anwhile.
Above the waters surrounding the Dragon's Nest island, two adult red dragons circled listlessly.
"Karl, what do you think Ignius really encountered on the mainland?" The younger red dragon, Lex, flicked his tail, breaking the silence.
Karl, the red dragon, yawned, exhaling a puff of hot air that raised the ambient temperature a few degrees. "Who knows? Perhaps he found those humans too weak, not worth his interest."
"I wouldn't be so sure. That old lizard has been like a different dragon since he ca back, holed up in his cave all day." Lex grumbled. He had once been one of Ignius's admirers.
Just then, Karl's movents froze. He looked towards the distant horizon. So black specks had appeared there.
"What's that?" Lex followed Karl's gaze.
The black specks rapidly grew larger in their vision. Not sea monsters. They were ships. A vast fleet of them. The lead vessel was of a size that defied their understanding of human shipbuilding. It resembled more a moving fortress upon the waves.
On every ship's mast, a black banner fluttered, emblazoned with a simple, skeletal skull design. Karl's expression grew grim. "Unidentified fleet approaching the Dragon's Nest. Lex, issue a warning."
Lex nodded, opening his massive maw. A deafening dragon's roar pierced the heavens. This was a signal of expulsion.
However, the fleet did not stop, nor did it alter its course. It continued to steam directly towards the Dragon's Nest island.
"They ignored the warning!" Lex sounded enraged.
"Let's go down and see." Karl flapped his wings, descending, flying towards the fleet. Lex followed close behind. Soon, three more patrolling dragons arrived from other directions, converging.
Five colossal dragons circled above the fleet, their imnse shadows enveloping the leading behemoth.
"Halt your vessels! This is Dragonkin territory; entry is forbidden!" Karl's voice bood like thunder, echoing across the sea.
On the deck of the colossal ship, there was no response. Only countless silent figures stood in formation. They were skeletal soldiers in black armor, their sheer numbers unsettling to the dragons.
Lex's patience wore thin. "Why bother with these bone-bags! Burn them!" Fire began to coalesce in his throat.
"Wait!" Karl stopped him.
Just then, the skeletal legion on the deck parted, creating a path. A figure slowly erged from the ship's cabin. It was a skeleton, tall and markedly different from the surrounding skeletal soldiers. Its left arm was not bone, but an arm composed of blue energy.
Skele-Pride strode to the prow of the ship, looking up at the five dragons in the sky. He recalled the Sovereign's command: negotiate. Skele-Pride reflected on past combat experiences; powerful adversaries often announced their nas before engaging in battle. This seed to be a courtesy reserved for the strong.
Thus, Skele-Pride crossed his arms and spoke calmly. "I am Skele-Pride, one of The Evernight Empire's Seven Generals." His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of every dragon. "What are your nas?"
The five dragons in the sky froze. The Evernight Empire? Seven Generals? These terms sounded vaguely familiar. But the skeleton's deanor infuriated them.
Lex was the first to erupt. "What in the Blazes are you?! Invading our ho with an army and daring to bark at us here?!"
Another blue dragon roared, "Kill them! Let them know whose territory this is!"
"You've already invaded our ho! Are we not allowed to roar?!"
The five dragons hesitated no longer. Karl, too, abandoned his final restraint. The next mont, five dragon breaths of varying colors rained down from the heavens, intertwining into a net of death that enveloped the entire colossal ship! Crimson flas, icy blue frost, erald acid, instantly engulfed the vessel.
Skele-Pride stood his ground, unmoving. He didn't even glance at the incoming dragon breaths. He rely felt a touch of exasperation. The Sovereign's command was to negotiate. But the other party apparently had no intention of talking.
If that were the case, only the second option remained.
The instant the dragon breaths were about to touch the ship's hull, Skele-Pride moved. He simply raised his blue energy arm and, with a casual wave towards the sky, a blue slash appeared out of thin air. Space itself seed to rip open. The five raging dragon breaths, upon contact with that invisible slash, silently extinguished, like flas plunged into water.
The pupils of the five dragons in the sky instantly dilated. What had happened? Their dragon breaths... vanished?
Before they could react, Skele-Pride waved his hand again. More slashes.
Pfffsch!
In the sky, four streaks of blood shot forth. Lex and the other three dragons' bodies were neatly severed in half, from head to tail. The colossal dragon corpses lost their ability to fly, plumting towards the sea below like kites with severed strings.
Splash!
Massive geysers of water erupted, quickly turning red.
Only Karl remained, perfectly intact, suspended in mid-air. His scales trembled all over. Not from fear, but from an inability to comprehend what had just transpired.
One instant. Only one instant. Four adult dragons had been killed. The opponent hadn't even left the deck.
Karl's mind went blank. He stared blankly at the skeleton below. The skeleton was also looking up at him. Within its hollow eye sockets, blue soulfire burned calmly, devoid of emotion.
A few seconds later, imnse shock and fury engulfed Karl.
"ROAR—!!!"
He let out a dragon's roar filled with profound grief and indignation. This roar was no longer a warning, but the highest level of alert. Powerful enemy invasion!
On the Dragon's Nest island, countless sleeping dragons were awakened. They erged from their caves, looking towards the source of the sound. Karl glared fiercely at Skele-Pride, his voice distorted by rage. "You killed my kin! You killed them! Is this what you call negotiation?!"
Skele-Pride's skull tilted slightly, seemingly contemplating Karl's question. A mont later, he gave his answer. "They attacked first."
This reply almost made Karl explode with fury. "So you just killed them?!"
"I spared you." Skele-Pride's tone remained calm.
Karl held his breath. He understood. The opponent wasn't unable to kill him; he had deliberately left him alive. This was humiliation. Naked, unadulterated humiliation.
Skele-Pride observed Karl's nearly fire-breathing appearance, apparently deeming such a negotiation atmosphere unsuitable. He recalled the Sovereign's instruction to demonstrate sincerity as much as possible. Thus, Skele-Pride decided to try harder.
"To express my sincerity, I can return them to you."
Karl was dumbfounded. Return them to us? What did that an?
"What do you an?" Skele-Pride did not answer, rely raised his hand, and with a gentle clench, directed it towards the blood-stained sea below. "Undead Resurrection."
The next mont, sothing bizarre occurred. The sea began to churn. Four ethereal blue soulfires rose from the seabed, hovering in mid-air. Imdiately after, countless shattered bones flew from the seawater, circling the four soulfires, rapidly piecing and reassembling themselves. Severed dragon wings, fractured skulls, broken spines... Under the pull of an unseen force, they fit together seamlessly, emitting a grating, bone-chilling sound.
Karl's eyes widened beyond asure. What was he seeing? Was that... Lex's skeleton? And those of his other three comrades!
In less than a minute, four complete dragon skeletons reappeared on the sea surface. Blue soulfire burned in their eye sockets. They were no longer flesh and blood. They had beco... bone dragons.
Four bone dragons flapped their bony wings, slowly ascending, flying behind Skele-Pride like the most loyal of guardians.
Karl's brain completely crashed. Resurrection? This was what he ant by resurrection? Turning his deceased kin into these neither-human-nor-ghost monsters? This was no sincerity at all! This was sacrilege! The greatest insult to the entire Dragonkin race!
"You... you demon!!!"
At this mont, from the direction of the Dragon's Nest island, dozens of black specks appeared, flying rapidly towards them. It was the Dragon's Nest reinforcents. They too saw the four grotesque bone dragons, and the massive fleet hovering on the sea surface. Furious dragon roars rose and fell.
Skele-Pride looked at the furiously approaching dragons, then at the red dragon before him, now completely out of control. He understood. Negotiations had utterly failed. He had shown enough sincerity, even resurrecting the opponent's comrades. But what he received in return was even greater hostility.
It seed these so-called noble creatures could not be communicated with through words. If that were the case...
Skele-Pride withdrew his gaze, no longer bothering with the dragons in the sky. He turned, facing the silent legion behind him. Blue soulfire leaped fiercely in his eye sockets. He raised his hand, gripped his bone sword, and swung it forward.
"Land the troops."
"Crush them."
☆☆☆
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