Dragon Gods Reign

[Monster territory]

Explaining his situation and history to Alicia, Darganth was nervous as she worked through his words.

“But you're still my brother, or?” She finally asked after what felt like an eternity.

“Fully.” Darganth answered, internally glad at her reaction, “My life as Victor may only have been a part of my soul, but as the center that kept some connection between the shards of my soul it is as much me as before or after. My behavior may differ somewhat but fundamentally I am the same, I am still your brother and still see you as my sister.”

Listening to his words, Alicia fell into contemplation before suddenly smiling in relief.

“I can feel it, at your core you're still the Victor I knew. I don't care for anything else, I just don't want to lose you too.” She said,

“And you won't.” Darganth reassured her.

For the following hour, Darganth answered Alicia's numerous questions and told her of the multiverse, giving her a far less biased picture of this new environment she found herself in. Listening attentively, Alicia's mood slowly got better as she was drawn in by his stories.

By the end she was absentmindedly looking through the inn rooms window and into the distance, dreaming of one day visiting these places of wonder herself.

Quite sure what she was thinking about, Darganth said with a chuckle, “One day you can see such places for yourself.”

“Maybe.”

Shaking his head at her uncertainty, Darganth decided to surprise her a little. Walking to her side, he spread his magic through their immediate vicinity. As soon as he did the lackluster room became replaced with a seemingly endless expanse. Amidst the emptiness were spots of vibrant colors and shining specks in the distance which overshadowed everything near them.

Amidst this expanse, there were an uncountable number of beings, both those that traveled through it out of their own power as well as those that were huddled in all kinds of enchanted vessels. But the majority of both groups paled compared to a few.

Enormous dragons, serpents that could swallow planets, phoenixes whose talons could grab entire suns, and mobile bases build into massive moons or fragments of planets all flew through the Astral realm.

“Don't doubt yourself. You are my sister as well as the progenitor of a new part of the Void lineage, given enough time there is little that will remain out of your reach. Even those dragons you see there will one day bow before you.” Darganth said.

Nodding, Alicia turned to him with a newfound determination.

“So with enough effort, I can get back my previous life, or at least something close to it.” She asked full of hope.

“If you want. Practically nothing will limit you, you'll be free to do what you enjoy. And in this weak realm, we could go out tomorrow and no one will be able to stop us. Overthrow the seats, eradicate the vampires, you'll just have to as.” Darganth said.

Thinking for a moment, Alicia's eyes lit up as an idea formed in her head.

“I would have something I would like to do but I am far from ready.” She said.

“We're going to meet up with Allaire and Jennia first, either way, giving you a few weeks until you're ready won't hurt. But that can wait till tomorrow when you had some rest.” Darganth said.

“Yeah, it's been a while since I had some. But I can't wait to meet my sisters-in-law, so I would say that should be first then.”

“Gladly.” Darganth said.

Wishing Alicia a good night, Darganth made his way back to his room. Once there, he placed a couple formations and temporary enchantments at the door and windows before sitting down on the bed with an exhausted sigh.

For Alicia, he had put up a strong front to give her a sense of security, but in truth, he was nearly as spent as she was. The fight with the high order had taken quite a bit out of him, though partially because he got carried away and tried to end it as quickly as possible.

Prolonged usage of the flames of destruction, forcefully taking control over phoenix flames, as impure as they may have been, and an admittedly unnecessarily powerful shield to protect Alicia. All of this had piled up and though his mana pool had already partially recovered, the mental and physical exhaustion of pushing himself to his limits hadn't improved.

As a result, he felt tired for the first time in quite a bit as even the current him could fully sustain himself without sleep, even if he still chose to sleep nonetheless. But despite this, he didn't lie down to sleep and instead focused inwards on his heart.

Having devoured enough vampires and high order members during the fighting to push his mana the last bit needed to qualify for the third order as a mage, he started the process of advancing.

Holding out his hand, a small flame barely larger than a candle flickered to life above his palm. For a few seconds, the only movement in the room was Darganth's breathing and the flickering of the flames.

Suddenly the surrounding mana started congregating towards his spell, with the flame expanding rapidly in response. Just as it threatened to reach the ceiling and set it aflame, Darganth reduced the amount of mana he himself supplied to the spell.

In an instant the flame shrunk again, stabilizing only after reaching about four times its original size. By then Darganth was barely even supplying it mana, with the surrounding mana being the main source of fuel for the spell.

Keeping up this state for about a quarter-hour, Darganth's lips curled up into a smile when he felt his advancement to the third order of master magician being completed. Along with it, he could feel his thoughts speed up and his elemental affinities rising. Or rather they returned, as he was well aware that destroying one's power and again rising through the ranks didn't provide any more affinity.

Even though his case is unique and he had briefly hoped that it would be different, but that had quickly turned out to be a false hope. While his growth slowly returned his affinity towards their values at his peak, he quickly noticed from their progression that they would fall short by just the amount that a mage power base at the peak fourth rank, the point until which advancements would increase one's affinity, would give him.

Needing only a couple of seconds to get accustomed to his new state, Darganth felt a refreshing wave spreading through his body. With his exhaustion partially alleviated, he cast a series of protections around Alicia and her room before teleporting away.

Arriving above the city, he unfolded his wings from between his shoulders and slowly rose higher. Coming to a halt about fifteen kilometers above the ground, he just hovered there in his humanoid form and drew in as much mana as he could. Thanks to his advancement the speed and range from which he could do so increased massively, with the atmospheric mana storm providing enough mana to use both to their fullest.

When his mana reserves had filled up about halfway he started diverting some of them to his recovery. Using plant magic to speed up his recovery, its life properties washed away his physical exhaustion.

At the same time, he used psychic magic to speed up his mental recovery. This temporarily muddied his thoughts as parts of his mind fell into a sleep-like state. While spells to instantly recover mental strength existed, they were mostly temporary solutions designed for use in the midst of battle. Over time they would wear off and leave the target even worse off, making them only a stopgap solution.

For the following two hours, Darganth continued replenishing his mana until it was full. Only then did he slowly glide back towards the city, his body and mind fully recovered from the strain of the battle.

Amidst his descent, he noticed the commander flaring his mana like a massive signal. Realizing that he was looking in his direction, Darganth understood his intentions and decided to accept his request for a meeting.

Teleporting next to the man, he noticed the commander tensing up in surprise at his sudden appearance.

“Wynton if I overheard correctly, or?” Darganth asked.

“Uh, yes.” The commander replied, slightly surprised that Darganth suddenly addressed him by his name.

“A bit late but, Darganth.” Darganth said, holding out his hand.

Taking his handshake, Wynton seemed to be in thought for a moment before simply shrugging the thought off.

“Well, I doubt I need to deny my involvement from now on anyhow. Not like you left any survivor, nor do I think that the vampire lords that would act on it will be able to do so for much longer” He said.

“You work fast.” Darganth said with an approving nod.

“This is the minimum, else all it takes is one rogue vampire lord or a monster horde and the city is history.”

Nodding understandingly, Darganth turned his attention to the main matter at hand.

“So, why did you call me?” He asked.

“Intel and to express my gratitude. The latter is because Zoltan, the vampire lord you've encountered, just pulled all of his men out of the armies that will push the invaders out of the monster territory. Instead of a one-sided slaughter, it is likely that both sides will suffer massive losses, at least if nothing else happens.

There comes the first point into play. I doubt that this was the extent to which you meddled and I would give anything for a warning for what's about to come. But honestly, that isn't much and I'm only asking in the hopes that you'll just help us out of goodwill.”

Smiling at the bluntness of the request, Darganth took a moment to think about both it and the info Wynton gave him.

Reflecting on his conversation and fight with Zoltan, he slowly started to get an idea of why he ordered his troops to retreat. The picture this resulted in was that of an extremely opportunistic man, even by vampire standards, who was hard to dissuade from following a path once he decided on it.

From this, he also started to believe that Lucius's strength isn't as great as he had previously assumed, or at least that Zoltan believed a fight to be favorable to Darganth. The combination of this made him quite sure that a vampire civil war was brewing.

“Let's just say that there are likely to be some major changes in both sides leadership. Whether Lucius survives will depend largely on him, though I doubt he will stop hunting my sister. As for the seats, considering the way they govern I wouldn't bet on them remaining in power for long. Especially as Alicia he some unfinished business with them.” Darganth said.

“That…, Thank you.” Wynton said, surprised that he had gotten an answer.

“Even if just a little, you've helped me safe Alicia and I don't forget my debts.”

After a moment Darganth added with a laugh, “And if someone should ask, say it's my gift in return for you overlooking that I broke quite a few of the city's laws. Killing vampires, destroying a house in my fight with Zoltan, using magic to create copies of your currencies coins, pick one.”

Chuckling in response to this, Wynton just shook his head.

“That won't be necessary, but thanks for the idea. Still, we can offer anything in return just say it.” He said.

“Not just is the help you've given me more than enough, this city has nothing to offer that I would need or want. The gems in the vaults come the closest and would likely attract the attention of most younger dragons, but frankly, they are sup-par for what I am accustomed to. It's the same story with the rest, so no need to worry that I would feel duped.”

Accepting his decision with a nod, Wynton continued talking with Darganth for some time.

By the time he needed to return to work and said his farewells, it was already morning. Standing atop the wall, Darganth took one more look over the city before teleporting back to the inn. Knowing that Alicia was still asleep, he sat down on his bed and started absorbing mana while he waited for her to wake up.