Chương 33: A Morning to Remember

'How did he do that?' Gloria found the disappearance of her anchors far more interesting than she wished to admit, because Domus Temporaria had possessed a strict limit upon the number of destinations one caster could maintain in DDO, yet those destinations had never existed as ordinary magical objects that another player could touch, dispel or destroy.

Once established, they remained available until their creator dismissed them or replaced them with another location, which made the False King's ability to reach a single circle and somehow tear apart every point connected to it completely foreign to the system she understood.

Even the anchor aboard the Katamaran had vanished, despite being separated from land by a considerable distance, which suggested that he had interfered with the spell itself rather than travelling between each location to destroy the circles individually.

'Still, flying directly toward the person responsible would be—'"Absolutely not!" Iris declared. Echidna's delight vanished as she turned toward the Archer, whose hair remained disordered from sleep.

"Excuse yourself, child?"

"Forgive me, Lady Gloria, but you cannot simply fly there," Iris said.

"He knows where you are, he expects you to follow, and he has already removed the spell you would ordinarily use to reach him, which means that every part of this encounter has occurred according to his wishes."

"The False King directed his power toward the Mighty," Echidna replied, taking a slow step toward her.

"Such insolence demands an answer."

"The sword harmed no one, Lady Echidna, and whether it was an attack or an invitation changes nothing about what awaits at its source. We do not know how many people are with him, what preparations he has made or whether the entire area has been arranged specifically to counter Lady Gloria." Echidna listened, but she instantly shook her head.

"No preparation devised by that pretender could preserve him against the Mighty, and the presence of a thousand allies would merely provide Gloria with a thousand additional witnesses to his humiliation."

"He defeated you, did he not—" Echidna's expression went utterly still as every trace of pupil and white vanished from her eyes, leaving them filled from edge to edge with a bloody crimson color. The transformation silenced Iris immediately, cutting off whatever she had intended to add as she closed her mouth and lowered her gaze beneath Echidna's wordless warning. While Iris had phrased the matter with all the delicacy of an arrow entering someone's throat, the point itself remained valid.

Echidna had acknowledged that the False King surpassed her even before centuries of imprisonment weakened her. None of that persuaded her that defeating him would present a serious problem, although entering a prepared battlefield without first learning what he wanted would reward him for little more than making an impressive entrance. The greater concern lay with Arima itself, whose cave and surrounding wilderness had survived centuries without being reduced to another scar upon the world.

A battle against someone possessing enough strength to overwhelm Echidna would force Gloria to rely upon spells capable of destroying everything for kilometers around them, and while she would not hesitate if he genuinely attacked her, she had no desire to destroy this world.

"Enough," Gloria said, raising a hand before Echidna could answer Iris's unfortunate observation.

"Nothing he has done gives me sufficient reason to treat him as an enemy," Gloria continued.

"Destroying my anchors was an intrusion, yet the spell he sent across the world merely confirmed my presence and withdrew without harming the ship, which suggests that he wished to announce himself rather than begin a battle." Echidna's expression tightened, her eyes returning to normal.

"The False King's existence provides reason enough to oppose him."

"It provides reason enough for you," Gloria replied, silencing the objection before it could grow.

"Your quarrel with this man began long before my arrival, and while I value what you have told me, I shall not judge someone solely through the account of the person who despises him most. If he truly possesses such extraordinary power, Ara will surely know something of his history, his ambitions and whatever he has done to earn that title." Gloria glanced toward the window before returning her attention to Echidna.

"I prefer to hear from several sources before deciding whom I should oppose, so I shall speak with Ara, compare what she knows against your account and reach my own conclusion. Until then, I possess neither cause nor desire to begin a conflict."

"A wise decision, Lady Gloria," Iris said, visible relief easing the tension from her posture, although she kept her attention firmly upon Gloria rather than risk discovering whether Echidna's eyes were still on her. A low tremor passed through the cabin and set the pen rolling across the table, though Iris caught it before it reached the edge.

"Woah! Is this turbulence?" she asked, looking toward Gloria as a second vibration traveled beneath their feet with enough force to make the lamps sway. Before anyone could answer, the water beyond the window began darkening as an immense shadow rose from somewhere below, its outline stretching far beyond the glass while it moved alongside the Katamaran and gradually drew closer to the surface.

Gloria, Iris and Echidna watched it pass beneath them as another tremor shook the cabin, this one accompanied by alarmed voices spreading through the decks outside. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"It would seem we have acquired a more immediate problem," Gloria said. Before the shadow could reach the surface, a massive tentacle of translucent slime swept past the cabin and struck the ocean directly beside the window, driving enough force through the surrounding water to shatter the glass inward. Gloria and Echidna remained where they stood as fragments scattered across the floor, while Iris recoiled several steps and raised one arm against the sudden spray.

The tentacle plunged after the shadow, stretching deeper until its end disappeared from view, then curled around something beneath the ship and tightened. A moment later, the water erupted as the slime tore its attacker from the ocean and hurled it far away with enough strength to send the creature tumbling through the air.

Its resemblance to a dragon became apparent as soon as Gloria saw it clearly, for the creature possessed a long body covered in deep-blue scales, a narrow draconic head and four powerful limbs ending in hooked claws, although enormous fins rose from its back and tail where wings might otherwise have grown. It released a piercing shriek while twisting helplessly through the air, then struck the ocean well beyond the vessel and vanished beneath the surface.

The water had scarcely closed over it when a dark trail began racing toward the Katamaran once again, moving considerably faster than before. Iris stared through the broken window.

"Was that a dragon!?"

"No," Echidna answered, stepping across the fallen glass without granting it a glance.

"Had that creature been a dragon, child, you would no longer possess a ship from which to ask the question." Gloria nodded as she watched the approaching wake.

"It is a Draco, one of the lesser branches of dragonkind, and judging by its size, a relatively small specimen."

"Small?" Iris turned toward her in disbelief.

"Lady Gloria, that creature is the size of a house!"

"Precisely, while the larger varieties may reach nearly ten times its size." Echidna leaned toward the shattered window, her earlier irritation giving way to interest as another slime tentacle rose beside the Katamaran and followed the Draco beneath the water.

"Echidna had heard that this creature possessed the strength to bear such an enormous vessel, although she did not expect it to guard those aboard with equal diligence. The instincts granted during the Golden Age have clearly survived the centuries as well as its strength."

Gloria watched the tentacle pursue the dark shape, then rolled her shoulders, stretched both arms above her head and slowly opened her wings as far as the cabin allowed, working the stiffness of sleep from her body until several quiet cracks ran along her back. Once satisfied, she lowered her arms and turned toward the others with a big smile.

"Iris, remain here, and Echidna, stay with her." Echidna turned immediately, wonder giving way to concern.

"The Mighty intends to confront the creature?"

"The False King confirmed my location only moments before this creature appeared, and while their timing may be nothing more than coincidence, I have no intention of leaving the Katamaran unguarded while I investigate," Gloria explained.

"Remain aboard, protect Iris and watch for anything that attempts to use the beast as a distraction."

"Echidna would be far more useful beside the Mighty," Echidna insisted.

"If the Draco is the only threat, I require no assistance, and if someone sent it to draw our attention away from the ship, your presence here will deny them whatever opportunity they hoped to create." The answer left Echidna visibly dissatisfied, yet she bowed without another objection.

"As the Mighty commands." Gloria briefly considered creating the formation through imagination, using the method she had discovered the previous night, although it remained far too experimental to attempt in front of these two.

'Better to play it safe until I actually understand what I am doing.' Gloria raised a hand and drew a blue circle large enough to contain the simplified figure of a person, adding the figure with several quick movements before crossing it through the center and placing ten evenly spaced points around its edge. [Exspiravit] The circle passed over Gloria and disappeared, taking every trace of her presence with it.

Her body vanished from sight, her mana ceased to exist within Echidna's awareness and even the sounds of her breathing and movement were erased, leaving nothing behind to suggest that she had ever stood within the cabin. Echidna watched the empty place where Gloria had stood and allowed herself a pleased smirk.

"Echidna did not know the Mighty possessed that ability as well, although surprise would imply that there are limits to what Gloria can accomplish. Perfect invisibility may be the least suitable magic for one whose presence deserves to be witnessed by the entire world, yet she has naturally mastered it regardless."

"Whoa, that is incredible, Lady Gloria!" Iris exclaimed, her gaze following something Echidna could no longer perceive as it moved toward the broken window.

"I can barely see you!" The smile disappeared from Echidna's face as Iris continued tracking Gloria across the cabin, watched her step over the shattered glass and even leaned toward the opening when the invisible Dragon leapt outside.

"You can see the Mighty?" Iris turned away from the window and found Echidna staring at her with considerably greater intensity than before.

"Only barely, Lady Echidna, but if I may claim complete confidence in any one of my abilities, it would be my eyesight. Even Lady Gloria came remarkably close to deceiving these." She raised two fingers and pointed toward her eyes, drawing Echidna's attention to the circular patterns surrounding her pupils, where several narrow rings contracted independently.

'Impressive for a worm,' Echidna admitted privately as she studied the narrow rings shifting around Iris's pupils. The ten points Gloria had added to Exspiravit had strengthened an already exceptional concealment spell far beyond its ordinary limits, leaving Echidna unable to locate the Mighty through sight, sound or magical perception, yet Iris's gaze had followed her without wavering.

"Explain what you see," Echidna ordered, moving closer to the broken window.

"I cannot see Lady Gloria herself," Iris replied as she searched the open air below them.

"There is a faint distortion surrounding her, almost like heat rising from stone, although it is so slight that I lose it whenever she moves across the water." Echidna followed the direction of her gaze and found nothing.

"Where is the Mighty now?"

"She is still falling."

"The Mighty possesses wings, child."

"I am aware of that, Lady Echidna, but she has not opened them yet," Iris said, leaning farther through the shattered frame.

"She has fallen quite a considerable distance already, and judging by the way she is moving, I believe she may be enjoying herself." A pleased smile returned to Echidna's face as she stepped beside Iris and stared into the apparently empty sky.

"Then keep watching, child, for Echidna expects a complete account of everything those peculiar eyes witness."