown made its way unto my face, far ahead was a group of soldiers riding those oversized birds. The soldiers were not alone, a group of robbed mages accompanied them as they carried what seemed to be a giant crossbow.

'So that's what It was,' My frown deepened as I felt my blood boil in anger. 'I can't believe I missed that,' I was mad at them for daring to attack me, but more than all, I was mad at myself for almost falling for it. I was about to lunge forward to attack them when the small army hastily retreated with surprising nimbleness.

One moment they were here, the next they were already gone. 'No matter, they can run but they can't hide, the best they can do is fall back to the city,' I noted as I flapped my wings and made my way towards my second target, Nord.

Unlike Andila, Nord was situated on the ground, surrounded by mountains from all sides. Its position could be considered advantageous to defend from ground attack, but when It came to areal ones, It was simply a sitting duck.

As soon as I appeared, a large glowing shield suddenly appeared around the city. 'This one seems a bit more sturdy,' I noted. Trying to keep my distance, I scanned the city below while contemplating which approach I should use.

Andila was located on top of a giant waterfall, which meant water mana was abundant. Here, on the other hand, things were completely different. Just then, the sound of another giant spear breaking through the air reached my ears as I rapidly dodged, an enraged roar escaping my mouth.

'The range on those shits is insane,' I grumbled, It was truly annoying. I turned my gaze towards the edge of the city where a tall tower was situated, 'So that's where they put them,' I quickly scanned the area all the while keeping my attention on the giant crossbow.

'It looks like they only have one, so that means I just have to be careful and deal with It first,'

I flapped my wings, rising higher in the sky before I dived headfirst with my wings tucked by my side. The humans instantly shot another spear my way, yet I was too fast, the wind howled through my ears as my heart began to race in excitement.

The clear sky was suddenly filled with giant ice sickles that rushed alongside me as I made my way like an arrow towards the glowing shield. A large boom, followed by an ear-deafening explosion arose as I penetrated the glowing shield and landed in the middle of the city, causing massive cracks to appear on the ground.

Screams of pain and horror, filled my ears as I raised my head and unleashed a bloodthirsty roar. I glanced downwards at my bloodied palms which I used to break through the shield and then turned my attention to the area surrounding me. A few giant ice sickles had penetrated the city's defensive formation as well, some causing a few buildings to break, while others left a trail of mangled soldiers on the ground.

To my surprise, the guards this time seemed better trained than the ones back in Andila.they swiftly surrounded me from all sides, with their swords and shields at hand. I did not spot any civilians whatsoever, only soldiers. 'Did they evacuate them already?' I wondered. I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed, It had barely been one day since Andila had fallen, no matter what they shouldn't have had enough time to prepare.

'No matter, let's just finish this,'

Countless water balls, alongside several Ice sickles, suddenly appeared out of thin air and lunged towards the soldiers encircling me. A few fell immediately, yet to my surprise, a large number of them remained standing. I frowned as I glanced at their glowing shields that were somehow able to nullify my magic attacks.

'Interesting,'

"Archers! Attack!" My attention was instantly caught by the loud voice of what looked like the commander. A tall bald old man with an impressive grey beard stood at the back and was barking orders, two large twin swords were sheathed on his back.

At his order, a wave of glowing arrows seemed to blot out the sky as they shot towards me. I coldly harrumphed and summoned a water bubble that wrapped around my body, the arrows were unable to penetrate it and lost their momentum before they fell harmlessly on the ground.

Not giving them any time to act, I used my tail to clear out the area around me, forcing the soldiers back a few paces. Some of the unlucky ones were crushed and sent flying. Turning my attention back to the old commander, I shot forward appearing almost instantly by his side, and slashed at him with my claws.

To my astonishment, the old man moved with surprising grace as he effortlessly dodged my strike. His men were not so lucky as their screams echoed through the air. He turned to glare at me, before slowly moving his hand and unsheathing his swords.

"Come!"