The Simulacrum

Chapter 97

Part 1

Allrighty then. Let's take an account of what we accomplished so far.

Revealing Bel to the wider world, check.

Introducing the reformed Knights to the Draconians, check.

Bringing the grand elder's plans into the open, check.

Establishing Bel as a credible and serious threat, check.

Wrecking the arena and disrupting the tournament... well, it was a bonus objective at best, but a check is a check.

In fact, I technically accomplished all the optional side objectives as well, so all things considered, everything went suspiciously smoothly, surprise dragon notwithstanding. Ah, wait, let's not jinx it. Correction: 'everything proceeded just as planned'. That sounds about alright.

At this moment, there were only two more tasks remaining on my bucket-list: have Morgana and Agrawain graciously lose and get captured, so that they can be 'released from Bel of the Abyss's influence' and get integrated into our group, and to make an exit as Bel without appearing he's running away, as that would dent the larger-than-life villainous image I was building up for him.

Considering the line-up of combatants present, I was pretty sure the 'gracious defeat' part was going to sort itself out even without my intervention, so I figured I should probably focus on my own exit. First things first, according to my 'How to be a Diabolical Villain for Dummies' handbook, a proper villainous exit had to be either after everyone else was lying defeated on the ground, accompanied by haughty scoffs about how they were mere ants not even worthy to dirty the villain's hands, or by providing a reasonably mysterious motivation for leaving the engagement, hinting at a plot with a scope too large for the poor do-gooders to ever comprehend in the process.

The first option was kind of out of my reach, as while I could certainly fake the inscrutable super-boss template, actually making good on my casual threats was something else entirely. That left only the second option, meaning I needed a suitable excuse that would be in character for Bel. Though again, with how I played him, I was pretty sure that if I suddenly exclaimed 'Oh no, I must go! I left the gas on!', nobody here would even bat an eye at it.

That was, of course, barely more than a last-resort back-up-plan. I was running a class act here, so I naturally preferred something meatier. An excuse that informed the onlookers about Bel's character, without revealing too much; just enough to keep them guessing and him enigmatic enough to make them want to do so. Like this one.

"Ah, good day, missy!" I greeted Sahi with a little wave of my hand. "You're looking really spry today! I barely even recognized you; you look at least sixty years younger! Did you perchance go to the spa recently?"

Getting called out, Sahi visibly wavered for a moment.

"Do I, like, know you?"

"Don't you?" I asked back, head tilted in the guise of confusion. "Oh, right! That was another past, wasn't it? My deepest apologies for the confusion; it gets a little hard to keep track of time sometimes. It's all kinds of slippery and confusing and wibbly-wobbly, and don't even get me started on paradoxes. At one point, I was my own grandpa!" After yelling that, I paused for effect, then flatly added, "I got better."

I would've expected that Xiao would've at least attempted to run away by this point, but she remained completely still, like a scared little bunny. Glancing down, I got a sudden idea, and promptly grabbed her by the back of her collar. She let out a surprised yelp but didn't even struggle as I lifted her up. She was unexpectedly light, and it felt like I was holding a kitten by the scruff of its neck. She didn't look like she was in dire need of a sandwich, so I imagined she was feeling so light either due to my physical enchantments still running at full throttle, or the adrenaline. Probably a combination of the two.

In any case, I showed her off to Sahi and said, "Putting my family tree aside, I believe you were looking for a dragon, right? Lucky. I was just getting tired of playing babysitter, so... here, catch."

With that, I unceremoniously flung the girl towards her, and she reflexively reached out with her giant floaty hands to grab her out of the air before she landed.

"There we go. Now then, while I would love to stay and chat, I still have to find out the whereabouts of my box, so I should probably look for the grand elder again and..." I purposefully let my voice trail off, and after a long beat, I let out a soft 'Oooooooh!' and melodramatically hit my forehead with the heel of my right hand. "Of course! Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

After saying so, I Phased over to the increasingly baffled incognito arch-mage's side and pointed a finger at her face, forcing her to take a step back and defensively raise two of her floaty hands, while another two were cradling the shell-shocked odango-girl like she was an egg. Looking closely, maybe I overdid it with the Refuge in Audacity act this time?

After penning a mental note about making it up to her later, I extended my finger even further, and asked, "So, just to be perfectly clear: we did not, in fact, accidentally run into each other twenty-seven years, six months, and three days ago in Canada during the private concert of world-renowned balalaika-virtuoso Alexey Andreyev? Tall, scrawny guy? One glass eye? Doesn't ring any bells?" I didn't wait for her to respond, but instead, I Phased behind her and began my usual pacing routine while pinching my chin. "I see now! So the reason why my box disappeared was because this is the present of a past of the future where I already took it in the past of the present in my future!"

Sahi still didn't respond. In fact, everybody in the ruined amphitheatre remained deathly silent. I imagined it was because of raw confusion, so I didn't let the lack of audience reaction deter me.

"Oh, don't mind me, don't mind me. I'm just talking to myself. Speaking of which, it appears this whole misunderstanding might have been caused by future me, so I have to go and talk to myself. It was a pleasure meeting you all today, it was a great show." At this stage, I gave a low, theatrical bow, with one arm extended behind me, and after holding the pose for a second, I glanced up and concluded with, "I can't wait to meet all of you again last week. Ciao!"

And with that happy-go-lucky finish, I immediately left the underground building and reappeared in the secret base... which, on second thought, was another underground building. Sometimes this island made me feel like a freaking meerkat.

Subterranean animal analogies aside, I stopped bowing and stretched my back with a groan.

"Chief? Are you okay?" Judy asked, pulling her communicator glasses down to glance at me.

We were in the same room where we started the morning, and my dearest assistant was sitting at the far corner, while the Fauns occupied the other end, playing some kind of card game around a table. The two parties kept their distance, as Judy was still uncomfortable around the brawny ram-men, and since they knew it, Brang and the rest tried to avoid unnerving her.

On a side note, Karukk was probably winning, as he looked reluctant to leave the game, yet he was forced to when the rest stood up to salute me. I returned the greetings with a curt nod, and then took the mask off to answer.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just tired." I tried flashing a reassuring smile at Judy, but she only gave me a blank stare in return. "What?"

"Chief, there's something wrong with your face."

"Wrong with my... Oh, right. Give me a moment." I hastily put on the mask again and rubbed it against my face, then after taking it off a second time, I asked, "How about now?"

"Back to normal, but what was that?" she inquired with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance, going as far as to get up and walk over to me just to take a closer look.

"Just a back-up-plan I never got around to use," I responded dispassionately and handed the mask over to Hrul, who then gave me a cold bottle of sports drink, which I accepted quite enthusiastically. "Oh, thanks. I was actually feeling a touch parched."

The Faun flashed me a grin, and he was followed up by Rabom handing me a warm towel to wipe my face.

"Was taking a dragon breath head-on also part of the plan?" Judy asked in a critical tone, and I could only shrug.

"Not exactly, but it gave me the best power move I could've asked for. I bet everyone was freaking out when they saw me tanking it without a sweat."

"Chief, do you have any idea how much I was 'freaking out' when you were covered in that beam?"

"Why though? I thought we already established that my middle name stands for 'safety'," I jested and gave the towel back to Rabom. "You should know I wouldn't have done something that could've gotten me injured. If Bel got an arm blown off, and then I came out of the fake duel with Naoren with an arm missing, everyone would immediately put two and two together. Also, it's not like this was the first time I did something like this either, so the whole thing was perfectly under control."

"I don't like the fact that you use exploding hands as an example," my girlfriend grumbled as she checked my body with her hands, and only when she didn't find a single scratch did she finally relax a little. "The next time you decide to do something like that, could you at least warn me ahead of time?"

"I would've, but it was something of a spur-of-the-moment idea," I admitted, not sounding defensive or sheepish at all under her scrutiny. "You have to admit though; it served as a great establishing moment for Bel."

"It was certainly a striking display," she acknowledged it, though grudgingly, and after taking a sip from my drink, I pressed my advantage.

"Yep! I'm sure deflecting a fancy dragon fire beam left quite the impression on Roland and co., with all the light and collateral damage."

"And the wings," Judy added.

"Yes and the the what?" I blurted out after my brain actually processed what she said.

"The wings you had at the time," she clarified, and I probably looked as confused as I felt, as she soon clarified, "After you took the dragon breath head on, you had a pair of transparent black wings."

"Feathered or membraned wings?"

"I can't say for sure. They were hard to see from Penelope's point of view." She paused here, but only for a second. "I guess that means they weren't something you made with an artifact."

"Nope."

"Then where did they come from?"

"That's a very good question," I answered, mildly stumped, but then I glanced over my shoulder. "Do I still have them?"

Judy shook her head.

"No. They faded out of sight after a few seconds, around the time Saahira came out of the portal."

Hearing that, I stopped trying to look at my shoulder blades, and instead we both fell silent for a good while.

"That's weird," I gave my scientific evaluation of the reported phenomena.

"Very weird," Judy agreed in her usual deadpan tone, though I could still hear a tinge of uncertainty in it. "Maybe the Narrative is playing along with your act and you're becoming an Abyssal Lord?"

That stray joke immediately perked up every Faun ear in the room, so I hastily shook my head.

"Not funny."

"Wasn't meant to be. You have to admit though; Lord Leonard of House Dunning has a nice ring to it."

"It does," one of the Fauns commented in the back, but fell silent after I sent a disapproving glance their way.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. It might've been a side-effect from the attack, or due to the destruction of the spear."

"True. We need to run some experiments first," she agreed, only to then firmly declare, "Without putting you in the way of dragon breaths, of course."

"Naturally," I agreed, lest I invoked my worrywart girlfriend's fury. She seemed satisfied enough with that, and moved on to the next question.

"Are you sure it was fine to let the fake spear be destroyed like that? It took a lot of time and effort to make it, didn't it?"

"Well, you see" I murmured, momentarily torn about whether or not I should let her in on the secret, but in the end, I couldn't help myself and gestured for her to lean closer and whispered, "That wasn't the fake one."

At first, she only blinked in incomprehension, but then her eyes settled into a flat stare.

"You brought the original Ascalon with you."

I nodded.

"And you used Xiao's dragon fire to destroy it."

I nodded again, this time with a proud smile.

"You are aware that Sebastian is going to flay you for that, right?"

"Only if he finds out, and he shouldn't so long as you keep this between the two of us."

My dearest assistant continued to give me her deadpannest stare for a few more seconds, but eventually she still rolled her eyes with a defeated sigh.

"Was that actually part of the plan from the beginning?"

"Believe it or not, it was," I responded with a grin. "I mean, the whole 'melting by dragon fire' part was coincidental, but I made the fake spear with the intention of switching the real one out with it from the start." By this point she resumed to give me a critical look, so now it was my turn to roll my eyes and explain, "Oh, come on Dormouse. We both know that that thing was a ticking time bomb in the making."

"It was also, as you called it, a plot device. Don't you think that destroying it would cause ripples in the Narrative?"

"Honestly, between that possibility, and it being used against Elly, or our in-laws, I can't say I care much for Narrative ramifications."

"What about Sebastian?"

"What about him? He'll get 'his' spear back, and unless he's willing to stab his own foot to test it, he'll never learn that his Ascalon is just a well-made but considerably less dangerous replica. He's happy, I'm happy, everyone's happy."

This time Judy didn't even bother to roll her eyes and immediately went for a facepalm.

"Just for the record, what was your plan for destroying the spear if Xiao didn't come along?"

"Funny you should ask. Did you know that Critias has an active volcano at the southwestern tip of the island that regularly spews lava?" I let the mental image of me chucking the stupid thing into the crater while cackling maniacally hang in the air for a while, only to then reveal, "Nah, just kidding. I originally wanted to break the spear with my bare hands to demonstrate Bel's power, but I didn't have the opportunity."

"Bare hands?"

"I have an enchantment for that."

" Of course you do." I expected her to keep drilling me, but then she tapped the temple of her party glasses and said, "Joshua is calling me. I'll be right back with you."

"No need to rush," I said, and after finishing my sports drink, I casually grabbed a chair from the Fauns' table and sat down next to her. "I plan to watch how the finale unfolds anyway, so let's continue this conversation after that."

"Roger."

With that, Judy focused her attention on her communicator. As for me, I only realized how tired my legs felt after I sat down, probably due to all the running around I did while keeping Xiao busy, so I slouched down in my seat and closed my eyes. My part was done, so it was time to see how the others would go about finishing the show.

The amphitheatre finally looked its supposed age; namely, a ruin. Good riddance, I say.

In the span of less than an hour, about a third of the seats got demolished, there were three huge holes in the dividing wall around the arena, and the fighting pit itself was wrecked as well, with multiple craters and trenches gouged into it. From a distance, it almost looked like a recently shelled battlefield from a world war documentary, made even more striking by the long shadows the combatants cast on the ground.

Speaking of which, things were pretty dim, and I quickly realized that it was because only one of the four floodlights at the corners was in still in working condition. One of them was destroyed by Xiao while she was chasing me around, but I had no idea what happened to the other two. Well, on the bright side, at least there was still some lighting, so I could still see the action. Or rather, the lack thereof, as everyone was too busy talking.

"Snap out of it, Sister Morgana! This is wrong!"

"Right and wrong are but in the eyes of the beholder."

"Yes! I mean, no! I know you're only talking in platitudes when you realize you're in the wrong, so you must also know this is meaningless! Please put down your weapon!"

"I cannot do that until I receive the order," Ms. Gorgon replied flatly, and I could practically see the veins bulging on Mr. Eagle's forehead.

"But Bel of the Abyss already left!"

"Just because the general abandoned the battlefield, it doesn't mean the soldier doesn't have a duty to their"

"Please, stop that, and listen to me!"

Exhibit A: Arnwald doing his best to try and talk Ms. Gorgon out of fighting, for the second time. Unfortunately for him, my orders required them to lose properly, so a peaceful surrender was out of the question.

As for the rest, Sahi was unanimously elected as the babysitter, looking after the exhausted odango girl, and while Duncan and Arnwald kept Raven Boy and Morgana busy, the rest took a step back and clustered around Josh. Let's make that our Exhibit B, shall we?

"Are you sure about this?"

Roland's question was the first thing I heard when I switched my POV over to their little huddle, and Josh responded with a determined nod.

"Yes. We had already seen something similar in the past, and those things around their necks look identical."

"Oh?" I uttered in surprise and exited Far Sight. "Hey, Dormouse?"

Judy raised a finger to quiet me, and after giving a few quick instructions, she pulled her glasses down.

"Yes?"

"I was just curious; did you give any hints about the fake mind control chokers to Josh?"

"No. He noticed them on his own."

"Really? Attaboy."

My dear assistant let out an ambivalent hum and gave me a glance that was asking if I wanted anything else, and when waved my hand, she put her glasses back on and resumed her job as operations control. Following her lead, I also returned to the scene.

" 'Main 'en, Graw! Jist gezz back mah sword, will ye?"

"I told you I can't! Also, don't call me Graw!" Raven Boy growled back, and while both he and Duncan were yelling from the top of their lungs, plus waving their weapons over their heads, neither of them made any move on the other. Anyhow, I only wanted to take a glance at them to see what they were up to, so I quickly moved back to Exhibit B, where Roland and Josh were still discussing what to do.

" numerical advantage, but restraining an opponent without injuring them is much harder than killing them," Mr. Griffon explained, but our resident protagonist stood his ground.

"It's still six against two. Also, we only need to get close enough to tear those things off their necks."

"Whatever you do, decide quickly," Elly commented, her eyes restlessly scanning the perimeter. "We can't know when Bel would return."

She, of course, didn't know I was playing Bel, but she was well aware that the situation was under my control, so while she remained vigilant, she was also fairly unruffled by the recent developments. Also, at the risk of going on a side-track, I had to note that she looked pretty damn amazing at the moment. To be fair, the last time I saw her fully transformed, it was during her fight with Snowy way back when, and at that time I didn't exactly have the time to pay close attention to her appearance due to the supernatural being dropped on my head like an ACME anvil, but I didn't recall her looking that cool.

The way her horns formed a small crown looked really nice, and the visible scales gave her a tough yet still cute appearance. I wondered; would she let me touch them if I asked nicely? I never had the chance before, but looking at their texture, I couldn't help but feel curious about how they felt to the touch. I was also curious about her tail, but we already established that it was something of a secondary sexual characteristic for Draconians but then again, considering our relationship, maybe asking about it was no longer a big faux pa?

I mean, we were already doing the sexy business, so wait. Now that I thought about it, couldn't I just ask her to transform when we were doing it? That way I'd have the perfect excuse to touch and poke her wherever I wanted. Though again, Elly was already a pretty huggy kind of girl during lewding, and I wasn't sure those grabs and leg-locks were safe when talons and horns were added to the mix.

"That's right! We have to act quickly and resolve this before he returns," Josh declared, jolting my brain back onto the right track after that small detour, though not before making a mental note about discussing the logistics of this idea later.

Anyhow, ignoring my extra-hot girlfriend, for the time being, I shifted my attention over to Roland. He seemed to seriously consider Josh's words, and ultimately uttered, "Fine. We give your idea a try." He raised his hand and made a couple of gestures with his fingers. I didn't understand them, and neither did Josh, but it was something our Knights came up with by combining their own hand signals with the Fauns'.

"Joshua, we are going to create an opportunity for you. Make use of it."

He nodded, and after locking eyes for a second, Roland glanced at Morgana and Arnwald, still locked in a one-sided argument, and made a couple of new hand gestures before heading their way, closely followed by Penny and the princess. Josh lagged behind the rest, checking the blood pills he still had on him, but then he hastily caught up to them.

Without warning, Mr. Griffon broke into a dash and drew his saber. It didn't escape Morgana's notice, and she broke away from Arnwald to face the incoming assault. A moment, later, a purple light flashed behind her visor, and the charging Knight stumbled after being momentarily paralyzed. Luckily, he managed to break his fall into a roll, and the two girls rushed past him.

Since Penny specialized in speed, she naturally reached Morgana first, forcing her to look away from Roland and focus on her. She thrust her blade at Morgana's shoulder, but her strike was easily parried by the older woman. By the looks of it, it wasn't something my sister put all her weight into, as she quickly withdrew her sword and pivoted on her heel, continuing to dash towards Raven Boy instead.

In the meantime, Elly used the opening Penny provided by attempting to knock Morgana over with a shoulder charge, but her opponent remained steady under pressure and stepped back while simultaneously swinging her large, two-handed weapon around. Threatened by the incoming blade, the princess interrupted her charge, forcefully changing her direction by hopping back to get out of range. For a moment, it seemed Morgana was considering whether or not she should follow after her, but then the whole area was suddenly covered by a cloud of sand, kicked up by a wind-ball Josh threw at her feet.

It naturally stopped Morgana in her tracks for a second, but she wasn't the only one who was blinded by the maneuver, as both Elly and Roland had to take a step back. That was to be expected; while Josh really liked this trick, and throwing dust into the eyes of a whole group of attackers to distract them was a sound idea, it was pretty counter-intuitive when you were part of the group with the numbers facing off against a single opponent.

That said, it still caused Morgana to momentarily pause to reorient herself, and while the other two distanced themselves from the epicenter of the sandy explosion, Josh only squinted his eyes and pushed right through, aiming at the Gorgon Knight's neck. Regrettably, for him, at this point she was running her armor in the red, so even with the distraction, she could easily dodge the hand grabbing at her. By the looks of it, the guy only considered things this far, as he didn't seem to have any follow-up moves, while Morgana already raised her blade over her head. Then, she hesitated.

I couldn't blame her. This was one of the issues about fighting to lose, but not too easily. She had to fight back, but she had a freaking flamberge to do it with, and it wasn't exactly a non-lethal implement. I told her that the Uniformers could take a whack or two no problem, but she probably wasn't so sure about Josh's Magiformer.

"Joshua, retreat!" Arnwald exclaimed, followed by an arrow.

Morgana reflexively swatted the projectile out of the air, which gave Josh the opportunity to slip away. However, while doing that, his left hand lashed out with a semi-transparent green-ish tendril that grabbed Morgana's ankle, and while it didn't trip her, the unexpected cheap shot imbalanced her long enough for Roland to enter the fray and occupy her attention. In the meantime, Josh leaped back while still holding his index and middle fingers out, and as he swung his hand, the tendril struck Morgana on her leg, though she didn't seem to notice, and it harmlessly bounced off her greaves.

So was this some kind of magical whip? It did kind of remind me of what Crowey used back during the school incident, but it wasn't very effective. I mean, sure, when it entangled Morgana's leg, it was a good distraction, but it was probably just a fluke, and whips weren't a great melee weapon to begin with. Josh didn't seem too experienced with it either, as after a few further futile attempts to trip the Gorgon Knight, he retracted it. Probably for the better, as it hindered Roland more than it did Morgana.

Was this a new spell that Snowy taught him, or did he come up with it on his own? He was the protagonist, so the latter wasn't entirely out of the question. In fact, if there ever was a time to reveal the super-secret hidden card special technique he mastered off-screen, this was it.

"Ah!"

And then, Morgana used her paralyzing gaze on the guy while he tried to circle behind her, and he face-planted into the sand like an especially ungainly sack of potatoes.

Apparently, this wasn't the time. I was sure he was saving his secret technique for the tournament. Certainly.

I mean, if there was even going to be one after this whole kerfuffle, of course. I didn't expect collateral damage to get this bad, but with the arena getting wrecked, and at least one contestant getting ever-so-slightly concussed, there was a good chance the whole tournament would get canceled. At least, I hoped it would, but it was best not to count my chickens before they hatched.

But back to the action: since she only glanced at him, Josh was only paralyzed for a moment, meaning he quickly got back onto his feet. In the meantime, Roland continued to pressure her with quick slashes. Considering he had a cavalry saber, and his opponent wielded a flamberge, he should've had a speed advantage, but due to the difference in specs due to Morgana wearing an authentic Knight armor, she could easily keep up with him. If not for Arnwald occasionally letting an arrow loose in her general direction, she could've probably turned things around by this point.

By the looks of it, Roland's plan was to keep applying pressure on Ms. Gorgon, waiting for the moment the armor's overdrive state ended, and then subduing her while she was weakened. I was sure the irony of using the exact same tactics Draconians developed to fight the Knights of the No Longer Existing Name didn't escape him, yet he kept on fighting with the same, stoic expression.

While Josh was still a wild card, things have stabilized on this side, so I shifted my point of view over to Penny's corner, where she was running circles around Raven Boy. As in, literally. With her hand extended behind her back and everything.

" Hey, Dormouse? Can you tell me what my sister is doing?"

It took a second for my dear assistant to get back to me, but then she pulled her glasses down and said, "She's running in circles around her opponent."

"I can see that," I grumbled. "I want to know why she's doing that."

"Then you should've asked that the first time," she responded flatly.

"Fair enough, but that still doesn't answer my question."

"In my professional opinion, she must be trying to confuse him by leaving behind after-images." She paused for a beat, then shrugged. "Or maybe not. It would at least explain why she's ninja-running."

"That was the next thing I was meaning to"

"Sorry Chief, I've got a call," she interrupted me and pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose again, and after blinking twice, I exhaled a shallow sigh and returned to the scene as well.

"Hyah!" my sister yelled out in a spirited voice and wait, what the actual hell? Did she just throw her sword into the air?

I wasn't the only one who was confused by that, as Raven Boy's eyes also opened wide in surprise and he tried to take a step back, only to halt when he noticed that he was boxed in by Duncan on one side and Elly, apparently deeming the other side of the battlefield covered enough, approaching from the other.

As such, my knightly sister had all the time in the world to throw her sword into the air, and then turn around in three hundred and sixty degrees before oh. Oh no.

"Please tell me this isn't what I think it"

"Hisho Taika ku-ta-chi?"

Penny's uncertain yell cut my whispers off, and the moment she grabbed her sword out of the air, she slashed downwards diagonally, hitting the sword Raven Boy raised in defence just under the cross guard and nearly tearing it out of his hand in a move that was a mirror image of one of her stupidly impractical moves!

Mountain Girl! What have you wrought!

Melodramatics aside, the attack pushed the armored guy back a few steps, right into the way of Elly's incoming punch. He reflexively swung his blade at the approaching fist, but his stance was already a mess, so it had little to no strength behind it. My girlfriend didn't have time to dodge out of the way, so instead, she changed the direction of her punch, meeting the blade with the back of her scaled wrist. When the two collided, it sounded like a pickaxe hitting solid rock, and the princess followed it up by opening her mouth wide.

The sand of the arena shook as she released a short roar, the air around her face tinted with red light, and while it wasn't exactly dragon fire, I had a feeling it was at least adjacent. I've never seen her do something like that before; in the past, she always had to charge her breath attack for at least a second or two, but this one was instantaneous. That said, it didn't have the same power either, as even though the blast hit Raven Boy right in the chest, it only sent him staggering back a few steps, without any visible dent in his armor.

I wondered; was this her secret trump card for the tournament, or was she simply trying to imitate Xiao's previous display? If the former, then good, but if the latter, I was going to remind her that being competitive wasn't inherently bad, but she didn't need to try and one-up a freaking dragon.

Meanwhile, after getting hand-shocked twice in quick succession, the concussive blast finally made Raven Boy unable to hold onto the heavy executioner's blade, and it practically flew out of his grasp. A second earlier Duncan looked like he was about to lop his head off with his axe, but when that happened, the big guy's eyes lit up and he all but threw his own weapon to the side in his rush to grab the fallen sword.

"Mines!"

Diving forward, he snatched the blade up even before it would've had a chance to stop sliding on the ground, and held it to his chest like it was his baby. It would've been comical, if not for the fact that I could still distinctly remember the dude chucking the same 'precious heirloom' at my face (well, Bel's face, but same difference), which made it more irritating than anything.

Realizing he had lost his weapon, Raven Boy hastily reached for his bag and procured a short sword, followed by a kite shield. He was seemingly planning to play things defensively, and just in time, as Elly rushed in again. Planting her feet, she oh, geez. She did one of those awkward double-fist punches.

I mean, it was semi-effective, as even though it hit him on the shield, it had enough weight behind it to push the guy back, but that was just her Draconian physique doing all the heavy lifting. Sure, I knew she practiced martial arts, but this was just impractical and only looked cool, kind of like Rinne's special techniques.

Speaking of which, I held my breath and Penny followed the princess up by rushing in and delivering three or four quick, light strikes on his shield, and only exhaled when I was sure she wasn't going to try and imitate Mountain Girl again. I seriously had to sit down with her later

Anyhow, it was only at this point that I realized they were actively trying to push the guy up against a fairly unscathed section of the wall around the arena, though I didn't know why. Wouldn't that just make it easier for him to defend himself with his back to a literal wall? Maybe they had a plan, I figured, so I waited for it to materialize.

It didn't. What did was a large floating fist sucker-punching Raven Boy right through the shield and sending him tumbling.

"Score! How do you like that for a surprise!" a certain brown girl exclaimed, floating a couple of meters high in the air with her custom robes billowing around her.

"Sahi!" came the next new voice from the mouth of a heaving Armband Guy arriving at the scene, looking like he just ran a marathon. He paused to catch his breath, then adjusted his glasses and said, "Come down, please. I can see your underwear from here."

"And, like, why's that a problem?" the incognito arch-mage responded with an impish grin.

"Where's Xiao?" the princess cut in, and after glancing at her, Sahi shrugged.

"I left her with Amelia. I'm, like, totally bad with kids. Like, the worst. Literally."

Before anyone could figure out what she meant by that, Raven Boy managed to rise to his feet, but the moment Sahi noticed that, three more hands materialized around her and started raining punches on him, and while he was still standing, it was only a question of time before that would change.

Raven Boy getting taken out first wasn't unexpected at all, considering he was still recuperating from an injury, plus his Knightly gimmick was hard-countered by Penny's anti-Purpler-Zone artifact, so Sahi's intervention only sped up the process. On the other hand, Morgana was still holding strong, calmly maintaining a defensive stance and blocking our Mr. Griffon's attempts to corner her, while Josh used pretty much every trick up his sleeve to remain a consistent thorn in her side.

"Sister Morgana! Please, stop this madness!" Arnwald pleaded with her, yet she continued to stoically duel Roland, completely ignoring him. Honestly, Mr. Eagle's insistence on trying to talk sense into her was getting a little old at this point, but considering his personality, it was par for the course.

I wasn't the only one who noticed that he was doing more talking that shooting, as Josh circled around the duo and came to a sliding stop by the side of the archer Knight.

"Please hold onto this."

"Hm? What is this?" Arnwald blurted out in surprise, yet he still accepted the small capsule.

"The other guy is about to go down for the count," Josh spoke as he hopped in place as if limbering up before exercise. "If we don't end this soon, I'm sure she's going to escape."

"Sister Morgana wouldn't leave Agrawain behind," the older Knight objected, and Josh awarded him with one of his skeptically raised brows.

"It doesn't matter what she would or wouldn't do. If I'm right, she's controlled the same way as Lili was by her brother, and we don't know what kind of orders she had received." While saying so, he continued to hop, while also making strange gestures with his hands. "If she's ordered to run away if things started looking hopeless, we might lose our chance to save her. We have to act now."

"I think I see what you're meaning, but why are you doing that?"

"This?" Josh muttered while pointing at his feet. "My transformation time is almost up, and I'm burning my remaining mana to" Just as he said that, his Magiformer outfit lit up, and he let out a relieved, "Oh, there we go. Just in time."

The light grew into a flash, and a blink of an eye later he was standing in his gym clothes. Without waiting for the glow around him to subside, Josh grabbed the Magiformer on his wrist and unbuckled it, then handed it over to Arnwald.

"Now hold this, please."

Before Mr. Eagle could even respond, Josh snatched and swallowed the pill in his hand, and then pushed the Magiformer into it and broke into a dash. As he ran, his whole body began to swell. Starting from the tips of his fingers, his hands were covered by white scales, and from his head grew a pair of elaborate horns. The transformation was finished by a thin lizard's tail poking out from his back, tearing his gym shirt in the process, and before Morgana could even react, he body-slammed her with all of his momentum.

I was of two minds about this. On one hand, it was true that the Magiformers suppressed Josh's transformations, lowering his power output in exchange for defense and modesty. The same applied to Elly, and she was still occasionally pestering me about making a new Uniformer for her that didn't stifle her so much. In that regard, I could see what he was trying to do; use all his strength in one last hurrah to catch Morgana before she could theoretically get away.

Of course, this had one glaring issue: she wasn't going to. Not to mention, once Raven Boy was properly captured, the second group, with Sahi in tow, could just come over and resolve this battle in under a minute, but I figured he just really, really wanted to contribute. That I didn't mind.

No, really. Rushing into danger while sacrificing defense for a small power boost was a pretty protagonist-y thing to do, and since it was in the name of quickly resolving the current 'conflict', him dramatically revealing his Draconian transformation was also deliciously tropey. At this rate, Josh might actually grow into his protagonist role. At the very least, he got the hotheaded shounen archetype down pat. So go, Josh. Go, go, go.

Meanwhile, after body-checking Morgana, Josh wrapped his arms around her, pinning both her arms to her torso. She, naturally, did her best to break free and push him off, yet despite her best efforts, Josh held onto her waist like an iron vise, and bay all appearances, he was preparing to suplex her. Normally I would've commented on the impracticality of the move here, but then he froze mid-motion as she used her paralyzing gaze on him. It only lasted for a moment though, as Roland caught up to them, forcing her to look at him instead, freezing him in his tracks.

This, of course, left Josh free to move, and since his footing was no longer ideal for throwing, I could see a flash of inspiration in his eyes, and without any warning, he stuck his head forward and bit down at Morgana's neck.

For the first time since the beginning of the battle, she let out a surprised yelp. Her shock only lasted for a split second though, as right after that she headbutted Josh with all her might. The impact caused the guy to lose his grip on her, and once her arms were free, she raised her sword to ward off a strike from Roland while simultaneously kneeing Josh in the abdomen in a move that should've completely unbalanced her, yet she remained firm like an oak tree.

Our resident protagonist, on the other hand, let out a pained hiss and fell over, landing on his back with a painful-sounding thud. Then, an unexpected sound. Josh spat on the ground, and when she did, Morgana automatically raised her hand to her neck.

On the sand, near Josh's head, there was a torn black choker.

The Gorgon Knight's eyes blinked, but it didn't take her long to figure out what happened and remember my instructions, at which point she gripped her flamberge with both hands and decisively stabbed it into the ground right in front of her feet.

"I surrender."

"Sister Morgana? Are you all right?" Arnwald rushed forth the moment she raised her palms, going as far as throwing his bow to the side in the process.

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Josh grumbled on the ground, eliciting a relieved chuckle from Roland, and after sheathing his sword, he walked over to help him up.

"That was a smart move," he told him once Josh rose to his feet. "Smart, but reckless."

"Well, it worked," my friend responded awkwardly, and Mr. Griffon wordlessly patted him on the back, only to pause with a contemplative tilt of his head.

"By the way, since when were you a Draconian?"

"I'm not." Seeing Roland's eyes narrow behind his visor, Josh let out a sigh and uttered a morose, "It's complicated."

"Ow! Stop! I surrender too!" Raven Boy cried out, currently pinned to the ground by three of Sahi's hands. The brown girl, no longer floating but instead standing by Armband Guy's side, with the latter's outer robe draped over her, glanced over at the already resolved side of the arena, and when her eyes met with Josh's, the guy immediately crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Don't let him go! Hold him down; we need to remove the thing from his neck first!"

"You can do that after you stopped twisting my arm!"

"Don't listen to him, keep him pinned!" Josh shouted as he made his way over to that side in a light jog, and I chose this point to end the Far Sight session and return to my body.

"Well, that was about as chaotic as expected," I murmured as I jumped to my feet.

"Are you leaving?" Judy inquired right away, and some consideration later, I nodded.

"Yeah. I better go and check ok Naoren and Mountain Girl."

"Don't forget to change your clothes."

"I wasn't going to, but thanks for the reminder."

She nodded, but a second later she was already busy coordinating the mop-up operation, so I left her to her work and headed over to the corner of the room, where the Fauns had already prepared a damaged version of the clothes I was wearing when I entered into the Green Zone with Naoren. After quickly changing, I gave Judy a goodbye peck on the top of her head, and then promptly Phased over to the duel venue.

" still think that Guan Yu should be ranked above Lu Bu," Naoren stated between two elegant sips from his cat-printed travel cup.

"With all due respect, Naoren-san, that's absolute hugwish!" Rinne responded quite heatedly.

"She meant 'hogwash'," I commented just a tad wearily, surprising both of them.

Since the Green Zone covered the entirety of the city district, there was no reason they had to stay outside, so the two of them settled down in the pagoda hotel's caf, and based on the empty lunch boxes and ice cream buckets in front of them, they had a great time.

"Welcome back, Leonard-dono!" Rinne greeted me and wanted to get up, but I gestured for her to stay put.

"Did things go according to plan?" the bespectacled clan-head asked without batting an eye, and I let out an ambivalent 'Eh'.

"Nothing ever goes according to plan, but the outcome was pretty decent. There were a few unexpected variables, like a coup d'tat, but everything got resolved."

"Excuse me?" Naoren raised his voice, so I sighed and gave him the footnotes version of events, leaving out the confidential parts and focusing on how our Knights did a great job and there were no serious injuries.

"So grand elder Xinji was doing something like that behind my back" he mused as I reached the end of my explanation, and he slowly shook his head. "The grand elder was always a man who put the good of the clan before his own reputation, but I did not expect him to use himself as bait to draw out the dissenters He's truly a man of integrity and foresight."

"What? Were you listening to what I just told you?" I blurted out, and this time he nodded. "Please don't tell me you actually believe his excuses? I even made sure to make them sound even more ridiculous than they already were!"

"I took that into consideration, yes," Naoren said with an awkward smile.

He completely ignored my critical gaze, so I concluded the topic with, "Whatever. Once everyone's interrogated, the truth will come out eventually, and then I will look at your unwarranted optimism and laugh."

"I doubt it will come to that."

"Just you wait," I fumed, then asked, "Also, were you aware that Xiao was a full-on dragon?"

"I It was supposed to be a closely guarded secret, but I believe at this point it's impossible to hide it anymore." He paused for a beat, then exhaled a long sigh and added, "I told the grand elder that letting her compete in this tournament was too early, but he insisted."

"In any case, the cat's out of the bag now, so make sure you protect her well."

"From whom?" he threw a surprise question at me, then clarified it with, "I was under the impression that we are about to sign a peace treaty with the Knights."

"I don't mean them, obviously," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm talking about the suitors from the other families."

"Oh. You're right. Don't worry, I'll take care of them." I purposefully ignored the vicious glint in the man's eyes. It only lasted for a moment though, as he then asked, "I should make an official announcement first. Are we leaving?"

"Nah, it's still a little early. Let's wait an extra hour or two to make our alibi air-tight."

"You mean your alibi."

I rolled my eyes once again, but before either of us could say a word, Rinne suddenly spoke up.

"In that case, we can continue our previous discussion!"

" Actually, I'm also a little curious about what you two were talking about before I arrived," I noted, and while there were many much more important things to discuss, I figured we'd have to go through them later, in the company of all the Draconian family head and the Knights anyway, so there was no rush.

"Miss Rinne is well-versed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and we were simply passing the time by discussing certain elements of the story."

Mountain Girl hummed in the affirmative and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Rinne studied the classics as part of her education, and so Rinne cannot agree with Naoren-san's interpretation."

"I still think I'm correct," Naoren doubled down with an unexpectedly businesslike expression. "Guan Yu is certainly more powerful than Lu Bu."

"Abject nonsense. Guan Yu couldn't defeat Lu Bu even when he was fighting along with Zhang Fei and Liu Bei at Hulao Gate!"

"True, but that was young Guan Yu. I believe an older, more experienced Guan Yu would have been able to win against him. And need I remind you, despite being called the most powerful warrior of the era, Guan Yu far outlived him."

"There is no relation between those two facts," Mountain Girl objected vehemently. "Zhuge Liang had outlived Guan Yu! Are you implying that he was more powerful than him, despite possessing no signature weapon or any powerful combat techniques?"

"Well, certainly not, but you have to admit that Guan Yu's legacy is"

"Just a moment, don't forget what you wanted to say," I cut in with a finger raised at Naoren, then turned to the woman sitting across him. "The talk about techniques reminded me of something, so Mountain Girl?"

"Yes, Leonard-dono?"

Without further ado, I pushed my arm towards her face and delivered the mother of all forehead flicks upon her unprepared noggin.

"O-Oow?!"

"What gives?" Naoren spoke up, seemingly by reflex, but by then I already pocketed my hand again.

"That was for teaching weird things to my sister. Once we're back at the base, we're going to have a private talk about this, so consider this an advance." I paused to let that sink in, then flashed my friendliest smile and simply said, "Sorry for the interruption. Please, proceed."

"Do we really have to tear it?"

"Yes, we do," I emphasized a tad morosely.

"But it's one of my favorite suits. It's a waste."

"You were the one who decided to wear it going into an epic duel of epic proportions," I responded, and then vigorously rubbed the piece of clothing in my hand against a nearby wall.

Naoren continued to give me a disapproving look, so I stopped and told him, "We've been over this. If we come out of this duel with only my clothes being worn down, it would be peculiar. We don't want people to ask questions, so you also have to look equally disheveled. Speaking of which, Mountain Girl?"

"Yes, Leonard-dono?"

"His hair is still too neat."

"Understood!"

While Rinne proceeded to mess up the Feilong patriarch's head, much to his dissatisfaction, I resumed my attempts to make his garments more authentic by carefully tearing one of the sleeves, and then rubbing the torn parts on the previously mentioned wall to make sure they wouldn't look too fresh and clean.

Once finished, I handed the ruined coat over to Naoren, and he let out an annoyed huff as he put it back on.

"Almost right," I mused while pinching my chin, and took a closer look. "The glasses are still undamaged, so we could"

"No," he declared, on no uncertain terms. "The glasses are off limits."

"Can we at least smudge the lenses a little?" He glared at me, so I quickly backpedaled with, "Fine, we aren't touching the glasses."

The bespectacled guy let out a relieved sigh and crossed his arms.

"Are we ready to leave yet?"

"I think we are."

I gestured for Rinne, and she wordlessly merged into my shadow. Even after the floor where she disappeared stopped rippling, Naoren kept staring at it with an intrigued expression.

"Such a strange yet immensely useful technique. Is this how you also come and go whenever you visit my office? Through the shadows?"

"My trick is a bit more complicated than that," I responded modestly before looking around the green-tinted caf. "So, how do we exit?"

"Normally one of us would have to be dead or unconscious, which would send a signal to the ceremonial officials outside. Only at that point are they allowed to enter the Restricted Space and tend to the wounded."

"Wait, so they are the ones coming in? I thought we would be the ones getting expelled."

Naoren gave me a skeptical look and explained, "Leonard, we are in the middle of a city. Imagine what would happen if you suddenly appeared in the middle of a crowded crossroad, or if you were standing inside a destroyed the building that was intact in the real world and you materialized inside a wall."

"Can that even happen? I'm pretty sure these things operate on standard teleportation-displacement rules."

"... I'm not sure, but it's best to be careful about these things, don't you agree?"

"Sure. So, that's for when someone's down for the count. What about our case?"

"I believe so long as we both proclaim that our grudge is resolved and we show a gesture of friendship, it should allow us to exit on our own. I think."

"You think?"

"This isn't exactly a common circumstance," the bespectacled Draconian huffed. "I did read up on the topic in preparation, and this method was listed among the traditional ways to end a sacred challenge."

"You said we would leave on our own this way, so I suppose we should head back to the front of the hotel."

"I believe the lobby would be more appropriate."

"Either is fine by me," I said with a shrug, and we both headed out.

In the end, we settled on the lobby, and once we arrived, Naoren turned to me and offered a hand.

"First a handshake, then proclamation of eternal friendship?" I jested, but he seriously considered it.

"I believe regular friendship should suffice."

Rolling my eyes, I took his hand and shook it.

"Let's make sure this works," I said, and then roughly cleared my throat before assuming a super-serious faade and declared, "I, Leonard S. Dunning, hereby solemnly declare that my conflict with Naoren Feilong was resolved to a satisfactory degree."

I thought I was being purposefully facetious, but Naoren gave me a pleased smile.

"That's about the right level of formality, I believe." He cleared his throat, then added, "I, Naoren Feilong, also consider the feud between us settled and all previous disagreements null and void."

After he said that, the air around us began to shimmer with a green-ish light. I waited for the usual color-inverting effect dumping us back into realspace, but nothing of the like happened.

"Now what?"

"Patience. The ceremonial official is being informed of our agreement, and once he reviewed it, he will give the signal to the Restricted Zone to let us out."

"No offense, but you're waaay over-complicating this whole dueling business."

"None taken, but you're still wrong," Naoren responded with a provocative smirk, yet before I could respond in earnest, the shimmering light around us intensified and we were abruptly shifted into realspace.

The lobby of the pagoda-hotel-cum-headquarters was incredibly crowded, with about twice as many people crammed inside than when we entered the Green Zone. Most of them were the same people from the morning, but I could recognize a couple of faces from the tournament venue as well. That was actually good news; it meant we had more eye-witnesses.

The moment we appeared, Naoren was swarmed by the men in ceremonial robes, wildly gesticulating and talking in some Chinese dialect I naturally didn't understand. He listened carefully, appearing genuinely surprised by whatever news they piled on him in a hurry, yet he didn't let go of my hand. If anything, he squeezed it harder to make sure I didn't slip out of his grasp.

At last, he raised his free hand and directly addressed everyone.

"These are serious matters, but let us conclude our duel first." After a beat, he raised his voice and declared, "We traded blows, and after a long and evenly matched battle, we have successfully resolved our differences!"

"That's right," I concurred.

"As such, Leonard Dunning is now my sworn brother!"

"Yes, I'm... wait what?" I tugged on the hand I was holding to draw him closer and whispered, "What are you talking about?"

"This is an appropriate outcome after a closely matched duel," he whispered back. "Becoming sworn brothers should also benefit you when it comes to resolving the alliance between our factions."

"Maybe, but you could've at least told me you planned to do this," I griped, and our conversation got exactly this far before it got interrupted by a small body weaving through the crowd and leaping at Naoren's waist.

"Elder brother!"

Odango girl had a change of clothes since the last time I'd seen her, ditching her usual qipao for a more regal green robe, and she was accompanied by a small gaggle of bodyguards. Most of them were the Asian martial-artist variety, but I could see at least a couple of men-in-black from the Dracis security service as well.

More importantly, since Naoren's grasp slackened, I used the opportunity to slip my hand free, and then proceeded to nudge things along a little.

"Hi there. Is the tournament already over for the day?" I asked cheerfully, then overtly glanced around before looking at Naoren. "I didn't think we took that long"

"No, senior!" Odango girl suddenly exclaimed and detached herself from the clan head. "Something unbelievable happened!"

Before she could explain herself, Naoren tapped her on the crown of her head.

"Xiao Xiao? Leonard is now my sworn brother, so you should refer to him as such."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up at once, and I was glad to see that she wasn't affected by what happened at the amphitheatre too much. I was a little worried at first, because she looked completely beaten the last time I'd seen her, but by this point she was back to her usual self. Maybe she was just tired out by her transformation? In any case, she beamed at me, cupped her fist in her palm, and bowed. "Xiao greets brother Leonard! I'm glad to see you've resolved your differences!"

The last part sounded a little off, like she was trying to hold herself back from giggling. I was once again completely lost on the etiquette, and had no idea about how to react to her greeting, but thankfully Naoren picked up the pace by asking, "You mentioned something unbelievable. What happened?"

The tiny dragon let out a gasp and turned on her heel to face the bespectacled clan head again.

"That's right! Listen, you won't believe this!"

"Lady Xiao?" one of the bodyguards, a young woman with her hair tied into fancy loops, interjected. "Why don't you explain the details on the way?"

"Oh, that's right!" the little girl dropped her fist into her palm, and then pointed at us in turn. "Brothers, we must head out at once! The clan heads are waiting for you two!"

"Is there an emergency meeting?" I asked, and she nodded.

So far, things were proceeding more or less as expected.

"All the clan heads are gathered at the home of the Dracis clan except for the Luus and Rngs."

"Really? What happened? Did they eat expired dumplings or something?"

"No, it's much more serious!" odango girl stressed, and seeing that Naoren was busy talking with one of his aids in Chinese in the background, she gestured for me to lean closer before whispering, "They tried to start a revolt."

"A revolt? That sounds really serious," I said with my best serious face. "I guess they failed spectacularly."

"Yes, but that was just the beginning! You see"

Before she could say more, Naoren turned back to me and said, "We should leave. Apparently, Zihao was also injured and being treated by clan head Abram."

"Oh no. He was hurt? How tragic," I responded with a voice flatter than the EKG readings of a zombie.

My self-appointed sworn brother looked a little miffed, and I had no idea why. I mean, I told him that his dear brother was knocked out during the operation, so he had no reason to be surprised. Sure, I might not have described just exactly how knocked out he was, but hey, he didn't ask for details either, so I washed my hands of any responsibility.

In any case, Naoren's groupies and Xiao's bodyguards ushered us outside, and the three of us were practically shoved into a limo parked in front of the hotel. It was one of the smaller ones, without the fancy bar, but it still had the seats in a U-shape, allowing each of us to sit on a different side so we could all face each other. Odango girl could hardly wait any longer, and the moment the door closed and the car started moving, she began to recount the events from her perspective.

Since she was in the Purple Zone at the beginning, she naturally couldn't recount the events of the failed coup, and instead she focused on what happened on the inside. Her explanation fell more-or-less in line with what I'd seen. Of course, her descriptions were much more vivid and elaborate than how I would've put them, but at the end, the order of events was the same. Purple Zone, Knights arrive, argument with the grand elder, Zihao acts unreasonable, fight breaks out, grand elder gets his butt handed to him on a silver platter.

If there was one discrepancy, it was the way she conspicuously avoided talking about the part where she was fighting Elly, only describing her part as 'trying to break up the fight, but nobody listened'. I naturally didn't call her out, since I wasn't even supposed to know about any of this yet.

We were about half-way to the neighborhood with the Dracis mansion when she finally moved on to the part where she met with Bel. She skimmed over the parts where I talked with Roland, and mostly focused on how Zihao was knocked out with one slap, and then the grand elder's explanation for his actions. Then, just as we were getting for the interesting part, she hesitated.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just a little embarrassing," odango girl said, averting her eyes.

Naoren finally took a break from staring daggers at me and turned to the little girl.

"I've already heard from Zhang San that you revealed your dragon form in public. It's no longer a secret."

I had no idea who this 'Zhang San' person was, but they sounded unimportant. More importantly, odango girl was downright mortified by the casual way her secret was revealed.

"Brother Naoren! I was still thinking of a way to explain it to brother Leonard without shocking him!"

"I believe he already knew," the young clan head explained.

"No, I didn't," I blurted out in reaction, and his eyes immediately snapped back to me.

"Didn't you say you have already met a dragon?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean her, obviously."

"Brother Leonard knows another dragon?" Xiao exclaimed, bouncing on her seat in a mixture of shock and anticipation. "Can you introduce us? I've never met another dragon before!"

"Easy there, easy," I chided her, lest she would fall off her seat in her excitement. "I'll talk with him later and ask, okay?"

"Thank you, brother!" she beamed at me, and while the situation was all kinds of off, I couldn't help but note how used I was to getting new little sisters left and right, to the point her repeatedly calling me her brother didn't even faze me.

"It appears I misunderstood you," Naoren noted on the side, lazily crossing his legs with a contemplative expression.

"Don't sweat it, happens a lot," I responded offhandedly and gestured for odango girl to finish her story before we reached the mansion.

"Ah, so, I transformed into my dragon form, and fought the bad man!"

"You mean Bel, right?"

"Yes! He was the evil villain who threatened to stab grandfather, so I chased him around!"

"As a dragon?" I asked, and she vigorously nodded. "Must have been quite a sight to behold."

For some reason, the little girl flushed and turned to the still thinking Feilong patriarch.

"Brother Naoren? Can I show my dragon form to brother Leonard?"

"Hm? Yes, but later."

"Xiao obviously meant that!" she huffed and stuck out her tongue, and then turned back to me. "I will show you my dragon form later, and you'll see how great and mighty I truly am!"

"I'm sure you are."

"Yes! If I'm in a good mood, I might even let you comb my majestic mane!"

"Oh, what an honor. It must be truly amazing."

With each praise, her face flushed more and more and her smile became sillier. I wanted to see how far we could take it, but then Naoren subtly cleared his throat in the back, so I was forced to get back on track.

"We'll talk about this later, okay? For now, please tell me what happened to the bad guy. Did you chase him away?"

"No" Her enthusiasm wilted at once. "I tried to, but couldn't land a single strike, and then he left on his own." She paused here, and I was worried she would get more depressed, but instead her mood turned on a dime and she suddenly exclaimed, "Uuu! Next time, I will beat him up! Brother Leonard! Please introduce me to your dragon friend so I can learn how to become stronger!"

"I wouldn't necessarily call him my friend, and I don't really know how he could make you stronger, but sure, I already promised."

She nodded in satisfaction, and after that, she finally mentioned something I didn't know about yet.

According to her explanation, after Bel left, the bad Knights were defeated by the good Knights, and once things were safe, all the people in the Purple Zone were evacuated, the underground arena was combed for anyone in hiding and/or injured, and once they made a headcount, it turned out that there were a couple of injuries, nothing worse than a few broken bones here and there. No casualties.

It was at that point that there was some disagreement, as our Knights refused to hand Morgana and Raven Boy over to the Eastern Draconians, and since my in-laws vouched for them, they decided to take them into custody over at the Dracis mansion. This, in turn, meant that in order to hold the emergency meeting with everyone present, the clan heads also had to go there, so it was decided to hold it in the mansion's conference room, while all the injured and less-important Draconians came to the pagoda hotel to wait for us to finish our duel.

Xiao rushed there to change her clothes as well, so she didn't know the agenda of the emergency gathering, but it didn't take a genius to guess that it probably had more to do with dealing with the aftermath of the failed coup and the appearance of a new allied combat force than Bel. After all, none of them really knew anything about his origins or motivations, and while I made sure his presence dominated the scene, there wasn't much they could do about him now that he was gone.

As per the unwritten rules of timing, Xiao finished her recounting of the events just around the time our ride rolled through the gates of the Dracis mansion, so I took a deep breath, and looked Naoren in the eye.

"The coup is an unexpected variable, but it's an issue within your family, so I think it's something you should resolve internally."

"Agreed."

"Of course, if you need help feel free to ask for it, but first we should focus on introducing and explaining the role of the Knights. Once we've made sure everyone understand that they pose no threat to them, then we can test the waters about the pan-draconic alliance."

"I agree, thought before we do that, I would like to get two things sorted out." Naoren raised a finger, and pointed at me. "Before we start negotiations, please come up with a better name for our union."

"Draconic Federation?"

"Please put a bit more thought into it than none at all," he grumbled, then sighed, and then he raised his other arm and pointed at his torn sleeve. "Before any of that thought, I think we should change our outfits. Any objections?"

Just as he said that, the limo's door opened, revealing the steps leading up to the mansion's main entrance, with the security team and our Squires forming two columns on either side. I'm not going to lie, if I didn't know both sides already, I would've thought we were about to run the gauntlet, but I figured it was something closer to welcoming us honor-guard style.

Either way, I glanced between the men outside, and Naoren, still pointing at his sleeve, before I uttered a flat "None," and we headed out to what promised to be the most important summit in the history of both the Draconian families and the Knights. Was it weird that I was feeling more apprehensive about this than facing a dragon? Or was it just me?