Point-of-View: Draco

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  "Th-that is i-impossible! No one can bear my flames, I am the Fire Sage!" She screamed in denial, before firing out a barrage of fireballs at me.

  What a waste of Mana……well, it does not really matter, sooner or later, she will have to accept that her flames have no effect on me. I'm a rather bad match-up for her, any of the other Elemental Sages would have had an advantage against me, but the Fire Sage is practically harmless against me.

  All of her attacks were connecting, but unfortunately for her, they were having no effect whatsoever. Trying to burn me is no different than trying to drown a fish, it simply is not possible. If anything, this is like a breath of fresh air, nothing more.

  Her attacks then finally ceased, after a relentless barrage that lasted over half a minute, and in all that time, I did not even bother to move. As the shimmering haze all around me began to clear, her eyes widened in shock as she got a good look at me, without so much as a trace of damage to be seen.

  "Do you understand now? Flames cannot hurt me, I am not simply resistant, I am completely immune……but by all means, continue to attack me in futility," I taunted her.

  "H-how……how dare you!? Know your place, lowly monster!" She snapped in response, as she shot towards me, her eyes bulging with rage.

  Her speed is certainly impressive, more than I can keep up with……but in her rage, her attack is far too straightforward and predictable. I do not need to keep up with her speed……I just need to understand its timing, and then, all that I need to do, is simply react.

  As she closed in on me and drove her fist towards my throat, I moved out of the way with an angled flap of my wings and then swiftly spun around, whipping her left side with my tail, striking her with immense force as she let out a hollow gasp of pain, blood trickling down the side of her mouth before she got sent zipping through the air at a breakneck speed.

  I swiftly chased after her, extending my claws as I raced through the air. Right as she managed to halt and stabilize herself in midair, I closed in on her and slashed at her, which she just about reacted to and avoided sustaining a severe injury.

  Nevertheless, I had left a deep gash just below the base of her neck, which was bleeding profusely, as she quickly got some distance, fear in her eyes.

  "Even as an Elemental Sage, you Fairies are truly fragile……why not retreat and save your own life instead of dying here meaninglessly? You cannot possibly defeat me, and with your speed, I certainly would not be able to catch you if you tried to escape," I pointed out, attempting to provoke her.

  "N-never! So long as Lord Laus commands it, I will give my life without hesitation!" She declared firmly in response.

  "How truly pitiful a creature you are, I shall put you out of your misery. I must say, I feel sorry for you……and therefore, I will allow you a single hit, you may strike me wherever and however you please. I will not move or even attempt to block, so by all means, hit as hard as you can……show me what the subordinates of the coward Sant A.C. Laus can do, because so far, this has been a rather embarrassing display, wouldn't you agree?" I remarked disdainfully.

  "You arrogant bastard……! I will not allow you to speak ill of Lord Laus in such a manner, lowly creature!" She screeched in response, before rapidly flying towards me while swirling flames around her fist.

  Has she already forgotten that fire does not work against me? Surely this is a feint or something……

  No, nothing like that. Her fist struck the center of my chest, the impact barely even registering as she hit me, the flames dissipating pitifully. And now, it's over for her.

  I swiftly grabbed her wrist before she could escape, a look of fear in her eyes as I met her gaze with a smirk, before taking hold of the top of her head with my free hand, tightening my grip on it. I then glanced below to see how things were going……the other Elemental Dragons are making excellent progress, and the lower level monsters were doing well too.

  "Ah, it looks like things are going as planned……once I crush your skull in, we can move on to the next phase. I must say, it is quite laughable at how poorly planned this attack was……such a ridiculous strategy, Sant must be quite the fool," I laughed, as I began to further tighten my grip, bit by bit.

  "T-take that back! Y-you will not disrespect Lord Laus!" She screamed, clawing at my arm viciously, but to no avail.

  Even as the sound of her skull cracking echoed out and her eyes began to bulge out of her head, blood pouring out of her nose and ears, she didn't plead for her life even once……no, right up until the moment when I crushed her head and killed her, all she did was berate me for insulting her master.

  "Ordinarily, I would certainly commend such loyalty……but this feels so unnatural, almost as if you were brainwashed into idolizing him no matter what," I remarked, feeling disconcerted.

  As far I remember, the Fairies have always been like this, but I never really realized it till now, with Laus having changed so drastically. In the past, Fairies did feel a bit more fanatical that the other three races under Sant's command, but it was hardly a noticeable difference.

  But now, it is quite obvious, just by inspecting the battlefield below……the Fairies were fighting as they usually do, with no hesitation or lack of drive……but the rest all seemed half-hearted and regretful, they truly did not want to be here.

  Now, then……any second now, we will get the signal for the next phase of this battle. The first step was to engage the enemy with lower level monsters, once they break through the physical barrier.

  The second step was to confuse the enemy by reverse summoning all the monsters, and then bringing them back right in the midst of the enemy ranks. The third step was for us, the second line of defense, to break apart the foundation of each enemy group……specifically, eliminating their strongest.

  That concludes the first phase of our plan; cutting down the enemy's overall numbers and throwing them into a state of disorganization by taking down the Elemental Sages and others of substantial power levels.

  The second phase contains the main goal behind our strategy……to force Sant A.C. Laus into showing himself so that Lord Kuro can finish him off once and for all. It is possible that Laus will retreat without showing himself, but if he does so after having sent so many of those who believed in him to die, he will surely lose even more respect from the races under him, excluding the Fairies.

  Ah, there it is, the signal to begin the next phase……all the monsters had once again disappeared, leaving the remainder of the enemy group to the north confused, baffled and completely battered……both the front and the back have been utterly decimated, and the middle was about half intact.

  The other Elemental Dragons flew up towards me as the monsters disappeared, as we prepared to get the next phase underway. What will they choose……?

  "Citizens of the Laus Domain, listen up!" I exclaimed loudly, attracting their attention, "You now have two choices! Continue on forward to your deaths at the command of a leader that sees you all as nothing more than disposable pawns……OR!……retreat right now and return to the Laus Domain. Instead of throwing away your lives for the sake of a cruel leader that does not care for you, live for yourselves and decide what you wish to do with your lives!"

  For a few seconds, they were completely silent……and then, murmurs began ringing out, some of them looking around at the countless number of corpses all around them, the area covered in a widening puddle of blood.

  And then……some of them began to turn around……and walked away, heading for the nullification barrier……once they are past that boundary, they can teleport back to the Laus Domain quite easily.

  Some of them still looked rather conflicted, while the rest looked furious at the ones that were retreating. Naturally, they were mostly Fairies.

  "Do not allow the ones that chose to retreat to be attacked," I instructed the other Elemental Dragons, as I shot out a fireball at a Fairy that was about to attack a retreating Halfling, before addressing them loudly, "If you wish to throw away your lives, then feel free to do so! But if you try to stop those that wish to preserve their lives, as they rightfully should, I will kill you without hesitation……"

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