The flow of the waves was blocked once more.
But the waves must not stop.
The army of the Aqua Empire was fighting against the invasion of the yellow dragon Montanus, which had emerged from the Terra Empire.
“Charge! You must never fall back!!”
At Naus’s cry, Aqua’s soldiers concentrated their attacks on Montanus.
But Montanus did not budge even against several storm beasts.
In truth, more than that, because Terra’s army was covering Montanus, the direct damage reaching Montanus was not particularly great.
Montanus simply swung its forelegs a few times and shattered the condensed crystals of water.
“Keep sending in the soldiers!”
Nereia, Empress of Aqua, shouted.
An additional army composed mainly of storm beasts and tidal warriors appeared and joined the battle, but their flow too was blocked by mountain giants and earth guardians respectively.
Aqua’s soldiers crashed against the rock and were helplessly smashed to pieces.
“At this rate, we cannot possibly defend against them……!”
Levian said in a flustered tone.
Nereia could find no other method either.
Their opponent was earth, which held the advantage in a relationship of mutual opposition.
On top of that, there was the yellow dragon summoned from the final-stage barracks, and Terra’s army protecting them.
Nereia struggled to maintain her composure.
“The fortunate thing is that they are not sending additional forces. Their troops are dwindling, but they are not being replenished.”
“But Montanus is still intact. There is no telling how much more damage will occur.”
To subdue Montanus, they first had to eliminate Terra’s army surrounding it.
Aqua’s army lined up before Naus to oppose them.
“Wait. Stop the attack.”
Nereia ordered the soldiers.
Naus looked at her.
“Yes? What do you mean?”
Nereia silently watched Montanus and Terra’s forces.
“They are not advancing toward us right now.”
Levian, Naus, and the soldiers also watched their movements.
As Nereia had said, for some reason, they were not coming any closer from where they stood.
Montanus, of course, and even the soldiers were not moving away from it.
The storm beasts and tidal warriors also waited, staring at them.
Levian opened his mouth.
“What are they doing right now……?”
Nereia answered.
“It is clear that army did not come to invade us, but to protect Montanus. And Montanus does not appear to be under anyone’s orders in particular. It seems even Terramont is only watching from the sidelines.”
Montanus was moving.
But it did not leave its place.
It merely continued to look alternately in Aqua’s direction and Sylva’s direction from where it stood, without particularly threatening either side.
Boom, splash!
“Gasp!”
When Montanus stamped its foreleg down hard, the area around it trembled.
The waves of the deep sea that had been surging in shattered before its rock-like foot.
“Is it a being with free will……?”
Levian muttered.
That thing, which moved and acted on its own without receiving orders from an emperor or commander.
Levian said to Nereia,
“For now, I will continue replenishing our forces. We will not attack first, but we will prepare for what may happen next!”
“Do so.”
If they did not approach first, the other side did not counterattack either.
That was the current state of affairs.
Moreover, since Montanus did not advance, Terra’s army also held its position.
Taking advantage of that gap, Aqua summoned additional troops.
Keeping her gaze fixed on Terra’s army, Nereia said,
“Once our forces have gathered sufficiently, we will charge.”
“Understood.”
Naus also answered in a tense voice.
Before long, Montanus’s golden eyes looked ahead.
It seemed it had finally chosen to move.
“Grrrrr……, Gwaaa……!!”
Montanus let out a monstrous roar and began walking forward.
Squelch, splash!
It struck the surface of the sea with its foreleg.
The waves that had been rolling in a steady rhythm were thrown into disarray all at once by its foreleg.
The direction in which Montanus advanced was, this time as well, the coastline between Aqua and Sylva.
Nereia shouted,
“Montanus is moving! Charge!!”
The soldiers who had been waiting rushed forward all at once.
Terra’s army, which had been covering Montanus, also moved with it and faced Aqua.
Swaaaash!
Boom!
Progress began to appear in the battle.
As water and rock collided with each other, the crystals of water shattered, and the structure of the rock collapsed as well.
Since no additional forces came from Terra’s side, as time passed, the situation became even slightly more favorable for Aqua.
However, Montanus still advanced under Terra’s protection, as if flaunting its body made of yellow rock.
Nereia said,
“At this rate, even if we manage to stop Montanus, the damage to our forces will be enormous. We must request aid from Sylva.”
Levian asked urgently,
“Come to think of it, why is Sylva not responding at all? Even though Montanus is cutting off the space between us and Sylva right now……. We should hurry over and at least attempt to talk!”
“I will go. You all keep watch here.”
“Understood!”
“I will return soon.”
Nereia hurriedly left.
Nereia entered the forest through the coastline that was still connected to it.
When the tree trunks and vines were soaked with water, Drian, Empress of the Sylva Empire, appeared.
Drian looked at Nereia without a word.
Nereia spoke first.
“There is no way you are unaware of Montanus’s existence. Are you perhaps taking any special measures?”
After a pause, Drian answered.
“Montanus is not invading us. It is merely moving along the boundary of the forest. Terra has not attacked us.”
Nereia frowned slightly.
“So you intend only to watch? That thing’s course of action is not a simple invasion. It means to divide us and keep both of us in check!”
Drian turned her head for a moment.
Her gaze was directed south.
She looked back at Nereia and asked,
“Do you wish to continue moving forward together with us?”
Nereia nodded.
“Let us forget the feelings of the past for a moment. Should we not resolve the urgent matter first?”
A little later, Drian answered.
“The situation on our side is no less complicated. We too recently suffered considerable damage from Metallum. I do not intend to blame that damage on you, but if they were to appear again, it seems we still do not have a clear countermeasure prepared. It is not an easy judgment to make.”
Nereia was at a loss for words.
The droplets of water fluttering around her fell downward.
“We no longer have the luxury of arguing. This situation is by no means someone else’s problem. I will return at once to check on our soldiers.”
Nereia turned away and moved off from the forest.
Drian remained motionless, silently looking at the trees and vines beside her.
“Your Majesty, you have returned?”
When Nereia came back from the boundary, Levian cried out.
“What did they say?”
As expected, Nereia’s expression was not very good.
“For now, even if it is only us, we must stop Montanus.”
“What?! Is Sylva saying they will not help us?”
Instead of answering, Nereia turned her head and looked at Montanus.
Montanus was still damaging the coastline of the sea.
The fact that its movements were slow was at least a blessing for Aqua.
“We must conserve our forces as much as possible. After evacuating the citizens located near the boundary, we will respond only when that thing moves.”
“It seems there is not much of the boundary connected to Sylva left…… Will that be all right?”
“The more it is a time like this, the calmer we must be.”
Nereia chewed over what Drian had said and continued speaking.
“Could it be because of that?”
“What do you mean?”
“In truth, when we fell into danger from Terra, Sylva stepped forward and counterattacked Terra for us. We also attempted to take revenge on Terra at the right time, but instead, with Metallum joining in, we were struck together.”
“Yes, that is true, but…….”
Nereia’s voice began to tremble.
“When Terra invades us, Sylva can save us from danger. But if Sylva is attacked by Metallum, what can we do then?”
Levian and Naus exchanged glances.
After a brief silence, Naus carefully opened his mouth.
“We would have no choice but to support them with our wave cores. I do not know how much help that would be, but…….”
“Hoo…….”
A small spray of water flew from Nereia’s mouth.
Her voice was soaked in sorrow.
“Rather, it was Ignis that pulled Sylva out of danger. The reason Metallum, which had been in the midst of attacking Sylva, suddenly retreated was because of Ignis’s intervention. Just as Metallum invaded Sylva while we were attacking Terra together with Sylva, Ignis attacked Metallum while Metallum was attacking Sylva. Perhaps Sylva is conflicted between us and Ignis.”
Naus said in a shocked voice,
“How could that be……! Are you saying Sylva is trying to join hands with Ignis?!”
“I cannot be certain yet. But the fact that they are agonizing over it to this extent means they no longer view Ignis as a mere neutral nation. Even though there was an incident in the past where Ignis seized their core without permission, as of now, they are no different from a true benefactor.”
Levian shook his head.
“We cannot force Sylva, but I simply cannot accept that they are withholding their decision even in this situation. What does any of this have to do with Ignis right now? Could they have already made some sort of agreement with Ignis?”
His voice rose without him realizing it.
Nereia gave no answer and continued watching Montanus.
Montanus and Terra’s soldiers slowly began to move forward again.
“That thing is trying to destroy our territory again! Stop it!”
Naus shouted to the soldiers.
Nereia said to Levian,
“Let us secure a surplus of wave cores. While training additional soldiers, we will use the remaining cores to deepen the fortress.”
After thinking for a moment, Levian answered.
“If we deepen the fortress one more time now, will we also be able to summon a dragon?”
“Once the deepening of the barracks is complete, it will be possible. We must see just how tremendous the power of our dragon will be.”
“We will proceed that way.”
In the forest of the Sylva Empire, after Nereia had left.
Drian had still not entered the fortress, and stood gazing at the boundary with Aqua, sunk in thought.
“In the end, do we have no choice but to step forward…….”
The reason Drian hesitated was not only because of Ignis.
Her feelings were also complicated when it came to her relationship with Aqua.