Counterattack
--- Ria
Everything was dark when Ria finally woke up, and not a single thing looked familiar.
She was behind bars, completely isolated.
She thought about just sitting down and waiting for help, but then she realized, 'Lava is going to come save me! And then I'll lose my new little sister again!'
She couldn't let Lava disappear again, she has to escape first!
The walls are lined with Mana conductive and absorbent metals, arranged in a way that made any possible spell she could come up with almost useless.
The patrols assigned to guard the cell weren't oblivious to that fact at all, yet were still irritated by the feeble attempts to burn them with the weak fireballs she could still manage.
"Watch it, demon-spawn! Learn your place before someone decides to cut out your voice box!" A passing guard shouts while banging the metal door in response to a near miss.
Ria was left with no choice but to calm down, even though she hated all of them and wanted them all turned to ashes for calling her sister terrible things.
Random patrols weren't the only visitors, she also had to put up with the presence of 'wind magic boy'.
"You, why are you defending that demon dragon? You should be helping us save your friends, then we don't have to keep you like this." He questions and angers Ria.
"Don't call my sister a demon! If you hurt my sister I'll cremate you!" Ria screams and tries to grab him through the bars.
"Okay then maybe you just don't know what it did after returning." He continues without any pause or hesitation.
"Lava did nothing! And I was watching my sister constantly!" Ria denies confidently and storms off to the back of the cell.
"Then I can show you and we can work everything out-" He continues and is interrupted by the guards coming around the corner.
"Hey! The king ordered you to stay away from there, prince Orin!" They scold him away and he complies with a disappointed groan.
Ria sits on the uncomfortable bed fuming without letting a single seed of doubt grow.
--- Saer
Saer once thought he could escape the shackles of necessity, but they were slowly constricting around him once again.
Will anyone other than him bother to take action? 'No', he thought.
The public cares little for a hero once they finish their role, if anything, it only makes it easier to scorn them for any imperfection they perceive after the threat is over.
No one would bother concerning themselves with how easily said hero could be warped into the next disaster.
It's simply a convenient way to have an excuse for war.
He was blankly staring at the ceiling while stuck in his thoughts, until he was suddenly not alone.
There was no time to be thinking about useless things anymore.
Normally he didn't care about security that much, but he always increased it to the maximum whenever Recherta wasn't present.
No one should be able to get in here so easily!
Yet he was looking right at an unsettling man with glowing pupils that seemed to enter with ease.
"You are as calm-headed as I expected from someone I formerly idolized."
"Identify yourself, or else!" Saer commands.
"You only get to receive that information if you decide to join." The man responds.
Saer was about to question what that was supposed to mean. Join what?
But he didn't even stop to let him formulate a response before continuing on.
"Don't you see how unfair magic has made this world? Those without power can do nothing, and injustice is amplified by lack of magic. We can design an equal world where only effort matters, so join me in eliminating magic from this world!" He preaches.
'What is this nonsense?!' Saer thinks, evidently repulsed by the idea.
"Reality will be unfair with or without magic, you must be crazy if you think you're capable of even pulling that off, let alone expecting it to be a paradise! You're just a manipulative tyrant that wants to shape the world to your own desires!" He declines adamantly, and moves to trigger the rune trap he's only had to use once before.
This man was too insane and presumably powerful to let roam free.
The spikes of ice formed from the walls and launched towards the man, but he didn't even react. Was he that slow?
Even a dragon had to block this!
But the spikes shattered as soon as they touched his skin.
"I'm not the type to let my guard down, especially not in front of someone I know has your kind of cunning. How interesting for you to call me such words. You yourself used your own form of manipulation to get people to act as you wanted, correct? There's no difference between us other than I have the magical advantage." He laughs without much time needed to come up with the response.
"No! You manipulate to serve only yourself, I turn the same skill into something that can benefit everyone!" Saer replies with a hint of denial, but inside he knows he's already defeated.
As expected, the sharp tongue in front of him didn't miss...
"Even you are aware of your own ego, to think you alone can make a difference is laughable. Without power, you're simply... powerless!"
Saer had nothing to respond with, and this mysterious figure was already ready to leave after failing to get him to do what they wanted.
"You'll change your mind once you realize that the power to make a difference is something only I can give you. Slaying the dragon king was just the beginning."
Being the one moved as a pawn felt like being useless and disposable, even when he refused to move.
That wasn't as much of a problem than the end of that sentence.
"What do you mean by-"
--- Lava
Sleeping was so easy, I could probably sleep all week. But the last thing I want is to be like that lazy dragon over there.
This village was most definitely not big or wealthy enough to be supporting two whole dragons.
He even has a barrier around himself to keep the kids away, which were still banging on it like zombies.
Somehow I was even getting jealous for no reason, I should be happy it's not me!
I'm not sure if they just like green more than red or what, but at least I don't literally use magic to keep them away most of the time.
Thus, I get stuck with the stupidest ones, such as the ones that try to touch my claws which I still haven't gotten around to making dull again.
I don't want to be having to heal them after they get cut.
I could swear I had nightmares of becoming a parent before because of this place. But that aside, nothing else was happening.
There was still no sign of Ria anywhere. Litz was the one to come back looking for me.
I get worried whenever there's anyone looking for me. The only reasons anyone is ever looking for me is to deliver bad news or to get rid of me.
"Lava! Please help us!" Litz shouts desperately and tries to kneel in front of me out of nowhere.
"Slow down! Who needs help, and what does it have to do with me?" I demand irately. I'm not getting into more trouble for no reason, I've already been through more than most people would see in a military tour.
"Our bordering country is invading!" He explains quickly.
"The same ones that tried to come after me before?" I ask with a feeling.
"They probably want to try again, but they have support from a bunch of other countries this time!" Litz answers.
"Well, I suppose I'll be in trouble if they get their way. Is there anything else I should know?" I reluctantly commit myself.
"Umm, well, the organization responsible for dispatching mages might have sent Ria to help with defense, and they also... might have captured her too." Litz says hesitantly. "But she did insist on being the one to go..."
"WHAT?! You let my sister get taken?!" I shout angrily.
I was so mad, it doesn't even matter if she was stupid enough to go herself, this country should know how dumb putting MY sister in danger is!
I'm so pissed off I can't even hold back my angry growl that comes out on its own.
Feeble whimpers interrupt my anger and remind me there's still a little boy on my leg crying because of my scary noises. Mainly because they haven't heard a serious one before.
I might have been in trouble if tickling them with my snout didn't always fix everything.
But never mind that, I have to go save my dumb little sister!
"Fine! Get on and show me the way." I sigh, already missing uneventful days.
"Really?!" He asks excitedly.
Oh, that's right. I forgot how getting to ride a dragon dazzles most people.
Of course, as soon as they see me about to leave everyone starts running to come complain and pull on me to make me stop.
A bunch of whiny "don't leave us" and "stay" fills my ears but I have much bigger problems to deal with right now.
"Jali! If you let anything happen while I'm away you're gonna be in too much agony to ever get another blink of sleep again!" I command sharply.
He flinches, as he should when imagining the wrath of the dragon that just defeated two demonic gods.
I take off with Litz pointing the way, and I'm not going slow either.
I'm going to pass the border in no time and return before dark!
I almost forgot that wind isn't very comfortable for riders, but Litz seems to have solved that with magic by creating a bubble of slower air around himself.
"Wow! This is fun! I see why Ria loves you so much!" He shouts.
"We'll see how long she can go without it for doing something so dumb." I respond, laying out her inevitable punishment for this.
There's a limit to how stupid I can let her be.
It doesn't take long before the border and its ongoing conflict is in full view below us.
I begrudgingly stop to deal with it, if just to make sure this evil country doesn't become a bigger problem while I'm distracted.
Armies on both sides are clashing over what I assume to be my existence, spilling each others blood over the plains.
There were more than two different flags on this battlefield, so clearly it wasn't just them.
As I'm staring at the situation, some of the arrows and siege weapons start coming for me instead of the defenders, some enhanced with magic.
It was mostly the ones with the red and white flag that were sending the projectiles, but it doesn't take more than a simple barrier to stop everything.
"Are we going to land to take care of them?" Litz asks readily.
"No way! I'm not spending that long on this." I state and start diving at the attacking side of the battle.
As soon as I get in range I start breathing my purple flames across the entire area until half of it is covered by the quickly dissipating plumes.
"What?! Aren't you worried about validating their cause?!" Litz protests immediately afterwards.
"My breath is barely hot anymore, they're just being put to sleep." I answer quickly.
I'm not massacring an entire field of people like the kind of evil monster dragon I'd see in a book.
"So, with that taken care of, let's continue."
I'm not wasting any time here, I have to keep going and get to saving my little idiot.
--- Recherta
Recherta followed at a distance of the captured mage girl as far as she could before they disappeared into a fortified castle which would certainly be difficult to get into.
She needed a plan to get in, and climbing the wall seemed to be the only 'simple' way.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knife darting through the bushes before she could initiate any plan.
"I told those morons to be careful about being followed and they didn't listen." A tall figure appears from the foliage.
He definitely looked familiar but she couldn't place where.
"So it's you... A cowardly excuse of an assassin." He scorns with disdain and makes his identity painfully clear.
"I no longer hold that awful profession, I work for a much better cause now than murder for money." Recherta declares.
"You still think that rich snob saved you? That's a laughable thought. There's no simply 'leaving' the guild. That snob paid to get you out because he wanted you to do his bidding." He jeers.
"I don't care. What else are people like us good for than fighting for someone else's goal? I'm better off than you, whose only thought is of the next bag of coins!" She retorts.
"We'll see about that;
Recherta quickly swipes them out of the air with her cloak and throws the loose apparel in his face.
Of course, he dodges and avoids breaking line of sight with an arrogant smirk since it's obvious what that was supposed to achieve.
But it worked long enough to obscure the quick drawing of a miniature crossbow.
"
The bolt flies true and lodges firmly into his abdomen.
"You rely on magic too much. Did you get by in that world of professional murder with just these skills? If you survive that wound, then tell your superiors to send more than a low level goon if they want to catch me." She boasts victoriously and leaves while reloading her spent crossbow which was drawn from the shoulder.
This experience only further proved her view of magic, that it should be a tool, not a foundation to depend everything upon.
Reliance is the doorway to incompetence...
"I'm not going down from this! Die!" He screams furiously and tries to barrage her with countless thrown blades, but none of them are able to hit.
"Don't make me kill you, I'm not one of you bastards, and every cruelty brings me that much closer to it." Recherta spites disgustfully, "My master is already more ruthless than your band of killers will ever be, so for his sake I have to be an anchor."
"You're pathetic to refer to that man as 'master'!" He insults wildly until she finally gets tired of it and puts him to sleep.
Leaving him alive was guaranteed to backfire, but it wasn't worth doing something unnecessary.
--- Lava
As we flew further and further into Cerula, the air was starting to get smokier, until we eventually reached a village that looked completely charred and reduced to rubble.
I should just keep going and say it's not my problem, but I'm already this far...
I assume Ria can wait just a little longer and land to try helping, at least so I don't have to explain ignoring it later.
This place wasn't that different from my village, but the reactions were very different from what I've experienced anywhere else.
As soon as I stop all the inhabitants carrying around planks and tools drop everything and start screaming "The demon is back to raze us again! Running is useless, find something to fight with! Anything!"
Most of them scramble to find anything sharp, from pitchforks to shovels, and even the young ones are wailing and screaming behind whatever is left to hide behind.
"... But I've never even been here before." I whine aghastly.
"The monster even lies!" The leading man as the only one with a proper sword flinches.
He tries to swing at me but it doesn't do anything and probably wouldn't have done much even if I let it hit me.
But the message is clear, I'm definitely not welcome here and I'm probably the very thing the kids here have nightmares about if the reactions here had anything to say about it.
They didn't even notice Litz's presence at all, simply being relieved when we left.
I didn't like that at all, even if they were strangers it felt terrible to be called such things.
"Don't be upset by their misunderstandings. You have friends that love you!" Litz tries to coat over the experience with sugar, but there's nothing that can just erase being screamed at and called a monster.
And not even just the lack of understanding kind of monster, but actual accusations and fear.
I can't just ignore it like it doesn't bother me, and I also can't do anything about it. I just have to keep moving like it was nothing.
So I just keep gliding and feeling the wind pass by.
Smoke was also rising from many other places in the distance, the reason remained a mystery but I could tell trying to help would only make everything worse.
I had no idea where I was going, if Litz didn't tell me the direction to be going in I'd never find Ria in any speedy manner. We were already just assuming they would keep her in their capital dungeon, and I simply used a spell to confirm the direction was correct.
I had some doubts about bringing Litz along as well. Wasn't he some kind of noble or something? It's probably a bad idea for a noble to be flying into enemy territory.
We made sure we were invisible far before getting in view of the castle.
And so we successfully landed behind the walls, only to meet an inconvenient problem...
It turns out people don't make their castles big enough for a dragon to just waltz in without lots of struggling.
I could try transformation but I hate that, and I think this might be a good opportunity to see if miniaturizing will work.
So I blurt out the spell and... it worked completely.
Just one word and all of a sudden everything is so much bigger. But it's just me that's gotten smaller.
Now Litz is taller than me! I didn't want Ria to see this until later, but this is better than having to suffer that horrible transformation.
"Why don't you turn into a baby more often?!" Litz says.
"Because I'm not a baby! And don't even think of trying that!" I snap and prevent his attempt to pick me up like one.
"Oh, fine. That's no fun." Litz pouts and peeks through the entrance doors.
The interior of the castle is well organized with neat corridors.
I expected a castle to be much more confusing in layout, but maybe since magic could keep intruders from getting lost they decided it would be better to have long, open hallways that were difficult to sneak around.
That might have been the case for others, but I can cover both of us with invisibility.
The main problem of that would normally be that anyone capable of seeing Mana would detect us anyway, especially a dragon.
But, because of my unique Mana situation, I don't radiate any Mana to be seen.
Using that trick to slip past patrols and Litz mapping the way into the dungeon with magic, we steadily progress until we're at the stairway.
Ria had to be right down there, and all I could think about is her crying in a cell alone or worse.
That's pretty much what I found when I got down there.
We checked each of the cells which were mostly empty, save for the one with my little sister confined grumpily inside.
The walls were clearly specially designed to keep her from exploding the place.
The corridors were clear in each direction, so I leave the invisibility and start standing against the metal until she gets off the uncomfortable 'bed' and tries to reach my head through the bars of the door.
"Little sister! Let me out so I can hug you! You look like a baby!" Ria squeals at me.
Of course she recognizes me right away even with this tiny form.
"I'm not a baby! You still don't understand who the big sister is here or I wouldn't have to be saving you after you do something dumb."
I slice open the cell by creating a barrier in the same position as the latch and pull the door open.
As soon as I have it open I'm suddenly lifted into the air as Ria grabs me and tries to hold me like the baby she perceives.
I knew it was a bad idea to show this to her. I desperately escape from that nonsense and then get ready to turn my attention to the enemies that started this.
"Now I just have to take care of the pricks that thought this was a good idea."
I move back to the staircase to start looking for where the people responsible for this must aggregate.
"What? Noo! Take my little sister home! Litz!" Ria screams and pulls on my tail as hard as possible.
My little form isn't as resistant to being pulled on and I'm physically held back by just this much.
"Don't leave me again!" Ria wails louder.
I don't like listening to the cries, but I can't just be a pushover for every country to come after. Maybe she thinks I'm going to disappear again.
She should be grown up by now and she's still acting like this.
"You take my sister back home, maybe even restrain her so she doesn't commit acts of stupidity again." I command Litz, who chooses to restrain the Ria that's trying to hold onto me. That's the only way she was going back home without me.
She bawled louder when I wasn't visible anymore and some of the patrols got in my way after her constant wailing was drawing their attention.
Of course, they didn't last long because I could easy trap them in barriers and KO them with my new breath attacks.
Flames that don't burn but put people to sleep is actually really useful.
After wandering the halls and dealing with the patrols like dust in the wind, I finally found a guarded doorway that looked ornate enough to be important-- and I burst through it with an angry determination.
I don't care what the political consequences are, this time I'm doing whatever I think I have to do.
It's obvious I'm standing in a throne room, and this fatty sitting on the throne should have thought harder before throwing my tiny sister in a cell.
"I've finally found you, lowly king."
As expected him and his nobles were staring like a monster broke through the door even despite my adorable size.
I don't care if that's because they foresee consequences or just what they think of me; It's an accurate prediction.
"Please spare us, demon!" Some of the nobles attempt begging and kneeling.
I'm just frozen there shocked and insulted that they even dare to call me a demon on top of it.
I fricking saved this entire world and somehow an entire country has the ungrateful nerve to call me a demon.
Standing out from the group of cowering rubes, an older and more worn-out man with a mowed beard and moustache rises with an ornamented blade and a more confident demeanor.
"Don't fret, everyone! We have the divine craftmanship of the dwarves on our side!" He shouts pridefully, "Face the fury of our royal dragonslayer!"
This lightly bearded fellow seems to be brandishing something that's supposed to be threatening, but I don't feel any effect from it.
This kind of thing doesn't work on me because of the power I got from the demonic god.
Damn I hate calling it demonic power and such because of what that implied but what else am I supposed to call it?
He makes a big show of it and swings it around like he's wondering if he's supposed to be doing something to make it work, and I get some amusement out of that before I take it away with ease and toss him away like trash.
None of them are my problem anyway, it's this dumpling in charge that needs to learn to keep his influence where it belongs.
Interestingly, he's been screaming this entire time until I'm finally getting around to his punishment after dealing with the annoying spells being cast at me.
"AHH, don't kill me next!" He screams and makes me freeze for a moment.
"The hell do you mean by 'next'? They aren't even bleeding let alone dead." I question.
I can feel some sympathy now that I didn't expect. Clearly this man must simply have gone insane. There is no mental care here, so I can actually understand that being the case.
I can't say I know how to treat this level of hallucinative delusion.
While I'm pondering whether I should be rending this dumpling or looking for psychiatrists, another voice starts a sentence.
"Tch, I guess it doesn't work on you now." Begins a scarcely familiar yet subtly warped voice.
I look around quickly until the figure moves from behind the throne.
For anyone else they might not have recognized it right away, but for me it was almost like yesterday that this 'person' made me want to kill so badly.
"Ilsia! How?!" I utter shockedly at this hatable woman in robes-- black robes, instead of white ones.
"Does the 'how' really matter more to you than your current situation? You took everything that was supposed to be mine!" She declares with an uncaring arrogance. Her skin and face were ruined with scars and imperfections but that wasn't important right now.
I don't care to argue with this wretch. She can just die regardless of what the witnesses think!
It's obvious now that this whore used her illusions to frame me.
As soon as I move to end her terrible existence another presence interrupts.
Yet another person I've seen before enters from the side of the room, this time it's that thief that stole the Orichalcum from my village!
They must all be involved in this! Fine then, I just have more people to punish!
The thief continues approaching as if this was some formal setting and raises his left arm as he begins a sentence.
"Restrain my target, Laviella;
What? How does he know part of my true name?!
A sudden and immense force bears down on me and it was way stronger than I could have imagined.
Normally there would be a short time frame where you could counter such a broad spell before it takes effect, but this one was almost instant! Is that what happened when you target a specific name through an incantation?
"We meet again, dragon. Or should I call you Laviella?" He greets formally, but more in an ominous way than any actual greeting.
"Who are you?! Are you the one responsible for this?!" I demand threateningly despite being unable to move.
"My name is Vesper, though that is unimportant. Haven't you witnessed the unfairness of this world? A world where those with magic are unstoppable whilst those without suffer?! What would your little village do without you if powerful magic users attacked?" He rambles and stops in front of me with his hand outstretched, "Join me, and this world will no longer be able to use someone like your 'sister' as a tool!"
... Crazy! This guy wants to get rid of magic?! How does one even go about doing that?!
I don't want to live here without magic either.
"You plotted this whole thing! Like hell I would join you, what nonsense is that!" I refuse instantly and start trying to get out of this spell in hurry.
As soon as I try to cancel it, he interrupts with attacks I have to block with a barrier. I don't have time to finish it.
"What a shame. You must be inebriated with the fragile status of a 'hero'. I don't need you to follow me willingly, but for now you should just stay out of the way." Vesper mumbles as he continues and crouches in front of me with unnerving, glowing eyes.
"After all, coming here has proven how much you have to lose. The only reason I'm not killing you here is because I may need your strange powers later."
I'm pissed off and finally come up with the idea of releasing my Arcana to disrupt the Mana of the spell, and that makes the force pressing down on me greatly lessen.
But just as I'm about to launch at him to tear him to pieces, I feel a strong gust of wind and a couple plates of metal pierce my side. How did I not predict that with combat sense?!
The metal plates don't even puncture anything important, they barely pierce through my scales, yet I suddenly feel a familiar tiredness and weakness as the plates embedded in my side heat up and glow.
"This was just a theory... Seems like I was correct." Vesper observes as I slump weakly back to the ground.
Now I understand, this metal was absorbing my Mana, but not Arcana, which means my balance is being thrown off.
The one that launched the projectiles seems to be another noble that looked younger than the rest, yet more well-dressed.
Well, at least I'm not losing anything from this. I saved Ria and this bastard has plans for me, so I just can't fall for the same tricks next time.
But things never end that smoothly.
"Leave my sister alone!" Ria screams from the entrance with Litz failing to pull her away.
No! Everything is falling apart!
The little idiot is being even stupider!
Vesper easily brushed her aside last time, and if he was able to do what even a demonic god couldn't do to me then this time won't be any different!
And he knew that as well, because he casually advanced towards them while rambling on.
"Looks like you'll be extra busy for a while, unwise dragon." He snickers as he continues.
The king of this country was in the middle powerlessly, not quite screaming anymore but still frozen.
Clearly Ilsia didn't bother to keep wasting her powers on him, so he was probably seeing things normally now.
Litz was trying to slash at him to keep him away from the stupid idiot that wanted to attack, but Vesper was effortlessly blocking both sword and spell.
"This isn't your Mana." Vesper chuckles as he pushes the blade aside and pulls out his Orichalcum sword, "You know, the first thing I did towards my goal was slaying a spirit..."
Litz miraculously gets brushed aside without as much as a cut, but Ria doesn't get the memo and still tries every flame related spell she can come up with and is again completely ignored.
I groan and try to move against this weakness, but all I can do is make it worse as my anger agitates my power to work against me even more.
After what felt like an eternity being helpless I started to come up with the idea of just using enough of my Arcana to balance the Mana I'm losing.
So I create huge, filled in cubes of pure barrier until it starts easing up. I had to start small and then get bigger as I could move easier to gesture. Using up a god's worth of power wasn't easy.
No matter how fast I could do that, it wasn't fast enough.
Vesper effortlessly swipes Ria's flames away while silently whispering a lengthy incantation I can't hear, before not hesitating to slice his sword through her completely.
There was way more blood than I ever saw anywhere else, but I could care less about the horrific scene than who it was happening to.
"Let's go." He calls Ilsia calmly, who bounds behind him with a smile as he flicks the mess off of the priceless blade that no one else would dream of actually using.
I had to hurry up and get over there to heal Ria, but now I couldn't move at all and not just because of the paralysis from the magic imbalance.
A couple of the nobles with stronger constitutions were waking up and preparing to try finishing me off as well.
I could still just stop them with barriers, but I didn't have time for that.
As one was about to swing down at me, a bolt pierced his wrist and made him lose hold of his sword.
Now another person I didn't know was entering the scene.
This had to be the worst day of my life-- lives.
She didn't have trouble subduing the troublesome nobles and pulled the metal plates out of my body that were keeping me weakened.
Without the constant loss of Mana, I immediately felt much better even without needing to waste Arcana.
I immediately went to Ria and started spamming every word I knew related to healing.
There was no problem with that-- the wound closed perfectly like it never existed in the first place. And she was breathing and everything!
But... She still won't wake up!
Why?! Everything was fine!
"Little sister! Wake up, right now!" I command and slap her with my wings to no avail.
"Move aside..." The mystery woman shoves me away and looks in Ria's eyes and seems to see something before sighing. "She's under the effects of a forbidden spell-- a taboo."
"I don't care! Just tell me how to fix this!" I hiss impatiently and shaken.
This woman seems to think for a moment and then replies, "Perhaps you should meet my lord, then. You should have at least a week as long as her body is cared for properly."
I can already feel myself growling at that response, I'm tired of being calculated and used, I just want a nice lazy village life!
Even though I have a genetic database of memories that probably has the answer I need, it's all useless because to use them I have to know what I'm looking for in the first place.
The king frozen on the throne has finally started mumbling out of his trance and processed reality.
"They're all alive again...?"
"Of course they are, you stupid, stupid royal garbage!" I shout furiously, "Why would I turn into a demon after literally sacrificing myself to stop one?! You're the one working with a demon! You're going to pay for what happened to my little sister, I'll come up with a way!"
I'm already thinking of dropping him from very high in the air and waiting until the very last moment to catch him. I don't care if he was a tool or not.
I'm not sure how many I'll have to punish to be satisfied.
Only the youngest noble of this place has the wise idea to say something that doesn't make me angrier.
"So you didn't change or anything?" He asks hesitantly.
"No! How do you think that would even work?!" I grumble in a hurry without really thinking or caring what I say to them.
"Umm... we're sorry then.." He tries as if he can say it for all of them and get everyone out of their consequences, but some of them that woke up in time to even witness what happened don't even look like they believe it.
"No one could create an illusion as realistic as that! It's lying!" Some of them yell with what must clearly be no regard for their own lives. I'm RIGHT HERE.
Fine, I'm pissed off because of how I'm about to be used again.
I feel like if I let the anger go, then I'll just be filled with emptiness or stop thinking completely.
"How about we go for a little flight then?" I grimace menacingly at them.