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The huge form of the captain of the guards stood silently in the stadium, gazing at the dragons with a dead face. Strike was thrown for a moment by the new variable but quickly recovered.

"Voltus, Rentor, take him down," he roared, Flash Armor charging with energy. "I'll handle Nu."

Rentor spun his spear around, bringing it forward. At the same time, his partner clenched his fist, causing dark clouds to appear overhead.

Teilion said nothing, instead choosing to run at Rentor directly. Surprised by the abrupt attack, he slammed his tower shield into the ground and braced.

The captain slammed into the shield like a train, blasting him away with tremendous force. Rentor skidded on the ground and sprang back up. Teilion jumped into the air, covering the distance between them instantly, and smashed his fist downwards. Rentor's eyes widened and he brought his shield up to cover his head.

CRASH!

A massive explosion rippled through the stadium, knocking Voltus off of his feet. Rentor strained, face tight with exertion, as he tried to resist the immense power hitting his shield. His arms trembled and he shook in shock.

"Impossible, how is he so strong? Dragons have incredible reserves of strength, but I can't do anything! What type of mage is he?"

Mr. Teilion noticed Rentor's loss of concentration and took the advantage to hit him with another blow, swatting him into the side of the stadium. He turned to Voltus, only to get hit with a flurry of lightning arrows to the face. Blocking the magic with his hands, the captain kicked off the ground and crashed towards the dragon, but Voltus had already spread his wings and flashed out of range, charging another spell in the process.

Strike was engaging Nu, or rather, he was trying to engage Nu.

"Alright, what's going on?" the general thought as he dodged a blast of spatial magic for the fifth time in a row. "This is ridiculous."

He struck out again, but the Headmaster didn't even try to move aside. Instead, the attack passed straight through his body as though it didn't even exist. Nu took the opportunity to sneak in an extra attack, materializing a block of condensed space to slam Strike into the ground.

The dragon slowly got up from the ground, shaking the rock off of his armor, and considered his opponent again.

"He's a Celestial mage that specializes in spatial attacks. Gah, I wish this was just someone I could punch instead of having to out-think. That's Deluge's area!"

Being the practical embodiment of lightning, Strike was eerily similar to Delta with his policy of "zap first, think later". Of course, he was a bit smarter than the average Elementalist, as he was a dragon, but that didn't change his base nature.

"If targeted attacks don't work, perhaps in an area..? Eh, worth a shot."

Strands of electricity and magic formed around Strike before threading themselves together. A terrifying pressure suddenly appeared, causing the other dragons to look over and then leap away.

"Arclight Core!"

The surrounding air vaporized in a blinding flash. A massive chunk of the stadium floor, as well as a part of the wall, disappeared instantly, and a deafening BOOM! hit the ears of the observers.

Strike glanced up once the dust had cleared but cursed when he realized that Nu was hovering in his original position, completely unharmed.

"Alright, how the hell is he doing that?" the Dragon General grumbled to himself. "Not even a Demon Lord would have been able to escape that attack unscathed."

"Sir, maybe he's using a spell to seal off space," Rentor roared out as he climbed out of the wall. "That might be the reason why all of your attacks are passing straight through him!"

The dragon reengaged Mr. Teilion, taking the pressure off of Voltus for the moment, and Strike fell back, thinking about the possibility of such a thing.

"I'd say that you're right, but such a spell should be monstrously unstable. If it was Lord Eternius, then fine, but even a Celestial master shouldn't be able to maintain it for longer than a minute. Unless..."

He looked over at the captain of the guard, who was currently pummeling Rentor's shield, and the dots clicked.

Strike leaped into the air, crashing down right next to Mr. Teilion. The captain was blown away, temporarily disabled, while the General turned to his soldiers.

"Voltus, maintain firepower. Rentor, disengage and block all incoming attacks from Nu. Don't let him interfere."

Behind them, Mr. Teilion climbed to his feet, still lacking any form of expression on his face.

Strike charged his body with lightning. "If my guess is right, there's some sort of connection between Nu's invulnerability and the captain. Possibly a seal or something. Either way, he goes down now. Clear?"

"Crystal!" the dragons chorused.

"Good," Strike said, giving a toothy grin. "Don't hold anything back! Velocitous Electricae!"

A roar echoed through the stadium and Strike vanished with a shimmer and crackle. At the same time, Voltus spread his wings and took to the sky, preparing to rain down lightning.

Nu laughed. "Just because you think you've discovered the secret to my little trick doesn't mean you'll have the capability to beat me. Mr. Teilion, crush them!"

---

The situation out near the escape vessels was worsening with each minute. The vast majority of the students were completely unconscious, lying on the ground and in severe danger of being killed by a beast of wayward attack. James spotted that exact scenario being played out as an Oucu opened its mouth and fired out a beam of white energy at a young girl. James blocked a blow from a horn with his swords and rushed across the battlefield. Sliding to a stop in front of her, he spun one of his blades, creating a wall of earth that absorbed the blast.

"These are feeling more and more natural," he thought, looking down at his weapons. "However..."

His blades were riddled with dents and scratches, looking like they were close to falling apart at any moment.

James cursed. "I wish I had learned how to make my own swords before this had started. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in this predicament."

A bellow snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the Oucu charging toward him.

"Ah, nuts!"

James spun around and ran, the beast blasting after him, tearing up the ground. The boy tripped over the devastated landscape several times, losing ground, before finally closing his eyes. Sweat rolled over his forehead from his efforts and he yelled, jabbing a sword forward. Rocks rose up and began to float in the sky, forming a path. James ran into the sky, following the route he had constructed, although with every minute he felt his control slipping.

Below, the Oucu was still chasing him, now furious that its prey seemed more out of reach. Firing more burst of energy, it blasted holes through the path, causing James to stumble but continue running.

His control faltered suddenly, causing the entire floating bridge to twist to one side. James was sent skidding, feet scrambling for purchase as he slid down the now-steep rocks. He reached for his mental energies, trying to regain his concentration, but failed. He had used too much magic in earlier sections of the fight and needed a moment to rest. Unfortunately, he didn't have that opportunity.

James cried out as he caught himself on the lip of the rocks as they finished twisting into a vertical position. The corrupted down below stopped to look up at him, roaring in anger. Several beams of energy shot by him, missing only by a hair. At the same time, parts of the bridge began to fall back down to the ground.

James looked around frantically, hanging on with the remainder of his arm strength. He couldn't see anything around that could save him and, for one of the first times during his whole year's worth of adventure, he felt the weight of death pressing down.

"Come on. Come on! There's got to be something, anything!" the boy gasped as he felt his fingers loosen. He strained, trying to force out another spell, but his mind was too disorganized to think straight. A blast from the Oucu hit the rock directly above his hand and shattered it, sending James tumbling down.

"AHHHH!"

"I've got you, kid!"

A figure swooped out of the sky and snatched James up. He was pulled tightly to an armored chest as his savior accelerated, carrying him higher. James finally shook off his shock at his brush with death and tried to get a grasp of his surroundings, but gasped when he realized he was at least a hundred feet above the ground. Trying to spin around to see who was holding him, he was suddenly squeezed tightly by multiple arms.

"I'd advise that you not do that. Otherwise, I might drop you."

James' mouth fell open. "Captain Aur!"

"It looks like you and your friends are in particularly bad trouble. Why didn't you signal?"

"I... I think we forgot about the communicators in the chaos?" James admitted a bit sheepishly.

He couldn't see, but he thought that Aur was rolling his eyes right about now.

"Well, it's a good thing that we noticed on our own. Let's save your friends, then, before anything gets worse."

"Wait! There's a tremendous amount of Void energy around the school! You guys could die!"

"We know," the captain said. "Don't worry, we've accounted for that."

Above them, the clouds parted to reveal the huge beetle form of Captain Foh. But that wasn't what was astonishing. On top of the Ikirian's back was the eldest Queen, hands pressed together like she was giving a prayer.

"Come, everyone. We rise to defeat the evil that spreads across our world today!"

She spread her arms and a fleet of Ikirian soldiers flew out of the clouds, hands glowing with light. A shield of energy spread out to envelope all of them, a protective force that repelled the Void's influence and power.

"Protect the students and cleanse the corrupted. Captains, you have command."

"Yes, my Queen! To arms!"

As the Ikirian entered into battle, flying in to aid the students and masters, Aur carried James over to where Lydia was hiding. When she saw them approach, she jumped out and ran over.

"I thought you were done for! I saw you fall and... and... never do that again!"

"Sorry," James said, rubbing his head. "Next time I won't be so reckless."

"No, for sure you won't be!" Lydia said, hitting him on the head. She then turned to Aur. "Thank you so much for showing up. Your timing couldn't have been better."

"Of course."

"Lydia, I'd like you to go with the Ikirian," James said after a brief moment of silence.

"Why, aren't you coming?" she asked.

"Well... no. I need to go and find Algon and Delta."

"You can't! You have no idea where they are and besides, you can't work up the mental energy to cast a single spell right now. Don't be ridiculous; you're not going anywhere."

James wasn't budging, though. "I have to. Otherwise..."

"Go ask the masters! Or maybe the Ikirian can search the school!"

James shook his head. "The masters are busy taking care of the students, even with the Ikirians' help."

"And as much as I'd like to offer my assistance, we cannot go any closer to the school. The Void fluctuations are much stronger there and would tear our defense to shreds."

"Gah!" Lydia screamed and stomped around before quieting. She bit her lip and sighed. "Fine, go. But you have to stay out of trouble. And come back as quickly as possible! And here, take this!"

She tossed over her bracelet. "I'll be leaving the battlefield, so I won't need it anymore. Keep in case you do."

"One last thing before you leave," Aur suddenly said, stopping James in his tracks.

"Yes?"

"Here." The Ikirian raised a hand and a beam of light penetrated James' forehead. Instantly, his thoughts cleared up and his mind became more focused. "An extra gift. That should give you back your ability to cast magic, at least for a short time. Don't overuse it, however, or it will backfire."

"I got it," James said, smiling. "Thank you."

The pair watched him turn and dash away, quickly vanishing into the dust and debris of the outer buildings.

"Please answer honestly, do you think he'll be alright?" Lydia asked as Aur stepped toward her.

"From what I have seen from him," the Ikirian said as they lifted off. "He should be fine as long as he doesn't take any risks or do anything too unwise."

"That's what I was afraid of," Lydia said, looking over the school. "At least it's not Delta we're talking about. Then we'd be in trouble."

---

Farther away, in the center of the school, a bolt of lightning was ripped from the sky and crashed down. It hit its target successfully, tearing a hole in the stadium floor, and sent dust flying everywhere.

"Voltus, confirm target," Strike said, peering around.

"Behind you, Sir!"

A form rose up and smashed down. Caught off guard, the Dragon General turned to flee, but a sudden fluctuation of space locked him in place.

"Sir!" Rentor cried out.

An explosion cleared the air with a boom, revealed Strike barely holding on as Mr. Teilion pressed down. He growled and strained, but wasn't able to make any significant progress.

"Gah, I wish Globe was here instead of me. He would have made this a lot easier!"

Strike sucked in a slight breath causing Nu to look over as he sensed something odd. Then, the dragon opened his mouth and unleashed a devastating roar.

Mr. Teilion was sent flying by the absolute wave of sound, something that could pulverize an entire block of buildings. Strike panted for a moment, letting his energy recover slightly, and then took in a much larger gulp of air. His chest puffed up and the iris of his eyes glowed a brilliant yellow.

"Lord's Attribute: DIVINE LIGHTNING!"

A laser beam of crackling energy shot out in the direction that Mr. Teilion had flown. It pierced everything, shooting through the stadium wall, and carried out into space until it wasn't visible anymore.

Strike fell to the ground, wincing as he felt the magic empty out of his body.

"I haven't felt this tired in ages," he thought. "Initially I thought we were going to be fine against a basic Spatial Mage, but now I'm not so sure. His unorthodox methods and this blasted energy-draining spell are making this abnormally difficult. I'm almost wishing that I had requested the aid of one of my siblings... like THAT idiot had suggested."

Strike let out a groan. "I hate it when he's right."

The General pulled himself back up and looked around to see that a good chunk of the stadium was now in ruins.

"Rentor, how is the state of Nu's spell? Can you damage him now?"

The dragon blocked a spatial blast and hefted a lightning spear, switching from a defensive stance to an offensive one for the first time in quite a while. He hurled his spell, but it did not damage and passed right through the snake, causing him to laugh.

"Damn, that guard's still alive?!?" Strike growled, turned to face the destruction he had caused. "How is that possible? I know for certain that that spell would have even caused a Demon Lord to fear for his life!"

Mr. Teilion rose again from the rubble, still with an expressionless face. However, to the veritable shock of each of the dragons, he possessed a massive hole through the center of his body that went all the way through. There was no blood though, or any internal organs. Instead, his body appeared to be made of a solid grey substance that occasionally sparkled with light.

"What the...?"

"He's not alive!" Strike cried, eyes flashing with understanding. "He's a construct, a golem!"

"So then what do we do?"

Strike paused for a moment. "Rentor, maintain your position. Voltus, there must be something within a short-range keeping the captain supplied with magic. Seek and destroy."

"Got it, sir!"

Voltus flapped his wings and zipped off with a crackle, flying over the edge of the stadium and disappearing from sight. Nu snarled and threw out a spatial blast, but it was blocked by Rentor.

"Regardless of what you try to do, it won't work," the snake hissed angrily. "After all, the spell is almost complete and when that happens, even the gods would have a hard time stopping me."

He let out a cry. Mr. Teilion's body suddenly seized and pulsed with white energy before his wound sealed over completely.

Nu pointed his tail at the remaining dragons. "Destroy them!"

Mr. Teilion unleashed a punch that caused a blast of power to instantly cross the battleground. Strike blurred to the side and the wall behind him crumbled to dust. He narrowed his eyes.

"Even before, the golem was a problem. Now, it looks like he's getting some assistance."

The captain charged, smashing apart any obstacle in his way. Strike chose not to meet him head-on, instead accelerating and circling around, analyzing the situation.

"There!"

He dived forward, truly shifting into his signature attack style for the first time in the fight.

"1st Gear, Electric Tempo!"

Every Dragon General possessed their own unique way of fighting, developed over the billions of years since the fight with Lord Iter. Whether they used magical attacks, long-range, or overwhelming force, each was incredibly distinctive and represented the pinnacle of a respective element. Strike was the Lord of Lightning, and his kickboxing style Electric Tempo was renowned for its speed and precision. Strike was famous for not using any weapons, only relying on fists charged with lightning, instead making use of absolute speed to deliver attacks that couldn't be dodged and possessed enough combined power to topple mountains.

Unfortunately, any other Dragon General would have been better in the current situation. Mr. Teilion, being a golem, was largely resistant to the lightning coating each attack and could repair himself incredibly quickly. Against any other opponent, Strike would have shut them down instantly, but against an inanimate object, he could only be significantly suppressed.

"Gah, Nu's making it impossible for me to deal any damage." The dragon groaned silently and thanked the universe that none of his siblings were there to see his predicament. "Rentor, switch!"

The dragon blocked a blast from Nu and threw his shield up into the air. Lightning spears formed in both of his hands. "Grand Barrage!"

Rentor began to hurl spear after spear at the captain while Strike retreated. Nu attempted to interrupt him, but a corona of energy surrounded his body and blocked the attacks.

Nu hissed in anger and swung his head over to check on the progress of his spell. "75% done. Only a short while longer before the universe witnesses the power of a godly artifact."

He smiled coldly and let out a piercing hiss that rippled through the fabric of space. Rentor and Strike suddenly found themselves locked down as the space around them turned to concrete.

"I've conserved my energy over the course of the fight and have now recovered enough to at least use this last major spell. Now die!"

Mr. Teilion abruptly stopped moving and his skin began to shift and glow a bluish-green.

"Not good!" Strike had just enough time to mutter before an enormous explosion lit the entire stadium, sending a blast of power into the sky. It was so large that even the Ikirian, who had finished fighting the beasts and were helping with the evacuation, turned to look in concern for a moment.

Nu laughed. "Well, it turns out killing a Dragon General is quite easy. I wonder why no one else has done it before?"

Thick smoke covered the battlefield and the stadium was in complete shambles. The ground looked like it had been pounded by meteors.

"Now, time to finish this and gain absolute power!" Nu cried, raising his head into the sky.

A lightning bolt crashed down suddenly, causing him to swing his head around.

"What!?!"

The smoke was cleared by a blast of power and revealed Strike standing next to Rentor. The Dragon General had a very, very angry look on his face. Slightly farther away, the rubble cracked aside as Mr. Teilion climbed to his feet, still alive, but looking like he would be blown to pieces by the slightest bit of wind.

"It takes me a while to recover my magic when I use an incredibly strong spell," Strike growled. "Usually, only a Demon Lord can force this out of me. Be at least a little happy you took it this far."

He raised his hand and lightning coalesced around his form. The air trembled and twisted, surging with magic that was sucked towards the dragon. A sigil appeared in his palm, endlessly complex, and before the eyes of all present took physical form.

"Using sigil in three dimensions," Nu with a whisper. "God magic." He gulped.

Rentor backed up and spread his wings, flying away as fast as he could. Strike looked on with a calm gaze, now seeming to gain a bearing that was a thousand times older and stronger than his original appearance.

"This is one spell that mortals do not usually get to witness."

He formed a seal with his hands, fingers touching, before pressing his palms together. The ground shattered under his feet as power blasted up. Strike's eyes and scales lit up.

"Ultimate: ARCLIGHT APOTHEOSIS!"

The sigil burst and an explosion of light cascaded up to create a silhouette of a gigantic dragon's claw, molded from threads of lightning and magic. Strike raised his hand, letting it fall, and the claw descended, bringing with it a calamity.

Lightning blasted out of the stadium, nearly blinding everyone who was evacuating.

"What is that?" Lydia gasped, completely overwhelmed by the power she was feeling.

"I don't know," Aur said. "But it's a thousand times stronger than anything I've felt before."

"Simple," a voice rang out. They looked over to see the Queen staring intently at the stadium. "It is comparable to power that has been felt only by my ancestors, that of Master Dioul. That is the unleashed power of a god."

Under the massive pressure exploding outward, the walls of the stadium began to fracture and split. Soon, the entire school was shaking and that was especially astonishing considering that Strike had specifically aimed to only target one thing and was constraining his power to avoid wide-scale devastation.

After what seemed like an eternity, the magical might faded and revealed the ruined shell of the arena. The area around it was still buzzing with energy and all of the observers could only dream about what the inside might look like.

Strike fell to one knee, panting.

"That required a lot more energy than I had initially thought. Damn that blasted spell of his!"

"Sir, no sign of the golem and Nu's been knocked unconscious."

Strike stood up and looked around. To say that everything was in ruins would be an understatement.

"Not surprising really. I focused most of my power on utterly destroying the captain and so only devoted enough energy to incapacitate that snake. Also figured that we should probably interrogate him. See where he found that spell and the information about the artifact."

Rentor nodded. "Understood. By the way, Voltus should be returning soon. He'll have felt the spell you used and most likely knows that the fight is over."

"Good. Then we can finish up here and head back. I've got some business to take care of in the Draconic Realms and the Primes will want a report, knowing them."

Strike walked over to Nu and bent down, looking for something. A minute later, his hand flashed with lightning and a sigil appeared in his palm.

"So this is the energy-draining spell. Looks like the decision to end the fight was to correct on. The spell was almost complete."

"Do you really think that the artifact would have made a difference?" Rentor asked. "I can't imagine it would be that powerful."

Strike shook his head. "This is the Void we're talking about, and you didn't have the pleasure of fighting Lord Iter 13 billion years ago. Now his forces are rarely seen, which is a blessing. They possess absolutely terrifying power."

He sighed. "But for now, at least, we're done with those powers. Let's head off."

Just then, the sigil in his hand flashed and shot to the side. Strike looked at it with shock before regaining his senses.

"Catch it!"

However, the sigil stopped in front of a figure who had materialized on the far side of the stadium. Strike halted, narrowing his eyes. He hadn't felt the guy arrive.

"Be on guard," he told Rentor. He then turned to face the figure, who was clad in a hooded robe and could not clearly be seen.

"Who are you?" the Dragon General asked. "And I'd ask if you have bad intentions, but I'd assume that taking the sigil confirms that already."

"You are correct, Dragon General Strike," the man said with a chuckle. "I must admit, it was most definitely not in my plans for you to appear here. I had calculated that, at most, two or three dragons would be sent, but never in my wildest imagination did I think that a General would come personally. You came close to derailing everything and even forced me to take action for the first time in decades."

"I'll repeat the question. Who are you?" Strike said with force.

"Who do you think? I am the one behind the scenes. Ever since I discovered the existence of the Reguli I have craved it. But then, who doesn't dream of infinite power and life?"

"You're very confident. But do you really think you can beat us by yourself?" Strike said.

The man laughed. "What do you think?"

The sigil flew up behind him and flashed with white light. Suddenly, Strike and Rentor both stumbled as they felt the drain on their magic multiply several times over.

The man laughed again and spread his arms, a massive aura of blue and green bursting into being around him.

Strike growled out as series of curses. "You're a Grandmaster Mythical mage! That means you're the one that created the energy-draining spell in the first place, not Nu, and you were also the one controlling the golem!"

"Correct," the man said. "And in case you were wondering, your tactic of sending your friend after me did not work. He won't be joining you for this fight."

Strike snarled, standing up to his full height and filling with energy.

"You won't be able to accomplish your goals so easily. After all, we are not ordinary mages."

Rentor stepped up alongside him and planted his shield into the cracked ground, forming another lightning spear.

"Of course," the man said. With a gesture, numerous sigils appeared in the sky above the arena and the oppressive aura grew even denser. "A normal mage would have fallen a long time ago. However, I believe on this occasion, I will be the first person in history to KILL a Dragon General. Show me what you can do, scion of Alcyrion, or disappear from this world just like your creator!"