Vaile finished his popcorn as Monarkea and an even more massive than before Vyviir landed on the edge of the outcropping that both had initially taken off from, and he could not help but shoot a glance at the growing number of Tamed Beings over to the side that were quietly discussing something that he didn’t fully understand.

“Well,” Vaile said as he stood from his seat and put the bucket back into his Item Box, “you two certainly look better than before.”

“Indeed, my Lord,” Vyviir replied, though in a tone that mixed a bit of melancholy and concern. “I deeply apologize for what I, in my semi-controlled state, attempted to do to you.”

“Water under the bridge.” Vaile countered with a wave of his hand. “Though, that is my view on the issue,” Vaile said as he pulled out the shard of oblivion that had alerted him to the upcoming issue a few minutes before the possessed Vyviir had attempted anything. “They might be a bit harder to gain forgiveness from, though.”

Vyviir and Monarkea’s gazes followed Vaile’s pointed finger that was aimed squarely at the top brass of the Alliance, and Vyviir nodded in response.

“Yes, I do suppose that we’ll need to do quite a lot to avoid extinction…”

Vyviir would have been right, too, had Vaile not passed a few secret Speech/ Persuasion checks earlier, not that such a system still remained in this New World. Extinction was off the table, but that did not mean that the Alliance's members were not still rather irritable and prone to lashing out.

It would be in the best interest of the people of the Dragon’s Domain to suck up whatever humiliations were forced upon them due to the lack of foresight of their former ruler, although it seemed that Monarkea was now a bit more willing to let her father have a bit of power now that he was in his right mind and more powerful than before.

“I doubt you and yours will face extinction, but maybe a bit of community service or a steep fine will be in your future.” Vaile joked. “I’ve gotten them to focus their hatred elsewhere for now, so it would be a good idea to show that your goals align with theirs and that you are all-in on whatever scheme they are cooking up over there.”

“You don’t wish to know?” asked Monarkea, who seemed rather confused that Vaile was unwilling to join whatever discussion was being had over to the side.

“A bunch of what they are talking about is just flying over my head, and a part of me does want to know, but most of me knows that if I do know, it will be nothing good for my health.”

Vaile turned about and walked back towards the cavernous entrance/ exit that led from the interior of the former dwarven hold to the outside air. This left Monarkea and Vyvir alone to face what could and would likely be a rather hostile crowd that was growing more numerous and dangerous by the minute, and the pair of dragons would not be able to stand up against a full onslaught by so many powerful beings should it all come to blows.

Vyviir gulped audibly as the gravity of his own misstep all those centuries ago began to creep up on him, and Monarkea couldn’t help but wish that she had done all of this decades prior.

“Well, father?” Monarkea asked, “Shall we gamble with our lives for the sake of our realm and our people?”

“My dear daughter, if we lose everyone and everything, we can start again and rebuild in no time at all.” Vyviir stated matter-of-factually, “But, should we die, no one will be able to adequately replace us. As a result, it is imperative that we survive, even if we lose everything and everyone else.”

Monarkea shot a glance at the few dragons left nearby who had not fainted or run off. She then looked at her own power and that of her restored father and realized that the vast gulf of power that had once existed between herself and the strongest thousand combined dragons of this Domain had widened not by multiples but by an order of magnitude.

With a snap of her claws, she could turn this whole land into whatever she wanted. So could her father, but the Trial had forced him to secede all control over this land to her, and so she was, by all rights, the new god of this place. Even if all the draconids were wiped out and all their hordes confiscated, she could just will all of that which was lost to be replaced without batting an eye.

Now that the Wardens had lost their grip on this area, she could feel that she was even more of an absolute, omnipotent, omniscient god than she would have been had that dumbass glitch-rock remained around. Her father was right, as he had been time and again before the decline brought about by the Wardens’ dumbass glitch-rock; the existence of everyone and everything here in the Domain was utterly inconsequential in comparison to their own.

Hell, even if the Domain was taken, they could just go off and take over somewhere else and turn that place into their new Dragon’s Domain, and more than likely no one in the Alliance would bat an eye. As such, the new ruler of the Domain made the only logical choice and silently wished her lesser kin a safe trip to the afterlife.

Maybe they would be able to buy a bit of leeway by offering the bodies of a few Greatwyrms as resources to be used by the other members of the Alliance? Well, that would all depend on how fucked they were, and if Vaile was correct and extinction was off the table, then any price would not be too high.

After all, what were all the lives and things here in this Domain good for if they were not used as was needed? To gods like them, everything beneath them was just another resource to be used for their betterment and their amusement, and once they expended their usefulness they would be either rewarded for adequate service or disposed of.

Yes, that was how a Dragon-Lord should think. No, not a merely a Dragon-Lord, but a Dragon-God….