Chp.28: The dragon is broken free!

Thornag hadn't expected anything significant to happen that day. At least, nothing of significance had happened so far. Everything had seemed normal: the king had fulfilled his duties as he did every day, he had met his ministers, he had studied some plans for the future, and then, as had happened every day for a year, he had gone to the arena to see the dragon fight. It had been a week since the last time, as he had promised the beast, and it seemed that Marcus was eager to admire the show again and see what trick the dragon would come up with this time to hide his secrets. It was almost a routine now, so much so that Thornag had grown accustomed to adding this event to his daily routine.

Of course, Marcus wasn't doing it just for his own amusement, or to discover the dragon's secrets. Going to the arena matches was a good way to make the people feel close to their ruler. Since thousands of people were in the arena every day, they continually saw that the king was there, and felt closer to him. This was a clever propaganda means to improve his image which, while already good, was still better to aspire to more and more. People seeing him there would think he was interested in the show, just as they were, and therefore they would see him as more like them, more friendly.

Thornag hadn't expected anything new to happen that day. However, when the dragon entered the arena, he noticed that he seemed more nervous than usual. But he hadn't had time to wonder why; before the fight could begin, a roar had echoed from outside the arena. And then another, and another.

The people in the stands clearly got scared and started running towards the exits. Thornag stood in front of the king and used his divine power to create a barrier around them, and exclaimed: "Your majesty, follow me! I will get you to safety!"

For once, Marcus didn't object to her decision. Thornag grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away, followed by at least a dozen other level adamantium guards. As they ran towards one of the arena's exits, another series of explosions rang out in the sky, but this time they came from a different direction. Thornag quickly escorted the king out of the arena, where his carriage was already waiting for him; it was a special carriage, each component of which was enchanted to be virtually impossible to break. Around it were more level adamantium soldiers. It was practically a walking fortress. Inside, the king would be safe.

As soon as Marcus was inside, Thormag immediately established a perimeter around the carriage. No one was to come near, not until they figured out what was going on. Around them, people continued to flee, often trampling each other and seeking refuge in their homes. They were confused, not knowing whether or not they were in danger, and having no idea what to do.

Finally a soldier on horseback reached the carriage. It was a courier, a messenger who traveled around the city as soon as an emergency occurred to notify the appropriate authorities. As soon as he saw him through the glass of the carriage, Marcus opened the door, heedless of the danger, and asked: "What's going on?"

"Your Majesty, you must go back inside!" Thornag exclaimed.

"I'll go back inside in when I know what's going on in my capital!" Marcus answered, then looked at the courier. "Speak! What is it about?"

The courier dismounted and bowed: "Your Majesty, both the royal palace and the Academy of Magic are under attack"

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "By whom?"

"We don't know" the courier replied. "But they are dangerous. They attacked the academy first, and Miss Hara rushed to stop them, but somehow the attackers are managing to hold her off. As for the royal palace, they managed to get close without anyone noticing and have cut to pieces all the soldiers defending it, and eliminate anyone who dares to approach"

"The queen, the prince and the princess?" the king asked.

"All the royal family is safe, sire. They are in Duke Rycon's villa, far from the battlefield. But there are many ministers trapped in the royal palace" the courier answered.

Marcus squeezed the carriage door, then looked at Thornag: "Hara will take care of the academy. You go to the palace"

Thornag shook his head violently, "Your Majesty, I can't! I have to protect you!"

"Thornag, the ministers trapped in the palace are the ones who keep this kingdom going! If we lose them, the entire nation will suffer!" Marcus yelled. "You go. I have enough escort and defenses. I will go to my wife and children, at my father-in-law's house, and make sure they are safe. You save the palace! Go!"

Thornag inspired deeply. That was the first time he had to leave the king unsupervised. Since there were three legendary levels in Jurao Kingdom, at least one of them was always with the ruler, but now for the first time there couldn't be even one. While there were many level adamantium soldiers defending it, they couldn't hold a candle to a legendary level. "Your Majesty..."

"This is an order, Thornag!" Marcus said in an extremely authoritative voice. The man understood that the king would not accept further objections, so he reluctantly convinced himself and started running towards the royal palace. By channeling his divine power into his legs, he could outrun any horse.

Marcus watched him disappear down the street, then he yelled at the courier: "You! Contact immediately the city guard, the adventurers' guild, and any other organization that possesses men capable of using weapons! Tell them to deploy all their forces to patrol roads!"

"Yes, sir!" exclaimed the courier, and then immediately jumped on his horse and ran in the indicated directions.

The king looked at the captain of his guards. "Escort me to Duke Rycon's house! I have to make sure that the royal family is really safe! As soon as we get there, establish a perimeter and make sure nothing can get in or out!"

"We will, Your Majesty!" the captain answered, and then started yelling orders to his men. Marcus closed the carriage door and sealed himself inside. Through the glass, he could see the arena's magical barrier rise and seal off the now evacuated building, as required by the security protocol. The carriage quickly began to move towards the noble district.

Inside the arena, there were no spectators left: all of them had fled or had been escorted towards the exit by the guards. As soon as the building was completely cleared, the barrier was put up to prevent anyone trying to escape by taking advantage of the situation. Haku had remained motionless in the center of the arena, as if he were oblivious to what had happened up to that moment. Some guards approached him. "Dragon! Go back to the cage now!" they ordered him.

But to their surprise, Haku raised his torso and showed what was hidden on his chest: a large rune engraved on his scales. Before they could stop him, Haku bit off his finger drawing some blood and struck the rune, which exploded into a strong light. The guards dodged to avoid being hit, but some couldn't help it. When the light faded, Haku grabbed the collar of submission and, to everyone's surprise, he snatched it off and threw it to the ground, then he glared at them malevolently. "Excuse me, what were you saying?" he asked. And without even waiting for an answer, he leapt at the nearest guard and tore him apart with his teeth.

"Emergency! Emergency!" the other guards yelled using some magical items similar to the one the commentator used to make himself heard throughout the building. "The dragon has broken free!"

Haku didn't even listen to them; he lifted his lips revealing several runes hidden beneath them, and he touched one with his tongue. Flames erupted in every direction and burned everything in their path. Though the guards used their mana to defend themselves, Haku took advantage of the fire and smoke to sneak up and jump at their throats to tear them apart. However, he wasted no time in killing all the guards: he knew that many more would arrive soon, and then he would be overwhelmed. He was aiming for another goal.

Using the runes and his brute strength, he fought his way through his opponents and reached the opposite gate, the one where the beasts normally came from. He charged it with all his strength and broke through the bars as if they were made of sugar. From there he descended a tunnel and soon found himself in a huge room full of cages containing tigers, lions, wolves, bears, wild boars and other ferocious creatures. They all screeched at the sight of the dragon, recognizing him as a potential danger.

Haku approached the cages and broke through them one by one with his claws. The beasts inside them began to crowd near the hole, but they couldn't get out due to their collars of submission. Haku opened all the cages, and then used the nullification rune again, finally freeing the animals. As soon as they were able to move at will, the beasts ran out of their cages and rushed towards the only way out they knew, which was the main gate. Haku followed closely behind them, partially forcing them to go in that direction; whenever someone seemed to be going the wrong way or wanted to go back, he directed them outward again, like a sheepdog with the sheep.

Alerted by their companions' cry for help, guards from all over the arena were rapidly converging on his position. If Haku had faced them alone, surely he would have been defeated in a few minutes. Even though the guards had a strength level no higher than level diamond, they were still very numerous. Haku using the runes could have knocked down some, but not all. But when the guards faced the huge charge of animals that Haku had released, they were immediately forced back. Driven by survival instinct, the beasts immediately attacked the enemy they deemed to be more dangerous, the humans. A fierce fight between the animals and the guards began in the arena.

Haku stood almost to the side, handling everything like a puppeteer. After all, that was what he did best: having others fight his battles and then being the only one to enjoy the results. Using the invisibility rune he had disappeared from sight and in doing so he would sneak up on the strongest guards and kill them by biting their heads off before they were aware of his presence. Because of all the free animals, no one had time to notice that the dragon was gone. Also, the few times that the beasts seemed to want to fight each other, Haku created the illusion of some guards attacking them to make them stop and focus exclusively on the humans.

Though several of the guards fell to the onslaught of the beasts and Haku's surprise attacks, it was clear that the outcome of the battle was already decided. The guards were too numerous and better equipped than the animals, and in fact killed dozens of them. But either way, most of the guards would surely be gone before they could stop the beasts completely… and that would cause every remaining guard in the entire arena to rush over to help them. Just like Haku wanted.

Seeing that the beasts were rapidly dwindling, he decided it was time to go into battle himself. He immediately canceled the rune of invisibility and roared, drawing attention to himself, then he charged at some guards and shredded them with his claws. This distracted their companions, and the remaining beasts took the opportunity to act and reap more victims. Haku moved quickly in every direction, killing and slashing everything he found, using any weapon he had in his possession, from runes to claws to teeth to even the weapons he snatched from corpses along the way.

Very soon, all the remaining beasts were killed and only he was left, alone against all the survivors. Though most of the guards had already been killed, several dozen still remained. But Haku didn't care: he had already achieved his goal, to focus the attention of the whole arena on him. Now he just had to hold on until Darbi and Zamor made their move.