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Hi again, I'm back after 6 months. Woo hoo. I'm just going to drop this chapter and peace out, never to be seen again until fate will it so I guess. I've been reading a novel called "Library of Heaven's Path" recently, so you might see a bit of Chinese style phrasing in this lol
Nah nah, just kidding. I got plenty of time now to work on things. Two words: fuck college. I'm done with it for the moment. And no, I will not elaborate.
Anyways, here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy.
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"Parents."
"Yes, Parents."
The two men facing each other in a dimly lit black room, who both hold pieces of the country's highest authorities, came to the same realization; A realization that could spell disaster for not only them, but the entire empire. It wasn't anything that had never happened before, but when it did, all parties involved that was under threat of the disaster were disintegrated into nothing more than a "once upon a time."
If the two mens' earlier conclusions held any truth, that would mean that there were a pair of dragons out there that would soon come looking for their child that had gone missing. Dragons, the most powerful monsters in the world with varying degrees of lethality, regardless, extremely dangerous beings to face head-on. It was common practice to get rid of them when they were young because of how powerful they became when they grew. They were a rare sight in modern times, but that didn't mean they were extinct.
A dragon becomes an adult when the dragon meets one of two conditions: either living to be 100 years old or becoming a 'Master.' Humans referred to their differences as "Classes" and the dragons referred to themselves as "Ranks." Nevertheless, once a dragon met the prerequisite, that meant that they have proved themselves as capable against most threats and the parents leave them two their own devices. However, if the two men's presumptions were true, that would mean that Isis was a Master Class dragon, and yet was not old enough to even be more than 10 years old, much less 100.
She is a unique anomaly.
And since dragons never only raised one child at a time, that would mean the two parents' protective instincts for their children would not have dissipated if any of the other offspring hadn't yet reached Master class.
Archwatt, the emperor of an empire that is currently struggling against the mana of an on-the-run Death Dragon, might just soon be under siege against the might of two fully grown dragons when his empire has already been weakened to such a degree. If they were to attack now, there is no telling how far their rampage would spread.
The only thing Archwatt could rely on is the might and wit of Adventurers, who professionalized monster-subjugation and de-escalation, the man sitting before him, Professor Luna, and the entourage of mages he commanded. Archwatt's standard army would be useless against the hard and physically resistant scales of dragons, so they were insignificant variables he would have to conserve for other uses- which would be to pick up the pieces of what used to be the capital of the great Tesla Empire and the thousands of corpses that will be created in its fall.
Every member of a Royal Knight or Guard possessed the ability to simultaneously use both magic and weapons. They were very rare, important assets that Archwatt couldn't afford to get grievously injured as their health was the strength of the Empire. Should they fall, undoubtedly so too would Tesla.
Archwatt leaned forward in his seated position, resting his chin on the peak of his folded hands, pondering what to do against yet another threat that posed itself against him. His mouth felt uncomfortable due to the sudden desire to drink something, but he ignored it with a shake of his head and focused on the situation at hand. He needed to find a way to cool the wrath of the parents that may or may not exist. It was better to be safe than sorry, after all.
He began to sort all his ducks in a row, starting with Isis.
Isis was currently in an extremely vulnerable state. Her magic was sealed, her memories were tampered with, yet she was showing noticeable improvement in her condition. He, at least, must prevent her from getting her memories back. If she does, then everything that he had done would be for naught. To do that, he would need Professor Luna's cooperation.
"Ah, this is so damn frustrating."
Archwatt let out a curse, which was rare for him to do nowadays in the face of everything that was happening. There was a not only a holy war on the horizon against not only his neighboring country, but also with the demons as well with their insane try-it-till-it-works attack strategy of reviving their king and re-raising the armies of monsters that follow him. He is low on the funding needed to support such expenses, and the constant interference with dragons in the meantime was not doing him any favors.
His people were dying as he sat. Time was literally of the essence. There was a limit to what the current healers could do; He needed to buy time.
Archwatt rubbed his face with his hands, stretching his skin when his hands slowly slid down in attempts to calm himself.
'The best solution to the current situation in my own capital is to find a magician that can dispel the lingering draconic mana of the Death Dragon and either more healers, or a healer that can completely cure the sick.' Archwatt pondered,
Of course...
Isis and Professor Luna were the only two people Archwatt could think of that fit both criteria. The thing is, Isis is currently unable to access her mana thanks to him, so he could only feel like he shot himself in the foot. He could order the unsealing of her mana, but there was no telling just how much quicker she would recover from the effects of the already unstable demonic magic that was casted by a human.
And Professor Luna... He was still healing from his fight with Isis. Her sword pierced his body, so it was a difficult wound to heal.
Truthfully, Archwatt still loved Isis. His love, he had come to realize just a few weeks ago, was way too much to direct at a child- even if he didn't know the whole truth at the time. So Archwatt came up with the plan to make her his daughter, that way he would be able to show his affection in a more proper manner, like a doting father, and not have the haunting thought in the back of his mind of committing evil against an innocent child. He realized that he would be satisfied if Isis was "connected" to him in some way, so this was enough to satisfy him.
So, to willingly relinquish his control was a tough decision for him now, even in the face of impending doom. Archwatt knew that his way of thinking was not the correct one, yet he felt like, even if he had a sword to his throat demanding that he change it, he wouldn't comply. It was such an ugly desire.
Having decided on something, Archwatt stood up from his seat of the twin black couches. Taking in a deep breath, he voiced his new orders to the man sitting across from him,
"Hear me, Professor Luna," Archwatt's voice boomed. Having realized that Archwatt was giving him a command, Professor Luna kneeled before him, "You are to monitor the situation in the capital and continue to assist wherever your abilities can be of help. Be it restoring order, healing patients, or providing service, you are to do everything you can while I make preparations. Do I make myself clear?"
"As your Majesty commands." Professor Luna bowed his head, accepting the order.
Though Luna personally had other interests in mind, it was his loyalty to his country and emperor that prevented him from clashing against Archwatt anymore than was necessary. Though he was young, and currently had the interest of the people as his highest priority. He was a fine man and has proven to have enough grit to weather constant setbacks, so providing a little more help was the least he could do outside of his tutoring.
Besides, if anything else, Professor Luna's curious mind began to wonder just how his "political superior" would deal with the coming disasters. Once everything was finalized with that child's adoption into the Imperial family tree, there was no going back. He would either perish by the hands of his own people or be applauded. He was walking across a tightrope over a burning volcano. One misstep would spell his doom.
And, in his eyes, it didn't help that his rope was slowly burning.
With their meeting over and done with, Professor Luna bid his farewell and left the room, leaving Archwatt to do as he pleased inside his office. Archwatt gave a casual dismissive wave and sank his body into the couch to stare motionlessly at the ceiling.
"What I do from now on, I do for you, Angelina."
Reaffirming his resolve and ingraining the new name of his first child in his mind, Archwatt stood up slowly as if he was fighting against the weight of the world against his shoulders. He pushed open the doors to the office and made his way into the vast and wide corridors of his palace.
After walking for a few moments, he was swiftly followed by several Royal Knights and eventually reached the nearest balcony that overlooked the now ghost town of his capital. The warm sun radiated warmly against his skin, a far cry from the cold and desolate atmosphere that wafted from the city streets.
He had told Angelina that the lingering mana of a Death Dragon had devastated his city and caused immense damage to her body, but in truth, the mana had long dissipated. Despite that, it was clear that the city was not in a good situation. As normal people didn't possess large pools of mana, when the mana of other creatures seeped into them, it was hard for their bodies to be able to filter it. As a result, the lingering effects of the Death Dragon could still be seen everywhere one looked. Those that couldn't receive support from healers or other supporting magics would swiftly find their condition deteriorating.
Archwatt clenched his fists as his sights over the city fell onto a nearby makeshift hospital. It was stuffed with citizens both healthy and sick as they tried desperately to help their family and neighbors through this hardship. The hospital, if you could even call it that, was poorly staffed as most healers were currently inside of his palace either recuperating or taking care of more dire patients.
As his palace was both defended by a magical barrier and large enough to house many patients, those that were the most affected by the magic were temporarily hospitalized there. It was also much easier for the healers and priests to relax themselves and refill their mana reserves free of worry of getting afflicted.
""Find Priest," she said."
Archwatt mumbled, gazing upon the frantic sights before him. To distract himself from it, he began thinking about Angelina's first wish, which was to find the man that she had first arrived with a few weeks ago that served as her guardian and servant, Priest.
Priest, just like Angelina, had features like dragons sprouting from his body, so he wouldn't be too hard to find. In fact, he already had an idea as to where he was. The thing is, if he found and brought him over, who was to say that wouldn't cause her memory spell to break instantly? Who was to say that resilient thing wouldn't cause a ruckus once he saw the sorry state of his master?
"Your Majesty," a Royal Knight standing inside the hallways called out, "A messenger has arrived from the Royal Inquisitors. They claim to have found news about the Hero. Would you like me to invite them over?"
Archwatt was taken aback, "The Hero?"
It had been years since she disappeared as if into thin air. Just why did news of her turn up now when he already had so much on his plate?
"Invite them in," reluctantly, Archwatt gave his permission for the messenger to appear before him. Turning around to face the messenger, Archwatt saw that it was the very same inquisitor who had reported to him about Isis' reappearance awhile back, Royal Inquisitor David Rothschill. David approached him ceremonially and fell on one knee in respect before his emperor.
"You have news on the Hero? Speak of what you know." Straight to the point, Archwatt demanded he spout whatever he held within his head.
"Yes," David grunted his consent, "As your Majesty is aware, we have been keeping a lookout far and wide on any news affiliated with the Hero's name, Yuri Ainu. For a long time now, there had been no pings. That is until there were sudden war stories cropping up left and right about a woman coincidentally named Yuri Ainu began her story of glory in the nearby country of Lionprairie,"
Everything so far was aligned with Archwatt already knew. That same Priest person he was just thinking about had also been the source of information that Yuri had gone to the Myriad Beast Kingdom of Lionprairie. With a proper lead, everything else was simple in finding the Hero.
"But there is a deviation to this Yuri Ainu than the one we are familiar with, your Majesty."
Archwatt became confused for a moment before a look of clarity befell him. This too was something Priest had said, that Yuri no longer looked like what they knew.
"What is it?" Archwatt goaded him to continue,
"The Hero, Yuri Ainu..." David trailed, seemingly unsure himself if the reports he had received were true, "She has become a demi-human."
""Become a demi-human?""
Archwatt couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could a human, born in a world populated exclusively with only one species of humans possibly become a demi-human?
"That's not all, your Majesty."
"There's more?"
"My reports show that Yuri Ainu has become a white and purple haired lizard woman with a pair of wings, horns, and tail whose scales those same two colors. Does that not remind you of anybody?"
David raised his head,
"Say, a certain girl you were looking for?"
***
In a faraway place, days away from the Imperial Capital of the Tesla Empire, in a dank and damp cave cowered in fear a large black mass. The creature reacted with extreme paranoia to any stimuli, fearing that whatever made that noise was the harbinger of his doom. This had resulted in them not getting any proper sleep, further worsening their mental condition. They were also too scared to leave the cave and search for food, resulting in the creature becoming weak in body too.
The creature's name was Siegfried.
Siegfried had made a desperate escape for his life with the sacrifice of a fellow Dragon, whom he believed had taken upon the role of his mother. To Siegfried, this ate away at his mental state. It seemed to him that anybody who took the role of his protector would be fated to die. His original dragon parents had met the cold embrace of death by protecting him, and now God's chosen Guardian had also made the same sacrifice.
Condensed water that dripped from the ceiling of the caves' stalactites fell onto his body. Each drop felt like a stake was driven into his body like that mage who pressed a sword of magic against his head. Despite this, Siegfried couldn't gather the strength to move. He could only lay there motionless with every waking moment spent wondering when the next would be his last.
"I'm hungry..." A weak moan echoed,
Siegfried shook in place. He was cold, he was hungry, he was sleepy, he was thirsty, and he was afraid.
It felt like the whole world was against him. It wouldn't be the first time he felt that way, but he had a small hope brew within his heart that with this new world would come a new perspective; that the laws of life would bend to suit his purpose. Of course, it turned out to be a hope that shouldn't have been ignited in the first place. Such a selfish wish would not be possible unless he himself was the ruler of the world.
"Ruler..."
Siegfried's thoughts wandered and his train of thought took off.
He thought about his life, both his previous and his current one. In his previous life, he was a nothing but a poor sharecropper who made his day's living and went to sleep. He worked for a man who ran the farm, who worked for the man who owned the farm, who worked for the man who ran the county, who worked for the man who ruled the country. In the grand scheme of things, all Siegfried amounted to was that, had anything happened to him, he could be replaced by the next poor bloke who came stumbling through.
In this life, he had been reborn as a creature of myth. A creature told to children to get them to behave, or to tell tale of -just as mythical- heroes slaying them. It was an opportunity quite literally given by God himself. Unfortunately, his chance of an easy life was squandered and the first few years of his life wasted staring at the same brick walls and increasing his proficiency in magic with what vague information was given to him by the voice of God. And once he was eventually free, he acted like a spoiled brat and got his savior killed. He was a fool. A fool who could do nothing right.
Then suddenly, there were the sounds of footsteps. Each step was filled with purpose and strength as their source briskly approached Siegfried, unafraid of what might be ahead. Siegfried opened his tired eyes and gazed upon the intruders. Fear and curiosity clouded his mind. Just who could approach him while his mana leaked light a broken faucet, bringing death to all who came near?
"Ah..?"
It was a human? No, that wasn't right.
'Demons?' Siegfried thought,
Dark devilish horns were sprouting from the skull of the pair of figures who approached him, a man, and a woman. The male's skin was a sickly ash-colored gray, and his irises were as red as fresh blood. His hair was black enough that it felt like it was absorbing what remnant of light there was deep within the cave. Beside him was a woman of similar background, but instead of ashen skin and a violent demeanor, she carried a prideful and seductive aura with her rosy skin and pink hair as she stood silently behind the man with a lofty smile.
"#%$?"
The male demon seemed to be speaking to him, but Siegfried didn't understand what he was saying. The demon was a good distance away, but then suddenly began to move closer. Surprised at this, Siegfried's timid nature kicked in and he began to back away in the face of his intimidating gait. However, the demon was making no attempts to look threatening and continued to speak to him in various languages, but Siegfried didn't trust him.
Until finally he said,
"...Can you understand me?"
Siegfried's eyes went wide upon hearing the demon speak in the same language as he did in his previous life. He instinctively knew the language of Dragons, but English was a different story. In his immense boredom back in the spell, he had plenty of time to practice with his vocal cords to speak his old language, but he was too scared to speak.
"Great! We can communicate..." The demon didn't fail to notice his reaction, and a wide, toothy smile appeared on his face. The demon's determination to get closer was further sparked, and in an instant, was right before Siegfried's nose.
"Heek!"
Frightened, Siegfried summoned upon his mana and recklessly threw it at the demon. The demon eyed the sludge-like darkness attacking him and batted the mana away with his arms, which had suddenly become metallic in luster. Siegfried's mana was rendered useless, and his body open to attack.
"I've been waiting,"
The demon slammed his two metallic fists together. The metal that covered his arms broke apart and reformed into another shape. The metal twisted and grew in volume until it finalized into a large muzzle.
"So long for you!"
The demon pounced onto Siegfried's long neck, bringing the muzzle close to his face. Siegfried instinctively rolled around trying to shake him off, but the strength of the demon far surpassed his own. Seeing that his attempts to shake off the demon were failing, Siegfried tried to overload his assaulter with his mana directly by injecting it into the demon straight from his body.
"Five years!" The demon continued to shout, unperturbed by Siegfreid's magical attempts, "For five long years I waited for you to escape that damned spell! Now that you're out, I can finally accomplish my goal!"
The two figures tossed and tumbled about for a few minutes. The demon attempting to put an ominous muzzle on Siegfried and Siegfried trying desperately to escape the demon's clutches until finally Siegfried, weak from hunger and exerting his mana all day, ran out of strength to resist and the muzzle was finally locked in place on his face.
Immediately, Seigfried knew he was in trouble. Formed directly from the magic of the demon that far surpassed him in magical and physical ability, plus the conflicting nature of the two mana, the muzzle completely restricted Siegfried's face. In his weak state, there was no hope of getting it off in the short term.
With a grunt of satisfaction, the male demon dexterously moved from his bounded head and locked himself around Siegfried's neck. The demon tightly held on and leveraged his head against the stone-cold ground.
"Augh... Stop!" Siegfried begged, a feeling of Déjà vu overwhelming him as he was helplessly overpowered by a force he couldn't withstand, "What do you want from me!? Leave me alone!"
Siegfried fell deeper into despair. Even after finally escaping the confines of magic that was beyond his understanding and finally having the chance to stand, he was mercilessly kicked back down to the ground time and time again. All he could do was roll with the punches like the weak, pathetic being he was and always had been.
Yet, despite his desperate pleas, the male demon showed no signs of relenting his grip. And soon after, the slow, brisk sound of the female demon's heels began to approach him.
"Your mine." Short, sweet, and alluring, the voice of the female demon echoed ceaselessly inside of Siegfried's head. It goaded him to stop his futile resistance and relinquish his will to her.
Though contrary to what she expected, Siegfried's eyes swiftly turned livid after hearing the female demon speak. It was her: it was the voice of the woman who had attacked his parents! There was no way he could ever forget that voice!
"You 'astards!" With a mighty bellow from deep within his heart, Siegfried screamed in rage. His face was bound by the muzzle, blocking him from properly cursing, "I'll kill 'ou! I'll kill 'ou all!"
With a newfound drive, Siegfried redoubled and rekindled his will to struggle free. Even if it was the last thing he did, he would make sure that woman would die to his claws!
However, reality wasn't so nice. The demon before him was able to kill his parents, so what chance did a mere Adept rank dragon like him stand against her? With just a flick of her finger against his skull, she caused all his nerves to go into shock and halt his movements.
Joint locked against the ground and now too weak to resist under the additional suppression, all Siegfried could do was glare menacingly at the female demon. If looks could kill, she'd had died thousands of times by now.
The female demon raised her leg, causing what little clothing she was wearing to softly glide across her supple skin. And with a relaxed smile, she smushed her foot humiliatingly against the scales on his skin through the gaps of the muzzle's metal cage.
Leaning her body over and resting her head on her silk like hand, the demon softly spoke, "Kill me? On the contrary,"
She removed her foot from Siegfried's face and mana began to circulate within her, moving towards her lips and hands. She reached out and lifted Siegfried's head, bringing him closer,
"You'll serve me." The female demon said, gently pressing her lips against his head as if she didn't just stomp it with her foot.
Instantly, the charming mana overwhelmed Siegfried's mind, and soon after, the helpless dragon's consciousness was plunged into a deep abyss.