My Queens, the Eternals, Princess Aoi and I were standing on the platform in the mountainous Zone Ten, watching as a few thousand Dragonkins gathered in front of me. The villagers formed a half circle with an empty space between us and them, inside of which Viccar was kneeling in chains, held by two Praetorians. Idna also stood nearby in her guild receptionist dress. As unbelievable as it was, the villagers were looking hostile, without even a trace of gratitude for saving their lives. They looked with respect at the Eternals but visibly despised me, as well as Amber, Irene, Luna, and Princess Aoi. Aoi in particular gathered most of their ire. To be honest, I had enough.

"I wanted to welcome you to the capital of my Kingdom, yet the only things I see are resentful gazes and barely hidden hostility." The shocked murmurs among them angered me even further. "You think you are the most powerful race of people that live in Nilmerthis, so show me your power. Show me the most powerful among you!"

The angered whispers spread like a fire among the crowd, and I saw a troubled look on Aoi's face. After a full minute, a large man stepped forward. He was wearing chainmail and a red cape, holding in his hands a spear. He probably wanted to look majestic and powerful, but it was very hard to look so when you had to look up.

"I am Lorak Sar, son of Elder Viccar Sar, the most powerful warrior of Dragonkins! State your business, stranger!" He was furious. "Lord Zephyr, please, explain to us why you ordered us to flee from the battle for our homes?!"

"Why? Because you are weak!" I laughed, mortally wounding his pride. "Idna, dispatch that filth."

Idna twitched her ears and bowed to me. Lorak eyed her, and seeing her unassuming and gentle body, his eyes went red. He was furious and pointed his spear at the Nekomi woman, who had finished her preparations and already activated her skills.

"Do you think a stupid cat can fight me?! Her blood is on you!" He looked as if he wanted to laugh, but before he could say anything more, Idna was standing right in front of him, smiling menacingly.

Lorak raised his spear at the unarmoured girl, who had her hands crossed at her back. With a shout "Piercing Hit!" he aimed at her heart and smiled victoriously. Instead of killing Idna, his spear just shattered into splinters that left her dress in wooden dust, but otherwise unscathed. Lorak tried to punch her in the face, but the force of the impact threw him back and he screamed painfully, holding his hand.

"I'm disappointed." Idna frowned and slapped Lorak's face, sending him tumbling right in front of his nervous father. "I thought that you are as strong as the legends said- the powerful Dragonkins who inherited the power of the mighty Dragons."

The Dragonkins watched this in silence and I felt how humbled their haughtiness was. Their most powerful warrior, who was wielding their most precious weapons, was not even able to entertain his opponent. Idna was walking gracefully, step by step, in an incredibly captivating way towards Lorak, who drank some potion to ease his pain. Still, he wasn't paying enough attention to Idna, who slapped him once again across the other cheek, sending him tumbling again.

"Idna, did you know they think tanks are all weaklings?" I asked, amused, while looking down at the crowd. I summoned thrones for my Queens, Eternals and Aoi to sit on while I was still standing, knowing that this duel wouldn't take much longer.

"Do they?" Idna smiled and turned towards me. Lorak stood up and drew his sword. He was still holding his head, aching after the slaps he received. Idna giggled, "Should I tell them that I am a tank, my Lord? They might be too stupid to understand that if not addressed directly."

She was still turned away from Lorak, who jumped at her from behind, full of hate and anger. Yet again, his weapon broke, and he recoiled back. Lorak trembled and dropped to his knees, powerless to fight or overpower his opponent. He looked around, but the rest of his people were looking at him as a failure that disgraced their race.

"I think they might be slowly realising that." I grinned, looking at the fearful gazes cast by the crowd. "And if not, we will just beat each one of them until they understand how stupid they were."

Idna turned around and slowly approached the kneeling Lorak, who, with fear in his eyes, tried to back off. She sighed and ducked in front of him, and she crossed her arms over her legs. She looked at the Dragonkin warrior as if she found some disgusting critter in front of her.

"If not for the King, this Cat would squish you like the bug you are. However, nothing holds me from beating you into a bleeding pulp and leaving you in the dirt," Idna declared, breaking Lorak's will completely, making him drop in front of her and beg for mercy. Idna looked at me and I raised my hand.

"Dragonkins, I heard that you respect only strength." I blinked in front of Viccar and lifted him from his knees with one finger under his chin. "So tell me, Viccar, is Idna strong?"

"Yes..." He replied with all the hatred he could muster.

"Idna, would you fight me?"

"GODS NO!" Idna paled and covered her face with her hands. She was truly terrified by the very idea.

"Princess Aoi, you can decide how we deal with them." The surprised voices in the crowd made me smirk. "She is your princess and by the will of Zephyr, she is my fiancee. Would you dare to challenge me?"

Surprisingly, four warriors stepped out from the crowd and looked defiantly at me. I let go of Viccar and turned towards them. They were as big as Lorak and were equipped similarly. Despite all that they saw, they still were full of themselves.

"Lord Theon! Please, allow them to choose if they want to stay or go." Aoi asked and I nodded in return.

"I promise, Princess Aoi. But first, they must see for themselves how strong I am." I said and stepped down infront of them. "Come at me, all who dare to defy Princess Aoi's rights!" I yelled at the crowd, from which came the next fifteen young warriors. "Attack me and let's be done with your arrogance once and for all!"

Twenty Dragonkins encircled me and I just crossed my arms behind me. After a moment, they all attacked at once, only to recoil in fear, with eighteen of them dropping to their knees. The remaining two were barely standing, sweating profoundly.

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"What have you done to us?!" One of them demanded to know.

"Aura of Despair." I shrugged. "I have no desire to fight weaklings. What glory or honour is in killing someone so weak they are unable to even walk in my presence?"

The last two looked at each other in fear, realising they bit far more than they could chew. I approached the still grovelling Lorak and Idna, who shivered slightly in my presence. I thanked her and sent her away to Irene, then I lifted Lorak and threw him towards the two warriors who were standing, uncertain about what to do next. However, the sight of how effortlessly I threw their friend towards them made them back down.

"So that's it? Do you yield?" I made a step towards them and saw the panic rising in their eyes. "Don't look at me like that. I merely speak the only language you brutes seem to comprehend- the language of power. I ASKED YOU! DO YOU SURRENDER?!"

I washed the entire crowd with my Intimidation Aura, making them all shiver in fear so they could realise the gap in our power. The two warriors, overwhelmed by my anger, dropped to their knees.

"I find this ridiculous." I released my auras and teleported away to the podium where we were standing before. I summoned the throne for myself and a chair for Idna, then I looked at the still-kneeling crowd as if they were small children acting badly. "As I promised, Princess Aoi can decide about your fate."

Princess Aoi stood up, and I saw how nervous she was. All the stress, expectations, and burdens put on her culminated in this moment, making her almost collapse, so I quickly stood up and took her hand. Even if I did not know her, I pitied her fate. After she felt my hand, she grabbed it as if it were her lifeline. Her big blue eyes looked at me and I smiled softly, but I saw the panic in her eyes, so I lowered my face.

"What should I do?" She whispered.

"You wanted to give them a choice, right?"

"My Lord... I am too scared..." she almost cried.

"Sorry to put you in this position, Princess Aoi. I will help you." I promised and seeing tears in her eyes, I slowly hugged her so everyone, or at least enough people, could see her tears.

"Your arrogance and heartless behaviour leaves your princess worried. She wanted to give you a choice, knowing your pride, but she also knew that some of you wanted a change." I looked at the Dragonkins. "You can swear loyalty to me and your rightful Princess, and when I deem you worthy, you become the residents of Avalon. Or you can leave this place. You will be returned to your Village that is intact, and my Kingdom will forget about you, leaving you to live how you like."

One woman from the crowd slowly stood up and looked at me sadly. Just one glance at Zephyr made me realise he knew that woman very well. She approached us and she looked at me with respect but without fear. I ignored her, first helping Aoi to sit back near Zephyr, who started projecting his dissatisfaction at Dragonkins. Then I returned to my throne and allowed the woman to speak.

"My name is Loriana Sa'vis, I am an Elder of Dragonkin Village. Please, mighty King, tell us, why did you save us to just humiliate us in front of the Gods?!" There was sadness and shame in her voice. "I realise that my kin were too arrogant in dealing with you, but have we really deserved such treatment?"

"Yes, Loriana," Zephyr replied with immense sadness and dissatisfaction in his voice. "But only you can decide to learn anything from this or you stubbornly stay as you were."

"I..." she stuttered and nodded to herself. "I think I understand."

"I give you one day to decide if you want to stay or leave Avalon," I said and tossed a vial of health potion to Viccar, who caught it without understanding. "You are free Viccar. Give that potion to your son."

We teleported away, leaving Dragonkins to their thoughts, allowing them to rethink their ways of living. I couldn't make this decision for them, and after their insanely stupid display of pride, I didn't even care. Back in the Palace, we sat around the table and after the maids brought us fresh drinks. I focused on Idna, who was a bit stressed that all the attention was on her.

"Idna, can you tell us your impressions about them?" I simply asked, and she instantaneously switched into Guild Receptionist mode.

"They are not weak by any standards, my Lord." She started and right from the bat, she surprised Aoi and Zephyr. "Compared to the other races I am aware of, their raw strength is frightening. If I was wearing my normal combat gear, I could have gained a few bruises and cuts after that fight. But since you ordered me to come like I was standing, my Lord, then I thought you wanted them recruited to the Guild."

"Maybe later, when they start thinking..." I sighed and gave her a few moments to drink a few sips of her tea. Everyone was listening to her carefully, but Idna focused solely on her task and she seemed to put her thoughts into words right now.

"I understand why... Anyway, if not for my skill: Ultimate Defence, a few of his initial blows might have been bad for me."

"Ultimate Defence?" Princess Aoi looked at Idna with shock.

"Yes. When used, it reduces any attack, even instant death status attacks, to one damage and the skill lasts for five minutes. After the effect ends, the skill starts its half-hour cool down."

"Defence is one thing, but you beat Lorak so effortlessly..." Hera was impressed. "I had never seen anything like that."

"It's only the difference in our levels. He was around level forty, I am ninety-nine. I have a passive skill that destroys any weapon under a certain grade or wielded by much weaker opponents," Idna replied happily to Hera and beamed a smile.

"Still, I am impressed, Miss Idna." Hera smiled back and Idna happily bowed.

"So we know they are not weak." I very delicately tried to get the talk on the right track.

"Not at all, your Highness!" Idna focused. "But their attitude, ughh..." She grimaced. "Such an attitude is what gets you killed in the field. From what I could see, their aptitudes are incredible, but for some reason, I couldn't get all their information. I'm sorry, my Lord."

"Hmmm... Why are they not considered people of the world, but Aoi is?" I asked loudly.

Aoi cleared her throat and looked at us. "An old tale says that when grand ancestor Grandine was preparing to give birth to her child, she was afraid that the combined powers of her and Lord Zephyr's could be too much for a child to survive, so she found a dying dungeon and struck a deal. The dungeon would provide her with a capacity spawner and she, in turn, would pay for it with mana. The dungeon agreed, and Grandmother Grandine altered that spawner. She then poured the overflowing energy into it and from it, the nascent Dragonkin race emerged. Before the spawner was destroyed, thousands of Dragonkins were born. She then took the Dragonkins with her and, after paying what she owed, they left that land to settle in the Foggy Valley, where she safely gave birth to the daughter, Gale Vesta va'Zephyr Ignis." She surprised all of us, even Zephyr himself.

"All right... That might be an explanation..." I admitted and looked at her. Princess Aoi was still scared and uncertain of what would happen to her. "Princess Aoi, allow me to apologise for my words before."

"Which one, my Lord?" Everyone looked puzzled at me but I saw the smirk on Zephyr's face that made me sigh.

"I am sorry for everything you suffered from me. I am so sorry, Princess Aoi... I am sorry to call you my fiancee, despite all your earlier protests. Please forgive me." I deeply bowed to her. "I will do anything that's in my power to make it up to you."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a few long moments, she opened her eyes and looked at me with determination. "Then I ask you to not back off from the words you said back then. I wish to be your fiancee if you won't accept me as your wife."