[bu]“Food,” I say.

Yup. Breakfast.

“What do you mean by… food? Anything is barely edible here…” she says.

Everything here is mutated to an unusual state. The food in this world could even turn out to be poisonous. I saw it when the lady came out running to the throne earlier.

She was visibly weak and bony. I wonder how these people go by…

“So what do you guys eat here? There must be something to eat right..?” I ask.

How do they survive if they have no food? It’s impossible to live without food right?

“We open our gates from Time to time to the Human Realm and salvage what we can find there… But most of the food we get is from… Attacking humans… Mother? Has anyone else died because of us?” she asks.

Is it really okay to tell her that there have been many casualties in the past and also in the current time? She already knows that there were people who died in the attack on Diacis but it seems she doesn’t know anything else. Maybe they kept it from her?

They had to do it because they wouldn’t survive without it and decided not to tell because The Demon Lord would be mentally troubled. I guess they could see too. Her show of strength over shallow ground.

“You don’t know?” I ask.

“No…”

“Then you won't be needing to know about it. No point in fretting over it. You guys had to do it because you wanted to feed the people here.” I say.

“Okay…” she replies.

“So? Is there food here?” I ask again.

“Unfortunately… There isn’t… we ran out of supplies…” she says.

God… I need to do something.

“I’ll ask Felia and Carmine to go out and get some food and supplies from the human realm. You can wait with ease.” I say.

She looks up at me with her moist eyes and says,

“Mother… Thank you…”

“Oh come on. You would say Thank You to your Mother? You are my Daughter you know.” I say.

“*Gasp* Sorry!” she says.

“Now you’re saying sorry?” I say while I tease her. I poke on her smooth cheek and she pouts slightly.

“Mother. Let’s go.” She says as she grabs my hand my her little ones.

We get out of the room and walk towards the point we had previously met on. From there we take a right to lead us even deep inside the castle. At some point after walking, We arrive at a door.

A Double Door. The wood is black and visibly twisted due to the excess exposure to the mana.

“Mother. My people are down there. The remaining ones…” she says with a sullen face.

“Don’t worry…” I say as I get on my knee.

“They will be fine as long as we are here. And believe me, I am definitely gonna save you and everyone else here.” I say for assurance.

“I won't be thanking you because you just teased me there… so… I love you… Mother.” She says as she looks into my eyes with deep resolve.

“You don’t say Love you with such a stern face you know?” I say.

“Come on, Mother!” she says and purses her lips into a pout.

“Let’s go. Take me there.” I say.

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I open the heavy gate that is about 8 feet tall. The gate opens with a loud creak, indicating that the metal had somewhat rusted too. This place is falling apart. I don’t know if it’s because of this mana or just by being so old. But I think it’s because of the latter one.

We step through the gateway and arrive in front of stairs that lead deep down. The stairway is lined with many torches. It’s made of black stone. The one that the castle is made of.

We walk down the stairs. After approximately going down about four floors, we arrive at another gate. This one is somewhat wood-like door I’ve seen since I came here. Come to think of it, The mana saturation is bearable here…

This must be the bunker they live in. The Demon Lord could handle it due to her stats but the other people won’t be able to. But a whole population lived here…?

She opens the gate with a push and it opens without the creak that we heard earlier. Just as the gate opens, we step through and enter the Bunker.

“Look! It’s Queen Anikia!” says a man.

“My Liege! You look Well!” says an old man.

“Did you get better my Queen..?” asks a Woman.

As I look around, I see that there is a crowd of under a thousand people. That is it. No more than approx. Thousand.

“Everyone, Please Be silent for a while. I want to say something.” Says Anikia.

The noise and cheering in the crowd settle down in a breath. Look at their loyalty. Even if she is a girl, they respect her and care for her the most.

“I want to tell you, something people.” She says.

The whole crowd looks up to her because we are standing on high ground. The high ground is the place where we entered from. The doorway.

Their eyes burn with anticipation. All in hopes of good news.

“This right here is the person that has acknowledged me as their daughter.” She says as she gives me a signal to come to the front.

“This is my Mother Velkra. She will save us.” She says as she grabs my hand and holds it to her chest.

“Whaaaaaa?!!”

“How did this happen!!”

“This is truly sudden Queen!”

The crowd goes crazy when she finishes talking. Every single person looks at each other and says all sorts of things at the moment.

“Silence.” She says.

The whole crowd goes silent once more.

“This is My Mother and I asked her to be. I am lucky to have someone like her and I hope you people would take it positively as well.” She says.

“It is true you know?”

“Her friends have been treating us so well…”

“Most of the illness is already gone…”

Comes the voices of many that are speaking to each other in a low voice.

“Mother. You can say something.” She says to me as she looks up.

I look at the people and in their eyes. A sense of worry. That is what I see.

“People. I am Velkra, The Celestial Elder Dragon. You might not know this but I am one of the strongest in the Human Realm. I say one of them because I have not yet fought any others. Rest assured, She will be in great care. I love her already. You guys also don’t have to worry anymore too. Because I will be the one to save you. That is all.” I say in a majestic tone.

This much is surprising but at my words, their eyes grow softer and their shoulders loosen with relief. I hope they can trust me now…

“Oh. One more thing. I would like for you guys to have my blessing.” I say.

Anikia looks at me with a confused expression.

“But Mother… Only The Divine can give blessings…” she says.

I look down and smile gently,

“Well, You can say that I am a Divine Beast…” I say.

At that, her eyes open wide, and her cheeks flush out.

“Mother, You are a Divine Creature??” she asks in surprise.

“Ha-ha! Exactly!” I say as I pump my chest with a fist.

“Waaaaaa??!!!”

The Crowd goes crazy again. The people in the crowd are trying to get a closer look at my face as they move around.

“Now get on your knees! And pledge your loyalty! I’m not forcing you but I guess it’s necessary for a blessing to work!” I say.

I honestly don’t know how a blessing works. I don’t know if it only works if you get on your knee or bow down or pledge your allegiance.

“But before that, I think that all of you would get the blessing if I just gave Anikia the blessing. You guys are loyal to her right?” I ask.

“YES!!” the crowd says in unison.

“Will you be loyal to me??” I say in a loud voice.

“YESSS!!!” says the crowd.

“Then go to your beds so that I don’t have to put you in there!” I say.

“BEDS??” asks the crowd.

I honestly don’t want to put every single person here to bed. And there could even be kids and old people here that could get hurt if someone fell on them.

“Yeah! Lie down in the places you sleep! You will go through an evolution phase after you get my blessing! It makes you fall asleep! Got it??” I say.

“YESSS!!!” says the crown in a cheer.

“Disperse!” I say.

At that, the crowd scatters to get to their places in the bunker. By the way, the bunker Is also made of that black stone. There are torches lined up on the walls. The bunker’s layout is like a jumbo corridor, with pillars erected in between to support the ground above.

After some time, every single person lies down.

“Anikia, Giving you my blessing will make you my Subordinate,” I say.

“Should I really be a subordinate? Am I not your Daughter?” she asks.

“Can daughters not be partners with their Mothers?” I say.

At that, her face lights up with joy and she says,

“Absolutely!”

As she says this, I place my hand in front of me and say,

“Anikia, as my new cute little daughter, I bestow upon you, My [Blessing]” I say.

The moment I say this, silence falls in the bunker. The bunker then lights up colorfully. The bodies glow as they mark the start of their evolution.

Anikia was about to fall to the ground so I caught her.

“Now to put her to bed,” I say.

“[Bang]!” the door behind me opens.

“Velkra?? What’s wrong?!” says Carmine as she emerges.

“Are you okay?!” says Felia.

These guys worry too much…