The two girls held their breath, their hearts pounding like war drums as they observed the two humanoid Scourge commanders hovering in the courtyard.
They remained in their crouched position, not even daring to take a peek. The two girls had witnessed what had happened back at the entrance of the portal. A single Scourge humanoid alone had emitted such an oppressive aura and commanded Scourge champions who were already very powerful to deal with.
Most of the dragonkins grew up knowing that the Scourge dragons were the closest pawns to the Alpha Scourge.
However, after seeing what the commander was capable of, they didn't think this was the case anymore. For the commander to control the Scourge, that meant they were even closer to the Alpha.
We could be wrong, Zara thought, frost collecting at her fingertips. I'm sure not even most of the monarchs knew about this humanoid. If I'm right, they're like hidden weapons or something.
Soon, one of them summoned enough courage to peek—it was Elise. The beautiful Inferno dragon narrowed her cat-like eyes to get a clearer view. The distance from the tower to the broken courtyard was over hundreds of metres but thanks to her enhanced dragon sight, a little squinting was all it took.
Even Zara peeped at that moment.
The two humanoid figures below moved slowly with synchronized steps. Their movements were almost mechanical.
One was clearly wearing a Scourge mask, and his body emitted a low pulsing glow. The other had his face uncovered, but his features were distorted—as if he was mid-transformation. It didn't help.
Zara muttered softly, her voice so low that it sounded like she was speaking to herself. "That second one… he looks familiar, but I can't pinpoint where I've seen him."
Elise frowned. Because of the close proximity, she barely heard her partner. "It might just be a resemblance. I don't think someone you know would be out here."
Zara squinted again and nodded her head. "It could be. But does this mean there are more of these Scourge commanders?"
One was already powerful enough. The duo didn't want to think about how frightening an army of such creatures would be. In the last war, a Scourge champion could easily wipe out over 100 average dragons.
If they attacked... Zara and Elise paused and glanced at each other, realizing that both were thinking the same thing. They abruptly ended their thoughts, not wanting to imagine the rest.
Suddenly, the Scourge-masked figure raised his head slightly. For a second, Elise felt like he looked directly at them.
Elise jerked back. "Did he—?"
Zara grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind the pillar. "Don't move."
The pressure rose slightly, and they heard a rumble. The level at which their hearts pounded skyrocketed.
The two activated their respective elements. They felt as if a pair of eyes were staring in their direction. They held their breath, feeling that even the slightest noise would give their position away.
After several tense seconds, Zara slowly peeled out from behind the ancient pillar they were hiding behind.
The courtyard was empty, save for the howl of the corrupted wind.
"What is it?" Elise asked softly.
"They vanished," Zara said.
"Just like that." Confusion crisscrossed her beautiful face as she peeped out as well. Indeed, there was nothing there.
They were supposed to be relieved, but somehow, it was only unsettling.
"How did they..." Zara suddenly paused mid-sentence when she realized a powerful presence was staring right into her skull.
She sensed it as well, and her danger senses flared.
"We're here," Raziel announced.
Shortly after the encounter with the hooded statue in the market district, the duo stumbled upon a towering wall.
On the wall, there were blurred artworks. Although it had withstood the test of time, the two could easily tell that the artwork was very beautiful and must have been drawn by a very talented artist.
Nyxirith quickly approached the wall and feasted her eyes on the artwork.
"Drake would want to see this." Her eyes gleamed.
"What is it?" Raziel spoke as he approached the wall. He had been staring at the walls for a while, but all that stared back at him were the blurred artworks, which didn't explain much.
In a shameless voice, he added, "Apologies, but my sight is very terrible and I'm not as smart as you guys."
She raised a hand and gently traced over the outlines. "It's faded, but from what I can tell—it shows eight dragons in conflict, not with themselves but against a ninth."
"Hmm." Now that Nyxirith explained it, Raziel could see it as well.
In the mural, eight mighty dragons—each painted with colors representing the primal elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Ice, Lightning, Light, and Darkness—were surrounding a single figure. But that ninth dragon... it wasn't like the others. The paint used to draw it had decayed faster, flaked and faded. Yet even in that fragmented image, it was unmistakably terrifying.
"…The ninth?" Raziel asked. "What element is that supposed to be?"
Nyxirith shook her head. "It's not listed in any records I know."
She stepped back, brushing dust from her armor, gaze narrowing. "The Eight Elements were the foundation of the Dragon Realms. But… this?"
"This could explain the Scourge dragons," Nyxirith said slowly, brows furrowed. "Or maybe… they're not dragons at all. At this point, I'm just confused."
The more clues they found, the more confusing it became.
She pointed at the surroundings of the ninth dragon in the mural. "Look, the others are attacking it, but they're… desperate. Like they're scared." Her eyes subconsciously shifted to another painting.
It was that of a Shadow Dragon. She suspected it to be her mother. The painting showed her crawling away from the ninth dragon.
Nyxirith's eyes flashed. She had never seen this side of her mother, who was the true epitome of strength to her. Then her gaze fell on the others. They were just as scared.
"A lot of things don't add up. How can a single dragon be so powerful? Could it be these were just normal dragons, and they were up against the ninth? But this symbolic eight-dragon depiction... I'm very certain it's the present Monarchs. After all, the Scourge had only attacked during their reign."
Suddenly, her gaze accidentally fell on one of the eight dragons.
Her eyes flashed. "Huh."
There was something different about the Frost Monarch.