“I won’t be able to participate tomorrow, so have fun without me!” I remembered Kahalameet telling the family during my private birthday party. Honestly, to me, it was just a harmless statement that he would be busy during the festival.
I didn’t mind it too much since I was racking my brain on what needed to be done to fulfill my end of the bargain of Father’s gift. So much paperwork was needed, and considering the festive nature of the festival, it would be incredibly inconsiderate of me to force Frozen Nest’s town hall or my guild’s management to start working during a holiday. Even if “time is money,” I wasn’t that invested in the business world to make such a heartless decision.
Furthermore, the day Father gave me my gift was also the day just before the portion of the festival dedicated to my birthday. Uncle Guyul and his clan were already admonished by Mom when they “wasted” the budget on preparing a birthday party that couldn’t be held since I was still in a coma when it happened. Now that it would, even treated as a festival by the capital of Loatryx, and by extension the imperial family, they wouldn’t hold anything back to make it perfect for the denizens of Frozen Nest who remained at home.
Essentially, this was a classic case of “I won’t check my emails on an off day.” Perfectly reasonable.
Though I did make sure to inform Sieg and Jadhund about things, since they were already here, whether they would work was another matter. Nevertheless, the concert’s success came first, so I focused on that until today, when my mind was more preoccupied with how people would react to today’s announcement. It was a radical change in how people chose the next Kargryxmor spawn to sit on the throne of Kargryx, after all, and it would be in a manner unbefitting of our draconic culture.
Loatryx was a republic, and it made sense there to choose your leader through a vote made by the representatives of the various dragonewt clans. Kargryxians and Loatryxians, expected the next emperor or empress to be the strongest Kargryxmor, but putting the decision into the hands of the masses like a democracy, instead of the usual meritocracy of Kargryx, would face strong disapproval. This wasn’t even mentioned that the decision would also allow dragonewts to cast a vote.
It was progressive, yes, but I was a bit nervous about the fallout of this decision. As the princess of Frozen Nest, I was forced to worry. These political situations were why a big part of me still wished I were just a little idol doing her own things while going on adventures, but this was my family.
These thoughts filled my head until Father finally made his entrance. I was ready to hear his announcement, but instead of what was planned, he announced the evolution of our eldest brother.
You didn’t have to call it a ‘birth,’ though! I’m the youngest here! Only I am allowed to say the cringy stuff because it actually sounds cool coming from my mouth!
Though that little tantrum was quickly dismissed when the sky darkened. The white clouds disappeared as they turned black, no, as they started to burn. Black flames, distinctive to us Kargryxmor, began to form like clouds above us, darkening the world around the city as it enveloped us in it.
Trapped in a cage of these black flames, sunlight was immediately snuffed out, making it seem like the world was ending. Only the lights created by the individual mages and dragonkin, the street lamps and various manatech light sources, and the single red “sun” glowing behind Father illuminated this world of darkness.
You gotta be kidding me. Hahaha, you stole my idea with the sun, Bro! I giggled as I found the theatrics so very similar to how I used [Ruby Star] and [Sun, Consume All] as decorations for my concerts. While I brightened the night with my suns, Kahalameet turned everything into night with his flames, so his red sun remained the only “ray of hope.”
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” sure made me feel good. What he didn’t need to take inspiration from was how this majestic dragon-leviathan appeared from his dramatic opening.
The red growing sun suddenly collapsed upon itself, but instead of an explosion or doing whatever an actual star would do in this situation, the flames started vacuuming the black flames surrounding the city like a black hole.
In a matter of seconds, the sky returned to its usual blue vibrancy, but instead of the sun being obscured by clouds, a giant serpent-like monster was now blocking it from our sight. It coiled above Father, moving the clouds along its underside that kept the creature “afloat.” As it raised its head for all to see, Coral Beard exploded in applause, congratulations, and cheers as they roared, “Prince Kahalameet!”
“Urraaaaaaaaghhhhhhh!” my eldest brother roared with all his might, causing the air to shake and the floating island to rumble as if an earthquake was shaking it.
Holy sheesh! That’s an entrance, all right, Bro!
[“Kargryx! Loatryx! Miononbolax! The Kargryxmor clan’s next generation has reached rank S!”] Father announced proudly, further energizing the already extoling crowd of dragonkin, both young and elder scale.
Brother bit into the blackened sun he had created with his crocodile-like mouth, eating it up as he started to “slither” along the sky like a real Chinese Long or Japanese Ryu. In fact, he hadn’t lost any of that resemblance after his rank S evolution.
He was still a giant serpentine dragonkin with two pairs of limbs due to his dragon-leviathan heritage. He still had the same set of horns that resembled Father’s, whiskers and fins similar to those of his mother, and the same flaring, red mane contrasting with his charcoal-black scales. Yet, those very scales were the most significant difference between his rank-A and rank-S forms.
As a leviathan hybrid, his scales looked more like fish scales in how they shone, though they still looked thick like any other dragon’s. Yet that fish-like shine had disappeared as his entire body was now covered in carapace armor.
His fins now looked like rows of sharp, long, backward-bent spikes running down his back and sides, while his scale-plates looked even thicker than Father’s, making Kahalameet resemble a heavily fortified train. Instead of just black and tints of red, this carapace armor radiated a thin, red-blue—corresponding to his innate fire- and water-alignement—mana sheen over his body, as if his [True Draconic Barrier] was the cause of this.
And this massive dragon, long enough to wrap around Father like an anaconda trying to constrict a tall human, not only looked like a freight train from afar, but was expelling some type of steam from the back of his many fins, leaving behind a trail of clouds. These very clouds were then set on fire in the same manner as the flaming clouds from the start were, making them resemble the stream of fire of a flamethrower.
OKAY! Almost makes me as excited as if I evolved! I cheered before noticing the stream running on my bracelet for today’s event.
The chat was going wild as well, and anonymity was starting to show its ability to mask people by their user names. The amount of support Kahalameet was receiving from the crowd in the city was slightly tamer and more wholesome as they were congratulating him and Father, but the chat was going wild about the implications his evolution would have on the decision for the heir apparent.
Though that was different from how my family was feeling. I turned around to look at my siblings, as we were all watching this from atop my personal floating island, the same one I held my concert on.
“You knew?” I asked Wendriosa as she was smiling.
She nodded. “After Brother and I had our little discussion, yes.”
“Wait… hold on, if I remember this correctly, didn’t he go directly to you after he left Frozen Nest when the leviathans attacked us? Was he already ready to evolve even back then?” I realized, causing Wendriosa to frown in guilt, nodding slightly to my bafflement.
“… Keeping it hidden until now means he understood how much of an impact this would have on this day,” Tasianna said, prompting me to laugh in disbelief. “And it seems only Princess Wendriosa and Prince Phsothophus were made aware of this.”
“Makes sense when you look at those three.” Vifi then pointed at Neill, Ryra, and Nong, all three geeking out at the edge of the island.
“BROTHER! YOU LOOK AMAZING!” Neill jumped up and down while having her arm wrapped around Ryra, using his height to appear taller. “Come on, come on, Ryranakus. Shout louder!”
“YOU LOOK AMAZING!” Ryra cheered, smiling widely as he stared at Kahalameet.
Nong pumped his hand in the air, grinning in excitement. “That’s not loud enough! Come on, you two! We have to make him hear us! LOUDER! BROTHER KAHALAMEET, YOU’RE DAMN AMAZING LOOKING!”
“YOU LOOK AMAZING!”
That’s what I said—thought! Haha! He’s massive! Although I wasn’t as cheery as those three, I was still sending my support Kahalameet, through silent cheers, and I bet my Phso and Taim were the same with the way they smiled. Wendriosa, though, probably had conflicting feelings, but she still stared at Kahalameet in wonder like a kid witnessing their hero on the TV screen.
[“Many of you presume I have made my decision,”] Father suddenly interrupted all our fangirling, prompting Kahalameet to descend to my floating island, transforming back into a dragonewt to escape from everybody’s sight. As we siblings started gathering around Kahalameet to congratulate him, and also to see what had changed with his appearance, Father’s booming voice continued exploding inside our minds. [“Let me announce it thus—I have not. However—”]
The name was inaccurate. Bro should be called “Napalm Seiryu” with how similar this gel sounded to actual napalm.
Though I could feed my curiosity for his new evolution at another time, as it was impossible to ignore Father’s voice booming in my head. I looked up, watching our dragon emperor gaze down at us as if he were a god.
[“The decision to announce a heir apparent shall be made under my watch. Slumber and slothfulness have delayed my decision for too long now, so I shall have the empire’s future secured to ease our tension and worries. There will be a succession,”] Father declared to the jubilant cries of the people and the explosive reception of the stream chat. [“Yet! It shall not be done in a similar manner as how we would declare the next dragon ruler of a nest.”]
From extreme excitement to complete confusion, Father’s words were putting his entire empire on a rollercoaster of emotions and information. Yet, unperturbed by the manner in which he structured his announcement, he continued.
[“The draconic civil war that started during 123 after the appearance of the Origin Gods, which ended in 319 after I had slain my siblings and those who supported their ambitions’ ascension all for their own hunger for power and influence. Remember, those who fought with me: we shall never let such an atrocity repeat!”] Those words probably caused a few ancient dragons to relive their trauma. [“I had made that declaration when I announced the civil war’s end, young scales. The threat of a civil war between dragons and drakes has helped reunite this empire after our magics and elemental breaths sundered and ruined our beautiful home. Many of you who were born a thousand years after that conflict would not be able to find any scars that were left behind, for we wished to bury the evidence of that past, all while we keep preaching to our children, grandchildren, and dragonewt descendants of the threat of an all-out war. Our suffering taught our pride and arrogance a lesson: no matter how much we believe ourselves superior to other races, we all still crave to leave behind a worthy mark in history… isn’t that so petty and trivial with how mighty we are?”]
The havers still wish for more, until the weight of their choices and decisions eventually collapsed upon them; a tale as old as time.
[“Therefore, to the rest of the world, our decision to isolate ourselves from the world out of fear of repeating the past, when I left Miononbolax to fight with our parents and grandparents during the Demon War, must make us seem like cowards and wastrels. Some though,”]— Father looked to the sky—[“judge us as sloven descendants. Children who sit on the laurels of our ancestors and are the namesake of our clans. Some do not understand how much we have sacrificed to assure our own children may never witness our greatest mistake as a race.”]
Thud! A tail slammed on the ground with enough weight behind it that the soundwave traveled up to my floating island. And not just a single one, as that one tail slam cajoled many to follow suit out of respect for Father’s words. Eventually, the combined tail slamming reached a crescendo where the rhythm was perfect. It melded together into one single sound, like the disciplined, trained marching of an army.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Father raised his right arm, clenching his black-scaled hand into a fist. [“My role as father is to ensure history would not repeat itself! I shall not allow my children to suffer such a twisted road. If I must live for another thousand years or sunder the skulls of rank SS or rank SSS, then I will, to ensure Kargryx can greet its next emperor with cheers and tears. If I must reap earth and bring down heaven, then the Emperor of the Dragon Empire of Kargryx shall do so! For all shall remember me as the heritor of the ‘Black Tyrant of the Skies!’”]
“ELTHARION!” True dragonkin of all ages roared in unison to their emperor’s words, causing the sudden appearance of the six empresses in their true draconic form, flanking Coral Beard in a similar manner to when we welcomed Neill’s homecoming. It felt like that was entirely scripted, even if I knew it wasn’t.
[“The next emperor or empress must undergo a trial!”] Eltharion declared, silencing the cheers of the dragons and drakes, probably clearing their mind to focus on their emperor’s next words. [“First—as it has always been—any of my children may inherit my crown, whether they are the eldest or the youngest!”]
Urgh, you didn’t have to say that… I gulped a bit. I understood he had to clarify that, but I didn’t want to stress about my own position in the succession after all I did to snuff that idea out of Frozen Nest.
[“Up until now, that had been the only qualification you needed, which is how the current succession crisis had risen, looking eerily similar to how it was when the civil war broke out. My siblings had taken a taste of the power of ruling the empire, and that allowed the tempting words of their ‘most ardent’ supporters to persuade them into undermining my right as the heir. In fact, as many of the ancients are aware, even my Father never truly announced that I was supposed to be his heir. It was just an unspoken truth, for I was the strongest and the one he invested the most time in to mold into the perfect emperor to succeed him,”] Father admitted, causing my opinion of Kramps to… okay, maybe I didn’t need to say that. [“I acknowledge my mistake. If I had remained slothful, it would all have repeated. Over 2000 years have passed, and we ancients are slowly forgetting what we swore when the civil war ended. Our souls are slowly accepting that our era is over, but what of it? Even if the world must progress with the next generation, we cannot neglect our positions. Our duty to our descendants requires us to keep working.”]
Father flapped his wings, causing a massive gust to fly through Coral Beard, causing the sky city to shake and any floating island to nearly topple from the sky. While I was trying to keep my island from sinking, Father’s scales started to radiate a brilliant red like neon lights. He had activated his [Battle Frenzy].
[“Second qualification! Either become the dragon ruler of a nest, or receive the support of a dragon ruler and over 51% of their nest,”] Father stated, causing the cheering crowd to go dead silent. [“51%… there is a reason why my empresses are currently filming everything that is happening to the rest of Miononbolax. My words are sent to them through the ‘chat system’ of my youngest’s ‘stream’ invention. For I wish no misunderstanding to occur with this new way to decide the heir apparent. Even if many do not believe this to fit our empire, the voices of the ‘weak’ still matter.”]
… A System message suddenly appeared before my eyes, and from the reaction of my siblings, it seemed I wasn’t the only one. We all looked at each other, with Taim perfectly reciting the exact message we all saw. Hearing this, Kahalameet and Wendriosa nodded, looking as if they knew what that meant.
[“51%, instead of the 10% that you would expect. The strong will not decide their next ruler; it shall also be the ‘weak,’ as Kargryx is not an empire only for dragons and drakes. It has grown from how it once was under my father. You all know this. Every dragonkin with a child understands how our young sneak away from our nests to visit Loatryxian cities. How they would travel far to visit Coral Beard to bask in the splendor our humanoid descendants have created. It is no shame, scale-kin,”] he stated, to little fanfare. The tension could cut, at this point. [“To us, the weak are dragonkin who cannot defend themselves from the threats of a nest. Many dragonewts and wyvern cannot claim such a feat, but without them, this empire wouldn’t have flourished despite the lackadaisical behavior of the ancients—mine included. Yes, many true dragonkin have taken in administrative roles with pride, but those are the few, and those I believe understand why the voices of our ‘weak’ matter just as much as the strong. Kargryx, as an empire, had been turned into the home of our clans, whether they be small, from the sea, or talented in more than just warfare.”]
Father’s scales then started to molt, flying over to his hand to form a blazing sword in his right and a pen in his left. [“The strength to protect the empire, and the charisma to lead it towards the future. That is why the next heir must show their strength by becoming the a dragon ruler of a nest, or impress that ruler that they are worthy to be followed! For you, my dragon rulers, have a voice as loud as mine when it comes to disapproving and accepting my children. Yet, your voice alone is only worth half, for the entire nest must accept my successor as more than just a tyrant. Meritocracy and democracy; balance these two sides and gather your followers, my children. My citizens and dragon rulers—choose not just strength, choose a child that can lead the empire into the future! Choose not a perfect child for the crown—for they do not exist—but the one most suited for the future you wish our empire would strive for!”]
With a snap of a finger, his scale sword and pen dissolved into their individual pieces, returning to his body as a large projection appeared over the city. Instead of showcasing the stream like how the projection was being used for the festival, it was playing a simple slideshow of all the imperial children, starting from the eldest, Kahalameet, until it ended at the youngest, me. It showed not only our current draconic form—with Kahalameet’s portion showing his rank-S entrance just now—it also revealed our preferred humanoid form to the entirety of Miononbolax and our guests.
… Being part of the imperial family is being a celebrity, sadly. I frowned slightly. Even if I didn’t feel bad about it, I did feel slightly bad for Ryra and Taim, who disliked attention like this.
[“Kahalameet, Phsothophus, Wendriosa, Taimatrak, Nongramos, Ryranakus, Fargryneill, and, lastly, Hestia. These are your princes and princesses; decide on who you support as they not only will show you their worth as a Kargryxmor but also their conviction on transforming this nation,”] Father continued after the video ended. [“Third requirement: Loatryx will participate in this decision, with their major cities acting as ‘nests,’ though their governor shall not possess the same authority as a dragon ruler. Instead of acquiring a 51% majority, true democracy shall be the deciding point. The number of followers from all Loatryxian shall be tallied and attributed to the candidate in question.”]
The projection reappeared in the sky, this time showing the final system Father, the empresses, and our bureaucrats had settled on.
[“The process: no matter how much I speak of giving a voice to the ‘weak,’ we are not elves, humans, dwarves, or beastmen. We are dragonkin!”] he shouted to make his stance clear. [“Eight nests—Inferno Nest, Storm Nest, Quake Nest, Dusk Nest, Sacred Nest, Frozen Nest, Thunder Nest, and Marsh Nest. As Inferno Nest is ruled by two Dragon Rulers, each ruler will only decide for their respective dragonkin—fire and volcano. ‘Nine’ nests and their rulers will possess the authority to choose one candidate to fully support, and to become an eligible candidate, one must possess at least the support of one of these nests. The heir shall be decided on the total number of nests supporting them.”]
There were eight imperial children, but due to the split between the Dragon Ruler of Fire and Dragon Ruler of Volcanoes, that meant there were nine rulers to ensure there wouldn’t be a tie. Though it was clear that due to their personalities or lack of a reputation, some of us wouldn’t be supported by a dragon ruler.
Ryra “lived in the shadow of his elder brother, Phso” to many of Miononbolax, and it didn’t help that he was meek. Neill was a kirin, and no matter how much she looked like a drake now, the stigma of a ‘lesser dragonkin hybrid’ still clung to her like a foul cloak.
As much as I hated to admit it, those two wouldn’t be considered as candidates for the throne. Which left six other siblings… and I had the support of Frozen Nest and Sacred Nest. Since the leviathans did not count amongst the nests, that also meant Wendriosa didn’t have a clear supporter as well, even if she was the second most influential candidate, just behind Kahalameet.
Honestly, this sounded so fucked up… though I wouldn’t overreact this early. After all, during our dinner discussion, it was clear Kahalameet and Wendriosa talked with Father about all of this, and I, earnestly, believed Wendriosa wouldn’t decide on this succession process without at least giving herself a chance.
I turned around, confirming my suspicion when Wendriosa’s eyes remained resolute.
[“If there is a tie between multiple candidates on the highest number of supporting nests, then the voters of Loatryx shall become the deciding point,”] Father declared.
Although the city went silent, I could see from up here that a ton of people were already panicking, not to mention the disapproving stares from the true dragonkin who, a moment ago, showed full support of their emperor. How the mood shifted…
Yet, even if many disagreed with Father, nobody was dumb enough to voice their rage here. With the empresses flanking the city borders and Eltharion, the strongest mortal dragon, peering down, it would be foolish to show any hostilities. That stuff had to be done behind closed doors.
[“However!”] Father lowered his voice. [“Many of you must be asking the obvious. ‘Am I not showing my disapproval for one of the candidates’ with my decision to prioritize our nests? No. This is simply a chance for her to show her worth to all of you now that you have witnessed Kahalameet’s evolution into a rank S. Strenght-wise, she wouldn’t be able to best him, but… what if one of my children were to show you their ability to follow in the flight path of her grandfather—the Black Tyrant of the Skies? What if one of my children shows their ability to conquer as he once did? Would you not acknowledge her might then?”]
… What?
And I wasn’t the only one to show this astonishment as Taim, Nong, Ryra, and Neill shared my bafflement. We all looked at Wendriosa as if we weren’t sure what we had just heard.
“Big sister—” I tried to voice my confusion, but before we could do anything, another System message appeared before our eyes.
Carmaniate? Shiterno? Wh-what? Hold on, Saori! Ellaine! Grimnir! No!
I was about to pull out my [Room] runes when I remembered that I had lent them to Mom for today’s announcement. They needed more subspace portals to send today’s announcement stream to all eight nests and the various Loatryxian states, after all, so I was fully willing to help them by lending my runes. I didn’t expect this to happen now of all days, though!
What the fuck! I though—
Yet, that wasn’t all. No, the world would turn even as I slept. Yes, an Event Quest hadn’t happened since the one in Ankor-Nazta, but that didn’t mean the Origin Gods had totally forgotten about their new “toy.”
… Eh? Two?
[“Kargryx shall not forgive or forget the slight the leviathans and adamantoises have done to us!”] Father roared, causing the silent crowd to burst into loud approval fervor. [“Bring down one of the perpetrators of our attacks, and I shall bequeath that person the ‘Dragon Ruler of Water’ of the ocean separating Frozen Nest from the mainland. Conquer and expand our territory!”]
“PRINCE KAHALAMEET!”
“PRINCESS WENDRIOSA!”
… They all knew.
With ours.
And most importantly, none of these Event Quest had a set timer on them, unlike the first one. In other words, these Event Quests could span for years if left unresolved.
Fuck…
[“Let this be known though!”] Father raised his voice. [“As of now, I shall watch over this Event. Do not seek war. I may have given you permission to support my children in whatever manner you see fit, but daring to slay or punish any of them to cripple their chances, and you will face the Kargryxmor clan’s unrivaled wrath! None shall wage war on my lands!”]
<… Heh, you were right, Granddaughter. Faith and fear for the Kargryxmor clan act as ‘faith’ towards me. I can feel power flowing towards me with Eltharion’s announcement. Fine. I shall accept patience as you wanted me to, so continue to remind all that none shall slight our clan and believe they can run from our wing shadows!>
… Oh my gosh. This is… gonna be brutal for the next few years.
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