A roar echoed through the air. A red, massive dragon appeared in front of them. The dragon's body was so powerful that every step it took caused massive quakes.
Without resting for even a second, the red dragon lunged toward the group.
They instantly vanished and jumped a bit further away.
"Speak of the devil, it's here," Aizis said with a smirk.
"These dragons seem pretty different from regular dragons. Their physical strength, speed, and size are much higher than a regular dragon," Marco said curiously.
"Can you guys stop chatting and deal with it?" Maria said loudly, annoyed.
Raizel drew a blue magic circle and cast dark red flames.
The red dragon opened its mouth, about to unleash a flame breath, but Raizel's spell completely destroyed the dragon and turned it into ashes.
"These dragons... they don't seem as weak as I thought. Their physical structure is on a different level," Raizel said.
"Is it possible that someone summoned the dragon here? It's not a natural dragon," Maria asked.
"No, if it were a summoning, it would've been just one—or they would've come at us all at once. But look," Aizis said.
Aizis pointed toward the left with his finger.
A huge army of dragons was charging toward them at incredible speed. The whole area was covered in sand fog from the massive amount of dragons, causing quakes and sending sand flying everywhere. It was impossible for a normal human to see through the fog.
"Hmm, the number of dragons isn't that high, but their presence is creating an irritating situation here. I can't even open my eyes properly.'' Marco said while trying to cover his eyes continuously.
''So, this is the hidden army of the Dragon King. He's actually planning to use all of them to attack Zeldia. What a selfish mindset," Maria said.
"I don't think so. It's not the army he's preparing to attack Zeldia with. It's just a fraction of his army. The main army is yet to appear. If he actually want to attack Zeldia, he'll hide his army under his wing. I can say that without any doubt," Aizis said calmly.
"You anticipated this much? Are you certain he's actually hiding an army?" Maria asked.
"Yes, I have no doubt about that. So then, what are you planning, Raizel?" Aizis asked.
"Since they're already here, we're going back without finishing them off. I'll take care of them," Raizel replied.
Raizel drew multiple magic circles surrounding the dragons. The magic circles rolled simultaneously and released a huge blast of red flames toward the army of dragons.
The flames created a storm of dark fog, taking everything under it.
A few seconds later, the dark fog vanished. The dragons were gone, and the flames left nothing but ashes.
"As I thought, it's not hard for me to take care of them. Come to think of it, they didn't even last a single flame blast from me. Even though their physical structure is pretty tough, they can't resist a flame that erases anything from existence, regardless of durability. It's their actual weakness," Raizel thought to himself.
"Excellent. As I thought, his power is out of my league. Even though he's always silent, his magic power isn't as ordinary as he seems," Marco thought to himself.
"I can sense a huge amount of magic power. I believe there's still a lot left to take care of. We must return for now. Let's go," Raizel said.
"Yes, that's what I'm thinking," Aizis agreed.
Raizel drew a blue magic circle surrounding them and they vanished from the desert world.
The desert world returned to a silent state.
A shadow appeared in the distance.
Someone emerged from the shadow— a person in a dark long coat. His entire face and body were covered in shadow magic layers.
The person behind the dark shadow spoke up.
"You believe you can defeat anyone, regardless of their level, right?'' he took a casual breath.
But I wonder if that can truly be the case. Just how much do you know about the world, Edward Raizel? I want to see how much you can do, Art of mortals," the shadow said in a smooth, cold voice.
The person who appeared from the shadow sank back into it. The shadow disappeared quickly.
After teleporting away from the desert world, Raizel and the others appeared in front of a street in Zeldia.
The street was silent, with barely anyone in sight.
"I didn't expect to see such an army all of a sudden. Otherwise, it would've been best to finish them off right there," Raizel said.
"We can take care of them later. It's not urgent to deal with them right now," Marco replied.
"But it's my job to clear them. They'll be trouble for Zeldia soon enough. I have to stop them before that happens," Raizel said in a serious tone.
It was clear that he was panicked about it.His eyelashes flickered faster than usual, and a trace of desperation lingered on his face. His expression made it clear—he wanted to end it all as quickly as possible.
"Haha, come to think of it, Raizel returned home without wiping out his enemies for the first time since that day. Is this actual reality for me?" Aizis thought to himself with a minor smile.
"Their movement and physical structure definitely tell me they're not natural dragons. Either someone created them with mana and is controlling them, or someone changed their physical structure and is now controlling them," Maria said, A faint trace of curiosity appeared on her face.
"No one is directly controlling them, but someone is definitely commanding them. I'm pretty sure of it," Aizis said.
Maria stared at Aizis's face and smiled slightly.
"No one can anticipate and predict everything the way you do. It's impossible for anyone," Maria said, lowering her gaze.
"It's not a failure on your part; it's just that I've managed to reach a league where no one can get in. I'm pretty sure it's boring for me, especially when I have to be the best in some way with no rival," Aizis replied with a slight smile.
"It's just your gifted intelligence. We weren't lucky enough to receive something like that," Maria said, jealous.
Aizis laughed awkwardly.
"Could be. Like I was saying, being the best isn't always good. Sometimes, it can lead to a harsh loneliness that no one desires to face," Aizis replied with a minor smile.
"I don't think it's possible to find anyone who is satisfied with their own position. Everyone is perfect in their own way, but no one is perfect in every way. It just depends on your point of view," Raizel said.
"Could be. To be honest, you'll never find anyone who is satisfied with their own position. Perfection is nothing more than a dream that everyone seeks from the beginning of their life to the end. It's a foolish, meaningless, and stupid idea to think of someone as perfect. The concept of perfection is nothing more than an illusion in our current reality. It's just that everyone uses it as inspiration to ascend higher," Maria said.
Aizis smiled.
After that, they walked all the way to the main city of Zeldia while chatting with each other.
"Considering the amount of mana the dragons are holding, their capability is good enough to massacre our world into nothing. Only the presence of strong magic users is keeping the world safe from their one-shot moves. The presence of stronger beings can be both negative and positive for the world. If someone exists in the world with too much magic power for the world to handle, then the world will perish instantly. However, if there is balance, the presence of the stronger being will act as a shield for the world," Marco explained.
"If I hadn't cast the flame magic as soon as I saw them, there would've been a massacre. Considering their hostility and actions, they're either being controlled by someone or created in such a way that they'll destroy anyone in sight," Raizel said.
"Yeah," Aizis agreed.
"As much information as I've managed to gather, the ruler of the desert world holds some sort of magic spell capable of destroying his own army instantly. Come to think of it, his capabilities are much higher than we can imagine," Maria said.
"They're still weak compared to our magic lords. The magic lords are the reason no one has tried to attack us yet. I wish I could be strong like them," Marco said with a long breath.
"We can't be too sure about that. We don't even know how strong the other worlds are. In most of the wars happening right now, every world is only sending its surface power to deal with each other. However, the time isn't far off when every world will start fighting with their best capabilities."
"So you want to follow them as your model, Marco?" Aizis asked.
"Well, I wouldn't call them my model, it's just a mortal desire. I choose myself as my model. I want to transcend myself. This is what inspires me to ascend continuously. I choose to transcend myself, which isn't something you can achieve, but something that will lead you higher and higher," Marco replied with a smile.
"That's nice," Aizis replied with a smile.
"Well then, I have to leave now," Raizel added.
The other three didn't reply.
Raizel drew a purple magic circle. A blue light surrounded him, and he vanished along with it.