Vaile sighed audibly as the menagerie of many powerful beings bickered amongst themselves. He could have, if he felt the need to, used this time to make a hasty escape, but he had a nagging suspicion that, if he left them here, they would either utterly destroy this land and the dragons within or outright exterminate them all.

His reasoning behind this suspicion was borne from the sheer levels of unimaginable hate that they exuded and were directing not merely at Vyviir, whom they had directly and indirectly confirmed was ‘under the influence’, so to speak, but also at Monarkea, the other dragons here, and every other thing, monster or not, in the entirety of the Dragon’s Domain.

While escape would have more than likely been possible, it would result in a lot of blood being on his hands, and while he could now live with that, it was only if that blood was that of those not affiliated with him. These dragons, as well as those that served them, were positively affiliated with him.

They were his Tamed Beings, and as a result, he did feel an honest obligation to try and avoid a slaughter of them by the hands of others that were loyal to him. If they were going to slake their bloodthirst, they would need to find someone or something else to vent their anger on, and why not direct their hatred and pure, unbridled animosity towards a more valid and worthy target?

It was time to interject and, hopefully, steer the rapidly escalating violent tendencies away from the innocent and toward a more deserving target. Vaile wished himself luck and raised his voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” He said, trying to sound as authoritative as he possibly could. Only a few Tamed Beings noticed him among the growing cries for blood, but they were able to quiet the rest by process of chain notification. “Don’t you all think that you’re directing all of that energy at the wrong targets?”

“Oh?” asked a very irritable machine-person. “And where should we be directing the hostility we feel, dear Lord?”

“Watch you filthy, oil-covered tongue, you damn bucket of bolts!” spat a man made of spectral essence. “Your tone is disrespectful at best.”

“Please, please.” Vaile interjected to avoid letting the conversation devolve into more bickering. “I understand why you would be annoyed, or perhaps quite livid. I mean, Vyviir did just try and kill me, but let me ask you for your opinion on something before anyone does anything to anyone.”

Vaile tilted his head a bit to look around the bodies arrayed around him and pointed at the battle between Monarkea and the horrifically weakened former master of the Dragon’s Domain.

“Is that really Vyviir?” Vaile asked. “Is that thing really the person, or rather, dragon, that you once knew? Or, perhaps, is it just a husk under the control of another? I want your honest opinion, but only after you have evaluated the situation from a calm, collected, and fully stable view.”

Eyes shifted to the fight down in the basin where Monarkea was beating the snot out of her father. The contract had worked, and while it had not worked flawlessly, as it had allowed Vyviir to attack Vaile, it had come in clutch after the fact and reduced the former master of this land to a shadow of his former self in terms of power, size, and overall capabilities.

Vyviir, even right now, was obviously not Vyviir. He was healing himself and empowering himself not with the strength he used to have but with a purely unnatural force that sent out glitchy effects every time it was activated, and even though he was, in some ways, holding his own, Monarkea was still throwing him around like a rag doll, growing ever more powerful and massive with each second that passed as Vyviir’s natural power slipped away into his successor.

“No.” came the short and swift rebuke from Zahra. “I recognize that sickening taint anywhere. Vyviir was once who he was, but now he is… not.”

“It is in him.” Hissed Arachnaerok. “Feeding off of him like a parasite. I can feel It in his mind, twisting his thoughts. Even if his body dies, It will remain, and It will use his dead body as a final weapon of defiance, though Its power will be drastically reduced.”

“Speaking from experience, are we?” spat Chuu as she slowly moved closer to Vaile before a massive green hand found its way onto her shoulder and clamped down hard.

“HAH! DA DUM LIZERDY FING GOTZ A FINGY EN EZ ED! LEMME SMAH ET OUDAH DERE!” roared the green armored giant before moving forward while dragging Chuu along for the ride.

“Hold your movements, Green Meanie.” Purred a woman in all red with a crown of equally crimson flowers of various kinds adorning her brow. “We wish to see if the little one will be able to bring her father from the depths. Do let us enjoy the show, will you?”

“AH FUKOVV YA DUM SPARKLY FAIRY GIT!”

“No, no. She has a point.” Interjected the being made of countless bones. “Little Monarkea will have to prove herself a worthy successor, and right now she is doing just that. What better proof that she can replace Vyviir with all the weight that comes with such a position that her bringing her father from his mental issues and restoring him, though weakened, to his right state of mind?”

“See? Vaile said, approving of that course. “The problem isn’t Vyviir, Monarkea, the dragons, this land, the beings within it, or any of that stuff. No, the problem, and the true place and being you should focus your hate on, is the… whatever it is that has taken it upon itself to fuck about with us and what is rightfully ours.”

“Then we need to redouble our efforts on that front…” muttered Blaer, who had recently come into the impromptu in-person meeting of the Alliance’s top brass despite not being nearly as powerful as some of the others there.

“On what front?” Vaile asked, but his question was seemingly unheard as the growing number of beings of various powers and abilities began to discuss and debate something that flew over Vaile’s head by miles. He could not really understand what was being said, nor did it seem that those present wanted to take the time to explain what was being discussed, so Vaile contented himself with his endless bucket of popcorn and the spectacle happening down below.

“Fucking hell…” Vaile muttered with a mouthful of popcorn as Monarkea dragged Vyviir’s shrinking body along the ground by his tail before treating her possessed father in a similar way that a certain angry green man ‘played’ with a certain Norse trickster deity, with similar results aside from the fact that Monarkea did not merely walk away after the beating. “Are you actually gonna try and save your dad’s mind, or just keep beating him until he dies?”