Late at night, at the Sinister Wing's camp.

Numerous demi-human mercenaries had gone through another day of drunken debauchery. After bingeing and indulging themselves to exhaustion, they fell into a deep slumber in the late night hours, unable to wake until past noon the next day.

A shadowy figure then stealthily slipped into the camp. Without military discipline restraining them, the mercenaries couldn't possibly be on alert as the figure smoothly passed through row after row of tents.

Upon reaching the leader's wooden cabin, the shadowy figure immediately noticed the black dragon that had blended into the night, leaning against the roof slightly shifting her body with soft rumbling sounds.

Zenny had already fallen asleep, completely unaware of the stranger's approach. The shadowy figure was able to walk up the steps and grasp the door handle.

"Click."

The crisp sound of the lock turning echoed through the silent night. The shadowy figure cracked open the door and slipped inside, silently closing the entrance behind them.

"Saphirette has detected an intruder."

A childlike female voice devoid of any emotion suddenly rang out.

The shadowy figure was clearly startled, stumbling backwards into a long bench with a scraping noise against the floor.

"Who's there!"

A gruff, aggressive wolfman's voice shouted from inside, and seconds later a candlelight flickered on. Baring fangs, Anubis burst out taut with tensed muscles.

His superb night vision instantly locked onto the intruder's exact location. He charged forward, pinning the shadowy figure to the ground.

"So weak? You dare trespass on my territory!"

Anubis inwardly marveled at the intruder's strength being unexpectedly pitiful, not seeming like one here to steal secrets or assassinate.

He grabbed a military daylstone lamp off the table and shined it on the shadowy figure, revealing an unanticipated face.

"You are…? Sir Alvis!"

Anubis recognized the man who had led the first decisive defeat of a human military force.

"That's right…cough cough! Quick, let me up!"

Alvis coughed violently, the burly wolf-man crushing his lungs and making it hard to breathe.

The wolf-man quickly stood, pulling over a chair for the other to sit and aiming to turn on the cabin's lamps fully.

"Don't!" Alvis stopped his final intention.

"Very well." Anubis obliged, not turning on the bright daylstone lamp but using a regular candle instead.

"You visit at this late hour, sir, for what reason?"

Alvis still wore the General Morey's uniform with rank insignias removed. In the dim candlelight his face appeared unnaturally darkened, etched with worry, helplessness and suppressed malice.

"Anubis, if I remember correctly, you expressed interest in joining Erl several times during our march, didn't you?"

"Indeed…"

The wolfman cautiously replied.

Not just during the march, but mere days after arriving he had been deeply inspired by the environment in Erl.

With no strong centralized administration, his old "friend" the Morey nobleman held local power, while crimson dragon and dwarves showed no intent to govern.

If he could remain here, leveraging his connections and Heretic Wing's strength he could surely rise to lead regular military forces - he would become Erl's military leader.

Legitimate high command was far more valuable than a mercenary leader. Anubis greatly wished to seize this rough "frontier period" and ingratiate himself.

Though crimson dragon didn't meddle, the wolfman didn't think they would allow the formidable stranger force of Heretic Wing to linger under their noses. And without a chance to speak directly with Raphael, Anubis could only find the seemingly well-connected Alvis hoping he could persuade crimson dragon to let them stay.

But Alvis had only made empty promises, disappointingly. Shena remained cloistered for some reason, Moran seemed intent on distancing himself from Heretic Wing, and crimson dragon hadn't been seen again.

Until earlier that afternoon when Hil unexpectedly visited, giving Anubis a clear path forward.

But now Alvis was propositioning him directly, implying he aimed to fulfill the wolfman's wish.

"When I wanted to join, you all ignored me one by one. Now you're all coming to me as I've given up? What's the meaning of this?" Anubis was no fool - his obsequiousness only emerged before overwhelming force.

He regarded neither the former Alvis nor the current Hil highly. Only Raphael could inspire such submissive behavior.

"Sir, I'm a brusque demi-human, look at these scars - do you think I'd do this to myself if I had a lick of cunning?" The wolfman dropped the unctuous facade, speaking bluntly.

He held up the candle to illuminate his face, then opened his close-fitting leather armor to reveal a crisscross of scars covering his body.

"So please, don't try to fool me. Tell me why you really came here tonight."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Watching the wolfman's mocking half-smile, Alvis felt a sinking feeling.

He then slowly spoke: "I currently hold the roster for Erl's national defense forces. In a few days after the negotiations, this place will enter a period of rapid development and the dragon kin will likely return to Dragon Domain and Pillar Mountain. Day-to-day security in Erl will be handled by the picket, but there's a gap in the military. I think the talented and ambitious members of Heretic Wing would be wasted back on Strife Plain. Why not stay?"

"I have several general ranks I can give to your leadership."

Finishing, Alvis confidently watched the wolfman's reaction, expecting an immediate oath of loyalty.

But Anubis made no move to kneel.

"Such good terms? Then why not offer it sooner? Only after that rat dragon arrived are you saying this?"

The wolfman narrowed his emerald eyes suspiciously, face twisting into a scowl of scars.

Quickly he deduced several points:

"First, Alvis clearly hasn't reached the level of rapport with me that I initially judged - he's certainly an important figure crimson dragon relies on, but not to that degree. And now by the sounds of it, tensions are rising between factions with signs of realignment. It seems there are deep waters here, and Heretic Wing is an external force whose allegiance could tip the balance…"

Anubis instantly grasped the situation - from a nuisance, they'd become an important bargaining chip.

"Heh heh, I think Strife Plain suits us better. Though Erl's environment is safe, my brothers can't bear to give up our unbridled days. They've all been privately grumbling about the strict military discipline."

With a sly, cunning look, the wolfman smiled ingratiatingly.

Alvis inwardly cursed: "Too strict discipline? Without it why would you lot listen to me? Otherwise you couldn't even breach the Karuk defensive lines, let alone battle the imperial allied forces!"

The wolfman went on: "It's better if you just pay us our commission, then we'll leave directly."

"Holding out for a better deal," Alvis seethed inwardly, but he remained level-toned in his persuasions and promises, hoping to bring the other under his command.

As the two were obliquely haggling, a tremendous draconic bellow suddenly came from outside, thunderous roars shaking the wooden cabin!

Alvis's first reaction was that Raphael had arrived. Terrified, he abruptly stood to rush inside and hide. Being discovered would surely earn the crimson dragon's utter enmity.

But the wolf-man held him back: "Don't worry old commander, it's just Zenny's breathing - I've heard it for hundreds of years, quite familiar with it."

"Zenny? That black dragon?"

Before he could process it, the door suddenly opened and the black dragon's face appeared outside.

Contorting her neck into a pretzel-like pose, she spoke to Anubis inside: "The crimson dragon's kin have arrived, saying they need to see you on his direct orders."

"Need to see me?" The wolfman glanced at Alvis, whose face looked utterly ghastly.

"Sir, please exit through the rear window. I'll consider what you proposed." Anubis politely but firmly "requested" Alvis's departure.

"Very well, don't worry, the terms are negotiable - It won't work against you." Alvis could only clamber out the window, rather undignified compared to his previously arrogant self-assurance.

"Hmph! Without the crimson dragon's backing, what guarantees can you offer?" The wolfman scoffed disdainfully - powerless weaklings had always earned only his contempt.

"Show the dragon kin in." Anubis turned to Zenny, his expression shifting to an obsequious smile.

The black dragon's head withdrew, and instantly a blood wyvern burst through the door like an arrow!

"Greetings brother, I…" The wolfman began his usual pleasantries, but the blood wyvern cut him off urgently:

"Who is Paladin? Master demands to see him immediately! Quick, have him come with me! Hurry!"

Anubis's smile froze in confusion: "Huh? Paladin?"

The blood wyvern frantically beat its wings, conveying its agitation: "No more useless chatter! Bring out Paladin quickly! Master has little patience!"

The wolfman swallowed hard and nodded, wasting no more words as he went inside, soon calling out the black-robed priest concealed under a cloak.

"Here he is, though the old man seems addled - if it's over his ill-chosen words this afternoon…I'm willing to take his punishment. He's aged, a little rough handling and he'll fall apart." Anubis laughed awkwardly to diffuse the tension.

But the blood wyvern wasn't listening, clamping the black priest between its spiked ribs and taking urgent winged flight out the door, heading straight for Pillar Mountain.

Surveying the trashed interior, Anubis could only take a deep breath: "I thought crimson dragon was finally rope me in? Turns out it was for Paladin instead?"

"Saphirette has a premonition we'd best ally with crimson dragon," the little witch suddenly spoke up from a high stool. "The ebb and flow of magic across the continent grows more and more restive - for now it's the only reliable force."

"What's with you getting all mystical like that old man?" Anubis sat down. "But you have a point - earning crimson dragon's trust and a share of its authority has great benefits. That Alvis guy must have risen through those means."

…

Once Paladin was brought into the golden nest atop Pillar Mountain, he found not only the crimson dragon present, but a man in red priestly robes as well.

"Fylric Jaxon?" The black priest immediately recognized him.

Raphael was groggily listening to the man's long-winded lecturing when the main subject arrived, finally rousing himself.

"So you're Paladin? The one too afraid to show his face in public?"

Raphael eyed the black-robed human figure gently landing on the golden sea, glancing at the departing blood wyvern.

"Esteemed Crimson Dragon Lord - though I wish to address you so, alas I shall not, for our 'faiths' differ." Paladin showed no fear nor flattery, responding evenly word-by-word.

Fylric Jaxon scrutinized the black priest puzzledly, a bead of sweat forming on his brow.

"Hmph!"

Raphael paid no mind to the human's disdain, turning to the Dragon Cult leader who had enjoyed his hospitality for months but paied for nothing: "Hey! Can you make out his origin?"

Fylric Jaxon and Paladin both hailed from Strife Plain with church backgrounds, so surely they had information on each other.

Yet the former only sweated profusely: "I don't know. Our church always used red, white and gold as motifs - black is…is…"

"Is what?" Raphael impatiently growled.

"Is only used by primitive orc-god faiths!"

"Orc?" Raphael's dark golden eyes instantly lit up. "You're a orc? So you hide your face for fear of being ostracized and betrayed?"

Orcs were universally despised across the Mu continent. Often the demi-humans discriminated against by humans would unite to drive out the orcs first before settling other matters.

"How could those savages be associated with divinity? Mere benighted superstitioners!" Paladin's tone grew increasingly arrogant.

He looked towards Fylric Jaxon beside Raphael: "You may not recognize me, but I know you. How's the divine revelation looking?"

"What?" Raphael and Fylric were equally taken aback.

Paladin continued unprompted: "The world is not just its appearances, but a manifestation of will. Beyond that lies what can only be perceived once awakened. Going further, one can sense the past and future - the beginning of prophecy."

Fylric was utterly dumbfounded: "How do you know of divine revelation? You're not one of my church's congregation."

"In fact, I am older than both your ages combined - a bit more insight is to be expected."

As the Paladin spoke, Raphael felt almost included in that remark.

"Enough of this drivel!" Crimson dragon reacted, realizing the Dragon Cult leader couldn't learn this old man's full story either - he had to ask directly.

"Speak - how do you know of the molten dragon? That was a secret of our dragon kind!"

After asking, Fylric tentatively raised his hand: "My lord, the term 'molten dragon' does appear in the Book of Revelation."

"What?"

Raphael could scarcely believe it. How did the humans learn of it? Did his ancestors let it slip in some exchange with them? But then why weren't the names for red and blue dragons also recorded, if their titles came up frequently?

"But I don't know the reason for that name - the ancients never explained," Fylric's next words sealed Raphael's protests.

"Very well!"

Still stewing in resentment, Raphael looked down at Paladin again: "Then how do you explain the curse on my gold? Any who possess it meet untimely demise? Were the dwarves so skilled at hiding things?"

"I witnessed those gold artifacts' birth, transportation, reforging, calamity and burial - I know the curse's origins. You've obtained those divine relics, haven't you? The so-called Mountain Heart Jewelry set." A slight smile seemed to crease beneath the black priest's hood.