Chapter 184: Back home

Breta quickly reverted to her default expressionless face. She hastily shook her head and replied. "What friends? You and I are no friends."

Shrugging, I spoke, "Why not?"

"Why you say...No, we just can't!" She continued to shake her head as if to convince herself.

"And I'm asking you, why can't we?" I insisted to which she replied.

"Because you are a Dragon, and I'm a Deity... We can't."

"Is this about the previous war between our races?"

Faced with my question, Breta hesitantly raised her gaze to glance at me and slowly nodded before she continued, "Yes, Dragons and Deities can't be friends. I still find it hard to believe that the war ended in the first place!" The usually reserved goddess was unexpectedly flustered as she tried to explain.

This caused a chuckle to escape my mouth. Seeing that, she turned to glare at me, "Why are you laughing?"

"Breta, do you hate me?" I asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Did you finally lose your mind?"

"That was a simple yes or no question, do you hate me?" I asked again, as I lowered my head and brought my face closer to hers.

"I-"

"Because I don't hate you," I continued, "I don't know about any war fought hundreds of years ago, and frankly I don't really care. If anything I also lost a granduncle in that fight," A cough escaped my mouth as I added in a mumble, "Although I never physically met him before, but still!"

The goddess' face was laced with confusion as she stared at me, "Whether you believe me or not, the war has already ended. The Gods live far off in their floating continent, while we live down here in ours. There are no more battles to be fought."

Lowering her head, Breta's voice came out as nothing but a new whisper, "Then what was the point of it all? What did we fight for? For what reason did so many of us die?" She raised her head and stared straight at my face with tears welling up in her eyes.

"For what reason did I get stuck in that cursed place for all these years!?"

Her sudden outburst took me by surprise, and I failed to find a reply. My mouth opened to speak but no words came out of it. It might not have been long for me, but for Breta it has been years. Years of solitude, living on that mountain top inside that tiny wooden cottage.

A sigh escaped my mouth as I took a step back and spoke, "I'm sorry."

Shaking her head, Breta quickly wiped her tears, "Why are you apologizing for? You didn't even participate in that war."

I didn't know what to say and simply glanced at her with what must have been an awkward expression. Taking a deep breath, the goddess continued in a sad tone, "It doesn't matter, I have to go now."

Leaving behind those final words, Breta's body slowly levitated in the air, her face held a sad expression as she nodded toward me and spoke, "Thank you, Aether."

And with that, the goddess turned into a flash of white light that disappeared off in the distance, leaving me behind. A long sigh escaped my mouth as I shook my head at the suddenness of the situation.

Still, It was understandable. Breta needs time, she still needs to meet her family and get used to being back. 'Though now that I think about it, does she even know where the land of Gods is situated at?' I inwardly mumbled.

"Ah well, it doesn't matter. Time to head back home."

I scanned my surroundings with a satisfied smile. The abundance of water mana elevates my mood. Just as I was about to take off, something caught my eyes. My gaze subconsciously drifted towards my reflection on the surface of the lake.

"Another one?" I muttered.

The change that attracted my attention was none other than the faint purple color of my horns. No doubt the result of my usage of poison mana.

Clicking my tongue, I took off towards our floating mountain with a sigh. "If I continue like this, I'll end up turning into a damn rainbow at some point."

My trip back home was not long, and soon I found myself standing at the cave's entrance. The floating mountain was still the same as I left it. I raised my head and squinted my eyes while glancing to see whether the dragon statue situated at the peak was still the same.

'Looks like it's still there,' I nodded before turning my attention towards the entrance.

The sky above the mountain was empty with no signs of little Essie to be found. Immy was not sunbathing at the entrance which means she and Sidus are not back yet. Ynos's presence was missing from the foot of the mountain where he usually played with his golems, so that meant he was not here either.

"Am I the first to come back?" I mumbled as I stepped forward inside the cave.

My footsteps came to a sudden halt as I glanced at the figures inside. Father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and a strangely familiar silver dragonness were all sitting in a circle facing each other.

The second I walked in, however, all of their eyes suddenly turned towards me. Mother looked relieved, while my father nodded in satisfaction. Grandfather had a smirk on his face while grandma in her human form had her usual harmless smile on.

The somewhat familiar silver dragoness on the other hand was glancing at me with a wide grin. Her eyes wandered on my body causing me to become quite uncomfortable.

'Who the hell is she?' I wondered. Still, seeing how she was sitting with everyone could only mean they must treat her as an equal.

I lowered my head for a quick respectful bow and announced my return. "I have returned."

"Oh, my cute little grandchild, come, come let me take a look at you."

Grandmother was the first to reply as she almost teleported to stand in front of me. I subconsciously lowered my head towards her. She was significantly smaller in her human form, still, grandmother didn't seem to mind. She gently patted my head with both hands.

My eyes twitched as I sensed a small thread of her mana seep beneath my scales, yet I did not do anything since I did not feel any hostility. As quickly as it came, the thread of mana silently left my body and grandmother nodded with a smile.

"Good."

'Good?'