Another Worldly Summons

Chapter 2: Contact (V2)

Once upon a time, there was an ancient empire that stretched from the eastern to the southern world, encompassing three continents. This heavily industrialized civilization was a user of both magical and mechanical technologies, creating what is colloquially referred to as a magical steampunk era of prosperity and peace. They were known as the Rodaleans Commonwealth. However, one day, a greater power emerged, disrupting the balance of the world. With their mighty firepower and unheard-of technological advancements, along with the proliferation of unknown monsters and invasive species that never existed in that era, the world soon crumbled and was subjugated.

The first continent to fall was the Alitian Ice Continent, known for its scientific and magical advancements, and its various underground cities. Unfortunately, all of these were almost completely wiped out by the war. The second to fall was Alitian's so-called twin sister continent, connected by a land bridge, and the largest with the highest population concentration. However, this continent was ravaged to ground due to the enormous power and technological disparity that rendered their magic and level of technology inadequate to combat the other worldly threat.

And lastly, the bastion of the remaining resistance forces of the Rodaleans, the Qua-Ria Continent, would forever be known as the land of the dead due to the enormous death caused by a certain event that would shape the world forever. A hail of lights struck that continent, nearly transforming it into a manifestation of hell on earth. The catastrophe extinguished all life and was soon followed by the emergence of a new power that began replacing it with non-natives. These newcomers would come to populate the area, giving rise to a new type of race known as Elves and Beastmen.

Fast forward in thousands of years, in the skies of Qua-Ria, now known as Rodenius, there was a large flying creatures with scales that flapped their enormous wings as it glide in the gentle breeze of ocean. These creatures were called wyverns, and presently had a person riding on it's back. One such wyvern rider was Marl Patima, who patrolled the northern airspace. This was in response to several disturbing reports of unknown flying creatures over the skies of their motherland, known as the Principality of Qua-Toyne.

However, even without any of those reports, the caution was not entirely pointless or unfounded. Presently, a war was looming in the south, with recent escalations against the rapidly rising and expanding Kingdom of Lauria. This kingdom was absorbing small countries on Rodenius. In response, patrols were deployed throughout the country's coastal regions to detect and counter warships that might attempt surprise attacks or engage in commerce raiding.

"―!?"

He caught sight of something—a speck in the sky. Trained as a rider under their dragon knight order, he possessed keen eyesight suitable for long-range aerial combat, a perk of his training.

"What could that be?"

At the moment, there were no other friendly wyverns in the skies besides him. Yet, something else was clearly present in the area. According to standard procedures, anything other than a friendly wyvern was either a wild beast or a hostile Laurian wyvern rider. However, even if it were a Laurian wyvern, the flight distance from Lauria to here was nothing short of impossible. The major civilizations indeed had ships capable of transporting wyverns, known as Dragon Carriers or Wyvern carriers in some countries north, but something like that should have no business to this remote area.

Furthermore, there are occasional discussions about Sios, a nearby country that is a well-known extension of a superpower. This reputation is due to the presence of a metal dragon carrier, which employs machines rather than wyverns and is frequently docked there. However, their motherland in the far west is not an aggressive civilization unless provoked, so they are unlikely to come here either. Yet, he never truly cared whether their dragon carriers were made of wood or metal; they all appeared the same to him.