Regret

"I... I-I can't protect anybody! I've lost every single person I've ever cared about!" Velios didn't know why, but he was letting it all out in the moment. "It doesn't matter how much I train! I train and train and train every day until my body is on the verge of collapsing! And yet... and yet I haven't been able to save anybody! Not a single one! The only one... The only one I've been able to save... was me..." It began as a loud scream that echoed throughout what remained of the surroundings. Velios grew more and more quiet the more he spoke, as if he was regretting what he had said, but it was far too late to change anything. Although he didn't know it himself, after finally getting the chance to live a normal life and have normal friends and people to care about, he was genuinely sad that he lost them.

Vadh was listening quietly as Velios continued. Despite being a monster with the natural urge to kill and to cause harm to humans, even he felt something he hadn't felt before. It was similar to what humans called "regret," but Vadh didn't know what that was or what the word meant. Vadh unconsciously felt guilty, knowing that he was one of the main reasons Velios had lost his friends, and at first, he didn't know why or how it was bad. It seemed that Velios wasn't the only individual who had gained some humane emotions from being in the city of dragons. Velios didn't know why, but he eventually started feeling bad, even contemplating if what he did was correct. His promise was one thing but far from it. Dragons were essentially just a stronger form of humans if you looked at it from a different perspective. They had the same kinds of emotions, lived in the same environment, and had the same kinds of loving families that Velios thought were unique to humans.

Vadh had seen things from another perspective. Even under Velios' training that had lasted for several months, he hadn't understood what other people really felt under a force of immense power. He was certain that he had experienced it and that he had understood the feeling of despair, similar to what he had imagined getting killed by him felt like, but he was wrong. So, so wrong. Vadh had finally realized what it felt like to face ultimate doom, certain despair. It was the only time where he had a chance to see other people's faces. Vadh had never taken time to see what emotions other people were showing. It was as if he could finally get the chance to experience what it felt like for real. Even he himself didn't know how to explain it. Something had changed, ever since the massive explosion that destroyed the whole city and killed everybody in it, Vadh had somehow obtained empathy to a degree.

"I'm going. Go do whatever, I don't care." Velios had then teleported away, leaving before Vadh could process what he said, far from being able to reply. Vadh was snapped out of thought by his words, not noticing that he had been zoning out the whole time. Vadh eventually left to do his own thing, not being able to process what had happened. "Is that really... the same cold-blooded killer that I know?" Vadh was talking to himself while walking back. His mind wanted to forget what had just happened but he couldn't. There was something that told him to remember it dearly. Something that he didn't know. Vadh scratched his head in irritation, getting nowhere despite continuing to think all the way back. What he found when he eventually arrived was that Shiva and Ragaja were sitting by a fire with Freya lying on the ground beside them, still covering her face in embarrassment while quietly talking to herself.

"Has she been laying there this whole time? I was barely gone for ten minutes..." At this point, nothing could really surprise him. As his vision scanned the place, it looked onto Ragaja. The things he said before were something he considered to be just a harmless prank, or something to cause a light reaction, a joke to him. But, something had changed in him and it was apparent. He immediately felt bad about what he did. The more time he had spent thinking to himself, the more he realized just all of the horrible things that actually did happen. The explosion was far more than an explosion and it was nothing less than a horrible incident for everybody involved. "Vadh. What did you guys talk about? And where is he?" Shiva was the first to speak. He was eager to know what they were talking about but tried to hide that fact as best as possible.

"He only said that he was going, and then teleported away. Knowing him... he probably sensed some strong monster and wanted to go and fight it." Vadh was talking casually again as he felt some sort of camaraderie that he hadn't felt before. As if he had finally found a place where he felt like he belonged. "You're probably not wrong. I'm just glad he didn't feel like fighting us. I wouldn't want to fight him ever again if I had that choice." Shiva was still sitting down, but stretching his body, trying to hide the fact that he was tired from the fight with Freya. He was obviously exaggerating the part about him never wanting to fight Velios again, but the idea of a demon like himself getting used as a training tool and getting completely overpowered in that process.

"But seriously, that human... he just does whatever he wants, does he even care about us? He just left us here in this massive pit completely alone!" Shiva was talking once again and this time, Vadh stayed quiet, knowing that Shiva was ultimately wrong in his conclusion of who Velios was as a person. "H-h-he... he k-kissed...me...?" Freya was heard still talking to herself, laying sideways on the ground while continuing to blush. It seemed clear that she didn't even give standing up and brushing it off a thought. "Really...? Might not want to tell her that Velios only did it for her sake..." Vadh was talking to himself, but Shiva joined in. "It's clear that she has feelings for him, or any man at that. I've seen demons less perverted than her..." They sat there, all three of them, watching as Freya continued to freak out and lose herself. If no one was to stop her, she might actually pass out from overexertion. "Still... I wonder what Velios wanted to do."

"Emmerge..." The voice was colder than usual and shortly after, a short and young girl popped out from the ground, exiting a circle made out of his mana. "Huh? I'm out again? What happened..." She was confused. Her last memories were blurry and she doesn't remember them all too clearly. She remembered that she was strolling around the town as usual until a sudden light lit up the entire cavern. She tried to remember where it came from, but the memories were all too blurry. "Ajagar... It's been a while." The short girl turned around at the sound of a voice she was familiar with. It all began to make sense as to why she had woken up from her sleep. "Boss!" Her face lit up in happiness as she saw Velios once again. She jumped towards him, extending her arms out, hoping to get a hug. "It's been a while, Ajagar." Velios couldn't help but smile a little as he saw Ajagar. He extended his arms and let her jump into them, making him stumble backward.

"Boss! I've missed you! You promised me that I could show off the city to you!" Ajagar was still clinging to Velios. "I'm sorry..." Velios tried not to make it sound like something bad had happened, but it was enough to catch her attention. "It's fine, we can do it another time! But why are we in this random forest?" Ajagar still sounded as enthusiastic as before and she was still hugging Velios, wrapping her legs around his torso. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Ajagar. The city is gone. All that remains is a deep pit that stretches multiple kilometers." Velios said it seriously and made it sound awfully convincing. "No... you're lying... That can't be!" Her face had changed to one of despair as she lost all hope of the city actually being okay. If there was a single person that she respected and trusted, it was Velios and it was made clear that he wasn't lying.

"No... n-no... This...! This can't be!" Velios had taken her to the side of the pit. She immediately recognized the terrain and when she closed her eyes and opened them, she saw a small glimpse of what the capital would have looked like if it was still there and when she opened her eyes, she saw destruction like no other. Nothing in her life had ever come close to comparing to this. Ajagar had only recently become a superior dragon and able to roam the streets of the capital freely and it was all taken away. All of the memories that she had made and all of the memories that she had planned on making were now gone together with the town. "W-what happened-...?" She couldn't even bring herself to speak properly. "I doubt that you missed it, but you did see that light that illuminated the entire city, correct?" Ajagar nodded, tears flowing down the sides of her face.

"That was my magic. I was fighting the dragon knight captain, the strongest captain and the strongest dragon I've ever had the opportunity to fight. I doubt that even you haven't heard of him. As the fight was nearing its end, I came into a situation where I was forced to unleash all of my mana left in a singular attack. This is the aftermath of said attack." Velios turned his head as to guide Ajagar of where to look, but she could perfectly see it on her own. The look on her face was terrified of what destruction Velios had caused. She knew nobody stronger, but she had no idea that Velios would do something like this. "Why? Why? Why?! why?! why?! why?!" She turned around in anger and started hitting Velios. It was more like she was slamming her fist against his body instead of punching him. The punches became weaker and the cries and "why's?!" became louder. She'd never imagined that the person that she would look up to the most would do something like this.