A dragon took to the skies, more than a mile away, but Konrad still felt the breeze with every stroke of its wings.
It even blocked out the sun— although, how? They were underground.
"The core." Welf crawled on his elbows. "Good thing your Vargas told us not to touch it."
Yeah, hell no. The scale of the monster guarding it was astonishing.
"Let the duke fight that thing," the Crows' captain spat. "I'll cash in on the low-grade crystals."
If such a monster ever got out, Kasserlane would burn—but it'd never fit through those endless caverns. No, the red dragon was too enormous. At least, the boy hoped.
But many others down there could've broken out at any time.
"Are those goblins?" Konrad pointed at the edge of the alien jungle. He distorted the light to magnify their image; a handy spell—but tiring when he couldn't cast it from the crystal.
Dozens of green-skinned humanoid beasts idled down below. Child-sized, but vicious.
"There'll be losses if they swarm us," the redhead scratched his temple.
Yeah. If a Griphlet slipped past, they'd chase it, but what could they do with a horde of goblins?
"They can't touch my heavies," the thug claimed. "They'll take the livestock, we'll wait up here."
That was exactly what worried him. And if he thought his heavies were invincible, he didn't pay attention. As the space had opened up, Konrad's infrared spell became much stronger.
He'd even split it, and now two of those brutes swayed on their feet, sweating bullets.
"No, I'll lead the vanguard as usual," the boy decided, despite his exhaustion. The Crows' captain raised an eyebrow, so he improvised. "You'd steal all the stones if I weren't there."
"Hah, suit yerself," the mercenary scoffed, "but don't burn the forest down."
He wished he could, but first he had to figure out how to protect the penal company.
Turning them invisible would've been nice, but he had to work with the runes he already had.
And without raising any suspicion.
"Won't they spot us like this?" Welf poked at the magnifying illusion.
"No?" Konrad tilted it to show before dispelling it. "It's like a one-way mirror, see?"
Which gave him an idea. He could've made other illusions like that, too. And if he figured out a way to animate crowds without splitting his head—
"Give me a second to prepare," he yanked out the vial to touch up on his fading runes.
The captain eyed him with suspicion, but he no longer cared if he saw his methods.
He had to add one more line to his basic creation symbols, but as for the other one—
"Arrays," he slammed his forehead. He'd only animate one image, and the rest would copy that.
Then he could fake even a goblin swarm, but the runes would become much more complex. Crazy new ideas kept coming, but he had to draw the line—he had no time to experiment.
And no space left on his forearm, either.
"Are ye done yet?" That black-toothed moron urged as he finished the last symbol.
He wasn't. He could never be, but he had a vision—and once these thugs saw it, they'll remember it for life. "What do you plan to do about that dragon, though?"
The enormous monster flew in lazy circles, but so far it ignored them.
"We're small fry for something like that," the captain shrugged, but his hands trembled. "As long as ye keep away from the core, it shouldn't bother with ye."
Konrad stole a glance at Welf, but he didn't contradict the claim. Well, he was the expert—
Their group descended into the jungle, with the boss and the rest of the footmen staying back.
Now he only had the heavies to deal with—while protecting the tribesmen. Oh, and fight off at least two dozen green-skinned snarling goblins—with which he was already hard at work.
He split his infrared magic even further so the brutes didn't collapse before the battle.
Welf was the first one to notice that something was off. "Why aren't they attacking?"
"They can't see us," Konrad whispered. "A huge boulder blocks their view."
The redhead raised an eyebrow. Monsters snarled but wouldn't move. His theory worked. The heavies, or anyone from up there, couldn't spot his one-way image, but the goblins did.
They saw nothing else—but they could hear and smell.
As the dragon zoomed past overhead, its wings stirred the air, and the beasts' nostrils flared.
The boy shuddered—even if they said it wouldn't attack, it was a terrifying monster.
And the goblins? They charged, screaming.
Konrad adjusted his images with deadly precision. He funneled them into the heavies, and they clashed in a one-sided battle. Their boss was right; they couldn't touch those brutes.
But it locked them into a fight.
"Stay back," he whispered to Welf. "Tell the Black Rivers to avoid fighting, too."
He re-merged his infrared spell and cranked it up to eleven. The goblins' blood that painted the heavy armor even started sizzling. Now he was cooking.
The pariahs trembled, whimpered, but the swarm ignored them.
Sure, they must've smelled them, but they chose an enemy they could see.
"What is happening?" the blacksmith muttered, clutching his sword when the first brute fell. A battle raged around them—but the enemy never turned their way.
"I'll create an illusion soon," Konrad grunted. "Blue goblins. Play dead once they attack."
He learned his lesson after the earlier blunder. He'd make the fakes easy to spot, but he had to concentrate with every brain cell. One image flickered. He couldn't let it fail.
He switched target, and the second heavy screamed, face crimson from the heat.
It began to strip the armor—surrounded by the raging goblins, and they clubbed him to death.
In the chaos of the battle, the one-way illusions started to fall apart.
Some monster passed the threshold and noticed the tribesmen, too. But the heavies that he hadn't cooked crispy yet dealt with most of them.
"Cut down those two," the boy barked. "And any that comes closer."
Konrad couldn't even move without breaking his concentration.
Welf was eager to slice up the goblins, though, and kept the pariahs safe. A third heavy hit the ground, and the Crows' captain blew a horn to signal retreat.
It was too late. While the monsters all lay dead, the boy wasn't about to let go of the survivors.
"Now," he gritted, as a hundred goblins swarmed them from every side.
The remaining heavies threw away their weapons and ran—nothing stopping them for now. But the pariahs—they were all slaughtered in the tide of the blue monsters' attack.
Konrad unleashed a firestorm in his last stand.
The flames devoured everything and reached for the sky—
At least, that was the image the thugs on the plateau would've seen.
"Take the tribe to safety," the boy panted. Even if he didn't move a muscle and used the crystal's magic power, he was dead tired from all the concentration. "Vargas mentioned another exit."
Welf seemed flabbergasted from the intense light show, but he nodded, grabbing his arm.
"You might be even crazier than Liliske," he muttered. "But that was quite something. Let's go."
"No," Konrad yanked his hand away. "You take them."
He glanced at the retreating heavies. One already fell, so he changed targets again.
The pariahs—they trembled, confused, but alive. He caught Eyna's purple gaze. They'll be safe.
Too bad, the thugs' captain was too far to see his expression. He heard his scream, but knew he wasn't done yet. "I still have some unfinished business with the Rabid Crows."