Chapter 57 - Vernie

As another ferocious lightning bolt crackled from Dubaza and threatened to slam onto the Wyvern once more, he finally reacted. 

Wild, raging lightning condensed on the Wyvern's scales, forming crackling blue armor, one that was quite similar to what Dubaza had, but substantially more powerful. Section by section, the thunder armor spread throughout its massive body. 

Arcs of electricity flashed and zapped around his massive frame, generating a powerful field of static discharge. The field of static discharge was so powerful that it obliterated everything around the Wyvern. 

"Finally. You've decided to get serious, huh?" Dubaza's eyes flashed with excitement as he too began to release more lightning energy. The lightning web around him began to increase in intensity and very soon, it formed a while lightning armor around him. The electrical dissonance that surrounded him began to hum even louder before finally exploding forth into a full-fledged static field, one that rivalled the Wyvern's. 

The Wyvern looked at Dubaza in surprise, not expecting that he too could unleash the power of the Lightning Battle Domain. But the surprise did not last long. Rage filled his heart and fire seemed to course through his veins. The Wyvern leapt up powerfully and took to the skies. 

Dubaza allowed him to do so, knowing that mere lightning bolts would have no effect on the Wyvern when he was in this form. This was no longer a firepower fight. Both were impervious to lightning. This was a battle of attrition. Whoever could maintain their Lightning Battle Domain the longest would win. And Dubaza had every confidence that he would win. His Pure Lightning Body which allowed him to freely absorb lightning and turn it into lightning energy made sure of that. 

The Wyvern had to consume huge amounts of lightning energy to maintain the Lightning Battle Domain. Although his magical capacity was much larger than Dubaza's, his rate of consumption was much larger as well. 

Dubaza's Pure Lightning Body allowed him to maintain his Lightning Battle Domain almost without cost! And to make it worse for the poor Wyvern, Dubaza had every intention to absorb as much lightning energy as he could from him. This was a battle the Wyvern was totally destined to lose. 

Against any other mage but Dubaza, the Wyvern would steamroll his way into victory. (Maybe except against our power couple, Alexander and Aleyria, of course.) But too bad for him, Dubaza was a natural and direct counter to him.

The Wyvern roared and sent a giant lightning bolt at Dubaza before following up with a quick charge. He wanted to physically crush that evil manling!

Dubaza merely grinned and welcomed both the lightning bolt and the incoming Wyvern. His body absorbed the lightning bolt when it hit him, and the lightning bolt disappeared without a trace. 

The Wyvern flew at full speed and hit Dubaza with the impact of a meteorite.

BAMM!!

The impact caused a blaze of electric light to cover the heavens and the earth! The power of the world seemed to stir as the shockwaves of the clash enveloped Liz'An and Wywy. Thankfully they were prepared, and the barriers that they casted held against the electrical shockwave. 

After the impact, the light did not dissipate. In fact, the light grew impossibly brighter, and a myriad of electrical discharges began to fill the area surrounding them, expanding rapidly outwards.

"Run!" Liz'An commanded Wywy. Wywy quickly obeyed and brought them a few kilometers away. 

The entire space one kilometer around them seemed to become a hellish lightning area, drowning out all other existences with white and purple lightning bolts!

Dubaza grunted as he felt the weight of the Wyvern pressing down on his domain. Thankfully his Lightning Battle Domain was much stronger than the Wyvern's, and it held its ground. The Wyvern, on the other hand, was suffering the full brunt of Dubaza's lightning domain. Although he was currently impervious to lightning, Dubaza's domain began to madly absorb the Wyvern's. 

The Wyvern roared angrily as he felt the already extremely high magical consumption of the Lightning Battle Domain spike. If this went on, he could at most last for thirty more seconds before his energy ran out! The Wyvern thrashed about savagely, sending vicious bites and slashes using his front claws. 

But it was to no avail. Although Dubaza was pushed backwards, his Lightning Battle Domain blocked every single physical attack the Wyvern sent his way. 

Exhausted, the Wyvern finally detached itself from Dubaza. The lightning storm around them slowly subsided. A weird silence fell upon them.

In the distance, Liz'An craned her neck and squinted, trying to see what was happening and determine if it was safe enough for her to return.

Wywy informed her that it was. Her brother would only stop fighting because of two reasons. One, he had won. Two, he had given up. There was no middle ground, no negotiations. It was either victory or utter defeat. Which it was, remained to be determined, Wywy sagely pointed out. Afterall, Dubaza was an arrogant little dude, it was very probable that he had lost and her brother was eating him up as lunch. Well, midday snack. That old man was too thin and had very little meat. He did not qualify as a full meal for Wyverns. 

Liz'An laughed at Wywy's analysis. That she was biased was definitely no surprise. Wywy and Dubaza had been loggerheads from day one. Still, her words had slight merit, and a slight trace of worry blossomed in Liz'An's heart. 

"Let's go back and see." Liz'An urged Wywy. The Wyvern rapidly flew back to the battleground. The sight that greeted them shocked Wywy to the core. 

"I do not think Dubaza knows soul taming." Liz'An laughed at the grumbling Wywy who accused Dubaza of being a sneaky lightning God in disguise and using soul taming on her brother.

Dubaza was seated cross legged atop the Wyvern's glorious red head, and the two had returned just in time to see the beast contract go up in flames, signifying its successful binding. 

Dubaza grinned widely at Liz'An who smiled back as she nodded in appreciation to their successful mission. 

"Say hi to Vernie, the commander of our Wyvern Regiment." Dubaza said with a laugh.

"Wow! Nice name, Sir!" Liz'An exclaimed.

Wywy: "... …"

Vernie: "... …"

*-*-*-*-*

Alexander sat on his throne solemnly, stiff and straight-backed. He had done so for the past hour with seemingly no effort at all. That self-discipline that allowed him to master the art of war as well as the myriad fighting skills he needed to be supreme in battle at such a young age was clearly on show at that moment.

He reminded Aleyria of a statue of a God seated on his altar. Unmoving and cold.  Aleyria was standing at attention a few steps behind him, slightly to his right and was rather enjoying her unobstructed view of Alexander's handsome face. Thank goodness the cat was upon her head and not Alexander's. If not, then he would certainly lose a lot of his prestige and aura. Having a fat furball sleeping on his head would not be beneficial for him during the Royal Court. Not at all. 

They had convened the Royal Court earlier that day, and immediately, Minister Belroy and several others had submitted a request to read their proposals. And so, to get all these things out of the way, Alexander had decided to allow the ministers to voice out their opinions. 

They were currently listening to the last speaker, Minister of Education Belroy, talking in great detail explaining why the proposal he had just read aloud regarding the replacements for the now vacant ministerial positions would be the perfect choice, and would lead Rin-Turah into a glorious future. 

Of the Five Great Ministers, only Belroy remained. Velaros was dead, Aldrian, Rimett and Dylan were serving the first phase of their punishment in the frontlines somewhere in the border of the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom. Additionally, Velanos was imprisoned for the murder of his own father, and Lilian was with Aldrian and co. 

And thus, the positions that were vacant and up for grabs were namely the Ministers of Justice, War, Foreign Relations, Commerce, Agriculture and Personnel. It was a cosmic upheaval of the Rin-Turah political scene, and Belroy was determined to make sure he and his faction came out on top.

Finally, after another full ten minutes of explaining himself, Belroy finished. He bowed deeply and returned to his seat, feeling rather confident that he had done a pretty good job and that he would soon have a few more people from his faction join him as ministers. 

"Thank you, Minister of Education Belroy, for working so hard in creating this proposal. It is now under consideration." Alexander said emotionlessly. "Does anyone else have any opinion they would like to express? None? Very good. Pay close attention to the things that I am about to tell you.

Rin-Turah is at war with a Lich King. He commands millions of undead soldiers and millions more orcs. He had conquered the entire Northern Region of the main continent, and is currently invading the East, South and West. "

At this, a collective gasp of surprise could be heard. Alexander barrelled on, ignoring the surprised looks of his ministers. 

"The enemy had targeted us as a priority target. They will be upon us within six months, probably much sooner. "

BANG! The Royal Court doors suddenly slammed open.