It's been two months since the queen's visit, and the only reports Jake had received regarding the Venusians were that Zac's house staff had arrived on Earth and that their integration was going according to plan. Then there was a report from the scouts Jake sent out to Mars; it seemed the invaders had already subjugated the Martians and were now using that planet as an outpost for their invasion of the inner solar system. As for the outer planets, every ship Jake sent out never returned, leaving Jake with the idea that the invaders' fleet was either bigger than he thought or they were getting assistance from the natives. One of the two options was preferable, but the other was one Jake didn't want to think about, and he knew was more likely true. Knowing his planet's track record, selling out their own wouldn't be out of character for them.

“Sir, we've heard back from Eric on Earth. It seems the humans have begun extricating any species other than humans; the remaining beast folk are heading for your territory. Alric has also contacted us; he has begun creating a teleportation circle back on Aaliyah's home world. Once that has been completed, his plan is to connect Earth to it and bring the new arrivals across. As for the war front, Emma has begun raids on the invaders' transport ships, and the defence systems on Earth have just entered production. As for the front in your other territory, they seem to be having trouble with small-scale incursions being made by unaffiliated mercenaries.”

“Once Alric has made the teleportation system, send Emma over to the other solar system with a group of soldiers and any supplies they might need. That system is going to be our fallback position if things go against us here.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said as he went to leave.

“Have you heard from the Venusians? Are they sending ships yet?”

“Sorry, sir. We have heard nothing from them since we got news around a month and a half ago that Zac's people were on their way.”

“Thank you for the update. One last thing: can you ask James to take over Emma's role when she goes to the other solar system?”

“I'll get on to that right away, sir,” the man said before leaving Jake and his wife alone. Once again, Jake got up and walked over to the washroom. Pushing the door open, he asked, “Are you ready to try again?”

“How long do we have left before we have to go back to Earth?”

“Just over a day,” Jake said.

“That's not enough time,” Jayne said sadly. Then she waved her hand, asking Jake to come over. Just as Jake entered her grasp, he was dragged into the bath with all his clothes on.

Down on Earth, Eric was walking towards the northern border town of Cobram when a group of humans with weapons approached him.

“Halt! This is the territory of Jake Everval. Explain your business here.”

The man in the lead launched into an unarmed attack; his fist split the air as it hit Eric's shoulder, blowing it clean off. Eric was lying on the ground, most of the left side of his body gone. The man who had just hit him knelt down and said, “Tell your boss Mark Wills will be waiting for his rematch, and this time I will win.” Mark Wills then threw a potion at him and left with his group of muscle-bound thugs.

A half an hour later, Kiki and her people arrived.

“Eric,” Kiki yelled, falling down beside her friend. “Who did this?” she snapped.

“A man named Mack Wills,” Eric coughed out, falling unconscious moments later. “Take him back to the healers; you two follow me. We're going to find this man.”

The group split, three people escorting Eric while the rest went with Kiki into New South Wales.

A day after Kiki entered New South Wales, Jake arrived back on Earth to help build up the defence lines. He was accompanied by his wife. Their plan was to stay on Earth and look for dungeons together, but the moment they landed, information had spread through the territory that Kiki had gone missing and that Eric, the leader of the new beast folk nation, had been badly hurt.

Jake actually liked the sound of a beast folk nation, and he even planned on giving Eric a large territory token that was given to him as a gift from the King of Venus for helping his daughter find meaning in her life. The token was brought back by one of the members of Zac's staff; she was a young girl, which made him worry at the time that all of Zac's staff were young girls. But luckily, the majority were actually in their late twenties, and some were even men. However, Jake had a feeling they were only there for a bit of fun on the journey to Earth, as the moment they got to Earth, the men on the ship were told to go to the moon base, and they had been in orbit around the moon ever since.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Once Jake was given the location where Eric was recovering, he set off with Jayne and two beast folk. He wanted to get there as quickly as possible, so he gave the two beast folk a runabout each and even had Jayne pilot one herself. Having an extra set of eyes when the skies still had monsters Jake still couldn't identify never hurt anyone, and the attacks from these unknown monsters that didn't care about territorial claims had been on the increase lately. These monsters had already grounded most of the patrols, forcing them to conduct ground patrols, forgoing any flying, so what Jake was doing right now would only be described as reckless.

The radio crackled as his wingman spoke, “Sir, we've got movement up ahead. I think we should descend and go to full throttle; we might be able to blast through this group.”

“Let's do it.” Pushing his throttles to max, the four runabouts blasted off into the distance, leaving a white streak behind them. Trying to identify the monsters again, the beast folk picked out the biggest one.

Identify

Race: Green Dragon

Grade: Unknown

Level: Unknown

Weakness: Unknown

Note: A green dragon is the youngest of their race; dragons are realm jumpers, and it is recommended to flee at first sight.

“It's a dragon,” the beast folk screamed.

Jake looked up just in time; he banked left just as a wyvern crashed into his right wingtip, sending him hurtling down into the forest. The runabout backed up as it ripped through the tree canopy and burst into flames. The only thing that could be seen of the crash from the sky was billowing black smoke rising out of the trees below. Jayne screamed through the radio as she pushed the runabout to its limits, jinxing left and right as she tried to get back to Jake's last known location, but each time she got anywhere near the crash site, a wyvern would block her path. Jayne tried to get past multiple times, but it was an impossible task; the runabout's weapons were just not a match for the thick scales of the wyverns. Jake was perched far up in the canopy of a very tall tree; his legs had been broken upon being ejected from the disintegrating runabout. He watched the struggle going on in the air, hoping they would just leave and save themselves, but his hopes were dashed when he felt it— a pressure unlike any he had felt before descended down on everything, blasting the three runabouts clean out of the sky. He looked on in fear as each ship burst into flames upon impacting the trees, tears welling up in Jake's eyes, obscuring his vision. As his body began giving out under the pressure, a booming voice echoed through the valley.

“The sky belongs to me; ants like you should know their place in the world—”

Jake's body finally gave out due to the endless pressure pressing down on him from what may just have been a giant green dragon.

Jake awoke some time later when the flames from the four runabouts began scorching his backside. Jake tried to use his wings, but with all the light produced by the flames, shadows could not exist, nor could he see a place that he could teleport to, and with his legs broken, he was stuck, slowly resting to death, screaming in anger at his lack of power. He looked up into the sky and summoned a fireball, throwing it directly at the biggest target he could see. “Just fucken die,” Jake yelled as he watched the fireball travel up into the night sky. As if time slowed, the fireball was on course to hit when the flames faded until it finally petered out metres from the target. “Fuck you,” Jake shot two rounds at the beast, only for them to fall out of the sky the moment they broke through the tree canopy.

“You are a billion years too early, little bug,” the dragon man said directly into Jake's ear. The fire around the dragon blew out as if it was afraid of the man floating in the air. “You killed my wife, bastard; I'm going to rip your heart out for what you've done,” Jake shouted at the dragon in human form.

“What are you on about, little bug? I haven't killed anyone. Oh, that little snake princess—she's your wife. Nice, aiming high for a bug. She'll be coming with me. As for you, if you can find a way to the dragon realm, come find me. I'll be waiting for you, little bug.” The man then threw a crystal at Jake. “Take it; maybe it will help you.” Jake reached for the crystal, only for it to pass straight through his hand and into his head. The man then laughed and opened a portal of flames before stepping through, laughing hysterically the whole time with an unconscious Jayne in his arms. “Get back here, you prick.” Jake tried to drag himself across the branch toward the fading portal. He pulled his body hand over hand. The last thing that Jake heard from the portal was the words of the dragon: “Zim Bray, what brings you back so soon?” “Tell the king I found his missing daughter.”

Once again, Jake had fallen short, letting another person close to him down. He cursed at the dragon for hours until his throat couldn't cope and his voice vanished, tears rolling down Jake's face until no more would come. The only thing left in him was hatred—hatred for the man that took his wife and hatred of himself. He was weak. He was so very weak that he felt less than a bug under that man's pressure, and the truth was plain as day: that man wasn't even the strongest of his race; he was just a servant, and the one he served was the father of his wife. Jake felt his heart ache as the crystal in his head began to heat up and turn red. Before information flooded his mind, there was one thing amidst the information that felt familiar to him: it was a video of Jayne, but not. It was a much older version of her. She stood in a beautiful field full of flowers. “First, let me thank you for looking after my daughter. My name is Helen Ray, the former first concubine to King John. I am making this video to ask for your help. I request that you save my daughter and take her away. I'm sorry for what has happened to you and would like to offer you this last gift.” A red crystal exited Jayne’s mum’s head and landed in her hand. “This crystal will help you advance your grade levels by passively collecting energy that you need for cultivating. You will be able to access this energy when you cultivate. Once more, thank you for all your help.” Her voice faded at the end as the image faded away.

I don't need you to ask. I will be doing that no matter what happens, Jake thought.