225 Duel of Ambrosia
[The Yinlong Royal Throne Room]
” Great Emperor Jiao-Long!”
In unison, the ten figures all bowed in servitude to the regally-uniformed man who sat on the grand throne, overlooking the keep.
The Emperor waved his hand, “Stand, my Winged Generals.”
With that simple command, each of the generals rose to their feet, again in unison. In the presence of the Great Emperor, there was no room for quarrel or resistance, as there was an immeasurable amount of respect and reverence held towards the man who ruled the imperialistic kingdom.
“…Is Mengyao not present?” Emperor Jiao-Long asked, counting the generals.
One of the scouts stepped forward, kneeling down before giving an answer, “Great Emperor! Lord Mengyao was seen in combat with one of the otherworlders.”
“Hm. I see,” Emperor Jiao-Long said quietly, “We will continue without him.”
In the draconic room of royalty, surrounded by gilded statues, marble floors, and statuesque regal guards, it seemed almost on the tip of divinity.
“My Winged Generals, the prophesied time has come,” Emperor Jiao-Long stood up, his immaculate curtains of hair cascading down his shoulders, “The Scalyue Empire conspires against us. They’ve stooped low enough to rely on warriors from another world to aid them in battle. However, we will not back down.”
“–” The Winged Generals were silent, listening closely.
The throne room was dense with powerful auras; a single Winged General possessed the strength of a demi-god, yet so many sat in one room, beneath the banner of one man, grander than all within the Yinlong Empire.
“We are the ones who bear the strongest connection to the Scaled Progenitor. It is in our blood to rule; it is in our blood to be unrivaled. In that…we will strike first,” Emperor Jia-Long announced, his voice now booming.
Each Winged General, unique in their armor, physiques, and overall appearances shared in their excitement for this proclamation.
“This is war! At last, we will subjugate the Scalyue Empire and become the sole dominators of this land!” Emperor Jiao-Long proclaimed, “It begins today! Prepare your squadrons for battle!”
“Understood, Great Emperor!” The Winged Generals roared in unison.
The Great Emperor looked at the general most gloomy in appearance, “Ash.”
“Great Emperor,” the Winged General dressed in black responded.
“It seems there are otherworlders prowling our sacred grounds,” Emperor Jiao-Long said, “Survey the wildlands and return with your findings.”
“Understood,” Ash nodded.
With just a nod and a kneel, the black-dressed general vanished into the shadows without a trace, enacting his mission.
It was on that day that the preparation for a battle unlike any other began.
It is time; only one kingdom will stand by the end of this, Emperor Jiao-Long thought.
–
[Minjing, Scalyue Kingdom | Jeong-Hui]
Some hours had passed, and the evening horizon crept up on the city as the soft orange sky peeked over the walls of mountains. They found a proper inn to settle at, and acquired some more information on where other masses of outsiders like them have been appearing.
He held up a map, looking at it, “…Seems like this area called the “Advent Dawn” is where a lot of people like us are going to end up going. It seems like some sort of event.”
“We’ll all end up meeting together naturally, then?” Korain asked.
“Probably,” he nodded, “…I hope so.”
“…Before we head out, how about finding some grub?” Korain suggested.
As the man gave this suggestion, he scratched the scruff on his chin with his singular arm, looking at both Archie and Jeong-Hui.
He glanced around, feeling an emptiness in his stomach, though eating wasn’t high on his priority list, not while worrying about his friends and especially after witnessing such a brutal execution earlier. The skewer he had didn’t seem to do much of a job to fill him up, that or his body just severely needed the calories.
“Sure,” he nodded, “We can’t search on empty stomachs, right?”
Archie slapped his hands together, “Aye! I’ve been meanin’ to try the food in this country!”
“I found a place when I first came here–c’mon, it’s pretty great,” Korain gestured for the two to follow.
“Alright, lead the way,” he sighed out, “If you have one skill, it’s finding your way to a good plate.”
Korain laughed, “That’s right! That ability of mine brought us together in the first place, Mr. Chef!” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Chef?” Archie glanced at him.
As they walked together down the street, it was blurted out, but not something that was particularly supposed to be hidden, but he brushed it off.
He scratched his head, “Ah, it’s nothing, I just do a bit of cooking here and there.”
“So modest! Jeong-Hui there can fire up a real masterpiece of grub! Give him the right gear and ingredients and you’ll have a masterchef on your hands!” Korain boisterously claimed.
Archie let out an “Ooo!” in excitement and surprise, looking at him, “Ya never told me that! Why was I doin’ the cookin’?!”
“…I just…haven’t really been in the mood,” he said.
“Ah, I gotcha,” Archie accepted with a smile.
Though the youthful, Australian man had his own eccentricities, he was as kind and affable as could be; as easygoing as a gentle breeze, but as energetic as a curious child fueled by sugar.
As they went on their way in search of a heart meal before setting out for more information and surveying for their lost members, they wound up at the place of interest that Korain recommended.
The moment they arrived in front of the establishment, he found himself a fool for believing the black-and-white haired man would suggest anything else but such a place than the one found before him. Even from outside, it reeked of booze and patrons of the establishment wandered out, either arm-in-arm with flushed faces or stumbling down the steps and giggling.
It was a tavern.
“Aye! I like the way you think!” Archie smirked, gently elbowing the ivory-armored man.
Korain smirked as well, “Right? There’s no better support system between worlds than the nectar of the gods!”
Without any hesitation, and hardly knowing one another, Archie and Korain were arm-in-arm, laughing like old buddies as they entered the tavern with unknown, worrying prospects ahead of them.
He was still standing there at the wooden steps of the large, bustling tavern for a moment, scratching his head as he didn’t know quite what to do.
“C’mon, Jeong-Hui!” Korain called out.
“C’mon! C’mon!” Archie added.
Though he was hesitant, he let out a sigh before following them into the tavern, pushing past the swinging doors as he entered the establishment of booze-and-celebration.
Somebody has to be the sober one, I guess…gotta keep those two in check, he thought.
It hit his nose like a truck; the aroma of alcohol and meat–a lot of meat. There were a few dozen patrons in the tavern, most of which were already drunk off their horses, challenging one another to drink offs or arm wrestled for coin. By the looks of it, more than three-quarters of the customers were adventurers, by their equipment.
“Gh…” He brought his scarf over his nose.
He seated himself at the same table as Korain and Archie, who were quick to rack up mugs of amber liquid, not wasting any time to swallow the booze.
“…I’ll just get a salad,” he sighed, telling the waitress.
“Coming right up!” The brown-haired waitress smiled brightly.
While he waited for his meal, he was subjected to watching his two companions fill their bellies with booze. Of course, the angel coins they had each accumulated allowed for a lot of leeway in the form of luxuries–a pint of beer was only a single coin, which meant they had free reign to drink practically as much as they wanted.
Surprisingly, despite Korain being built like a temple of muscle with an imposing height to boot, Archie, who was on the smaller scale of size for a man, was able to match him in the league of consuming the fine nectar.
“Go! Go! Go!”
“Go! Go!”
“Money on the big guy!”
“I’ve got three coins on the small fella!”
Naturally, such a competition of David vs Goliath sparked a crowd around the table as patrons of the tavern cheered them on–which didn’t help the situation that the red-haired young man sought to avoid. That is, such peer pressure and competitive spirit itself drove the two to splurge further into the depths of alcohol.
Even more surprisingly, but at the same time not so, there were a couple people from Earth in the mix:
A middle-aged man with a scruffy five-o’-clock shadow, shaggy brown hair, dressed in an outfit that hardly looked like an [Equip]; a black vest, a white, long-sleeved dress shirt beneath, black dress pants with fine fabric, and a coat hanging from his shoulders like a cape.
“I’ve got ten coins on the small fellow!” The already drunk man said.
[Elias | Level 30]
It was a fairly high level, but nothing that blew his mind, though it did cause him to take further note of the man.
What stood out most in his appearance was his heterochromia: his right eye was scarlet, and his left eye was of an emerald shade, similar to his own.
He’s got the same eye condition as Yeong-Un, he thought.