SON OF THE HERO KING

Interlude

The dragon realm was not calm at the moment, ever since the latest events where traitors had been revealed once again, something dark had been building and tension was at an all-time high.

Dragons were by nature extremely individualistic and the fact that traitors might still be laying low pushed this desire for isolation even more. As if it wasn’t enough, any dragons who showed even the slightest suspicious action had risk of getting lynched by the crowd before any question was asked.

Kiyohime had been pulling her hair because of the stress even as she struggled to bring stability to the realm.

It was not easy. Even more so since dragons knew that she was the executioner who put down all the traitors. At the same time, it was exactly because of this that she was more respected. Many dragons pitied her in fact, for they knew that Kiyohime loved the dragon race from the depth of her heart.

They could not even imagine how much grief she must have felt as many of the dragons had been directly or indirectly raised by her.

Kiyohime knew that her prestige was helpful but soon Tiamat would leave for the divine beast conference and she knew that once this happened things might really get troublesome.

She had been visiting Tiamat repeatedly the last few weeks as Tiamat delegated more and more of her authority to Kiyohime.

Once Tiamat left, the Territory would not benefit from the additional protection of the Sea of Stars dimension that belonged to Tiamat. This was another glaring point they needed to take care of and another problem she had been losing her hair over.

Today though, as she walked alone in the hallway, her expression was less frantic. After all, she wasn’t here for a report but simply to show a message.

Kiyohime stopped in her tracks and looked at the short pinked woman sauntering toward her with a large grin.

“Skuld.”

Kiyohime's relationship with Skuld was…Complicated. As a dragon and a warrior of Order, she despised Skuld and in fact, would be happy to sink her claw in Skuld’s heart and crush her heart. She also knew that Skuld, despite her apparent smile and joy, held no love nor interest for her and anyone else.

Expect one person — Sol.

Kiyohime's relationship with Sol was even more complicated.

“What the matter?”

“My, oh cold! After what we did together last time, I thought we became closer.”

Kiyohime felt heat cover her face. Right. This was the reason why she could not completely rebuke Skuld. That wild night she spent alongside the other women with Sol was still etched in her memory.

Letting out a sigh, she resumed her stride, “If you have nothing of importance to say then leave. I have a message to give.”

“Oh, I know. I can even guess what the content of that message is. Why else do you think I came?” Skuld chuckled before walking alongside Kiyohime. The two of them were relatively close in height so they made quite the picture together.

What was worth mentioning though was that even as she seemed close, Skuld made sure to keep a certain distance from Kiyohime. It was a distance so small it seemed useless but for people at their level, this was just the perfect distance to react instantly in case of a sudden attack.

Kiyohime gave a side glance at the impish titan and scoffed, “Your sister should be soon received by Tiamat, right?”

“Indeed. Since she is a Demigod, Tiamat put my sister away but soon they will have an audience. It will be interesting.”

“Interesting you say?”

“Chaos will happen soon. It barely did in the other timeline but this time things will be different. Whether this will be for good or bad I cannot say. What I can say though is that the peace you are enjoying at the moment is in a very precarious place.”

“Is that so?” Kiyohime was noncommittal. She knew that something big would happen but she had no care for this as long as it did not affect the Dragon realm.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

In the end, the two finally reached Tiamat’s room and immediately entered. Tiamat this time had long brown hair while the clothes she was wearing had less of the imperial grace she was used to and were closer to training gears “Empress.”

Kiyohime gave a respectful bow but Tiamat simply waved it away and proceeded to speak plainly, “I have been feeling quite restless this morning. I felt as if something happened. Sol’s star stone brightly and I wondered what that brat was doing.”

Tiamat was not a goddess and as such was unable to gaze upon the mortal realm but as a dragon, Sol’s star was firmly planted in Tiamat’s dimension, and even with someone with a Fate as elusive as his, she was still able to roughly feel his situation.

“Well. I believe that the answer is here. This was sent to me by Kaiser and Nidhogg.”

Kiyohime took out a small round crystal ball. It was a recording device that was pretty unpopular and barely used in the Astral realm despite how useful it could be.

“Oh?” Tiamat received an eyebrow at this. She remembered that the two young dragons had descended and were staying in the mortal realm with the elves. “Go on, activate it.”

Kiyohime nodded while Skuld, who had stayed silent, watched with interest. The crystal ball flickered with light before it started floating and soon images were projected from it.

At first, Tiamat seemed mildly curious. The Seven Great Sages were also quite the sensation in the Astral Realm. After all, they were led by Sun Wukong and they were truly battle-hungry warriors.

It did not take long for her eyes to open wide and for her to lean forward in her seat as image after image flashed.

The display of Pride, Strength, and absolute and total domination made her feel like she was watching her younger self in action. Furthermore, she could see how much refined his control over his dimension had gotten.

But it was only when Sol fully transformed into a Golden and Crimson Dragon that Tiamat’s attention was captured. The dragon form was technically inferior to the War Form but this was mostly because the Warm form offered greater agility and less target for the enemy.

The Dragon form was in no way weak and gave many advantages in pure power and mana reserve.

“Marvelous.”

Tiamat fought the desire to cheer when Sol activated his Dragon breath. This was a power no dragon had ever shown. A dragon breath that was extremely close to the power of Destruction by its nature. Something only Ymir and the Witch of Destruction had shown mastery of.

In the end, as Sol gave his speech, and proclaimed unilaterally a ceasefire and threatened another Blessed who was a King ranked while being a Duke rank himself.

Tiamat covered her face with her hand but was unable to hide the large grin covering her face.

In the end, though, she simply exploded her laughter. At first, it was a simple laugh but soon it started filling the nine heavens themselves, causing tremors to fill every part of the territory.

This was how a prince should be!

The Sol she had known had been relatively humble in his actions and words. Those traits were admirable in a warrior. But she did not wish to see them in someone else's family.

Pride. Absolute and complete pride as well as confidence in one's own power. The complete and unbreakable belief in the power you possessed.

“This was beautiful.”

In the end, her laugh ceased but her mood was still at an all-time high.

“Kiyohime. I want you to make a copy of this recording and spread it through the entire Dragon Territory. If possible, also make them flow in the other territories.”

Kiyohime, who had been spellbound by Sol’s display of power and his full dragon appearance, tore her gaze with difficulty from the video that was replaying. His glistening scales had been quite mouth-watering after all.

“You…” Though her thoughts were still a little jumbled she immediately understood what Tiamat was trying to do.

“You want to build his legend?”

“Heh.”

Tiamat snickered, “Soon he will have to create his name. Might as well help him.”

The victory against the Titan was great but anyone with discerning eyes would know Sol didn’t use his own power to bring victory.

Now though, there would be no doubt about his might and power. This was perfect to build a legend and increase the chances of receiving a good name.

But this wasn’t all. Tiamat knew very well that Sol did not need her help for powerful name. The second reason she was doing this was simple,

“I want all the divine beasts to remember.” She grinned, her eyes filled with amusement.

“I bullied all of them. My daughter bullied all their children and my grandchild will bully all their grandchildren.”

The dragons were the strongest. This was nothing but the simple truth. Tiamat laughed again while Kiyohime gave a bitter smile at the childishness of her creator.

Soon though, the two dragons found something curious. Why was that impish woman not reacting?

When the two of them finally paid attention to Skuld, Tiamat shook her head while Kiyohime only sighed.

“She fainted,” Kiyohime said as she watched Skuld lying down on the ground with a happy face as if she had reached Nirvana.

It seemed like this video had been too much for Skuld’s poor heart.