Primordial Awakening: Rise of the Legendary Dragon God

Silence lingered for half a heartbeat after Kael shut down Druvarn's wish request with all the mercy of a guillotine.

Then—

Selene cleared her throat softly. "Now that the wish is clarified… the next step is deciding who goes."

Kael blinked. "Goes? Goes where? I'm the one fighting. The rest of you stay here, drink tea, and don't die."

Lyra looked offended.

Alenia's quill snapped in half.

Druvarn gasped dramatically.

Rue and Rina covered their mouths like they'd just heard a dangerous secret.

Evethra tilted her head, already rising as if preparing to follow him regardless.

Lyratheia, on the other hand, smiled, amused, while Selene looked like she'd been expecting this exact chaos.

Kael let out a sigh. "Why do I feel an argument coming?"

Alenia raised a hand like a schoolteacher. "Because we're not letting you go fight an S-rank tyrant alone."

"You do know that I'm stronger, right?" Kael questioned flatly.

"One can never be too strong in the eyes of those who care for them," Rina whispered, patting his sleeve.

Everyone paused, as Rue, sitting right next to Rina, had her mouth wide open. 'You are supposed to be shy! And that's not how an eight-year-old is supposed to talk!'

Rina seemed to have realized that as well, but everyone was already staring at her in surprise.

With no other choice left, she shrank, sticking closer to Kael and muttering, "Druvarn told me that."

"Huh?" The bear blinked. "I did?"

But no one heard his whisper as Kael turned to the bear, nodding. "Looks like leaving them with you was a good decision."

As soon as he heard the compliment, the bear's confusion evaporated, and puffing his chest, he huffed.

"Of course. Do you think I would push the girls down the wrong path? Never."

Kael nodded, though his eyes caught Rue glaring at Rina, and he frowned.

But before he could say something, Selene, ever calm, her arms folded, spoke up. "Lyratheia must go for the final strike, so her position is fixed. As for the rest, you should tell them the reason why you don't want to take them."

"I want to go," Lyra declared.

"Me, too," Evethra said calmly.

"And me," Selene added.

Kael blinked, but before he could speak—

Druvarn lifted his paw. "Can I come spiritually?"

"No," Kael repeated.

Selene cleared her throat again. "So, Kael, what's your decision now?"

He lifted his hands defensively.

"That no one needs to go. I punch him; he's defeated. Lyratheia stabs him afterward; everyone's happy."

"No," Alenia said firmly.

"No," Lyra echoed.

"No," Selene added.

"No," Evethra said in a tone that sounded less like refusal and more like 'don't even think about it.'

Kael pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do I feel ganged up on?"

"Because you are," Druvarn helpfully supplied.

Kael glared at him. "You're unusually talkative for a beast who wore a collar."

Druvarn immediately curled into a ball of shame.

Rue whispered, "He's so sensitive…"

Rina nodded sympathetically.

Kael clapped once. "Alright. Let's settle this quickly. We don't have all day."

He pointed at Druvarn first. "You. You're staying."

Druvarn puffed out his chest proudly. "Because I'm too strong?"

"Because I can't take you and leave this city defenseless against a strong foe."

Druvarn deflated. "…Oh."

Rue hugged him. "We need you, Bear."

Rina nodded. "City protector."

Druvarn straightened again, pride restored. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Kael, on the other hand, didn't stop as he turned toward the girls. "You two aren't going. Obviously."

Rue pouted. "But—!"

"No."

Rina raised her tiny hand timidly. "B-But…"

"No."

Rue crossed her arms. "Not even if we hide in your cloak?"

"Especially not," Kael said, horrified. "The last thing I need is to fight a flesh-eating chimera with two gremlins clinging to my back."

"We're not gremlins," Rina whispered.

"We are noble gremlins," Rue corrected proudly.

Kael gave up, pointing at the administrator of his entire city now. "You're also staying. If you leave, the city collapses within two hours."

Alenia placed a hand on her chest, touched. "…Thank you for acknowledging my importance."

"You deserve it," Kael smiled, making Alenia giggle with a shake of her head.

Then, Lyra stepped forward with determination. "Kael, I want to come."

Kael raised one finger. "Lyra."

She straightened. "Yes?"

"Promise?"

She blinked. "Promise…?"

"You promised the fighter group you'd join them tonight to hunt something big and delicious for dinner."

Kael sipped his tea with the satisfaction of someone using her own words against her. "They're expecting you."

Lyra's confidence cracked instantly. "I—ah—tonight's meal is important, but—"

"They've been training all week," Kael continued. "They want you with them."

Her shoulders drooped. "…You're right."

Rue whispered to Rina, "She lost."

Rina whispered back, "He used food against her…"

Lyra bowed slightly in defeat. "I will stay."

Kael then turned to his maid. "Evethra—"

"Yes," she said before he even finished.

"That wasn't—"

"Yes."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Yes."

Kael stared, and Evethra stared back with absolute devotion.

He sighed. "…Fine. You're coming."

Evethra nodded, pleased.

Then he looked at Selene. "And you?"

Selene met his gaze calmly. "I am coming."

"…Why?"

"Well, I don't have anything else to do. And maybe I might get some enlightenment looking at you fight with another strong beast."

Kael blinked. "So, you're just coming because you're curious."

Selene sipped her tea. "…Also that."

Kael gave up. "Fine."

With that, the group was decided.

Kael, Lyratheia, Selene, and Evethra.

Kael exhaled, shaking his head. "Alright. Decision made."

He turned toward Lyratheia, tapping the armrest impatiently.

"Now. Where am I teleporting us? Direction, distance, terrain—give me the works."

Lyratheia set her teacup down, expression shifting from amused to serious.

"The beast resides around the border of Rugarda near the Beast Empire's border. Beyond the emerald valley, past the triple-rooted oak. Approximately three days' travel by beastkin speed."

Kael nodded slowly. "Teleport range is fine. I'll take coordinates from your mana signature and anchor us there."

Evethra took a step closer, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder, ready to channel stabilizing mana if needed, and so did Selene, though both of them knew that it wouldn't be required.

Kael rose from his chair, stretching with a bored elegance.

"Well then," he murmured, a faint smile curling his lips. "Let's go bully a tyrant."

Druvarn saluted dramatically. "Return victorious!"

Alenia called, "Don't start any wars!"

Kael smirked.

"No promises."

................

Meanwhile, in the Banaron Estate.

Marquis Banaron stood before the magical map spread across his study table—an intricate circle of silver threads and runes glowing faintly with pale-blue light.

At the center, a small gleaming sigil pulsed steadily, marking one single point: Vaelen.

For one and a half months, that point hadn't shifted more than a certain boundary. It was as if he were living in a city.

As if he had found a settlement and decided to stay there for who knows how long.

After all, for all this time, he had been going around that area, doing the same thing without any fluctuation in his health or routine.

Marthis stood beside the marquis, hands folded neatly behind his back. His eyes, however, kept flicking toward the unmoving sigil.

"…Still the same, my lord," the butler said softly. "Not even a fluctuation from the routine."

"I can see that," the marquis muttered.

His jaw had grown tighter these past weeks. Even his blue hair looked more pronounced, as if stress had been threading through it day by day.

He had waited because he had no choice.

He had written petition after petition to the king, invoking every clause, every historical precedent, and every emergency protocol he could think of.

Every single one had returned denied.

Not because the king hated him.

But because the treaty was absolute.

No A-rank human, especially not a marquis, could enter Rugarda without explicit approval.

And Vaelen was healthy. Alive. Not under attack.

So the king had said, with the calm dismissal of someone who had never had sons.

"If he is not dying, Banaron, then he is simply exploring.

Do not violate the treaty over a boy's stubbornness."

Those words had been circling the marquis's mind like vultures for weeks.

He had obeyed only because Vaelen's condition had stayed stable.

Only because the sigil pulsed calmly every day, as if his boy were resting in the sun rather than trapped in the world's most dangerous forest.

That was until now.

A sharp tone cut through the air—shrill, urgent. The glowing point on the sigil map flared bright red.

Marthis's eyes widened. "My lord—his vitals—!"

The crystal screen displayed his current status, which was drastically different from what it was before.

Heart rate: Spiking.

Mana: Fluctuating erratically.

Motion pattern: Rapid.

Direction: Eastward.

Status: Fleeing.

"Fleeing?" the Marquis repeated, voice dropping to a cold whisper.

The dot on the map shot across the boundary of the region where it had been stationary for more than a month.

It moved like a hunted animal—zigzagging, retreating, and accelerating so violently that the crystal struggled to track it.

A fresh line of sigils beeped red.

"He's running," Marthis said, shocked. "He's… truly running."

For a heartbeat, neither man spoke.

Then the Marquis's fist slammed into the desk hard enough to crack the oak.

"That's it," he growled—the controlled mask he always wore finally fractured, revealing the raw, fierce terror beneath. "I've waited long enough. I will not stand here while my son runs for his life like prey."

"My lord—the king—"

"The king," the Marquis snapped, "is not Vaelen's father."

Marthis fell silent.

The Marquis turned, cloak flaring behind him as he strode toward the door with the precision and force of a man who had already made peace with treason.

"Prepare someone who can pretend to be me for a few days," he commanded.

"If the king finds out—"

"I do not care. Just find someone, and as soon as you do, I'll leave."

For the first time in his life, the Marquis looked less like a noble and more like a beast cornered by fate.

"If the king wishes to strip me of my title," he said, voice trembling with fury, "he may. But he will not strip me of my son."

The crystal behind him continued to beep—Vaelen's signal blinking frantically, zigzagging deeper and deeper into the uncharted forest.

Yes, he was fine for now, but who knew what he was running from?

Lyratheia's territory wasn't marked anywhere on the map, as no one had ever found it, or he would've realized what Vaelen was running from.

For now, however, he had decided to go and retrieve his son.

He wouldn't wait for his son's vitals to fluctuate.

"If there is even a chance he is in danger," he said, moving toward the training chamber, ready to move, "then let the heavens themselves try to stop me."

What he didn't see was that his actions were being projected to Arren, his first son, who had left a surveillance spell in this chamber.

And Arren's expression was anything but good as he saw how concerned the Marquis was for Vaelen.