"Loch-Dil-Har..." Deep within the jungle, Aron gazed at the skies above and muttered these words with furrowed eyebrows.
He had read about it before as they were coming to the islands but it was quite forgettable since not much on it was said in the first place aside from what it meant.
"Yet another unforeseen problem arises." Lady Rose's voice resounded from the pedestal of her scouter which was currently hovering beside Aron.
The announcing of Loch-Dil-Har meant Aron's plan to salvage the situation had been broken. If the tribes were to truly unite then it was very possible for the serpent to meet defeat making Aron and Lady Rose lose out entirely.
"It's problematic but we can work around it and still get that serpent for ourselves." Aron's expression returned to normal and he no longer gazed at the skies that had numerous Crown Rigars roaming.
"Our story so far remains firm, we came here for Jagu's sake so we'll just return to his clan's territory. It's unlikely they'll accept our help so you still need to lure it to destroy more settlements and reduce the number of their strong. Worst case scenario we make the serpent retreat." As much as Aron disliked having his plans come to ruin, he wouldn't give up once his mind was set.
Lady Rose had definitely peaked his interest when she mentioned all the knowledge they could gain from the serpent. After comparing pros and cons within his mind he reached a conclusion that the creature's body was more valuable than the standard members of his faction who would likely die in an all out confrontation.
"Galos Academy has strict laws against such a matter, more so in this case actually. The serpent is valuable but becoming hunted by the academy will restrict us in many ways." Lady Rose reminded but Aron remained unmoved and began walking away from Crown Rigar territory. "I've already put that into consideration."
Lady Rose's voice no longer resounded from the pedestal and the scouter simply followed Aron closely as he made his way back to what was formerly the Bull settlement.
There the scouter went ahead as he couldn't be seen with it. It dove underwater and left undetected while he went towards Jagu and Goovin.
Not surprisingly he found them quietly waiting in almost the same places that he had left them. Goovin still laid on the ground but a good amount of his skin had grown while Jagu slouched against some of the debris.
Jagu only looked at him and said nothing but Goovin had a strange air of arrogance around him in that moment. "I'm sure you heard what that declaration just now, your help isn't needed outsider. Leave now before you get embroiled into it." He warned but Aron completely ignored him and spoke only to Jagu.
"Let's go, the other clans look like they'll manage." Aron didn't even stop to glance at Goovin and just walked by. Jagu was internally wondering what Aron would do now but his face didn't display any hint of confusion, he simply followed along as if he was completely aware of Aron's plans.
...
It didn't take them all that long to reach the shore they had arrived at previously but this time they could clearly see the Sovereign hovering just a little bit further away from the island.
Upon boarding the Sovereign they found most of the crew awaiting them on the deck mostly aloof as to what was going on since they had also heard the declaration from the Crown Rigar leader but Lady Rose gave no explanation.
"Welcome back you two, mind filling us in on what's going on?" Jin was the first to step forward and bring up the issue that was on everyone's minds.
"We couldn't find the ruin but we came across an elf while roaming the island just before that creature appeared so we think she discovered the ruin and triggered this..."
"The objective after changed to warning Jagu's people but they had a falling out due to him coming with outsiders to the island. The declaration you heard is because the serpent has destroyed numerous settlements already and is a major threat."
As Aron mentioned the falling out, Jagu couldn't help but show some regret in his eyes but only for a moment. It was like Aron had told him, endure.
"So then what happens now? Do we just return?" Claudia asked curiously as this entire scenario felt rather odd to her, Aron wasn't the type to just give up in her eyes.
"No, for now we'll stay aboard the Sovereign and just monitor the situation for two main reasons. One is to ensure disaster doesn't befall Jagu's family and second is securing the body of that serpent, it may just give us a clue as to what we should do next because we're at a dead end at the moment." Aron explained in his usual tone, it looked so natural that it would be impossible to know he was lying unless one knew the circumstances beforehand.
Nothing much could be added after this so Aron ended there and walked over to Lady Rose before the two went into the airship interior together leaving the others to discuss the situation among themselves.
...
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As for the battle between the Crown Rigars and the serpent, this continued with only the Rigars suffering casualties and wounds.
The plan now had been to keep the serpent busy while waiting for backup from other clan's fighting forces but it also gave the young and old a chance to retreat deeper into the islands.
What they feared currently was that if the beast retreated then it would be far too hard to capture it even with the assistance of aquatic and semi aquatic Komi who weren't all that strong to begin with.
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Keeping the serpent at bay however proved to be far more challenging than they had anticipated. Those who weren't fast or agile enough suffered horrible deaths or injuries when exposed to the corrosive drizzle of venom it would spit out at certain intervals.
"Sir we can not go on like this much longer!" A clearly exhausted Crown Rigar called out to their leader while breathing very heavily.
The leader who was the largest one present simply looked down at the serpent with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows. He too looked clearly exhausted as he did far more than anyone else present.
"We can't leave either or it will only do worse, rotate with those who've rested! We can't allow this beast to go free after killing so many of our people!" The leader valiantly declared before flapping the large golden brown wings on his back and flying towards the practically unharmed serpent.
*Hisss!*
Seeing this attack the serpent once again opened it's mouth and let out it's corrosive venom which always came out like drizzles making it far much harder to avoid than a straight line shot as they were far to many particles.
"Tsk!" The proud leader clicked his tongue in irritation and halted midair only to fly back up at an incredible speed. No matter how much anyone tried they couldn't get close enough to the serpent.
Long ranged attacks from those who could use offensive spells also proved to be useless as they weren't powerful enough to even penetrate past it's scales.
"Dammit how long till they arrive!?" The leader asked with both worry and anger in his voice. More than half the comrades he had began the attack with had been either killed or gravely injured.
"Not long Sir! Look there I see lights." A young looking Crown Rigar panted heavily as he pointed in the far distance roughly four-five kilometers away.
Seeing this the leader felt a bit of hope and his spirit to fight reignited. "Alright, everyone attack in unison! Do not allow it to leave, just draw it's attention."
The leader came to accept that this force alone wasn't enough to kill the beast so attacks would only serve to risk making it retreat, what they needed to do now was keep it's interest in them long enough till the others arrived.
Four kilometers away... three more dead
Three kilometers away... five more dead
Two kilometers away... only six left
One kilometer away....
"Sir it's attacking again?!"
A wounded Crown Rigar warned but their leader had began to reach his limit and he could no longer fly fast enough to avoid the incoming attack.
As if ready to accept his fate he closed his eyes and awaited the attack....
*Hiss!*
"Argh!"
And so the attack came, blowing him down away to the ground with immense force. He opened his eyes and could feel a stinging pain along his arms and wings and saw tiny spots corroding but far from being fatal.
,m 'How-' he wondered before looking high up with widened eyes. He could no longer see any of his remaining comrades in the skies, just corroding feathers slowly falling to the ground.
The remaining six had all made a shield to protect their leader in the last moment, sacrificing themselves for the sake of their clan.
...
In that very moment, Aron stood on the deck of the Sovereign again with only Lady Rose beside. Using tremendous vision in conjunction with mana enabled him to see this scene far away although not as clear.
He showed a small smirk and muttered..."now." Immediately he said those words Lady Rose began making sharp gestures.
....
Back at the scene the leader of the Crown Rigar helplessly looked at the serpent expecting it to kill him next but it instead dove back into the water.
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Little did he know that it had began heading to the other settlements now that their main forces were so far away. Even if Yugar wanted to, he was too weakened to fly to them and warn them.
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