Chapter 255: Edict of Annihilation

It had taken them the better part of a day to gather enough forces to set out for the dragon world. Alistair’s nerves were frayed—nearly all of their strongest fighters had joined the subjugation. While their territory wasn’t undefended, the fact that neither Simon nor King had stayed behind was troubling.

The strongest individual left was Rovari, who refused to leave her clutch, but that wasn’t the only thing weighing on Alistair’s mind. His gaze shifted to Zephi, who paced back and forth, chewing her nails. Her flight had been the most outspoken against the purging of hatchlings, making them an inevitable focal point for those rallying to resist. If the fighting had already begun, they would be at the center of the storm.

Alistair drummed his fingers, his gaze shifting to the spectral form of Sotarr, whose expression remained stony. He had been surprised by the dragon’s patience while they gathered forces and allies, expecting far more urgency. When Alistair questioned him about it, Sotarr had simply replied, "You are here to ensure the edict is carried out. My expectation is for my kind to root out the rot themselves."

"System arrival is slated in five minutes; all forces are to prepare themselves." The announcement came over the speakers.

Alistair rose from his chair, Riseth at his side. Zephi and Simon, who had been standing off to the side, joined them as they headed for the docking bay, where deployment would be far easier.

"This really isn't how I imagined things going," Riseth muttered as they made their way to the docking bay.

Alistair gave her a knowing smile. "We’ve been fortunate to control events as much as we have."

He glanced at Sotarr’s spectral form but swallowed the reprimand on his tongue. He owed the man far too much, and this was clearly an emotionally charged matter.

Alistair himself had mixed feelings. He had hoped for a longer break from the constant fighting, though he knew it was a necessity in the reality he found himself in. There were already far too many individuals with no scruples about killing anyone who stood in their way—each convinced of their own righteousness, growing stronger, and using that power to impose their will on others.

While he still limited the kind of people he targeted—and there were plenty of them—it still slowed his progress and painted a target on his back. Leaving his home as unguarded as it was now left him deeply uncomfortable, even with the protective measures in place.

If this had happened after their world had been discovered, he would have never agreed to the level of commitment they were now bringing down upon the Dragon World.

Alistair felt the shift as they exited warpspace above the planet, and even from this distance, the sheer amount of violent energy emanating from below was overwhelming. The world had turned into a full-blown warzone.

The hatches of the docking bay snapped open in a flash, an energy shield separating the ship’s controlled atmosphere from the void. Above their heads, fighter jets launched first, streaking toward the surface. Exchanging a look with Riseth and the others, they teleported as close as they could to the surface—near the Korretesh Mountains.

As Alistair oriented himself, it became clear that the Korretesh had, as expected, become one of the focal points. A host of red, black, and blue dragons assailed the mountain, while a rainbow of others did everything in their power to keep them at bay.

His gaze drifted downward, grimacing at the countless dragon bodies littering the valleys below. A trickle of rage swelled within him. When he looked up again, he no longer needed color to identify his enemies. The marked bore twisted auras, tainted into something abhorrent and wrong—their very souls laid bare, warped by their own actions.

Alistair didn’t know for sure whether it had been the edict itself that had twisted and punished them for their practice or if it had merely laid bare what had been there all along—but it didn’t matter. He rocketed toward the surface, shifting his mass as he plunged like a meteor toward the massive black dragon, [Naredim - Lvl 189], who was currently locked in battle with Nazes and Kaxes. Even from this distance, Zephi’s parents looked far worse for wear.

"Riseth, I'll need your help to take that one down," Alistair called through the Akashic Link as he descended upon the creature like a Rod of God.

"You got it!" Riseth replied.

Just before Alistair made contact, Naredim erected a series of barriers to block his attack, but he tore through them one by one in rapid succession. His poleaxe was already drawn, boosting skills fully activated as he swung at the elder dragon—just as it swiped its enormous claws at him.

They collided mid-air, the sheer kinetic force behind Alistair’s strike cracking the dragon’s claws despite the energy he had lost breaking through the barriers. Even so, the impact forced him to a standstill.

Riseth arrived next, her weapon squealing in delight as she lashed out at the dragon’s neck. Her chainblades sparked violently as they slid across Naredim’s unbelievably tough scales, failing to carve through. The dragon retaliated with a breath attack of acrid-smelling acid, but she teleported out just in time, reappearing beyond its range.

The moment she did, Naredim let out a low growl, and Alistair felt the space around them lock down.

"Disgusting insects! How dare you intervene!" Naredim roared.

All around them, explosions ripped through the air as the orbital bombardment began. Marked dragons scrambled for cover, shielding themselves from the relentless assault raining down from above, while crafts roared overhead at high speed.

The main force was already descending, their Valrus war machines among them—massive cannons leveled on the dragons, unleashing devastation with each shot. From the decks, fighters hurled spells and attacks, the battlefield below erupting into chaos.

"The only abominable insect is you and those like you..." Sotarr growled, his spectral form materializing in front of Naredim.

As his aura flared across the battlefield, the black dragon hesitated, recognition flickering in his eyes. He knew exactly what stood before him.

Naredim stared at the specter for a long moment before making his decision. With a deep inhale, he unleashed a torrent of acid, blasting through Sotarr’s spectral form and temporarily dispersing him.

"This is my world," he snarled. "And I'll be damned if I let some distant specter tell me what is right."

Even as he spoke, more dragons encircled them, and from a distance, Alistair sensed another powerful presence rapidly approaching. He didn’t hesitate—he summoned King, whose massive form materialized beside them, towering over the battlefield.

A trickle of fear slipped from the elder as he took in the sight. King was larger than him, his gaze imperious as he looked down on the black dragon.

"Try to leave some for me," King rumbled, turning away. "I have to take care of some Lunchables first." His teeth gleamed as black flames erupted from his body, his slow, deliberate steps radiating growing waves of cursed energy. Some of the dragons hesitated, instinctively backpedaling at the sheer pressure rolling off him.

"Ah, I love me some cowards," King mused aloud before launching himself forward with incredible speed. His bladed tail lashed out, black flames carving deep gauges into a trio of dragons before he clamped his jaws around the neck of a smaller one, biting down with a sickening crunch and tearing its head free.

Alistair had little focus to spare as Nomura and Kujo intercepted the approaching red dragon, their battle unfolding in a flurry of movement. Nearby, Sakiyama stood motionless atop a hill, waiting—her attention locked on what felt like a third powerful draconic aura closing in.

Naredim roared once more, and this time, the very earth trembled. Rock compressed and crystallized, spreading outward in a dazzling array of colors. The transformation swept over his body and the surrounding battlefield, a sea of jagged formations shimmering with shifting, unstable concepts.

"He isn't fucking around, so we can't either!" Riseth shot through the Akashic Link, a whirl of her arms tearing through the fabric of space. The distortion shattered the forming crystals before they could fully take shape.

Alistair wasn’t about to let Naredim shape the battlefield to his advantage. Kinetic strikes rained down in rapid succession, Viv joining in with her own Battle Spheres, lances of plasma ripping through the crystalline growths spreading along the dragon’s flank.

Without hesitation, they charged straight at the crystal-bound monstrosity before them.

Alistair growled as he watched the dragon’s cracked claw mend itself, greenish crystals pulsing with light as a web of magic connected to its wounds and scrapes, rapidly sealing the damage.

Of course there would be healing crystals, he thought, irritation flaring. Without hesitation, he retargeted his Battle Spheres, directing them to shut those crystals down first.

Riseth flashed by, her magic now ripping through both the forming crystals and Naredim’s armored scales as her boosting skills gained momentum. Meanwhile, Alistair focused on disorienting the dragon, slamming into him with immense force while rapidly shifting his mass. The impact threw Naredim off balance, his massive limbs scrambling against his own crystalline field—shattering portions of it as he struggled to regain his footing.

Alistair wouldn’t let him recover. Channeling the energy he had built up, he brought his hammerhead crashing down on the dragon’s joint. A loud, satisfying crack rang out as the weapon connected, shattering the limb. Naredim roared in indignation as his leg collapsed beneath him, sending his enormous frame crashing to the ground.

Alistair let the edge of his poleaxe carve a deep gash along the dragon’s belly as he rushed for its head. Naredim twisted, spewing a torrent of acid breath straight at him.

Reacting instantly, Alistair surged upward, avoiding the brunt of the attack as he activated Force Barrier and ignited his Purity Flames. The combined defenses held back the worst of the corrosive breath, but even as he ascended, the lingering acid mist still threatened to eat away at his protection. His Purity Flames flared, counteracting the corrosion as best they could.

He felt Viv’s strain as she worked to absorb part of the attack, helping to maintain his barrier, but even with the surge of power, it was a losing battle. The sheer intensity of Naredim’s breath continued to wear them down.

Then, from the side, Fluffy appeared, her body larger than Alistair had ever seen as she viciously bit into the dragon’s neck, both scales and crystalline armor shattering under her maw. Naredim’s flesh darkened as her extremely potent venom spread through his body, forcing the breath attack to stop as he roared in pain.

The dragon tried to claw at her, but Alistair and Riseth wouldn’t let him.

Riseth bent space around his front limbs, redirecting his strikes, while Alistair did his utmost to rob all momentum from the limb. Viv and his Battle Spheres tore into the dragon’s forelimbs, clawing and blasting at the joints with everything they had.

Alistair watched as Fluffy coiled tighter around the dragon, her body incredibly muscular—but that wasn’t what caught his attention. She conjured a sea of liquid metal formed around them, swallowing both herself and Naredim’s head in its shifting mass. As Fluffy continued to coil and constrict, the metal solidified around them in waves, suffocating him in more ways than one while her fangs remained buried deep, pumping venom into his body.

Naredim thrashed wildly, and despite their efforts, Alistair and Riseth couldn’t completely stop him from clawing at Fluffy. The hardened metal and her coiled body refused to relent, but his talons still tore deep furrows into her flesh and bones, raking through even the reinforced plating. Still, Fluffy didn’t stop—her grip only tightened as she continued to suffocate him.

Alistair gritted his teeth, still locked in a struggle against the dragon’s claws. His Kinetic Skinguard had already been sliced through, wounds burning as he fought to hold firm. He grunted under the strain, forcing his Telekinesis to lock the other limb in place.

"The heart!" Alistair called out through the Akashic Link.

Riseth understood instantly. Jack, already gorged on dragon blood, flashed in her hands, his dragon-bone blades carving into the thick armor plates protecting Naredim’s chest. For a moment, Alistair feared the defenses were too much for her to break through.

But as he failed to restrain the dragon’s limbs more and more, a stray swipe nearly tore his arm clean off. Viv worked desperately to help absorb the impact, but even with his regeneration struggling to knit the flesh and bones back together, the damage was piling up.

When Riseth finally cracked through a gap between the plates, burrowing herself into the dragon’s chest, Naredim’s flailing grew more frantic. Crystals erupted from the ground in a desperate attempt to dislodge Alistair, but instead, they only fed into his energy reserves. He used the surge to hold the dragon down—long enough to stop him from tearing Fluffy apart, long enough for Riseth to reach the dragon’s heart.

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