I ended up going back to the base, the shuttles having been returned, having nothing left to defend.

I had a lot of wounds, arrows and tiles embedded under my scales and one of my heads was shattered.

Immediately, some kobolds came running, drago kobolds... females.

They washed me and removed the embedded arrows and shards of projectiles.

My regeneration closed the healthy wounds and bandages were applied to my wounded head, which grew back quite quickly.

Within 2 hours I was like a new hydra again.

I thanked the drago kobolds with a few affectionate licks but I was now inconsolable.

I was also afraid of Kabal's report.

The elves had suffered a crushing defeat but the price was terrible.

I had only a tenth of my strength left... and almost no ammunition.

Yet the factory was running at full capacity, but something told me there was a problem.

Kabal...

Kabal didn't respond to my orders. The monitors were turned off...

"Kabal???"

Star was next to me.

"Star??"

"Yes, master?"

"Why isn't Kabal responding?"

Star: "Most of the drones are disabled...I can't access the network anymore, Cabal is hacked and disabled."

I knew it!

Tyrant and his clique...

Then a video appeared on my screens, all over the base...

"Hello dear Professor Reinhardt... or more simply, Carnage!... I don't think we know each other, but my name is Yuri. I am the commander of the human rescue mission but as you know, sacrifices had to be made and luckily... you saved the sacrificed... I suppose you already know Captain Bello, Chancellor Sarah and General Mondeville.

I am amazed at your resilience to survive and your demonstration of power in the face of empire. I admire your efforts to rebuild the old world, but as you can imagine, in your time, as in mine, rebuilding the Roman Empire makes no sense... as does rebuilding the US Empire... nation states have ceased to exist...

It is true that I was tempted to rebuild the Soviet empire without the US by their sacrifice but here it is... everything has changed...

Let me introduce you to Admiral Minos, from the Ummite Empire, whose guide (or emperor) you all know: Tyrant.

He proposes to stop all war and that we, humans and legitimate inhabitants of this world, participate in the reconstruction and evolution of the races so that the earth becomes officially part of the Ummite empire and allows the chosen ones their spiritual ascension.

You, as a dragon, will have to live as such and leave your technological toys aside. Since you and your descendants will be intelligent, you will be among the candidate races for ascension.."

I had heard enough. I cut the monitors with my fist through...

"Who do these assholes think they are! ????"

"Star... are you still loyal to me?"

"Yes, master..."

"Then why did Cabal let me down?"

"Cabal was afraid of you and didn't follow you... you are too advanced for a machine, you are visionary and Kabal cannot assimilate these principles..."

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"And you... what do you think?"

"I am autonomous and independent from Kabal... thanks to you, master..."

"Well... You're going to disable all the computer networks and you're going to switch to the Runic computer. It's time to show who's the master here!"

"Right, Lord Carnage!"

The few independent drones, directly under Star's orders began to shut down the fallout doors.

Ammunition was separated and divided among the remaining Kobolds, dwarves and drones.

We went into siege mode.

Then I flew into the Village in a dragon and landed in the main square without asking.

No one dared point a gun at me.

The humans fled to their cellars.

I was a black dragon this time and my darkness was proportional to my anger.

A slap of my tail on the ground caused the entire village to tremble.

"KATE!!! I'M WAITING FOR YOU!"

The doors to the temple slowly opened.

The atmosphere was heavy and the air was unbreathable.

The whole village stank.

It stank of betrayal...but I was lying to myself. I didn't want to spoil this last moment again, a moment when I thought everything could go back to the way it was.

In the back of the nave, we could see a shadow. A giant shadow.

A shadow of 25 meters. It was Kate, a beautiful white dragon.

She took a step outside, trembling but determined to stand up to me.

"Come on...let's go home.."

"Hans...I can't.."

"ENOUGH! You come and it's no contest..."

"It's over, Hans... I married a loving man but not the monster you have become..."

GRRRRR.

"Who put you up to this???"

The dragoness threw a pile of photos at my head...

In these photos, you could see the results of my experiments when I was still human. The head transplants and the experiments on rejuvenation and above all the human guinea pigs...condemned to death for sure, but human beings...

Kate: "You've always stunk of lies...and I should have died with dignity like all the others...You're a monster before you're even a man. And now look at you. You don't even know who your mother is anymore?

Your human mother must have rejected you, seeing what you are."

GRRRR

Unconsciously, my rage was rising. But I still wasn't going to hurt her???

"KAte... wait... let me explain.."

"There is nothing to say.. Hans... The Hans I knew was in fact only a mirage, a shell emptied by lies.."

"I did everything for you!!"

"Besides being a liar, you are a coward. You were so afraid to die that you lost yourself. You murdered your humanity to become a hideous monster... Look at you. You are a shadow. You are black as your heart. You are an ogre! A devourer of women and children. You disgust me!!"

"KAte... the war is won... look!"

And, probably having lost all humanity, I spat out King Phileas' head at the feet of the dragoness.

All the witnesses had a gagging heart. Kate especially!

The head, frozen in an expression of terror, rolled to the white dragon's feet.

"MONSTER! GO AWAY!!!"

"NOT WITHOUT THE LITTLE ONES!"

GRRRRRR!

Then Kate took her attack posture and charged at me, as she did at the beholder.

"I know I don't stand a chance against you, Carnage, but the cubs will know that their mother died defending them."

With a swipe of my paw, I knocked the dragoness unconscious.

I put her head down and cast a healing spell as a precaution.

My gaze then fell on the drago Kobolds: "Take her inside..."

The little ones saw their mother asleep but were curious but also frightened by my presence.

The humans were conspicuous by their absence.

Without turning around: "Chancellor, I know you are watching me..."

And she appeared from behind a column, head down.

"Hans...I... Sorry..."

"It's nothing... it's not your fault... But beware of the Russians...and don't listen to this Yuri...he will lead you to your doom or to slavery..."

Sarah: "You never intended to breed humans???"

I sighed. "What the hell... I'm a monster... that's true, but I'm a dragon first and foremost, and I act like a dragon... Kate...she will understand one day but it may take centuries...Take care of her. She has seen enough violence..."

Sarah:" Why all the horror???"

"Ask Bello and Mondeville.... we don't get to their jobs by being a child of the heart.... Someone has to do the dirty work.... What did you think the elves were going to promise you? Citizenship?

No! A human zoo and slavery until extinction or the will of their self-proclaimed god".

Sarah: "But why the head? the pulverized city? there was no other way?"

Sarah: "I am a scientist in hans with good manners but as Carnage, I am a dragon...don't get me wrong..."

"And the little ones, your children...which way will they go?"

I took a deep breath and turned to face the terrified human of my 25 meters in length.

"They stay with their mother and will follow a human/Kobold education but with 2 conditions: They follow the hydra cult to meet their grandmother and enjoy her blessing and I have the right to meet them and teach them to hunt and defend themselves. I am also and above all their dragon father. Basically, school with Kate and vacations with me. It's non-negotiable..otherwise I take them.."

Sarah: "What about Kate?"

"She can go wherever she wants...her words broke my heart...I hope one day she will understand but maybe too late..."

Mondeville entered in his turn. He had not lost a word of the conversation.

"Mr. Reinhardt... I go from surprise to surprise with you. What reassures me is that in this form, you are always aware of yourself..."

"I am a dragon, General..."

There was a silence.

"So, Professor..." He looked at the head on the floor of the Elf Emperor... frozen in an expression of terror... "From the state of the Emperor... I take it that the war has ended... and all those horrors with it?"

"My dear general...yes, in a way...but if the emperor is defeated, my fight is far from over..." And I looked up to the sky.

"Tyrant??"

"All in good time... Minos first and... I think you have a problem with this Yuri.."