The Next Morning
The camp slowly awakened.
Vinson stood with his arms crossed.
Looking directly at Leo.
"You are returning home."
Leo immediately frowned.
"No."
"Leo."
"No."
The argument lasted nearly twenty minutes.
Eventually...
Leo lost.
"...Fine."
Vinson nodded.
"Good."
The two walked toward the tent where Mia had been resting.
Leo pushed aside the entrance flap.
Then froze.
"Mia?"
The black dragon was still asleep.
But something looked wrong.
Both wings had fallen completely limp against the ground.
Her breathing sounded strange.
Slow.
Heavy.
"Hu..."
"Hu..."
"Hu..."
Leo approached carefully.
"Mia?"
No response.
He knelt beside her.
"Mia?"
Still nothing.
Concern appeared on his face.
He gently poked her nose.
Nothing.
Leo immediately stood.
"Father!"
His voice cracked slightly.
"Father, she's not responding!"
The camp erupted into motion.
Emma arrived first.
Followed by Ebruhan.
Several royal mages rushed in behind them.
Everyone gathered around Mia.
The examination didn't take long.
Emma's expression softened.
"I think it's starting."
Leo blinked.
"...What?"
Ebruhan looked at Mia.
Then quietly answered.
"Her growth phase."
The tent fell silent.
Then—
A dark-purple magic circle appeared beneath Mia.
Ancient symbols slowly illuminated.
The circle rotated.
Like enormous clockwork mechanisms turning beneath her body.
Slowly.
Steadily.
The mana pressure inside the tent immediately increased.
Leo stared.
"...What?"
Vinson looked concerned.
"Can we transport her back to the estate?"
Ebruhan immediately shook his head.
"No."
His voice was firm.
"It would be better not to move her."
The circle continued spinning.
Purple light reflected across the tent walls.
More people began gathering outside.
King Cedric arrived.
Several mages.
Royal guards.
Even wounded soldiers nearby watched nervously.
Nobody had ever seen Mia enter a growth phase before.
Leo carefully approached again.
He reached toward her head.
The moment his hand touched her scales—
"AH!"
He immediately pulled back.
"She's hot!"
His palm was slightly red.
The heat pouring from Mia's body was unbelievable.
Like touching a heated furnace.
Yet despite that...
Leo approached again.
Ignoring the heat.
Ignoring the worried looks.
Ignoring everyone.
He knelt beside her.
"Mia."
No response.
"Mia!"
Still nothing.
Leo clenched his fists.
Then smiled.
A stubborn smile.
"You got this."
"I'm here."
"So don't give up, okay?"
Silence.
The tent remained completely still.
Then...
One black dragon ear twitched.
Just slightly.
Leo's eyes widened.
Ebruhan noticed too.
A small smile appeared on the blue dragon's face.
"See?"
Everyone looked toward him.
Ebruhan's eyes remained fixed on Mia.
"She can hear you."
The room fell silent.
Because every dragon knew.
A growth phase wasn't simply sleeping.
It was a battle.
A transformation.
A trial.
Something taking place deep inside a dragon's body and mind.
Whatever Mia was facing in there...
Whatever fears.
Whatever doubts.
Whatever changes.
Somewhere within that storm of mana...
She could still hear Leo's voice.
And somehow...
That seemed to make Ebruhan less worried.
Because if there was one thing Mia had never lacked...
It was people waiting for her to come back.
The purple magic circle beneath Mia continued turning slowly.
Vinson stood nearby with folded arms.
Looking at Leo.
"Leo."
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Vinson sighed.
"Leo, since Mia is staying here, you should return to the estate."
"No."
"This battlefield is dangerous,You could get hurt."
"No."
The count rubbed his forehead.
"Would you stop saying no for one minute?"
Leo's fists tightened.
His voice rose.
"She's my sister!"
Everyone in the tent looked over.
Leo pointed toward the sleeping dragon.
"I promised her!"
"I promised I'd cheer her up!"
"You can't make me go home and sit there worrying about her!"
His voice cracked slightly.
"I don't care about the battlefield!"
"I don't care how dangerous it is!"
"I'm staying!"
Silence followed.
Vinson opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Then sighed heavily.
The kind of sigh only fathers could produce.
"...You are impossible."
Leo looked away.
"...I learned from you."
Several nearby soldiers immediately looked elsewhere.
Trying not to laugh.
Vinson looked personally betrayed.
Outside the camp...
Nobody noticed the figure hidden high within a distant tree.
Invisible.
Silent.
Watching everything.
The scout smiled.
Then vanished into the forest.
-----
Noveross camps
The scout knelt before Selene.
"My Princess."
Selene looked up from a stack of reports.
"Speak."
"The black dragon."
"What about her?"
The scout grinned.
"She appears to have entered her growth phase."
The command tent became silent.
Selene leaned back slightly.
Her eyes narrowing.
Nearby, Aerys listened carefully.
Several research reports lay scattered across the table.
Every single one contained similar conclusions.
Abyss dragons are exceptionally dangerous.
Direct confrontation is not advised.
Elimination during vulnerable stages is preferable.
Aerys folded his arms.
"Do you think we should attack now?"
The question lingered.
Selene remained quiet.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Then she shook her head.
"No."
Aerys raised an eyebrow.
"The cannons?"
Selene tapped the table.
"It will take approximately fifteen days for replacement artillery to arrive."
She looked toward the battlefield beyond the tent.
"Without them..."
Her gaze hardened.
"Ebruhan will becomes a headache."
Aerys laughed.
"A headache."
The general still remembered being launched through the battlefield.
"That's one way to describe him."
Selene ignored the comment.
"Observe."
"Wait."
"We move only when we hold the advantage."
The officers nodded.
Nobody questioned the order.
----
Lumeris Border
----
Seven days later.
New banners appeared on the horizon.
Reinforcements.
The Kingdom of Aegis had arrived.
Soldiers marched into camp.
Wagons followed behind them.
Among them walked a very familiar wolf beastfolk.
Yellow fur.
Green eyes.
Black leather jacket.
Two mana revolvers rested on his hips.
Tai.
The Phantom.
Ebruhan greeted him personally.
The two met near the command area.
"Welcome, Tai."
The wolf grinned.
"Hope we ain't too late."
He stretched his shoulders.
"Because, you know..."
"We can't exactly fly."
Ebruhan snorted.
"A problem I never considered."
Tai laughed.
Then they clasped forearms.
A warrior's greeting.
Nearby, Leo's eyes widened.
"THE PHANTOM!?"
Tai immediately winced.
"Please don't."
Leo looked confused.
Tai crouched down to eye level.
"Call me Tai, kid."
"I prefer that."
Leo nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay, Sir Tai!"
"Much better."
Then Tai's attention shifted.
Toward the enormous tent.
Toward the black dragon sleeping inside.
The wolf's grin faded slightly.
"Hmm."
"Is that who I think it is?"
Leo nodded.
"Yeah."
"Mia."
"She's in her growth phase."
Tai whistled softly.
"Perfect timing."
The sarcasm was impossible to miss.
"Middle of a war."
"Middle of a dragon crisis."
"Middle of everything."
He shook his head.
Then looked toward Ebruhan.
"So..."
"What happened with those conqueror bastards?"
The wolf cracked his knuckles.
A dangerous grin slowly spreading across his face.
"Because from what I'm hearing..."
His green eyes gleamed.
"They've been causing a whole lot of trouble while I was away."
---
Tai listened quietly as Ebruhan explained everything.
The battle.
The cannons.
The anti-dragon weapons.
The chains.
The artillery crews.
And finally...
Mia's arrival.
The wolf beastfolk remained silent for a while.
Then he whistled.
"Damn."
He leaned back against a wooden crate.
"So this young dragon literally destroyed all the cannons you couldn't get close to?"
Ebruhan nodded.
Tai scratched his cheek.
"I gotta admit..."
"They prepared a lot."
His expression became serious.
"Most kingdoms would've panicked the moment a dragon appeared."
"But those people built counters, really expensive counters."
Ebruhan crossed his arms.
"Which makes them dangerous."
Tai nodded.
"Very dangerous."
The wolf had fought enough battles to recognize preparation when he saw it.
Norvoss wasn't reckless.
That made them far more troublesome than most enemies.
While the two continued talking...
Leo's attention drifted elsewhere.
Specifically...
Toward the two revolvers resting on Tai's hips.
His eyes practically sparkled.
After all...
He'd heard the stories.
"The Phantom."
"If you see him on the battlefield..."
"You're already dead."
Most of them were probably exaggerated.
Probably.
Eventually Leo couldn't contain himself.
"Sir?"
Tai looked over.
"Hm?"
Leo pointed toward the revolvers.
"Sorry for interrupting..."
"But how do those work?"
Tai immediately laughed.
"Ah."
"Now that's a good question."
He smoothly drew one of the revolvers.
The weapon spun around his finger effortlessly.
Leo's eyes widened.
Tai caught it and presented it proudly.
"This beauty here?"
He opened the cylinder.
Revealing eight glowing mana crystals inside.
"They're basically magical ammunition."
Leo leaned closer.
"Woah..."
Tai pointed toward the barrel.
"The crystal gets consumed little by little."
"The mana gets compressed."
"Then it shoots through here."
Leo looked fascinated.
"How many shots can it fire?"
Tai grinned.
"That's the neat part."
He tapped one of the crystals.
"Until the crystal loses its mana properties."
"Usually around sixteen to twenty shots."
Leo's jaw dropped.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Leo immediately pointed at the revolver.
"Can I hold it?"
Tai looked at Ebruhan.
Ebruhan looked at Tai.
Both silently accepted they were about to lose this argument.
Tai sighed dramatically.
"Sure."
Leo's face lit up.
"But."
The wolf raised a finger.
"Do not shoot anyone."
"I wasn't planning to!"
"Good."
Tai carefully handed over the revolver.
Leo grabbed it with both hands.
Immediately realizing it was heavier than expected.
"Whoa."
Tai laughed.
"Not as easy as it looks, is it?"
Leo nodded.
Then pointed it toward a distant training dummy.
"No."
The revolver refused to react.
Nothing happened.
Leo blinked.
"...Huh?"
Tai smirked.
"Blood lock."
Leo looked confused.
"Blood what?"
The wolf tapped his own chest.
"The weapon only responds to me."
"Someone steals it?"
"Can't use it."
"Someone kills me?"
"Still can't use it."
Leo looked impressed.
"That's amazing."
Tai grinned proudly.
"Expensive too."
"How expensive?"
Tai named a number.
Leo almost dropped the revolver.
"THAT MUCH!?"
Tai immediately caught it.
"Easy!"
"Easy!"
"I'm attached to this thing."
Ebruhan couldn't help shaking his head while watching the scene.
Tai suddenly yawned and get up, stretching his arms
"Well. I call it a day, cause riding isva pain in the ass.. littary.. have a good night you two"
Leo nodded
"Good night sir phant.. I mean Tai"