Shahaneth regained consciousness earlier than her father. The moment she woke, the memories of how they were beaten by the seven-headed monster resurfaced in her mind. They'd never suffered such humiliation and defeat.
That was close, she thought.
Stricken by horror, she almost jolted and looked around her surroundings. Fortunately, she immediately managed to regain her calm and control over her mana. The seven-headed monster might be close. It could even be watching her. She couldn't afford to let it know that she'd already regained consciousness. She needed to bide for time. With the resilience of those belonging to the dragon race, she should be able to fully recover from these grave injuries in a matter of days.
She kept her eyes closed, suppressed her mana, and heightened her senses. As expected, the seven-headed monster was close—it was right beside her. Moreover, she could feel hundreds of other presences nearby.
"What did my God use as a medium for the barrier?" said a deep voice.
Shahaneth remembered that voice well. It was the voice of that damnable seven-headed monster.
"L-Lord Evander engraved the runes and formations on the national treasure of the kingdom," said another voice. "It was engraved on the mithril shield stored in the Royal Sanctum."
Shahaneth started putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
"A mere mithril was used as a medium for our God's magic?" said the seven-headed monster. It sounded displeased for some reason. "I shouldn't have expected much from elves!"
"What are you waiting for, elven king? How long are we going to keep having this conversation?" Another deep voice spoke. "Bring us the medium!"
Elven king?
Shahaneth was surprised. She thought that the elves had gone extinct long ago.
Had the seven-headed monster brought her to an elven kingdom? And what was this barrier they were talking about? There was also the mention of a so-called God.
Shahaneth heard someone whisper, "What should we do, Your Majesty?"
A voice, who she presumed to belong to the elven king, replied, "At this point, what can we do?"
Although clearly reluctant, the elven king seemed to have finally given up.
"B-But Your Majesty! We can't possibly hand over the authority over the barrier like this!"
"Enough! Think about it carefully, Minister Wranfir! The Scylla is probably here under the command of Lord Evander Alaester," said the elven king. "At his peak, that human was heralded as one of the strongest humans to have roamed this land. He could easily destroy us if he wishes.
We can't afford to lose that being's protection, no matter what!"
Evander Alaester.
Shahaneth remembered previous reports of the dwarven king.
According to the information network set up by the dwarves, there were rumors that the current King of Lukas was associated with that legendary magician. There were even rumors that the two were one and the same— information they had yet to truly verify.
"Stop whispering among yourselves, elves," spat the seven-headed monster. "An hour. If you fail to bring me the medium, I'll start destroying the damnable elven oaks around this area."
Although she had her eyes closed, Shahaneth clearly felt the elves' terror.
"W-We'll bring it right away, Lord Blackie!" said the elven king.
Shahaneth felt over a hundred presences leave the area. It seemed that the elven king had left for the so-called medium.
"And you. How long are you going to pretend to be asleep, lizard?"
said the seven-headed monster.
Shahaneth shuddered.
She still hadn't recovered even a small portion of her health. In her current state, even if she turned into a dragon, it would be impossible to win against the seven-headed monster.
"I will count to three. If you don't open those damn eyes," threatened the seven-headed monster. "I will rip off one of your arms. One…" Shahaneth knew that the seven-headed monster wouldn't hesitate to rip out her arms if she didn't do as she was told within the designated time.
Without waiting for the seven-headed monster to finish counting, she stood from the root-blanketed ground and opened her eyes.
"Wait! I'm awake!" she said.
After taking a quick look, she realized that she was indeed at an elven kingdom. Hundreds of elven oaks, which served as the residences of elves, towered over the surroundings. Each of the houses were connected by wooden bridges, serving as the kingdom's streets. From afar, she could see a gargantuan ancient tree at the center of the city.
'A barrier.' Shahaneth noticed the barrier enclosing the city. To her utter surprise and horror, it was created using the same spell protecting the dwarven kingdom.
Heaven's Dominion.
The pinnacle-grade barrier that she thought was exclusive to dragons.
First the capital of the Kingdom of Lukas, then Blackstone Town. And now, this. It was absurd that pinnacle-grade barriers were protecting all of these territories.
"I should have pierced your chest before." The first head moved closer to Shahaneth. "I didn't expect you to wake up this soon."
The fifth head said to the other heads, "Maybe we should let her remove the polymorph spell? Let her turn into a dragon. The aftermath of a battle should teach those damn elves a lesson."
The sixth head nodded slowly. "Not a bad idea. They kept blabbering among themselves, as though they have a choice in the matter. How foolish."
The first head said, "So, what is it? We'll allow you to remove your polymorph spell, lizard. Go. Revert into your dragon form."
Shahaneth gnashed her teeth. Although she woke up earlier than her father, she still hadn't recovered much of her health. Fighting against the Scylla, even in her dragon form, would be foolish.
"Why are you doing this?" said Shahaneth.
"You do not have leave to ask questions, lizard," said the first head. It arrogantly added, "A mere hatchling like you who's lived for just a few hundred years does not have the authority to question us."
Although Shahaneth didn't know much regarding the seven-headed monster's race, she knew that the one before her was an ancient monster. A creature even older than her father.
The third head, who'd been silent until now, said calmly, "Why are you observing that town? What is your purpose?"
Judging by the way the third head spoke, it seemed to be the most reasonable among the seven.
Should she tell them the real reason behind their visit to that town?
Should she tell them that they were there to see for themselves the true extent of King Lark's might?
While Shahaneth was deliberating whether or not she should divulge the reason behind their actions, an enraged voice was heard next to her.
"And why should we answer that?"
A shockwave blew past them, destroying the smaller trees in the process. Massive amounts of mana coalesced as her father, who'd just woken up, undid his polymorph spell and started reverting into his dragon form.
The Scylla, although capable of disrupting the transformation process, merely watched as Vulcan turned back into a fifty-meter crimson dragon.
The first head's eyes glimmered, as though it was pleased that Vulcan had turned into a dragon.
"You damn snake!" roared Vulcan, his words accompanied by dragon fear. The nearby elven warriors, who'd been staying inside the barrier, trembled. His enraged voice echoed through the forest. "You damn coward!
You dared take advantage of our vulnerability during the polymorph spell!"
Vulcan stood face-to-face with the Scylla. His muscular body covered by metallic crimson scales, Vulcan appeared even larger than the seven-headed monster.
"I will kill you!" roared Vulcan. "For this humiliation, I will slaughter you!"
Vulcan opened his mouth wide. After gathering massive amounts of mana, he released a breath attack. A torrent of fire shot out and struck the Scylla right at the body. The trees around them caught fire, and in seconds, turned to ash. The nearby elves would have perished, had they stepped foot outside the barrier. The heat from the fire spell was so strong that even the rocks and boulders melted, turning into lava.
"T-The trees…" "T-The f-forest!"
The elves fell to their knees seeing the aftermath of the breath attack.
More than a thousand trees were destroyed with just one attack. And to make matters worse, the Scylla remained standing, its scales covered with burn marks. The elves realized that this was simply the start of the battle.
They couldn't help but shudder.
"That hurts," said the first head. "The two of you woke up earlier than expected."
"But maybe it's better this way," said the fourth head.
"That's right," said the seventh head. "This should teach those elves a lesson. They should have brought us the medium for the barrier right away."
"And you, lizard!" roared the first head. It shot toward the dragon at a tremendous speed and bit its neck. "Do you truly believe that you'll be able to win in this state!"
Vulcan was clearly struggling. He was already huffing after releasing just a single breath attack. It was apparent that he had not yet recovered from all the wounds he'd sustained during his polymorphed state.
The other heads also shot forward and started biting the dragon's body.
The scales of Vulcan, who had yet to fully recover, easily formed cracks.
The sharp fangs of the Scylla pierced through the scales and tore through the Fire Dragon's flesh, sending blood splattering about.
Vulcan tried biting back, but with all seven heads working together, the Fire Dragon was on the receiving end of the battle. Vulcan would have easily resisted such attacks had he been in his healthy state.
"I am the Ancient Fire Dragon, Vulcan!" roared the leader of the Fire Dragons. "Even if I die, I will make sure to bring you with me to our ancestors!"
Vulcan flapped his wings. He flew up, bringing the Scylla, who'd been biting his body, with him.
"Damn snake! Die!" roared Vulcan.
It was a dog fight. Consumed by rage, Vulcan did not bother to cast any other spells. Without conserving his remaining mana, he simply released breath attacks, one after another. Some of them struck the Scylla head-on, while some struck the forest and the barrier.
King Melandrach, who was on his way to the royal palace to retrieve the medium, was horrified.
The forest was being engulfed by the Fire Dragon's flames!
The fertile ground was scorched and tens of thousands of trees burned and turned into ashes. Fortunately, the heart of the kingdom of Aerith remained untouched by the battle between the two monsters. The pinnacle-grade barrier blocked all breath attacks, preventing it from reaching the kingdom.
King Melandrach started regretting not surrendering authority over the barrier sooner. Had they managed to shackle the dragons before they woke, this probably wouldn't have happened.
The elven king thought that they should have immediately listened to the Scylla!
Even if the Scylla tortured those dragons, the elven king believed it didn't matter as long as their kingdom and the forest were safe.
"Shahaneth! What are you doing?" said Vulcan. He realized he was no match against the Scylla in his current state. "Help me!"
Shahaneth hesitantly removed her polymorph spell. Slowly, her body turned into a dragon.
She roared, creating a massive shockwave that shook the elven kingdom. She spread her wings wide, flew up, and joined in the fight.
Breath attacks, concentrated orbs of mana, and gravity spells were fired one after another as the two dragons and the Scylla continued their aerial battle. The ground rumbled as the forest blazed with flames. Dozens of craters, spanning a hundred meters in diameter, were created as the concentrated orbs of mana struck the ground. The clouds started parting from the massive amounts of mana released by the three mythical creatures.
"It's been a while since we've had a battle like this!" said the first head in glee.
"That's right!" said the seventh head happily.
"And these damn lizards think they can win against us in that state!
Fools!" The fifth head laughed.
The scales of the Scylla were covered in scorch marks, and several of its heads were bleeding from the bites of the Fire Dragons. Still, it was in a better state than Shahaneth and Vulcan.
Almost half of the scales on Vulcan's neck had already been destroyed by the Scylla; his flesh pierced by the seven-headed monster's fangs.
Shahaneth, on the other hand, had one of her wings almost torn off. Unable to maintain her flight magic, she fell and struck the ground.
The battle between Vulcan and the Scylla lasted for another hour.
Almost a hundred thousand trees served as the battle's collateral.
Eventually, the leader of the Fire Dragons also fell and struck the ground.
The Scylla hovered above the two dragons. It sneered, it's eyes clearly mocking them.
"As the losers of this battle, speak," said the Scylla. "Tell us. Why are you observing that territory?"
Shackling these dragons using the pinnacle-grade barrier and torturing them for information was the Scylla's initial plan. But this kind of ending did not feel so bad. Honestly, it was an exhilarating fight for the Scylla. It had been hundreds of years since it had fought anyone as strong as these two.
Vulcan tried moving, but his body refused to listen. After losing twice in a row against the seven-headed monster, his pride was gravely wounded.
Although the Scylla took advantage of the weakness of the polymorph spell beforehand, Vulcan knew that at the end of the day, it was a two-versus-one battle. As a prideful creature, he could no longer utter any excuses.
They still lost, despite being in their dragon form.
"I will speak," said Vulcan eventually. "I will tell you everything."
Vulcan wouldn't be able to bear the shame if he still refused to speak even after losing this horribly.
"But before that, tell me," said Vulcan. "You're an Earth Scylla, aren't you? I don't understand how a mere Scylla could become this strong. Your race shouldn't be capable of winning against two dragons."
Vulcan expected the Scylla to feel insulted upon hearing the question.
But to his surprise, the Scylla unfolded its wings and wagged its tail. Its eyes glimmered with pride.
"Of course, we're strong!" said the Scylla. "We were trained by the master, The Dragon Devourer himself!"
Vulcan's eyes widened. The Dragon Devourer?
The legendary human who killed almost a hundred dragons over a millennium ago?
Although the Dragon Devourer had slaughtered dozens of dragons, the dragon race did not hold any grudge against him. On the contrary, they held him in high regard. The dragons followed only the strong, and the Dragon Devourer was said to be stronger than even the Elder Dragons. To the dragon race, he was a human more than worthy of being called their master.
"H-How old are you?" said Vulcan.
The Dragon Devourer lived more than fifteen hundred years ago. If this Scylla was truly its disciple, then it should be far older than him.
"Does it matter? I never bothered to count the years," said the Scylla.
"I… I see," said Vulcan, his voice meek and no longer domineering.
Having lived for only six hundred years, he felt ashamed for calling himself an Ancient Fire Dragon.
His pride and confidence shattered, Vulcan started telling the Scylla everything. He started telling the Scylla about the foresight ability of his daughter, the information network of the dwarven kingdom, the dwarven envoy, their meeting with Lark using the communication crystal. Showing his sincerity, Vulcan divulged everything to the Scylla.
After Vulcan was done with his story, the Scylla fell silent. The Scylla's heads looked at each other.
The third head, who seemed to be the calmest among the seven, started spouting dangerous words, "He acted so arrogantly before God Evander.
Maybe we should tear off his wings."
The first head added, "That won't do. Let's just kill him."
The fourth head nodded. "I agree. Tearing off his wings is too light a punishment for his sins."
Vulcan shuddered. What was happening? Why had the Scylla turned even more hostile all of a sudden?
Vulcan said, "W-Wait! We will submit to King Lark! As the leader of the tribe, it will be easy for me to convince everyone!"
The first head squinted. It angrily hissed, "Submit to King Lark? Of course, you should! But whether or not you become one of his people is an entirely different matter, lizard! Everything is up to God Evander!"
"You should have immediately come and begged on your knees when God Evander proposed the oath made of dragon's blood!" spat the second head.
"Fool!" said the fifth head.
After spouting these words, the Scylla summoned several dozen more orbs of concentrated mana. Vulcan trembled, realizing that the seven-headed monster planned on beating him up again, simply for speaking rudely to their so-called God Evander.