"O-Orion?!"

Dylan's eyes opened wide, before placing a hand in front of his eyes.

"No, that's impossible. I might be tired."

"Oh, do we have a guest?"

Eliza, Dylan's wife, and Nylon's mother, came out of the opposite room Dylan was in, a towel in her hands wiping them off.

"Hello. I am Orion."

A hand on his chest, Orion bowed in respect.

'She's the one? The famous childhood friend of Dylan?'

Sneakily, he observed the woman as to not look disrespectful, and managed to notice a few details with just a few glances.

'Dylan wasn't joking, she is a very beautiful woman. I have rarely seen a white hair beastman like her before. The fact that she looks younger than what she should be is also incredible. But...'

Orion closed his eyes.

'there's no doubt about it. She's weak. Weaker than a human even.'

Eliza was a rarity in the beastmen world. She was born frail, and that fact would remain unchanged forever. This specificity meant that she was unable to fight. Still, it wasn't affecting her daily life.

Her health was perfectly fine, and she had stamina to do what she wanted. She simply wasn't capable of fighting.

'While that is true, it doesn't really matter. I am not here to fight.'

"Oh my! Nylon, you managed to find him? Please come in! Get out of the way, you. Can't you see you're blocking the door?"

Eliza walked past Dylan who was still struggling to accept reality.

Nylon removed his cape, finally revealing a black outfit under it. A very tight black shirt showed how muscular he truly was. Abs, arms, shoulders, everything was proof of his training.

Wearing what seemed to be black pants made of wool, it was most likely to keep his legs warmed up. It wasn't that thick, but it was enough to keep him warm even without wearing a sweater.

It surely was a strange way to get dressed, but he wasn't supposed to be seen anyway as an assassin. Nobody would care, since he never removed the cape in out of Logran.

On his hips, two weapons were strapped. They were the claws his father made especially for him. He needed them to perform most of the abilities he learned, though, they were temporary, just like Orion's very first crossbow was.

Nylon followed his mother, while Orion stared at Dylan. At one point, he approached the old man, and smiled at him.

"Long time no see, Dylan."

"So you really made your way here. Let's talk inside."

Dylan finally accepted that the real Orion was in front of him. The man, who was slightly taller than Orion by three centimeters, tapped on Orion's shoulders a few times, relieved to see him healthy.

"You have a lot to talk about, right?"

With a simple nod, Orion entered the room with Dylan and sat at the table with them. Dylan was on the other side of the table, Nylon and Eliza were his right side, while Orion sat on the opposite of Dylan.

"First of all, welcome to our village. I'm sure it wasn't easy to get here."

"It sure wasn't, and without your son, it would have taken me more time than I would have hoped for."

Eliza patted her son's head, who was sitting next to her.

"Since you two came back together, I suppose you met each other near the Frigoria Plains' gate. Can I ask you a summary of what happened?"

Orion and Nylon looked at each other, before nodding.

"I'll start."

The one to begin was his son.

Once his summary ended, Orion explained what happened on his side.

...

"So we were right in the end."

Dylan played with his beard as he thought.

"That loud roar, and the beam of light impacted on this year's invasion. But I wouldn't have expected you of all people to be on the front line of such an event."

"When did you get this strong?"

Orion looked straight in his eyes.

'I came here with the will to spoke about everything. Why am I hesitating again...'

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Sure, he kept most of his true abilities to Keith recently, but Dylan was someone who he didn't want to hide anything from.

He refused to hide things from him.

*sigh*

Forcing a sigh out of his mouth, he stood up from his chair.

"I'll show you, then I'll explain."

Nylon already knew of Orion's strength, but he did not receive any explanation on how it was possible.

'Look closely.'

Orion stepped backward, and vanished.

"!"

In a hurry, Dylan looked behind him. Eliza also looked shocked at the sudden disappearance.

Just before Dylan could understand what had happened, Orion had already returned to his spot.

That was the first part. Next Orion began to feed magic to his elements, changing the appearance of his hair to gold and silver.

In both hands, two spheres of elements spiraled, until it formed two crossbows.

"I believe it answers some of your questions?"

"Some of them. But now, I have more questions. What happened to you?"

But Dylan shook his head.

"No, let me rephrase it. What happened since the fire? Both you and that little girl changed after that."

"..."

Orion released his magic, and walked to his chair in silence.

"Give me moment."

A portal opened behind him, and as he turned around and entered it, Dylan and Eliza could only remain in silence.

Nylon already knew about the void magic. He briefly knew about the light and dark elements, but there hadn't be much details coming from Orion's mouth on them.

All he had to do was wait for him to return, and answer the few questions he had in the back of his mind.

...

Five minutes later.

Orion stepped out of the portal with a hand on his forehead, as if he had a headache.

'So many things happening when I don't need them to...'

Once in Horizon, he found Amelia and Karteira, but also Dramia, Drania, and Deveralna. They only told him that they needed his presence later on, and that there was important matters to talk about too.

With that said, he walked back to Logran with his companions. Amelia walked through the portal, along with Karteira, albeit a few seconds late.

"Orion... what are you?"

That was all Dylan could ask.

'A door that can bring people from somewhere else. Is it the same as when he vanished behind me?'

The beastman was lost. This was not the same young man he knew in terms of capabilities.

"Hello, sir. It has been a while."

Dylan looked at the familiar woman, and remembered her name at the same time.

"Amelia, was it?"

She smiled and nodded.

'This young girl. She sure have changed.'

He instantly saw something in her that was different. Before, she was a person that haunted by a certain incident, but now, she looked confident. The most shocking feature on her face was the warm smile that she did not have a year ago.

'They grow up so fast. Was traveling necessary to make them grow up? But... who is this lady?'

Karteira looked around her, before greeting Eliza and Dylan.

"My name's Karteira. I'm a fairy."

The camouflage around her scorpion tail vanished for them to see.

"A fairy?! Orion, what... there is a lot to explain, more than I expected."

"Let me ask again. Who are you, really?"

Orion bit his lips in frustration, before looking straight in Dylan's eyes.

"I'm... the last member alive of the demon and angel factions."

A long, long talk ensued, with Orion revealing everything that he had done so far, without hiding a single details from him.

With the help of Amelia and Karteira, he managed to answer all of their questions, but only after multiple hours of talking.

~

"My lord, we've secured the city, and burned Apostle Julian's house like you requested us to. I've also used my magic to destroy the foundations. Nothing stands there but rubble anymore."

Tom walked next to Florian, a bunch of paper in his hands.

"Good work. I couldn't let a corpse rot in this house forever. Also, letting that house stand would not help that child."

He looked on the side, where the child he rescued was. She was still unconscious, and hadn't woke up after a few hours.

"The sun is setting. Once everything has been treated accordingly, we should be able to depart tomorrow for Lahro."

Tom approached his Lord and gave him the papers that he was holding.

"What is this?"

He skimmed through them, and understood what it was.

"That is a lot of peop-... no, I should call this trash at this point."

"Yes, the citizen were of great help in denouncing these men."

Looking at the man's face, Florian noticed the horrified look in his eyes.

Also, we've found and rescued a few lamias still... being 'used'."

Florian grimaced in disgust at Tom's words.

"Lead me to them immediately. You, take care of the girl while I'm gone."

Back to his neutral tone, he asked one of the soldier nearby to take over his place. Florian left with Tom toward another area.

...

"This is the place."

Tom pointed at a tent, used by the soldiers to rest. At his order, the rescued lamias were being helped inside.

Carefully, Florian entered.

'As I thought.'

Three trembling lamias were holding each other in the back of the tent, glaring at him.

"W-Who are you? Are you here to bring us back to them?"

One of the lamia stepped forward and hid the other two behind her back.

Florian could only grit his teeth thinking about their past experiences. He knew it was not his place to intervene, as he was also a human, one of those who exploited them.

But he still had to make them understand.

"Everything will be alright from now on. I am Florian Delur, Apostle of Albriar."

"Hiee!"

Just hearing the word 'Apostle' they tried to create more distance between them.

'Tattered cloths, injuries... even their scales have taken damage. I...'

Something was on his mind.

'Can I... go and ask for Orion's help?'

The man who always completed his missions alone thought of Orion.

Florian sat on the dirty floor and looked at the lamia with a warm expression.

"I get it. It is impossible to trust a human, even less an Apostle. But do hear me out, please."

For some reason, the lamia protecting the two others dropped her arms and gulped. She seemed to have readied herself to whatever he was going to say.

"Apostle Julian died by one of my... friend's hands. The plan was to capture this city and make the lives of everyone here better. That includes you three."

The three lamias opened their eyes wide, and stopped quivering in fear. They still kept their distance, but they weren't scared of him anymore. That was also the 'Keen' ability that all lamias had to a certain degree that helped them relax.

It told them that this man wasn't a liar.

"You might also not know it, but you have a new Queen. I have personally met with her, and agreed to bring peace between lamias and humans, even though some of us have exploited you. I cannot apologies for the deeds of others, that is why we will escort you back to Lahro, with the ones who did awful acts to you."

"Judge them yourselves, be it death, or imprisonment. The choice is yours. Make them your slaves if that it makes up for it. We won't defend them."

"All you have to think about, is returning home. Do you have a family that is missing you?"

He looked at the three lamias shedding tears. It seemed like his words managed to help a little.

"Y-Yes. We would like to go home."

Florian smiled while standing up. He cleaned his pants, and turned around to exit the tent.

"That is all I wanted to know. Rest well, and be sure to notify a guard if you need anything. They are all good men and women."

Leaving the lamia women alone, he walked out of the tent with a determined gaze.

'I will bring Orion here. These girls, and the kid, we need to do something.'

With Tom behind him, Florian returned to his own tent in silence.