Chapter 867: Be Careful
[Aisha Ashcroft's POV]
Aisha sighed, rubbing her temples as she looked at the endless stack of paperwork. Despite the exhaustion settling into her bones, a small smile tugged at her lips-this was her husband's kingdom, and she wouldn't trade it for anything.
Sitting in her new mansion in Dragonheart City, the kingdom's newly constructed capital, she was going through some paperwork. 'The workers had done a good job on Dragonheart; now they've moved on to Archer's palace. The other cities should come next,' Aisha mused with a smile.
While sitting there, the dragonkin woman started thinking about Archer, who was next door. He was nearly dead due to some unknown poison that the Swarm had used on him. But thanks to Lucrezia's magic, he could hang on to life until the girls returned.
She realized that the blonde had been taking good care of him. As Aisha thought, the door burst open, and Meera rushed in, looking flustered. The tiger woman was about to speak, but an alarm started blaring.
'What's happening now? Are we getting attacked?' She thought.
It rang throughout the city, telling citizens to head for the bunkers the Draconian Government built months ago when Archer suggested such a building, which would be created deep under the earth and offer the people a haven.
Aisha was shocked at the cost of an astronomical amount of gold; this shocked her and the other government ministers when the king paid for it himself. Following that, she rushed out of the mansion and ran into a group of Dragon Legionnaires marching East.
When the commander spotted her, he saluted before informing her, "The Church of Light and Novgorod Navy is heading for the Eastern seawall. We've been ordered to reinforce the wall in case they breach it."
Aisha nodded as Lucrezia walked out and looked in the distance, "They have a Titan."
When the redhead heard this, her blood ran cold. "How do you know this, Luce?" she asked.
"I can sense its strength, which is close to mine, but I'm still stronger," the blonde answered as her blood-red eyes glowed. "I will deal with it while the navy and wall defend the kingdom's shores."
"Okay," she answered quickly. "Let's head to the Eastern seawall."'
Lucrezia remained silent but seized her arm, and together, they ascended into the air before flying east. Aisha's mind raced with questions. 'Why are they attacking us now? Is it because Archer is injured? But how did they know?'
She concluded that it was because Archer was down, but what confused her was how they knew. According to Hecate, Talila, and Hemera, only the Swarm knew he was injured, which caused her to speak, "Luce, what if the central continent is working with the invaders?"
Lucrezia stopped flying and looked at her, "If that's true, then things are bad. The Swarm is the force behind the Terravains, and those beings are strange. Many of the Under Empirs have been fighting them for years," she revealed before flying again.
They made it to the Eastern seawall, where the Homeguard was manning the wall while the Dragonfire Company fired the Shadowbane and Titan Wrath Cannons, which boomed like thunder.
Aisha witnessed a barrage of mana shells hurtling over the turbulent sea. They collided with a resilient green shield, drawing her attention. Lucrezia's gaze sharpened, fixating on something beneath the water's surface near the Draconian fleet.
"The Titan is heading for the ships," Lucrezia stated grimly. "I will kill the monster, but have the wall bombard the incoming fleet."
"Be careful, Luce," she said to the mosasaur woman.
Lucrezia nodded with a smile before leaping into the sea and reverting to her normal form, which towered over Aisha like a colossal battleship. Aisha was stunned, 'She's twice as big as a battleship! How does he find such women?'
Aisha shook her head and directed the Homeguards to maintain their barrage on the advancing enemies. She swiftly retrieved a talisman, activating it to contact the Dragon Marshals.
"All Legions, double-time it to the Eastern seawall! We're being invaded!" she urgently relayed through the enchanted device.
She received confirmation from all ten legions and focused on the walls. Aisha went up and down the wall, telling the Homeguard they must fight hard to defend their injured king and everything he's built.
Aisha reaffirmed her commitment by declaring her intent to fight on the frontlines, igniting a surge of morale among the soldiers. The atmosphere grew tense as another volley of mana shells rained from the North and South.
"The 1st and 2nd fleets are here!" a soldier's voice rang out.
Aisha swiftly turned her gaze towards the approaching 1st fleet, charging headlong into the enemy ranks. She watched as the ships started firing non-stop, only for the mana shells to salm into a shield.
***
[Lucrezia's POV]
She sliced through the cold water in her mosasaur form until spotting the enemy titan, a Sea Leviathan. A long serpent that resembles a mix of eel and cobra and was black. Lucrezia's stomach rumbled, causing her to laugh internally.
'Stupid worm! It thinks it can come for my boy. I'll show you what it means to be a true Titan,' Aisha thought fiercely as she watched the unfolding battle.
Lucrezia dove deeper to avoid the Sea Leviathan's senses. She gradually descended to the right depth and paused while hiding in the darkness below. Her red eyes landed on the enemy. With a flick of her giant tail, she shot out of the deep like a torpedo and struck the Sea Leviathan. Her jaws clamped down on his body, and she started shaking her head but soon stopped before swimming away,
She kept doing this until the Sea Leviathan lashed out with its massive coils, but Lucrezia deftly dodged the strikes, her movements fluid and precise while aiming at the monster's flank, jaws agape, and clamped down with razor-sharp teeth.
The enemy Titan roared in pain as her teeth pierced deep into its body. It started to thrash violently to free itself from Lucrezia, but she gritted her teeth and hung on while shaking her giant head from side to side.
Blood poured into the sea as the battle raged on. The Titan bit one of her flippers, causing her to let go while casting a spell at it, "Death Beam.'
A red beam shot out of her move as she backed off and slammed into the Sea Leviathan's body, which caused it to freeze for a few seconds. This was all the time Lucrezia needed as she lunged forward and bit down on the monster's skull.
The monster started panicking and thrashing around when she did this, but Lucrezia was too strong. With one final push of determination, she crushed the Sea Leviathan's skull with a sickening crunch.
Lucrezia felt danger approaching her, so she turned around and spotted another Titan, but this one was much older and stronger than herself, "The Blood Devil! Why is it here?" she said.
It resembled a Nothosaur from Earth's ancient history, but this one looked more vicious, its midnight black skin contrasting sharply with glowing gold eyes fixated on Lucrezia. The monster aimed straight for her with a malicious gaze.
"I cannot fight this monster," Lucrezia thought desperately, her instincts urging her to flee into the open sea. "Only Brooke can beat this thing."
An epic chase ensued as Lucrezia sped through the water, but the Blood Devil relentlessly pursued her. The intense pursuit stretched until she finally breached the surface near Draconia, leaping into the air before transforming into her humanoid form and landing on a
nearby beach.
Lucrezia spun around just as the Blood Devil breached the surface behind her. Suddenly, a
shocking turn of events unfolded as a powerful spirit spell struck it. The Blood Devil yelped in
pain as the impact tore apart one of its flippers.
Suddenly, a stunning woman materialized, her long white hair flowing around her, but the blindfold captured Lucrezia's attention. The newcomer disappeared and reappeared before the Blood Devil, which attempted to dive away.
With a wave, the woman stopped the Titan from fleeing. She smiled and began casting a dozen Spirit Bombs at it. Lucrezia's eyes widened in astonishment as she watched the formidable Titan disintegrate as though it were nothing.
The woman swiftly dismantled the Blood Devil before gently setting it down on the beach as she descended. Lucrezia observed the display in awe, but what followed left her stunned: the woman bowed before her.
"My Queen, I apologize for my tardiness. The Fireheart Faith demands much of my attention, and by the time I heard the sirens, you were already in battle. Please forgive me," the woman
said humbly.
Lucrezia was bewildered. "This woman is a Pseudo-God, like Brooke. Why is she bowing to
me?"
Looking in disbelief, she asked, "Who are you?"
The woman smiled warmly before introducing herself, "I am Agrippina, leader of the Fireheart Faith and Archer's bonded Elemental."
Her eyes widened in realization. "You're bonded with him?"
Agrippina nodded solemnly. "Yes, my Queen. It happened not long ago, but my duties have
kept me from seeing him," she said. "Now let me deal with these pests."
"Okay," she said while stepping back as Agrippina started chanting.
The air around her started to change as the older woman raised her hand at the biggest enemy
ship and spoke, "Spirit Beam."
Lucrezia witnessed a beautiful purple beam fly out of her hand and hit the green shield defending the vessel, but soon, it shattered into nothing. Agrippina did the same to all the ships, allowing every Draconian cannon to target the enemy.
Just as that happened, a wave of mana shells flew out from the island and surrounding fleets that fell upon the Chuch of Light and Novgorodian ships, causing a firestorm to erupt.