Chapter 49: The Return to Stalaris

The king made an official request to the guild which I accepted. I would act as a diplomat to nations to ask for their aid. I also purified the demon army that swore loyalty to me. Silas also brought me to his army, which I also purified.

The two angelic legions prepared the defenses as I went and spoke to the king.

"Rose, I am not a dull king."

"Of course not. Why are you bringing it up?"

"So, why is a goddess kneeling to me?"

My eyes widened.

"Did you think I would not figure it out? You were able to hold your ground against multiple shards of evil and survived total possession. In addition, your goodness magic was too powerful for anything less than a god."

"I see, please do not spread it."

"I would not wish too, but be more careful, if a dragon asks, they will show their nature and decide, but if you show yourself as a god, then they will submit immediately."

"But lord-"

"I am a king, not a god. Please call me Dalis."

"Understood, yo- Dalis. But my power emanates now no matter how much I conceal it. The most I can do is prevent others from feeling it. The people and terrain will still be affected by it."

"Then that works well, if things get better, then they will assume you are blessed and respect you, but not submit as they would if they knew you are a god."

"I understand, where should I go first, lo- Dalis."

"I believe that you should head to the nation of Stalaris, they know you and will likely be more comfortable with your presence than another adventurer."

"I will set out immediately."

I turned to leave, but then the king spoke.

"Rose?"

I turned back to find him kneeling.

"Thank you for standing with us."

"You do not need to thank me. It is because I am here that these problems keep coming, I should be apologizing."

"But I thank you because anyone else would have left this nation and fled. I won't hold you any longer, good luck."

"Thank you, Dalis."

We smiled and then I left.

_

I flew with no guard. Since my evolution into good, I was five times my previous size, I almost was as big as a quarter of the capital.

Even Dallel and Jalad were shocked by my size. I flapped my wings to get into the air and it caused the ground to shake. I flew off and realized that at my size I could get to Stalaris's capital in 10 minutes.

I flew over to the capital and landed outside and approached as a catkin. I wore an official diplomat badge and walked into the city mostly undisturbed. I knew I needed to visit the guild, but I didn't really want to.

'Why not, Rose?'

'The lolimaster is there.'

I shared my memories to the shards within me and they looked ticked off.

'How about we kill him.'

'Murder is not diplomatic.'

'...'

'...'

'Fine, but if he tries something we will kill him.'

'If he tries something, I'll kill him.'

'Good.'

I entered the guild causing people who recognized me to freeze.

"Hey look it's the lolimaster."

Darthen sat at the bar and glared at me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm an official diplomat from Selethon, but as an S rank adventurer I am obligated to announce myself as I enter the city."

Darthen's eyes widened.

"Official diplomat?"

"Yep, I also came here to ask for help in dealing with the same threat I am asking the king for aid with."

"And what threat is that?"

"5 shards of the evil god are coming in one month to destroy Selethon."

He dropped the drink he was holding.

"You tell us this and expect anyone to want to help you?"

"Well, we have 5 purified shards on our side."

"So, you claim that it's a battle between two gods."

"Essentially."

"I'll consider aiding you, but I'm going to need proof that you can fight back."

I smiled and then his dropped glass began to reform, and his wine had the dirt cleaned out of it. It reformed and floated in front of him.

He grabbed it and looked at me.

"How?"

"I am sent in their stead."

And with that, I left.

_

"Announcing Rose Hood. S Rank 21."

"Rose Hood, the dragon?"

The king was a small man. He looked at me with relative fear, then I curtsied.

"Yes, your grace, I am a dragon. I have come to ask for your aid against a threat that plagues the nation of Selethon."

"What is this plague?"

"5 shards of the evil god are amassing a force to destroy the nation. We were given a month to prepare, so I was sent to get aid from nations near Selethon."

"Why should we aid a losing battle? 5 shards is an unassailable force."

"Because the other 5 are aiding us."

"..."

"Lies!!!"

A noble came in and shouted.

"Your grace, please recall that this is the same woman that ruined our economy, now she seeks to weaken our force by sending us to a death mission."

"If I intended to send your men to their deaths, why would I tell you the truth of who we are facing?"

"Because it's clear that you want to appeal to us, so you can prepare an army to destroy us while we are distracted."

"That would be way too complicated of a way."

The noble laughed.

"You think you could do it easier?"

"I'm a dragon. If it was my plan to destroy you, I'd just do it."

"Now you are threatening us?"

I looked at him confused.

"If you consider that a threat, then you are too dumb to have any real power."

The noble looked offended.

"I thought you came for help; how can you get that by insulting us."

"I came for help from the king. Unless you are the king, I don't really need to bother with you."

The king looked interested in my actions.

"You seem quite honest, could you provide proof that you have 5 shards on your side?"

"Yes, I was blessed by one after all."

I released a small portion of my aura, and the castle shook, but nature began blooming around me.

"I thought you said shards of the evil god."

The noble and the king were shocked.

"The evil god never existed. It was the corrupted good god. The 5 against us don't want to be purified, and the 5 for us are purified."

"Interesting. Marquis Carlton, I think we should help."

"Your majesty, if we get involved in this, we would be a target of the other nations. Remember what happened to Falden."

I spoke up.

"With all due respect, Falden got that way because it attacked Selethon, not because it got involved."

The king nodded.

"I can't send my army; however, I will send Carlton and his elites."

Carlton looked sad but nodded.

"Very well, your majesty."

The king dismissed me.

I entered the guild where I saw the lolimaster working on paperwork.

"Excuse me, but I have a message I want to send."

"To whom, and what's the message."

"The king of Selethon, that Stalaris sent a Marquis and his elites."

Darthen looked up in shock.

"Alright, I will send that message. It's incredible though. None of us thought you'd be able to convince him."

"I can be quite diplomatic if I want to be."

I left the guild and walked through the gate, before shifting to a dragon and flying off. I heard screams come from the city as a dragon half the size of the city flew off.

The next nation was Stalaris's neighbor, Dracion. The dragon nation. They may either listen to me better or kill me on sight.