Thousands of different emotions and thoughts all flooded into my mind at once through the House Coin, overwhelming my ability to understand any of them. My knuckles whitened, clutching around Vespera’s scales as I resisted the increasing need to scream.

  I was about to sever my connection to the House Coin and the knights linked to it when a single, feminine voice cut through the mass of emotions. Her voice was crisp and I knew immediately who she was. After all, I’d just heard her speak.

  “Who is this?” Dame Annalise demanded. “How do you have access to Duke Alistar’s frequency?” The knight paused for only a second before realization seemed to dawn on her. “Lady Lilliana Silverwater?”

  Fortunately or unfortunately, I could feel through the coin that it had connected me to the countless other soldiers and knights now that I was in Elyndor. My connection must not have reached them from Sealrite, and I hadn’t had a reason to use the network en masse in Elyndor until now.

  “Yes,” I growled. “Of course it is me. The Duke bestowed it to me upon his death. Who else would have it?”

  She didn’t answer, and I had no desire to press the issue, not with an eight-headed mountain-sized monstrosity chasing me, each head spewing purple-black fire in an attempt to cook me for its dinner. “Was that you the eight-headed monster is chasing?”

  “Yes,” I grunted as Vespera plunged into a sharp dive, narrowly avoiding a geyser of spiraling black flames.

  “We’ll discuss what you’re riding later,” Dame Annalise said, her tone leaving no room for argument. Her condescension irritated me, but I wasn’t in a situation where I could spare the effort to argue. “How long can you keep it occupied?”

  “Maybe ten minutes,” I replied, though I had little confidence in that estimate. “Probably less.”

  “His Majesty King Zer’Nack has declared this a Class 1 emergency. Royal knights have been deployed from Crastil.” It took me a moment to remember that Crastil was the capital of Lysoria. “However, even with teleportation crystals, it’ll take them hours. We’re currently regrouping on the ground and trying to rebuild the barriers.” She hesitated, then asked the question I knew was coming. it was the exact request I'd come to expect from royalty. I'd been waiting for it. “Lady Lilliana… can you lead it away from the city? As far as possible? You may die, but your name will be remembered as the hero of Lysoria who saved the King.”

  I nearly laughed but held it in, answering with all the forced selflessness I could muster. “Of course, Dame Annalise. We’re already heading toward the city walls. I’ll lead it as far as I can.”

  A tidal wave of thoughts and emotions surged through the telepathic channel, bringing a small smile to my face before I cut off the connection to avoid the pain of processing so many voices. It didn’t matter what they said—the overwhelming sentiment of outrage was like a hurricane of emotions directed at Dame Annalise and the King, mingled with an abundance of pride at my sacrifice.

  Vespera spread her wings and banked sharply to the right. To anyone watching, it would seem we were baiting the Hydra beyond the city walls, but in reality, I was buying time for the arrival of my approaching forces.

  My army—followers, knights, and paragons—were like black ants from this height. I could see them streaking with haste toward the city's destroyed western gates with increasing urgency. The closer we got, the louder their battle cries became.

  “Ready, girl?” I asked Vespera through our private link. No words were necessary as she responded with a deafening roar of defiance, deliberately allowing the Hydra’s next blast of fire to graze her wing. She screamed in agony as the purple-black flames consumed her flesh. The powerful flames licked her flesh and scales with an unnatural hunger that quickly swallowed half her left wing.

  We spiraled out of control, plummeting toward the rocky ground just outside Elyndor’s gates. Vespera fought desperately to slow our descent, but her crippled wing and the sheer momentum of our fall made it impossible. The ground rushed up to meet us, and I braced for impact.

  “Sorry,” I whispered to her. “And thank you.”

  Vespera whimpered, bucking to throw me off her saddle before twisting to catch me mid-air. Her wings curled around me, cocooning me in darkness as we slammed into the earth. The impact rattled my bones, knocking the breath from my lungs in an explosion of air. Pain exploded through my body and I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came. Pockets of light pierced through the gashes in Vespera’s wings, torn and weakened by the Hydra’s flames.

  Through a jagged tear in her wing, I saw the Hydra looming above, its massive form blotting out the sky. Seven of its heads cackled while the middle one stared down at me with an expression that almost looked like… regret?

  Then, energy surged toward its open maw, and it unleashed a torrent of black flames directly at me. If it hit, I knew I wouldn't just die—I would be utterly eviscerated.

  I struggled desperately to move, but my body refused to obey. I could barely even breathe. My ribs were shattered, possibly puncturing my heart. Judging by how lifeless my ragged breathing was, it was likely the only thing preventing the fractured bones from completely piercing through my heart and killing me was the silver core protecting it.

  Where was my army? They should have arrived to help me by now. Where were they? Seconds ticked by and all I could hear was the faint sound of shouting in the distance.

  Memories of my past life flashed through my mind causing me to thrash uselessly against Vespera's weight.

  Was I being betrayed?

  Was I going to die? Again?

  No.

  NO.

  NO!

  I refused to close my eyes even as the black flames roared toward me. As the guarantee of death threatened to swallow me whole. I screamed internally, using every ounce of my will to command my body to move. Veins bulged in my muscles and neck as I strained every fiber of my being to move even an inch.

  To. Just. Fucking. Move!

  It didn't.

  But it didn't need to.

  “RAAAAAARGH!” A deep voice boomed overhead, and a massive man with two battle axes leaped into view, his frame momentarily obscuring the flames from my view. Powerful mana followed after the fighter, surging forward from somewhere behind me to slam into place right as the Hydra’s black flames were about to hit the large fighter. The Hydra's flames collided with the hastily erected magic barriers, shattering them with ease. However, instead of devourer me and Vespera, the black flames were diverted by the subsequent explosion of mana caused by its destruction of the magic barrier, diverting its course just enough to miss us.

  System manipulated energy coalesced around the man as hurled one of his axes at the Hydra, shouting, “Wrath of the Voiceless!” Although the attack did little to truly injure the Hydra, the blade cut into its flesh with a loud crunch as the weapon cracked the creature’s scales. The Hydra roared in anger, its attention temporarily shifting to the massive, howling man. A woman wreathed quickly joined his side, wreathed large red flames that exploded harmlessly around her with the heat of a volcanic eruption.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Ethan?

  Magic filled the air, lifting the crushing weight of Vespera’s body off me and placing her gently to the side. I hoped she was alive, but I didn't have it in me to check. I couldn't even move.

  My army was before me, their faces set in grim determination and rage. Many were on Cockatrice, some were on wyverns, while others rode four legged animals that’d I’d never seen before. I wanted to ask what they were, but the pain in my body blinded me when I tried to move. Pale green healing magic instantly enveloped me and a group of healers I didn’t recognize surrounded me. I could feel their magic coursing over me with a rushed desperation, the act of mage’s anxious to keep their liege from an untimely death.

  An older man stepped into view, his soulless black eyes peering down at me from above the healers. “You seem to be having some trouble, my lady. Care for some assistance?”

  “Fuck you, Benedict.” I groaned, but even as I did the pain in my body eased from the healing magic encompassing me. "You're late."

  He chuckled, though his eyes flicked between me and the battle. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Lilliana. I’m not sure even a thousand of our toxic mana bombs could kill that thing, even if we somehow convince it to swallow all of them.”

  It didn’t matter. Even if the bombs failed, I was confident the combined strength of our armies could repel the Hydra. With four gold-realm warriors, two third-realm mages, a golden dragon core, and my own core nearing gold-realm power, we stood a chance. Most of the gold-realm fighters would die, along with many silvers, but that was to be expected when fighting a higher-core monster.

  The real concern was the Hydra’s core progression. It had been a platinum core with three rings when I'd created it, but now it was somehow already nearing breaking into the diamond realm with terrifying speed. With each knight it consumed, each life it snuffed from existence, its core pulsed with that much more power.

  If it reached diamond… I wasn’t sure we could stop it. At that point, I doubted anyone in this world could stop it except for the progenitors.

  Cries of anguish and rage filled the air as more soldiers fell to the Hydra’s flames, barrelling from the sky like lifeless dolls. Benedict summoned mana from his core again and again, launching it outward with increasing urgency.

  “How is she?” Benedict asked one of the healers, a stocky man with a long gray beard, launching another barrage of magic spears toward the Hydra.

  “She’ll live. Might even be able to keep fighting,” the healer replied gruffly. “But it’ll take us time.”

  Benedict glanced up at the sky as a half dozen knights and wyverns fell out of the fight, burning like blackened candles. “We may not have that long.”

  “ENOUGH!” the Hydra roared. Its voice spoke in Common Tongue, but it was distorted and guttural. The words felt wrong. Utterly and abjectly wrong as if by speaking the common tongue of humanity the Hydra had broken some primal law of reality.

  Power ripped from the creature, waves of energy scattering would-be attackers and erecting a sphere of Authority around itself. Then, with a second wave of energy, the sphere of Authority expanded exponentially into Greater Doamin, threatening to engulf the entire city if not stopped.

  Five high-realm warriors instantly encircled the Hydra, their powers shaping around themselves to form five individual Domains that pushed back and restricted the Hydra's Greater Domain. I felt a pang of envy—that had been me, once upon a time. Not the suffering, pathetic girl pummeled to a pulp I was now. Now all I could do was watch as the high-realm warriors struggled to just barely hold in place the Hydra's expanding energy before it could create its superior Greater Domain.

  King Zer'Nack. Dame Annalise. Duke Granger. Duke Goldenhearts. And a knight in golden armor I didn't recognize. All their expressions were contorted into looks of extreme concentration, tinged with hints of resignation.

  I sat up and grimaced, pain spiraling down my arm in protest. The older healer placed a hand on my chest and shook his head, slowly pushing my upper body back to rest on the ground.

  When I looked up again, the King stepped forward as if to address the monster.

  King Zer'Nack's Domain was the second largest, only barely smaller than Dame Annalise’s.

  However, although a Domain was not visible to the naked eye, it could be easily observed through energy or mana. It created ripples in space, veins of energy or mana that sparked like invisible lightning with every pulse of power from its caster.

  Unlike Authority, a Domain was not simply pressure. A Domain created an area of dominance with its Awakener’s core as its center. To succumb to someone’s domain, was to be at their mercy. A Domain could dominate all the energy within it, prohibiting any others from accessing it. It could summon gales of wind so strong everyone within it was cut to pieces except for the caster.

  But a Domain was only the beginning of true power. I grimaced as I could see the Domains already begin to lose ground against the Hydra’s Greater Domain. It wasn’t quite at the level of a Diamond Core which could wield a Perfect Domain, but it didn't need to be. Even from the other side of the battlefield, I could already feel the tendrils of control the Greater Domain demanded.

  “This is your only warning, beast,” the King said. His voice was solid and unwavering, filled with the arrogance and self-confidence that all those born to power have. As he spoke, he reminded me of Duke Alistar, if only in appearance. The golden locks of hair, the gold eyes, the tall, muscular build of royalty. Everything about the man screamed authority and power. But that was it.

  Where Duke Alistar had once backed his pride and confidence with experience and true power, the King radiated the same falseness I’d felt from Morgana and some of the other tournament fighters. His power didn’t feel real. It felt… forced. Unnatural.

  Gained without earning it.

  At that moment I noticed that, although the reach of the King's Domain was large, it was thin. Weak.

  Fuck. My heart raced as the realization hit me. Our side only had four gold-realm warriors and two third-realm mages, including Benedict. If King Zer’nack was an unnatural gold-realm Awakener, with the limited experience of a silver—or worse, a bronze—our chances of success dropped by a sixth. A fucking sixth.

  “Gods’ dammit,” I muttered, gesturing for Benedict to approach. The marquess knelt beside me, his expression questioning.

  “My lady?”

  “The King…” I gasped, struggling to speak through spikes of pain. “He's a false gold.”

  Benedict’s eyes widened, his eyebrows disappearing behind his dark bangs. “What do you mean?”

  “His power… doesn’t match… his experience. You… need to… go help. Quickly."

  He shook his head firmly. “You may have marked me, Lilliana, but my orders were to protect you after you fall—not to aid those we seek to conquer. My Domain is for your protection alone.”

  I growled, frustration boiling over. “Idiot… I… miscalculated. The King’s Domain… is weak. Filled with… air. The Hydra’s Greater Domain… will break through… the encirclement. Then… we all die. We need… the stalemate… to buy time… for the toxic mana… explosions. We need… the distraction.”

  Before Benedict could respond, the King’s voice was drowned out by a guttural cackle from the Hydra’s leftmost head. “Weeeeak old man. Who are you to sssspeak with yyyyour false powwwaaah?”

  The Hydra’s Greater Domain surged forward, shattering the King’s Domain in an instant. Its tail whipped through the air, aiming straight for the King’s heart. The King’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden attack, his lack of real combat experience laid bare in his inability to react. It was a miracle he’d somehow survived this long into the battle.

  The golden-realm knight, clad in armor identical to his fallen comrade, leaped in front of the King with a desperate shout. His focus faltered as he saw his liege in danger and his control over his Doman weakened, allowing the Hydra’s Greater Domain to tear through the knight's Domain like paper. The creature’s tail pierced his heart, and the air shimmered as the knight’s golden core shattered. The energy stored within the knight’s core erupted outward, unleashing chaos across the battlefield. In the brief moment of disarray, Dame Annalise, Duke Goldenhearts, and Duke Granger seized the opportunity to rally in front of the King, their presence a desperate shield against the Greater Domain's relentless advance.

  The golden-armored knight was ignored as he plummeted to the ground like a stone, his body shattering on impact, joining the war's growing garden of corpses.