Time stopped at that moment.
The wind no longer swept across the ridges. Churning dust hung in midair, and dragon breath became frozen flame, caught in the instant before it burst.
Louis stepped out of a ripple in the void.
With every step, the ground beneath his feet changed.
Withered grass stood upright again, fine cracks spread through the scorched soil, and fresh greenery completed its growth in mere moments.
The battlefield was cut apart.
The movements of five thousand Dragonkin Guards froze the instant Louis appeared.
Their charging forms hung suspended, claws yet to fall, the vicious gleam in their eyes fixed at the same angle.
Louis turned to Lambert, who was still kneeling on the ground.
"Thank you for your efforts, Lambert." Louis's voice was soft, yet deeply reassuring. "Leave the rest to me."
The knights of Red Tide stood where they were, making no immediate move.
Their gazes shifted between Louis and the enormous dragon blotting out the sky, hesitant and uneasy.
A confrontation on this level was already beyond their comprehension.
Lambert gritted his teeth and forced himself upright.
He glanced at Louis and said nothing more. With a forceful wave of his hand, the knights began to retreat.
Time's restraints gradually loosened.
August was the first to regain his movement.
The power of Original Sin surged within him, allowing him to barely break free of those bonds.
He lowered his enormous head toward the mortal who had suddenly appeared at the center of the battlefield, his eyes filled with contempt.
To him, this was merely another creature trying to gain an advantage through strange tricks.
He also noticed the retreating knights.
His jaws parted slightly, and several blasts of dragon breath formed in an instant, hurtling toward the distant crowd.
Louis raised his hand. The