Fiery missiles—from spells and draconic abilities alike—came shooting at us from every direction as the lazing fire dragons sprung into action at their ruler’s commands. Fehrkatruk and his two rank A friends from our meeting in Iceskale shot the missiles down with the wyverns’ help, while Vifi targeted anything they didn’t hit in time with her crossbow.
[Hydra] was once again used to tether my party to me, allowing them to fully focus on defending us from the attacks while we fled. Fehrkatruk and his two buddies, unfortunately, were a bit too humongous for me to forcibly drag along, considering our clear size difference, so they had to make do on their own. Although his lava dragon friend was lumbering along, all of us were managing to flee at a reasonable pace.
Honestly, I was just happy they even came to help me out in the first place, especially against their own nest’s ruler. This could be considered a kind of betrayal, even if it was to help their princess. After all, Fehrkatruk’s father was a direct retainer to Maustoovaka; this would be similar to Tasianna betraying me for Mom, or maybe one of my siblings.
It would not look well after this event was over.
Regardless, we could worry about that later after we got away from my pursuers.
Gotta help out. Let’s see—
‘[Quartz Regen]! Large, hard, white corrosive obsidian will block their flying directions. Bash through them head first? Well, have fun getting acid on your face!’
Correct, choice, Hikari! [Sun, Consume All] fills the same large-scale AoE niche, but its projectiles are pure holy-fire element type. The dragons will be able to tank through them, but not when the spell contains [Corrosive Fire]!
Teaching Hikari basic combat tricks sure was fun, hehe.
Doing exactly as she suggested, two magic circles, one white and the other brown, appeared on the ceiling, materializing white clouds that covered up the red-brown lavacicles. As it grew in size, Hikari took direct control of the spell while leaving me to fly, fully utilizing our “parallel mind”-like strategy I used to use before losing [Parallel Thoughts].
Unfortunately, none of the dragons were incompetent enough to get hit by the quartz, making the hail nothing more than a flying hindrance until Hikari manually detonated them as the dragons tried to swerve around them. A wave of purple flames shot out, searing the dragons as the acidic fire began eating through their [Draconic Barrier] and scales.
Subject to [Hellblade Dragon]’s [Inferno Coating], even if the dragons had their own version of [Pyrokinesis] or lava manipulation, the flames were inextinguishable unless I allowed it; that said, however, they would still be able to use [Pyrokinesis] to manipulate the flames off their bodies. Thankfully, Hikari could counter their defensive measures with [Volcanic Blaze], directing the flames to corrode their wings’ webbings.
Once they couldn’t fly, Hikari just killed the flames to not cause too much damage to them. I was just happy that they couldn’t fly after us.
At the end of the day, these dragonkin were still my subjects, per se. I was a princess of Kargryx. Not to mention, killing them here would probably only cause more friction between Inferno Nest and Frozen Nest, and might make my relationship with Kahalmeet a bit more awkward, even if he knew what happened today. These people were his supporters, after all.
Still not too sure about Kahalameet’s personality. Rather not risk it for when I have to stop him from fighting Wendriosa. This was a pacifist-driven decision, unlike how I usually acted against foes, as these dragonkin weren’t my enemies. Maybe the Dragon Ruler of Fire, Maustoovaka, should be considered one after all of that, though …
[“I’m diving! Watch your heads!”] I announced before I swerved my body, flying through the large hole caused by the dragon ruler battle. Once in the lower magma chamber, Fehrkatruk told me to go even deeper, pointing at a tunnel that would lead me to the Dragon Ruler of Volcanoes’s habitat.
[“The next magma chamber is the one where we have to go! It’ll become even warmer, so take care of the three none-fires here,”] he announced.
[“Don’t worry about us, my lady!”] Beth shouted. [“I think I am getting a hang of dispersing the heat through my scales. Just don’t expect us to actually take a direct hit from their fire.”]
[“We can take care of them, so only focus on your survival, Princess Hestia!”] the fire wyvern added. [“Treat us as your shield!”]
[“Ha, and how in the hell am I supposed to give you a name if you think like that?”] I chided him. [“No! I do not care if you are a true dragonkin, lesser, a humanoid, or even a monster; once you are part of this party, you will not sacrifice yourself like an idiot. We work together to achieve our survival, and I will not have your death on my conscience, do you hear me?”]
[“Wh-what? Your highness, our life has less meaning—”] the fire wyvern was about to rebuke me, only for Shay to slam him with his wings.
[“Our orders have been given!”] Shay shouted. [“We will protect Her Highness and survi—”]
“Kruaaaaagh!”
Just as we managed to get into the lower chamber, the ceiling broke apart, showering stones and magma on us. A dragon’s roar burst through, blasting me off-track, and forcing me to stabilize ourselves with a stronger rocket boost. This little distraction allowed the dragons above to catch up to us, including a few wyverns to keep an eye on me like drones, roaring out my location to their dragon masters.
The chase continued with constant fire balls and other elemental shenanigans, forcing me to zigzag around, expending a bit too much of my scale-dust in the process. Sadly, there was nothing I could do to prevent it, as our pursuer’s numbers were increasing the longer this took, not to mention, the quality of their numbers too. The rank As were finally here.
“Krafili!” Multiple dragons shouting as they burst in laughter, sounding like they were enjoying this rabbit hunt. Sending a bunch of adults to harass a three-year-old? Come on, feel some shame!
The sky was completely blanketed by the crowd of fire dragons, while the drakes and webbingless dragons were attacking us through the ceiling, shooting out spells and flame breaths. The onslaught was so chaotic, and the latter were destroying their footing by the minute, causing the ceiling to crumble down from the cheese-hole design they left it in.
The drakes and flightless dragons fell down from the ceiling like lemmings, crashing onto the ground below. Some barely took any damage and continued their attack as if nothing had happened, while others were using their fall as a weapon.
[“Why are so many trying to capture their princess?!”] Shay blurted out in horror.
[“Less talking, more shooting, wyvern!”] Fehrkatruk ordered. [“The situation is a bit more complicated than it should be, and I recommend you treat to it as such and fly faster!”]
I’m the one carrying them. Maybe you should fly faster … I kept that particular bit to myself, of course.
[“That goes to you as well, Ollianus!”] Fehrkatruk addressed the lava dragon. [“Beat those wings faster! You’re slo—”]
[“Move!”] the lava dragon shouted before he spewed magma at two falling drakes, pushing them away, preventing them from landing on our group.
Sadly, this action left him wide open, letting multiple flying dragons catch up to him and bite him by his hind legs and wings, causing him to topple from the sky. However, before he could fully crashland, a red lightning bolt shot through the sky, severing the teeth of one of his abductors. Multiple smaller bolts streaked through the air, bombarding the three dragons hanging onto Ollianus. Unlike the first lightning, these latter ones didn’t do any serious damage outside of being stuck in the dragons’ scales, but this distraction stalled the kidnapping long enough for the other two rank As on our side to help their friend, freeing him from their clutches.
[“Thank you, demonkin!”] Ollianus said as he caught up.
[“Easy enough!”] Vifi shouted with gusto, smirking as she tapped her crossbow on her shoulder. [“You guys are so much bigger than Donut and Horn Princess, it makes me feel like I’m back at target practice, ha!”]
[“…”]
Maybe Vifi saying that reminded them of how she tore through the wings of those rank A ice dragons we had to stop on Frozen Nest. The silence and grimaces Fehrkatruk and his friends were showing Vifi would almost be comical if we weren’t under fire a moment later.
I just came here for some fire rocks, and this is what I am getting? Dammit! Hikari, activate everything!
‘Then say the words!’
“Kriffiek kllk gaaung!”
[Battle Frenzy (Minor)] [Various Spell Buffs] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Turn up the heat, I’m blasting away, now! Purple Flash! Symphonie des Feuergottes!
[Sanctified Blaze] [Music Resonation (Major)] [Shield of [The Light]] [Stage Fever (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
“In the midst of the desert ♫
A bright ray of light shines ♫
Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”
Hikari, set up a Warp Point on the ceiling, now! I shouted my order as [The Heir of Hope] began playing with [Aerokinesis], increasing my stats by 10%.
[Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Allegro)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
A waterfall of fire enveloped the entire area around us before I activated [Flash Fire], targeting a magma lake next to our escape tunnel. This did leave Fehrkatruk and his buddies behind, but that was where [Warp Point: Exit] was for.
Once I landed next to the hole, I cast the spell, activating the [Warp Point: Entry] I placed where I just was, opening a rift in the air where I could see the three rank As. Seeing them baffled as my mana was going down by the second, I commanded [Hydra] to grab them, pulling them through the portal to my side before closing it.
[“Get on!”] Fehrkatruk said, interrupting my thoughts as he grabbed me by the tail to swing me onto his back. He and his friends then sprinted into the cavern.
Seeing how the tunnel was barely large enough to accommodate these two rank As, it should make it harder for the other dragons to catch up to us, unless they sent the rank Cs and Bs, or even the wyverns, after us, but that would make it too easy for us to defeat them. If it came to rank Bs, I was fully confident I could beat any of them.
With a clear gap between us and our pursuers, I released the wyverns from [Hydra] and flew over to Ollianus, inspecting his wounds. He was surprised to see me do this, but I ignored his glances, furrowing my brows at the deep bite marks on his neck, slash wounds on his stomach, and broken scales around his forelimbs.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[“‘The situation is a bit more complicated,’ I see? Is this is how they treat traitors, or does this have something to do with that whole ‘neutral’ thing you mentioned back on Iceskale?”] I asked Fehrkatruk before healing the lava dragon’s wounds.
The dragon remained silent, probably thinking his answer through, but this awkward atmosphere didn’t help my worries, especially with the loud ruckus. I could feel the quaking intensity of the draconic battle above, covering up the sound of our footsteps. Roaring echoes reached my ears not only through the tunnel entrance, but also through the vibrations of the walls.
[“Tch, if you won’t answer, then how am I supposed to feel about this, huh?”] I grit my teeth. [“That dragon ruler is a lunatic, pure and simple! The hell is going on with him! He kept blabbering on about unity, but the moment things didn’t go his way, he incited a civil war within his own nest!”]
Hearing me openly insult Maustoovaka, the fire wyverns and dragons glanced at me for a moment, but kept their opinions to themselves. They saw what happened today.
Feeling uncomfortable from the atmosphere, I shut my eyes, sighing. [“Should I use the subspace to escape, guys?”]
[“You’ll get into trouble with your father, your grace!”] Shay argued.
[“Yeah, wow; I felt much safer back on Altrust where I knew I had countries around that would help me out, instead of being on this stupid continent where my own father despises my existence. What does it matter at this point? Will he actually punish me for saving myself from being imprisoned by one of his vassals?”] I snapped. [“Unless I’m inside, I can’t even call for help from Mom! I can’t manipulate the [Room] from outside. If Tasianna isn’t inside, then we can’t even call for a rescue team.”]
[“Princess Hestia, while I am unfamiliar with space-time magic, I think you shouldn’t give up hope this early on,”] Fehrkatruk tried to reassure me, but I shook my head.
[“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m complaining about everything that happened! The damn rollercoaster of events that happened since I came to this empire, ranging from the ordinary stuff I could engross myself with into crazy situations like this!”] I sighed once again before shaking my head around vigorously. [“Forget it! That was just a little tantrum to destress. I guess you must feel equally as stressed considering how your father is fighting upstairs.”]
Once again, the elder scale turned silent, making me aware of what Vifi asked for—Me wishing for help was causing some widespread issues. I wasn’t intending to blame myself for this insanity, as none of this would have happened if Maustoovaka had responded like a normal person … Which might have been wishful thinking, considering he was at least over 3000 years old. A dragon geezer … and I knew from Kramps and Eltharion how stubborn they could be.
Ryra’s assurement that he wouldn’t be hurt too badly was floating in my head again. I was worried for Fehrkatruk’s father and his involvement in my escape.
[“All we can do is hope he and the rest manage to escape in time,”] he said, sounding unconfident.
I sighed even louder. [“You sacrificed Maustoovaka’s good will for me. I don’t want to sound ungrateful … Thank you … for being there at the correct time.”]
[“Prince Ryranakus reporting your visit to our lord alerted most of the dragons, not to mention the ensuing battle for the right to meet you. My father had wished to personally get to know you, and when your retainer told us about your predicament, we agreed Lord Maustoovaka was allowing his emotions and bias to get the better of him,”] he explained. [“The plan was a spur of the moment, though … We managed to rouse some loyalists and those impartial about our heir, but this is still an uphill flight.”]
Weirded out by the word “loyalist,” I asked him to elaborate on what he meant by that.
[“Every fire and volcano-variant dragon, or at least the majority, are loyal to the emperor. By ‘loyalist,’ I meant those who disagreed with what Lord Maustoovaka was doing. That anger-filled roar followed by your demonkin retainer asking us for help in your stead was enough to make some take flight,”] he stated. [“At the end of the day, you are still a whelp—a child. To condemn you when most elder scales can excuse even impertinent fledglings reeked of bias. To imprison you when everybody knew how Empress Melloxtressa fought Emperor Eltharion twice for you means his attitude today was either fueled by our lifelong feud with the ice dragons, or because he truly thinks of you as pariah due to all the circumstances that had happened around you.”]
[“… You’re right. From the moment I met him, I could already hear how much he despised me.”] I closed my eyes, reprimanding myself for not thinking my actions over. My survival instincts might have waned after everything that happened.
Today was a diplomatic failure. Both parties let their emotions get the better of themselves. I should have just listened to Ryra and bowed out like he wanted, but I couldn’t just lie now, right? A deal was a promise at the end of the day, and if Maustoovaka wanted me to not involve myself at all with the succession crisis, then it was impossible to accept any deal in the first place.
I just couldn’t. It wasn’t only a matter of maintaining my dignity as Kramps’s Champion—an oathbreaker serving the God of Oaths, ha—but that was like saying I should leave this family business to somebody else. My family, my problems; I really had to repeat everything to that overgrown lizard …
With some people, it was impossible to talk them out of a conflict. The Princes of Sins taught me that too well, and now Maustoovaka made it even clearer.
Mom told me to act like a dragon during conversations, but that might have backfired here. Maybe I should have been more reserved … or would being timid have ruined any chances of him taking me seriously?
Nothing good will come from regretting it now, though.
[“We ‘neutrals,’ those of us who aren’t supporting a claimant in the succession crisis, believe the cause for the civil war was due to the terrible relationship between the emperor and his siblings. The various nests and factions supported each, cajoling each claimant to assume the throne. That is, at least, what my father and the other ancient dragons had told me,”] Fehrkatruk said. [“Meanwhile, the ‘hardliners,’ as we call them, believe it is due to the people supporting the claimants, however, getting rid of all these supporters is impossible due to the emperor. Unity cannot be achieved with multiple fractured claimants; only one is allowed to exist to keep the peace. Even then, only having two heirs seriously fighting for the throne is better than more.”]
[“Which is why he was strongarming me into this situation?”]
[“Remember, Princess Hestia. No sane dragon wishes for another civil war; the ancient elder scale will do anything to prevent its full scale from blemishing our continent,”] he snarled, grimacing in pain. [“We had thought we just had more time to assure the prince’s position. His emperor had felt lethargic, but not to the extent that it would be announced that he would die soon. Soon? When is soon?”]
… In other words, Maustoovaka was blaming me. With a dislike for Kramps and furious that his plan was seeing an obstacle in Eltharion’s impending death, it was no wonder he was acting like that during our meeting. I just tipped the scales between his anger and his self-control with my arguments.
This still didn’t absolve him of any blame in my book, though … He belonged on the same page as Shiterno—Shitoovaka had a good ring to it.
Woah! While complaining about the situation in my head, the tunnel began to rumble so violently our group stopped moving to stabilize ourselves. The earthquake was getting worse and worse, showing no signs of stopping, making it impossible for us to advance.
I couldn’t even continue by flight, as the lavacicles from above were falling down, including ceiling chunks. Eventually, a loud explosion rocked the entire structure, causing a massive collapse to happen in its depths.
Without hesitation, the fire dragons began shooting fire in the wall next to us, telling me they had to create our path forward. Whatever caused the collapse must involve the fight above, prompting me to jump down and harden the area around us with [Terra Wall].
[“Shay, Beth, Vifi, if we strike magma, don’t forget I can give everybody immunity to my fire, okay?”] I reminded them. [“Just stick together.”]
[“Understood!”] All of them responded, giving me a moment of peace before I closed the entrance into this molten tunnel with a [Terra Wall]. Hopefully it looked “natural” enough.
With the three rank As providing all the firepower needed to melt through the heat-resistant stone, I could take a breather and regenerate my scale-dust by consuming any leftover in my storage. Shay, Beth, and Vifi also took this chance to rehydrate themselves, drinking gallons of water and juice, while also crunching on ice cubes to counter the heat.
Seeing us eat, I noticed the fire wyverns and dragons looking at us in envy. Considering we were majority fire dragonkin, I suggested for us to take turns burning through the tunnel. The wyverns and I took over first, giving the dragons a chance to eat some of the mammoth steaks I had clogging up my storage, before we switched out for the wyverns to fill up their stomachs.
We just ate and we’re eating again, huh? Literally burning through calories with this damn heat and all this exercise.
We were gorging up everything as fast as we could, considering the rumbling around us wasn’t showing any sign of stopping, and the moment any of our pursuers found us with [Detection Sensor], things would only become more hectic. This fear, sadly, came true very soon.
[“They’ve caught on!”] Vifi reported, confirming the signals I felt.
[“Everybody, keep firing! I’ll delay them!”] Ollianus declared before preparing a breath attack, while the rest of us fire dragonkin kept digging down. After some time passed, [Foresight] activated, warning me of incoming breath attacks, prompting Ollianus to unleash a fire laser just as this tunnel’s entrance opened up.
It didn’t even take a second for me to understand Ollianus had no chance of winning this breath clash, but his intention was to buy us enough time while the magma flowing through his carapace was slowly creating another blockade. Once Fehrkatruk gave him the signal, the lava dragon redirected his laser beam downwards, drilling a hole for him to escape the breath attack just as we finally found an exit.
The spiky fire dragon, named Espanast, roared before throwing himself headfirst into the wall, blasting through it like a truck. The glowing yellow light of magma came back into view, confirming we successfully made it into the next magma chamber depth.
[“See one!”] Espanast shouted as he pointed at a duo of drakes, leisurely swimming in the magma lake. “Kruuaaagh!”
As he announced our arrival with a loud roar, our group swerved our bodies, flying out of the trajectory of the flame breaths. The inferno geyser immediately caught the attention of the lava drakes below, bringing their attention to us. Noticing this, Fehrkatruk told me to fly forward to reveal myself.
[“Lava drakes!”] I shouted, showing as much of myself as possible, including my white-glowing scales to display my [Battle Frenzy]. [“I am Dragon Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, daughter of Sixth Empress, Melloxtressa! I hereby humbly request for an audience with Dragon Ruler of Volcanoes, Arkanator, and refuge under his wings for some time!”]
The drakes snapped their heads over the magma, before they began swimming towards a cave when our pursuers began announcing their arrival with their loud roars. In the meantime, Ollianus successfully managed to get out of the tunnel, only for the whole thing to explode like a pipe bomb.
Our party was knocked towards the ground, leaving us staring up at the dust, only for a giant dragon head to peek right out of it!
“Krafili!”
Oh shit! I jerked in fright!
[“S rank! That’s Lord Rathanaktra; one of Lord Maustoovaka’s direct retainer!”] Fehrkatruk announced, causing my heart to drop.
We can’t fight a damn S rank, come on! Give me a b—
However, before my dread fully claimed me, the titanic dragon suddenly blew out of the ceiling, crash landing into the magma lake below as a laser breath made it impossible for him to escape. The attack kept searing through his stomach before I could see a hole, followed by the vomit-inducing smell of burned organs.
Surprisingly, though, the breath attack stopped before the dragon fell unconscious, but due to the damage, they were clutching their stomach in pain. In the next moment, the ceiling was further destroyed as a red arm slashed everything out of the way before the one responsible for damaging the rank S revealed themselves.
“Drahk-krakrona!” (Father!) Fehrkatruk shouted.
With heavy panting, a massive fire dragon peered through the hole in the ceiling, looking terrible. Scorch marks could be seen discoloring his red scales, while on his right side, his entire arm was gone including one of his horns on his head, all burned away from the look of the wounds.
He looked defeated as he looked down, pulling something along him. My eyes widened when I saw it was Ryra, equally burned up, but unconscious. The giant rank S roared “Catch” before throwing my brother’s body down, prompting me to use [Hydra] to do so.
Ryra! I grimaced when I got a closer look, noticing chunks of meat missing from his legs, tail, and one of wings ripped off. His health was, thankfully, only dropping very slowly as he was barely bleeding with [Absolute Status Nullification].
Dammit, big guy. How am I supposed to carry you around?
I tried to use a normal [Room], but unless I was inside, I couldn’t expand it enough to fit my brother inside. Meaning, I had no choice—I had to put him inside the subspace.
Handing one of the [Room] runes over to Vifi, I told her to sprint far enough so when we activated the portal, it would stretch wide enough to allow Ryra in. The rule did state that subspaces counted as “outside Miononbolax,” but it never mentioned going through portals and putting my siblings into one. Fortunately, Mom’s cavern and my Obsidian Orchestra were both large enough for Ryra to fit in until I could help him recover.
Just in time, even, as an avalanche of stones came pouring down as Fehrkatruk’s father, Hedthalak, fell into the lava lake, visibly grimacing as he stared up. Multiple titanic dragons escaped through the hole, some were recognized as my rank A protectors’ family, while others were enemies.
Hedthalak once again roared out, jumping out of the magma lake with renewed vigor, motivating those on his side to block the enemy rank S from reaching us. Fehrkatruk once again urged me to move, directing me at the tunnel the magma drakes used to flee.
Unfortunately, when we did, multiple enemy dragons dove into the ground, separating me from the rank As as the former ganged up on them. From the look of it, they were all rank As, meaning this would be a hard fight for my allies.
[“Run!”] our rank A allies ordered.
With clenched teeth and Vifi pulling on my horn to move, I turned around and flew through the tunnel with my wyvern retainers, eventually reaching the other side—another huge magma chamber. My eyes darted around, trying to find any dragonkin around tp could ask for help or directions to no avail. Even when I took flight, nothing. Even the wildlife was slowly running away from the fighting behind my escape tunnel.
Then again, I also hadn’t looked up, yet.
“Watch it!” Vifi shouted as she tucked my horns, nudging my head up where I saw a dive squad of wyverns.
I quickly flew out of the way, but their target wasn’t me, but the wyverns. An aerial dog battle erupted between them, with the diving squad quickly sending the two rank Cs into the ground. Fire and ice breaths quickly followed suit, sending everything into chaos as my retainers slowly were separated from each other.
I wanted to help out, but as I was flying closer, three fire breaths rained from above. I tried to simply move to the side, but magma missiles came flying down, aiming at Vifi and nobody else.
Our first reaction was to shoot them down with my spells and Vifi’s crossbow, but three dragons suddenly dove at me, destabilizing my flight through the wind pressure, and nearly knocking me down. I escaped the confrontation for now by using [Flash Fire] and [Shine] as a flashbomb, allowing me to finally see what was going on.
We got ambushed.
Shit! I cursed when I saw there was a hole in the ceiling. These dragonkin were waiting for me to come out.
Nine dragons flapped their wings, surrounding me in a sphere formation to block most of my escape options. Hikari confirmed my fears—three rank As and six Bs.
[“You can still escape, right?”] Vifi asked as she pulled out her spear before pulling out some mana threads to wrap it around my horn, using it like reins to hold herself onto me.
[“Shay. Beth,”] I replied, directing my eyes at the wyvern battle behind the dragon wall.
[“… We’re fucked.”]
[“… I’ll send you their levels.”]
Could I keep my hand from killing my own countrymen at this point? From the look of it, my brain was hardwiring itself to think of them as enemies with every second.
I couldn’t hold back, if I wanted to get free.