Jade Leywin POV
"Jade, it's time"
Arthur's call pulled me back from my thoughts, and I stored the memory orb Mai gave me years ago in my dimensional ring
We exited my tent and joined Aldir and the others around the table where they were discussing the attack plan, on the table there was a plastic model of Mt. Geolus surrounded by countless pieces representing our army, behind us on the horizon the real Mt. Geolus loomed on us
"The troops are all ready and in position, they're waiting for our order" Perhata reported
"However it ends, this will be the last battle of this war" Myre stated
"At long last" I added
"Actually, it took a lot less than I expected, I'd say we'd been quite fast" Veruhn commented
"Three years might be a short amount of time for you asuras, but for us, it's a lot, especially when you spend them fighting almost daily" I stated
Really, since asuras have little to no need for things like food and rest and they recover from wounds at a speed unthinkable for non-asuras, this war had been intense, to say the least
"Right, I'm still not used to how the mortal races pereive time" Veruhn said
"Anyway, lady Myre, are you really sure you want to do this?" Aldir asked
"Yes, Aldir, I want to try and speak to him one last time, it will most likely be useless, but I still want to give it a try" Myre replied
"Very well then, the only thing left to take care of is the shield that covers Mt. Geolus, Jade, whenever you're ready" Aldir prompted me
I turned around to face the mountain and took some steps towards it in order to distance myself from the others, then raising my hands, I started sending my mana into the massive barrier
I carefully manipulated each particle of my mana so it would clung to a particle of the mana empowering the shield, as the two types of mana intertwined together, I started pulling, the barrier trembled but still managed to hold resisting my pull
Taking a deep breath, I firmly planted my feet in the ground and sent out more of my mana, then I pulled once again, a forceful, sudden pull, and the shield ripped like paper
"ATTACK!!!" Aldir's voice boomed as several dots appeared at the horizon and our troops started casting long range spells
"Arthur, Jade, however this ends, I want you to know that it's been an honor fighting at your side" Aldir told us holding out his hand
"Oh don't talk like that Aldir, it makes it look like this will be the last time we speak, after everything is over we'll all share a drink together okay, so don't you dare die on me" I told him taking his hand and shaking it
"Very well, we shall all toast to our victory and a new era once this battle will be over" he replied as he broke the handshake and took Art's hand
"I look forward to finally see you relax for once" Art joked as they shook hands
"Alright, we should join our frontline now" Aldir declared and flew off followed by the other clan lords
Art, Sylvie, Myre and I took off and started flying at high-speed while I conjured a barrier around us to make us invisible, we reached the base of the mountain in seconds and I shattered the layer of shields placed at the entrance
We flew down the ornate hallways, sending the tapestries and other decorations flying, we quickly reached a massive double door, the door was pure white with fine and intricate engravings made of gold
Art shot an aetheric blast, and the door was sent flying off its hinges, we landed inside on the thick, red carpet that went from the door all the way to the flaming throne at the center of the room, sitting on the throne was Kezess Indrath, he strongly resembled Arthur, although I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at this since Arthur's current appearance had been strongly influenced by Sylvie when she repaired his body, given that Kezess was her grandfather it was normal that he and Art resembled each other
"Myre, Sylvie, it's a pleasure to see you two again, what brings to you two here?" Kezess asked casually, completely ignoring me and Art
"I came to talk Kezess, to ask you to stop this madness" Myre pleaded
"Oh, well if that is your wish, I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person, my dear, after all it wasn't me that brought a hostile army into our homes, it wasn't me that shattered millenia of uninterrupted peace starting a civil war that caused millions of deaths among our people, it wasn't me who destroyed everything we built" Kezess replied
"You know full well we didn't have any other choice" Myre stated
"There always is another choice"
"Oh really, then you're telling me you had another choice when you slaughtered the djinns for no reason other than your envy at their aether arts? Or that you could have saved our daughter from dying alone and abandoned in a cave?"
"Our daughter? Do you seriously think I took that decision lightly? Or that I didn't mourn her? Do you really think of me as such a heartless monster?" Kezess asked
"I don't know, I don't know you anymore, what happened to the young man I married? The man who wanted nothing more than to bring peace in a land that was torn by war?"
"I grew up, I realised what was needed for my dream to come true, if I had sent our troops to save Sylvia at best, the other clans would have accused me of playing favoritism, Sylvia willingly snuck out of Epheotus to join Agrona, someone we exhiled and that swore revenge against us, at worst it would have started an open war that would have destroyed the world"
"Oh don't try to play innocent, we exhiled Agrona simply because he stumbled upon the dark secrets of our clan, you didn't want everyone to know about the genocide we dragons committed against the djinns"
"And I did that in order to preserve our peace, they died for the greater good, why do you think our race is so feared and revered among the asuras? Because we are the only ones that can manipulate aether, we are the only ones that can bend the world to suit our needs, what would have happened if the other clan lords had discovered that a race of lessers not only had access to aether arts but that they were more skilled than us? They would have questioned me, my right to rule and without me Epheotus would have been plunged into war once again" Kezess declared
"Hah! They died for the greater good? Awfully conceited coming from the one that slaughtered them" Myre snorted
"I did what I had to, I might be pained by Sylvia's death but I regret nothing"
"You say you want peace, then do the right thing, order your troops to surrend and face proper judgement for your actions"
"And then what? You'll all get along nicely and play friends? No that won't work, the only way to keep peace is by exerting absolute control over everyone" Kezess declared
"So this is your answer then" Myre said pained
"Yes, I have already told you, I'll stop at nothing to maintain peace, why else do you think I let you help Mordain? Why would I exhile Agrona when I could have destroyed him and the Vritra clan when they were here? Everything I did was in order to keep Epheotus peaceful"
"We tried your way grandma, let's go now" Sylvie stated, placing a hand on Myre's back and escorting her out of the room
"So they leave you two to deal with me? Two lessers?" Kezess snorted, finally addressing us
"It's not too late, swore fealty to me and help me stop this little rebellion, if you do that I'll let Dicathen be as long as it doesn't become a threat for the world" he continued
"I wonder what would classify a threat for the world" I stated
"You're just saying that you'll obliterate them on a whim just like you did with the djinns, no Kezess you need to die today" Art declared
"And who exactly will kill me?" he asked, releasing his [King's force]
I released my own [King's force] while Art exerted his aetheric intent, the air between us warped as the whole mountain shook under the immense weight of our combined pressures
A sword appeared in Kezess's hand, it was a one-handed longsword with a cross shaped guard and a pommel resembling the head of a dragon, it was pure white in color, so white that it almost hurt the eyes to look at it as it seemed to emit his own deadly light
The air suddenly shifted and Kezess started walking towards me at a relaxed pace, slowly taking one step after the other, I tried to move, but it felt like I was glued in place, the aether all around me was clinging on my body changing the way time flowed for me, it didn't seem to affect my perception but I couldn't move
I summoned [Dragon's demise], and immediately, my daggers started absorbing the aether that was blocking me
Kezess reached me and casually swung his sword sideways aiming at my neck, when the sword was just a few centimetres from my skin, an amethyst blade appeared and deflected it in a burst of sparks
"*tsk*" Kezess clicked his tongue, seeing how Art freed himself in time from his technique
Art and Kezess clashed, sending shockwaves across the throne room and quickly destroying it, Kezess was manipulating time once again, this time accelerating himself and turning into a pure white blur, Art managed to keep up with him thanks to [Godstep], I could barely follow their movements
How the heck do I hit someone that manipulates time?
Forget it, I'll just use something impossible to dodge, I should assume he's capable of cancelling out regular spells like Myre, so I need to use something fueled with mana that he can't control, an asuran mana art
Siphoning mana out of my body, I conjured countless tiny black motes all around the place, once I was certain there were no empty spots anymore I triggered every single mote and they all released a low hum, spreading the decay attribute they were imbued with
Art used [Severer] to protect himself, conjuring a barrier at the last second, Kezess held out his hand and tried to use aether to slow down my attack, he succeded and the shockwaves slowed down until they were practically still
Art activated [Aroa's requiem] and used it to change the way time flowed through my attack countering the effect of Kezess's aether art, beads of sweat formed on their foreheads as they tried to overwhelm each other
I took advantage of the opening and made Kezess's shadow burst up in countless spikes and blades, he opted for cutting off his aether art and dodge the shadow spikes and a shimmering shield of pure mana protected him from my decay soundwave
Art used [Godstep] to appear behind him while I disrupted his shield, Art swung down his sword imbued with [Severer], Kezess just blurred away using [Mirage walk]
"[Cruel sun]" I said while throwing a star at him
Art conjured some ropes made of aether and fixed them in space, completely blocking him, the star hit him and vaporised half of Mt. Geolus, as it sent Kezess flying
Art chased him, countless aether blades swirling around him, while I created my domain, forcing the mana around us under my control, preventing Kezess from replenishing his own reserves as he regenerated from the wounds
Kezess slowed down Arthur's blades while clashing with him once again, I started conjuring spell after spell, forcing him to split his focus more and more in order to defend himself from an increasing number of attacks
As his concentration reached its limits, some of my spells started hitting him, it seems that Kezess is prioritising defending against Arthur aether based attacks rather than my spells, a mistake he will pay dearly for
Holding [Dragon's demise], I started channelling my mana through it in order to give my spells the same dragon slaying properties my daggers were imbued with, and I casted [Maelstrom] trapping Kezess in its center as Art started spamming [Godstep], teleporting himself and his blades countless times while attacking from all directions at the sme time
Now Kezess was forced to protect himself from all the attacks coming from me and Art at the same time, my spells started hitting him, and I could see aether starting eating away at his body, Kezess tried to use his own aether arts to rewind his body back into a perfect state but doing so while under a constant barrage of attacks provd to be too much even for him
Suddenly, I felt an immense surge of mana coming from Kezess as his body started glowing, with a roar Kezess exploded in a massive ball of light, sending Art crashing down and forcibly dissipating my spell
When the light faded I looked up and saw a truly gargantuan white dragon flying in the sky, it was so big that my brain almost refused to admit that a single creature could be that gigantic, even from this distance its wingspan covered half of the sky while its jaws looked like they could swallow us and the remainder of Mt. Geolus whole