Olivia stepped on the sand and ran toward Saffira.
Concerned about the whole situation, she still had some leeway to think about her friends.
"Girls, follow me!"
The maids nodded, bearing a frown that reflected the sense of urgency in the air.
With her friend quickly following behind her, she stopped in front of the humanoid kelpie.
"Can you do something about this?"
Following a glance over her shoulder, she looked at Saffira, hoping that she would be able to defend the city.
"I'll see what I can do..."
Hearing the hesitation in her voice, Olivia knew the wave coming to crash on them wouldn't be avoidable.
'There's going to be numerous casualties...'
At one glance, the wave was more than thirty meters high. It was enough to swallow most of Noctelagia, drowning its citizens in the process.
"This is it, then."
A little smile appeared on her face, following dread and despair.
"What are you saying?! Olivia, get away from here, now!"
"Marie..."
The head-maid pulled on her arm, trying to drag her master out of here. Olivia barely moved, holding her ground without bulging a muscle.
"Come on now! Move!"
Two other maids, Helen and Helena, joined their leader and pulled on her other arm and waist of Olivia.
Olivia appeared to be struggling to resist their pull at this point, but refused to move.
"..."
The giant wave was in the shallows. It was already too late to flee anywhere. The maids began to hug each other with faint smiles.
Even thought they were the most powerful non-magi humans, they weren't able to stop such a powerful natural disaster.
*ROOOOAR*
Suddenly, a loud roar echoed from behind the castle of Noctelagia. It was an unfamiliar but oppressing voice, coming from one of the most dangerous factions of the continent.
Everyone lifted their eyes into the sky, watching as a blue dragon plunged toward the beach at an incredible speed.
"That's-!"
Olivia exclaimed, recognizing the dragon right away.
The maids and the kelpies looked in disbelief as Monolavir dived toward the beach with his wings close to his body.
Monolavir collided with the ground, creating a large quake as he slid in the sand in front of everyone.
As he stopped, he stretched his four wings majestically, and roared with the might of the 'Savior' of the dragons.
Cold air flowed from his body, as particles of ice were drawn into his mouth. With the wave coming closer to him, he had no time to lose.
After lifting his head to take in the ice magic in his throat, he suddenly lowered his body on all four, and released an explosive burst of ice that directly made contact with the bottom of the wave.
Between two blinks, the massive wave came to a stop, as a surreal view came in front of Olivia and her followers.
Shocked beyond belief, they looked at the crystal clear thirty meters tall sculpture with awe and relief.
Monolavir sat on the sand, and glanced behind him.
Since no one behind him was accustomed to the 'Dragon Tongue', there was nothing he could tell them.
Instead, he looked at Olivia.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"..."
"..."
The two stared at each other for an instant, before Olivia broke free of her maids' grasp.
A resolute expression on her face, she confidently approached the dragon without displaying a shred of fear. The others behind her only stared, as the apprehension of such a mighty beast was too much for them.
Even Saffira and the kelpies cowered in fear as a natural response, even though it was the first time she had seen a dragon.
Walking around the dragon, Olivia stopped right in front of him. Her eyes opened wide when she noticed a person under the dragon's stomach, encased in a bubble of water.
"Amelia?!"
Panic suddenly appeared on her face.
'This young lady is more afraid of losing her friend than dying. What a strange group.'
Recalling the last stand she took in front of such a calamitous episode, he found it ironic that all the women around Orion were strange.
But, what caught his attention was the lineage of this girl.
'A demon.'
Monolavir instinctively dropped his face toward Olivia, and blocked her view.
Confused and freaked out, Olivia took a step back, before she felt a warm feeling invade her core.
"What did you-"
Dizziness took over her as she fumbled backward for a second. When the feeling subsided, she shook her head and looked at Monolavir.
"Do you hear my voice?"
Olivia blinked wildly as she looked at the Azure Dragon.
"Y-Yes."
With a simple nod, she answered the deep voice, similar to an old man.
"Good. I'll make it quick then, as the situation is more chaotic than we were expecting."
Hearing the dragon's serious tone, Olivia straightened while nodding.
"I'll alleviate your worries by saying that Amelia is fine. She's simply exhausted. We've decided to leave her here instead of dragging her around, which is why I was so surprised to see such an event happening."
"Haha..."
A sarcastic laugh escaped Olivia's mouth, recalling the creature waiting in the water behind her.
The bubble under Monolavir popped, releasing the unconscious Amelia on the sand. He walked a few large steps back, leaving her to Olivia.
While she kneeled next to Amelia and lifted her in her arms, Monolavir continued.
"Most humans cities around the continent are attacked by corrupted humans."
A deep frown formed on Olivia's face.
"Fear not, it seems the cities spared by this event are the ones led by the four of you."
Knowing that he referred to Kamala, Florian, Eric, and herself, she nodded.
"Me and another dragon have decided to support the humans not affected by the corruption. We will uphold the wishes of Orion, and protect everyone while he deals with Miasma."
Monolavir felt a great deal of pride in speaking those words. To him, the friendship he had built with Orion was significant.
Feeling the sincerity in the dragon's voice, Olivia smiled gently.
"Orion will be glad to hear that when all of this is done."
"I hope so."
Preparing to depart, Monolavir flapped his wings.
"..."
But, as he was starting to ascend, he stopped in the air, and glanced toward the sea.
"Do you know what is over there?"
Olivia knew that the giant monster who devoured the whale was waiting in the depth, but Monolavir had no idea until now.
That's why, he looked incredibly confused.
"This feeling... another dragon?"
His voice leaked into her ears, which promptly put her on edge.
'A dragon?! No way!'
She was no match for a dragon.
"It feels like one of us, but it isn't. Velridar never created other factions besides the dragons and the lamias, so what is this creature?"
Great confusion formed as he glared past the frozen wave.
A low growl emerged from the depth of the sea, which shook the people who heard it.
"It hurts!"
Olivia shook as the voice of a child entered her ears. Monolavir frowned at the voice, and looked at Olivia.
"It is best to take this matter seriously. I have only one advice for you, as time is relatively precious to us."
Listening intently, she nodded.
"This might not be an enemy, but act fast, before it becomes one. I feel the corruption eating at its mind."
Monolavir flapped his wings one last time, before finally departing toward another place.
Olivia, with Amelia in her arms, looked behind her, perplexed. A drop of sweat dripped down her cheek, as she played the dragon's words inside her mind repeatedly.
'Not an enemy? That monster?'
'That gargantuan creature?!'
The world felt as if it had ended. This was a monster far bigger than the eel, far more primitive, but seemingly younger.
It spoke the language of dragons, so it had some sort of relationship with them, maybe a far relative of sort, but this was completely out of her expertise.
Only one fact was certain. Olivia had to act fast.
She turned around and rapidly joined with her maid.
"Marie, take care of Amelia. Bring her inside the castle and care for her, will you? Once she wakes up, tell her to wait for me."
Handing over Amelia, the one she considered as a sister, to Marie, she smiled.
"Yes, Olivia."
With a nod, she looked at the other maids.
"We'll reassure the citizens."
"Yes, don't worry about us."
"We'll be waiting for you with a nice cup of coffee."
Lilian, Sonia, and Kate said with a smile. The others nodded, relieving their master of her worries.
"Thank you, girls. I'm counting on you."
The wings behind Olivia stretched, before she flew high in the air. Climbing higher than the frozen wave, she looked all the way in the distance.
Inside the water, a large shadow writhed, apparently in great pain.
'I have to do something before it turns into an enemy, right?'
'Which means...'
Realizing that the creature was probably a peaceful being at first, Olivia felt bad.
'It most likely killed the real Corrupted Lord while I was dealing with the three others. If it's like that, then it makes more sense.'
Olivia frowned.
"It hunts the corruption in an attempt to get rid of the source of its pain."
Which, ultimately, meant that devouring dark cores only deteriorated its health, forcing the corruption to take hold of its soul.
But, from Monolavir's words, she still had time.
Time to revert the beast back to its original state, before a large-scale cataclysm devoured the continent, caused by a gargantuan monster.
"I have to do everything in my power to avoid providing the opportunity to Miasma to obtain such a devastating power."
Recalling the beam of light Velridar released at two different times, Olivia shuddered.
'Let's hope this one doesn't use magic, or is unreasonable...'
With one swift movement of her wings, she flew toward the shadow.