Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan

- Osto Ragnarok ~

-Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t…- I was in a complete panic after hearing that Vasilias ran off on his own in an attempt to save Kaelallan. -I'd rather have Kaelallan burn to the ground than have Vasilias die…-

It had been a little over an hour since I left the capital at that point, but I was still struggling to shake off my lingering, unwarranted aggression toward Oliver.

The longer I thought about it, the more I realized how futile Oliver’s attempts to stop or protect Vasilias were, but I was still upset nonetheless. -Even if he got Eulia and Lawton to follow after him, Vasilias would have been over the horizon before they could find him…-

I knew firsthand just how fast Vasilias was, and to put it simply, it was a speed unattainable by any being other than him.

A flight that would take me over an hour, even at full speed, he could do in a couple of minutes. -And I'm sure the speed I experienced then wasn’t his limit…-

I felt a complicated mix of emotions when I thought back to his relaxed and unbothered expression when he carried me to Kaelallan. -He really is a monster, even among dragons…-

Realizing I was getting sidetracked again, I quickly cleared my mind and looked down to see a road with a sign indicating I was at the border with the Kindom of Zan. "Alright, I need to focus…" Assuming he was likely somewhere along the border, I quickly turned to fly along it and started to scan the area below, being sure not to miss a single detail.

But aggravatingly, I struggled to find any signs of a fight anywhere.

The area below me was just an endless forest, with only the occasional large monster or dungeon beneath the canopy.

-Sh*t… Where is he…- The more time that passed, the more my anxiety grew.

But that was when I finally saw something.

Well over the horizon, I saw a blinding blue light, like a shooting star, dart toward the ground. -That must be him!-

Rushing toward the light as fast as possible, I quickly came up to a dilapidated road with several mutilated bodies scattered along it, but that wasn't what made me worried.

Stretching into the forest was a wide path where trees had been destroyed as if a dragon was plowed through them. -There’s no way Vasilias was knocked hard enough to clear that, but that would mean…-

Feeling my heart sink, I looked into the forest in a rush, just to have my worries confirmed.

Lying there, just inside the forest, was a halfie not much smaller than me, with an unrecognizably destroyed head and a snapped neck. -Some of those Nation Ranks were dragons?!-

Immediately breaking into panic, I gained altitude and flew toward where the blue light was, still some 20 kilometers away. "Please tell me I'm not too la-" *CRACKLE*

A massive plume of fire erupted from the dust-filled area before I could even ease my worries.

The fire turned the surrounding, tall-standing trees to ash and lit the foliage on fire immediately, but the most horrifying part about it was that the flame was unfamiliar. -That’s not Vasilias’s breath…-

It was a realization that made my heart tense up. "VASILIASSSS!!" I yelled his name at the top of my lungs as the fire slowly dissipated.

My previous worries and anxieties were immediately replaced with a blinding, uncontrollable rage.

Not a single thought entered my mind other than how I was going to slaughter the bast*rd who shot that flame.

But before I could get remotely close enough to do or see anything…

*flash* A light brighter than the sun exploded from the area, and an instinctual fear, deep enough to wipe away my rage in a flash, made my mind go blank.

I was still nearly 15 kilometers away from the source, but I still felt the air around me heat up almost instantly. *fwoosh*

Succumbing to my instincts without thinking, I dove toward the ground, but I was far from fast enough.

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*BAAANNGGG* A deafening noise met my ears as a shockwave plowed through my body. "Ugh!" Although it was nothing unmanageable, it made me feel quite light-headed and made my senses fuzzy. "Ahh..."

Quickly trying to recover my senses, I spread my wings just above the treetops and glided in whatever direction I happened to be facing.

It actually took a few minutes after that for my senses to return enough for me to realize I was gliding the wrong way. "Ah… Sh*t…"

Hastily turning around and gaining altitude again, I couldn’t help but look over the scene in awe.

The forest that seemed endless and undisturbed before, had turned into a field of ash over 12 kilometers across.

-What the hell…- I could only hover there in awe as the dust and ash started to settle, but after a couple minutes, I noticed a white wolf sitting in the open. -Is that Ilios?-

But only once the dust settled enough for me to get a better look, did I notice it was too big to be Ilios. -It couldn't be one of Ilios’s parents, right?-

As if it heard me, the wolf turned around and glared at me with a mix of hostility and confidence.

-Sh*t!- Dropping my altitude once more and assuming the wolf was the one threatening Vasilias, I broke its gaze with the treeline and devised a quick plan of attack. -I need to pick up the pace.. even Vasilias wouldn't be able to come out of that explosion unscathed…-

But it was only a short moment later that I peeked my head over the tree line again to see the wolf sitting on the back of a massive, 29-meter-tall black dragon standing over a smaller, charred dragon body.

For an instant, I thought the charred body was Vasilias, but before my world could shatter, I noticed it wasn't black beneath the char.

But the black dragon didn't look like Vasilias either.

Its body was well defined and mature, nothing out of the norm for adult or elder stage dragons, but I couldn’t help but feel as if I was looking at something too perfect to exist.

The only aspects it really shared with Vasilias were its abyssal black color, and the air of majesty around it. -But there's no way that another dragon with that kind of surreal beauty can exist… It has to be him...-

But even after thinking that, I could only continue to rationally deny that possibility. -Vasilias was only 23 meters when I left for Bahamut a few days ago… This couldn’t be him…-

But as if he noticed my gaze, the dragon looked up at me and gave a familiar look. -What... It really is him…-

Continuing closer with a bit of caution and uncertainty, I landed not far from them on the superheated earth.

*puff* I kicked up a cloud of ash as I landed, but my eyes were still locked on Vasilias. -How did he grow so much in a few days? Just what kind of monster is he…-

- Vasilias ~

Wearing a warm smile, I walked a bit toward Father, but when I took a closer look at him, I noticed how on edge he was.

My face switched to one of concern immediately. "Are you alright, Father?!"

His face showed a mix of anxiety and worry. "Y..yes, I'm fine, but more importantly… What happened to you, Vasilias?" He looked both Ilios and I up and down with an anxious expression.

-Ah right.. How do I explain this...- Looking at his still somewhat fearful expression, I felt my heart ache. -Telling him the details will only make things more difficult…- "All I can really say is that I entered a dragon sleep after doing something incredibly stupid."

He stared at me with wide eyes. "You had a dragon sleep? In just a few days?!"

"Kind of? But not really... Now isn’t a good time to explain..." I felt bad about hiding something like that from him, but I knew explaining it wouldn’t help our already brittle relationship. -I can tell he's been trying to improve his side of our relationship after Mother spoke with him... I don't want to ruin his effort...-

Thankfully though, without me getting too involved, Father’s fearful expression started to fade. "Haah… I won't pry as long as you just promise to tell your mother and me about it eventually, alright?" His voice was oddly caring and warm.

"O-of course. It's just something that would be.. troublesome to explain currently."

Father’s expression slowly started to warm up after I spoke. "In that case, it’s fine…" As if finally easing his mind, he let out a quick breath. "Well.. since we have that out of the way… WHAT WAS THAT EXPLOSION?! ARE YOU STUPID?!" He quickly ran up to me and bonked me on the head.

"Haha, you didn't like my little firework?" A smile found its way onto my face as I saw him acting like his normal self again.

"LITTLE?! IT LOOKED LIKE YOU RECREATED THE SUN! If your mother finds out you did this, she'll kill me!"

"Haha, I'll take the blame, don't worry. Since I didn't get that hurt, I'm sure I'll be able to find a way out."

Hearing me mention I was hurt, worry returned to his face. "Right, where are you hurt?" He quickly got closer to examine the various scratch marks all over my scales.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. The worst thing is just a couple of broken ribs, but those will be healed in a couple days."

He paused and looked up at me before finally stepping back. "Haah, how am I going to explain this to your mother…"

"If you don't want to, I can." -As long as I'm careful, I can at least avoid getting scolded…- "How is she doing, by the way? Did you stop by?"

"Ah, yeah. She's doing good. Since we left, she has just spent most of her time sleeping by the door, guarding Krystallo. While I was there, I made sure to get her plenty of food, so she wouldn't have to leave at all."

Thinking she sounded lonely, I had the sudden urge to go home, but I knew that wasn't possible right now. -I’ll be sure to come home quickly, Mother!- "What about Krystallo? How’s her sleep going?"

"So far, so good, but you never know what will happen during them, so it’s best if I don't say anything..."

-Right.. It’d be best not to jinx it…- "All we can do is pray to Bahamut that nothing happens, right?."

"Right..." There was a short moment of silence before he continued. "Well, anyways.. Is this guy really still alive?" He looked behind us at the halfie playing dead on the ground.

-To think a dragon could have such a rat-like instinct...- Quickly flashing him with my aura, he tensed up and turned to us with a look of fear. -That's better...-