The thusians saw the royal dragon in the sky. It casts a shadow dark and big enough to turn the area darker. Every flap of its wings put out the fire on the sea. It roared before flying into the clouds to fight the hostile dragon. On top of Nightmare, Gaya fought the Soul Refiners sent by Hubert. She displayed her full mastery over the bow and arrow. Despite the stormy wind and altitude, each and every arrow found its target.

She locked her gaze with a Soul Refiner covered in flames. He flew toward Big Bertha like a rocket. As soon as Nightmare noticed him, he flapped his wings. The Soul Refiner looked over his shoulder to see Nightmare soaring toward him. He immediately waved his hand as two fiery wings appeared on his back.

Gaya nocked an arrow. She was about to release the golden arrow when she heard the royal dragon's roar.

"We have to end them all quick," said Gaya. Nightmare nodded. He quickly closed his wings, willing the arch energy in his body to increase his speed.

"Slow him down," said Nightmare. Without delaying a second, Gaya fired an arrow. The arrow soared through the air in a curved arc until it penetrated the Soul Refiner's leg.

"Argh!' He shouted in pain. The first energy coursing through her veins was several times more powerful than the Celestial energy. It went through the fire covering the Soul Refiner and penetrated his legs. He stumbled in the air, losing his balance. Before he could fight the pain and flap his fiery wings, Nightmare opened his mouth. Gaya immediately felt her feet numb due to the sudden chill in Nightmare's body. Nightmare's throat glowed from within in an icy blue color.

Suddenly, a stream of frost shot out toward the Soul Refiner. He looked over his shoulder, but it was too late. The frost hit him and formed a thin layer of ice on his skin. Most of the frost energy was vaporized by the fire. Nonetheless, the fire couldn't put out the frost completely.

Gaya used this opportunity to fire several golden arrows one after another. The man cried in mid-air as blood splattered out. At that time, Nightmare caught up with him. As the man was bleeding, Gaya leaped onto him from Nightmare's back with the bow in her hand. In mid-air, she poured all her energy into the next arrow. The arrow glowed brighter to the point that the Soul Refiner closed his eyes when he turned around.

Gaya let go of the arrow as it soared toward him. Golden sparkles flew around the arrow. One could hear a buzzing sound resonating from the arrow. The Soul Refiner raised his hand to block the arrow instinctively. However, it penetrated his hand and went straight through his head.

The flames faded away from his body before his lifeless corpse fell from the sky. Gaya was about to fly back to Nightmare when she saw the shadowy silhouette of the royal dragon under the clouds.

"Look out!" Gaya shouted at Nightmare. Nightmare immediately sensed a danger. His instincts screamed at him to fly above quickly.

"Always listen to your gut. It will save your life every time," Ghost's words sounded in Nightmare's mind. Without a second thought, Nightmare flapped his wings using all his might. The force of his flap pushed his body several meters higher in the sky in a blink of an eye. As he flew higher in the sky, he saw the royal dragon's wide jaw snap into the air where he was a few seconds ago. If Gaya hadn't warned him and he hadn't listened to his gut feeling, he would have stuck in the royal dragon's mouth.

After failing to catch Nightmare, the royal dragon again flew into the clouds. It used the clouds as cover. Only the flashes of lightning revealed the dragon's shadow in the clouds.

"That fucking lizard looks bigger than the last time," Gaya growled the moment she landed on Nightmare's body.

"How many Soul Refiners left?" asked Nightmare.

"Three or four. I don't think we can catch them on time. It's time to bring in the backup," said Gaya.

"Azazel, you're up,"

"Forgive my impatience, my lady. I am here already," Gaya heard Azazel's voice in her head. She couldn't help sensing a tinge of excitement in his voice.

"AHHHHH!" A scream filled with agonizing pain echoed through the air. Due to the heavy snowfall and the storm clouds, even Nightmare and Gaya couldn't see everything clearly. Fortunately, a light flashed across the sky, illuminating everything in the sky. Gaya saw Azazel holding two Soul Refiners by their necks for a split second. Since Azazel was soul bound to Michael, his power was directly dependent on Michael. Simply put, Azazel's power grew with Michael's power. Hence, when Michael entered his Godhood, breaking through to the Half Immortal Stage, Azazel became a Fusion stage level 3 cultivator.

His demon powers enabled him to mimic Michael's spells. Although they weren't as powerful as the source, the Soul Refiners stood no chance against those spells. Azazel used Ignitia to break their shields and ended their lives with Wind Blast or Ring of Fire.

If Azazel didn't have wings on his back, Nightmare would have mistaken him for Ghost. Azazel traveled through the clouds using Lightning Dash. Hence, Gaya was able to see streaks of golden bolts of lightning in the sky. Back on the ocean, Hubert sailed forward against the storm. Almost a quarter of the fleet was decimated by the mortar shells. If that wasn't bad enough, the wind was also against them. As a result, their ships couldn't move as fast as he had hoped. Standing beside Hubert. Albert noticed several bodies falling down from the sky.

The sky above them lit up with various colors like gold, violet, icy blue, and jade green. But they didn't terrify the soldiers as the red spotlight.

"Few more minutes, and they'll be in our firing range!"

Out of the blue, Nightmare dived down through the clouds. The thusians on Hubert's ship were almost thrown off balance by Nightmare's speed. He was so close that his body touched the masts.

"DUCK!' Albert ordered, fearing the dragon might breathe fire upon them. In stark contrast, they saw the dragon breathing frost and forming an ice wall on the ocean.

"Shatter the walls!" Hubert shouted as the soldiers began to cast spells. Nightmare's frost almost froze the sea. He took a complete 180 turn to return toward the thusian ships. This time, Nightmare breathed frost on the ships. The stream of icy blue frost several ships in a line. The soldiers were turned into ice statues, as well as their ships.

"Look over there!" Hubert heard Albert shout. He jerked his head to the side to see a girl slaughtering the crews on a ship next to them. She moved through the upper deck like a blowing wind. The soldiers couldn't even track her movements. Hubert saw her stab the soldiers with the golden arrow in her hand.

"FIRE!" Albert ordered the ships. The thusians immediately bombarded the ship Gaya was on with all they got. However, they were too late. Gaya leaped into the air. At that same time, Nightmare came flying to her. She landed on his back and disappeared into the clouds.

"Where is the royal dragon?!" Albert shouted. His eyes turned bloodshot with fury. They were getting slaughtered left and right. Albert thought the thusian naval army was undefeatable, and they had all the state-of-the-art weapons. Today, he was proven wrong.

Ghost and his army bested their strategy, their formation, and everything with overwhelming power. They rained death and destruction from above.

"Someone else is there," Hubert saw a silhouette of a man with wings in the clouds fighting the royal dragon. Although the man's figure looked tiny and almost unnoticeable compared to the royal dragon, Hubert's sight was keen. That was no mistake. Hubert saw him. A man with wings.

"General, they are sailing away!" Another soldier's shout snapped Albert out of his shock. He quickly used his spyglass to glance at the hostile ships. His vision was completely blurred because of the storm and the heavy snowfall. Still, he could vaguely see the hostile ships sailing away from them.

"They are trying to get away from our firing range!" Albert shouted. The only way to fight back was to fire back. Except, they could do that only if the hostile ships were in their firing range. Albert panicked. As long as the hostile ships were out of their firing range, they would rain down mortar shells and decimate their ships from a distance.

"Albert!" Hubert had to shout despite the short distance between him and his grandson. The howling wind made communicating without amplifying his voice with arch energy a pain.

"General!" Albert came running to Hubert.

"I am going to give you the command and deal with those ships myself!"

"General, let me come with you!" Albert raised his voice.

"No," Hubert shook his head.

"I need you to lead our army here!"

"No-"

"This is an order, soldier!" Hubert shook Albert by his shoulder. After hearing Hubert's last words, Albert couldn't argue with him anymore.

"Yes, General!" Albert slammed his chest with his fist, saluting Hubert.

"Second in Command Albert will be in charge while I am away. Heed his commands as they were mine!"

The thusians were taken aback by surprise. But the veterans knew it was the right move. If Hubert had gone to the other side and destroyed the long-range cannons, they might have a chance to turn the tides of this battle.

"YES GENERAL!" The thusians shouted in unison. Hubert threw a last glance at Albert before shooting toward the sky. In a few seconds, he disappeared into the clouds. As much as Albert wanted to follow his grandfather, he had responsibilities. As a proud Mertz, he put duty before family.

"Full sail!" Albert raised his voice.

"Give me everything you have. I want those bastards in our range yesterday!" Albert's orders echoed through the air. As they were sailing forward, streaks of lightning flashed across the sky. They almost turn the night into a day for a split second. Then, violent roars of the dragons overshadowed the rumbling thunder.

At that moment, for some strange reason, Albert felt like he was being stared at by a god from above.