The sun was beginning to dip behind the mountains, painting the sky in soft oranges and fading blues, when a deep and thunderous roar shattered the stillness above the battlefield.
It wasn’t just any roar.
It was loud, ancient, and commanding—echoing across the air like a king giving an order.
Every dragon that was still circling the skies suddenly stopped, their wings stiff and eyes glowing. One by one, they turned away. Then, like waves pulling back into the ocean, they started to fly away—retreating into the distant skies, disappearing behind clouds and mountains.
All the guilds stood still, watching in confusion. So flinched, so shouted, and others just stared, unsure if it was truly over.
On the floating stone platforms, many fell to their knees, their bodies shaking, arms heavy, and minds barely able to think straight. Mana had been drained, stamina almost gone, and even the strongest could feel the toll the day had taken.
Seoha, her clothes torn and her body still pulsing with heat from her last skill, stood ready to chase—but a strong hand caught her arm.
"Let them leave," Gideon said as he looked up at the vanishing dragons. "Our people are tired. So are already giving up. We need to regroup, get mana potions, and keep our strength for tomorrow."
Seoha blinked, looking around.
She saw what Gideon ant.
So of the Awakened were lying unconscious on platforms, others were being helped back to the walls by wind mages. Healers were already overworked, so holding onto their knees, gasping for breath. Shields were cracked. Weapons broken.
"Ehhh? Damn it, I’m not done yet. Those dragons are cowards... just retreating like that..."
She kicked a loose stone in frustration.
Then, a voice spoke up from the side. A man with dark eyes and a long black coat, his guild emblem glowing faintly in the fading light. He was a mber of the Shadow Dragon Guild of China.
"They’re not retreating," he said coldly. "They’re resetting."
Seoha turned her head sharply.
Then another voice, steady and familiar, joined in as Alexa stepped forward, her swords still sheathed on her back, her expression serious but composed.
"Dragons of this class don’t run away," Alexa explained. "They operate in cycles. First, combat. Then, regeneration. When morning cos... they’ll be twice as dangerous."
A few of the guild mbers who heard her widened their eyes. So turned to each other in murmurs.
"They... gave us ti to recover?" one whispered, confused.
"They’re playing with us," another muttered, angry.
And in the quiet that followed, no one could deny it. The dragons didn’t flee because they were afraid—they pulled back because they were in control.
And now, the guilds knew that tomorrow... would be even worse.
As the last of the dragons vanished into the clouds, a quiet sigh of relief passed through the air.
The floating stones that carried the guild mbers in the sky began to fall apart slowly, piece by piece, as the wind mages and earth mages ended their spells, their arms dropping from exhaustion, sweat dripping down their faces. So fell to their knees while others sat down, too drained to even speak.
Lauren floated down gently, her long brown hair with green glows fluttering as she landed beside Crown Prince Callan, who had just arrived at the outer wall, still armored and alert.
She bowed her head slightly and said, "Your Highness, with your permission... we’d like to stay outside the walls tonight. We want to be ready. If the dragons return at dawn, we’ll be the first to et them in battle again."
The crown prince looked at her for a mont, then glanced toward the exhausted n and won spread across the field that just landed. He nodded firmly.
"You stood for our people today. We’ll stand for you tonight. I’ll see to it that your camp is provided with clean water, firewood, and enough food. I’ll also send fabric and hay for laying down. You need rest too."
Lauren smiled gratefully and bowed again. "Thank you, Your Highness."
Then she turned and raised her voice, calling out clearly, "Cale, Mino, Lianne! Co here!"
Three people from her guild jogged toward her. One was a tall man with a pack full of bottles clinking, the second a woman with braided hair carrying a satchel of herbs, and the third a younger girl holding a book.
"Yes, Mrs. Lauren?" they said in unison, standing straight.
Lauren pointed toward the nearby corner where other guilds were setting up makeshift camps. "These three are our alchemists," she told the nearby nobles and soldiers who were helping with supplies. "Please assist them with whatever ingredients or containers they need."
Then she looked back at her own people. "Cale, Mino, Lianne—focus on mana potions first. We’ll need everyone recovered by morning. Then make healing salves for minor injuries. Anything else you can craft that will help us last longer, prepare them too and Look for other Alchemist."
"Yes, ma’am!" They said at once, already starting to set up their little workstation on the ground using crates and cloth to form a table.
Around them, fires began to be lit.
Tents were being raised quickly.
Later...
The moon was high in the sky now, and the cool air of the night wrapped around the quiet land outside the walls of Solaria.
Fires burned softly in small camps, and the people of Solaria, who had watched everything from afar, finally stepped forward. So were farrs, others were tradesn, and a few were even retired knights or old servants of the palace.
They had all volunteered to help. They brought bread and warm soup, blankets made of thick wool, and buckets of water to wash off the dirt of battle. So of them even brought extra cloaks for the cold, and with simple smiles, they laid them gently beside the strangers from the sky.
The guild mbers accepted the help with tired nods, so even whispering thanks as they leaned against trees, stone, or just laid flat on the grass, too drained to speak.
Healers had already done their best, but their mana had long run out, and now it was sleep that worked as their only cure. One by one, the mages were the first to fall asleep—collapsed where they sat or curled up in groups close to the fires.
It was peaceful now.
The only sounds were the soft crackling of flas, the quiet whispers of the volunteers moving between the camps, and the wind brushing across the open fields.
High above them, Crown Prince Callan stood alone on the top of the outer wall, his cloak gently swaying behind him, his eyes watching the sleeping warriors below. His hands were behind his back, and his face was serious but calm.
He saw them—n and won from different lands, different faces, different clothes, and even different powers—but they had fought together. Side by side. And they held back the dragons.
He looked up at the sky for a mont before muttering softly to himself, "Now I understand why magic was forbidden..."
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