NOVGO.NET Chapter 500: A white flag…
Chapter 500: A white flag…
The room was quiet; only the faint silver light of the moon slipped through the window.
Kael was asleep—truly asleep—for the first time in two days.
His body, that had stayed alert and responsive to every sound or movement for the last two days, had given up all sense of awareness. His breathing was slow and deep, and in his arms was… Lavinia.
The Mage lay curled against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand tightly gripping his shirt. Now that Kael was finally with her, her mind was… at peace—a peace she hadn’t felt in what felt like forever. Just like Kael, her mind was completely shut down.
Yes, the couple were having the sleep of their life—a sleep that would make you question reality itself once you woke up.
And they had been in this state for nearly twenty hours, their bodies refusing to wake up.
Everything remained still, as if the world itself wanted them to rest.
But then—
A faint shimmer of silver appeared above Kael’s body and—
“Father.”
A soft, light voice was heard, piercing through the silence despite its low sound. Kael, however, did not react.
He just tightened his hug around Lavinia’s body, to which Lavinia responded in her own way, shifting even closer to him.
“…Father,”
Imperia called out again, a little louder this time, and finally—
Kael’s eyelids fluttered open slowly, his vision hazy and unfocused. The first thing he saw was the faint blur of movement above him—a tiny, blurry, glowing shape standing near his face.
“…Ria?”
He muttered in a hoarse, heavy voice.
“Father.”
Imperia nodded again. There was a slight hesitation in her voice; it was clear she did not wish to wake her father. She hadn’t woken him up even when he skipped today’s training. After all, she knew how exhausted her father was, and it wasn’t just him—Igni, Vitaria, Cirri—they were all the same, deeply asleep in their own places.
But…
The Ant had no choice.
This was something she needed to report, and she needed to do it quickly.
“What happened…?”
Kael asked, his voice still hoarse. He blinked hard a few times, trying to focus, clearing his blurry vision. He tried to move his arm to rub his eyes, but just then, he felt Lavinia shift beside him, her head lifting slightly from his shoulder. Her long hair brushed against his jaw as she mumbled sleepily,
“Kael…?”
He turned his head toward her. She looked just as lost in the fog of sleep as he was—her violet eyes half open, her expression groggy and confused.
The two of them slowly turned toward the little thing that had woken them up. Imperia too, stared at them in silence, letting them ’return to the real world.’
And finally—
“Father, something is happening.”
The Ant reported in a solemn, hurried tone, as if they did not have much time left, and the instant she said those words—
The drowsiness in Kael’s eyes vanished. Lavinia straightened as well, fully awake now, the sleep fading from her face as she looked at the Ant standing in front of her.
“What happened?”
Kael asked in a deep, still hoarse, but much more alert voice, and after a slight pause, Imperia answered.
…
The night was quiet—too quiet. Cold wind brushed across the top of the Watch Tower, carrying with it the faint scent of snow and smoke. Two Velmourn soldiers stood at their posts, wrapped in their thick fur cloaks, the gemstone torches in their hands flickering lightly.
One of them yawned, his eyes half closed as he leaned lazily against the railing.
“Peaceful night, huh?”
He muttered, voice muffled by the scarf covering his mouth.
The other soldier sensed the sarcasm in his voice. These past few days had been anything but peaceful.
It began when their first hunting party was found dead, and since then, new things had happened almost every single day.
It was the smoke and fog that limited their vision first, which ended with the enemies burning all the nearby trees. Then the second hunting party, which was three times bigger than the first one, was attacked and nearly annihilated as well, leaving only one alive. And just yesterday, one of the water streams that Velmourn relied on was filled with blood.
Clearly, there was an enemy out there who was constantly targeting them, as if… he was trying to send a message.
A message they could not understand.
Even today, the Velmourns knew something was going to happen. This was also the reason that they, the men on the Watch Tower, were more alert than usual, but…
It was nearly dawn, and till now… nothing had happened.
Which did not just surprise the Velmourns, but also made them more wary, thinking that something was definitely going to happen right now.
And because of that, the second soldier didn’t answer; he did not wish for his words to trigger anything.
He just stayed silent, his gaze fixed on the darkness beyond the walls. The first soldier clicked his tongue at that behavior, but suddenly, he noticed a change in the second soldier’s eyes.
With a frown, he quickly turned around, and then—he froze.
“Is that…”
He whispered.
“…”
The second soldier did not answer; he just stared at the sight in front of him with narrowed eyes. It was still dark, but today, as if the world was on their side, the moon was especially bright. The thick clouds that usually blocked its light were not there.
And as the bright moonlight fell on the figure moving toward them, illuminating his features, the first soldier’s expression changed—
“A Stonefang…”
He muttered, blinking without stop.
The second soldier nodded with a grim look on his face, and seeing him nod, the first soldier was now sure that he wasn’t just seeing things.
It was happening.
The Stonefangs were here.
But…
But why?
How…?
These questions appeared in their heads, and the first soldier couldn’t hold them inside.
“What—why—why are they here?!”
He gasped as the panic set in and he stumbled backward.
“We just fought them a few days ago! They retreated in fear!
Why are they back!?
How are they back!? Shouldn’t they be recovering!?”
“Stay calm.”
The second soldier spoke in a solemn tone, though the way his hand that was already holding the smoke signal was shaking made it clear that he too was nervous.
The last thing they wanted right now was another war. Even though these were the enemies they had already defeated before—the enemies that had once retreated—even then, the Velmourn knew better than to underestimate the Stonefangs.
“What makes them think they can win this time?”
The second soldier muttered under his breath.
The last battle was a humiliating defeat for the Stonefangs. He had seen them being thoroughly crushed and cowardly running for their lives as they retreated…
And that was when half of the Velmourn forces were busy dealing with Drakthar soldiers that had appeared in the East.
Now that the entirety of the Velmourn force was here, and was in a shape better than before since even the injured soldiers were healed using healing magic, there was no way the Stonefangs would be able to win.
Then…
“Why are they coming back…?”
The second soldier could not understand.
“Is it desperation? Do they not have enough food to last the winter?”
The first soldier tried guessing the answer, but as the Stonefang got closer and closer, both soldiers’ faces turned grim.
“This isn’t the time to think about reason; that is not our responsibility.
We only have one role to play—
Fire the signal.”
The first soldier spoke with a solemn look on his face as he turned toward the second soldier, but instead of nodding and doing what he was told—
The second soldier remained still, his grip around the signal tightened as his eyes narrowed at the figure drawing closer.
The Stonefang’s massive feet crushed the snow with every step, but he didn’t seem particularly hurried like an army would.
There was no rage or frenzy in his eyes, and above all that—
“Why is he… alone…?”
The second soldier asked, and the moment he heard those words, the first soldier froze and turned toward the incoming Stonefang again.
He narrowed his eyes even further, trying to see more clearly, and finally, his eyes fell on something.
“What… the hell…?”
He muttered.
“What is it?”
The second soldier asked.
“He’s… he’s holding something.”
The first one spoke slowly.
“Holding what…?”
The second questioned, squinting his eyes to see what the first saw, but before he could, the first answered.
“A-A white flag…”
“A what…?”
The second blinked, and the first slowly turned toward him and—
“A white flag.”
He repeated, the shock on his face still hadn’t faded.
A Stonefang—a tribe known for their ferocity, a tribe known for their ridiculous brute strength, a tribe that could tear a normal human apart like it’s nothing, a tribe that seemed like it was made for war—was holding a… white flag?
Just what…
What in the hell was happening?
“Do I… fire the signal…?”
The second soldier asked. He had no idea how he was supposed to handle this situation since it had never happened before.
But then—
“No.
You wait for my command.”
A voice was heard.
The two soldiers turned toward the voice, and the moment they saw him—all the tension in their bodies flushed away.
The Dragon God.
He was here.
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