The Dragon Farmer: Chapter 20: Reactions and Repercussions

The Dragon Farmer

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 20: Reactions and Repercussions

______________________________________________________________________

- Mathias -

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh as I rested my head on the couch.

“You were quite hard on them, Matty.” Armin said, breaking the silence of the room.

“I didn’t want to… but it had to be done.” In fact, I wanted to wait for them to become stronger before showing them this side of me but this incident… it made me realise that if they didn’t know about me, my full power, it would only worry them more.

Especially now when my identity has been revealed and the whole world knows about my powers. This attack… it was only going to be one of the first ones.

After all, this power of mine… it was just that absurd.

I had been hesitating to show them my power because of Tia’s reaction to my Gourmet Demon. If someone like Tia had been frightened by it, what would happen to Rias and Latia who were not even close to her level right now?

Geniuses are praised and looked at with awe, monsters are feared… and I was a monster even among other monsters.

“You could have gone slightly easier.” Armin said after some hesitation.

…

“... I did.”

“Eh?”

“If I had gone all out… they would have most likely died in my presence.”

…

…

…

…

It wasn’t a joke.

Derous is a beast.

Even a small fragment of its fang was strong enough to scare hoards of beasts.

Although I still cannot manifest it, even then someone like Tia found herself stuck in fear in its presence… and I have only gotten stronger than the last time I used it.

There was a very real chance that their hearts would have stopped from the aura.

Armin didn’t say anything and just stayed there.

Both girls had been shocked when they realised what was happening to them due to my power and Euclid had taken them back.

He got up from his seat and patted my shoulder. “You should take a rest. I have a feeling that things will be getting busier now.”

“Mmm.”

The entire fiasco had left me emotionally exhausted so I kept my eyes closed and didn’t know when I fell asleep.

- Serafall -

“What?”

“One of the auras we sensed back then, one which rivalled Crom Cruach… it belonged to Mathias.”

She blinked and it took a few moments for her to register the information.

“Did he tell you that?” She asked in disbelief. She knew the boy was strong. He had to be. If Armin could get to that level of strength so quickly then as the one who created everything, Mathias’ power would obviously be higher than them. But a Heavenly Dragon… that’s stretching it though.

However Euclid’s words completely destroyed her line of thought.

“He showed us.”

“Please explain everything in detail.” Sirzechs asked after he had recovered from his shock too.

Euclid recounted everything that happened in the Buné Lands and by the end of it everyone was silent.

“His power… it was insane. I am pretty sure that if we hadn’t been inside another dimension, half the Underworld would have felt his aura. Even in that fight, he was holding back to not destroy the countries around them and catch his peerage members in the attack.”

She looked at Sirzechs who closed his eyes and let out a sigh. She could understand his thoughts at this moment.

He had been through this situation too and had a similar approach back then.

Super Devil…

While the whole world might be jealous of this title, Sirzechs had never liked it.

He was just forced by circumstances to the position where he is right now.

Sirzechs is the Lucifer… because there is no one else who is more suitable than him for this position… because there was no other position suitable for him…

In fact, his personality matched Mathias to a great degree as he too never wanted any of this.

She had known him the longest among the four Satans due to their mothers being very good friends. She still remembered the happy go lucky kid who lived to play the piano and wanted to become a musician just like Mathias lives for his farm.

Back then she had believed it too… and so had his students whom he taught to play the piano… 

However things don’t always go as planned. As they say, the plans of mice and men… the attack on his music class didn’t just kill his students but also his dreams of being a music teacher, dragging him into the Civil War.

Then one thing happened after the other… and there he was, the new Lucifer.

In fact, it wasn’t just Sirzechs. Even Ajuka was similar but it was much less for Ajuka who still didn’t care much about these things and kept himself locked in his lab.

Life was truly unpredictable.

“Are they alright?” He asked.

“Hmm. The girls… as expected, they were shaken. Matty, he is resting. We can talk to him tomorrow.”

As they were talking, the door of the room opened and Souji entered.

“We got the location of the bases of the Wizards of Oz and the Utsusemi Organisation.” He reported.

…

Sirzechs got up from his seat. “Gather the rest of the peerage. You will lead Beowulf and Mathers. Surtr will lead Bahamut and Enku. I will lead the last team personally.”

“What are our objectives, Sir?”

…

…

…

…

“Complete eradication. Some people have forgotten about us. We need to refresh their memories again.” He said, his calm voice not hiding his anger.

“Euclid, you should take Behemoth and Abi with you too. It will help cover more bases before they find out and run away. Strike them hard and fast.” She ordered.

He nodded and left the room too, leaving only the three of them.

“Ah… so troublesome but I guess he does have a point. This time they were just so blatant in their actions. I will take the armies to the border as well. That should get Azazel to think faster. You should contact him too.” Falbium got up after letting out a yawn too.

She nodded and looked at Ajuka.

“I will have some of my people find out about the whereabouts of Satanael.” He said after a pause.

“Good then. I am going to calm down the Norse first before ringing up Azazel. The entire fight was on their borders and they were annoyed.” She sighed and got up.

She knew that the whole thing was a bad idea.

- Mathias -

I woke up sensing some movements beside me and slowly opened my eyes to see the figures of my two fiances sitting on both sides of me.

“Mmh, when did the two of you come?” I asked, rubbing my eyes as I got up.

“I’m sorry.” Latia said.

“Me too, I am sorry Matty.” Rias followed.

“Huh?” I was still half sleepy so the words took me a moment to register.

I was about to speak but was stopped by Latia.

“Let us speak first.”

I nodded seeing her serious look.

“I know… we know that our reactions hurt you.”

I was about to open my mouth and say that it was only normal but her glare stopped me again. Seriously, this girl was glaring at me even when talking about being scared of me… It made me smile…

“You were right. Your power… it was beyond our expectations. It… was terrifying.” She clenched her fists and clenched her teeth as she spoke those words.

She was angry… not at me but at her own self. This girl… who has always been strong even in the face of a Satan when discussing business… now looked like she would cry.

I looked at her, a look of pity appeared in my eyes. She was clenching her teeth and holding back from crying. Rias, seeing this, decided to take over. It must have been extremely hard for someone to accept that they were terrified of the person they love.

“But… despite that, we know that you will never do anything to hurt us because you… you love us… and that’s why we will never leave you alone because we love you too.”

I smiled at her words.

It might be corny in normal situations but the seriousness and conviction in her voice was unquestionable.

Once again I realised how lucky I was to have such amazing girls in my life.

“I am sorry for hiding everything from you too. I did it to not make you worried but instead caused you two even more worries.” I apologised as I pulled the two to my side in a big hug.

They returned my hug with all their might. It was as if they were afraid that I would disappear somewhere. Today’s incident must have been a big shock for them.

We stayed like that for sometime before going to my bedroom.

I hadn’t realised that I had fallen asleep on the couch.

They were just as emotionally exhausted and fell asleep as soon as we reached the bed. I did the same.

- Euclid -

The magic circle lit up and the entire area was frozen solid. Euclid let out a breath.

“It’s the sixth base already. There must be even more raided by Lord Lucifer. Just how many places did these people make?” Behemoth complained beside him.

“Expect at least three or four times this number. These are two organisations who can hide from the search of the entire Shinto Pantheon. If we hadn’t gotten our hands on some of their leaders, we would be roaming around like hapless chickens trying to find them, the same way the Shinto are doing.”

The Wizards of Oz were masters of Space Magic, especially at creating pocket dimensions. Finding any of their bases was incredibly hard, next to impossible. The Dimensional Gap was huge and there was no way they could look at every single place.

Behemoth frowned but nodded nonetheless.

“Anyways, it looks like there weren’t any high level people from the organisations here either. Let’s move on to the other target. I will report everything to Sirzechs first.” He said before using the communication circle to call Sirzechs directly.

“Yes, Euclid.”

“Our target is neutralised. Where should we move next?” He asked.

“Number forty two. We have finished the ones before that.” Sirzechs replied, his voice, carrying the same coldness which Euclid had heard back during the Civil Wars.

These people had really managed to piss off Sirzechs, something which was incredibly hard. These people had really crossed his bottom line. But then again, even Euclid wasn’t in a good mood since the entire ambush.

Euclid had been in close contact with Mathias for several years now, being directly involved in quality checking his products. Mathias had become a good friend of his and his family. They did share a love for Magic and their respective fields which had only brought them closer.

In fact, he had come to like the boy as a brother in the past few years.

So to say he was unhappy would be understating it.

Perhaps his anger was subdued a bit after the shock of seeing Mathias’ power… but it was still there.

And the Wizards of Oz were going to see it.

On the other end, Sirzechs continued. “We found the hostages of the Principal Clans. You can go all out without worries now.”

“Very well.” He replied and cut the call.

They had sixty six targets in total.

Forty one of them were already destroyed.

Twenty five left.

The only reason they were taking this much time was to search for the remaining hostages of the Five Principal Clans in their possession.

Now that they were found, they didn’t have to worry about could get things done faster

It should be done in the next two days.

- Azazel -

“Serafall again?” Barqiel asked as he sat down on his chair.

“Yes.”

“They are really angry this time.” Baraqiel said.

“Hmm. I have been receiving news from everywhere in the world. Sirzechs himself led a charge this time. They have destroyed over fifty of the Wizards of Oz bases in just two days. I didn’t know they even had that many bases. The Wizards of Oz and the Utsusemi Organisation are more or less finished.”

“The Shinto have been trying to find their traces for so long and yet the Devils do it in two days. They have really gone all out.”

“Well of course they would. Those fools went ahead and attacked the future brother-in-law of those two monsters. Satanael, I can understand. He is simply lost in his research and even rebelled against Grigori but Kokabiel… Just what took over him that he participated in such a stupidity? Even after I explicitly forbade such a thing.” Azazel sighed.

He knew that the boy’s ability had spooked many in Grigori and had wanted to move against him. Normally, he would have accepted their suggestion. The Zagan’s power was dangerous and there was a reason they were almost extinct.

Both Grigori and Heaven had done everything they could do to achieve such a result.

Only this time, things were different.

First, the previous ones were not exactly masters of Life Magic and while good, they weren’t as good or important as Mathias Buné Zagan.

The Devils also had internal strife at the time and it was easier to take advantage of their reduced power and divided allegiances to snipe out the Zagans.

Even when some people noticed, they didn’t say anything. Everyone was fighting for more rights and the power of a King being removed from the seventy two pillars just meant more power for the remaining to share. That’s why no one interfered and by the time they realised, Zagan had gone extinct… or at least they thought that.

Now however things were vastly different.

Mathias Buné Zagan was a completely different game however.

First, he was extremely competent in Life Magic, creating those products. His products alone had elevated his status from just someone with two almost extinct houses which no one would have cared for to someone who can single handedly change the entire future of the Devil race. Going after him would be like threatening the future of the Devil race and they would absolutely retaliate fiercely.

Second, he was close to all Satans, being engaged to the family members of two of them, having Armin Glysa-Labolas as his best friend and finally Euclid Lucifuge being close to him too apparently. They would not let this matter go.

Lastly, the leaders of the Three Factions were actually planning to end the war of thousands of years and were working towards establishing peace. He himself was working for it so doing something like this would be completely opposite to his goals.

Sure, if someone from other factions killed the boy, he would have sent them his best wine as a gift for removing a huge threat for the Fallen Angels but he wasn’t stupid enough to poke that hornet’s nest by himself.

But Kokabiel… dammit.

Azazel hadn’t noticed any signs of rebellion from him. Sure he had been aggressive about the Zagan kid but he had also quieted down after his orders just like the others.

It was those Church bastards who pulled him into the whole mess.

“But we have to give them some answers. Kokabiel rebelling is a fact. Even Falbium Asmodeus has mobilised their armies near the borders. They are calling it a routine drill but it is obvious to anyone that they are trying to put pressure on us.”

Normally, such things could be waved off with words. After all, none of the three sides were clean. Each of them had rogue members. The Devils had just as many if not more loose cannons than the Fallen Angels so they couldn’t really force the issue too much.

But this time… things will be a bit more troublesome.

“I know. I have agreed to a meeting between the Three Factions. If I have to give them answers, so does Michael. After all, it was the Church who initiated the whole mess. Let them answer for the mess.“

The key point was that he still didn’t know everything about the incident. The news he got was from Serafall’s words or some people he had asked around.

Old man Odin had told him that there were some extremely powerful beings involved. He had identified the auras of Ophis as well as four beings on the level of Heavenly Dragons. Four? Since when did Heavenly Dragons become so common?

Just two of them had thrown the Three Factions into a desperate situation and now four of them had appeared against Ophis out of nowhere.

The entire planet would have been in ruins had a battle erupted between them.

No wonder Odin was so spooked.

As for the identities of those four, only two were identified while the other two remain unknown to everyone.

Not even the Devils had announced anything about them.

Tiamat was understandable as Azazel had already investigated her connection to the boy. Although what wasn’t understandable was her power. When did she cross that threshold?

It was the second name that was shocking. Crom, no one knew where he was for several centuries. Why did he suddenly come out at a time like this and especially near the Zagan boy of all people in the world?

Azazel guessed the other two auras could belong to Sirzechs and Ajuka but then shook off the thoughts. Although he knew those two were anomalies, far stronger than their predecessors, they couldn’t be that strong could they?

Suddenly, there were more reasons to attend the meeting.

- Mathias -

I woke up to the scene of the two girls hugging me tightly from either side.

The nap had helped a lot and I was feeling a lot better after it.

Both the girls however were still sleeping soundly. I just didn’t have the heart to disturb them so I stayed like that. Latia was the first of the two to awaken.

“Good morning.” I said softly and kissed her forehead. She rubbed her eyes looking around groggily.

“Mmh morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Mhh.” She rested her head on my chest and replied.

“So… what happened yesterday?” I asked.

“I…”

She hesitated a bit, probably due to embarrassment but told me what had happened.

Both of them had gone home and broken down. Venelana had taken the matter into her own hands and brought them over for a talk and then calmed them down.

She had told them about Sirzechs and his true form and how he keeps it sealed so that others don’t fear him.

I knew about his True Form although I still hadn’t seen it yet but from the description, it seemed to be something terrifying.

Apparently that guy had gone through this too until he met his wife Elsa who accepted him despite her fears.

I guess I am not the odd one then?

“I was quite pathetic, wasn’t I?” She asked, in a slightly self-deprecating tone at the end of her explanation.

“Trust me. You did quite good. While I did hold back, that much power could have turned other High Class Devils into a snivelling mess.”

“...you held back…” She said, looking up at me with shock on her face.

“Umm…” I realised the slip of tongue but continued nonetheless. Since I had decided to come clean about my full power, there was no point in hiding. “Well… it’s like Sirzechs’ True Form. I have a power which I still cannot control. If I had used that… there was a good chance that your heart could have stopped beating from fear… quite literally.”

She just stared at me dumbfounded.

“Don’t look at me like that. I promise you that as long as you two continue our training, I will make sure that you can stand on the level of the likes of Sirzechs and Ajuka. You just need time and dedication.” I promised.

The words made a slight smile form on her face as she shook her head in exasperation. “You are impossible.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her before looking at my other side. “Good Morning, Rias.” I said, catching the attention of Latia.

My other fiance had been awakened by our conversation too and was listening quietly, probably to let Latia speak her heart out.

She was really considerate like this.

Latia might have more IQ but Rias definitely had more EQ on her side.It was probably a Gremory thing just like high IQ was the Astaroth thing.

She opened her eyes slightly and softly whispered back. “Good morning.”

Suddenly realising something I smiled. “You know, this is the first time we have slept together with our clothes on. No wonder I felt like something was off today.”

…

My words caused Latia to roll her eyes while Rias giggled.

The mood had changed for the better after the sloppy joke.

We talked about a few things after that.

I told them about the whole incident and they listened quietly.

“Lavy is so strong? I had no idea.” Rias said from my side. Latia didn’t say anything but her expressions said enough.

“She is a Longinus user. Never underestimate a Longinus user. They are not said to have the power to kill Gods and Satans just for show. Moreover, Lavy is someone who has been reincarnated as a Devil. The Devil race has a natural higher limit and more advantages compared to humans. Longinus were made with humanity in mind. Even the father of Angels would have never expected the existence of the Evil Pieces which is something that has broken the balance of things. Lavy on the other hand goes even beyond that. Not only does she eat the special products of the farm, she also trains regularly and was taught by Serafall personally. All this combined makes her heads and shoulders above a normal Longinus user.”

Both of them listened quietly before Latia asked. “And Ingvild?”

“Ingvild… the only thing holding her back is her kind personality. Otherwise, even without her Sacred Gear and special foods of my farm, she has the base ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Ajuka and Sirzechs. Add those boosts, and she can very easily surpass them both. The bloodlines of the Satans are considered the strongest of the Devil race for a reason after all.”

“I didn’t know they were so strong or had that much potential.” Latia said.

“Gmm, potential wise, Shizuka is better than even those two.”

Longinus and Super Devil are good but Shizuka is made from the flesh of Great Red. That’s a whole different thing.

Shizuka’s mention also reminded us of her state. She had been unconscious the whole day yesterday.

I had asked Akeno, Genbu and Kuroka to take care of her as Kuroka was good with Senjutsu and could help her heal. Akeno is a family member and Genbu was a close friend, almost like a little sister to her.

After the events of yesterday, having a family member beside her would be the best.

We talked for a bit and then got up and got ready for the day.

I went ahead and prepared food for everyone and we had breakfast.

As we were eating, Leila and Venelana arrived too. They had heard about the whole incident and came to check on me.

“Looks like you all made up again. You look much better like this.” Venelana smiled.

I smiled at her words.

“You know, it is natural to have doubts but if you don’t talk to anyone about it, you will only make yourself suffer. So don’t hold everything in. It is fine to talk.You should have a talk with Sirzechs. He has gone through a similar situation and will understand you.”

I nodded.

They didn’t stay for long and left soon. Rias and Latia went with them but said that they would return later.

Since I was alone, I decided to visit Tia.

I looked around and found her in the Dragon Farm.

She was watching the dragons fight in the distance and turned towards me when she sensed me approaching.

“Have you rested?” She asked, turning back towards the fight.

“Yes. I really needed that nap.”

“Oh, did something happen?”

“Hmm.” I told her everything.

“Well… you are lucky in that respect. Beings of our power always have people who fear us. Sure, some of us find people who have similar power and can stand by our side but think about it this way… they fought their fears and still decided to stand by you. Doesn't that mean they love you even more?”

I nodded.

We didn’t talk much and looked at the fight before Tia spoke once more.

“Matty, can I ask you for a favour?”

“Yes?”

I wasn’t expecting her request but it wasn’t that hard to do.

We stayed there for some time before she said that she had to do something and left.

I went back to my mansion where there was a guest waiting for me.

Rudiger Rosenkreutz had come to visit.

The man looked extremely worried and got up from his seat as soon as he saw me.

“Mathias! Are you alright? I just found out about the incident from Lady Leviathan. I am extremely sorry. It was my…”

“It wasn’t your fault, Lord Rosenkreutz. It was something I decided of my own will. If anyone was at fault, it was the attackers who ambushed us.” I stopped him before he could say more.

“But this wouldn't have happened if I didn’t request it.”

“You didn’t force me. I chose to do so of my own free will despite knowing all the risks. If anything, I wanted to help ease out the relations between the Underworld and Heaven with this. Too bad, some people didn’t want that. Life doesn’t always go as expected.”

The man was extremely apologetic despite that. It took a long time to calm him down and reassure him that I wasn’t blaming him for anything.

We talked for a while, mainly about his son’s treatment in the future. I gave him some food products which would help him improve his son’s condition.

In return, he promised to promote my food products in his territory. He even waved off any taxes for the sales of the products in his territory for an entire lifetime.

That… was huge especially since we Devils had such large lifespans, it basically translated to forever.

Euclid hadn’t come back nor was I called by the Satans to report the whole thing. I guess they were busy enough dealing with the entire situation right now.

Both Ingvild and Lavy were worried about Shizuka but couldn’t do anything so they were dealing with the whole situation in their own way.

Ingvild was spending time in the Water Tree area where she felt best at home while Lavy had gone out with the hunting groups to hunt near the pits.

Gasper, Valerie and Shirone were being taken care of by Natsume. The two kids had been scared by my display of power too.

It was in the evening that Kuroka came out and informed us that Shizuka had awakened. She looked tired herself so I told her to take some rest while Gasper and Valerie went to inform Ingvild and Lavy.

I went ahead to meet her in her room

Reaching there, I saw her separating from Akeno after a hug.

Her eyes were still red.

She wiped her eyes out after seeing me.

I just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say.

After a while I went ahead and gave her a light hug. That was all I could do right now.

Still, it seems that was exactly what she needed too as she returned the hug tightly.

“We managed to capture some of the Utsusemi Agency and Wizards of Oz members. The Satans are currently interrogating them. We will find where the rest of them are hiding and get justice for each and every one of them. I will not let them go unpunished. I promise.” I said with all my sincerity. I absolutely intended to go through with it.

Those people had really crossed the lines.

The kids… they had nothing to do with any of this and they had already suffered enough and yet… just to hurt her, they did such a vile thing… Even if I have to search the ends of the world, I will find them and I will make them suffer.

“Thank you.” She whispered back.

We separated and I took the opportunity to wipe her tears.

I turned towards Akeno who was looking at the girl with a complicated expression on her face.

Their relationship was complicated… quite complicated.

Akeno didn’t have the best of the relationship with the Himejima Clan as a whole… and I didn’t blame her either.

They killed her mother and had chased her for a year until she had been found by Rias. It would be crazy if she had any good feelings for them.

Shizuka on the other hand cared about Akeno a lot and by a lot, I meant a lot.

It had to do with several things like Shuri’s death at the hands of her Clan members, Akeno being chased around for a year and finally the current state of the Himejima Clans along with the death of all the members.

Shizuka Himejima was a very dutiful and honourable person. It was a core part of her entire character. Family was the most important thing to her.

From the start, she had been against the original practice of the Principal Clans of excluding those without blessings from the Shinto Gods.

She was heartbroken when she had heard about Shuri’s fate and had vowed to change her clan when she became the leader… and she did.

When the incidents with the Utsusemi Agency happened, she had done her best to appease the members of the Agency and even welcomed them back into the Clan. In fact, she was the biggest supporter of the decision to let them rejoin the clan.

Too bad not all kindness is reciprocated the same way.

Those bastards had no intentions of making up in the first place and backstabbed them, stealing the Holy Swords of the Shinto as well as their Divine Beasts and running away. They even killed several of the Clan members before fleeing away.

And the blame of the whole incident fell on the head of Shizuka Himejima who had been the biggest driving force for including them.

The girl had been heartbroken at the betrayal of her family… something which she considered above all else…

But that wasn’t the end either.

Perhaps the only thing keeping her going then had been her faith… but even that was not spared due to the actions of the Shinto Pantheon…

The Shizuka Himejima that Great Red had dropped here was a broken individual.

It was only the existence of Akeno and Tobio which gave her a new life and hopes of recovery and she had thrown every bit of herself into training to get stronger so that she could protect her family.

This incident however had just bashed everything in the face and reopened the old wounds and trauma with a rusted blunt knife…

At this moment, she needed all the support she could get.

I looked at Akeno, Genbu and Kuroka. “You three should go and eat something. I have made some breakfast. Just heat it up and bring some for Shizuka too.”

“Alright nyaa~” Kuroka led the two girls out and I stayed there in the room to give Shizuka some company.

Right now, I didn’t want to leave her alone as I wasn’t sure if she would do something to herself or not.

We sat there for a while before Kuroka returned with a plate of food.

I took it and asked her to go ahead and eat too. She had been working nonstop since last night too.

Shizuka however didn’t touch her food.

I let out a sigh and picked up the plate myself as I spoke. “I know you are depressed, Shizuka. I can’t even imagine the pain you are going through right now. But you shouldn’t punish yourself for that. I know losing a family is devastating but… You still have family and friends here. Akeno is here. Tobi is here. Even we… I consider all my peerage members as family and so do others in my peerage. Gasper and Valeria consider you as much of an elder sister as they do for Lavy or Ingvild. So please… hold on. For our sake, please?”

The girl looked at me quietly and I picked up a bite of the food and brought it to her mouth and she opened her mouth lightly, eating the food.

I smiled at her actions but didn’t stop and kept on feeding her till all the food on the plate was gone.

Seeing her finish the food, I was also relieved.

“Good girl. Should I get some more?” I asked but she shook her head.

I kept the plate on the side and stayed there quietly. Right now she didn’t want to talk much so it was useless to keep annoying her with words.

After a while Lavy and Ingvild arrived too, followed by the rest and the room was lively again. Seeing her surrounded by everyone, I pulled back too.

I will have to ask Leila to help her with the whole thing. I was no expert at psychological issues. It’s best to leave it to professionals.

- Tiamat -

She flew over the land she hadn’t visited in centuries, perhaps even millenia.

The place of her origin… the place where the mighty Babylonian Empire once stood.

In recent years, she had grown complacent of her own strength. Especially after gaining the Annihilation Maker and achieving her long cherished dream of gaining the Power of Creation of her mother.

Perhaps one of the reasons for that was also the fact that she wanted Mathias to defeat her in the duel. That boy was stubborn and proud in the weirdest of places. But again, that is what makes him… him.

After achieving her obsession of over a dozen millena, she had started focusing on other things more and the root of all these causes was Matty.

When she had taken the job to watch over the boy back then, it had only been due to her own curiosity about the Life Magic she had been chasing so long. Never had she imagined that the boy would slowly worm his way into her heart so quickly.

Not only that, he had also helped her achieve her long cherished dream and enter the ranks of the Heavenly Dragons.

Tiamat had started to cherish her new life. The time she spent with Mathias, her days of training the kids on the farm, chasing the young hatchlings around and watching them play. The Buné farm had become a home she never had before.

And that’s why when she thought of the attack on Mathias, she was beyond angry.

Ophis.

She hadn’t been lying when she had said that they wouldn’t be able to stop her, she wasn’t lying.

Even with the people present at that time, stopping Ophis would have been a fool’s quest. And yet, knowing Matty, he wouldn’t have backed down at any cost.

She had never felt that sense of powerlessness in her life.

Neither her pride as a dragon nor her heart as someone who had fallen for the dumb boy permitted her to live it down.

That’s why she had decided to change things.

Mathias had told her about the fate of her mother and what was done with the rest of her body after she was killed. Her body was divided into several parts and crafted scattered around the whole world.

Her Womb had been taken away by the Biblical God and turned into the Longinus, Annihilation Maker. She had already combined with this part and acquired the Power of Creation as well as greatly enhanced her strength too.

The ribs were crafted into the vaults of heaven and earth and was currently in possession of the now decadent Mesopotamian pantheon. Her weeping eyes were made into the source of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Finally, her tail was used as the foundation of the abode of the Mesopotamian pantheon.

Getting the Ribs and Tail was going to be harder so she decided to retrieve the two eyes first. That was the reason she had asked Mathias for two Water Tree seeds because the two rivers were the lifeblood of the humans living there.

To make them suffer for the vile act of the Mesopotamian Gods would not be something Matty would approve.

Two Water Trees would be enough to make up for the lost sources of the rivers. Not just that, it would actually be an improvement over the original source produced by the eyes of her mother. Water Trees were born for the purpose of providing water to the world while the water produced by the eyes of her mother were a fruit of her pain and resentment and thus less pure.

After some time, she reached the source of the Tigris river and found something there. There was a door to a pocket dimension which was hidden under layers of magic to make it untraceable to humans.

However the spells were nothing to her. Within an hour, she had unravelled the entire spell and found a way inside the dimension. Even the defenses of the dimension fell apart in front of her power. There, inside the dimension, was a platform and in the center of the platform, on top of a pillar was an eye. Water endlessly flowed from it, down the platform and then outside the dimension. The source of the river Tigris, the left Eye of the Dragon Goddess, Tiamat, her mother.

Even from this distance, she could feel the eye calling out to her and she found herself walking towards it in an almost trance-like state. However before she could grab the eye, she stopped herself and looked around.

There were more security spells there in the area. She took her time to dispel them first.

While the Mesopotamian Pantheon had fallen, they were still an entire Pantheon of Gods and the same Pantheon which had triumphed over her mother.

Tiamat was sure she could fight them on her own and she would have done the same too… if she had been alone. Unfortunately, she had more things to consider now.

Right now, she wasn’t just the Dragon King Tiamat. She was also the Queen of Mathias. And while he might not claim her to be so since he hadn’t defeated her yet, that wouldn’t stop others from pinning him as an accomplice of this.

He already had more than enough enemies as it is. Things would be even worse as they would do anything to force Mathias into an unpleasant situation to get a hand on his products to recover their lost powers… and the worst part was, knowing Mathias’ nature, he might actually give in just for her sake. And that would make this entire endeavor of hers be for nothing.

That’s why she didn’t want to let anyone discover this, at least not until she had gathered the rest of the pieces of her Mother and reclaimed her full power.

After that, she was pretty sure that even if anyone discovered the missing pieces, they wouldn’t dare to speak up against her. But before that, she needed discretion. Not only to protect Mathias but also so that they don’t discover the loss of the other pieces and figure out what she was doing and hide the rest. Gods can be vindictive beings.

That’s why first she created dozens of creatures which could use water magic and create water. Her newly gained power over water made it quite easy.

These creatures would keep on creating water until the Water Tree had grown enough to make up for the loss of the source of the river.

The Water Tree itself came next. She planted it on the same platform, near the pillar. It takes some time to grow. The creatures will keep on releasing water and when they die, they will become nutrients for the growth of the Water Tree. That lovable fool had also given her enough fertilisers to help with the growth of the Water Trees and she had used the same fertilisers to make the body of these creatures.

With everything done, she moved to the Pillar and with trembling hands reached towards it.

It was as big as her own human form. The size of her eyes told a lot about the size of her Mother’s Dragon from.

As soon as she touched it, her magic swelled and connected to the magic of the eyes. The huge eye lit up and was absorbed into her body. Her body changed directly into her dragon form and she let out a roar of exhilaration at the sensation she was feeling.

Her left eye was feeling cool and her power over water had reached a whole new level. Even her magic power had increased by almost a quarter, reaching a completely new high. She was pretty sure that with her current strength, she could bash the fool Ddraig into the ground. In fact, her Water Magic had reached the same strength as the Flames of Ddraig.

But this also made her reailse how incomplete she was.

Taking another look at the place, she left the dimension, but not before throwing several spells and traps of her own, traps which could seriously harm and even kill Ultimate Class beings should they try to intrude in this dimension.

With everything done, she left towards the Euphrates River. She still had to recover the right eye of her mother.

- Dulio Gesualdo -

“This is really delicious, Dulio. Where did you get this from?” One of the kids at his orphanage asked.

“Yes yes. This is even better than the chocolates you brought from Switzerland last time. The bread is soft and the fruits are so fresh. I love it.”

“Hahahaha well, I am glad you all like it. As for where I brought this from… that’s a secret.” He smiled as the kids booed or pouted at his answer.

After all, there was no way he could tell them that these food items were donated by the Lord of two Pillar Houses of the Underworld’s devil race.

While the Church had initially been against the donation, Lord Michael’s words made them accept it with reluctance.

They obviously checked the food repeatedly. After all these food items were donated by the infamous Mathias Buné Zagan, a name which had been the cause of most of the headache of the entire Church since his reveal to the world.

Personally, he found Mathias to be a good person. Dulio had seen many kinds of people, good and bad, people who said something and meant something else entirely during his time as an exorcist. The long lived races were very good at hiding their real intentions and every exorcist was taught to view them with doubt lest they fall for their tricks. Dulio had undergone this kind of training too and had developed a very good instinct. Still, when he met Mathias, he could feel that the young Lord Zagan… was a good person.

They obviously wanted to know if the products were the same magical products which had made Mathias the focus of the Three Factions. They weren’t. There was nothing magical in them.

Yet, they were the tastiest things he had had the fortune of eating in his whole life. That’s why sharing it with the kids made him happier

After having a meal with the kids, he left the place and headed for the headquarters of the Exorcists.

However, things didn’t seem as peaceful there.

Everyone was running around in a hurry.

He went inside and saw Cardinal Vasco Strada, inside with a serious look on his face talking to other exorcists.

“What is going on here?” He asked, looking around at everyone panicking.

“Father Chirstaldi… he is dead.”

“What?!”

“David Cero and many others… they are all dead.”

The words hit Dulio like a hammer to the head. He had known Edward Christadli. Although a bit too conservative for his tastes, the man was no doubt a devout follower and an excellent exorcist, even among the top five exorcists in Church. How could he die? And David Cero. Wasn’t he the wielder of Excalibur Galatine?

What happened to him?

And then he remembered something else and his eyes widened.

“Wasn’t he sent to receive the Mathias Buné Zagan to meet with Lord Michael? How did he die?”

“How else? All of them were killed by that devil.” One of them spat out, making him shocked.

Mathias?

How? Why?

“Be silent!” Cardinal Strada scolded the man who had just spoken. “Those people had gone against Lord Michael’s order and went rogue. Their actions have brought shame to the entire Church and now, could possibly lead to a war. Don’t try to turn this around by blaming the wrong person. The Lord teaches us not to lie, or have you forgotten the very thing you preach?”

The man shut his mouth quickly and Dulio looked at Cardinal Strada for some explanations. His head was already reeling from the information he had received.

Cardinal Strada, perhaps sensing his gaze, looked at him and explained. “Edward Christaldi, David Cero and a few hundred other exorcists… colluded with the Fallen Angel Kokabiel of Grigori, rogue Fallen Angel, Satanael and terrorist organisations like Wizards of Oz and Utsusemi Agency to ambush Mathias Buné Zagan. Edward Christaldi led him into the ambush while bringing him to Lord Michael. In the resulting fight, all of them were killed by Mathias Buné Zagan and his peerage members. Now the Devils are blaming the Church and Heaven. Things could escalate into a war if not handled properly because… it was the people of Church who organised the whole event. News is that they have already started destroying any and all bases of the two Magician Organisations and even mobilised their soldiers on the Fallen Angels borders. We are mobilising to sensitive areas to guard against them in case things turn out for the worst.”

Dulio’s face paled.

What had they done?

Why would they do something like that?

Thousands of thoughts went on through his head as he attended the briefing and was ordered to lead the exorcists to a territory bordering the territory of an Ultimate Class Devil from the Underworld.

How did things turn out like this?

Why did things have to turn out like this?

- Satanael -

He smashed the table in front of him.

How! How could he be that strong? It doesn’t make any sense.

Were his food items so powerful that it could take him to that level?

Satanel had been among those who had fought the Heavenly Dragons and he knew their terror.

Mathias Buné Zagan was still a distance from them, especially in their Outrage state but still… his level of power didn’t make any sense at all. It was beyond even the original Satans. Stanael knew. After all, him using the Scale Mail Armour and Kokabiel with Ophis’ power had both surpassed the original Satans in power too… He had even brought most of his high level support, Augusta, Hanezu, the kids from the Nephilim Academy and yet…

He had done everything, no he had gone up and beyond to make sure the ambush would be a success. With the amount of power he had thrown into this, even the four original Satans would have been dead if not completely disabled in the ambush, and yet… and yet… some brats… some newborn kids had destroyed everything…

Why?

Why was it that even after dedicating thousands of years to break his limit and rise to a higher level of power, he was so… so helpless?

Why did a newborn devil get what he desired, worked for… so easily…

No.

He won’t lose.

Satanael wasn’t one to give up.

“I will make him pay. I will make them all pay.” He swore to himself.

However a voice threw cold water on his thoughts.

“You cannot defeat him.”

Ophis’ monotonous voice spoke from behind him.

He turned sharply towards the dragon who looked completely unbothered.

“You cannot defeat him.” She repeated again, her words cutting him.

“Why?”

“He is strong.”

“What if I use your power?” He asked. Despite his preparations, he hadn’t used Ophis’ power for himself. He didn’t want to use things he hadn’t researched for himself.

Kokabiel however had proven that Ophis’ snake didn’t have any side effects. 

“With the Snake from you the Scale Mail and Arondight… yes, I can take down that brat. If that doesn’t work, I would get the Boosted Gear or Divine Dividing. I don’t believe he can beat me then.” He argued back.

“You will lose.” Ophis replied again, in the same monotonous voice, driving him almost into an outrage.

“Why?! Why would I lose!” He shouted back.

Suddenly he felt someone grab his head from behind and his head was twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees, snapping his neck.

In his fading vision, he saw the figure of an unknown man with red hair and golden eyes… a dragon… and heard him speak. “Because you are already dead.”

___________________________________x_____________________________________________________________________x__________________________________

Support Me on: https://www.patreon.com/crossedge

 https://subscribestar.adult/crossedge

Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what story is updated, a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.

Join me on my Discord server https://discord.gg/RNNZyyert4

Beta Reader: @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of ‘The Dragon Farmer’.

Matty made up with his fiances and got over a knot in his heart.

Tiamat is making her moves and Matty would probably get an even greater challenge than he was expecting when he finally fights her.

I wonder what the world would think of the Dragon Goddess Tiamat.

As for the rest of the world.

Sirzechs is reminding them why no one fucks with him.

The Church is in chaos.

Azazel is tearing off his hair. Poor guy, can’t catch a break when leading a bunch of rebellious assholes.

Finally, Shizuka got slightly better.

She has been getting the wrong end of the sticks for a while now. She deserves the rest she gets. Oh and her enemies are getting their comeuppance too.

Last but not the least, Satanael died… was it anticlimactic? Who knows? Lesson to be learned, you don’t endanger a Dragon’s Food Supply… ever.

Great Red used a reference.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.