My Dragon King System-Chapter 372: Sundown

The battle raged across the dimension until the sun began its descent toward the horizon.

In the dense forest, a mage from Nazanda had conjured a massive serpent of flame that coiled around a champion from Lomen.

The grey-cloaked warrior struggled against the burning coils as his enormous axe raised for one final strike at his opponent's head.

——

Somewhere deep within the forest, two champions collided in a violent exchange of magic.

One wielded ice. Frost gathered at his feet before surging outward in rapid succession. The frozen trail snaked across the earth, multiplying and branching as it advanced, intent on trapping his opponent within a prison of rising crystal.

The opposing mage reacted swiftly. He thrust his hand forward and summoned a dense sphere of compressed wind.

With a sharp release, the wind sphere blasted outward towards the incoming ice

—

At the mountain ridge, a group of three champions from Anane had cornered a pair from Nazanda. One of the Anane warriors raised his blade, prepared to bring it down on the wounded mage before him.

Then the sun touched the horizon.

And Every champion on the field vanished in an instant.

The flame serpent dissipated mid-coil. The axe swing never landed.

The sphere of wind and ice attack, dissolved into nothing.

The blade froze mid-swing.

All across the dimension, battles stopped as though time itself had been cut, the one by one it all vanished.

This was part of the rules of engagement. It didn't matter if you were just about to finish off anyone. Once it was sunset, everyone was sent back to their fortresses.

——

The champions of Dragonhold materialized within their hall, where the rest of the kingdom stood waiting.

The moment they appeared, the hall erupted into applause.

Not a single one of them had been eliminated.

Oberon stood at the front of the hall with his arms crossed and a little smile on his face. "Welcome back, all of you."

The champions then proceeded further into the hall to join the rest.

Piers moved toward Katherine the moment she stepped forward. They embraced, and he kissed her forehead before pulling back to look at her face. "You were incredible out there."

Katherine smiled. "I had a good partner."

Elena was already being pulled into a hug by Oliver, who wrapped his arms around her and said something quiet that made her laugh.

Oberon and Thamoryn were already in conversation. She was gesturing with one hand as she spoke, and he nodded along with a thoughtful expression.

Both Ursula and Talen were at the center of the hall, talking with the other captains.

Meanwhile, Kayden walked past everyone as though they weren't there. It seemed no one really looked in his direction.

There may have been few glanced his way, but no one called out to him or moved to speak with him.

He walked toward the stairs to retire to his room.

Innis watched him go. She had been following his movements the entire time. She took a step forward as if to follow, then stopped. She sighed, clenched her fist, and let it be.

——

Later that night, the Valaross fortress felt alive.

The champions of each kingdom roamed the grounds between their buildings, and it looked like a busy marketplace.

Conversations filled the air, and most of what they discussed were the battles from earlier that day.

They shared stories with each other, some accurate, others exaggerated beyond recognition.

Near one of the stone benches, a mage from Drakensport was explaining to his friend with wild gestures how a certain attack from a mage of Uweron had forced him to run.

He spread his arms wide and mimed an explosion. "I'm telling you, the blast was this big! I barely made it out!"

His friend laughed. "You're full of it. That's not what I heard."

"I swear on my life! Ask anyone who was there!"

The atmosphere was lively, but beneath it all, there was tension. Everyone knew they had lost champions today.

——

At the center of the fortress was a large building separate from the castles meant for the kingdoms.

This was the general hall of meetings, where the leaders of the continent could gather for talks, and every other fortress had something similar.

Right now, at a round table, all ten rulers of Valaross stood in a circle.

King Oberon of Dragonhold.

King Cedric Greystone of Xathia.

Queen Sigrid of Skallgard.

King Ansel of Drakensport.

King Juvna of Jogunmount.

Queen Seraph of Orathia.

King Krelnor of Belforte. Queen Selene of Zahka.

Queen Arnarra of Elandria.

And finally, Queen Thalyra of Yul'thera.

They discussed and weighed their losses from today's battle.

Orathia had lost one. Belforte had lost two. Jogunmount had lost one.

That left them with only 36 champions to field tomorrow. But worse, they could not afford to lose six more, or it would lead to a total of ten lost champions, which would mean Valaross was out.

At some point in their conversation, Cedric said, "A mage of mine reported something strange. An Uweron mage cut off their connection to magic. He said they could feel their mana, but they couldn't use it."

Arnarra nodded. "I received the same report." She went on to describe the mage to the others. "Black and white hair. Purple-tinted glasses. Wore a pendant around his neck."

The fearful Ansel then asked, "What manner of magic is that? Almost everyone on that field fights with magic. Isn't that an unfair sort of thing to be allowed?"

Seraph of Orathia spoke next. "Our warriors faced the most difficulty at the hands of Uweron's mages too."

The one who had eliminated a champion of Orathia was also an Uweron mage.

Oberon placed his hand on a piece of paper in front of him. It was a report of the status of each fortress, and a copy had been sent to every fortress.

On it, it showed that Paeleshan, Mirean, and Essor had been eliminated today. That left only five continents remaining.

Out of the five, Valaross had 36 champions left to field. Anane had 37. Lomen had 37 as well. Nazanda had 38. And Uweron had 39, meaning they had only lost one champion.

Which was seemingly the one that had been paired with Dunn against Talen and his Jogunmount companion.

Oberon then said, "It is evident that Valaross had the most eliminations today. But it is also evident that because everyone chose to focus us, we have the least champions left among the others."

He paused, then continued. "Which is why I'm proposing a new strategy I'd like you to share with your people."

Sigrid asked, "What is it?"

Oberon replied, "Instead of seeking out direct confrontations, we will avoid as much as we can. We let them weaken each other in battle and only strike while they are engaged."

The others glanced at each other, but didn't seem to have an issue with it.

Arnarra said with a small smile, "You always love to play underhanded tactics."

Oberon looked at her and said, "Well, do you have any better ideas? Because last I checked, most of your mages barely got any eliminations themselves today. So unless you've got a better idea, this is the only one that will keep Valaross in this stage."

Arnarra said nothing.

Oberon looked around the table. "Tomorrow, we fight smarter. Not harder."

And most of the rulers nodded in agreement.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​