by Virlyce
“Vur Besteck!” the emperor said, his booming voice cutting off Vur’s sentence. “You said you were the king of the dwarves?”
“That’s right,” Vur said with a nod. “But why are you a skele—”
“Ah!” the emperor said, clapping his hands together in front of his chest. “After witnessing your power, I, the emperor, Albert Vollmert, yield my throne to you.”
“Huh?” Vur asked. Then he nodded. “Okay. But why are you a skele—”
“Your Imperial Majesty!”
The emperor raised his hand to silence the nobles. “You’ve seen it for yourselves. The king of the dwarves is a dragon.” He raised his hands and lifted the crown off of his head. “There’s nothing shameful in surrendering to a dragon. If we don’t give him what he wants, the empire may even be completely destroyed.”
“We can fight him! The Fangs of Capitis can slay a dragon!”
“Silence!” the emperor shouted. “The Fangs of Capitis aren’t here. If you’re dissatisfied, then fight this dragon right here, right now. If you win, I’ll even give you the throne.”
The noble who shouted shut his mouth and stared at the ground, his fists trembling.
Vur tilted his head to the side and took the crown from the emperor’s offering hands. “Damnedism?” Vur asked as he put the crown on his head.
“Damnedism,” the emperor said with a nod.
“Huh. Auntie didn’t tell me she already conquered the humans,” Vur said. The rune on his forehead stopped glowing as he yawned and scratched his belly. “So I’ve been warring against Mr. Skelly?”
“That’s right,” the emperor said with a nod, ignoring the confused expressions of the nobles around them. “No wonder why we encountered so many setbacks. Mr. Skelly was getting upset that he had to fight fairly. And you said the mistress was here? She’s not being held hostage?”
“No? Auntie’s fine. She’s doing something to the people in the dwarven dungeons,” Vur said. “Why are all of you here anyway?”
The emperor’s face fell. “The previous continent was conquered by a tyrant with no regard for life, living or undead. There was nothing we could do, so we fled here to seek help from the mistress.”
“Huh?” Vur asked, his eyes widening. “What about Mom and Dad? And Grandpa and Prika?”
“Oh, your family’s a bit too scary for us to approach, so we didn’t ask them for help,” the emperor said. “And Prika’s the tyrant. She wants everyone to wear pink robes on Fridays. Even the undead! Can you believe that?”
“What? How evil!” Vur said. “You did right in coming here. I’ll go tell Auntie right away. But why couldn’t you just contact her the normal way?”
“We tried, but we could only reach Grimmoldesser,” the emperor said. “We received some strange orders to conquer everything. But it looks like you did it first.” He clapped his hand on Vur’s shoulder. “Good job.”
Vur nodded. “So this whole continent’s mine now?” he asked and looked around. The nobles were on the ground, kneeling towards him. “That was a lot easier than expected. Tell Mr. Skelly to host a big ceremony to unite the continent. Invite everyone: dwarves, humans, elves, fishmen. Everyone. One week from now at the city in the center of the continent—the one where you disappeared my dwarves. Make sure everyone knows I’m the host.”
“Understood,” the emperor said with a nod. “What about the holy dragons?”
“I’ll ask Lulu to do that,” Vur said. “I don’t think you’ll be able to ask them to come before being destroyed. Oh, invite the phoenix matriarch too.” He scratched his head. “Tafel should be able to find me now, right? She said I had to make a name for myself if we got separated. Maybe it’s not enough.”
33
Lindyss wiped the blood off of her sacrificial knife before stowing it into her pocket. The pendant hanging from her neck was glowing with a soft yellow light. Occasionally, a screaming face would flash on the pendant’s surface before disappearing. She rubbed it in between her thumb and forefinger before nodding to herself. “Finally done,” she said and yawned as she exited the dungeon. Shouts and curses spewed from outside as she approached the entrance. She glanced at the shattered window before exiting through the open doors. Outside, four armored figures were defending two bush-sized mushrooms from a gorilla with wings. Lindyss hesitated on the steps of the dungeon and scratched her head while looking for Tafel, but the demon was nowhere to be found. She cleared her throat. “What’s going on?”
“Ah! You’re finally out!” the gorilla said as it flapped its wings and flew into the air above Lindyss’. It shrank and took on the form of a fairy before falling onto the cursed elf’s head. Erin sprawled out her arms and legs while exhaling. She wrapped herself up in Lindyss’ hair and hissed at Lindyss’ approaching hand. “Don’t you dare smack me! I earned this.”
“What do you mean?” Lindyss asked, her hand pausing inches away from Erin.
“These six people were fighting with Tafel,” Erin said with a smug smile. “But Tafel teleported away, and then they wanted to enter the dungeon, so I stopped them. I did well, didn’t I? These people are super famous too. They’re the Fangs of Capitis, the strongest human adventurer party.”
“Six people?” Lindyss asked, counting the armored figures. They were standing motionless with their weapons aimed at her.
“I turned two of them into mushrooms,” Erin said with a nod. Her head drooped to one side as she sighed. “They’re going to change back soon. I’m almost out of mana.”
“Mushrooms,” Lindyss said with a blank expression. “I see. You didn’t turn me into a mushroom when we fought.”
“The requirements for you were too high,” Erin said with a snort. “Like turning a blade of grass into a dragon.”
“Oh.” Lindyss nodded. “Then they’re weaker than me?”
“Of course!” Erin puffed her chest out. “I’m the strongest fairy to ever exist. My best friend has to be just as incredible!”
“Oi,” Lindyss said, her expression darkening. “When did I become your best friend?” She turned her gaze onto the Fangs of Capitis. “Be honest. Is there something about me that attracts fairies? Maybe my hair reminds them of their birthflowers? Or is it my eyes?”
“Who, who are you?” Charlotte asked. “You’re definitely not from around here!” Layers upon layers of barriers wrapped around the Fangs as Charlotte gripped her pendant and shattered it. “We’re not looking for a fight.”
Lindyss blinked and tilted her head up, meeting Erin’s eyes. “The little girl’s scared of me,” she said with a faint smile on her lips. “How cute.”
Erin shuddered upon seeing Lindyss’ smile. “Hey,” she said. “You’re making a really scary face right now. I bet children will cry if they see you.”
Lindyss wet her lips with her tongue before narrowing her eyes at the Fangs. “It’s a shame we didn’t meet them earlier. I wouldn’t have had to go through so many dungeons if I had their souls,” she said. “And I just finished the necklace too.” A sigh escaped from her mouth as she shook her head. “What a waste.”
“Look out!” Erin shouted at the same time a banging noise resounded. A bullet flew through the air, shooting towards Lindyss’ forehead. Erin bit her lower lip and jumped off of Lindyss’ head, hovering in front of the elf’s face while crossing her arms in front of her chest, creating a blue shield of mana in front of her body. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the bullet, but after a few seconds passed, nothing had happened. Erin slowly opened one eye before dropping her arms to the side, the blue shield dissolving. A hand made of shadows was in front of her, holding onto the bullet. The fairy queen turned around and shivered at Lindyss’ glowering expression. Erin swallowed. “A-are you alright?”
“You’re an idiot,” Lindyss said, grabbing and placing Erin onto her head. “Why’d you do that?”
Erin stuck her tongue out. “I didn’t want to see you get shot, dummy!” She sighed as the two mushrooms by the Fangs revert
ed back into armored figures. “And I’m really out of mana now.”
Another bullet flew through the air, but like the first one, a hand made of shadows reached out and stopped it. Lindyss snorted at the Fangs as the ones with the whip and the axes charged at her. “I wasn’t going to hurt you,” she said. “But now I changed my mind.” She stomped her foot, and hundreds of black, translucent tendrils rose out of the Fangs of Capitis’ shadows, wrapping around their bodies. Charlotte let out a short scream as the tendrils dragged her into her own shadow like a giant squid dragging a boat into the sea. Another five shouts were cut off as the rest of the Fangs disappeared as well.
Erin stared at the space they had just occupied. “Uh….”
Lindyss dusted off her hands. Two bullets dropped to the ground as the shadows holding them up disappeared. “What?”
“What happened to them?”
Lindyss raised an eyebrow. “What happened to who?”
“To them. The Fangs.”
“I don’t know any Fangs,” Lindyss said. She patted the fairy’s head with her finger. “Are you sure you’re alright? Maybe you’re hallucinating after losing to Tafel in cards so many times.”
“Don’t play dumb with me!”
Lindyss yawned. “So what was the question?” she asked as she looked around. She spoke before Erin could respond. “And Tafel’s not here, so we’ll have to fly back to the capital by ourselves. Darn.” A pair of translucent purple wings sprouted out of her back as she sighed.
“What. Happened. To. The. Fangs?” Erin asked, tugging on Lindyss’ hair.
Lindyss scowled, but she didn’t swat the fairy away. “Their shadows ate them, didn’t you see?”
“I saw! Wh—”
“Then why are you asking?”
Erin’s nostrils flared. “You always do this! Would it kill you to be direct for once?”
Lindyss fell silent and rubbed her chin. She turned her head to the side. “Is that a dragon?”
Erin snorted. “You think you can distract me like that again? You can’t fool me more than once!”
“Whatever,” Lindyss said and rolled her eyes. She changed course and flew towards the black dot in the sky. “Grimmy! I know you can hear me!”
Erin squinted at the black dot before her eyes widened to the size of saucers. “What are you doing!?” she shouted and tugged on Lindyss’ hair. “That’s a cursed dragon! We’re going to die!”
“He’s Grimmy, my bestest friend,” Lindyss said with a smile. “Didn’t you say you wanted to meet him to show him why he should back off that position?”
“Y-your bestest friend is a dragon?” Erin asked, staring at Grimmy’s approaching figure. “Wait, wait! There’s a holy dragon right behind it! They’re going to fight each other; you have to run away or we’ll get caught in the crossfire!”
“Oh, that’s just Leila,” Lindyss said as she stopped and hovered in the air, waiting for Grimmy to get closer. “She’s Grimmy’s mate.”
“Mate? Have you gone insane from the pressure?” Erin asked, tugging on Lindyss’ ear. “Hurry and run away or we’ll die.” She let out a squeak as a shadow covered her.
“What are you doing here?” Grimmy asked as he grabbed Lindyss and placed her onto his head. “Having trouble finding the earthquake creator?”
Erin whimpered. “We’re dead. I hate dying.”
“A fairy?” Grimmy asked, rolling his eyes up to get a better look. “On your head? I thought you hated them.”
“I do,” Lindyss said. She pointed at Erin. “But this thing is more like an insect than a fairy.”
“Don’t refer to me as a thing!” Erin shouted. She flinched and stiffened before covering her mouth with her hands, hiding herself in Lindyss’ hair to avoid Grimmy’s eyes.
Grimmy chuckled before poking Lindyss’ side. “Well?”
“I was on my way to the dwarven capital. I made Vur a necklace from some souls,” Lindyss said. “Oh, he was also the cause of the earthquake.”
“Vur? What’s Vur doing here?” Grimmy asked, his brow furrowing. “Give me a second.” He paused in midair, his wings flapping to keep them aloft. A grunt escaped from his throat every so often. “Ah. That’s interesting. Vur conquered the dwarves and the humans, huh? I guess my righteous quest to pacify the dwarves is done.” He patted his chest. “Damn, I’m good. The moment I leave the cavern to get started, I finish my quest.”
“You finished your quest?” Leila asked as she caught up to Grimmy. “Did Lindyss’ skeletons really conquer the dwarves?”
“My skeletons?” Lindyss asked. “What do they have to do with the dwarves?” A wrinkle appeared on her forehead as she brought her hand to her ear. “Testing.”
Mistress! Mr. Skelly’s voice echoed in her head. You’re safe! How—
Lindyss lowered her hand and glared at Grimmy. “Explain,” she said. “Why did you bring them here? This is a continent run by holy dragons!” She stomped her foot as Grimmy laughed. “What are you laughing about? If that crazy old coot finds out I’m a necromancer, you won’t be able to use me as a shield anymore.”
“You’re a what?” Erin asked, her head popping out of Lindyss’ hair.
“Did you just call my mother a crazy old coot?” Leila asked. She rubbed her chin. “It is an apt description….”
“I didn’t bring your skeletons here,” Grimmy said. “They just came over, and I decided to use them to help me complete my quest.”
Lindyss rolled her eyes. “Yeah, they just crossed an ocean because they missed me. Okay.” Her brow furrowed. “Wait, you said Vur conquered the humans?”
“Yeah, go have a chat with your minions,” Grimmy said. He glanced at Leila while Lindyss preoccupied herself. “Vur’s hosting a party on this continent in a week, want to go? He even invited your mother.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to let my mom meet Vur,” Leila said, biting her lower lip. “She doesn’t like Nova’s kin, remember? And what’s Vur doing here? I thought he was at Fuselage.”
Grimmy shrugged before smiling. “Hypothetically speaking, if your mother met Vur and a fight broke out, who would you help?”
Leila snorted. “I’d mediate,” she said. “Instead of helping one side, we should break the fight up.”
“That’s no fun,” Grimmy said. “I thought for sure you’d choose to help Vur.”
“If his opponent wasn’t my mother, I would,” Leila said. She arched her neck and turned her head to the side. “Oh, Leo and Luke fled too.” She nodded. “Smart. Dad probably sacrificed himself as per usual.”
Erin groaned and grasped her hair with both her hands. She muttered, “Maybe if I don’t make a sound, they’ll forget I’m here. Even I, the great Erin Koller, can’t fight four dragons.”
***
“Eh? Vur’s hosting a party in a week?” Tafel asked, lifting her head. There was a skeleton in front of her that was wearing clothes to prevent its face from being seen. She dusted off her hands as she stood up, a set of silver runes in front of her on the ground. “Where is he now?”
“I don’t know,” the skeleton said, shaking its head. “He came to the imperial capital and destroyed the palace, claiming the humans’ territory for himself. Then he said he wanted to find a water elemental before the party started, so he left. I was sent to find you.”
“How’d you know where I was?” Tafel asked, her eyes narrowing at the skeleton. She glanced behind herself at the field of silver runes. Emile was playing around one, nudging rocks onto it, causing the rocks to vanish.
“The phoenix matriarch informed one of our men who informed me,” the skeleton said. “She had a feeling her son was here and that you’d be with him.”
“She can do that?” Emile asked, raising his head. “I didn’t know she could track me down. What if she found out about my secret hideout?” He blinked at Tafel. “I hide everything there.”
Tafel raised an eyebrow. “What do you even have to hide?”
“Percy’s stuff.
” Emile flew into the air and landed on Tafel’s shoulder. “But you can’t tell her that.”
“I don’t understand why you don’t like her,” Tafel said. “She seemed nice enough.”
“Well, she didn’t try to drown you,” Emile said, raising his beak into the air. He puffed his feathers out and closed his eyes while turning his head away.
“Did this drowning attempt occur before or after you started hiding her stuff?”
“After,” Emile said. “But that’s irrelevant. She’s a bully.”
The skeleton cleared its nonexistent throat. “You’ll be attending the party then?”
“Yes,” Tafel said. She muttered to herself, “Lulu’s probably going to be there as well, huh? Then the fight will occur then.” She grabbed the skeleton as it was turning to leave. “Get some people to help me transport these runes to the party venue. Dig them up, but don’t break them. And bury them in a spot with plenty of open space.”
“Sure, I’ll do that,” the skeleton said. “What are they for?”
“I’m going to use them to teach an adulterous dragon a lesson,” Tafel said, her eyes glinting.
***
“Are you done with your messages yet?” Alice asked, poking a dying campfire with a stick. It caught fire, and she waved it around a few times until it went out. Then she raised her head, peering at Mr. Skelly, who was sitting completely motionless. She lowered her head and continued poking the charcoal. “I guess not.” She sighed and stood up while grabbing her dirty dishes.
“I’ll take those for you,” a skeleton said and retrieved the plates. “The leader is busy communicating with the mistress, a dragon, and the fake emperor. Perhaps the war is nearing its end.”
“A dragon?” Alice asked. “I wasn’t told anything about a dragon.”
“Oh,” the skeleton said and tilted its skull. “Well, the mistress’ best friend is a dragon.”