Chapter 98: Guardian Dragon of the Nation
One morning, Liz, who was in her study, suddenly received an urgent report from the front lines. The intelligence was delivered by a Skarmory, the Pokémon of her cousin and one of her top generals, Drake of the Dragonite Clan.
Without a word, Liz took the report and began to read. Will stood by her side, quietly waiting for her to finish and tell him what it said.
"The Kingdom of the Land has mobilized their troops?!" Liz's brow furrowed as she read the letter.
She immediately put it down and called for Hestia and the other maids to help her into her armor.
Liz, of course, knew how to fight. Don't be fooled by the fact that she now sat in her study all day like a gentle wife. The first eighteen years of her life had been spent living in the tribe, where everyone, even the women, had to learn to hunt and fight. As the former princess of the Dragonite Tribe and the chieftain's youngest daughter, she had been training in martial arts since she was a child.
Will had noticed something was off back when he was a Beedrill. For an ordinary eight-year-old girl, Liz's physique had been exceptionally strong. She had followed him through the wind and sun of the forest for days on end, surviving on wild berries, and had at most developed a slight cough.
And later, after the death of "Goldie," Liz had embarked on her own path to kingship. At a young age, she had led the Beedrill swarm onto the battlefield, conquering one tribe after another. For a full ten years, she fought. It was only at the age of eighteen that she took over the position of chieftain from her father and established the Dragonite Kingdom, crowning herself queen.
But at that time, the land of Johto had not been completely unified. Many remote tribes still banded together to resist her. She then personally led her troops in battle for another two or three years before finally achieving unification.
Now, another ten years had passed, and Liz's physical condition and martial skills had naturally declined. But ever since Sakaki the White had shown his ambition for Johto two years ago, Liz had been making time to train and get back in shape. Although the thirty-year-old Liz was no longer the valiant warrior she was at eighteen, she was still more than capable of putting on her armor and commanding on the battlefield.
For a monarch to personally go to the front lines was a strange thing in Will's eyes. But in the eyes of Liz and the entire Dragonite Kingdom, it was not strange at all. What kind of tribal chief didn't personally lead their troops into battle? Whether you were strong or not was one thing. Whether you dared to go was another. The warriors of the tribe would not listen to a coward.
Although the Dragonite Kingdom was now called a "kingdom," as the first human kingdom in Johto's history and one that was less than ten years old, many aspects of it had not changed much from the old Tribal Period. This included the maids who were now helping Liz into her armor. They looked to be in their twenties or thirties and had clearly received some training. They might look slender, but they could lift a ten-kilogram piece of light armor with one hand as if it were a basket of vegetables.
"What's wrong?"
"An army of three to five thousand cavalry from the Land Kingdom has suddenly emerged from the forest on the other side of the Mt. Silver Road. They're already fighting with our soldiers stationed there. No matter what, I must go and see for myself immediately," Liz said. By the time she finished speaking, her armor was already on.
It was a suit of silver light armor, covered in scars, a clear veteran of many battles. Liz moved her limbs, then walked to the side and took down the cape made from Will's shed skin.
"I'll take you there."
Hearing this, Will immediately scooped Liz into his arms and flew out the window.
"Lan, I haven't gotten my spear."
"I am your spear."
The distance from the capital to the Mt. Silver Road wasn't much farther than to Mt. Silver itself. Even holding the hundred-plus-pound Liz, Will, using Extreme Speed, arrived high in the sky above the road in just ten minutes.
As for Liz, she was already curled up into a ball in his arms. When they were leaving, she had wondered why he hadn't let her ride on his back. Now she understood. At this speed, she would never have been able to hold on; she would have been thrown off in a second.
"Lan~ you're so fast~ I didn't know you were this fast~" Liz shouted, lifting her head after she felt Will stop. The strong wind had probably made her ears ring, which was why she was speaking so loudly.
"Don't be silly. Look down there. The battle has already started," Will said, patting her rear and gesturing for her to look down. The scene below was very strange.
"Huh?!"
Liz looked down, her eyes also filling with confusion. The "battle" below was a one-sided rout. To the west, the light cavalry, personally led by General Drake and numbering over ten thousand humans and Pokémon, were chasing a small force of Land Kingdom cavalry of no more than two thousand, who were fleeing towards the forest to the east.
And although it was called a battle, the Land army was mainly focused on retreating, only occasionally turning to fire a few arrows for show.
"Are they trying to lure our troops into the forest?" Liz guessed.
"The Kingdom of the Land is far too familiar with the Viridian Forest. Who knows what kind of traps are in there. They could easily lead our men into the territory of other Pokémon. If more than ten thousand of our men go in, I doubt even five thousand will come out. We can't pursue. We have to cut them off," Will said. He saw at a glance what needed to be done.
The Dragonite army absolutely could not fight the Land army in the Viridian Forest. This was one of the reasons for arranging the sea-based force: to block their retreat.
The Mt. Silver Road was a flat plain where no traps could be set. But in the forest, who knew what kind of dirty tricks they could be killed by.
Thinking of this, Will no longer hesitated. He didn't even have time to put Liz down. He opened his mouth and spewed out rings of fire.
[Fire Spin]
Wads of flame fell to the earth, landing on the wild grass of the Mt. Silver Road and instantly forming a natural wall of fire. The horses of the Land army were startled and stopped in their tracks. Some of the men in the rear were even thrown to the ground by their mounts' sudden movements.
"What's going on?!"
"A beast!"
"In the sky! It's the Dragonite Queen and her milk-drinking dragon!"
The Land army was startled by the sudden attack, showing signs of falling into disarray.
"Damn it! Charge through!" the commander of the unit shouted. Seeing the pursuing Dragonite army, he wanted to force his way through the fire wall. A little burn would at most singe a few hairs. But the horses didn't understand this. They just stomped in place, refusing to move forward.
In the sky.
"Lan," Liz's eyes lit up. She felt this was a good opportunity, but she didn't know what to have him do next.
"Leave it to me."
Liz didn't know, but Will knew very well. He scanned the Land army and immediately noticed there wasn't a single beast among them. Otherwise, they would have already started to extinguish the fire.
"Looks like they never planned to fight us in the first place. Whatever their purpose, now that they're here, they're not leaving," Will said, diving down with Liz and quickly landing on the other side of the fire wall. If there had been Pokémon in this army, he wouldn't have dared to land so carelessly.
In the world of Pokémon, against other Pokémon, unless you were a ridiculously overpowered Champion-level behemoth or a Legendary, the idea of a one-man army was a pipe dream. At his Lv. 55, Will was invincible in a one-on-one duel within an army. But on a battlefield, 10 Lv. 40 Pokémon could tie him down for a good while. 100 Lv. 40 Pokémon could easily kill him.
But right now, there were no Pokémon in the Land army. So, Will had nothing to fear.
He first quickly placed Liz a safe ten meters behind him, then looked at the Land army, which was still stuck in place.
[Hurricane]!
Will waved his hands and wings, and a great gale immediately rose. The wind swept up sparks and blew them towards the Land army. Sharp blades of wind and the creeping flames were like a deadly scythe. The horses instantly lost their minds, stampeding in a frenzy. Countless soldiers were thrown from their mounts, some even trampled to death by their own horses. Even the horses that were brave enough not to panic had their riders blown from their backs by the fierce wind.
"It's Lord Lan!"
"So strong!"
"Speed up! Seize the opportunity! Finish them!"
The Dragonite army in the rear now saw the commotion up ahead. Looking up, they saw Will single-handedly blocking two thousand men. Their morale soared, and they charged forward with abandon.
"Damn you!" The soldiers of the Land army scrambled up from the ground, gripped their spears, and charged through the flames towards Will. The forest was so close; how could they be willing to fall here? And the Dragonite Queen was right in front of them. If they had to die, taking her with them would be a glorious feat, recorded in the annals of history!
At this thought, the eyes of many of the Land warriors turned red.
"Hmph," Will said, looking at the charging rabble with a disdainful smirk. He was not lacking in large-scale AoE skills.
[Surf]!
He stomped his foot, and a ten-meter-high wave erupted from the ground, crashing down on the front ranks. And that wasn't all. A combination of [Brine] and [Icy Wind] froze the soldiers charging behind them into ice sculptures. The occasional lucky one who made it to him was easily hammered to death by his [Fire Punch] and [Thunder Punch].
"Monster... this thing is a monster!"
"Run! Get away from it! Run around the sides!"
"Run as far as you can!"
Seeing their commander killed by a single wave, the remaining Land soldiers lost all will to fight and tried to flee around him. But by now, the Dragonite army had caught up. Cavalry chasing down infantry—the result was a foregone conclusion. The Land army was almost completely wiped out.
"Lan! That was amazing!"
After the battle, Liz, who had been a bystander, rushed up and gave Will a big hug, planting several kisses on his belly and leaving a few lipstick marks. The surrounding Dragonite warriors also gathered around, showering him with praise. Even their Pokémon looked at him with worshipful eyes.
"Hmph. Of course," Will said, crossing his arms, lifting his head, and wagging his tail, feeling extremely pleased with himself.
This attack seemed to be just the beginning. In the following days, the Kingdom of the Land sent several more armies to "raid" them. But they were basically just feints, showing their faces outside the forest and shouting provocations. The moment Will appeared, they would immediately retreat, leaving him disappointed every time.
After a few days, Will's fame skyrocketed. The people of the Dragonite Kingdom affectionately called him... the Guardian Dragon of the Nation.
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