"You are a dragon? And my servant?" Damien sat across from her in the Hearth Manor's meeting room. "Is that what you want me to believe?"
Vritra nodded, her golden eyes steady. "Yes. I am here to serve the Master in his ascendance journey."
"My ascendance journey?" Damien's voice sharpened. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? How do you even know me in the first place? Who were the others? And what did they want with me?"
"Tiamat and Qinglong. Servants of the Lord of Light." Vritra's tone was calm, matter-of-fact. "They were here to kill you. To prevent your ascendance." She paused. "As I explained before, I am Vritra. The Black Dragon of Darkness and Catastrophe. And your servant."
Ais stood against the wall, her golden eyes fixed on Vritra. Her jaw was tight. The words 'Black Dragon' had made her angrier with each repetition.
Damien sighed. He turned to Loki, Hestia, and Freya. Each of them shook their heads. They did not know this woman.
He looked back at Vritra.
"The gods do not recognize you. I do not recognize you. Yet you are here to claim many things." He leaned forward. "I am thankful that you helped my friends against Qinglong. But I still cannot know if you are genuine. What if the same people who attacked me sent you to infiltrate my operation? They were merely avatars, yet still that powerful." His eyes narrowed. "What if you are the same?"
"Not a bad assumption." Vritra did not flinch. "However, it is false. I hate them with my guts." Her voice hardened. "I was raised by the Shadow Monarch Ashborn. He is like a father to me. And I was raised to serve YOU." She met his gaze. "My duty to you is genuine."
Damien's eyes widened. "How do you know that name?"
"What I speak is truth. Ashborn is akin to a father to me."
Damien stood suddenly. His mind raced. He walked to the window, staring out at the city.
Hestia's voice was soft. "Are you okay, Damien?"
He turned back to the room. "Yeah. I am fine."
His mind was in shambles.
'Ashborn? How the hell does she know Ashborn? The other one also spoke his name. She knows what the Shadow Monarch is. Who Ashborn is. But how is this possible? The Solo Leveling world is completely different from this one. No relation whatsoever. Yet everything seems to be jumbled up.'
He thought of the Ice Lord battle...And of the entity that had spoken to him.
'That entity mentioned something about me being the spawn of evil. That an Outer God interfered in my existence. But to think... it might be related to Ashborn. The Rulers as well. What if the other Monarchs could pop up here too? This is becoming extremely complicated.'
Loki raised an eyebrow. "You sure you are okay?"
Damien forced a nod. "Yeah.....Yeah...I am fine."
He turned to Vritra.
"You may stay next to me. I cannot allow someone as powerful as you to roam free without watch. I will decide if I can trust you through that time."
Vritra bowed her head. "Of course. I am honored to be by your side." She paused. "It is my duty, after all."
Damien nodded and turned to Hestia. "I am going to go check on our new recruits."
He looked at Loki. "Make an announcement. Tell the people that the threat has been averted. That we were attacked by another nation. I do not want them to worry too much."
Loki waved a hand. "Sure. I will handle that."
Damien walked out. Vritra followed.
....
Damien walked out toward the square of his home, where eight figures waited for him.
The three girls from the Hostess stood together—Chloe, Anya, and Lunoire. Next to them was Heracles, scratching her head, embarrassed by the girls praising her. The samurai waited in silence, his hand resting on his katana. Royland the mage stood apart, his crimson robes still singed from battle. Daphne and Cassandra waited side by side, their weapons sheathed but ready.
The unfortunate death of Evans was a shame. And the one known as Raya was missing as well.
Damien looked at them and spoke.
"Looks like you are the winners of the tournament. We were not able to formally reward you all, or formally include you in the Familia, due to the unfortunate attack. We also lost a very valuable member—Evans. He deserved to be here, if not for that cowardly attack by those entities."
His voice hardened.
"But that should also be a lesson to you all. Joining my Familia is not about glory, or winning, or about money or success. You join my Familia to face entities such as those on a daily basis. To protect the weak. To raise Hestia's name up. To be the strongest protectors of the world." He looked at each of them. "So I say this now. If you have any doubts, any hesitation, turn back now. You have already proven yourselves to be valuable adventurers. Anyone would want you. If you are not ready for that life... turn back now."
No one moved.
Each of them looked at him with conviction. Ready to fight for their goal.
Damien nodded. "Where is the one known as Raya? Did she back away?"
Chloe raised her hand. "Ahm... well... she is behind you."
Damien turned.
Behind him stood Hestia and Vritra.
Vritra smiled.
His eyes widened. "You were in the tournament?"
"Yes." Vritra's voice was calm. "I wanted to join your Familia secretly. But I had to fight due to Qinglong's attacks. To protect your people."
Damien stared at her. What shocked him the most was that he was looking at her now, and he sensed nothing. No power whatsoever. She looked normal. Like a regular human.
Yet he could not forget the first time he had seen her. How she had held the avatar of Qinglong's head so easily—like it was not a strong enemy he had struggled against and teamed up with Heracles to defeat.
Whatever Vritra was, she was insanely strong. So strong that he genuinely had no idea if he could win against her.
He shook off the thought.
"I see. Well, anyways." He turned back to the group. "If that is the case, Hestia will start the ritual of inviting you all to the Familia. I will be there, of course. And I will explain a few things on the way." He walked a few steps, then turned back. "If you are ready, form a line and follow me."
He paused.
"Oh, and... welcome to the greatest Familia in all of Orario." He grinned. "No, actually... the whole WORLD!"
/*\
If you Like this story! Check out my other story ! Sukuna in DC!
AND
If you wish to read more or simply support me just because ? than check out my patréon at
"https://www.patréon.com/Riadooo"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want !