ARES HEARTH'S POV:

A cold tingle spread through my body as I emerged on the other side of the blue portal, my eyes widening at the stunning sight before me.

"So this is Lares," I muttered subconsciously, the words of awe escaping my mouth. Giant floating islands that hung above golden-white clouds. The land-masses seemed to have a mind of their own as they approached the small stretch of earth that supported the entrance to the mystical world.

The large group of adventurers appeared behind me, all of them as baffled as I was. I remembered Selena's reactions when we asked her to open the portal, something clearly off with how she acted. It was almost like she wanted to open the gate...

"Bring the rest of the army," I ordered cautiously. The islands had already interconnected, forming a massive plain of smooth grass. The ground was connected seamlessly, so much so that it was impossible to tell at a glance that it was formed of multiple islands.

I continued to advance within the grasslands. My soul cried in fear, begging me to turn back, but the source of such distress was still unknown. The entire city was deserted, without a single soul in sight.

Wasn't this also the home of Wyverns? It was. If that was the case, how was it possible that the area was silent? Wouldn't we hear the small squawks of younglings at the very least?

I glanced back at our backlines, briefly making out the faces of the countless Dragon prisoners. They were all pale white...

I sent out a pulse through the ground beneath me, my eyes shooting open in distress. These islands didn't have a mind of their own... they were being held together with earth bind! I quickly analyzed my surroundings, realizing the true nature of the grassland area where the entire Dwarven army was located.

This... was an arena.

"!!!!"

Thousands of soldiers dropped to their knees immediately, some of them passing out from the overwhelming aura that exploded around us. I unleashed my own aura to counteract the pressure, but compared to the monstrous energy surrounding me, it felt like child's play.

"Adventurers!!!" I roared, empowering my body with Earth. "Prepare yourselves!"

The Dragons!

I looked back to see their reactions to this aura. Selena trembled in fear, but I could see tears forming in the corner of her eyes."I'm sorry, Jay," she muttered, her words almost causing me to throw up on the spot.

"!!!"

The aura amplified, my legs beginning to crumble under the atmospheric weight that was slowly crushing me.

"Healers, neutral barriers, now!" I yelled, but my order went unanswered. I was only conscious because of my natural resistance as an S-rank, but anyone below that was utterly traumatized and frozen due to the aura.

I slammed my hand into the ground, creating a neutral barrier myself. It was unfortunate that I had to expend my own bind for the task, but there were no longer any options. Sighs of relief echoed behind me, my soldiers and adventurers slowly regaining their senses.

Jay... where are you... how is this possible?!!

A small glint of movement behind me caught my eyes, and my mouth almost dropped at the scene. The Empress of the Dragonkin kneeled, all of the other prisoners mimicking her actions without a second thought.

I turned back, seeing who they were kneeling for.

A boy with crystal white hair emerged at the top of the small mountains of rock before us, his dark violet eyes bursting with power. His face was completely calm and neutral, an expression that seemed to render him lunatic. His entire left arm was covered in purple lines of energy, the lines now reaching to his eyes.

I clutched my fists, preparing to give the order to attack. Right as I opened my mouth, though, I understood the answer to one of my earlier doubts. A single wyvern emerged behind the boy's silhouette, a single warning to the Dwarves before carnage ensued.

Hundreds of beasts appeared around the outskirts of the arena, all of them growling impatiently as they eyed the helpless prey that awaited them below.

Jay was commanding all these monsters...

This was nothing like the army he had arrived with. Those monsters had been capable of reason and communication, meaning they had probably sworn loyalty to him. They had fled back to the West with only a few survivors, meaning that their habitat was most likely located in that direction.

Either way, I could tell that the wyverns around us weren't beasts of that level of intelligence. Their primal instincts ordered them to obey Jay's orders, almost as if he reigned over them like their king.

No... this was more than a king. At that very moment, the man standing up ahead was more like a god."Defensive formation!!" I roared, "we're retreating out the portal!"

This was not a battle we could win. Our priority had to be survival.

A glacial voice suddenly echoed across the area, freezing some of the soldiers like a fatal curse.

"Where are you going?" asked the boy, his voice imbued with the presence of another. I stopped in my tracks, turning around slowly. magic

That's right... what did I think this was?

There was no escaping that monster. He extended his arm, pointing casually at the mass of Dwarves. The wyverns screeched at the gesture, taking flight and engaging with the enemy that had invaded their home.

Jay Cadmium... was that even you?

The silhouette of a larger wyvern zoomed towards me, its jaw wide open as it prepared to consume me.

"Dwarves!!" I bellowed, imbuing my voice with the power of neutral bind. The troops turned in shock, realizing how hopeless our chances of escape were as hundreds of shadows loomed overhead. "We fight! These monsters are the final obstacle between us and victory! Crush them, obliterate the enemy, and seize the victory that beckons us!

The earth around me shuddered as I swung my arm furiously. A wave of rock burst forth, burying the giant beast immediately.

"Fight together! These are nothing more than wild beasts! Show them why we Dwarves have survived for so long!"

My words and actions finally managed to convince the masses to stand and fight. An overwhelming cheer erupted as thousands of soldiers cried out and dispelled their fears, turning back headfirst and slamming into the oncoming wyverns with their shields.

Fatigue became an obsolete concept as the Dwarves pummeled the monsters furiously. Jets of flames engulfed the army, but the large number of adventurers managed to shield the soldiers utilizing various elements.

The wyverns themselves without any Dragon soldiers to support them weren't unusually powerful, but that wasn't the problem. The danger lay in the individual that stood his ground in front of me, his looming aura consuming mine as his purple eyes glared at me intently.

The SS-rank adventurer had always remained an inconceivable concept, but that position had been filled for the first time in history.

Jay Cadmium was now the first SS-rank in Auroria.

The adventurers who lay at the top were always given titles, and it felt like the name that Jay would be known as had echoed in my mind as the words escaped my mouth.

"The Dragon Monarch."