"Mono, did you seriously gave out your name to humans?"

Ruminona looked perplexed at this development. The dragons chose to act proudly in front of every other factions. The reasons for that were simple.

They were one of the oldest factions, they were the strongest, and they were the largest species (besides the Remnants) on the continent.

By giving his name, he mostly acknowledged that some humans were capable of holding their own against the dragons.

In human history, it was said that they oppressed the dragons so much the Azur Dragon had to involve himself, which caused the 'Dragon Rampage' incident.

But in reality, no one saw the dragons for two thousand years. This was a faction impossible to oppress, or control. The only reason they decided to remain hidden was to avoid being noticed and controlled by the corruption.

The only reason they refused to help defend the continent in the past was for that simple reason.

What Ruminona could understand at the moment was that Monolavir only acknowledged the ones protecting their own brothers and sisters. After his attack on Albriar, Monolavir saw how disgraceful the rest of the humans were.

Not a single one tried to protect their own faction members. Some even shamelessly threw their citizens to take the brunt of Monolavir's rage.

In disgust, he destroyed everything while avoiding those sacrifices, but he still killed a lot of innocents nonetheless.

Eric and Florian were the only one possessing the right to call his name, and his choice wasn't wrong, because the one in front of him was here, his heart completely devoid of lies, trying to gain the trust of the dragons.

"That I did. And I don't regret that choice."

Florian placed his glasses back on his nose, and look at Monolavir.

"You asked for a name, and a place. I believe you are asking for Kelvin Dellthord, in the city of Haravel, in the southeast of Triazils."

Monolavir silently listened.

"From our record, you've already went there and ravaged the city, leaving only fire and ice pillars being you."

*Snort*

"He said, 'I can't make fire. That fire is not of my making.'"

"Then the only one capable of making fire was Kelvin himself. He managed to survive the whole attack, and rebuilt his city from scratch in record time after that."

"In our records, he was the one who tried to retrieve the dragon eggs. He sent highly trained thieves to find the dragon's, and steal a few eggs. Only one managed to arrive safely, the other two being... I am sorry, this is an horrible topic to bring in front of you. You know most of what happens."

The green dragon closed its eyes and looked away, while Monolavir looked down.

When Monolavir arrived at Haravel, his last egg was opened, with its young being cut open to obtain its blood.

To him, this was worse than finding the two previous eggs. The malicious intent directed at young, still growing dragon infant made his blood freeze on the spot and unleash a terror those that survived never forgot.

"Tell me, human. For what reason did the thief capture my children? You do know the reason, I can see it in your eyes."

Florian nodded. The tension in his body slowly disappeared, as all he saw in front of him was two parents still trying to accept their children's death.

"There is a tale, something no one sane would believe. By ingesting dragon blood, a human should be able to retain their youthful form, stopping the aging alltogether."

"It was never proved, because dragons were a myth until you reappeared. Kelvin wanted a woman to accept his gift in order to woo her."

Amelia stepped forward.

"That woman was my mother."

Great shock appeared on their faces. Monolavir then asked the questions he feared the most, one Orion already brought up in the past.

"Did I...?"

But Amelia shook her head.

"He killed her before even bringing the gift. She refused to come with him before you came to Haravel, and destroyed the village we were living in."

Florian's face wasn't pretty.

"Bandir's disaster..."

Everything began to form in the dragons and Florian's head.

'Kelvin really messed up. He has the dragons, and Amelia against him. By proxy, Orion and the fairies too. I don't think he will live much longer.'

This was a question of time until Kelvin was hunted down, because the moment Orion heard of Bandir's fate, and that Kelvin was responsible for the death of Amelia's mother, he was a defined enemy. No amount of talking would change his mind.

The same was in Florian's head. He never liked Kelvin. The more he listened to him, the more hypocritical he sounded.

'Feeling disgusted by the fate of the kobolds? Look at yourself, who destroyed a village on a whim. Being young do not mean any rash actions will be forgiven, and murder is one of those unforgivable acts.'

He was critical about every single Apostles. He had twenty years to observe each one of them, learning from their complaints, their boasting, whatever could help him for an opinion.

"So... my children died for seemingly no reason? For a woman, our friend's mother, who died at the hands of the same man that killed them?"

Ruminona spoke with a feeble voice.

The one understanding the dragon's langage all looked at Ruminona with sadness. If she wasn't that big, they would hug her.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Only Amelia, who fell that she had to, walked in front of the green dragon.

Ruminona looked at Amelia and dropped her giant head toward the ground. When she was low enough, Amelia hugged the side of her nose.

"I'm sorry they died because of my mother."

The whole scene looked out of this world. A dragon and a human, showing respect and sharing emotions. This sight was what Florian was trying to create.

Dragons were unable to cry, but the pain and sadness was hard to miss on her face. Even Monolavir looked terrible.

Orion instantly warped on top of his head and walked on his nose for him to notice his presence.

"I have a proposition related to that matter."

Since the blue dragon was still dealing with the hard truth of his children's death, he simply listened.

"Agree to Florian's request, and when we come close to Haraviel and confirm Kelvin's whereabouts, Amelia will summon both of you. We will let the world understand what happens to horrible people, and work on making you a symbol of justice."

"What about the innocent in the city?"

Monolavir was not against killing everyone, but he tried to get on the humans side of the spectrum. Killing innocent would be nullifying any attempt at making peace.

"That's our job. We can easily create ways to save them before summoning you."

He warped back near Florian, and said what he told to Monolavir. Without finding this idea improper, he placed a finger on his temple to think.

"Well, I could use my authority as Apostle and force the citizens to evacuate, but that would be too obvious something is going to happen."

"But there could be a simpler solution..."

Karteira, who remembered a few lessons Orion gave her on the books he read, approached and gave her opinions.

"I'm sorry, can I give an idea?"

Florian nodded.

"Of course, any ideas are welcome."

With his approval, Karteira nodded and continued.

"You are supervising logistics, right?"

"Yes, I transport goods and resources from Albriar to the other cities."

"Are you able to send people unnoticed?"

"What do you mean by 'unnoticed'? Are you asking for my people pretending to be someone else?"

"Exactly that. Those people could be asked to go to Haraviel, pretending to be travelers, and spread information about a possible return of the dragons because of the Apostle Kelvin's past actions. By doing that, it will stay out of his ears, and only the citizens will now."

"That is a fine idea! With that, the citizens will evacuate the moment the dragons are appearing, and leave the city in a hurry. Since they will know that it could happen, some could even move out in fear of the rumors."

Florian turned to Orion.

"You have some great companions. I am a little jealous of you. But with this, the moment Haraviel will be attacked, the dragons will not be terrorizing the citizens. If after that, we say that the Azur Dragon came to punish a child killer, the humans will understand the situation."

"Saying that they only attacked in the past because that one human decided to antagonize the dragon will form a bond between humans and dragons. Parents are meant to protect their children, and even humans would do the same."

More and more ideas came to Florian as he spoke, and Monolavir finally understood that the human in front of him was a hundred percent serious about building that bridge toward peace.

*Cough*

Orion caught Florian's attention by clearing his throat.

"Later. We still have one matter to take care of."

"Ah! My apologies. Yes, of course."

With his attention turning back to the main subject, he bowed toward the dragons.

"We request your help on another matter. Something out of us humans' reach."

"Speak."

Monolavir composed himself again, leaving Ruminona to Amelia's care.

"The lamias are in great danger, not because of their previous treatments, but because of a more problematic matter. One out of a hundred lamia born is a male, and there is not enough male remaining to maintain the faction running. If we don't find a way to break this cycle, in a few years, the lamias will be wiped out of Triazils."

"Is there a way for the dragons to help them?"

Orion also asked a question related to that.

"I heard your Remnant created both dragons and lamias. Is there no way to ask for his input on the matter?"

Question marks appeared above the dragons head.

"We know that Velridar, our creator, as also created the lamias. We think of them as related to us, but also removed from our group. That was his choice for them. To begin with, this faction was created to link his creations to the humans."

"What do you mean?"

The one to show question mark was Orion now. Everyone around him couldn't understand either.

...

Monolavir explained the reason behind his words.

"PFFT!"

A loud, exploding laugh came out of Orion's mouth, while the four girls looked strangely embarrassed.

"Florian, we've got the answer for the lamias problem. I'll tell you about it later."

Orion wiped the tears of his eyes.

"Really?!"

With a large smile, Florian turned to the giant blue dragon.

"Even if I do not know the answer, thank you very much for the answer."

*Snort*

"He said, 'You don't have to thank me. That problem shouldn't even have existed to begin with."

Monolavir stared at Orion next.

"Did you come all this way to ask us about the lamias?"

"For the most part, yes."

He nodded.

"And the other part?"

While staring deep in the dragon's eyes, he answered.

"Amelia and I, we wanted to see you two again."

For the first time in the dragons' life, they felt pleased by such an answer. Only three people managed to build a friendship with the dragons, and these two were one of them.

*Thump*

Amelia grabbed her chest, noticing the little pulse in her body.

'The bond I have with Monolavir and Ruminona has grown stronger.'

And with that realization, Ego came to give more details.

'Not only that, the water and wind elements are going to undergo changes too. You should prepare yourself to a jump in mastery. I don't know if it will be a linked mastery, or a basic mastery, but this is good news.'

Ruminona noticed the smile on Amelia's face, and also felt the bond grow stronger. Something in both dragons was stirring, but their strong will contained it. It wasn't time for that yet.

"I see. Then, I authorize you to place that portal of yours in this very cave. We will be expecting you anytime."

The dragon seemed to smile.

"We'll be coming randomly. You don't see the world often, isn't it? There's a lot we can tell you."

"That does sounds appealing. Ruminona doesn't go out at all, she should be happy about this, especially if Amelia comes too."

*Snort*

The green dragon only moved its head away.

"Of course I will be happy, what do you take me for?"

Florian looked at this scene with admiration. The man he followed into the dragon's den was truly impressive.

Remembering the words of hate toward humans, he looked at the man that was freely discussing with the dragons. The last survivor of the demons, the faction that had the dragons as allies for a reason even the Apostles didn't knew.

And now, the same man that could easily ignored someone like Florian, purposefully helped him in realizing his ambitions.

He helped the humans in the path of forgiveness. The gears were slowly shifting, and Florian's plans too.

'Orion. If I follow this man, can I hope in restoring the true state of this continent? Can be break the chains of hate, and built a new era?'

'I want to see a world like this, and I want to help him. His hands are maybe full of blood, but my hands aren't clean either.'

'Maybe this is why we cannot go back anymore. No amount of reasoning or excuses can erase the fact that we are taking lives. We just have to grit our teeth and do it, not for ourselves, but for everyone else.'

Florian knew perfectly well that Orion was avenging his parents. Killing Elliot was his main goal, which was impossible currently.

So instead, Orion chose to focus on diminishing his enemy's strength by killing his corrupted underlings, the Apostles.

This simple choice changed the lives of many. To Florian, who knew that Orion could have simply waited it out and fight Elliot at the right moment, choosing to remove the Apostles was not only for the reason he gave.

Orion's own principles were clashing with the Apostles' way of doing things, and this is why he focused on them. In the end, it wasn't the individuals wearing the title of Apostle that were in danger, it was the ones using their power to oppress others.

Kamala and Florian were both thankful for being spared, and were hoping the same would happen with Eric and Olivia.

Meeting Orion was a life changing event for anyone that came near him. Be it by being spared, saved, or killed.

While Florian was having a whole change of heart about his plans, that he thought would be impossible alone, the conversation between Orion and the dragons came to a stop.

"Alright, then we're going back. There are a lot of thing we have to do."

Orion took out the pocket watch from his breast pocket, and turned to Florian.

"1:28PM. Why don't we go see that lamia queen immediately?"

Florian blinked a few times.

~

Somewhere near Lahro.

"I'll make you pay! Damn you, Florian Delur!"

A man was planning something.

His eyes slowly glowed red, as he smiled crazily.

"Let's move!"

An army of thousands walked toward Albriar.