My wings cut through the air with a sharp whistle beside me, the miasma below practically jumping up to enthusiastically greet me. I unfurled my wings moments before impact, the sudden motion braking me hard against the air.

I collided with the Witch’s miasma with all four of my draconic legs braced for impact. I reached the miasma and hit... nothing but air?

All of a sudden, my insane downward momentum ripped through the miasma, scattering it in all directions from my majestic scales. I hit the dirt with explosive force, a crater forming around me, and a plume of dust kicked up into the air. The sun became blotted out, but I couldn’t tell if it was entirely due to the dust or because of the rapidly encroaching miasma.

I cringed as my joints ached— I had been hoping to slam into Satella, not the unmoving earth.

Her creepy whispers filled the air, promises of love surrounding me and forcing away all other noise. My senses were cut off from the outside world around me. I’d have to hope Beatrice and Garfiel could handle their tasks without issue. Satella was a tier-eight threat. Even with my perfect draconic form, I was no more than a tier-seven threat. It’d be quite difficult to win this.

But, I had a suspicion I didn’t need to.

I searched with my limited vision for the densest spot of purple mist and pounced. I clawed and tore at the patch of miasma, but it was useless— like trying to wrestle air into submission. I roared in frustration; my draconic claws were exquisite! They should be able to tear anything apart, regardless of tier eight or whatever nonsense!

With rage boiling up through my wonderful self, I roared into the air, scattering the dirt surrounding me but accomplishing little else. Once again, I aimed for the biggest patch of miasma and leaped, scattering the purple ick but once again failing to do any proper damage.

This continued for a few rounds, my unbeatable self somehow continuing to fail against this simple mist. It eluded me, only making the rage in my heart boil ever more fiercely. I snapped and bit, clawed and struck, but nothing happened. Meanwhile, constant taunts from the Witch of Envy invaded my ear-holes. Whispers of love and promises of delight laughing in my face as I failed again and again.

I was ashamed to admit, but I didn’t realize how long I spent in that bestial state. The stalemate ended when a recognizable spiked ball on chain flew in from the edges of the mist. It wrapped around my snout, forcing my mouth shut and drawing my ire. Something dark, deep, and black boiled in my lungs, ready to smite this new interloper. I shook my head fiercely, dragging the intruder toward me.

The chain rattled, and then the other side whipped through the air— a blue-haired beauty dragged along for the ride. She landed on my regal head, gripping unceremoniously – and quite rudely – upon my crowning horns.

This blue-haired monkey rattled away with her noises, but something about her drew my attention. Her hands pressed into me gently yet firmly. Unwilling to release the chains, forcing my mouth shut even as I bucked and tried to throw her off. She clung to me valiantly, almost desperately.

I didn’t have time to deal with this monkey! She was getting in the way of the enemy. The foul Witch Mist— so anathema to my existence that the only solution was complete annihilation. I flapped my wings through the air, clouds of dust flying out and jumbling with the encroaching miasma. The powerful air currents should have dislodged her, but she just flattened her body against my imperial snout, hugging me so fiercely that her tiny limbs trembled.

The idea of some monkey clinging onto me should have filled me with unease, and yet something about this situation didn’t bother me. Sure, the idea of some random monkey clinging to me would be disgusting, but this... Girl? Yes, this girl, I decided, did not seem disgusting in the slightest. In fact, I found her immensely appealing— strange since she had no wings nor claws. More than that, though, her spirit called out to me as a blanket of safety— like I somehow knew she wouldn’t ever hurt me. Like I could even trust her with my hoard if absolutely necessary. No, I realized she was my hoard.

She draped herself across my head scales as I began to relax, her soft body pressing into my roughness without care. Both of her hands cradled the sides of my snout; her monkey sounds no longer sounded so entirely foreign.

“Subaru-kun? It’s your Rem. Please, it’s your Rem,” she repeated herself over and over

I shook my snou— no. I shook my head, gently so as not to disturb my most lovable treasure. What the hell had I been doing? Regal crown, majestic scales? Since when had my ego been so overinflated? And why the hell was I just flailing around like a mad beast: without any care or logic, planning or tactics?

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“Subaru-kun, please come back to me.”

I exhaled greatly, puffs of purple steam escaping from my incredible... incredibly normal nostrils.

My eyes angled up toward my lover, my body lying down on the ground as I let her cradle herself against me. But I couldn’t relax, not fully. The purple miasma still surrounded us, and now I had to make sure Rem was protected from the mist, too.

Rem finally seemed to notice that I had stopped moving, just gazing up at her in wait— though I kept tabs on the slowly encroaching mist out of the corner of my eye.

“Subaru-kun?”

I slowly blinked my nictating membranes in acknowledgment. I couldn’t talk; she still had her flail wrapped around my mouth, and I didn’t want to nod my head only to make her think I was still wildly flailing.

Besides, any proper dragon would realize that nictating membranes could be used for a vast array of emotes! I re-examined that thought— What?

“Subaru-kun, can you listen to me?”

Oh, right, I had a tiny maid on my head.

I nodded my head ever-so slightly, not even totally sure if she’d notice it. Next, I pointed my eyes down tellingly at the chains wrapped around my muzzle. She must have picked up on it because her body immediately sagged into me, her soft chest pushing into my scales.

“I’m so glad you’re safe!” Then she pecked the top of my crown.

I noticed immediately that the miasma seemed to almost flinch in recoil at that moment, drawing further away from us. I could hear slight whispering in the wind, “Bitch, bitch, that bitch,” but I found it somewhat hard to make out exactly what it might be saying.

I used one clawed finger to tap at the chains, causing Rem to stammer, “Oh right! Sorry, Subaru-kun! I’ll get rid of that right away!”

The chains unwrapped from my mouth, seemingly of their own accord, flying up through the air and toward my head. I didn’t worry, though; I trusted Rem more than I trusted myself. Rem sat up properly, reaching her hands up to the heavens but still wrapping her legs around my neck and sitting her tiny butt on me. The rest of the flail landed perfectly in her outstretched arms, my lover ready for battle.

She had released me just in time, too, since I only had moments to prepare for the next wave of miasma to rush toward me— the disgusting substance already flying directly at my head faster than it ever had previously. This time, I didn’t let my draconic arrogance control me or send me into a rage. Instead, I built up that deep energy within me, that absence that resonated so strongly with my draconic heritage.

I called out to the void, and it answered me with torrential glee. I opened my jaws, something bubbling inside my throat. No, I realized it was a lack of something that built in my throat. The feeling at odds with my human side but infallibly familiar to my deepest instincts. First, all feeling in my throat vanished, then the feeling in my mouth, tongue, and teeth. Some part of me distantly noted how it was like getting numbed up by the dentist. Despite the discomforting thought of my upper body vanishing, some deep part of me knew that my flames would never hurt me. I controlled them utterly.

The flames spewed out from my outstretched jaws, dark purple – nearly black – flames bursting forth with near physical force. The flames hit the miasma, but I couldn’t make out much of what happened when it hit. The flames obscured my vision, blotting out sound and somehow darkening the area everywhere they engulfed. I angled my head to the left side, sweeping that entire area.

“Over there!” Rem shouted atop my head, pointing off into the distance, “And over there!” She pointed again. “Avoid those two spots! Beatrice, Garfiel, and Ram are still fighting!"

I had no idea anyone had been fighting except for me, so lost in my futile instinctual battle from earlier, the reminder hit me like a cold bucket of water.

I kept spewing out the flames but stopped them before I reached the first spot Rem had indicated. During that tiny moment of reprieve, I could see nothing but scoured land anywhere my flames hit. Grass, trees, and even a sudden influx of air made me wonder if I had scoured the atmosphere itself anywhere my flames had touched.

I had no time to take a break and gawk, though. I sent more fire spewing out from me an instant later, this time sweeping toward the right side, again stopping just before the area Rem had indicated from atop my crown.

Twin puffs of miasma remained, both in the spots I had purposefully avoided, still obscuring a decent portion of my field of view. Worse, I realized that my void flames didn’t reach far enough to annihilate the furthest reaches of the miasma. Once again, that absurd purple mist began multiplying, swallowing the surroundings until I could see nothing but the deranged Witch’s love. Even my void breath wouldn’t defeat the miasma, I realized. Likely, not much that I could do would, Satella was a tier eight threat to my tier seven.

“Beako,” I whispered, my voice coming out as a rumble, surprising me. “Rem!” My voice shook the surroundings, air vibrating through what treetops remained. “Switch with Beako! Kill the mabeasts, leave Meili alive! Get me Beatrice!” I called out one after another, only shouting out the most vital commands.

“Got it!” Rem quickly replied from atop my crown, her dainty feet digging into my scales for a moment before she launched herself through the air.

I couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t using her horns and filed that information away for later. I had to keep distracting Satella for the moment— though it appeared her main body wasn’t here, just miasma.

Something strange happened, then. The miasma coalesced for a moment, bunching up grotesquely— like the world’s grossest facsimile of a magnetized ferrofluid. Then, a pointed speartip of miasma shot out, the rest of the miasma seemingly being drawn along for the ride. I tracked its movements in slow motion, moving my eyes ahead to see what it aimed itself at. I widened my eyes in surprise, seeing my blue-haired treasure at the end of the miasma’s flight path.