Legacy of the Dark Sage

Chapter 1261 Beginning Of The End (7)

the attack happened so fast that veles and the others were momentarily shocked. however, because of their years of experience, they recovered their wits immediately and acted accordingly.

celestine turned his attention to the projector while reestablishing his divine sense. prior to the explosion, he and the rest of the war room representatives had not seen any noticeable change in the enemies' movement. it was for this reason that they were surprised at the sudden attack. in any case, even if there had been no movement change from the enemy side, that did not mean they were not doing anything.

just like how the enemies attacked the military district, even with the dragon clan's array formation in place, celestine, or even ducal, had not sensed anything amiss. considering this, the enemies might have a way to ignore or bypass some of the array formation's defensive formulas and hide their presence.

this in itself was already problematic. however, what was even more concerning was that ducal, known as the most knowledgeable in array in the dragon clan, was unable to predict or sense the enemy as they slipped into their plane's array formation.

it reminded celestine of when the solis clan was previously attacked. though few, some mages managed to slip into the array formation's gaps and enter the plane. fortunately, ducal had no trouble locating the intruders and took care of them immediately.

nevertheless, that incident gave them an idea not to be complacent just because their array formation was considered one of the best in the higher realm. thus, ducal, with aillos, kyran, and rae, reviewed the plane's array formation and worked on enhancing it.

in the end, rae was the only one who enhanced the formation by adding all those specialized formulas. ducal could only watch and assist with providing the materials needed. as for the rest of the enhancements on the formation, they planned to do it after kyran returned.

alas. kyran, who was expected to return after finishing his business in the crepuscule clan, got delayed and even met with the emperor. news of the crepuscule auction house's destruction followed, and after that, they had not heard anything from kyran.

they knew more or less that kyran could not send a regular message to the dragon clan, even if it was coded to avoid leaving traces. the ogen clan, especially leif, who accompanied him to the crepuscule auction house, could also not send a message because the dragon clan had supposedly 'closed off' their doors. it would raise suspicions if someone learned that the dragon clan and the ogen clan were in correspondence even during their 'closed door' days.

putting the matter of enhancing the dragon plane's array formation, celestine wracked his brain, figuring out how their enemy managed to sneak in and attack without their detection. they suspected their levels to exceed theirs, but having a high level did not guarantee an advantage over sneak attacks.

moreover, dragons were innately sensitive. their naturally keen senses acted like a sixth sense, allowing them to react highly to threats— especially those with killing intentions.

'...!'

celestine's eyes widened as realization hit, and he immediately shared his thoughts with the others.

veles and the rest of the aides connected to the backup communication channel narrowed their eyes at celestine's warning.

like celestine, veles and the others had thoughts of their own and came to the same conclusion.

but realizing it now did not change their current situation. with that in mind, they had to focus on things they could do.

nithe, nothum, and veles did not leave their post and instead sent one company each to aella's side. after all, the explosion might be part of the enemy's plan to agitate them. in any case, they believed in aella. the explosion looked dangerous, but they were all dragons.

nithe, nothum, and veles only hoped that the core at aella's side could survive even longer.

boom! booom! booom!

successive explosions could be heard from a distance. from this, it was not hard for veles and the the others to guess that aella and her group was fending against the enemies' attacks.

"such a fierce glare. you do not have to be so—"

whoosh!

the sentinel retreated almost in an instant as it sensed an incoming threat.

"hm?" he tilted his head and looked as if he was confused. he looked at the spot where he had been a second ago and found veles, whose body resembled a black obsidian dragon, albeit in human form.

veles's arm was outstretched as if he had just tried to swipe at something. obviously, he intended to attack the sentinel, but the latter managed to retreat before his claws could dig into his flesh.

trickle.

the sentinel's eyes widened as he felt something wet drop down on his shoulders. using the corner of his eyes, he found the reason. his left shoulder was injured, and gold blood tricked down from it. judging from the shape of the injury, veles's claws managed to hit after all.

"tsk," veles clicked his tongue. he wanted to rip off the sentinel's arm but failed because he did not anticipate the latter's speed. it seemed he had to increase his speed more.

"..."

the sentinel's expression immediately turned cold as he looked at veles again.

"to think that you have the audacity to—"

whoosh! whip!

veles disappeared and appeared before the sentinel. his claws aimed at the latter's chest.

slash!

"!"

the sentinel managed to dodge veles's claws. however, the latter still left a deep slash in his armor.

veles frowned inwardly. he sensed it earlier but thought he might be wrong. but seeing the sentinel's armor slashed by his claws confirmed his suspicion.

'he doesn't have a defensive magic?'

but veles did not have time to contemplate as the sentinel's body emitted a blinding light.

dragon step!

veles disappeared and appeared back inside the translucent black dome because he sensed the sentinel's move was not simple. he would have evaded it usually, but he had an inkling that if he did, his members would suffer.

all dragons inside the translucent black dome also sensed something different from the sentinel and immediately released their energy to reinforce the surroundings.

there was a reason the sentinel attacked that spot and a reason the dragons did not leave. the core was there. the sentinel would be free to aim at the core if they chose to dodge.