The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Inside his cell, Oscar meditated, gathering his thoughts together, not his sealed Ein. Should he break out of prison and fight to clear his name? Or should he stay inside and hope they could weather the attack? Drakken Port was a well-supplied iron fortress, the people's faces and confidence of the Exalts on the way over to the prison telling a picture of belief and safety in its walls. Susan did tell him about the numerous attempts to siege this area, all for naught thanks to the efforts of three Marshal Exalts and the powerful defenses.

Oscar rested on the cold metal floor and knew no comfort. He wished he had Avril by his side to provide him with some warmth and company during this time. His wife's figure popped up in his mind, scolding him, and he smiled and stood, rattling his chains around. 'Just because they've won the previous sieges doesn't mean lives won't be lost. I'll have to take a look around.'

He called to the prison guard outside, "Excuse me, sir. Do you know where they took my space pocket? If we're going to fight, I'll need my shield."

"What sort of idiot are you? I guess in exchange for your height, your brain shrunk. Do you believe you'll get out of here, or the fighting will come down to you?" The guard chastised Oscar by hitting the cell bars with his spear, brushing aggressively in metallic clanks.

"There should be lots of clothes in there as well. I would very much like it back. My wife selected those clothes for me." Oscar turned his back to the guard and studied the restraints further, finding the latches where they locked and tightened. He sighed in relief at his prudence. He had dumped all his precious treasures into the dimensional cube and other space pockets in Erden's stomach; otherwise, everything he had would have been ransacked and confiscated.

"A wife? Let me guess. Your wife is from one of the other empires, isn't that right?" The guard spat on the ground and sat in his chair, grumbling about his job as a prison guard.

"No. She's from another continent. The stories I can tell you about everything we've been through together can take a whole week." Oscar nodded to Erden while his left hand grasped the restraint on his right ankle and his right hand clenched hard on the restraint on his left wrist. Erden nodded and inhaled before releasing a roar while banging his hooves on the metal floor, kicking up a ruckus of noise. Oscar entered Adamasreis and broke apart half of his restraints with a focused Shattering Wave.

"Shut up! You damned beast!" The guard shouted, rising from his seat. He sounded very displeased. "Those restraints are keeping your Ein in check, and this prison is meant to keep in physical monstrosities like you. Tell your beast to shut up."

However, Erden continued to create as much noise as he could to distract the guard from hearing Oscar's actions. Oscar focused and broke the left ankle and right wrist restraints. He shuddered slightly from the surge of Ein from his core and the feeling of Ein itching his skin.

Rising from his seat, Oscar turned to the guard and dropped the shattered fragments of his restraints, entering Pseudo-Guise immediately. Before the guard could shout, Oscar punched the prison cell apart, the metallic bars clattering to the floor, and slammed his elbow into the guard's unprepared stomach. He swiftly punched the guard's chin and knocked him out, felling him onto the floor.

"Sorry about this. I'll repay you with a fresh new armament." Oscar carried the guard and placed him comfortably on the chair. Outside, the rumbling and chaos grew louder, worrying him. But the inside was no different; all the prisoners started to rise and bang on the prison walls, enlivened by his escape.

"Hey, brother! Help the rest of us escape as well!"

"We can overturn this fortress while they're distracted and gain huge contributions. Maybe we'll be regarded as heroes back home."

"The Brilliant Drake Empire shall fall! And we'll be the ones to play a major part in history!"

Angered, Oscar glared coldly at every single prisoner and said behind clenched teeth, "Erden, burn them, but don't kill them."

"W-wait!" It was too late. Erden, freed from his bondage, scorched their skins and burned off their hair. They all screamed in anguish at their fresh burns, retreating deep inside their cells, away from Erden and Oscar. His control over fire was amazing, splitting not to melt the bars and only focusing on the prisoners themselves.

Oscar found a large rag and draped it over himself into a makeshift robe. Carefully, he removed the guard's helmet and a few pieces of armor that appeared to fit him and put them on, needing to conceal his identity for the moment. The azure dragon-head shoulder pads fitted his shoulders, the wristguards wrapped nicely on his forearm, the leg guards clicked into place on his legs, and the thick helmet was tight but somehow fit his head.

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He saw his figure through Erden's eyes, a strange warrior of loose azure armor held on a ragged brown cloak, his features hidden by the helmet with nothing but his height as the defining trait. Oscar tried and failed to find his space pocket and shield, relegated to using his fists since the guard's spear was merely grade two. To hide his trump cards, Erden leaped up and transformed into his small, cute form, hiding underneath Oscar's new brown robes.

A thunderous clap resounded and shook the roots of the fortress. Oscar's worry increased with each quake, and he rushed through the fortress toward the first window he saw. Flying outside, he was greeted by the explosions of elements and Ein pounding on the barrier from all corners. He had never been in a city under siege, always having been the invader in the Burning Valley. Molten magma flowed like molasses on the surface of the barrier, lightning stuck continuously and spread like a spiderweb, boulders crashed and broke apart, pillars of light dug and spiraled from the sides, and streams of air, water, and fire poured endlessly like crashing waves.

It was a picture of hell. The once happy and glowing citizens stampeded over to what appeared to be shelters built to withstand the worst. Screams and warcries abound everywhere, the defenders of Drakken Port fighting valiantly against the tides of enemies, no matter the cost. The enemy had strange contraptions that latched onto the barrier and somehow opened a tunnelway inside. Their armies poured in through the several openings to fend off the defenders while disrupting the barrier from the inside.

'Those machines….' Oscar recognized them. Shocked, he remembered the strange prisms with several spiky legs, thick beams of Ein linking to their tips from the whirling mechanism in the center. Gol-4 mentioned them before, one of his best inventions, the Ercanal. The legs stuck onto the barrier and formed a small formation, fed by the beams of Ein. The barrier would accept, extend to the legs and encompass the Ercanal, but a tunnel laid in its center for the people outside to stream through without a fuss.

'At least they're not the latest iteration. These are Ercanal-Fives.' Shuddering, Oscar imagined the devastation Ercanal-Sevens could wreck onto the city. Thankfully, Gol-4 was a genius beyond even the most prodigious of golem makers; no one could improve Gol-4's designs except for Gol-4 himself. The golem loved to brag about his past, but it held its merits seeing how no one could come up with better golems than him thousands of years later.

Oscar snapped his attention elsewhere, toward the source of the terrifying Eins above the port. Squinting, he made out several figures of incredible power, Marshal Exalts, clashing in the high sky. They must be the three Marshal Exalts who fought tirelessly to defend the city for several years and were evenly matched against their opponents.

Since their attention was wholly focused on the battle above, the key to Drakken Port relied on the troops here. Entering Pseudo-Guise, Oscar rushed toward one of the openings created by the Ercanal-Fives and reached the faltering soldiers before the enemy could strike them down. He skewered several of them with his Golden Drill, a mix of Elite and Knight Exalts.

"Who are you?" Someone in the Pavilion's uniform said abruptly.

"This is no time to talk. Focus on the battle." Oscar summoned his golden maw, the dragon head chomping down on a Knight Exalt. "I'll be the vanguard and push them back. The rest of you follow me and attack from the sides."

Without waiting for their answer, Oscar bolted through the air and raised his hand, pouring out waves of golden rods filled with Eirin. The other defenders joined in, bombarding the enemy with their spells. The air became disrupted by the clash of their spells, and Oscar bravely charged into the thick of the horrific swirling Ein, culling down the enemy numbers.

His followers all shouted, their morale at an all-time high. Their fighting became more confident and forced the enemy back.

'They're all Grade Six and below. Where are the others?' Oscar parted the waves of enemies with his Shattering Wave. He reached the edge of the barrier and was about to destroy the Ercanal with a wave of golden rods while his newly encouraged defenders fought off the remainder of the enemy. Suddenly, his spell was disrupted and blocked by three sources of profound Ein.

"Seems this place had rallied nicely." A voice called out, laughing in each breath.

"Those lower grades can't get the job done. They couldn't kill off the enemy to allow us to step through." A second person clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

"That's why I argued we should go through ourselves. We were meant to save our Ein, but it appears fruitless." A third sighed.

Three Greater Knight Exalts of the Undying Flame Sect floated out of the tunnel and stared down at Oscar. Their Ein alone showcased their Grade Seven Exolsias. "What kind of soldier forgets the rest of his armor? Even his clothes are ragged." The laughing man said.

"Don't underestimate him, Enver. He fought his way through the rest of our men. I wonder what kind of face is behind that helmet." The third, stoic man warned.

"Enough talk, you idiots. If you were going to make a move, you should have done it from the start." Oscar raised his fists into a stance and beckoned them to step forward. "At least, you would have had an iota of a chance. But now, you will leave your lives here."

"Haha! It seems we have quite an arrogant person here. Isn't that right, Sasha?" The man, Enver, chuckled.

"Nothing to it. Follow Colum's lead." The woman, Sasha, scowled and turned away from Enver.

"Be careful and kill him." The calm man, Colum, waved his hand for them to begin.

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