A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

[Frostbite (Minor)] [Mana Stress (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Fuuuuuuuck! I gasped for air the moment my consciousness returned to me, only for System Voice to further agitate me when I saw [Mana Stress] in the message. [Mana Stress]? Seriously?

Mana: 0/12687 I was not hallucinating. The elemental emperor actually sucked me dry to the bone, reducing me to the point that I was unable to regenerate mana naturally due to [Mana Stress]. This feeling of lethargy wasn’t caused by mental or physical exhaustion, yet the feeling was similar to that lack of energy you would feel after a hard day of work.

Furthermore, it felt like my skin had frozen solid. Light-headedness and this chill preventing me from feeling limber was not a good indication after everything that had happened in the elemental’s mental world.

“Urraaaaagakkkk!”

I snapped my head up as I heard that feral sound, watching a giant four-armed humanoid creature fully armored in ice roar to the sky. Their hardened ice shell could break apart, revealing what looked like a whirlpool and a hurricane coexisting within that shell. In the eye of this chaotic amalgamation of elements, you could find the purple body of a slime, protecting Tasianna and the Ice Elemental King’s Core.

What did I miss, and why had the WWEE changed its form by this much? How much time had actually gone by? How long was I—

… A lot of time, huh?

I peered up from this giant hole I was stranded in, ignoring the fact that the elemental was puking its guts out as it continued roaring in pain, where I noticed that although it was quite bright here, the sky was completely black and cloudless. What actually created all this light was the fact that cannonfire and draconic ice breaths were hitting what looked like a whirling wind barrier, with a torrential rain showering everything around it to create massive ice blocks to block those projectiles. I could see giant floating boulders as well, but it was obvious to me these were torn off from the ground… or were materialized using the EEE’s mana when the WWEE sapped our mana like a kid chugging down some fruit juice.

Regardless of how all of this happened, I was sure I could see the silhouettes of dragons and drakes fighting outside with all those explosions. They were all still fighting into the night, and yet, despite their efforts, the elemental still managed to reach Thalaxarus’s skeleton, if the giant dragon remains next to me was any indication.

Urgh, the mere thought of the dragons fighting a losing battle pushed my pain aside. Worry about how parts of the armada of dragonkin might be injured or even dead roused me onto my feet. My people were fighting and dying for our home!

[“Hestia, you’re awake,”] I heard [Providence’s Will] speak to me, although their voice seemed weaker. [“I am ready to be used at any time, but you need to give me a moment to absorb more mana.”]

I let out a small sigh as I spoke in Draconic, “It’s a good thing you’re a catalyst now. If you got your mana—Mana! Lord Earth!”

“Sucked dry.” Those two words should have made me realize that something should be rightfully wrong. I even thought about the WWEE using the EEE’s mana to control those giant floating rocks. So… if my catalyst and I had our mana absorbed, then—

“Lord Earth!” I yelped as I noticed the fairnite ball holding Earth had a hole punctured through it. The ball was supposed to prevent mana leakage to a certain extent, to prevent the EEE from escaping, and to prevent things from absorbing all their mana.

This ball, made by the dwarves, was supposed to protect it from the worst-case scenario of the WWEE fully absorbing the EEE’s mana, effectively killing them. Why was there a hole here? Where is Earth?

I stared up at the rampaging elemental emperor, noticing it had finished their puking spree. They raised their two right arms up, materializing two giant lances out of ice.

[“You sabotager! You rat! Watch her die and stay inside, Tasianna!”] the WWEE—Water screamed as they lunged at me.

I’ve no mana, but I still got a damn body! Watch my flanks, Hikari!

‘Stop thinking; move!’

I stomped the ground, dodging to the left while riding the shockwave of the impact. Using my wings to dampen my flight, I used [Drakonian Sunlight Edge]’s embedded [Continental Drake Stride] to move as swiftly as I could, similar to a drake. However, just as I was about to take my second step, the ground suddenly split right open, forcing me to flap my wings.

Shit! No mana, no lift and thrust! I thought as I felt a lack of oomph in how my wings smacked the air. So, instead, I descended into the crevasse and hung onto the wall using my claws, before gnashing my fangs, causing scale-dust on my face to explode, creating a small chain reaction that created enough lift for my wings to take advantage of to launch me out of the hole.

Yet, I was locked into the motion as the elemental’s spear nearly bisected me, slicing me with the wind pressure surrounding the blade. Feeling my scales fall off and some of my webbing torn to shreds, I struggled away as rain started bombarding where I just stood, piercing right through the ground like bullets.

Fuck! Fuck! Grruuugh!

And just when I thought I could take a breath, my body stopped as I started feeling something choking me. The air I just breathed in wasn’t entering my lungs. No, it felt like I was exhaling at the same time. No matter how much I forced myself to breathe, I just couldn’t feel fresh air filling my lungs.

‘They’re stopping the air from entering—No, they’re ripping out all the air inside our lungs. Even the damn CO2!’ Hikari reported. Without my own [Aerokinesis], I couldn’t even attempt to counter Water’s superior air manipulation.

Struggling to breathe, I could only afford to jump away when the elemental’s spear nearly landed on me, but instead of a blast of air, a wave of water exploded from the impact, smashing right into my body like a pressurized water blade.

I was slammed into Thalaxarus’s ribs, grimacing not only at the fact that the deceased ancient dragon was even more massive than Mom, to the point that a single rib was large enough to act like an iron wall to me, but also at the fact that the water wave had stripped me of all my scales on my belly and left side.

[Bleeding (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]Gashes decorated my body, but the pain of these wounds couldn’t be compared to the intense agony shriveling my lungs. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t use anything that required mana, and I just lost a ton of scale-dust in one go.

This… this wasn’t how I imagined it to go after I woke Tasianna up. When was my damn poison gonna settle in? The elemental was discolored with that mana toxin, so why was I looking at my death?

The elemental didn’t even glance at me when they raised their spear, throwing the blade down with the same anger they showed me just a moment ago.

What option do—

“Krrruaagh!”

Though just as the spear was about to smash me like a bug, giant spears erupted from the ground, piercing into the elemental’s body and arm. The earthen structures pushed the elemental away from me before they were pulverized, turning into large shackles as they caught the elemental’s speararms.

[“One last hurrah?”] I heard Earth’s hoarse voice. [“One last day to gain honor in battle! One last day to correct the wrongs of my two friends! If you wanted my mana this badly, Water, then you should fight for it like my children would against their natural faith! Assimilate me into you like Wind!”]

[“E-Earth! Stay still as well!”]

The Earth Elemental Emperor was absorbed into the slime body, and they protected me just now, right? Did they intentionally—

Woah!

Before I could finish that thought, I was flung into the sky as the earth shot up, throwing me into the air as I felt a signal approaching me. It was just a small green glimmer behind this turbulent typhoon, before I saw it pierce right through the air barrier in an emerald flaming fashion.

The bright inferno dove closer to the hole where Thalaxarus’s body lingered, only to snap right up to grab me in their talons. I felt a strong tug as air crashed into my body, helping me finally get my lungs filled as I nearly lost consciousness from lack of oxygen. I snapped my head around, noticing to my elation who it was who saved me just now.

“Brother!” I shouted with all the air I managed to breathe in, so thankful for his timely rescue that I dropped my guard.

[“Scamp! It hasn’t even been a day yet, and you’re already trying to ki—Shit!”] Nong’s well-meaning quip was interrupted as he dodged to the side, zig-zagging in a flustered manner as water, ice, and wind projectiles bombarded him from every side. He even had to struggle as the projectiles rained on him from in front as he tried to break out of this Territory-like barrier, yet even with his superhuman speed, Nong couldn’t dodge forever.

All those projectiles were simply distractions as a giant ice spear pierced right into his back, severing his left back wing.

“Kireeeeek!” he yelped as the turbulent storm caused him to lose balance, before he threw me forward as another ice spear nearly ripped his head right off his body. He was lucky to only lose one of his horns.

Huh?

Nong was only hit and grazed by those two attacks, yet his body was littered with wounds and blood. His beautiful emerald peacock-like feathers were ruined with spots on his body, having turned bald. Parts of his legs and tail also experienced frostbite, reducing the effectiveness of his flames in those areas.

How many wounds did he endure? How much damage did he endure even entering this blasted barrier? How much has everybody suffered from fighting this beast, as it drained all our mana? Also… if he threw me forward to help me avoid that second ice projectile, then how would he catch me—

[“Catch her!”] Nong said as I saw two runes in his hands opening a space-time rift. I saw Vifi for just a moment before she dashed out, catching me before pulling into the subspace with Nong’s help.

We crashed onto the ground as the door closed on the portal, before Vifi pulled me up.

“I know you’re in pain! Don’t have mana either, but we gotta hurry or that brother of yours will die!” Vifi warned me, rallying me back onto my feet as if I hadn’t thought I would die just a moment ago. “Portal! Teleport me out using Shay’s runes.”

I couldn’t transform into a humanoid since I lacked mana, but teleporting people around with the nexus didn’t demand my mana. It demanded the teleportee’s.

I slammed my hand on the same door and adjusted the mana controlling it, before forcing Shay’s [Room] rooms open, helping Vifi and me to enter it.

“Your highness!” Shay and Beth rushed towards me, snuggling their heads against me like a hug before they gave me my space. Both of them, just like Vifi and Nong, were heavily injured. The potions we had weren’t working?

Furthermore, the explosions and roars I heard from inside the barriers were amplified to an extreme here, to the point I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of the armada and army already had tinnitus. Speaking of… the camp I teleported myself in wasn’t in a good state. Not only war cries, it was also filled with the screams and cries of the injured and dying, and I was thrown into this pit.

Rows of dead dragonewts, wyverns, and dwarves were in sight, while multiple dragons and drakes called out for their parents or aid. Our alchemists and water clerics were fully preoccupied. Yet, they were not numerous enough to care for every person.

We needed holy dragons. Holy dragonewts. We needed more healers!

I need— My natural reaction was to turn to the injured, but Vifi jumped onto my head and yanked on my horn.

“Drink!” she shouted before she poured a barrel of liquid down my throat, nearly causing me to cough if Shay and Beth hadn’t forced my mouth shut to drink it all. “Vials full of mana recovering liquids, from fulinoe to whatever.”

“Y-you were prepared?”

“We have eyes as well! Rhekkraxus made sure to keep your mana level in check with [Identify],” she reported, only to grimace as she drank a cyan potion—an ice-resistant elixir. She shook her biological arm to loosen the bit of frostbite on it while her manatech one pulled out a healing potion. “That damn elemental got far too strong once it devoured your mana. It was a bit more than—Forget it! In fact, if anybody starts yapping about that crap, then have the twins beat them up. We need to focus on your brother; don’t even look at the clinic.”

“You need to prioritize Prince Nongramos first, my lady,” Shay added without letting me get a word off.

Beth nodded, pouring another barrel down my throat with the other three. “We know how you must feel, but saving everybody isn’t important here. We have to save somebody who risked his life for yours, and find a way to settle this matter!”

Though… this just felt wrong! I caused all of this ‘cause the plan I issued went awry. All these deaths and injuries were a result of the fact that I didn’t account for every outcome of my plan. I thought I could deal with this like I did back against the Prince of Envy, but I was drained dry and nearly died in a moment of complete weakness.

Not only did so many people willingly fight alongside me pay the price, but my brother was about to do it as well. I needed to take responsibility by healing people, but I also had to defend my brother. I needed mana to do any of these, though! A miracle needed powers beyond just competency to achieve!

[“Hestia! Dragon whelpling!”] I heard the elemental emperor calling for me, and it seemed everybody had as well. [“Coward! Running away while leaving your brother behind? A lizard without a tail! Ahaha, Tasianna is mine! This mana is mine! You will not stop my ascension as a god! This fairy will not break out of this core! Uurrraaaagh!”]

[“Gahahahaha! Witness! My children! Your father’s last day! Gahahaha! The beauty of earth spells is yours to witness!”] Earth took over the telepathic connection like some virus. [“So much mana to work with. So much divine mana! Gahaha, getting drunk on this isn’t even a possibility; it is a certainty! And it is certain I will make good use of this before I vanish, Water! My children—my imperfect dwarves—witness me in my splendor and shoot me down for Ankor-Nazta! Young crimson dragoness of Frozen Nest, do not forget the memories you saw with me. Remember us elemental emperors not by letters that need not be written, but through your actions for the fae’s future! Cast us down into the void, and let Tasianna be reborn into a fae who will inherit our past burdens! Let her grow out of yours and her past’s shadows!”]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelFire for the genuine story.

Earth!

[“Champion of Goddess Aurena!”] [Providence’s Will] called me. [“If you wish to create a miracle in the name of the Goddess of Miracles and Healing, then I am the tool you need. Let Goddess Andira’s mercy and fairness spread to all with your help. Master Hestia, allow this world to once again perceive the might of Goddess Andira’s relic!”]

“Are you sure?” I asked, holding the catalyst up as its bronze casing opened up, revealing the bright white catalyst inside.

[“Whom are you asking for permission, Champion? A tool should be used. Bring peace to my former friends… please.”]

No, that’s not what I’m good at, but…

Providence’s Will: A catalyst created from the concentrated core of the Light Elemental Emperor, created through the otherworldly magic of the Goddess of Light, Aurena. Using the blood of the Goddess of Fairness and Equality, Andira, while she was still a mortal, it catalyzed the materials used in an alchemical process, freezing everything to create an imitation of the sun that once looked down on its followers. A mind similar to a slime was transplanted into this catalyst due to this process, having witnessed Goddess Andira in question. It chooses its owner.

Owner: [Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Skills: [Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 10] [Cast Activation Speed Increase Lv. 10] [Holy Elemental Materialization Lv. 10] [Sacred Amp] [Healing Amp] [Mana Expenditure Lv. 10] [Artillery Spell Enhancement Lv. 10] [Long-Range Spell Enhancement Lv. 10] [Holy Resistance Pierce Lv. 10] [Demi-God Seal: Opened] [Slime Intelligence Core]

Enchantments: [Light Primarch’s Miracle] [True Holy Mana Release] [Divine Communion]

Light Primarch’s Miracle: Amply one holy-elemental spell with demi-god-level of strength. Only one usage per Owner. Reserved for only the blessed of the Pantheon of Light. Usage can be recharged by fulfilling a Divine Quest of the Pantheon of Light that rewards a [Light Primarch’s Miracle Usage Increase]. Must be active for [True Holy Mana Release] and [Divine Communion] to be imbued with true holy mana True Holy Mana Release: Amplify all holy-related attack, skill, or spell with true holy mana to bend what can be perceived in its direction. While in use, anything imbued with true holy mana cannot create a shadow and will absorb all non-true dark elemental mana to empower itself. If a blessed of the Pantheon of Light uses this enchantment, allows at the cost of more mana to alter the elemental type of a spell into one of the Owner’s holy-aligned skill Divine Communion: Empower the catalyst’s ability to produce true holy mana as long as followers of the Light Pantheon are in the presence. While used by a blessed of the Pantheon of Light, allows the catalyst to absorb faith from followers of the Light Pantheon, storing this faith as mana inside this enchantment for any future holy-aligned spells. Release this mana around the catalyst to empower all followers of the Pantheon of Light with a [Blessing of Goddess Andira], with its stage determined by the mana spent [Divine Communion] was severely nerfed on Kargryx since only Kramps was worshipped in the empire, and even then, only the dragonewts and lesser dragonkin did so. The true dragonkin, on the other hand, hated my grandfather. The enchantment couldn’t perform to its fullest potential, which was why I believed what I should be looking at was [Light Primarch’s Miracle].

It felt a bit bad to use a one-time enchantment like this, but it was better now or never. I could find out how to recharge it later on.

If I need to make a miracle, then so be it! Even with the power of another god. Symphonie…

‘Putting on the music! [Mana Stress] is gone, and our mana recovery is spiking with all this mana around! I wouldn’t be surprised if a rank A suddenly spawned with how contaminated the land current was due to the elemental,’ Hikari reported as she turned on [Aerokinesis] and played [The Heir of Hope].

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”

[Music Resonation (Major)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]…des Feuergottes.

My mana left my body as Shay and Beth kept feeding me mana potions, creating a giant red magic circle in the black sky. It grew in size as I kept giving it more and more, while [Providence’s Will] started to absorb whatever mana it could from the dragonewts praying to Kargryxmor for salvation. The darkened sky started to light up, drawing the attention of all as the red color started to shine.

And just for a moment, as I activated [True Holy Mana Release] and changed the spell’s element to my empty vessel magic, [Ruby Star]. The circle was bleached into golden white, illuminating the entire battlefield like a spotlight.

I felt the strain, learning that it was a 30% increase in the original spell’s mana cost. It certainly would have been more problematic if I were any other holy mage, but I had so many ways to reduce the cost of holy-aligned spells that it didn’t matter. Even with the catalyst’s [Mana Expenditure Lv. 10] increasing the cost by 50% flat, it was still barely feasible with how I was regenerating from all the high-quality mana potions.

Oh, Goddess Aurena. Goddess Andira. Grandfather God Kargryxmor. Please, hear the words of this small, young girl. My gods, so I plead, grant me the power to extinguish this evil and save my people! Bestow upon Frozen Nest a miracle of healing!

Goddess Andira has witnessed your words You didn’t even have to respond, Goddess Andira! But your words have reached me! Now, activate, [Light Primarch’s Miracle]!

The magic spell burst into action as it flooded the night with holy flames, striking the air barrier and sending any flying dragonkin onto the ground from the force alone. However, no matter how damaged they were, the flames instantly healed them, similar to [Sanctified Blaze], which included my wounds caused by the WWEE.

The air barrier started to break down, allowing the flames to pour into the eye of the typhoon. True mana on both sides clashed against each other as they tried to push the other out, though this disturbance allowed Nong to fly right through the sea of flames, letting himself land outside the barrier to tend to his wounds.

Fortunately, our “inner man” on Earth meant I didn’t exactly have to contend against an elemental when it came to mana. During one moment, the resistance felt like a tsunami crashing against my waterfall of flames, and in the next, the resistance disappeared completely. It swung around in this state until Earth disabled the WWEE’s mana control for long enough for my white flames to flood the entire area, sweeping the elemental emperor away.

The barrier broke apart just as my spell ended, causing me to fall onto the ground as [Mana Stress] returned.

[Mana Stress (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]Arrrrgh, I-I—

“Riiiiiiiiiise!” I heard a dragon bellow. “Princess Hestia has risen once again! The might of her flames has destroyed this pitiful elemental’s tricks and healed us all of our wounds! Rise, ice dragon flight, and drake wake! Rise, dragoons and wyverns! Rise with us all as we defend our land against this threat!”

It was Fehrkatruk. The red dragon shot into the air, spewing a flame breath onto the weakened elemental emperor without delay.

“Wings! Get back on your feet!” Rhekkraxus roared. “Engineers, get back onto your stations! Clan Thalaxarus! This elemental has destroyed our nest and defiled our ancestors’ remains! We have failed, but with every tear we shed for our destruction, we shall pierce this elemental with a thousand claws and fangs! Fight not for our home; fight for our country!”

“Riiiiiiiiiiseeee! Flllllyyyyy!” The dragons and drakes roared as morale spiked, with the latter taking to the sky as the drakes dashed through the land to continue their battle against the elemental. The fallen remained dead, but we could grieve and mourn after this was done.

I wanted to join them, but this [Mana Stress] was annoying me. I needed time to recover.

“Your highness!”

I turned around to see Regolustrus and the rest of my fire wyvern retainers flying towards us, carrying the dragoons of Clan Nordor and a few dwarven engineers. Furthermore, they unloaded ten barrels full of mana potion, opening them up for me to drink.

“Make it quick, lass!” the dwarves called, looking finicky as they tinkered with their manatech cannons.

“Hush with those words, dwarf!” Estranor chastised, looking like he had taken quite a lot of damage with how ragged his armor looked. “Princess Hestia, your order has been fulfilled! None of Clan Nordor had died in this assault!”

It was a small relief in a sea of troubles. I was happy to hear that our family didn’t incur any lost lives, but I knew once this battle was over that I would be required to take responsibility for all the dead. The risks I took weren’t fully accounted for, and even if we knew the elemental would become stronger from me being swallowed up, maybe we could have executed it better. This was my operation and plan. As their princess, I had to own up to my mistakes.

Yet, for now, I simply listened to my retainers’ reports until I recovered enough of my mana to take flight. I was still a bit slow since I had to conserve mana, so we flew in a formation as we joined the rest of the battle.

The elemental, overwhelmed by all these numbers, did not try to fight back as they tried to dart south. Earth’s interference became less and less, so our advantage was lessened. Furthermore, with the elemental acquiring that orb from Thalaxarus’s corpse and eating it, their ice manipulation should have become even stronger.

Yet, they weren’t manipulating any ice outside of regenerating their armor. They were once again only relying on water and wind attacks alone, yet that was enough to be a threat. Their astonishing control over wind and water meant the elemental emperor could choke us and bombard us with dragon scale-piercing water rain if we got too close, similar to how they nearly killed me.

While morale had risen to the point that the armada was working like a well-oiled machine, we were still more like flies to the elemental due to the mana I donated to them. We kept our distance and took advantage of the fact that the venom that I had injected into the elemental couldn’t be removed. No matter how much they puked out coagulated globules of purple mana, which I had to cleanse with white flames to prevent corruption on the land, some bits would remain in the elemental’s body and start multiplying like a virus.

I hadn’t exactly designed the toxin to act as such, but it seemed it had an unprecedented effect on an elemental. I honestly should test my toxins more often. I should have learned that lesson by now, but it seemed I still was too careless. Not like I minded it this time, though, since that toxin was the reason why we were slowly shrinking the elemental.

Even if all of us were weaker, those small actions were meaningful. Every existence was worth something, especially when it all led into a snowball effect to set off an avalanche. In our case? It was the fact that we weakened the elemental enough for Tasianna to finally strike.

“Urrragk!” A massive ice sword suddenly protruded from the elemental’s chest, where I saw Tasianna and the core were safekept.

“Back!” Fehrkatruk ordered as the dragons raised their altitudes while the drakes rushed away.

As we went on the defensive to assess what was happening, the sword started to cleave through the elemental through their head, bisecting them in half above their chest. The ice armor protecting them fell apart as it revealed the slime body underneath it, having been reformed as it lost control over all the mana.

As the ice sword splintered into snow crystals, a woman flew out of the sliced elemental, flying up with butterfly wings that glimmered like rainbow crystals. The cyan-haired woman raised her arm, letting a small catalyst levitate above her as it started forming what looked like a rapier, dripping like the ice sword from the dreamland.

Instead of her usual maid outfit, she was wearing that glacial wardress she obtained from the Event Quest, only that it seemed to have grown in length. Layers of ice crystals stuck on the clothes like an insect’s carapace, giving her a semblance of armor. Yet, this wasn’t the only physical change on her, as I noticed ice forming on her ears, hands, and the tips of her hair, looking as if it were part of her body.

Tasianna!

[“T-Tasianna! Please… please, don’t do this,”] Water begged as their body reformed, only to wince as the drops of “liquid” dripping from her rapier stung them like boiling water. [“The fae. The fae need me. Us! Don’t. Don’t leave me alone like them. Don’t let our dream be ruined before it can blossom! We need strength to protect them. Our godhood. Please. We—”]

Tasianna let out a deep sigh, releasing an icy mist that cracked like the ice sheet of a frozen lake. “Which means it’s time for the faefolk to start growing up. Start growing like the rest of the world.”

[“There is no future for us! Mere tools and resources for all these cruel, pathetic leeches! Where is the friendship? Where are our past worshippers? We gave Peolyncians all we had and more, and the thanks we all got were to be forgotten in history. Dragons! Drakes!”] Water howled. [“The ice elemental watered your land with the ice mana you needed to evolve from your diminutive lizard ancestors. You grew from our mana and evolved. Not through the Divine System! You grew from our mana! You kept growing because of Thalaxarus’s mana fertilizing everything in this land, while we kept the mana flow stable! I and Wind… we gave these lands divine mana. Our mana allowed ice mana to flow through the glaciers, to nourish them with mana to grow your farmlands of monsters to prey on! Without us… you would never have gained true ice. Never gained the power to defend yourself from the fire dragons! Graaahk… th-this is the gratitude? To be forgotten? What is the meaning of existing? Of contributing?”]

“To enrich even a single other person’s life,” Tasianna answered. “Life can be lived even through the most mundane reasons, and those moments can fill you with unforgettable happiness. Lord Water, you miss your friends dearly. You swallowed Lord Wind and Lord Earth into yourself, turning their existence null. All for a broken, forgotten dream.”

[“It was our way to correct everything! For Wind and me to gather the strength to bring back Earth, Fire, Light, and Dark. For the faefolk to once again be able to live in peace. Not like this. I… I don’t want this to end, Tasianna. Please, allow me to—”]

“No, Lord Water. The time has gone by.” Tasianna raised her rapier as the air above her froze into multiple armory worth of bladed ice weapons. The elemental’s legs flash-froze, causing them to cry out in pain as they were trapped in place, unable to run away unless they abandoned their legs. “Hear my last words to you, my lord. I shall not forget the tales of the six primarchs of Peolynca. The six originals who helped our world grow into its current state! Even if I have to read through libraries to do so, I will chronicle your tales and achievements. So that all faefolk—whether fairies, lesser, or elementals—may learn and grow from them. Even if it is in our nature to ignore everything but our nature, you and I are proof that we can grow up when the time comes. This is my first decree, as the newly born Ice Elemental King!”

[“Tasianna!”] Water’s body morphed back into that floating tornado and whirlpool, shooting out water projectiles at Tasianna, only to turn into ice as they got too close to her. [“You even stole Thalaxarus’s mana! It is mine! You steal like the humans who killed us fae, traitor!”]

“Frozen Nest, take that foe down!” I shouted, giving the fire order for everybody to resume bombardment.

Though it almost seemed like Tasianna alone could handle it by herself. Water and wind were equally under her manipulation, turning all of them into more ice ammunition for herself. She could even gather icicle projectiles from the ice dragonkin as additional fodder for her to turn them into giant [Slithering Frozen Serpent] and [Winter’s Golem]. Her spell golems pushed the gigantic elemental back, creating an opening for them to be hit by our attacks and her army of ice blades.

Yet, the elemental kept struggling, even reusing that Territory-like air barrier in an attempt to isolate our armada from Tasianna, only for them to cancel the attack when Tasianna’s rapier grew in size and nearly sliced them in half with a mountain-sundering blade, just as large as my [Heaven’s Sword] spell.

The elemental eventually abandoned their frozen body parts and took to the sky in a winged form, attempting to kill Tasianna with one fell swoop, but their luck was just as bad as Aurora’s. Just as they almost made contact, the sound of a railgun flew through the air, blasting off the elemental’s attacking arm. Without looking at who shot that attack, Tasianna cast [Hammerfist Bellow], grounding the elemental onto the ground as she finished her last spell.

“With tears in our eyes and heart, warmed to flow by your existence, let me send you to rest, my lord. May you find peace in Goddess Death’s embrace!” Tasianna said as the ice spell’s magic circle materialized, encircling the entire area beneath the elemental. “Tor Eiclere’s Finulaflei!”(Ice Age’s Paradise)

In a hurricane of ice, the elemental’s last wails melted into the sound of the storm, as her storm of ice blades descended down to eviscerate every single fragment of the elemental’s being. Nothing would be left behind. Maybe even their mana would be forced to join Tasianna’s masterful control over true ice.

My prediction rang true when the storm vanished, leaving nothing behind but a polished frozen ground. Heh, even the damn necklace I was supposed to obtain for my Divine Quest vanished.

Divine Quest: Trial of the Silver Dragon Patriarch has failed. Do not let your failure weigh you down, Champion. Even this may become your strength to grow to assure your success Haaaa, a shame, but I guess I couldn’t blame Tasianna for this.

[“Thank you very much for your timely assistance, Empress Melloxtressa,”] Tasianna suddenly said, turning to the sky, directing the armada’s attention to the sky where we saw the approaching silhouettes of multiple dragons. Seeing them, all dragons and wyverns, outside of me, landed, bowing their heads and tucking their tails underneath their legs to show respect.

Mom, I said out of relief before turning back to Tasianna, only to see her crying.

Holding her hands to cover her mouth, she held herself back from fully weeping as her tears stained the polished land in a solemn silence. “Goodbye, Princess Schuri, once again. May you rest in my memories until I return home to grant you all the stories you would ever wish for. I love you, my princess. Please, rest well, and if fate truly wills it, may we meet again with your reincarnation.”