While the battle appeared to have ended, the chaos in Wenmouth was far from over.
Two thirds of the city had been damaged or destroyed, large portions of the Palace were rubble, and the University complex had collapsed, trapping an unknown number of students and employees.
But that was not the largest concern for Karl and the others in his suite.
There was a growing sense of power overhead as the storm began to fade, and the auras of at least a half dozen Totem Rank powerhouses had surrounded the city, while something stronger was flying overhead.
Their best guess was that whatever had happened here had attracted the attention of the Mythic Rank Black Dragon that held the unofficial title of overseer of the continent.
Karl and Niall had a general idea of what had happened, as Rae and Niall had gone to assist Ahmad in the fight. But the storm was interfering with any attempt to observe from the ground.
There was no way that they could have guessed the monumental nature of the events that were occurring in the sky above Wenmouth.
Overlord Ahmad surged with power as he stood on the shoulders of his summon. His back was bent in a deep bow, welcoming the Mythic dragon, but his attention was entirely on the process happening inside his body.
Once the stronger challengers had arrived, he had immediately used the Mana Core of the storm. A missed opportunity was worthless, but to the gathered Totems, the Mana Core was nearly as valuable intact as it was to him.
"You have gained quite the opportunity today." The dragon intoned, speaking slowly, the human language unfamiliar and difficult from his draconic form.
"Indeed, Mythic Lord." Ahmad agreed.
The dragon’s passive look turned to a faint smile.
"Perhaps from now, we shouldn’t call the Golden Dragon Nation the largest human nation anymore, but the Northern Beastkin Territories." It suggested.
Ahmad shook his head. "You flatter me. The Archbishop is still the leader of the nation."
The Mythic Dragon snorted in amusement. "For how much longer? A year, two at most? Lord Nacht has been keeping vigil over him for months, ready to step in if he should go earlier than expected.
But in a few more minutes, the Golden Dragon will have a new heir to the nation. To think that so many Overlords among the humans would have thrown their lives away in one battle for greed and power.
But their sacrifice birthed a new Totem, and over the next days new Overlords will rise to replace those who have fallen.
Such is the will and blessing of the God of Death."
That was when it really began to dawn on Ahmad what he had done.
He had taken the chance to gain the greatest of powers, and had pushed himself past the brink and into the Totem Realm. Already, the Totemic Blessing was settling into his bones, and his power was skyrocketing as his magic and his very soul merged with the world in new ways.
But the power came with a cost. There was only one other Totem in the Golden Dragon Nation, and he would soon be on his deathbed, leaving Ahmad as the leader of the country by default.
Surely, that young Monarch was laughing at him now.
Everyone had assumed that his astronomical rise to the top would have marked the next Totem Rank powerhouse on the Continent, but instead he was comfortable in his Palace suite while it was Ahmad up here, trying to digest the implications of his own actions.
Karl wasn’t actually at the Palace, but in the labs beneath the city, but Ahmad didn’t know that. Ahmad couldn’t sense him there, but he had felt the familiar presence of Thor and the ladies.
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