CHAPTER 73: GATHERING

The old Drake, Drenvar.

Vacuse understood what he was trying to do. By making decoration to all the Empire that Vacuse would be sent to the Capital as the Emperor’s guest to be taught in court, he was basically making a shield of words around him.

Now, the Emperor would have no choice but to accept him.

And people would think twice about hurting the guest of the Emperor.

Smart.

And that was exactly why Vacuse could never underestimate Drenvar.

Vacuse nodded. "Going to the Capital might be giving the Emperor more power over the West. But it’s still far better than letting the other Dukes tear us apart."

In the Azgarath Empire, the Emperor does not have absolute power.

Each Region is independent and rules their internal affairs by themselves. In fact, it could be said that the Grand Dukes are as powerful as the Emperor.

The Regions themselves are enough to make powerful kingdoms on their own. But they pay tax to the Emperor and would send armies when he calls for war.

The Imperial family is, after all, the Imperial family. They couldn’t be underestimated. And aside from the fact that each line of Grand Duke swore an oath to the Imperial family, there’s the thing about the Capital always having the most amount of Soulbearers in the Empire.

And also the Upper side of the Association.

The Association could be said to be created as a tool for the Imperial family to have long reach in the Empire, to control trade and economy.

But there’s also the Upper Association.

The Upper Association is where the formation masters live and serve the Emperor. Those runes drawn into walls for defense and for attacking.

Those formations drawn into flying ships to keep them in the air, the warships and artifacts that weren’t inherited. They were all created by the formation masters of the Imperial family.

In short, the secret to formation making lies with the Emperor.

And that means in a direct fight, no Region could go toe to toe with the creators of war artifacts.

At least, no Region had been willing to try.

Drenvar gritted his teeth. "I don’t like the idea, but it seems like the best possible option right now. The Emperor has been looking for means to directly interfere in a Region. He won’t let this pass."

Drenvar looked towards the place where Lyra and some other Vorrakyn sat quietly. "Start preparing the declaration immediately. By night, I want to start hearing about it throughout the Empire!"

Vacuse nodded. "Then we should move on to another matter. To settle things here, we should look into appointing a new Dragon Guard and a new Commander for Kragthar."

The room stiffened.

Especially the man sitting next to Skya.

"This is Vice Commander Victor. He had been looked into. Fenris didn’t find him loyal enough to tell his Vice about what he planned to do. He is free of suspicion," Drenvar said with a gloomy scowl.

Vacuse studied the man. He’s a Vorrakyn just like them, but he didn’t remember him.

To be honest, there’s a lot of Vorrakyns.

Since Drenvar decided not to do anything to the man, he decided not to bring anything up. But he frowned. "It’s not like I don’t trust you, Victor Vorrakyn. But right now, I would prefer another person to be the Commander of Kragthar."

Drenvar let him speak.

Skya scowled. She looked at him with suspicion. "What? Who do you have in mind?"

Vacuse leaned back in his seat. "You. Skya Vorrakyn should be our new Commander of Kragthar."

Skya’s jaw almost dropped down in shock. "What?"

Vacuse shrugged. "Right now, the situation demands that we put someone firm and directly from the Dragon Lord as the Commander of the Wing Brigade. They are a powerful force, after all."

Drenvar considered it. Then he nodded. "Alright. I understand what you are saying. From today onward, Skya Vorrakyn, you are now the Commander of the Wing Brigade."

Skya was still trying to process what was happening when the man beside her stood up and saluted her, his face expressionless. "Commander Skya."

Skya blinked, and then she nodded absentmindedly, her eyes still flickering to Vacuse. She didn’t understand what he was playing at.

Vacuse gave her a small smile. In all honesty, he really didn’t have an agenda for putting her in the position. But then, there’s no telling how he might use her in the future.

She finally opened her mouth. "I...."

But she was swiftly interrupted.

They heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside and the clinking of weapons. The door opened, and some members of the Dragon Guards entered. Between them was a man dressed in light armor, breathing hard and sweating.

A messenger.

Vacuse’s heart tightened as the man fell to one knee. "Dragon Lord! Ehh... Vice Commander! I bring news! An army is approaching!

The Wing Brigade outside Kragthar is already putting together a defensive formation to counter!"

Everyone in the room tensed.

An army?

What. The. Fuck!

"Who are they?" Drenvar demanded angrily.

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"How strong do you think they are?" Vacuse asked.

Immediately following the news, the meeting was put to an immediate end.

Everyone rushed down the castle. The Dragon Guards sounded out alarms, and they escorted the Dragon Lord and his heir out of the castle.

On their way, Drenvar was already using his messengers to get a feel of what was happening and to summon his own men. It took them almost two hours of hard riding to reach there, and by that time, commanders were already reporting in.

Under the current Dragon Lord,

The Vorrakyn’s army was divided into different small Command outposts scattered around the surrounding villages and towns surrounding Kragthar.

One of the biggest is the Wing Brigade that numbers about two thousand strong, with about a sixth of them being Soulbearers of different Advancement Stages.

Drenvar has eighteen outposts under him, and the smallest of them commands a force of three hundred.

And he began summoning some of them as they headed over to where the said army was gathering.

Harkon narrowed his eyes as he tried to answer Vacuse’s question. "I can’t tell."