NTR School: S Rank Student

Raphael and his army marched a short distance away from the battlefield and set up camps once again, finally able to get some rest.

During his entire sleep, Raphael's mind raced to his visit from The White Dragon.

He had seen her in Vailstone. In real life.

The possibilities were now endless; all he needed to was figure out how to have the other dragons visit him as well.

What would it be like to have all three dragons roaming Vailstone, fighting by my side? Of course, I wouldn't have access to their flames anymore, but it's not like I'm not good enough with standard weaponry anyway.

After a while, Raphael allowed sleep to take him.

---

Thud Thud Thud

The sounds of footsteps and chatter awoke Raphael from his deep slumber. He quickly ran outside, prepared to defend himself from another attack, but as he saw who the footsteps had come from, his heart eased.

It was the remnants of his army, as well as justice having returned from Snowdon.

With the additional forces, they now numbered close to 500, with only a few troops missing from their previous battle.

Raphael watched the scene with a smile on his face as Justice approached him.

"My King, your letter has been sent to Lillian at the dragon school, she should be arriving soon with an army of her own."

Raphael nodded his head towards the man and sent him away after hearing the news.

Lillian's army. Has she truly managed to gather enough troops to be of any help in battle?

The Dragon King scratched his chin as he found a long tree to sit on inside their camp.

I guess we'll wait until she arrives. There's no point marching any further without them.

---

It took only an hour for Raphael to hear the footsteps of a new army approaching.

All troops in the army stopped what they were doing and looked towards the source of the noise. Raphael stood tall enough to look over everybody and earn himself a better sight.

And the sight that he saw filled his heart with joy.

Not only was it an army approaching, but it was incredibly one.

Raphael trained his eyes, trying his best to gather a rough estimate. The longer he watched, the wider the grin on his face became.

How... How has she managed to gather such a large force of troops? This is almost a thousand students...

As the troops got closer, Raphael was given sight of those at the heads of the battalions. Instantly, he spotted many faces that he had recognised.

In the grey uniform of the dragon school, he spotted Lillian, leading what seemed to be the entirety of the dragon school students behind her. Raphael spotted his other Maidens, Faith and Celeste, walking beside her, and he even noticed some of the angels from his time battling against Helix. Such as Cat, and Seraphina.

The battalion next to the one led by Lillian had another familiar figure at its head. Harmony, her pink hair flowing proudly behind her as she was followed by a large set of troops from the rose school.

Next to hers was another group, wearing the blue colours of the sword school, and at their head was beautiful Queen Cecilia. She, too, seemed to have brought a large force of her troops from her school.

There was no sight of Maria, Rosalind, or Persephone, but Raphael did not mind. He had hardly expected to be joined by any of the queens in the first place, so it was already a great surprise to him.

Lillian was the first to make her way over to Raphael, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. It felt good to be around such familiar people to him.

"Raph, are you okay?" She asked with joy in her voice, happy to be reunited. Raphael pulled away from the hug and nodded his head towards her, before patting his hand atop her green hair.

Harmony and Cecilia made their way over afterwards. The Rose Queen playfully bowed her head.

"Looking good, King." She said, flashing the man a wink. "We saw the Moonwolves that you left behind. It seems you didn't need our help anyway."

Cecilia stood on the side, silent as she so often was.

Raphael stepped forward and brought both women into a hug at the same time, catching them by surprise. But afterwards, they both couldn't help but smile.

"I appreciate you both for coming." He said in their ears. "King Diotames sees me as an enemy, and he clearly wishes for my death. I intend to take his life before he takes mine."

After pulling away from the hug, the women looked at him with resolute faces.

"And yet you still travelled by yourself, without asking for any help," Cecilia said in a calm yet accusing tone.

"I'm not even surprised anymore," Harmony added with a smirk. "The King thinks that he doesn't need help from us anymore."

Lillian laughed on the sidelines.

Raphael truly appreciated the women's help, but deep down, he knew he was correct. In the future, he could not rely on anybody.

He needed to make sure that he had enough power to handle any problem that came his way, without out sourcing his troubles to others.

He needed the five dragons.

Valkatus, I'm coming for you.

---

Whilst the members of the armies all got to know each other, Raphael and his generals held a meeting with the queens, outlining their plans of battle going forward.

Raphael's idea was simple. Keep marching forward and destroying anybody in their way until they reached the capital city of the west.

Afterwards, they would launch a full frontal attack on the city, sparing all who didn't wish to fight, and taking down those that continued to side with the king.

The Queens had no complaints with the idea. They had all brought their strongest fighters with them.

Raphael had his generals, some of the angels, and his Maidens.

Cecilia had her Holy Blade Wielders.

Harmony had a new force of her own that she had been creating, called the Sacred Flowers.

And so, they continued to march westward, with Raphael at the head of over one thousand troops.

---

"Brother, I've managed to figure out their numbers. Raphael has managed to quadruple the number of his troops in a short time." Opral told King Diotames over breakfast. "Not only that, but I sense many powerful Birthrights."

King Diotames rubbed his chin in thought, trying his best to contain his excitement at the prospect of war.

After a few moments of calculated thinking, he came to an answer.

"Release our Colossal from the underground." He said, bringing his little sister to great shock, but she knew she could not refuse.

He wishes to take things this far... There will be no avoiding war now. She thought to herself as she nodded her head.

"It will be done."

---

As Raphael marched at the head of his troops with the queens by his side, a great rumble suddenly spread throughout the earth, shaking the entire plains around them.

The soldiers of the army looked up into the heavens, wondering whether it had started thundering, but the noise was not coming from above, rather in the distance.

Raphael spotted what seemed to be a castle in the distance. Or atleast, that's what he believed it to be at first.

Until the castle took a step forward...

Raphael focused his eyes, trying his best to see the figure approaching them, and as it finally got into range, he felt a rare wave of fear wash over him.

It wasn't often that a being could ever make him feel such a way, but it was also the first time he had seen a creature so large.

He thought that the previous Moonwolf that they had fought before was big, but this one made it look like a mere ant in comparison.

The members of the army finally saw where the noise was coming from, and it took their entire might not to run away in fear.

In the distance, a giant stalked towards them, large like a palace. It stood on all fours and moved with heavy footsteps. It's fur was white, with corruptions of black spread across it, and it's face seemed mutated and deformed.

It's mouth constantly hung agape, spittle falling from it's mouth and washing the land.

Raphael heard cries from his soldiers as the beast approached.

"What on Vailstone is that?" Harmony uttered beside him, having never seen such a creature before either.

But Raphael swallowed his nerves. He would not allow the beast to intimidate him.

In a mere instant, he summoned Crimson. The long ranged weapon he had created and pointed it towards the approaching beast.

Then, he let five rounds fire.

The fire pellets travelled far, but as they hit into the creature, they seemed to become lost and buried in its fur, leaving it unharmed.

Raphael let out a laugh.

Now this... This is something.