I swam through the earth, ensuring I create air for Furialis and I to breath as the earth closed behind us.

“Hmm. Where should I drop you off? You’ve got quite the baggage, Furialis.” I said.

“GrrrRRRRRrRRRrrR!” Furialis growled through his muzzle.

“I know, I know, it’s not your fault that everyone is trying to keep you on a leash. But letting you walk out and kill random people isn’t just something I can do either.”

“GRRRRRRRRR!” he growled further.

“Just give me some time to drag us somewhere safe first, jeez! I can’t just set you free a hundred meters below Republican soil! I still have to figure out a way to break your jail and beast bond to boot.”

That’s right – I didn’t actually free Furialis from his cage. It was too complex for me to figure out on the spot, and I was running on limited time before the Legion caught on. Since I couldn’t get Furialis out of his cage, I took the entire cage out of the underground prison.

As I dug through the earth with my earth mana, the communication device on my saddle began to shake. I took it out of my saddle and brought it close to my ears as I answered it.

“Kiara, where are you?!” Durreg’s voice rang out.

“Everyone else is here except for you. The diplomat you carried said you dropped him off and went off on your own!”

I rolled my eyes.

“Look, cousin, I’m just taking a detour. Right now, I am deep underground, and I am not going to resurface until I am outside the Republic. You guys can just go ahead without me; I am more hidden than you are.” I said.

Durreg sighed.

“Fine but stay in touch. If you don’t call every twenty minutes, I’ll assume something’s happened to you.”

The device stilled, and I put it back in the saddle’s bag.

‘Judging by the mana overhead, we’re likely directly beneath water. Shouldn’t be long before we can just surface and leave.’ I thought.

Still, I felt uneasy. Everything went smoothly, without a single hiccup or complication.

“I don’t like this, Furialis. We got away from the Republic a little too easily, don’t you think?”

The beast simply growled at me.

“Well, I am not one to complain about good fortune. When we’re out of here, I am taking you to mom so she can remove your-”

Before I could finish that sentence, flashing red lights and a loud siren emerged from the cage holding Furialis. A red magic circle emerged from Furialis head and glowed, causing him to howl in pain.

“Wha-?!” I gaped.

The cage began emitting mana signatures outside in an attempt to sound the alarm in the Republic.

“Oh no you don’t!” I yelled.

With [Elemental Dominion], I quickly crushed any attempt by the mana to escape the little dirt chamber we were in before rapidly dissipating it. Still, that was not enough for the circle torturing Furialis to stop.

“Damn it…!” I said, grabbing the bars of the cage and dragging it back where we came from; but no matter how much I went deeper into the Republic’s territory, Furialis’s agony didn’t cease. If anything, it seemed to be getting stronger.

Furialis’s screams slowly grew weaker, and a panic welled up in my chest.

“Damn it! What am I supposed to do here?!”

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I didn’t have time to take him to mom, dragging him back to Republican soil didn’t stop the circle, and the cage is too damn integrated with his beast bond for me to break without killing him.

As I nearly fell into helplessness over this outcome, one desperate solution emerged for me.

“Hold on, Furialis, I am removing your beast bond myself!”

To be clear, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know how to break a beast bond created in Draconic Akashic, let alone one created by the system. Still, the bond was torturing and killing him, so there wasn’t much room for things to get worse.

I smashed open the cage and shattered the chains and the muzzle holding Furialis. The rank S drake was still shrieking in pain, but he was no longer physically thrashing about – a sign that he couldn’t take much more of this.

I moved past the shattered cage and stood directly ahead of the magic circle.

I couldn’t understand precisely what the words on it meant or what its components did, but there were enough similarities between Draconic Akashic and whatever variant the system used that I got the general gist of it.

Before me was an advanced-grade magic circle, with interconnected components responsible for the establishment of the basic bond between master and beast, a list of rules and conditions forced upon the beast, an obedience clause, and a massive enforcement mechanism. Where each of these began and ended wasn’t exactly clear, and I had no idea if destroying or tampering with the circle would have adverse effects, but Furialis and I were running out of options.

I slowly gathered arcane mana in my throat and pointed my mouth towards the section containing the enforcement mechanism. I released my arcane dragon breath like I was blowing a candle, and, true to my intent, that section of the beast bond shattered.

Despite my best hopes, Furialis’s agony didn’t cease. Instead, the circle grew wildly unstable, and its collapse seemed inevitable.

Furialis wails faded to whimpers, and he looked me in the eye as his life approached its end.

“Damn it all!” I screamed, ordering the magic circle to stabilize itself and cease torturing Furialis with [Elemental Dominion], in an attempt to save Furialis’s life.

To my shock, that desperate gambit had a pronounced effect. Just not one I expected.

***

Gaius Octavius

“Hmm?”

One of my beast bonds had shattered. Specifically, that of the rank S beast at the center of the commotion during the tournament.

“Is something the matter, son?” Father said as he led his horse to trot next to where I stood.

“No, father, it’s nothing serious.” I said.

If the cage hadn’t sounded an alarm, then the beast wasn’t taken by an outsider. More likely, the beast simply killed itself by stubbornly resisting the beast bond.

What a waste.

“Daydreaming on the battlefield is a good road to an early grave, my boy.” He grinned.

“In my defense, Father, this isn’t much of a battlefield anymore.” I retorted.

Before us was a broken Gaulic army fleeing for the hills, with corpses littering the field like a mass graveyard.

“Consul Ceazar!” an officer ran up to the two of us.

“The enemy army is routed, and the legion is eliminating stragglers and taking stock of requisitioned supplies, as per your orders!” She said.

“Our casualty report is also complete, Consul! Thirteen legionnaires fell in the line of duty, while over a hundred thousand enemy warriors were counted among the dead!”

Father nodded along as he listened to report after report.

“Thank you, Legate. You may take your leave.” He said.

“Yes, Consul Ceazar!”

The officer gave a crisp salute and turned away to see to her duties.

“What do you think, son?” he asked.

“I’ve had high hopes for the legion’s new capabilities, but I think it’s safe to say that the results have broken past all expectations. The future of the Republic has never looked so bright.”

Looking over the utter carnage and mayhem from left in the aftermath of the ‘battle’ with the Gauls, I was inclined to agree.

“I am of the same mind, father. With these advances in military power, I believe we no longer have to live in fear of the terrible wrath that the dragons and the gods could wreak.”

“Hahahaha! Well said, son!” he said.

“While the enemy hasn’t been vanquished just yet, this calls for a celebration! Hey you!” Father yelled at a nearby officer.

“Drop whatever you’re doing and tell the officers to bring out the wine!”

The nearby soldiers heard Father’s command and cheered wildly, and a celebratory mood quickly took over the Legion’s camp.

Father’s horse slowly trotted through camp as the man atop it smiled and waved at the cheering soldiers. I walked beside Father’s horse on our way to the command tent.

“I do not mean to question you, Father, but are you certain it is wise to give this order now – especially when the enemy is still out there? We still have the Franks, the Germanic tribes, the Brittanians, and the Castilians to deal with after that to boot.” I asked.

“Hmm, perhaps if my goal was to annihilate the Republic’s enemies as quickly as possible, I’d be doing just that. But there’s a lot more to commanding an army than just that, son!” he said, winking at me.

“Maintaining your army’s morale, earning the men and women’s personal loyalty to you, and taking advantage of the current political situation to undermine your opponents are just a few of those; you should take notes and do the same when you make your own foray into government.” Father winked at me.

I smiled.

“That’s all well and good, Father, but you just want to drink and found an excuse for it.”

Father laughed loudly.

“I admit it, you got me! But when is it ever not the time to drink and celebrate?!”