Supreme Magus

"Never, Grandfather." Fyrwal pushed the younger Hydra away and knelt in front of the Guardian. "Please, forgive Forgemaster Anata's insolence. Ufyl can remain with you for as long as he wants."

"Thank you, Hatchling." Leegaain nodded and Warped the Divine Beasts away with him.

As soon as the emerald aura of the dimensional spell faded, Fyrwal lashed at Anata with fury.

"What's wrong with your head, kid? You never refuse Grandfather a favor unless you have an excellent reason."

"What about our research?" The lead Forgemaster asked. "Without test subjects, there's nothing-"

"Our research can wait a few hours and even a few days! Nothing will change." Fyrwal snarled, cutting Anata short. "If you anger Grandfather, instead, everything will change for the worse.

"Not because he'll seek revenge. He's not that petty. Yet one day, when you need a piece of knowledge to save your life or that of someone you love, he'd turn you away just like you tried to do to him.

"I know because it happened to me. It happened to most of your elders!" Fyrwal waved at the other Hydras, and many of them nodded in agreement. "We are in his debt, not the other way around.

"You almost ruined your and our chances to keep receiving his help in the future, you short-sighted idiot!"

"But, Grandfather never helped us." Anata tried to defend herself. "Otherwise, why are we still Lesser Dragons?"

"If you expect Grandfather to do everything while you sit down and enjoy the scenery, you are out of your mind, Hatchling." One of the elders replied. "He gives us knowledge when we need it, but putting it to use is up to us.

"Becoming Dragons is hardly a matter of life or death. It's only a matter of pride and power. You are acting like a spoiled youth who demands her grandfather to keep paying for her after she reached adulthood, Ananta.

"Grandfather taught us magic and gave us everything we needed to prosper. If you want to reach Dragonhood, Guardianhood, or the white core, that's on you."

"I understand." Anata accepted Fyrwal's hand and got back to her feet. "I'm sorry, elders, I'll apologize to Grandfather when he brings our guests back here."

"Good. He'll appreciate it." Fyrwal nodded.

She didn't scold Anata harder, and the rest of the elders dropped the matter so easily because the lesson was for all the young Hydras. Anata had the guts to voice her misgivings about Leegaain's apparent lack of care out loud, but many shared her same thoughts.

The elders had already made an example of her. Anything more would have just been cruel.

***

Meanwhile, Leegaain and Thrud's Divine Beasts had already reached the Verhen Mansion.

Ufyl, Leari, Ophius, and the others rushed to meet Valeron the Second with hearts filled with joy. Yet the baby boy glared at them with a coldness they had never seen before, stopping the Divine Beasts in their tracks.

"You knew?" He asked.

"Knew what?" Leari asked in honest confusion.

"Let me explain." Protheus extended tendrils of Spirit Magic and brought everyone up to speed.

The Doppelganger shared with them Valeron's memories of the attempt on his life, the revelations about his parents' fate, his relationship with Lith, and his previous conversations with Protheus.

"Those farming children of a sylphidic whale!" Ophius snarled in outrage. "I'm going to find everyone and everything they love and bill- Why are my words all wrong?"

"No swearing in front of the child." Leegaain snorted. "He's already heard enough bad things. Don't add more."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before bringing us here, Protheus?" Ufyl asked.

"Because Valeron doesn't trust us already." The Doppelganger replied. "I wanted your reaction to be genuine, not staged. He needed to feel your sincerity if we want him to believe us."

"Okay, fine, but how come the Hydras didn't tell us about the attack?" Leari's voice rose into an angry peal call. "It happened days ago!"

"That I can answer." Leegaain replied since Protheus was just as confused as her. "The Hydras didn't tell you because they didn't want you to become distressed and abandon the experiments.

"Had you known about the attack, would you have stayed in the lab peacefully?"

"Of course not." Protheus and everyone else snarled. "I would have demanded to go to Valeron's side and stay there for as long as he needed."

"And they would have replied like they tried to do with me." Leegaain nodded.

"Those beast farts!" Ufyl tried and failed to curse at the Hydras.

"You knew?" Valeron asked louder to draw everyone's attention.

One at a time, the Divine Beasts walked to him and established a mind link. Only Ufyl and Protheus had Dragon Scales, so the others had to rely on Leegaain for the empathic link.

Once Valeron the Second had his answers, he was more confused than ever.

All the people he loved and trusted had known about his parents' death and had played their part in deceiving him. Valeron was angry with all of them for that, but also deeply sad.

Rejecting them all like he had done with Lith meant remaining alone. Some of the Divine Beasts he had known since he had memory, yet they had proved themselves untrustworthy.

"Why Dad no leave? What Adya fault?" Valeron asked.

"He wants to know why Father didn't accept Leegaain's deal and how Grandfather is responsible for Jormun's death." Protheus said. "Ufyl, you go first."

"I understand." The Seven Headed Dragon offered his scaled hand to communicate with the baby without Leegaain's influence.

Ufyl showed Valeron how Jormun had been a prisoner of the Golden Griffon and had been the first to join Thrud's side. Then, he fast-forwarded to the moment when Jormun ran away from the Golden Griffon and glossed over the reason.

The Seven Headed Dragon emphasized how heartbroken Thrud was and how quickly Jormun had returned upon hearing of the imminent birth of Valeron. From that moment onward, the Emerald Dragon had reconciled with Thrud and never left his son's side.

Valeron was young and naïve, but not dumb. He noticed how Ufyl remained vague about everything involving Thrud, whereas he went at length about how much Jormun loved the baby boy.

Valeron recalled clearly a tension between his parents, but back then, he thought it was normal. After living with Kamila, Solus, and Lith, he now knew better. What shocked Valeron the most, however, was that Ufyl and Protheus avoided the same topics as Lith did.

The baby boy had firmly believed that it was another layer of Lith's deception to hide his cruelty and wrongdoings toward Valeron's parents, but now the baby boy wasn't so sure anymore.

The mind link continued, expressing how much Valeron's parents worried for him in case Thrud's project, whatever it was, failed. Jormun wanted a quiet life, but Thrud refused to turn her back on her father's legacy.

In the end, the Emerald Dragon had remained by Thrud's side and refused to leave her and their child alone. Even from Ufyl's memories, Valeron felt Jormun's deep love and was proud of his real father.

Then, after Lith killed Jormun, Thrud blamed Leegaain for not saving him. According to her words, Valeron's paternal grandfather was much stronger than he thought.