Inside the Pyra Place...
A black table stood at the centre of the chamber.
Covered with detailed drawings of the human body.
Victor stood before Nightfire with folded arms, his gaze fixed on the papers.
"I need exactly these dinsions," he said calmly, pointing toward the figure. "This face, this body structure, this muscle density... everything. Don’t miss even the smallest detail."
After all, the Aether of this world had already beco sothing far beyond human proportions.
Power had altered him over ti, refining his body into sothing monstrous and divine. Even Victor himself barely rembered how he originally looked before everything changed.
So instead, he reconstructed Earth Aether from mory.
From head to toe.
Without missing a single detail.
How did he rember all of it so clearly?
Simple.
Back on Earth, he once dread of becoming an actor. During those years, he obsessively recorded every physical improvent, every centitre of growth, every slight muscular change for the sake of his acting career.
A career that never truly began.
Still, the habit remained burned into his mind.
Even now, he rembered the final asurents he took at the age of around 18 or 20... right before life collapsed into absolute hell.
Nightfire sat lazily across from him, one leg crossed over the other while casually eating sliced fruits from a silver plate.
Her sharp crimson eyes scanned the docunts with unusual seriousness as she listened to every instruction.
Then suddenly, without warning, she spoke.
"Should I make your cock smaller?"
"..."
Victor slowly turned his head toward her with complete disbelief written across his face. For several seconds, he genuinely wondered if he had heard her correctly.
Out of everything she could focus on...
Why that?
Why was her attention locked onto that par—
Ah.
Succubus.
Sotis he genuinely forgot that part of her nature existed until monts like this punched him in the face.
Still...
Why smaller?
For so reason, he felt personally offended.
Nightfire noticed his expression and hurriedly lifted both hands defensively.
"I an, think about it," she explained quickly. "Everything else looks smaller compared to your current body, right? So naturally that part should also beco proportionally sma—"
"No," Victor interrupted instantly. "Add big."
Nightfire blinked at him.
"But your current body is literally larger overall, so if we use logic, then technically it should loo—"
"BIG."
Nightfire stared at him for a second before slowly nodding like soone handling an emotionally unstable patient.
"...Understood. Very important detail apparently."
Victor clicked his tongue and looked away while she tried and failed to hide the amused curve tugging at her lips.
Eventually, after receiving every exact specification for Pri Earth Aether’s appearance, Nightfire finally stretched her arms and stood from her chair.
"This will take around a day."
"That’s fine," Victor replied calmly. "Take your ti."
Soon afterwards, Victor gathered his Generals inside the Throne Hall. The eting itself remained strangely calm. He never ntioned his disappearance directly. Instead, he discussed military movents, internal stability, resource managent, and the growing issues spreading throughout the Empire.
Every order he gave sounded serious and had future issues.
As though he were quietly preparing the Empire to function without him.
Hours later, Victor stood alone upon the enormous balcony overlooking his Empire.
Cold wind flowed across the towering structures below, causing his long clothes to flutter behind him like dark wings.
For a brief mont, Victor simply stared in silence like an Emperor watching over his kingdom one final ti before walking toward deat--
’I... really have been raising too many red flags lately, haven’t I?’
A faint frown appeared across his face.
Back then, he never thought deeply about his actions. He simply moved forward while ignoring the reactions around him. But now, standing quietly beneath the cold air, he finally began noticing the pattern.
"...Yeah," he muttered softly to himself. "Pretty obvious."
A small, bitter smile appeared on his lips before he slowly turned around.
Behind him stood Drakhairs.
The Supre General remained completely silent. He had already heard everything regarding the Emperor’s decision to leave the Empire.
And after fully digesting the information, Drakhairs stepped forward before imdiately dropping to one knee.
"Your orders, Majesty."
After all, if the Emperor left the Empire, even though the Empress was still here and fully capable of taking care of everything, Drakhairs knew it was the Supre General’s duty to protect the entire Empire.
Victor slowly turned back toward him, "You’ve been forced to stay behind during the recent wars," Victor said calmly.
"I know that frustrates you."
Drakhairs imdiately shook his head.
"Forgive , Your Majesty," he answered in a deep voice. "But no... I am not frustrated. I understand why you stopped from taking action."
And he truly did understand.
After all...
Drakhairs was a nuclear bomb.
Back when Raven had been kidnapped by Sandra, Victor had personally witnessed the true extent of Drakhairs’ power for the first ti. A single breath from the old dragon had erased an entire city without leaving even a speck of dust behind.
Drakhairs, the ancient fossil among dragons, could turn others into fossils within re seconds.
Even without Arcane Energy, his ancient body still possessed terrifying physical strength accumulated through thousands upon thousands of years. Every muscle, every scale, every breath carried the weight of history itself.
Compared to others, he existed on an entirely different level.
Which was exactly why he was a double-edged sword.
Not because Drakhairs would betray them.
His power could annihilate both enemies and allies alike.
That was why Victor had repeatedly stopped him from entering the battlefield.
And more importantly...
There were the crops.
Ever since the barrier erupted around the Empire, access to the outside had nearly collapsed.
Vast portions of farmland, livestock routes, fruit reserves, and edible resources had already been lost beyond the barrier.
Only limited amounts remained inside.
And even those surviving resources had barely recovered after the first wave of war devastated nearly thirty percent of the Empire’s crops and over thirty-five percent of its at and fruit supplies.
The situation had already beco unstable.
People were beginning to whisper about famine.
And if Drakhairs, a living catastrophe, entered the battlefield now...
Everything would truly be fucked.
A casual breath from him could erase entire acres of farmland into ash. Worse still, if his flas touched the earth directly, even the soil itself would die permanently.
Nothing would grow there again.
No grain.
No fruit.
No life.
If that dies, then livestock? They die too!
The entire food chain would shake and break!!
Using him in the current situation wasn’t a strategy.
It was gambling with extinction.
If the barrier didn’t exist, Drakhairs would have simply dragged their enemies to the edge of the Empire and burned everything beyond recognition.
But now things were different.
This war was no longer just about destroying enemies.
It was about protecting what still remained inside.
Even victory itself had beco terrifying.
Because if they relied on Drakhairs too heavily, the Empire might survive the war only to slowly rot afterwards. Fields would turn into deserts. Food would vanish. Bodies would grow thinner day by day until pain beca normal.
And eventually...
Everyone would die anyway.
Dying by enemy hands.
Or dying from hunger.
Which fate was truly worse?
Drakhairs understood all of this better than anyone else.
That was why he remained stationed at the Palace as its final shield, even while his own people were slaughtered across battlefields he could not enter.
For the first ti in countless centuries, the ancient dragon felt sothing he had never imagined possible.
Hopelessness.
Despite possessing power capable of destroying cities...
He could do nothing.
Because the very power he once took pride in had now beco a danger to the people he swore to protect.
Victor nodded slowly, the cold wind brushing against his clothes as his gaze drifted toward the distant lights of the Empire below.
"So I need you to take the Void Soldiers sent by Aurelia Scarlet," he said calmly. "Capture the stronger beasts outside the barrier and make sure none of the Void people tries anything funny while they arrive in our Empire."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Drakhairs answered without hesitation.
"And after every wave of war," Victor continued, "inspect the remaining crops personally and report everything to Aria imdiately. If you notice the food supply dropping below twenty percent..."
Victor paused.
His expression darkened.
"...Then you shall take action without hesitation."
The air itself seed to grow heavier after those words.
Because both of them understood exactly what that ant.
If the food reserves ever dropped below that point, then the outco of the Empire would already be decided. At that stage, protecting farmland would no longer matter more than eliminating threats as quickly as possible.
"Understood, Your Majesty!"
This ti, even Drakhairs’ tone changed.
Cold and absolute.
Because at that point, holding back his power would no longer save anyone. If destruction had already beco inevitable, then the only thing left was ensuring at least sothing survived in the end.
Victor remained silent for a mont before speaking again.
"Also... you’re already aware of the other Empresses, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Drakhairs respectfully listed every woman connected to Victor and Aether one by one without missing a single na.
Victor quietly nodded after hearing them.
"Protect them," he said directly. "That is your first and foremost priority above everything else. If you sense they’re in danger, do not hesitate to interfere. Got it?"
"Understood, Your Majesty!!"
There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in Drakhairs’ response.
After all, no matter what happened...
Victor’s wives held priority above everything else in his heart.
Empire.
War.
Politics.
Even his own life.
Nothing surpassed them.
That truth would never change.
"Even if they themselves beco the danger," Victor added in a grim voice.
So of his wives were too kind. Too gentle. Too willing to sacrifice themselves for others. And Victor knew very well that kindness alone could beco the sharpest blade turned against oneself.
Especially when he wasn’t around.
Drakhairs naturally understood who Victor was referring to. He had seen them personally with his own eyes.
So he bowed his head once more.
Even if they hated him for interfering...
Even if they attacked him...
Even if they cursed him for it...
He would still obey his Emperor’s order and protect them.
"I clearly understand, Your Majesty."
Victor finally nodded with slight satisfaction.
"Don’t worry about my absence either," he said. "Nightfire will transform into and make appearances throughout the Empire from ti to ti. It’ll keep the people calm and let them believe their Emperor is still here."
A faint smile appeared on Drakhairs’ old face as he nodded slowly.
That alone removed a massive burden from his shoulders.
Otherwise, he would have needed to work even harder to hide the Emperor’s disappearance on top of everything else already happening within the Empire.
After all, what kind of people would remain calm after learning their Emperor, the ruler who swore to protect them, had suddenly vanished without a single word?
Victor exhaled slowly.
Everything had been settled.
By tomorrow, he would enter the Terra Empire.
For so reason, every ti he thought about that place, his heart skipped strangely. An indescribable emotion stirred deep within him, sothing heavy and unfamiliar trying to surface from beneath his thoughts.
But Victor forcefully pushed it down.
’Let’s hope everything goes smoothly.’
The thought crossed his mind with a slightly weary expression as he turned around to leave.
"Umm..."
Victor stopped mid-step.
"Do you wish to say sothing?"
He glanced back at Drakhairs, noticing the unusual hesitation on the old dragon’s face.
Drakhairs slowly clenched his fist before finally asking in a careful voice,
"Have you... inford Lyirrs?"
"..."
Victor blinked once before suddenly realising sothing important.
’Oh right... I haven’t inford her.’
The silence alone already gave Drakhairs the answer he needed.
Inside, the old dragon could only sigh helplessly.
’Daughter... you truly need to work harder at this rate, otherwise you’ll eventually be completely forgotten by him.’
"Well then," Victor suddenly said while turning around with an amused smile, "let’s go et your daughter~"
Sothing about his teasing tone imdiately made Drakhairs feel uneasy.
A very bad feeling slowly crept into his ancient bones.
"Victor... right?" he asked cautiously, already feeling a headache approaching.
Victor’s grin widened instantly.
"Nah," he replied with shaless confidence. "Aether~ Hehe~"
"..."
For a brief mont, Drakhairs genuinely felt his soul trying to leave his body.
The old dragon silently prayed for his daughter’s survival.
***
Inside the massive underground laboratory, countless glowing tubes rotated across the walls while tallic tools floated. Sparks occasionally burst from nearby tables, illuminating rows of dismantled armour pieces and strange chanical components.
At the centre of the room stood Lyirrs.
Her thick, dark brown hair was loosely tied behind her back while several screens surrounded her. She worked with complete concentration on the damaged tallic figure they had recovered earlier, carefully adjusting internal structures while analysing the strange material composition hidden beneath the armour.
The mont the door opened, she instinctively glanced toward it.
She saw her father.
And beside him...
Aether.
Since it wasn’t Her Majesty, Lyirrs simply returned to work almost imdiately without much reaction. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued inspecting the tallic suit piece by piece, trying to understand the chanisms hidden inside it.
What exactly powered these suits?
How did they operate?
The deeper she analysed them, the stranger they beca.
"Hellooo~"
Aether’s teasing voice echoed throughout the laboratory like a troublemaker entering a sacred temple.
Lyirrs rely humd softly in response, barely acknowledging his existence at all.
That reaction only made Aether’s lips curl wider.
If Victor himself had arrived, she would have imdiately stood up, knelt respectfully, and acted perfectly obedient.
But before him?
Look at her now.
Acting all proud and untouchable.
Aether chuckled inwardly before casually walking closer toward her workstation.
"What are you doing?" he asked while leaning slightly toward the tallic fragnts.
The mont he stepped near her, Lyirrs quietly shifted one step to the side without even looking at him directly.
"I’m busy," she replied flatly while continuing her work. "Leave."
"..."
Aether glanced at her for a second before casually shrugging.
"Is that so?" he muttered. "Guess Victor was right then."
The mont Victor’s na left his mouth, Lyirrs visibly flinched.
Her hands stopped moving instantly.
She quickly turned toward him with startled eyes.
"W-What did His Majesty say?"
Seeing her imdiate reaction, Aether nearly laughed.
A smirk slowly spread across his face as he shrugged lazily.
"He said Lyirrs would probably be too busy," Aether answered casually. "So there’s no need to inform her about us leaving."
"Leaving?"
This ti, her expression completely changed.
A trace of panic flashed across her face as she stared directly at him.
"Where?"
"To the Terra Empire," Aether replied calmly. "Victor and I found a path leading inside, so we’re heading there to deal with the Terra people."
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