Her fault

Princess Crystallis was kneeling on the cold grounds of the palace courtyard, begging for her life. "Please! I beg of you to forgive me, Your Excellency. I didn't know what happened! If… If you could just give me a chance to make things right!"

Tal was overflowing with ominous energy, his bloodlust rising to extraordinary levels. If he could describe how his heart looked like right now, he would say it was as black as char. It was filled with so much anger, rage and despair. And the despair, oh, there was such an abundance of it that it would not fit in the fists of this new body.

Right, this weaker body. Earlier, when Tal was in his dragon form, he found an unfortunate discovery. Most of his powers were gone! His strength, his energy and his mana that once flowed like gigantic waterfalls—they were nowhere to be found. He could not feel them, the absence of these spurring a profound hollowness in him he couldn't deign to comprehend. He didn't even know if he could call himself a Dragon King.

It was as if he was back to thousands of years ago, back when he was still a fledgling dragon! What would his brothers and sisters say to him if they'd seen him in this state? The thought bought an ache to his chest, for he vividly remembered how they looked down upon their weaker dragon siblings with great contempt.

So, when he made the descent from Orion's gloomy skies and found the mage princess and the witch standing at the courtyard, his eyes darkened. Princess Crystallis was the single point of focus, the object of all this hatred poured into one person. It was her casting that had done this, there could be no one else to blame. And with the pain he felt upon witnessing the sad condition of Orion, he couldn't miss the chance to vent his anger.

The first thing he did upon reaching the ground was wrap his claws around her throat, using what meager bits of his power he had left. "What have you done to me?!" he had roared.

If not for Tynari the witch intervening, the princess would've died right there and then. Which would have been a better result, for she might look a lot like Analin, she certainly was no one to him. But if she was dead, who would undo the infliction she brought unto him?

Currently the witch stood between the both of them, blocking her princess from Tal's hot and seething fury. If he had been his past self, this fury would have turned the entire royal palace into dust at the very first tick of irritation he got.

"Explain!" he demanded.

"I… I don't know what happened," said the princess, her voice weak.

Heat flared inside Tal's chest, and the shadows around them began to move. They swirled and twisted, coming to life, heeding the surge of Tal's rampaging emotions.

Tal was about to speak, but Crystallis fumbled for more words and continued. "Your physical body was not in the caverns, but I could feel your soul. It was overwhelming, like a storm. So I thought we didn't need to find your real body, I thought it didn't matter, so long as we could secure your soul."

Tal's nostrils flared as he exhaled. "Then what did you do?"

Crystallis' fists bunched upon the grass where her palms fell earlier as she explained. "Tynari and I, we created a new body for you. It was to be a vessel for you to use, faceless so that you could still have your physical likeness. We did our best, believe me my Dark Lord, we did. We worked hard so that your new body would be compatible with your soul. But it seems our efforts were simply not enough."

Tal hacked out a dry laugh. "And what, you expect me to forgive you? Just because I'd allowed you to explain yourself doesn't mean I don't want to kill you anymore for what you did to me."

He didn't predict what she did next. She hoisted herself up, walked to the front of the witch who protected her, and confronted him with a steely resolve that was clear in her blue eyes. "That's fine by me!"

Tal blinked, taken aback. Half of his surging anger was instantly gone, replaced by surprise. The slowly advancing shadows retracted, as if they'd calmed down, like soldiers waiting for their commander's order. "Do you hear yourself? You're telling me that it's fine if I kill you."

Cystallis nodded, her gaze hard and absolute. "That's right, my Supreme Sovereign, Sir! Being hated by you is worse than death. I'd rather die than be despised by you, but I also don't want to die and abandon Orion behind. Please… give me a chance. While Tynari and I will look for your original body, I'll make adjustments on your current body. I'll make it better. I'll do everything I can, I swear!"

Tal blew a breath as the same time as Tynari. He furrowed his brows at the witch. Why did she look more tired than him?

"You can trust her," Tynari said, glancing sideways. "She's not a member of Illumina for nothing."

"Alright," Tal resigned, freeing the shadows and returning them to their rightful places. Cyrstallis breathed a sigh of relief, but she froze when he spoke once more. "This only means that you've got a noose hanging around your neck, woman. You'll still pay for your sins."

Contrary to what the correct reaction should be, Crystallis' eyes shone bright with happiness. "Looking forward—I mean, I'll do my best not to anger you any further, my Dark Lord Sovereign, Strongest Dragon of The Eight."

He glared at her. "Not anymore, thanks to a certain someone."

The light in her dimmed, her shoulders falling. Tal felt a pang of guilt, but he didn't want to take back his words. She deserved it.

An hour later, Tal was thrown into the dungeon for nearly killing the princess. He had only just remembered that laying a hand on royalty was a mortal crime, a law which he himself had passed several thousand years ago.

But this wasn't the worst that happened in his first day of coming back to life. When the clock rang at the twelfth hour, Aenna Kvalheim, Dragon of Time and Memory, waged war on all the eight kingdoms of The Crescent.