-Wolf Territory. Morning. 3RD POV-

Near the Third morning Quarter in the Marshlands of wolf territory, a wolf hiding in the muddy waters ran out of Wind Elementals and had to surface for air. However, similar to the invisible Dragon in the clouds, the small wolf was discovered by Drones scouting the area and promptly reported to the Queen who was busy preparing her living nest. The canine felt danger in staying there and ran away to the South-west on land immediately, hoping to find neighboring Packs, even if they would suffer the same fate as the Blue Wolf's.

"Hoowuuu...!" The drenched Beast howled for help several times desperately. It wanted to live. There were still things to live for. But there was no answer. Maybe Wind Magic would help, but Magic resources were depleting and the insects had no intention to stop chasing. Soon, it won't even be able to use Darkness magic to avoid the aerial assault anymore. "Hiuuu..." It whined dejectedly with a gaze clouded in despair and ears lowered in shame. It was the first time to experience such loneliness. The Pack may have treated Betas poorly, especially defective ones, but it was always there to defend its members. Just how much had this Wolf taken them for granted? Just thinking about what it could've done to help the Pack made the regret heavier with each step away from them. But there was no point in dying with them.

At the same time, the purple-blue Dragon and the White-haired little girl were arriving at the skies two Kilometers above ground and three away from the Marshland where a Wolf covered in mud was running from another swarm. Shaila noticed that the red blurs had stopped falling from the sky randomly, and looked behind while adjusting her vision. What came into focus was the whole swarm in the form of a giant Cone pointing down at them and catching up! Her heart jumped and her lips trembled. "W-wha--!? How--??" She wondered, perplexed, but it didn't take her long to arrive at the obvious conclusion. "Tch!" The Queen is a wind user... The girl determined with a click of her tongue and turned to the front before yelling. "INCOMING!"

The high-pitched voice reached the Dragon ears through the turbulence. He stopped flapping, and then extended the right forearm to balance his body. *WhiiiiissSSHH!* Nefiru Dived at high speed to the South as he glanced behind with the purple vision unrestricted. His eyes sprung open widely. The whole swarm was coalescing at their location incredibly fast and were seconds away from contact. "You gotta be kidding me..." He grumbled annoyed and looked at the girl. "BLIND THEM!" The scaly beast instructed loudly, hoping to avoid a disadvantageous clash. The girl nodded as she waited until a wind gust passed and shouted back. "She's a Wind User!" The Light user said as she gathered a mass of Magic in each hand. The purple Beast grimaced, then disgruntled with an ugly expression. "Argh! How troublesome..."

Once prepared, Shaila lifted her right hand towards the swarm and fed the Elementals a chunk of mana while commanding to produce all visible wavelengths from her small palm. *FhuuUAASHH!* The radiant light burst, several hundred times more intense than daylight, illuminated all the insects and pierced into the clouds in the form of an immense cone extending hundreds of meters. Light rays reflected off the water vapor in the air, creating rainbows in different directions, and shifting shadows while objects on the ground gained a new shadow. ""Shriiii!! Kriiiaaah!"" Some of the Drones and the Queen at the center shrieked uncomfortably from the dazzling white light and lost their sight for a couple of seconds.

"Ahhh! Hot! Hot! Hot!" The girl complained while fluttering her hand, slightly reddened from the scattered radiation. Woooahhh... The Dragon admired the show for an instant and commanded the girl in a hurry. "Hang on!" He said right before lowering the right wing while lifting the left one as the tail offered counterbalance. *Swuohh--WHOOSH!* He turned to the right abruptly and began ascending towards the West. *Fwooh-Whoosh! Fwooh-Whoosh!*

The bright patch of sky was clearly visible for several Kilometers on the Plains in Wolf territory. Many Beasts stared at the spectacle in admiration. Perhaps any Light Magician could make a flare, but Low-Rankers wouldn't match that intensity. Normally, regular magicians wasted mana and produced colors outside the visible range inefficiently. But a Divine was too unlikely, so what was a High-Rank Light Magician doing in the sky? They began to howl what little information they could convey about it. Soon, some Packs would decide to go investigate the area from the ground.

The Wolf running near the Marshlands also noticed the flashes above and was in awe. Just when it had run out of Mana, something outrageous happened, bringing a sliver of hope to survival. Surely, this was a sign from a higher being. Though the Drones chasing it cared not for the spectacle in the sky. All they cared about was the target finally becoming visible and slowing down. *Zruu...!! Swisss~!* They dived down without hesitation. *Chak! Chak! Chrak!* Two insects managed to assert their target and gripped the fur immediately while the third lodged itself in the soil and lost consciousness. "HEAAK--!" The dirty wolf yelped while jerking its body and lashed out. *Whap! Kruash!* It bit off an insect and crushed it, then rolled on the ground. *Kruash!* "Eek--eep!" The second died as well, causing the wolf pain, but it was too late. It couldn't stop the things invading its body anymore. The Wolf ran away until it began to stagger, walked while wobbling some more, then toppled. *Thomp!* "Ha--huff! Ha--Huff!" No! It can't end like t-this...ss...

The Rank 6 Mokua was sealing the wounds on the sleeping Blue Wolf when she noticed the fight up above. Her Kin was struggling! She immediately decided to help and called back her swarm that was spread out searching for prey.

...

Up in the sky, the Dragon had just started to fly upwards, out of the path of the swarm. However, some Drones were still able to keep their sight locked on the minuscule distortions of their cloak. When the insect Queen recovered her sight enough, she saw a group of Drones with a new trajectory and knew immediately what it meant. "Krriiiiii!" She screeched, alerting the swarm, and rushed to intercept the transparent Beast while accelerating the Drones with Magic. *Swiss~!! Swiss~!!* Thousands of insects arrived at the Dragon's trail like metal bolts capable of piercing steel armors from a 90-degree angle.

*Shuuu~!!!* The first Drones missed the Dragon, but the ones behind covered a larger area and reached him from the right. *Shuuu~ Kriash! Kruash! Krikiash!* The foot-long animals crashed onto the thick dragon scales all over his rear, barely causing him pain and a few scratches, then the next wave of them reached his wings. *Shuuu~Thong! Thong!* Each impact caved the leathery membrane which rippled through the wing frame before bouncing off the insects. "Ow! Ow! Ow...!" The Dragon complained from both the pain and the shaking messing up his flight, but it didn't seem to be anything serious. However, the wings had the lowest protection of his body and one creature had found the right spot at the right angle to slip its protrusion between the tiny scales. *Shuuu~ShriaNKK!* "GRAA! My wing!" Nefiru snarled and turned his head to the left to stare at the wing as it rose above with the next beating cycle.

"Nefi?" Shaila noticed something was amiss and altered the field to look as well. "Shririi Shriii!" An insect struggled near a joint on the left wing, and despite the constant flappings, it remained stuck. "Grah! Get it off! Get it off!" The Dragon blurted in a panic and mobilized water magic into an insect. He froze the insect fluids, but continued dropping the temperature and commanded rapid molecular vibrations followed by thermal expansion. *Kriash! Kliling~!* The creature shattered into tiny crystals sparkling in the air and water vapor that vanished soon after. The girl only caught a glimpse, but she saw all she needed to see. Their beaks can pierce Nefi's hide... And if only one shook him so much, I can't let them hit his wings! Shaila determined, narrowing her eyes into a fierce glare, then released her right hand once more while holding onto the Titanium collar with the left and readied her magic.

Without time to dodge anymore, the Dragon flew upwards even faster at less than 45 degrees, trying to gain the gravity advantage as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the insect Queen was out of magic range and currently turning the swarm to the right to chase while speeding up rows of Drones to attack the fleeing prey below. *Shuuu~Bam! Bam! Truash! Kruash!* The waves of insects began crashing onto the metalized scales of the Dragon's rear, the tail which shook each time, the legs that trembled, and even on his neck, dangerously close to where the girl clinged, but the Wings were the biggest target, the biggest weakness and the Mokua knew. The two had to be on the lookout with their Probes expanded in hopes to intercept the attackers that were about to land on the delicate places as Nefiru summoned fist-sized water balls near his head, then supercooled them and Shaila aimed her lasers. *Shium! Pziium!* The Laser flashes vaporized part of the insects, often killing them instantly or changing their path while the Dragon shoots water balls. *Frush!!! Kiyu! Pwsh! Psh!* The supercooled crystalline blubs hit the insect shaped like arrowheads and rigid water sprayed in the air. But it slowed them down and altered their course enough to miss his wings. ""Shriiiii--!!"" The creatures shrill as their bodies freeze or burn to death before plummeting to the ground, leaving trails in the wind.

However, the numbers of Drones in subsequent waves increased each time and the direction of their attacks also changed, making it more difficult for the two magicians to repel them. Ugh! Just a little more... The Dragon repeated in his mind, pushing his wings to the maximum trying to fly over the swarm behind them while struggling to intercept the trajectories of insects he couldn't freeze directly due to their high speed. "Uuunnggh!" Shaila sounded strained with squinted eyes and scrunched face. I-it's not enough... I need to do more... The Light user fared better, though she was struggling to make enough Lasers already. *Swo~Whoosh!* The Dragon flipped 90 degrees clockwise to avoid another cluster of insects and then gradually stabilized his body.

Before long, the two magicians began to miss and it became impossible to evade the bombardment completely. *Shuuu~Thong! Bang! Kriash!* The first Drones landed on the wings which disturbed the Dragon's flight and slowed him down, but a few managed to lodge under small scales, and reach his flesh. "GRUAH!" The Dragon roared, then froze the insects latching on his body and pushed them out before moving his awareness to the pain. FUCK!! These fuckers DO have parasites! He inspected the area closely and was stunned. Shaila was right! He immediately employed Water Magic and controlled the blood to stop the infection from spreading. Shit...so many... I can't get them all simultaneously... Ahh! Don't leave the Vein--Fuck... Wait...I'll just get the ones in the Arteries for now...

Meanwhile, the last Drones of the group reached the scaly neck where the girl rode. Although her probe detected the incoming insects, she was constructing the compact magic cylinders to produce lasers, and her options were limited riding a scaly dragon neck two kilometers above the ground while holding with just a hand. "Ugh!" Shaila sounded in frustration as her face contorted in aticipation fo the pain. She was going to get hurt again, and this time, she would be awake to feel it. Sure enough, the tough insects descended upon the frail girl like merciless arrows and reached the delicate skin on the right side of her waist. *Shuu~Shrriiak!!!* "AAArrggh!" The little girl let out a restrained scream before gritting her teeth, enduring the pain, and holding on tightly as blood started trickling from the shallow wound nearly two inches long. But the pain would surely worsen her accuracy.

Shaila didn't wish to interrupt Nefiru that seemed to be concentrating on getting them out of this situation. In reality, He didn't notice the girl's injuries as he was dealing with the creatures that reached his flesh and injected substances along with parasites into his bloodstream. But the girl reached her limit on the following barrage and a couple of insects made it past the magician's defenses and arrived at the girl's back from below. *Shriach! Krrsh! Kruash!* The hard shells and protrusions tore the pale skin on her right shoulder, left upper arm, and twice on the left side of her torso. "AH-AH--!" The girl held on as much as she could, but there wasn't any sleeping gas like the previous time she got badly hurt. She simply couldn't bear this much pain. "KYAAHH!" The girl wailed into the chilly wind and shrunk against the collar, trying to minimize the surface area of her body by reflex while dismissing the magic and holding with both hands.

"!!..." Nefiru perked his ears after the scream and glanced back as another barrage ended. "Shaila...???" He called out worriedly as his heart skipped a beat and interrupted the flight rhythm as well as his chase of the parasites rushing inside his bloodstream. But her body wasn't fully visible. His magic had also detected the high-speed projectiles near her body but wasn't completely aware of their damage. So, he switched his attention between their bodies and inspected her in under a second. Blood was gushing from her gaping wounds and painting the scales of his back as droplets fly in the air. "FUCK!" The Dragon cursed angrily in English while mobilizing Magic to hold back the bleeding and block the pain.

Shaila sensed his soothing magic erasing the pain as if it didn't exist and lifted her gaze with a relieved expression. "Huu... It-it's okay now..." She mustered the strength to say while sitting upright again.

The exchange of the two magicians only lasted a couple of seconds, during which the Dragon didn't stop flapping, but there was no pause in battle. With their camouflage gone, the Mokua Queen prepared to intercept them more accurately.

Nefiru's probe detected another cluster of a hundred drones approaching. "SHIT!" He blurted with frustration before looking up and started ascending with a more vertical inclination desperately. *FWUOSH! FWUOSSHH!* The Light user noticed as well and looked behind while clutching the handles of the Collar. She stared at the long protrusion streaking at them from the same altitude and trembled. "Uuuagh!" She uttered, expecting more harm. But her partner wouldn't allow it.

The scaly Beast condensed a portion of his magic around the girl's body in the form of an egg and commanded his Water elementals to produce water mid-flight. *Swroosshh!* A Cristal line body of water sprung forth and grew into a capsule with foot-thick walls that followed the Dragon's movements, making it feel weightless, though draining his Mana nonstop. "Ah!" The light user uttered, taken aback, seeing the transparent shield a foot away from her face. "A-armor..." She muttered in realization, watching the surface of the water ripple with her voice and smiled. It didn't seem like water would be of much help to repel the insects, but she trusted that it would keep her safe.

The purple-blue Beast attempted to evade the incoming barrage, but the swarm had caught up with them already. *Swiss~ Swiss~Bram! Bram! Krang!! Kruash! Thong!* The insects landed on the lower half of the Dragon then moved up until they reached the thick water bubble on his neck.

The girl inside the bubble expected the water to turn to ice and block the creatures, and became increasingly nervous watching the insects approach, but it did not change. Did Nefi forget--? Shaila's expression changed as the question crossed her mind and then braced for impact. *Pwuash!* An insect grazed the water field on the girl's left side and was deflected as if the liquid's surface was elastic like a balloon, but other two plunged into the water bubble head-on. *Plosh! Plosh!* "Kyaa--!" She screamed in horror and backed against the other side of the water capsule, watching one of the creatures approach her head, then closed her eyes. But no impact came. The seemingly unimpeded insects slowed down immediately within the liquid and stopped with their 7-inches long protrusions sticking out of the surface halfway. The girl opened her eyes with her face turned back and then opened them even wider, making a surprised expression while staring at the immobilized Drones. "...Eeehhh?" She blurted silly, causing her voice to resound within the bubble before her face turned red with anger after realizing that it wasn't normal Water. "YOU JERK! Jerk! Jeeeerk!"

Though the Water user couldn't hear the girl, he felt the vibrations caused by her yelling and smirked briefly. But the prank wasn't intentional. He didn't have the leisure to explain and she never saw him use water in this manner. He had commanded the Elementals to compress Water a minuscule amount and lock the molecules in place with respect with each other, resulting in a liquid denser and far more cohesive than normally. An application Nefiru had never used defensively due to its great Mana consumption, but he needed to reuse the water and it was more efficient than just wasting Elementals freezing and unfreezing the water. The purple-blue Beast was pleased with the results.

""Shririiii..."" The insects shrilled pitifully, unable to move a millimeter. Why were they kept alive? The answer would soon become clear as their bodies began to move within the water and circled around the girl while picking up speed. *Shruusshh~!* The trapped insects were launched into incoming allies. ""Shriii--"" *Ka-prashk!* The Drones collided with each other and broke to pieces that crashed onto others. Although it wasn't a good aim. The following insect wave just was the biggest one yet, and covered a much larger area than the Dragon. The Queen noticed the Dragon wasn't going down and her swarm was losing the advantage of altitude, so she decided to focus on the Prey's wings to slow him down and attack from multiple directions trying to assert a weak point.

The scaly Beast suffered the continuous bombardment of tens of ballistic insects all over his back that only annoyed him and the wings which slowed him down, but a dozen managed to pierce his hide causing pain that became unbearable. "GRWUAAR!" He roared up at the sky in rage and beat his wings erratically which only served to excite the attackers and make the girl worry. Nefi... Let's fight back already...

Inevitably, Nefiru had also lost concentration. It was only for a moment, but the water field weakened, and an insect found a spot near Shaila's arms that behaved like regular water. *Pruasshh~Chiak!* The dark brown protrusion stabbed the girl near the right wrist and wrapped its legs around her arm before injecting sedatives along with small parasites. "Ah!!?" Shaila was dumbfounded until the painful sting fully registered in her brain. "AAAAHHRGH!!!" She yowled in agony as her right hand opened by reflex and then released the left gripping the metal loop to grab the insect head. "Ahhh-Ah-Ahhh!" The girl whined on the verge of tears, trying to pull out the stubborn creature from her arm when her body suddenly felt lighter. She was falling! But as she separated from the scaly neck, the girl noticed a liquid spurting under her arm. The Drone had pierced through! Shaila realized that she wasn't ready to pull the insect out least risking being affected and held it against her arm, instead. "Heeeeelp!" She called the water user while poking with her spirit before her body slammed onto the watery walls. *Splooshh!*

As the living projectiles ceased attacking, the Dragon felt the girl sliding with the water down his back. Oh, no! Nefiru thought with dread and stopped ascending. *SWOOooiiishh~!* He began gliding horizontally and used the water enveloping the girl to drag her back to his neck. *Shruruarshh~Twump!* "Arrrgh!" Shaila sounded in pain as her body sat on the neck again, and shook the animal latching onto her hand. Without looking back the Dragon stopped Shaila's pain with lightning again and started inspected her injuries as the blood dyes the water red. Good... The proboscis--if this thing should be called that--passed between her bones-- "Freze iiiitttt!" The Light User demanded while making a disgusted and fearful expression. He conceded right away, and froze the insect solid. The girl bit her lips and pulled the creature out immediately. *Chhiiiak!* "AArgh!" She groaned, scrunching her face, then tossed the drone away before looking at the hole in her arm. "Ugh..."

Naturally, the girl wanted to be healed, but the Dragon noticed that most of the swarm was closing the distance incredibly fast, and only did a quick mending to stop the bleeding temporarily. He had realized that the chase had ended and they were about to be surrounded. "Fuck!" This position will have to do, huh? He asserted and glanced behind. "Hold on tight!"

"Hm...?" Shaila tilted her head uttering confused until she finally understood, then gripped the collar handles and clutched the scaly neck with her legs. "Ready!"

*WhooOOSSHHH!* The Dragon turned right and did an upwards spiral until he faced the East, then glided smoothly against the wind. This way, the insects wouldn't slip under the scales and the girl would be safer with his neck blocking the living projectiles.

The Mokua noticed their prey wasn't fleeing anymore and stopped around 60-meters away, then commanded the swarm to surround it while preparing a group of Drones with sleeping gases. "Kweerou...!" She was thrilled. No more wasting mana chasing the scaled Beast and no more ineffective attacks. The weakest point--its eyes, would be exposed, and even if the opponent was a Water user that could resist infection or poison, the Drones would eventually overwhelm them. But the insect Queen didn't know much about the Dragon's capabilities, nor about the thing on his neck that produced a bright light, so she wanted to avoid a direct confrontation. Although she wasn't worried about being able to run away since the opponent was slower than her and it would need to get through the swarm first.

The Dragon saw the swarm's movements change and announced without looking back. "...I'm gonna need all my Magic back to fight."

"Eh?! B-but the pain...?"

"Endure it!" He ordered and retracted his lightning magic.

The onrush of pain from several wounds made the girl wince. "ACK! It huuurtssss!! Uwaaaa!!" She whined before it turned into bawling while holding her right arm.

"No crying! My Partner isn't a weak little girl!"

"Huee... B-but--Hic! I-It's too painfull--Hinff!" The little girl protested, sniffling with an anguished face.

"And you will get hurt a lot more if you can't toughen up!"

"Huee... So harsh--Hinff! M-meanie!" The girl grumbled angrily while giving a cold stare, but resigned herself a moment later. "Guu... I-I will try harder..." She declared while visibly shaking and biting her lower lip. Ugh! Go away pain...go away... She repeated in her mind like a mantra and used crystalized Light on her nervous system to ease the suffering and regeneration on the worse wounds that may open during battle.

"Now, how do I swallow you?"

"Eh?! Sua--swallow??!" Shaila blurted as her face becomes pale again.

"It'll be safe--safer inside of me."

"Ueee... N-no...nonono!" The girl blurted, opposing while shivering, then added in a hurry. "I-I have an idea..."

"Really?" Ah, it's probably a Light Shield... "Then, let's finish this!"

"Y-yes..." The sooner this ends, the sooner I'll get healed... She affirmed resolutely, wishing the throbbing pains all over her body to disappear.

The two Magicians replenished their Mana from the Crystals stored in the Collar some more before taking action. *Shrurushh~!* The body of water enveloping the girl moved to the Dragon's back and took the shape of a 2-feet wide and 2-meter long Rocket aligned to his spine with a small platform covering the hair fibers, spikes and seeped under the scales before it started to freeze externally. *Shriiiigg--! Ksshh! Krarack!* Mist emanated from the white construct attached to his back and ice crackled with extremely low temperatures while liquid water remained inside. Though not for long. He commanded Water Elementals to maintain a high cohesion of the 2-inch thick layer of ice before forcing the liquid water into vapor. *Shiuusshhh!* But the temperature which Nefiru could reach was barely above the boiling point, so he set up hundreds of electrodes and ran high voltage through the water vapor. *Brrrsszzztium!!* The temperature inside the gas chamber elevated hundreds of degrees, increasing the pressure tremendously as well as the Mana consumption to maintain the ice integrity.

However, ice wasn't meant to endure great stress in this manner and Cracks started appearing on the surface *Kruk! Kriak!* The white-haired girl was watching behind curiously and became anxious. "Nefi! Tha-that's not going to explode, right?"

"Nah! It's--" *PsssSSHHH!* A leak of white smoke burst from the middle of the tank as the ice cracks reached the interior. "--Safe...!!" *KrssSSHH! KiassSSHH!* Two more leaks forming white plumes for over a meter appeared, and the Dragon stopped the Lightning heating up the water vapor immediately, but the structure continued failing. *Kriack! Kruruk! Prakk Kronk!* ""Uh-oh!"" The two magicians uttered in sync wide-eyed as shivers ran down their spines.

"A-a-attack before you kill US!!"

"HMMN!" Nefiru acknowledged as he struggled to control the system again. Shit! If I keep pushing the Water Elementals any more, they'll lose control! Ugh! If only I were a wind or fire user... He lamented, feeling the impending catastrophe and opted to use magnetism outside the Ice to counteract its expansion. *GWuoOOONG! KSHHhhh...!!* The leaking decreased and the two heaved sighs of relief. ""HUuu~""

"Ok, it feels stable now. But my Mana just dropped under 60% and Water Elementals draining below 40%." Nefiru informed, then expanded his electromagnetic sight to confirm the Mokua's location within the swarm surrounding them. "Shaila! Can you make another Flare in all directions for a few seconds?"

"Yes! My reserves are at 80%..."

"Good! Do it and prepare for extreme acceleration!"