Page 343
Story: The Dragon of Dreams
Early Evening - Late Summer : The Tree of Prayer, Valtivar | Siratha
-----
"So, you're going to finally reveal yourself, huh?"
There was a short pause before the air next to my ear gently vibrated, relaying a deep draconic voice. "I was originally going to give it some more time, but there is no point in delaying it further."
I paused before turning my head slightly and shooting a gaze up into the branches of a nearby treant, meeting the stare of a beautiful draconic woman confidently sipping a glass of piotita on the roof of the most expensive tavern in town, overlooking the base of the Tree of Prayer. "Is that so?" It was Hera.
Taking a casual sip, she leaned up against the railing, cloaking all but two of the wings sprouting from her back to avoid people raising suspicions of her. "Well, as you said the other day, I should strike while the iron is hot."
It had been about a week and a half since the ceremony began at that point, and with me not feeling comfortable leaving Lief alone after the appearance of Baldur, I had simply loitered around her at the base of the Tree of Prayer, cloaked with light magic while speaking to Hera about what was to come.
"I meant that as more of a general statement.
" *pat* I continued as I laid my head back down.
"The iron has already started to cool. You wouldn't want to hit it now. "
She smirked as she leaned into the railing. "Hoh? And what makes you think that?"
"The assimilation of Bahamut and Siratha was when the iron was struck; the moment of reformation that cleaned out the 'impurities' and started a new era where dragons could start openly worshiping a Diety other than Bahamut.
.. It's a change not everyone could accept, but things have finally started to stabilize.
If my family or I were fully backing you with your sudden reappearance, I'm sure it would raise suspicions about our intentions.
It would be too much change too fast and just destabilize things. .. It would make the iron brittle."
"Not necessarily..." She took a quick sip of her drink as she looked down at a young dragon and elf playing together in the street.
"Currently, there are two main groups in Bahamut: those that support Siratha and those that do not, both sides will despise me.
However, the disdain I'd receive from those who support Siratha's growing power and influence would be quelled by your support, and those who don't like the assimilation would be quelled by me, a demigod capable of filling the gap Bahamut has left vacant for so long. "
I immediately raised my eyebrows with an unconvinced look. "But you're forgetting the public sentiment toward you... What makes you think the people who don't like me would automatically accept you?"
"Because in their eyes, even if you are supporting me, I am your opposition.
.. As it stands, Bahamut has no God or even demigods.
If you wanted to, you could flip the table on them and rule Bahamut whether they wanted it or not.
No one could stop you..." She let out a short breath before moving her gaze back to me.
"With me, they would have a force that can oppose you, a power that can keep you in check.
.. Even if my reputation puts a bad taste in their mouth, they would have to deal with it in order to gain my strength. "
-I didn't think about that...- It was actually a pretty solid plan, appealing to public sentiment in order to take the upper hand.
Her only issue would be getting the support of those within the Elder Hall and highly influential figures like Amphitrite and Myles to preemptively quell what would be the leading voices of the opposition.
-Although there will always be those that speak up.
..- "What do you plan to do about those that use your sudden usurpment of political power to spark a rebellion? "
"Well, more than likely, it would be sparked by those who were related to the original slandering of my name or are on the side of the Holy Kingdom, seeing it as an opportunity to sow discourse."
-So she wants to use it as an opportunity to clean out the rest of the traitors as well.
..- "It seems like you've got it all figured out, huh.
.. Just don't forget to at least get the Elder Hall on your side before you do anything crazy.
.." Although there was still a lingering worry in the back of my mind, I simply shook it off as it appeared. "When are you planning on leaving?"
"Haha, you say that like you aren't coming with me." Quickly finishing her drink, she moved the cup away with her aura to refill it. "I plan to wait for Lief to awaken. I doubt that will be too far away."
-That's true...- After a week and a half, Lief's condition had progressed greatly, and even though it took a little longer than I expected, she had almost entirely finished her evolution.
"She'll probably wake up at some point today.
" -In the meantime, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with Krystallo. ..-
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Ever since the ceremony began, she had stuck to Hera like glue, receiving some lessons on politics, public image, and magic from her while receiving guidance from Ilios or me occasionally. But that didn't mean everything was perfect even if she herself didn't notice.
-While I want to leave her with Lief so she can resume her lessons on politics, I don't think I can...- In recent days, she had stuck with Hera at all times, even out in public or when Hera bought out the roof of the most lavish tavern in town just to silently sip on piotita. [1]
To the elves and demihumans who thought Krystallo was really a demihuman, they had begun spreading rumors that she was perhaps the apostle or child of Dagr, while the dragons who were in touch with the happenings in Bahamut were quick to tie her to the Ragnaroks, saying Hera was her guardian while Mother and Father were busy.
But while such rumors weren't exactly bad since that was all they were, considering the way the Aesir was watching Siratha, I didn't want to risk a target landing on her, as both circulating rumors had the ability to put her in danger.
-She needs to go back to Bahamut for a while.
. if she stays by Father, it'll only reinforce the idea that she's a Ragnarok, and if she sticks to Lief she'll seem like a young apostle. ..-
Plus, I didn't have the need to ask Krystallo herself what she wanted because I knew already.
"Sister Hera! Sister Hera! I did it!" Happily trotting up the railing next to Hera was Krystallo, holding out a small, glowing ball of ice.
It was something Hera told her to make in order to improve her fine mana control while isolating it from its surroundings to prevent it from melting at the same time. "Wow! Would you look at that!" Hera's expression lightened instantly. "Hasn't it only been two hours? How did you make it so fast?"
On the outside, it looked like a normal ball of ice, but instead, it was a ball utilizing a very specific fractal pattern that made the sphere essentially disintegrate when any kind of pressure was applied.
"It wasn't that bad! I just created a thin disk first like Brother said, then rotated and repeated the pattern to fill the sphere from the inside out! "
Gently picking it up with her aura, Hera inspected it quite closely. "To get the fractal so small as well... Being full of surprises must run in your blood..."
Krystallo immediately puffed up her chest with pride, and before I knew it, a few hours slipped away from me.
Hera and I simply guided Krystallo through a few other spells to work on her control until Ilios eventually got up from his nap with a stretch and trotted over to the railing. -He felt that, huh...-
Even when all the way up in a treant over a dozen kilometers away, he felt the faint vortex of mana around Lief finally come to an end.
It wasn't more than a few seconds after that that her body finally went limp and collapsed to the ground, falling from the kneel that had held since the start of the ceremony. *thump*
-She's finally up, huh?- *pat* Standing up with a stretch, I sat down and looked over her, watching her brain activity slowly increase until finally.
*flutter* Her eyes twitched before slowly opening as she rolled onto her back. "Hmmm..." It was like she was waking up from a good nap... At least until she saw me looming over her.
"AH!" *VWOOM-FWOOOSH* In a flurry of panic, she blasted out her aura and threw herself into a kneel, clearly not remembering what the situation is.
"I-I'M S-SORRY MY LORD!" She immediately yelled out with slurred words and a lisp, not yet used to the difference in the strength of her tongue after her evolution.
Oddly enough, I felt an odd pride seeing her kneeling there. She resembled my humanoid form so closely it made me feel like I was looking at my own child. "You just finished your evolution. What is there to be sorry about?"
"Huh?" Finally remembering, she looked down at her pale hands and noticed the black strands of hair hanging next to her face and went wide eyed.
Her hair had turned black, her eyes had turned silver, her tail had gotten longer, and she had even sprouted a single small horn next to her right ear with some dragon scales lining her spine.
But while those changes were enough to nearly completely alter her own identity, the changes inside her body were far greater.
"How do you feel?" I spoke through a smile, more than satisfied with the changes to her body. -I wonder how strong she is now...-
"I.. feel..." She paused as she clenched her fists a few times and ran her hand down her body, through the clothes I had temporarily made for her. "I feel s-so.. different..."
"Well, of course! Did you think an elixir I gave to you would be weak?"
Her eyes slowly lit up as she used her aura to look over herself. "Of course not!" Looking up at me, her eyes sparkled with a childish pride and joy similar to what I would usually see in Krystallo.
But as I was about to offer a simple 'spar', her gaze stiffened with hostility and shot up into the treant behind me.
"Haha, that's just Hera, Lief." I spoke calmly.
But rather than relief, her expression warped to confusion. "Huh?!"
I honestly didn't know what to think of it. -Could you not sense her before?-
Read up to 5 chapters ahead of schedule, and get early access to artwork on My Patreon!
(In case Embedded Link doesn't work: /TDOD )
-------------
Also, please feel free to check out our discord for all updates related to TDOD releases! https://discord.gg/Dv7G5bQD4v
All are welcome!
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293
- Page 294
- Page 295
- Page 296
- Page 297
- Page 298
- Page 299
- Page 300
- Page 301
- Page 302
- Page 303
- Page 304
- Page 305
- Page 306
- Page 307
- Page 308
- Page 309
- Page 310
- Page 311
- Page 312
- Page 313
- Page 314
- Page 315
- Page 316
- Page 317
- Page 318
- Page 319
- Page 320
- Page 321
- Page 322
- Page 323
- Page 324
- Page 325
- Page 326
- Page 327
- Page 328
- Page 329
- Page 330
- Page 331
- Page 332
- Page 333
- Page 334
- Page 335
- Page 336
- Page 337
- Page 338
- Page 339
- Page 340
- Page 341
- Page 342
- Page 343 (Reading here)
- Page 344
- Page 345
- Page 346
- Page 347
- Page 348
- Page 349
- Page 350
- Page 351
- Page 352
- Page 353
- Page 354
- Page 355
- Page 356
- Page 357
- Page 358
- Page 359
- Page 360
- Page 361
- Page 362
- Page 363
- Page 364
- Page 365
- Page 366
- Page 367
- Page 368
- Page 369
- Page 370
- Page 371
- Page 372
- Page 373
- Page 374
- Page 375
- Page 376
- Page 377
- Page 378
- Page 379
- Page 380
- Page 381
- Page 382
- Page 383
- Page 384
- Page 385
- Page 386
- Page 387
- Page 388
- Page 389
- Page 390
- Page 391
- Page 392
- Page 393
- Page 394
- Page 395
- Page 396
- Page 397
- Page 398
- Page 399
- Page 400
- Page 401
- Page 402
- Page 403
- Page 404
- Page 405
- Page 406
- Page 407
- Page 408
- Page 409
- Page 410
- Page 411
- Page 412
- Page 413
- Page 414
- Page 415
- Page 416
- Page 417
- Page 418
- Page 419
- Page 420
- Page 421
- Page 422
- Page 423
- Page 424
- Page 425
- Page 426
- Page 427
- Page 428
- Page 429
- Page 430
- Page 431
- Page 432
- Page 433
- Page 434
- Page 435
- Page 436
- Page 437
- Page 438
- Page 439
- Page 440
- Page 441
- Page 442
- Page 443
- Page 444