Chapter 318: An Act

Early Morning - Early Summer : Atlas | Bahamut

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"T-tell them it's one of the Ancient Fenrir." Mother spoke to Chloe after barely a moment of thought.

The nonchalance in her voice threw me for a loop. -Huh? What?-

Quickly looking up at me, Mother spoke in a slightly troubled tone. "I think.. it's time I find you a better aura control technique... Although I'm not sure we have anything in our family library for that volume of aura..."

-The family library? But wait.. before that...- "Did you just tell her to say its the aura of one of the Fenrir?" Quickly turning toward the door, I contemplated stopping Chloe before thinking Mother wouldn't have said it without reason. 

"It's a long story, but shortly after you left, we absorbed Siratha. However, one of the many conditions Miss Vilulf made was a complete allegiance with the Ancient Fenrir, meaning we were forced to place the Fenrir alongside Bahamut and not shun their worship." She paused as she looked up at me. "With them being physical, living gods, it left a sour taste in the mouths of many as it meant they could take control of Bahamut at any moment if they wanted, but many simply dealt with it since you weren't here... However, now that you're back in Atlas with an aura like this.. it seems it brought many of their worries to light."

I immediately tensed. -Shit.. that's not good...- Absorbing Siratha was actually something I had thought about before my sleep; however, my consensus was that it was too risky as long as I didn't have the power to fill the role. -I mean... I might be able to now...- But I was still a bit unsure. "You mentioned there were other conditions in the deal with Siratha?"

"Miss Vilulf gave us quite a few of them.. almost as if she knew we couldn't refuse at the time..." Gently flicking her tail, Mother rolled onto her side before continuing calmly. "The two most problematic ones were that dragons, to live in Siratha as dragons, were required to openly worship the Fenrir, and, should the Fenrir request it, Siratha would be granted complete sovereignty."

-Holy shit... Sovereignty after assimilation like this would make it look like the status of elves is being put next to the status of dragons...- In short, it was a major blow to draconic pride, one I couldn't blame them for. "But if that's the case, wouldn't telling them my aura belongs to one of the Fenrir only make things.. like.. way worse?" -Wouldn't it just paint their worries out in front of them?-

Mother nodded without a moment of hesitation. "I won't be surprised if Chloe telling them the aura belongs to one of the Ancient Fenrir causes some turmoil... But more than likely, they won't even take our word for it."

-How can they not take our word for it?! What other creature would have an aura like mine?!- A conflicted feeling quickly arose upon seeing how calm she was. "What if they do believe you, though?"

"Then, once we leave for the family library, I will come up with an excuse for one of the Fenrir being here that eases their worries."

I hesitated upon hearing her confidence, but while I trusted her, I didn't trust those outside. -If they're really upset about the deal with Siratha, they could use my lack of action as the ignition for a rebellion...- In my eyes, it only left me with one option.

However, before I could say anything... 

"PWAAH!" Bursting out from under me, Krystallo finally freed her head. "BROTHER! Go out and kick their asses!"

I jolted slightly hearing her angry, demanding tone. 

"They have given Mom and Dad nothing but trouble ever since we made the deal with Siratha! Go out and put them in their place!" She spoke with fire despite still being buried within my fur.

"Sweetie," Mother's tone instantly turned worried. "A few more months won't hurt anyth-"

"No! Now that he's back, we should show them all why the deal was made in Siratha's favor! They constantly asked where the Fenrir were, and about whether they truly deserved to be put next to Bahamut, so now it's our turn to answer!"

I was instantly taken aback by her ferocity, but at the same time, all she did was confirm my worries. -If I simply do nothing here.. it will just cause more problems...-

Mother seemed to be more worried about me than anything, though.

After seeing that I was taking Krystallo's side, her expression was washed with worry. "Vasilias.. sweetie. I know what you're thinking..." She paused as she looked up at me. "No matter what display of strength you do, it won't be enough. People will continually compare it to their impossibly high visions of Bahamut, and no matter what you do, it will fall short..."

"But..." A part of me couldn't refute her words. "But if I can manage an adequate show of strength, wouldn't it fix almost all our problems?"

Her expression quickly turned more troubled, clearly displeased.

"I haven't actually tested much with my aura or this form much at all just yet, but my gut is telling me to be confident... Maybe I could use this as an opportunity to test the water..." It was a bit of a stretch and extremely risky, especially since even I didn't know what the capabilities of this form were. -But if I simply do nothing, I'm almost certain things will make a turn for the worse... And if that's the case, at least this would give us a chance to turn it around...-

But Mother was still skeptical, not seeing it like I did.

However, after staring me in the eyes for a moment, she eventually sighed heavily and sat up. "Haah... How certain are you?" She gave me a side eye while deep in thought.

"Quite."

She momentarily stared deep into my eyes before moving her tail over and grazing an artifact, causing it to immediately light up.

Almost instantly, the old head butler of our family, Galen, showed up with a cold sweat. "Y..yes, my lady?"

Mother looked back at him with a frigid gaze before the air around her fogged. "Summon everyone you can reach through the mana line if they aren't already outside."

-A mana line? Is that some new artifact for communications?- I immediately started questioning what it was before the butler gave me an odd glance.

But after just a moment, he seemed to steel his resolve and nodded before bowing. "A-as you order, my lady."

Mother's worried expression quickly began to ease as he left, but it eventually turned back to me. "We need to give people a moment to arrive before we go out."

-A moment to arrive?- "Won't there being more people only make it harder for me to make a display of power?"

"Sweetie.. if a few extra people matter, it won't be a big enough display..." She spoke as if having already warned me before easing up slightly. "If you decide to simply hold up an air as we leave, you may. But let's wait for everyone to arrive... I want to have as many people as possible to help suppress rumors."

"A..alright..." -So I need to find a way to make do with what I have... To put the money where my mouth is.-

The issue was that I wasn't sure of my limits in my new form. -But.. I have a few minutes to find that out...-

And find out, I did.

After several minutes of more closely inspecting my new form, I found many things I hadn't previously realized, from my reserve walls still being variable in thickness to the fact that the amount of divinity in my body was far beyond what I thought.

But what drew my attention the most was that my reserve was large enough to idly create divinity at its center now.

Granted, it was very slow, but the fact there was any at all was a wonderful thing. -It means if I accumulate it some, I can use it as liquid divinity like I did against Freya...- Although I had no idea how it worked, at that moment, I didn't have the time to question it. -I don't have enough to slow time like that right now though.. should I forcefully create some?-

But before I could do anything, Chloe knocked on the door and pulled me from my thoughts.

*knock-knock* "M-My Lord.. Madam." She tried to speak formally but was quite nervous. "All those who could be summoned have arrived."

Mother immediately looked toward me to check if I was ready before seeing me reluctantly nod. "Alright. In that case.. let's see how this goes..." She was clearly nervous, but as she stood up, she took a deep breath and instantly put on a serious expression as if it were a mask.

"Hooh..." -Alright.. well, here goes nothing...- "So, you want me to walk out first, then follow you toward the library after I do my thing, right?"

Mother gave a quick nod before turning to Krystallo. "Stay with your Father, alright, sweetie? Make sure he is alright when he wakes up, and try to help Chloe and Galen keep things in order as everyone wakes up."

Krystallo eventually nodded after some hesitation, clearly upset she couldn't go with us before tucking her face back into my fur.

But the time to leave had already arrived. -Well... Here goes nothing...- "We'll be back soon, Krystallo. I promise to make everything up to you when I return, alright?"

As I gently nuzzled my snout against her, she gave me a grumpy look, making it clear I wouldn't have it easy once I returned before stepping out from under me and letting us finally leave.

At that moment, I was still quite confident, having already adjusted my demeanor and begun the act, but once we finally reached the door and walked outside, that quickly changed.

*click-VWOOOM* Letting a heavy wave of mana inside, the door swung open and revealed a view of our courtyard, clean and empty, exactly as it was when I arrived, but as I walked outside and looked into the air, reality finally set in.

All around the estate, lining the roofs of nearby buildings and filling the bright early morning sky, were massive dragons of nearly every stage. -There are even some kids down at street level...-

But, maintaining the demeanor of a god, I walked out without any hesitation. -There really are a lot, though... I'm not sure my aura can suppress this many people... Should I try and make some liquid divinity?-

Quickly looking up toward a group of about a dozen ancients probing my aura with theirs, their expressions turned extremely unsavory. -How rude...- Although I didn't personally care, it was quite disrespectful.

Glancing back toward Mother, I saw her serious expression and spoke with confidence. "It appears I'm not as welcome here as I thought."

She immediately tensed up slightly but, after a moment, simply rolled with it. "It is likely because of your abrupt appearance. I apologize if their curiosities have upset you."

"It's not their curiosity that bothers me..."

Politely lowering her head, she spoke with swiftness. "Then you may punish as you see fit."

Slowly coming to a stop in the center of the courtyard, I looked up at the ancients again before casually sitting down. "Then allow me to apologize for the damages in advance."

*VWOOOM* Slamming the aura I could control down onto each of them, they instantly went wide-eyed before being slammed into the ground with an irresistible force.

*WH-WH-WH-WHAAAM* Kicking up huge plumes of dust and rock as they shattered the ground, each of the eleven ancients were instantly, irresistibly pinned to the ground.

-H..Holy shit...- Even I was taken aback by how oppressive it was. -And I still have some to spare...-

*VWOOOM* Swiftly spreading out everything else I had control of, I immediately pressured countless other dragons throughout the audience elder and ancient stages alike, slamming them down to the ground with pale faces while while the rest wore looks of awe, appearing like admiration on the faces of children.

And before I knew it, a smirk appeared on my face. -Having so many dragons kneeling to me.. doesn't feel too bad...- "Now, are there any others who need 'correcting'?"

*crackle* Pressing down harder on the ancients as they tried to squirm out from beneath my aura, cracks continued to spread through the ground, and every unsavory expression remaining in the crowd was eased.

"Much better." Finally standing up again, I glanced back at Mother. "Now, let's get moving again. I apologize for creating a scene."

"Right... Now, if everyone would excuse us." Quickly walking past me, she took to the air, giving me one last moment to look around before I followed after her, only easing the pressure of my aura after I had taken to the air.

However, even after I withdrew my aura, most remained motionless.

They simply sat there in silence, in thought. Contemplating the reality of what just happened.

Attempting to fathom the being they just witnessed.

Meanwhile I followed after Mother, contemplating why my acting flowed a little too well off the tongue. -I guess Nott's soul still had some influence.. huh…-

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Stuff will start picking up pace again soon <3< p>

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