Valerian, The Legendary

However, the worries of the dragon were baseless, and the bloom-kin chuckled. She said, “You surely are her son.”

Valerian was surprised again, but before he could ask her anything, the figure said, “You will find the answer to your questions, but right now, you need to deal with the aftermath of this battle you waged.”

The prince understood that although he was curious, leaving the task at hand was also not good. Thinking about this, he turned around to look at the few elders of the Valkyrians and asked, “What do you all think? Do you wish to suffer for eternity by following this guy? He is the god of Death and will not spare you, either. You people had the potential to be so much better than you are. Do you like it when the world looks at you and thinks you are even below those animals who are not conscious other than hunting and sleeping?

What you want to make out of your life is up to you to decide.”

With this, Valerian stopped talking and said, “Your grace, I will not be meddling in the affairs of these people. I do not have the right or the caliber to teach anyone to improve. I will return and tell my people that their Emperor and God have been defeated. What happens next will be an all-out war. After all, these people do not care about anything other than strength and freedom.”

It may seem like the young man was addressing Boo-too, but his words were aimed at the Valkyrians looming in shock. He intended to inspire these people by using reverse psychology. This strategy surprised Boo-too and Fortuna, but the result was instant.

An elder from the Valkyrian crowd stood up from the ground and asked, “What can we do? The Valkyrians have worshipped the lord since the nation was founded a thousand years ago. How can we get away from this bond? Even if he was not a good patron, he protected us from much trouble. So how can we call him to die?”

Valerian nodded and wanted to say something when Boo-too noted, “The patron god of this region is not the dark wolf, but the driads. If you wish to break your ties with this hound, the driads will return to reclaim their lands, and the barren Valkyria will flourish again. You all will be able to live a better life.”

.....

The people were surprised, but the elder said, “Can they accept us? Even after all that we have done?”

Boo-too nodded and said, “You all have done many bad things, but as long as you are willing to pay penance. Then, things can change, and life can become better and happier. Think carefully.”

Valerian was surprised by this intervention. He could not help but cast a second glance at the tiny figure. The more he looked at this figure, the more he wanted to adore her. A faint smile surfaced on his lips. While Fortuna frowned at this, Boo-too shook her head gently, and Valerian stopped looking at her.

Boo-too said, “Fortuna, the rest of the task is left to finish. After that, I will take the hound away.”

Fortuna nodded and watched as Boo-too vanished from her spot along with the black hound on the ground. Valerian was confused, and an ethereal voice sounded, “We will meet again, young Valerian, soon.”

The young man scratched the back of his head and asked, “Say, Fortuna, who was that personage?”

The dragon queen rolled her eyes and said, “Lily.”

Valerian was confused and asked, “What do you mean?”

Fortuna replied, “I mean that young sir, please finish all this. Let the other people take care of it, and we are going to the dragon kingdom. That stunt you pulled off earlier, where you just tried to unleash decay, has taken a toll. The partial soul inside you can take over anytime, so we must treat you. Understand?”

Valerian was surprised and replied, “But I feel alri….”

He sensed a spiking pain in his head as he said these words and fell to the ground. The dragon queen said, “This is just a symptom. If you wish to spend the rest of your life as a mindless killer, stay here.”

Valerian did not hear much of her words as he squirmed on the ground for a few minutes before the pain calmed down. Then, finally, Fortuna asked, “How do you feel?”

The young man panted while lying on the ground and said, “I wonder if that is what death feels like.”

Fortuna shook her head and said, “Death is a much better alternative than this. That pain only lasted this long because you did not channel the decay magic needlessly. If you do, then the pain will keep increasing as time passes. So, every time the pain attacks you, the duration and intensity will amplify.”

Valerian was scared and said, “You said we must go to the dragon kingdom, right? When do we leave?”

He regained his usual calm and composed expression. He wanted to get treated as soon as possible. Fortuna said, “We can leave whenever we want, but first, you must inform the people back in Lumen. They are your family. It is not good to leave without telling them.”

Valerian thought about it and nodded. Then he stood up and said, “Let’s go. I need to inform Morgana and the other two before I leave.”

Fortuna nodded and then morphed into a white tiger. The two people walked across the battlefield, littered with corpses and stained with Death and blood. However, Valerian did not find anyone from the allied armies lying among the few items that Morgana, Ashlyn, and Lyon dropped earlier.

To fight with greater efficiency, the people had to change their weapons. There were two spears and one saber on the ground. These weapons belonged to Lyon and Morgana. Valerian could detect that from specific markings and the quality of the guns, while Ashlyn was a mage tired from the strain on her mana.

Valerian walked over, and the three people stood up straight. The young man was amused and said, “You all patronize her too much. She does not like this much attention. Unlike those arrogant ones, Fortuna is very elegant and low-key.”

The three people looked at him with their eyes filled with doubt. They could not accept that Fortuna did not like it; they could detect the satisfaction in her eyes. While the three were confused, Fortuna was cussing the young man for ruining her image.

‘Who said I am not arrogant? If a dragon is not arrogant, then who is? You weak human?’

Valerian did not bother with this and returned the weapons to the people. Then he said, “The three of you will have to combine efforts with the Lumen Empire to fix things up in Valkyria now that the hound of Death is gone. Driads might come out to take back the land that belonged to them.”

Ashlyn asked, “Huh? What do you mean by belonging to them? This is the human realm right?”

She was confused, so, Valerian took the initiative to answer, “By belonging to them I meant, the entrance of their realm originally appeared on this part of the continent. Driads are blessed enough to be able to move through the woods, and that is why they can still travel to the human world, but the loss of the original gateway affects the flow of mana in their realm.”

The three people understood and nodded to Valerian. Morgana asked, “Why do you seem to be in such a hurry to leave?”

Valerian replied, “Well, I am not well, and my problem can only be solved in a place far away from here. So, I will be out traveling with Fortuna for some time. Thus, I need to get going before things worsen. Forgive me.”

Morgana shook her head and said, “It is alright. I understand what is important and what is not. Anyhow, given the mess we have made, we will have no time to romance until all this is sorted.”

Lyon and Ashlyn were surprised when they heard the word, romance. Valerian smiled and embraced Morgana in front of them as he said, “I will be back soon, wait for me, Okay?”

Morgana rubbed her head in his chest and nodded gently. Fortuna said, “Can we leave or do you want me to puke out my breakfast?”

Valerian sighed and said, “This will be the reason why no able dragon will marry you in the future, Fortuna.”

Fortuna roared at him and retorted, “They dare to reject me? I am the queen, you understand, weakling.”

Valerian let go of Morgana and said, “I passed the trail of acknowledgment, dare you to call me a weakling, you childish fellow.”