Dragons were wise and patient creatures.

The pillars of life against which all else was judged.

That’s what I thought, at least.

So why was one of those dragons and Lilith standing opposite each other in a field of snow-covered grass in the mountains?

I couldn’t help but grind my teeth from stress but this wasn’t helping so I tried smoking the dread away.

This didn’t work either.

“Say… do you think it’s fine for us to stand so close?” A shivering Deis vibrated while his secretary blankly stared at the opponents ahead.

[Thief, feel free to signal the start of our match! You will also determine the winner!] Isern bellowed but just as I contemplated running away, someone appeared next to me and my eyes widened to their limits upon seeing Eins land next to me.

His presence was enough to make all the hairs on the back of my neck stand and this sickening feeling was made worse by the two people who landed next to him.

The first was a woman who stood almost three meters tall, had long, wild white hair, long white eyebrows, grey eyes and her pale skin was lined with faded marks that resembled the ones people got after being struck by lightning.

She wore a dirty white tank top which struggled to contain her bulky physique.

A worn pair of jeans covered her massive muscular legs and she wore a pair of muddy leather boots.

This mountain of a woman was none other than the Great General and Fora’s sister – Bæl.

She was also known as the White Maelstrom because she could conjure storms that were made entirely of lightning and that was because she also held the title of Great Mage although it is said that she forcefully took the position simply because she wanted it.

Next to her was a cloaked figure whose entire head was covered in a shiny black and bulbous helmet.

Their entire body was covered in a matte black cloak which gave them a vaguely triangular silhouette.

This was the ever-enigmatic Lumen – one of the four Great Mages although that’s all anyone really knew.

“Oi, geezer. Was this your idea?” Bæl asked as she walked towards me and all I could do was rapidly shake my head while pointing at Isern.

[Do not kill the Thief. This was my wish. I thought I had matured enough to let the rage and hatred go but it seems as though not much has changed from those youthful, reckless days.] Isern chuckled.

[But why are you here?]

“Mr. Chuma and Lilith are going to be investigating the source of the demons independently. We want to gauge their strength to see if they will be capable of felling the serpent that crawls unseen in the shadows.” Eins explained but this confused me.

“Wait- if you know what I’m trying to do then why aren’t you helping? Also, what do you need to gauge me for?” I cried but it was the barbarian who answered.

“Let’s just say that we have a plan of our own that involves using you two as bait-“

“Bæl.” Eins softly scolded making the woman’s eyes widen and her face grow red a little.

“All you need to know is that our goals are the same. That said, it would be useful to know just how powerful Lilith is after all this time.” Eins crossed his arms while keeping his dark eyes on Lilith.

I turned to her as well and saw those familiar waves of malice rising from her dark armour.

She wore a weary expression as she faced Isern who stared at her unblinkingly.

Silence followed and the air felt heavy under the weight of the tension.

I bit my teeth and braced myself for what would ultimately be a catastrophic clash-

[Well?] Isern asked without looking away from Lilith.

“W-what?” I stuttered.

[Signal the start.]

“Oh- yeah. Umm- begin-“ I didn’t even get a chance to finish my sentence as Lilith dashed towards Isern with so much speed that the resulting sonic boom interrupted my sentence.

She tried punching the Dragon in the face but Isern raised one of his own fists to uppercut her and this forced her to use his fist to launch herself to a safe distance.

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I wondered why I wasn’t feeling the shockwaves from their powerful movements and I quickly found my answer a few centimetres in front of me.

The space in front of us was slightly warped and things within looked slightly blurry and I knew this was thanks to Eins.

Lilith landed twenty meters away from Isern who opened his maw and, without warning, a massive beam of light shot out of his mouth.

I winced as it approached Lilith but my jaw dropped as she threw a punch at the beam and this sent a Shockwave of force towards Isern that parted his beam.

It struck the Dragon and not even Eins’ field could mitigate the resulting Shockwave although we probably felt a fraction of a fraction.

The dust quickly cleared, revealing that Isern had barely moved.

[Do not insult me, woman. Strike me as you would have during the-]

Lilith suddenly disappeared only to reappear shortly after right in front of Isern’s snout.

The Dragon’s eyes widened and before he could do anything. Lilith punched him in the face, sending him flying our way.

He crashed into Eins’ barrier but before he could even land, Lilith dashed towards him and kicked him in the gut and this was enough to actually create a crack in the barrier.

[MORE!] Isern snapped before suddenly disappearing as well only for him to reappear above Lilith with an open maw.

He then, in an act that defied even the unreasonable realm of power we were in, sent out several separate beams of light towards Lilith who stood a few meters in front of us.

It’s here that Lumen stepped forward and raised their hands.

A thin layer of black smoke then covered Eins’ barrier and just as the beams struck Lilith, the barrier could be seen actively absorbing the energy from the impact.

I squinted and saw that Lilith was still still standing although something strange had happened.

Her malice, which appeared as waves of dark distorted energy, had taken the shape of a veil on her head.

“Little Isern, so young that you probably don’t remember the day of my emergence – where hundreds of your kin fell to my blade.” She said and each word uttered caused the black smoke within the barrier to ripple.

She then raised her right hand and even Eins winced as two objects broke into the barrier, shattering it in the process.

He quickly reconstructed it but its brief collapse allowed some of the heat and pressure within to leak in a massive explosion.

I knew I would be able to withstand it but turned to Deis only to find him cowering behind Seong who tapped her foot on the ground once and like that, a barrier of force in front of her.

It was invisible and the only way I could see it was because the dust was rushing around it.

I returned my widened gaze to Lilith who now held both parts of her axe.

She raised them and, using her sheer will, raised them into the air.

“So… if the grudge you hold binds you so tightly and you want to face your natural enemy in her prime… fix her weapon.”

Isern’s eyes widened to their limits.

He then nodded upwards, prompting Lilith to raise her Axe even higher and just as she did, Isern shot forth a continuous beam of light which bathed the Axe in heat, all of which was being pulled into the axe.

Isern closed his mouth and the axe fell shortly after into Lilith’s right hand even though it was white hot.

Isern then charged towards her all while opening his mouth.

Lilith dashed toward the Dragon who sent a beam towards her but she cut it in half with her axe and subsequently kicked Isern in the face only for the Dragon to grab her leg and slam her into the ground causing the already scorched landscape around them to collapse.

He then punched her an innumerable amount of times but, even when facing strikes from the God of the Forge, Lilith stood up and smacked one of his fists away with the back of her hand, sending the Dragon tumbling to the side.

She dashed towards the unsteady Dragon, kicked him in the face again and sent him crashing to the ground where she raised her axe to deal the killing blow.

However, before she could strike the Dragon down, the black smoke gathered around her and formed chains which bound her but even they weren’t enough to stop her movements completely and so Bæl suddenly appeared behind Lilith, grabbing the Demon Queen and breaking her axe-wielding arm with seemingly little effort.

Lilith let out a pained cry but, just as she turned to face a grinning Bæl, she glanced at Eins who hadn’t moved a single inch.

“Well, old man?” Bæl asked while giving Lilith a gleeful smile.

“Announce the victor, already!”

I realized that the brute was talking to me and so I shook myself out of my daze before declaring Lilith the Victor.

“Lumen, fix her arm,” Eins instructed, prompting the ever-silent Mage to walk onto the battlefield and up to Lilith all while Isern crawled onto his feet.

Lumen raised their hands and placed them above Lilith’s right shoulder.

The Demon Queen then flexed her shoulders although she had a peculiar expression in that moment.

[Mmm… thank you for indulging my selfish request.] Isern growled although his snout was lowered.

Lilith turned to him and let out a sigh while raising her left hand.

“Don’t me mention it.” She said while Deis, Seong and I walked onto the battlefield.

Isern stared at Lilith’s hand for a bit before offering her a single claw which she gently shook.

[I must thank you again. This new age, one of civility and delicate technologies doesn’t seem to have a place for old dogs of war. Well, that’s what I told myself as I toiled away trying to chase the artisan’s dream. My supposed magnum opus.]

Everyone gathered around the weary dragon.

[It looks like you are attempting what I couldn’t. Letting go.]

I turned to Lilith who’s face was partly hidden by the dark and ethereal veil.

“All we can do is try. Although, and you are free to ignore my advice, but I think you shouldn’t abandon your dream just yet. Who knows, you may end up finding what you need while trying to make your magnum opus.” Lilith smiled before turning to me and raising her axe.

“Well, we got what we came here for. Ready to head back?” She asked and I let out a fake cough before nodding.

“Yeah, let's go. Oh- and have you seen everything you wanted?” I raised a brow at Eins who’s face remained ever expressionless.

“Yes, for the most part. I look forward to your contributions in our seemingly endless battle against the dark.”

I nodded again before leading my little group back to the temple where Deis fell to his knees prompting Seong to rush to his side.

“I change my mind!” He cried.

“You guys can take care of all the dangerous stuff on the frontlines! I’d much rather be at your place- yeah! We could turn it into a base or something!” He yelled and it was Lilith who asked a question that crossed my mind.

“Aren’t you supposed to be running a business as well?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we’ll be doing this often, right? Right?” Deis asked with teary eyes.

I let out a sigh before helping him onto his feet.

“Let’s go home.”

“Right?” Deis whimpered.