Feelings of Despair

[Outskirts of E-Rantel]

A well-built man was watching the destruction of E-Rantel from afar, burning in the purple flames with eyes brimming with tears. He slowly mumbles something.

"We had trained hard to fulfil our dreams as adventurers climbing the ranks after countless close brushes with death, but after finally being recognized as mithril rank, you all left me alone."

He was one of the members of the mithril rank adventurer group Kralgra. Like him, many other adventurer groups had lost their party members or had been completely wiped out. One of such magic casters said with tears welled up in her eyes.

"Those filthy Nobles, abandoning their subjects to die. If I see that man again, I'll blow up his head in retaliation for my sister."

All the Nobles had already fled to neighbouring cities with few soldiers and, the remaining soldiers were already annihilated. A few hundred E-Rantel refugees were being protected by leftover adventurers. After hours of screaming, running, and fighting, they were resting on the grassland far away from E-Rantel.

[Carne Village]

The villagers of Carne Village were awakened in the middle of the night by a scream. Enri Emmot, who was sleeping with her younger sister, woke up startled and went outside to take a look. The scene nearly took the soul out of her body. A group of skeletons were gushing the blood out of the crying villagers.

A rusty bone sword sliced the hand of one of the villagers "Ahh.. Help.." and soon another hammer came for his head.

"Ack..."

His head was smashed into pieces, while other villagers were also in same condition. This scene completely terrified Enri. Her beautiful face turned ugly in an instant. She immediately ran to where the village chief was, carrying her younger sister on her back.

"Ch.. Chief, what's going on?" Enri asked while trembling in her feet.

"It.. It appears that a group of over 50 skeleton warriors has attacked the village coming from the direction of E-Rantel."

She could also see the sky-high purple flames erupting in the direction of E-Rantel in the clear night sky. The scenery was beautiful, a spectacle of purple flames overflowing in the starry sky. But, such a scenery created by burning the hundreds of human lives and their city.

"If only lord Gown was here." One of the villagers said while falling to his knees, his eyes welling up with tears of horror. He was also a miserable one, who had just lost his wife and children. But, he didn't even had the time to grief about that, he was already losing his mind. The fear completely overshadowed his feeling of losing his family members.

Seeing such a gruesome sight, anyone would lose their resolve, only to wail in terror. Many villagers were also in the same state of mind. In that moment of despair, Enri suddenly remembered something and pulled a horn from her waist. Holding it with her trembling hands, she blew it loudly. A second later, the horn vanished, but nothing appeared.

"Why isn't anything happening?" asked the village chief. He was supporting his wife, who had been injured while running from the skeletons. Then a group of skeletons noticed them and started to attack. The rusty sword brutally severed one arm of the village chief.

"Thkk.. Ahhhhh....." The village chief screamed in pain, and his wife collapsed. Enri's little sister cried as she saw this, and Enri crumpled on the ground with a pale face. The skeleton then raised its sword to kill them, but a group of three goblins appeared out of nowhere and cut them down.

"We apologize for being late, captain Enri." said one of the goblins. The terrified Enri asked cautiously,

"Wh.. Who are you?"

"Captain Enri, we are the elites of Black Shadow. A group of 30 goblin soldiers are clearing these skeletons, led by vice-captain Zain and a healer goblin is heading towards us." reported the newly arrived Black Shadow leader.

"O..Okay." The shaking Enri said and thought in her mind.

'This must be the effect of that horn. Lord Ainz protected me, my sister and the village again. I should also do my duty as the one trusted by lord Ainz, by living up to his expectations.'

She was given those horns as a reward for her resolve. So, how could she lose her mind in fear and betray the expectations of her saviour. She stood up with her sister supporting her trembling body and ordered the goblins to be dispatched.

"You stay here and wait for the healer to heal village chief. And you two lead the way to the vice-captain."

The goblins nodded and followed her words accordingly.

[Re-Estize Kingdom's Military March]

"When are we going to reach the outskirts of E-Rantel?" One of the soldiers asked. Then suddenly, Gazef shouted in a loud voice.

"Soldiers, be vigilant. We're getting close to our destination."

Shortly after, they could see E-Rantel city engulfed in purple flames. From there, E-Rantel appeared to be a one-foot-long piece of burning wood with a skeletal dragon standing on top of it. Soldiers began to tremble in fear as they witnessed this.

"Wha.. What is that?"

"Dra.. Skeletal Dragon armed with magic equipment?"

The Skeletal Dragon was clad in golden armour, and a magical seal was floating on its back. It was firing purple flames and burning the cooled down buildings again. Azuth, who was on the side of Gazef, shouted in a loud voice.

"Fear not. We're the proud citizens of the Kingdom. We will save our Kingdom from this calamity." Then, he whispered to Gazef,

"It's more serious than we thought."

"Yeah. That magic armour and that large seal on its back are giving me a bad feeling." Evileye said in a worried tone.

"Two skeletal dragons were reported, right? Where is the other one?" Gazef who was observing the situation opened his mouth to ask. To which Gagaran replied.

"It might be behind the buildings."

"Alright! Let's keep going; we might find the survivors. Soldiers, Forward." said Gazef with an uneasy complexion, riding his horse forward. All the soldiers were in the same conditions as they didn't know if they could survive this battle. After a few minutes, one of the soldiers who had been sent ahead to look for the survivors reported.

"Head warrior Stronoff, A group of hundreds of people are on the grassland a few minutes ahead."

"Alright! Soldiers, speed up." shouted Gazef Stronoff, loud enough for all the leading nobles to hear.

They arrived at the grassland a few minutes later, and this time Princess Renner took the lead in reassuring the terrified citizens.

"I'm Princess Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself. Don't worry. We've gathered a large number of soldiers, and some of them will safely accompany you to a safe location."

She was popular and widely known as the Golden Princess, so her words and the number of soldiers behind her reassured the survivors. The survivors rejoiced, and an adventurer came forward.

"My name is Kane, and I'm a member of the mithril rank adventurer party Kralgra. I can tell you a little bit about those skeletal dragons."

"Thank you for your help, Kane." Princess said with a slight smile.

The citizens of E-Rantel were then led back to the Royal Capital, and the adventures were asked to assist in providing information. Injured people who couldn't be cured with magic in a short time were immediately sent to nearby cities, and temporary camps were set up on the grassland.

[Inside one of the camps]

Princess Renner was standing in front, and Gazef to her right. A representative from each of the Royal and Noble factions were present there. Outside the camp, the guild master managed the adventurers based on their rank. Blue Rose and Red Corps were inside the camp due to their nobility. Then, the man from before started explaining,

"It was like something out of a nightmare. I was walking with my party members when a giant dragon with bones only clad in golden armour emerged from the ground and began to breathe purple fire from its mouth. In a matter of seconds, it killed hundreds of people, and chaos spread throughout the city." He stopped for a while. His face was turning ugly as he remembered the scene. He continued with a sour tone.

"Then, all the available soldiers started to manage the panic, and we were called in front of the guild house to calm things down. While the conversation was going on, thousands of skeletons began to arise behind the dragon's leg and quickly enveloped the whole city. We fought the skeletons; they were easy to destroy, but we were outnumbered. When we tried to fight the dragon, we couldn't even scratch it." He paused once more to let his anger and fear subside before continuing.

"After attacking for around 15 minutes, we deduced that it has high magical resistance and is physically sturdy due to its armour. After the countless physical attack and the sacrifice of a few adventurers, a bone fell from its head. But it quickly regenerated, and we were forced to evacuate the town because we couldn't stop it. All.. all of my party members were killed during the evacuation of the town."

All the people present there were silent. Their expression was resembling that of a mouse trapped beneath a large stone, ready to be crushed. They were all thinking of what to do when Kane spoke again, filling them with despair.

"Then the main threat appeared... A larger bony dragon than the previous dragon emerged from the ground, and a magical seal was forming in front of its head. As a result, a bolt of lightning struck the city... destroying the heart of the city before hiding beneath the ground."

Now that they all knew where the second skeletal dragon had gone, it wasn't a happy moment. This threat was on the level of annihilating their entire country. Fear started to show clearly on most of their faces; only Princess, Gazef and Evileye remained calm, but their heads were filled with all kinds of thoughts. Then, all of them gradually calmed down and started to plan what action they should take.