The entire family arrived at the portal hub after being called out by Stella.


    Though, they were already on their way after Deveralna felt something strange coming from one of the portals.


    Even Amelia, who was supposed to be resting at home, followed them.


    She received a warning from Henrietta not to participate in the battle. To not make the matter considerably worse for herself, she agreed.


    "After checking each portal, we''ve confirmed that only one rift has appeared."


    Glancing at the other Remnants behind her, Henrietta confirmed this.


    "It opened a distance away from Lahro, directly south of the city."


    The sound of grinding teeth echoed from the middle of the group.


    "It had to be Lahro, out of all the cities on the continent. We''re still not entirely back on our feet after the destruction that was caused during the war."


    Deveralna clenched her fists in anger.


    "The rift has not entirely opened yet. There is time to evacuate the lamias before it is too late."


    Titania took a step forward while looking directly into Deveralna''s eyes.


    "Evacuate..."


    The air grew still as her gaze dropped.


    A long silence took over as Deveralna pondered what to do.


    ''I am a Queen. My duty is to protect my people from harm''s way.''


    As she was about to take a decision, Amelia suddenly stepped forward too.


    "I have a question, since I wasn''t conscious when everything happened."


    Henrietta nodded as a way to let her daughter speak.


    "I''ve been made aware of the giants invading the continent. What I want to know is why Deveralna herself cannot defend against them."


    This time, it was Elliott who answered.


    "She can do that perfectly fine if you consider the entire area deserted. Her power is devastatingly powerful without the limitations I''ve asked her to work with."


    "Even I wouldn''t survive long against the pure power of ''Strength.'' Does that answer your question?"


    Amelia nodded.


    "What about the lamias?"


    May asked from behind Deveralna.


    "Can''t they fight? Haven''t they obtained a way to use magic through Deveralna?"


    Keleanos shook his head.


    "Do not ask a baby to ride a horse. They haven''t been taught how to use it properly."


    With a frown, May nodded. She understood that very well, as someone who trained soldiers in the past.


    Then, Olivia walked in front of everyone and stood to the side.


    "I have an idea, but it might not be the greatest."


    Deep in thought, Henrietta turned to her.


    "Say it. There''s nothing lost in proposing something. Worst-case scenario, we will join you in combat."


    Olivia nodded with a serious expression. She was aware that Henrietta would do anything to defend the continent at this point.


    "Deveralna..."


    She turned to the lamia.


    "How good do you think you are at commanding an army?"


    The white-haired lamia closed her eyes and sighed.


    "I have the knowledge, but not the experience."


    "Good enough. Then..."


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    Turning her head toward a portal, the others followed. All eyes opened wide at the realization.


    "You can''t be serious?!"


    "You''re the progenitor of both dragons and lamias, aren''t you? What''s the problem?"


    The place their eyes fell on was the portal to Ormrdivin. Olivia thought about requesting the dragons'' help.


    "This is pure madness. Do you understand what the power of a single dragon possesses?"


    Dramia crossed her arms with a scowl on her face.


    "I do. I''ve witnessed it with my own eyes. So what? They helped us during the war, so we can always ask again."


    Olivia''s face became stricter.


    "This continent isn''t only ours. It is theirs, too. We''re past being fearful of each other thanks to a certain someone."


    Orion came to mind for the others.


    "Can''t we trust the dragons at this point? Humans have already begun to warm up to them after being saved by Monolavir and Ruminona. Let''s add the defense of our continent to the list of good things they''ve done."


    "We need them more than ever. And you can only make that happen, Deveralna."


    Pointing at her friend, Olivia looked at her with determination.


    The lamia required a slight push forward to take a decision that important, and she chose to be the one to help the others.


    "I..."


    Clenching her hands tightly, Deveralna mulled the matter over.


    ''Do I have what it takes?''


    ''Can I stand on the same battlefield as the dragons?''


    —


    The memories of Orion holding her while freeing Velridar of his corruption came to her.


    She was in the middle of a magic storm, with Monolavir and Ruminona flying next to her.


    It was terrifying, but Orion''s determination made it possible to succeed.


    And she was there, alongside the two greatest dragons of her era.


    —


    "Fu~ Foo~"


    Deveralna inhaled before exhaling everything.


    "Sure, let''s do this."


    Olivia and Deveralna looked into each other''s eyes, which were devoid of fear and hesitation.


    "Henrietta."


    "Your idea isn''t that bad. I''m sure dragons will be a great help."


    Shaking her head, Olivia walked next to Deveralna.


    "I''m going too."


    "Eh?!"


    The lamia couldn''t help but exclaim her surprise with a loud gasp.


    "Olivia? Why?"


    "Because we''re a family, and because I can."


    Deveralna felt like crying, but she contained herself.


    "Thank you."


    With a smile, Olivia nodded. Then, she turned to the others behind her, who looked eager to help their friends.


    "Can you all stay behind?"


    No one questioned her why. Even Senia, who usually barely understood the meanings behind her friends'' words, didn''t question it.


    "We''ll watch out for other rifts, just in case."


    "Count on us!"


    Dramia and Drania were the first to acknowledge it, as the others nodded alongside them.


    "Alright. Now that everything is said, I have some preparation to do. Deveralna, you probably should take Amelia with you if you plan to talk to the dragons. They were worried about her."


    Olivia passed everyone with a smile and walked toward the portal leading to Noctelagia.


    "I''ll return in half an hour."


    She disappeared inside the crack in space.


    ...


    Two people walked out of a portal.


    "Ooh."


    A grave guttural noise echoed in the cave as a massive dragon opened his eyes.


    Monolavir lifted his neck from the ground and looked at the visitors.


    "Amelia and... our new progenitor."


    His eyes squinted at the sight of Deveralna. It wasn''t that he hated her, but he didn''t like her either.


    "How are you doing, you two? I haven''t seen you since fighting together."


    Monolavir turned to Amelia and dropped his head to her level.


    "We''ve been resting since then. It did cost us a lot of energy, but we''re fine otherwise."


    Ruminona opened her eyes from her nest, where her eggs were incubating.


    "Amelia. How are you?"


    The woman nodded while shrugging.


    "I''m exhausted and feeble. When Orion vanished, I couldn''t bear it anymore."


    "I''ve been unconscious for a while."


    She forced a laugh and took a pose, showing her arm muscle, which had lost some of its width from lack of nutrition and training.


    "So that light. It was really Orion."


    Monolavir looked away for a brief instant before focusing on the matter at hand.


    "Let''s get to why you came here. It is great to see you well and healthy, but this isn''t the reason for your presence, am I wrong?"


    Amelia nodded.


    "I came as an addition. I still wanted to thank you for your help since losing consciousness."


    "But the real reason why we''re here... I''ll let Deveralna speak. The situation is quite grim currently."


    Both Monolavir and Ruminona turned their gazes to the lamia.


    Feeling the wild pressure placed on her by the dragons, she gulped instinctively. Dragons were still the most powerful faction to this date.


    "Speak, Remnant of Strength. Have you come to order us?"


    Deveralna''s eyes opened wide, and she opened her mouth without thinking.


    "Eh? No..."


    The dragons'' stare blanked out.


    "Then why?"


    Ruminona lifted her head from her nest and leaned toward Deveralna.


    "W-Were you expecting me to order you? I didn''t come for that."


    "Aren''t you the new progenitor of the dragons? We have to listen to your orders. What else would your presence mean to us?"


    She shook her arms in front of her frantically.


    "No! You''ve got it all wrong!"


    Deveralna sighed.


    "Dragons are really a piece of work."


    Amelia laughed next to her, commenting on the situation.


    "I get that."


    Glancing at Amelia with a faint smile, Deveralna took a deep breath.


    "I came to ask for your help. It is a request, not an order. To make this clear, I will not order the dragons unless they are willing to listen to me."


    "It never came to my mind to force you into doing my bidding. I''d rather remain on friendly terms with you than not."


    She remained calm throughout the exchange and even avoided bringing out Orion.


    Deveralna wanted to talk to them as herself, not as a companion with the same goals. Bringing Orion''s name was the best excuse to get help from the dragons, which she wanted to avoid at all costs.


    Monolavir and Ruminona stared at each other for a moment, until the Azure Dragon released a massive cloud from his nostrils.


    "We''ll listen to your request and then ascertain the situation. From the looks of it and from Amelia''s words, the situation is more dire than expected."


    "Even after the war has ended, there is still trouble brewing on the continent, isn''t it?"


    Both girls nodded.


    ...


    "Orion didn''t fail. In fact, this is entirely new territory for us. This entire ''rift'' thing is what we have to deal with now."


    Amelia and Deveralna explained what had happened during the invasions. While they were speaking, the dragons'' eyes grew more intense.


    "To think the corruption would still continue to threaten our lives is quite jarring."


    Deveralna nodded.


    "Lahro will be attacked soon. We''ve discussed what to do, and one idea was to evacuate everyone out of the city."


    "But I would rather avoid that from happening. We, lamias, haven''t been prepared to move out of our homes. To reproduce, we need humans. If we were to move into Horizon, this would cause problems for the realm."


    She lowered her head.


    "This is why, following Olivia''s idea, I came to ask for your help."


    "Please, help me defend our home."


    Deveralna, who usually stood above everyone else thanks to her tail, lowered it to Amelia''s level. She wasn''t asking for help as the Queen of the lamias, or as the Remnant of Strength.


    She was speaking as Deveralna, a simple lamia.


    Monolavir dropped his gaze and looked at the lamia bowing in front of him.


    His pride was speaking to him. The pride of a dragon was shouting inside his mind.


    Noticing his slight movements, Ruminona turned to Amelia.


    "Plug your ears."


    Amelia instantly nodded while looking at Deveralna.


    The lamia lifted her head at Ruminona''s advice and looked at Amelia before also plugging her ears.


    The Azure Dragon stood on the ground and stretched his neck backward.


    Then, as his neck lowered and stretched forward, Monolavir opened his gigantic mouth, letting out a bone-chilling roar.


    *ROOOOOOAR*


    The roar traveled through the entire mountain, entering the ears of every dragon inside it.


    His powerful roar shook the ground and stunned the two women, who were plugging their ears.


    If they hadn''t, the intense noise would have made them unconscious.


    "Wait for us over there."


    "We, the dragons, will participate in defending the continent. You can count on us."


    As the ground stopped shaking and both removed their hands from their ears, Monolavir gave his words.


    "That''s... Thank you."


    With help coming to save Lahro and Triazils as a whole, Deveralna smiled brightly at the dragons.


    As she made her way back to Horizon to prepare for the battle, Ruminona looked at her partner.


    "That''s unusual coming from you. I thought you weren''t going to accept her as our new leader."


    "Not changing is the mark of the fool. Her honest feelings managed to move my heart."


    Realizing that Amelia was still there, they both stopped talking.


    They noticed the smirk on her face, and as she turned around, she parted with the dragons.


    "Now you see why Orion chose her."


    After Amelia returned to Horizon, the dragons began to move.


    Monolavir explained the situation to the other dragons after regrouping them near the en


    trance.


    A flock of dragons quickly descended from the mountain, which, in normal circumstances, would spell complete doom for all factions.


    But this time, they came to help.


    With Monolavir and Ruminona saving humans from corruption during the war, the opinion on dragons became less one of fear and terror but one of hope and acknowledgment.