Chapter 353: The Eve of Change

Short Chapter today. This was originally written back when I was still sick, so it was shortened.

My apologies, I hope you enjoy!

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Early Afternoon - Late Summer : The New Elder Hall

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*Pat* Plunging my paws into the feathers on his neck as his eyes widened, I smiled snarkily. "I'm not sure if you're even worth being my carrier pigeon now."

"WHAT THE?!" In a flash, his long talons clamped around my hanging tail, and he opened his beak to reveal an intense blue glow brighter than the sun.

-Huh?- I recognized it in an instant. -Radiation?!-

The next thing I knew, a shiver passed down my spine.

It wasn't normal radiation; it was a pure energy that could only radiate from an uncontrolled antimatter reaction.

-THIS STUPID PIGEON!- *VWOOP* My mind instantly accelerated along with my divinity as I threw us through a gate, hastily darting through the void before the space mana had the chance to do anything to him.

*VWOOP* When we returned to reality, the blue sky that surrounded us turned black, littered with sparking stars and the distant glow of nebulas, hoisting the blazing sun directly above us and leaving the glowing surface of Delphi below us.

But the pigeon that was about to vomit the sun at me didn't even notice... -Can he not see when he prepares this spell?- Looking at his eyes, I saw the glow of radiation shining through them, clearly blinding him, and grimaced. "You're real fucking lucky you're useful..."

Resisting the urge to wring his stupid pigeon neck, I looked into his mouth before, finally, he finished.

*crackle* *pop* *BRRRRRRRMMMMMM* The blinding beam engulfed my whole body in an instant, shaking the fabric of space and just barely missing the planet before continuing through space like a comet until it would inevitably burn out.

It likely originally started at almost ten grams of antimatter, but the reaction was so inefficient that the beam hit similarly to about four grams. -Not like ten would make a difference...-

*RRRRmmmmm* As the beam slowly subsided, his beak slowly closed with a smile, feeling my tail still in his talons, thinking he killed me, but as his vision returned, he found me simply staring at him with an unamused expression.

All his spell did was streak my hair back as if I stood in the wind for a while. "If I didn't move us, you would've just introduced your kid and a few hundred dragons to the sensation of melting scales..." The confidence in his expression quickly started draining. "You're pretty fucking stupid for a demigod..."

Although he was a demigod, not only he and I but he and Hera, were in completely different leagues.

But somehow, I felt like he wouldn't understand that until I made it explicitly clear. *Puff* Tightening the grip of my furred paws on his neck, my draconic pupils slowly thinned. "Hey, you see that over there?" I quickly rocked my head to the side as my ears twitched.

Almost immediately, his eye darted over to see the moon, no longer hidden behind the horizon, far in the distance.

And before he could move his eye back to me, I leapt through the void, gripped onto the fabric of space with my aura, and slammed him into it.

*WHAAAAMMMM* An immense plume of molten debris instantly erupted through the mana and hydrogen atmosphere that formed after my dragon sleep as if a huge meteor slammed into its surface, sinking us down hundreds of meters.

But eventually, we stopped sinking, and he had a chance to match my gaze again.

However, now, I was standing over him, staring him in the eyes with an orb of glowing blue liquid in my mouth.

It was a whole kilogram of antimatter mixed with hydrogen and igniting just enough to make it glow. "Do you want to continue?"

His whole body tensed with fear as his hostility completely dried up, and he shook his head.

"Good." *crackle* Quickly destroying all but about a gram with the void, I spread the rest out behind me and cleared the dust to reveal the endless void of space above us. *flash-BAAANG* "Now.. shall we have a more reasonable talk?"

He immediately gulped. "*Gulp*..."

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Early Afternoon - Late Summer : The New Elder Hall

(Back about a minute)

- Hera ~

"You said thunderbirds are supposed to be much faster than dragons of the same age, right?" Vasilias's voice rang through the hall with a hint of eagerness as we all stared at him.

Almost immediately, I gave him a satisfied smile and nodded.

It was an approval that only made his smile widen. "That makes me wonder how fast they are though."

*poof* *CRACKLE* He instantly disappeared from where he sat as cracks spread through the Hall and a hole appeared in the ceiling. -Not even using the door, how eager...-

Quickly lifting and pointing my wing toward where he sat, I started repairing all the cracks before a thunderous voice rang out. "WHAT THE-" *Vwoop* And the next thing I knew, they seemed to vanish into thin air.

-Space mana really is fascinating...- Although I did vaguely understand how it worked, there was always something about it that was just beyond me. -Maybe I should ask if he can make a rune for me to play with...-

But now wasn't the time for that.

Looking back down at the half-breed named Haris, my expression darkened. "For how you dared to treat him, you should count your lucky stars he's keeping your father alive."

Haris's expression instantly morphed with anger. "As if that fucking dog could-" *WHAMMM*

The entire hall shook as my aura pancaked his body against the ground. "You should watch your mouth. You aren't useful like your father."

"You can't kill me!" He paused upon realizing he couldn't lean on his father's name. "T-the Hall won't let you- N-no! Father Neossós won't let you get away with it!"

Ignoring the gazes of Asimi and the young Chrysos, I released the control over my aura and let it instantly flood the room. -What a sorry excuse of an ancient... He acts like a child...- "I'm the strongest dragon alive. The only being that could stop me is Vasilias." *crack* Contemplating just wringing his neck like a chicken, I accidentally broke some of the stone under my paw.

But I was distracted before I did anything. "Uh..." The young Chrysos, frozen from shock, stared at me as he broke into a cold sweat. "W-who are you?"

"Hah..." Letting out a quick breath to try and calm down, I sat back down more calmly. "Hera Monachikós, Bahamut's new ruler. Now go and call the other elders in the Hall as well as anyone else with authority, I don't want to delay things any further. They need to be here by tomorrow."

After managing to free himself from shock after some time, he finally got up from his seat and started quickly running out of the Elder Hall with haste to do as I asked.

Although he was clearly a bit skeptical of me at first, after seeing Zachari not even bat an eyelash, he more eagerly did what I asked. -He certainly has the mind of a merchant...-

"In any case, Miss Asimi," Turning back to Asimi, I tried to put on a smile. "Apologies for the late introduction.. but while we wait for Vasilias to return, why don't we discuss what you wish to do going forward."

She was immediately taken aback. "Huh?"

*pat* Letting Krystallo down, I picked up a barrel of Piotita and tossed it to her. "You're Vasilias's family head. I won't make you work under me like the other elders; rather, you can work alongside me or not work at all. I will respect your wishes regardless."

Looking down at the barrel, Asimi gently picked it up before shooting me a skeptical gaze. "How are you planning to rule Bahamut?"

"Exactly how I did in the past." I responded without an ounce of hesitation. "But it will take some time, as all things do. However, I'll have a few extra tools up my sleeve this time around..." I slowly smiled before looking up in the air, letting countless insane ideas flood through my mind. "A few extra tools I can use to not just return Bahamut to it's former glory, but raise it beyond the peak where it once stood."

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