CHAPTER 222: REFUSAL & IRRATIONALITY

Outside, Aeris remained silent for a long moment.

She knew the stories of Eden better than any other human because Amazons were taught about it from birth.

It was described as paradise, a place of unimaginable beauty where divine beings lived in eternal splendor.

But to her, it was just an elevated cage. She would become a goddess if she chose this.

However, being married to this god whom she barely knew would mean living by his whims and the whims of other gods who would be higher than she was in rank. There would be no true freedom for her there either.

She swallowed hard and spoke slowly, stuttering over her words. "Th-there are numerous Amazons. A-and aside from Amazons, I am sure a god as noble as you would find a more befitting woman."

Va’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"So it is really true that the dragon vessel has cast a spell to bewitch you then?"

Aeris shook her head quickly. "No, it’s not that. It’s just that I—"

But Va didn’t let her finish. He lost his patience entirely and slammed his staff against the ground with tremendous force.

The impact rocked the earth beneath them and sent cracks outward. The shockwave rattled every building nearby, including Ravens Grave.

This also left cracks on their window.

"I’ve heard enough!" Va yelled, with the sound of his voice echoing out loud.

Only then did the guild members fully register the presence outside.

"Everyone move away from that window!" Katherine yelled and they pulled back.

In truth, they had grown just as frantic as she was.

Aiden shook his head, then sighed.

Aeris flinched backward in fear as she saw that Va had truly become enraged, and instinctively lowered her head while trembling.

"You will leave this place and return to your home at once!" Va commanded.

Aiden’s time variant stepped back out through the front door, almost casually, like he didn’t care about the god’s rage. "That’s about enough from you, mate."

Va turned toward him immediately, with fury still burning in his eyes. "Stay away from this matter! It is not your business dragon vessel!"

Aiden ignored him and looked directly at Aeris, who still knelt on the ground with sadness and confusion on her face.

"Aeris," Aiden began. "Do you intend to go with this god?"

Aeris slowly lifted her head toward him and met his gaze before shaking her head slowly in the negative.

Va’s eyes widened even further in shock at this open defiance.

The time variant turned back toward Va and said, "You heard her. The lady doesn’t want to go, so she doesn’t go."

Then he glanced upward again toward the sky where those unseen eyes continued watching them. "Now if there’s nothing else, I may have to ask you to leave because those eyes staring from up there are becoming increasingly irritating."

Va went silent for a moment before divine energy exploded outward from his body in full force.

"I will tell you one more time! Stay away from this matter! It is not your business!"

—-

Within Rhyos’s temple high above in Eden, Lucina stood beside Rhyos himself along with Herxes as they all watched everything unfold through Rhyos’s gateway.

Lucina smiled widely. "Now this is where it gets good."

Rhyos frowned slightly as he turned toward her with concern. "I hope you know what you’re doing setting Va off like that against the vessel. Is this your way of getting him to grant us the said boon?"

Lucina turned toward him with that same smile. "Of course that plan is still in motion. This is just a different method. I no longer follow that plan to help him willingly. Instead I will make life increasingly difficult for him until he does my bidding just to have some peace of mind. I call it a little persuasion."

Rhyos stared at her before shaking his head. "You’re irrational."

Lucina laughed. "Simply see it like when an older big kid bullies a younger one to take his sweet. Now that Aiden isn’t a full dragon yet, this is the only time to apply force and get what we want. The longer we try to play nice, the longer the whole thing takes and the stronger he gets, more defiant till he reaches a level out of our control."

Her smile widened. "Va is just the starting point. I wanted this to turn into a fight so the god of order would beat Aiden to a pulp. He may be a dragon but if that was all he could do in Dellheim? Then he shouldn’t be able to match Va."

Rhyos looked at her and shook his head. "I really hope you know what you’re doing."

——

Without saying anything back, Aiden immediately activated his Space Authority skill.

"Relocation."

The space beneath Va’s feet distorted violently and tore itself away from its original position. In an instant, the section of ground Va stood on was ripped from Dragonhold entirely and relocated high into the sky, miles away from the city.

Va’s eyes widened as he found himself suddenly suspended in the air, far from where he had been standing moments before.

Everyone watching from the guild building became alarmed. Piers pressed his face against the broken window frame and shouted, "What just happened? Where did he go?"

Aiden turned back toward Aeris, who still knelt on the ground with shock written across her face. "Go inside. Quickly."

She hesitated for only a second before nodding and scrambling to her feet, rushing through the guild’s front entrance.

The moment she disappeared inside, Aiden vanished.

He reappeared instantly in the sky, floating directly before Va, who had already stabilized himself in mid-air with divine energy radiating around his body to maintain flight.

"Hey, listen," Aiden said calmly. "It doesn’t have to get ugly. Just leave."

Va’s bronze eyes blazed with fury as he raised his staff high. "All you shall receive from me is retribution!"

The staff in his hand suddenly dispersed into countless blobs of golden light that swirled around him before rapidly reforming into something entirely different.

A massive golden scale materialized in the air beside Va, perfectly balanced with two large plates hanging from either side of a central beam.

Va raised his left hand and curled his first two fingers into a hand seal positioned directly in front of him.