The forest, too, had at last finished growing.
The end of that growth now gazed toward the direction of the next.
Inside the fortress of the Silva Empire.
The air of the forest held moisture.
But that stillness did not last long.
Bramir spoke in a grave tone.
“The dragon of Metallum has attacked Ignis.”
Empress Drian was silent for a moment as she gazed at the light filtering through the leaves.
Tarban, who had been standing quietly beside her, also reacted.
“To think Metallum has summoned a dragon as well... This is not something to take lightly.”
Bramir spoke again.
“I knew Metallum was powerful to begin with, but their growth seems faster than expected.”
“We are falling further behind. We must exert ourselves.”
Drian, who had been lost in thought, opened her mouth.
“The name of Metallum’s dragon is Aureus. It is also called the White Dragon. What is more serious is that Aureus moved in order to attack Ignis, is it not?”
Bramir bowed his head.
“Yes, that is correct.”
Drian looked up at the sky.
A wind blowing from somewhere brushed past her hair.
“So it is Metallum after all. To attack an opponent that holds the advantage in a relationship of mutual opposition. Of course, if Metallum had the chance, it would certainly take revenge on Ignis—and that chance must be now.”
Tarban asked.
“How long do you think Ignis will be able to hold out? Still, since fire is stronger than metal, I doubt it will be extinguished so easily...”
Drian did not answer.
Instead, Bramir spoke.
“Naturally, Ignis will use all its strength to stop the White Dragon, and it will likely depend on how Metallum acts. We have faced Montanus of Terra before, but Montanus, and even Terra itself, did not seem to show much will to fight actively. But will Metallum truly be the same? On the contrary, in order to avenge all they have suffered until now, Metallum will use every means at their disposal. Even more fiercely than when they invaded our forest.”
Tarban spoke in a worried tone.
“In truth, we cannot presume to judge what Ignis’s fate will be, and it is not something that greatly concerns us either. The real problem is that if Aureus does not fall in that war, might it not come for us next? In terms of compatibility, we are in even greater danger.”
Bramir nodded.
“Then are we supposed to support Ignis?”
At that moment, Drian opened her eyes wide and said,
“It has not been long since we restored our relationship with Aqua. We cannot involve ourselves in Ignis’s affairs again and create conflict with Aqua.”
At her words, the inside of the fortress fell silent.
Bramir said quietly,
“That is true. It seems there is no helping it.”
If there was one thing the Silva Empire and the Ignis Empire had in common, it was that they shared the Metallum Empire as a common enemy.
As the saying went, the enemy of one’s enemy was an ally, and Silva and Ignis were also in a relationship of mutual generation.
Yet in this world, strangely enough, the mutual generation of mutual generation was mutual opposition.
Just like the relationship between the Aqua Empire and the Ignis Empire, with Silva between them.
“Ignis is not an existence that will fall easily. There is no need to worry.”
Drian turned and walked toward her throne.
“The growth of our fortress has reached its final stage. Once the fortress has fully grown, the barracks will soon grow as well. Even in a situation like this, we must do what has been given to us.”
She swept her gaze once over the interior of the fortress.
“A guardian deity will now appear for us as well. Before that, the fortress and the barracks must finish growing, but first, the growth of the fortress is not far off.”
Then she moved her steps outside the fortress.
The forest always grows without a word.
The light still gently covered the leaves, and the wind flowed leisurely between the branches as it sang.
Driandel, the heart of the Silva Empire—the forest seen from the fortress where Empress Drian resided—held a vitality more abundant than ever before.
Drian looked around the fortress from outside.
Her gaze moved from the roots of the fortress to its trunk, branches, and leaves.
The fortress had already grown far beyond what it had once been.
Soon, it would be time to face Silva’s fortress after it completed its growth into its final stage.
“Your Majesty, the fortress’s growth has reached the point just before the final stage.”
Tarban reported to Drian.
“I understand.”
Drian smiled faintly.
“Let us look forward to it. A fully grown fortress will now accelerate the growth of our entire forest as well.”
Not long after Drian finished speaking, leaves began to bloom from the branches that formed the fortress.
The enormous leaves filled the air so densely that they completely covered the sky.
The thick trees surrounding the fortress exhaled all at once the breath they had been taking in until now.
Then the flow of air around the fortress quickened, and the trees swayed as though dancing.
“At last, its growth is complete. Our forest will grow with it.”
As Drian had said, the growth of the fortress did not end with its mere increase in size.
The forest, which had already maintained its verdant state, was shaking its leaves and branches with even greater vigor.
Bramir shouted,
“It is as though our entire forest is reacting like a single living being!”
The young trees in the forest newly extended their trunks, and the great trees supported one another, forming a dome-like shape.
With the fortress at the center, the trees and vines were reacting in sequence.
Tarban said,
“It is not only the production of life cores that has grown faster. The speed of growth itself has increased as well. The growth of the barracks will be completed in no time!”
“So it will.”
Drian moved her steps toward the Life Barracks.
“We will proceed with the growth of the barracks immediately.”
She placed her hand against the outer wall of the barracks.
The barracks began to respond to her touch.
The Life Barracks was no exception.
When the Silva Empire’s barracks reached the time to grow into its final stage, its scale increased visibly, just like the barracks of the other empires.
The Life Barracks, too, needed a space to summon something.
Leaving the existing soldier training area as it was, vines beside it grew far outward and encircled one vast clearing.
Tarban and Bramir peered inside through the gaps between the vines.
An empty stretch of land that did not appear particularly special.
It was still impossible to know what would happen there.
“Could a dragon be inside there...?”
Bramir muttered to himself.
The vines continued to wind around the space, but they did not cover the sky.
“To think our barracks have changed this much...”
Tarban, too, could not take his eyes off that new space.
Now the Life Barracks of the Silva Empire had changed into a beautiful and mysterious atmosphere, as though it were welcoming someone who symbolized the forest itself.
“Now the barracks have also grown into their final stage.”
Drian declared in a low voice.
“Everyone, prepare yourselves. The guardian deity of this forest will reveal itself before us. We have only just completed the ritual to call the guardian deity.”
Around Drian and her retainers, the forest warriors and a few guardian tree spirits also looked toward the barracks.
The trees that formed the forest also bent their bodies toward the barracks.
Drian quietly raised her hand.
And then, she gave a single command.
“Azure Dragon Nemorensis, guardian deity of the forest, I call you to this forest.”
The name of the Silva Empire’s dragon was Nemorensis, also known as the Azure Dragon.
The sky began to tremble.
From the clearing inside the barracks, a colossal vortex of life rose up, and a pillar tinged with green light shot into the sky.
“Oh...!”
“Ah...!”
Tarban and Bramir staggered back in surprise, and the surrounding trees also swayed under that energy.
“Shaaaaa...”
Soon, a sound came from within.
It sounded like leaves scattering in the wind, and also like the cry of something.
“It... it has appeared...”
Tarban said as its form emerged above the open vines.
A being with its entire body wrapped in countless leaves raised its head above the barracks.
The retainers, who had already witnessed Montanus, the Yellow Dragon of the Terra Empire, knew that it was a dragon.
Silva’s Azure Dragon, Nemorensis, possessed a draconic form similar to Montanus, yet it had horns made of tree branches upon its head, and it was a blue dragon with its entire body covered in moss and leaves.
“Shaaaaa...”
Nemorensis drew in a breath, and with that single breath, the entire forest shook.
It still had not moved from the barracks and was looking down at Drian.
It did not speak, but within its eyes gleamed a quiet intelligence that sought to read the flow of this world.
“I welcome you, Nemorensis.”
Drian said as she looked up at Nemorensis.
“This is the forest of our Silva Empire. A great space where life breathes endlessly. At last, we have grown enough to reach the sky, and in the midst of it, you have been summoned.”
Nemorensis remained still, as though listening to Drian’s words.
“Saaaa...”
Soon, it raised its head and looked beyond the forest.
Now it seemed as though it was deciding its own direction.
“Where is it that you will move? Decide slowly, and with care. We are prepared to respect you. We will follow behind you.”
As if Nemorensis had decided something, it moved its steps outside the barracks.
The retainers and soldiers withdrew, clearing the path before it.
It passed them and moved across the forest.
“Where is it trying to go...?”
Bramir spoke to himself.
Tarban, too, could not yet be certain of its direction.
“Shaaaaa...”
When Nemorensis exhaled once more, the branches of the trees rooted before it fluttered.
By its existence alone, the air within the forest was already circulating rapidly.
Thud, thud, thuuud...
It was also leaving its footprints upon the ground.
“Huh...?”
Tarban opened his mouth as though he had realized something.
“That direction is... perhaps Terra...?”
The direction Nemorensis was moving in was west.
“Surely it is not trying to attack Terra...?”
Bramir also spoke, seeming slightly flustered.
“This is somewhat unexpected. As far as I know, we have not yet been thinking of revenge against Terra...”
Drian answered while looking at Nemorensis’s back.
“It seems it intends to look around the world further before making its judgment. There is no need to be hasty. Even if Nemorensis comes into conflict with Terra, we must follow its decision. We must not dare to block its path.”
She then gave an order to Tarban.
“Gather the soldiers and have them protect Nemorensis. It will lead our growth.”
Tarban bowed his head.
“Yes, I will do so.”
Soon, several guardian tree spirits and a unit of forest warriors followed behind Nemorensis.
When they left the forest, the forest sank back into silence.
Meanwhile, the war between the Metallum Empire and the Ignis Empire was still ongoing.
The wall of fire continued to blaze without end, but the solid footsteps walking over it approached cold and unyielding.
“I have been waiting for this moment!”
At the border of Ignis, the voice of a steel knight holding a massive hammer rang out.
“We do not know when another chance will come. Now is the perfect opportunity to wipe them out...!”
Emperor Oruma, who was watching that battlefield, had a firm look in his eyes, and his command held not the slightest hesitation.